Phil

Steelers? Of course not! Ravens and Eagles Jackets. O.K., maybe an occasional Steelers jacket. It is better than at Greek Peak, NY, where I consistantly spotted fluorescent orangecamo. Just imagine, hunting and death bombing on skis all possible in the same day.

I wish that our ski patrollers were more aggressive. Their attitude is that they are not police. Because of this, our mountain often becomes a crazy mess of "death bombers". Some days, I just stay off of the hill. When you are carving, you usually stay ahead of traffic, but I hate when you have a death bomber catching up to you that you have to avoid on every other turn.

Burton BMC 171 Wide Burton Freestyle SI Burton PSI and SI The step ins are the ticket. Very stiff. I came off of clickers as well. I did not have highback clickers though. They may be as good as Burton SI's.

If you haven't already, check out the video. It is basic just like the manual, but the carving sessions may expand a little from the manual. Hey PSR - where did you get the idea that progressions are frowned upon by AASI? I have never heard that.

I wasn't going to say anything - would have just rather continued to read the post and ponder carving and the meaning of life, but when you mentioned Mr. Bevier, I had to respond. "Mr. Bevier" I love the pseudo respect that resonates from calling him that. Mr. Bevier gave me crap in my level II exam. I still passed, it was only one examiner - no one else had his issues with me. In my level III exam, I failed - not just him, through the process, I didn't pass enough parts to pass completely. Everyone else was cool though, they told me what to work on, and we had a great time - I learned a lot. In contrast, Mr. Bevier told me that the industry is just not going in the direction of hardboots - then told me that he can do anything in softboots that he can in hard (he is a solid rider, but after riding with him on two occasions, I really hope that he can do more on his hardboots than I saw him do on his soft) But his final line was the kicker. "I really think that you shouldn't come back on hardboots." That was all I needed to hear. I spent the whole next season riding nothing but hardboots on F2 raceboards. I would ride fakie down our hardest Dbl blacks all day. It was stupid, but I had resolved to prove a point. Of course I could have passed easily in softboots (and was told that by the examiners), but he pissed me off. Some examiners actually invited me to their mountains to work on stuff too. The examiners seemed to appreciate the fact that I was doing my own thing. I worked with them, and they, along with my intense practice, improved my riding dramatically. The exam was much, much harder than the previous year. I ended up having to teach riding rails fakie (please, don't try this at home). A lot of people think that is stupid, but we all know that you have to be able to teach any skill, any time, anywhere, and in any conditions. Simply by going to the exam, you are agreeing with that philosophy. We had a carving session that I have seen no rival to since. It was assigned to the best freestyler in the group - Jason Strumpf (sp?) Wintergreen, VA. I was on plates, he was on full freestyle noodle setup - he made me drool!!! To make a long story short (and I could go on about all of the other tasks and teaching that we labored through) I passed - with flying colors! Have a little of that Mr. Bevier. I have the utmost respect for the majority of examiners. Most of them have been nothing but helpful to my teaching and riding. If we get bent out of shape over one or two, than we would have to hate all organizations. No organization is perfect, but I believe that AASI is doing a decent job. The people that I see getting upset the most are the ones that are failing the exams. No one likes to fail. When one fails, it is easier to blame it on someone else than to take responsibility. Politics, politics. I was tempted to have the same attitude, but I saw that there was more positive in AASI than negative. I would like to hear someone who complains about failing level II or III who blames it on someone else do it differently. I would like to see them humble themselves and try to work with the examiners. Try to come to an understanding of what they can work on. (objection time - all they want is your money - I didn't pay a cent - I went to their mountains, and they worked with me for free - and with a great attitude toward my setup) After working on these things, I would like to see them take the test again. Hopefully they would pass. At that time, I will respect their opinion. If they don't feel that they have improved, then so be it. But, if like me, it was all just a misunderstanding, and my riding was improved by trying to see things their way, I would like to hear that too. I have yet to hear that. What I hear is: I get my identity through my ability to ride and teach, and someone attacked that identity by telling me that I don't measure up. Now I feel bad about myself. It's their fault. Now let me go further to address Strider, because this is the second forum that we have had this conversation in. It is a bummer that your exam only had two days. Is that an old format? In any case, it sounds like there may be more to your misunderstanding than you, well, understand. Paul Hoda, an examiner in the east, never rode plates, never really experienced hardbooters in lessons or clinics, but wound up giving a clinic that I attended. His comments sounded very similar to what you experienced, right down to the lack of experience with hardbooters. In all of his critique of my riding, I just was pissed. I didn't value his opinion, because I didn't respect his lack of hardboot experience. Then he suggested that he could video me, and we could work on it together. He did so, and he was right. He also took the video to another examiner the next week for a second opinion. It turns out that I did have herpes - oh, sorry that was a different second opinion. It turns out that he was right, and I started working on the problems immediately. My riding has improved dramatically for it. One problem is just what you said - squaring your shoulders with your stance - which is NOT squaring with the fall line or toward the front of your board. Even if you ride 70 - 70, that is still 30 degrees off of the front of your board. That comes out to 30 degrees of twist in your body that limits your maximum effective range of motion. A common problem w/our type is also that we keep our body "open" to the mountain on our toeside turns. In slalom type turns, this is alright sometimes, but in other cases, this is not the most effective or efficient way. That is just one example, and I don't want to go down that road any further. Let's go down this road - windshield wiper turns, poor technique, and fun. Does anyone dispute that we can ride how we want to? Of course not. This is America. But this is a post about instruction. Inherent in instruction is that you will have students. Students do not come to an instructor to find out just how to have fun. Watch Jackass - anyone can figure out how to have fun on their own. Students come to instructors to find out the most efficient way to make their tool work for them. That is what we offer. We give them the means to build a foundation for their riding. Once they have this foundation, they can build on it in a way that will allow them to effectively tackle the next step. If someone comes to a lesson making windshield wiper turns, my job is to make their riding more effective. Those turns will not get them down icy death trail safely and efficiently. Since they came to me, I try to help them get rid of those turns. If they don't come to lessons, and are on the hill having fun, and they don't want my advice - great have fun fellas! One last thing. I think that my mountain is very different. About 30 percent of our snowboard instructors either have ridden hardboots or still do. Our terrain is just conducive to it. We also have many customers that come in hardboots. I have seen quite a few even in the last two days. I know that is just our mountain though. A beginner lesson for a hardbooter does not need to be any different than a beginner lesson for softies. An instructor must know to line the rider's body up with their stance, but the rest of the beginner movements are the same. Let's leave rotation out of it because our movements should start in our ankles anyway. I will put my reputation on the line an say that 95% of our instructors wouldn't be phased by a hardbooter showing up for a beginner lesson. They would also effectively teach that person. Maybe that is just my pride as the mountain's trainer. None the less, I would challenge someone to prove me wrong. Again, this is just the mountain where I work. I can't speak for anyone else. I hope that this has been constructive. I really don't have herpes - that was a joke. Just think, this could have all been avoided if you just hadn't mentioned "Mr. Bevier".

