shredliner

Helps a lot! I'm definitely getting it stone ground then. I have some diamond stones and now a new ceramic, some I am ready! Now, I need to locate a good shop in N. Tahoe to get it ground when I'm out there. Any ideas there?

Ok, that's what I was thinking. Will do that either in Tahoe soon or wait till Copper in April.

Ok, just when you think you have a clue, you realize how clueless you really were. I have been tuning my edges ALL wrong, for awhile. Started reading here in-depth, a lot of the various tuning articles. Have since purchased all the tools, stones and so forth I need, to do it right. However, prior to this, I was using an edge filer, every time to "get the edges sharp". I was also, pulling on the filer (fixed tool) fairly aggressively. Probably put the wrong angles on too, now that I finally understand what's what. For all I know, I might have put 2 on the base, 1 on the edge. Duh. So, my question is, how do I NOW ensure my base/edge angles are correct? I'm thinking 1/2 (base/edge). How do I undo any "damage" I might have done, previously? I like doing stuff myself............just hate the painful learning process sometimes!

Interesting story. Any chance you could freelance Peter to Copper first week of April for the USASA Nationals? He'd get a lot of business and I would LOVE to learn from someone like that.

Will be in N. Tahoe starting Sat.,for 7 days, maybe a day or two at Rose, as we're staying in Incline village. Perhaps Mon. or Tue. at Rose. Recommend any runs? Look for an amateurish guy on a yellowish Nidecker. Oh, my wife will be somewhere behind, getting mad cause I keep leaving her....

:lol: Me so stupid! Thanks. No wonder I couldn't ride it right, I was riding backwards!

What I meant to say (after reading that article) is, the comparative closeness of your knees/feet, vs. the wide stance on a free-ride board. THAT, takes getting used to. Ohhhh, whatever....

Ruh roh, did I bring up an old or tired thread?

It'll be like riding a bike.........sidesaddle. What I haven't seen mentioned here yet, is the BIG difference in hip/body alignment from soft to hard setup. Being only in my 2nd serious season, it still confounds me at times. The body alignment, hips forward, knees together is WAAAY different and for me, that's the hardest part.

Great quote. Slight change to that could be: First two words skiers hear from a boarder: "My bad".

Yup, everyone loves to watch us NSP'rs crash and burn. Blew the landing on a nice backside 180 the other day while soft-booting..... right under the lift of course, in uniform.

Actually, that would probably work. My wife and I were planning on Heavenly at some point, might as well be Monday. Recommend any specific runs that are good for carving and good for an intermediate snowboarder (wife)?

I guess it's fitting that the first snowboard I ever owned was/is the Craig Kelly mustard/ketchup design, the one pictured in the bumper sticker mentioned above. I still have that board, adorning my living room. Time to throw some old fashioned method's in his honor.... He died doing what he (we) loved, not a bad way to go.

Hey All, Long time no post. Posted this in tahoecarvers.com too. I'm heading to Tahoe Jan. 31-Feb. 07 (sure hope it snows more). Would really like to get some coaching/lessons in my carving, as this is only my 2nd year (probably less than 50 runs) on hard setup. Any recommendations for instruction or any volunteers? Really want to be more competitive when I see some of you guys in April at Copper! Thanks,

Ok, I'm new to alpine carving, but not carving in general. I can and frequently do, what I call, a full apex carve. In other words, I come in fast, carving toeside up the hill, and continue in a hopefully, elegant circle. Yes, the top of the arc is less trenched than the first 180... So, what's the correct/current terminology for that? Full apex carve? I use that often. 360 degree turn? Also, is a heelside full apex carve possible on alpine gear, possible and/or normal? My first day out on my alpine gear, recently, I carved heelside up and past 180 without trying, then fell over. So, I'm thinking, it's possible. Anyone do that on a regular basis. GREAT NEWS!!! 5-7" of snow expected tomorrow night, more the next day. Woooo hoooooooooooo! Regards, Erich

Uggh, I'm sure I have it somewhere but can't find the exact specs. The board is a Nidecker 161, sidecut and so forth, I can't recall or find but, I don't think it's very agressive, more mellow. I think the idea of, going slower, learning the "norm" is what I need to do. Being a very confident carver on soft setup, I think I'm pushing/expecting too much on my first alpine adventures. Thx again for reply.