Sorry to hear about your experience. How did the other two days go? I had a guy who was lame one day too, but that's the beauty of the exam - there are three different days with three different examiners. If one doesn't agree with you, the others may see the merit in your methods.

Rob Baker is the only one on the Demo team that I know of. That does not mean there are not more. I know of quite a few examiners that ride hardboots, but not necessarily as their primary setup. Again, the issue is whether they have turned their backs on alpine, not whether that is their riding method of choice. I believe that if an alpiner would get to that level, they would most likely be able to go further in the organization. As it stands, none of the LIII alpine boarders have chosen to step up. Again, they are catering to the industry, and the industry is not headed that direction.

What makes you think they have? If you read my post above, I took my level III on an alpine setup. Not only did I pass, but they held my presentation until all of the LII's and LIII's were given out, and then they made a special presentation to me prefacing the presentation with "It is always extra sweet to see someone pass on an alpine setup." That does not sound like they have turned their back. They also had gates setup for part of our exam. We had to teach different racing methodology, running gates, etc. Of course, they didn't let me teach it, thinking that I may have had an affinity to racing (which I don't). But we were tested on our racing skills, knowledge, and teaching. Don't get me wrong, they are not stressing alpine. Who would expect them too. They have an industry to cater to, and, lets face it, the industry is not heading toward alpine SB'ing. So my question to you is: Where do you get the idea that they have turned their back on alpine?

You don't necessarily need a wider board b/c of ski boots. I have had 18cm waist boards - you just have to turn up your angles. You are a skier, so higher angles shouldn't bother you that much. You are already accustomed to a forward body position. I have run up to 70 degrees. Ski boots also allow you to run higher angles b/c of their stiffness. Ski boots w/high angles allow you to apply pressure to your edge in spite of the lack of extra ankle movement by "driving your knees." This makes up for the control that you give up to hardboots and lower angles.

You can definitely carve like a champ on an alpine board in ski boots. A lot of people do. I also ski. I have ski boots and snowboard hardboots. The hardboots are definitely better, but if you are mostly a skier, try the ski boots first. I went for years on ski boots before I broke down and got hardboots. It will save you money in the short run, and in the long run, if you want to get SB hardboots, you still can. I would recommend getting bindings that have a lot of cant/lift options. I believe that when you are riding in ski boots that canting and lifting is even more important in order to find a good stance. There is nothing like being able to go from skis to a board without changing your boots - its very liberating. You're right that it is a lot less weight to carry around too. Good Luck!

That might show that you are a good husband moreso than a good instructor (although I am sure that you are a good instructor too). Good husbands are harder to come by than good instructors. During the season, I see nasty situations with couples every day. I really believe that it says a lot about a relationship when one can learn from their significant other - and the significant other can be worthy of the trust involved with that responsibility.

I am an AASI level III from Ski Roundtop, PA. I have been teaching since 1996. Of course, the important thing is that I took the LII and LIII exams on F2 Speedsters, Bomber bindings, and UPS Mach RSV's. I would encourage anyone else to do the same (alpine setup, that is). I believe that it was a good way to have diversity in the exams. It was important to show that such a setup was optimal for the freestyle tasks at hand. (right?) It is good to hear from you guys north of the border.

I can't hit Windham, but I would like to know who you are, and if that is the scorpion that I rode for a season (from the board room).