Ok, as told to me by a guy who's been surfing much longer than me, here's the origin of the term goofy. Some details lacking. There's a surf break in California, the name of which is totally slipping my mind at the moment. The wave breaks right consistently, for a regular footer, they would be on their toe-side, facing the wave. (gawd, I hope I'm remembering that correctly....) Almost all of the surfers at the time surfed regular, facing the wave. That, looked normal, regular. A few others, riding with their right foot forward like me, would have to surf the wave with their back to it, which the "regular" surfers said, looked GOOFY. Hence, the name.

I'm carving on a Nidecker, with Raichle bindings and Raichle 123 boots. Decided to take the full leap with the setup. Honestly, I'm not really sure what angles, as the plate measurements go up to 45, then back down to zero. If that makes sense. But, It's pretty dang steep, I'm sure, to keep the toes from touching when I carve, had to make it steeper. I did have one heelside carve, that I damn near brought around to a full 360, but stopped at about 270, then fell over. Never did that on softies/heelside. Toeside on softies, all the time. I think what's weird is, on a soft setup, you REALLY have to lean into the turn to put it on full edge, compressing the bindings and your legs. Seems a lot less effort to do the same on the carving, which is throwing me off. Think I'm over-powering it at times. Well, when(if) I get another hour or two in, I'll give some more feedback, to see what's what. Perhaps I'll also take a photo of my setup/stance, to see what y'all think. Till then, I'm going to read that "Norm" article a few more times, that seems like a keeper and a great way to learn.

Well, yesterday was my first official attempt at this thing you call hard booting. It's QUITE a different feeling than soft booting. First three runs, I was feeling pretty good, didn't fall once, which I thought was an accomplishment. Kept sliding out on my heelside and had a LOT of trouble getting the board over onto my toes, probably fighting it with my back leg, I'm guessing. The snow was REALLY soft, at 48 degrees yesterday so, it probably wasn't a good first day to attempt. Now and then, I would think I was getting the feel for it. Seems to me, that you really have to trust the board more and let it find the carve. Keeping nose pressure seemed to help too. Also seemed like, when I would sorta just pivot from knees on down, the turns came easier. Not easy, but easier. Noticed on the lift ride up, my bindings and/or boots were leaving a parallel track in the soft snow. Adjusted em more forward, eliminated most of that. Had one hard heelside turn, where my front boot popped out of binding! Whoa, that was interesting and upleasant as I slid 10 yards on my back, in my patrol uniform no less. Tightened that up and no more pop-outs. Only rode for about an hour before the call of the soft boots and the need for competency got the best of me. One question, if you've read this far. What type of hill/steepness is recommend for learning? A shallow green seems too shallow to get necessary speed. A steeper black (by mid-west standards) had me slipping out too much. Anyway, looking forward to trying again.... if the rains don't cancel those plans.

Actually, pushing a freestyle board is much more effective and fast. For 14 of my 16 years of riding, I pushed on the toeside. Finally went to heelside pushing and it's much smoother, enabling you to keep the board on edge the whole time, where that doesn't happen when you push on the toe-side. There are times when only toe-side will work, depending on the slope. But I am now convinced and have demonstrated side by side, that heel-side pushing is faster. For skate-boarding, I always used my backfoot and thought front foot pushers were freaks. ;-) Spent my first solid hour ever, on my carving board yesterday. What a trip, way different feeling.

Finally got my "new" alpine setup, all gear has arrived. Can't wait to try it out tomorrow, for the 1st time. Hey fastskiguy, do you ever come down and ride Wilmot? Without a crowd, u can definitely get 100 runs in. If you ever want to come and ride for free, shoot me an email, I patrol there and have a guest pass. Recently patrolled at Alpine as a guest patroller, forgot how nice that hill is. LOVE, the high-speeds. We don't have those. I'll be out at Wilmot tomorrow, rescuing the ankle biters. Fun, fun. Hey, if there's any local boarders interested in being a patroller at Wilmot, lemme know. We could always use more, as there's only about 10 or so of us.

Yeah, duh, shoulda noticed the clear blue and lack of kelp but hey, that's what ya get reading late at night, post Miller. Wow, that's a thick-friggin wave. I thought Hawaii waves were thick, having lived/surfed here a few years. Great thing about snowboarding, the mountain (almost) never chases you down....almost. Surfing: It's simple, either you catch the wave, or the wave catches you...

As a skateboarder/surfer/windsurfer/snowboarder/wakeboarder- in that order, here's how I see it, still. From the early days skating a pool, or ramp. When/if you hit the top of the ramp, half-pipe, or wave and turn so that your front is facing said lip, or coping, that's a front-side. If your front is facing what you're turning away from- frontside and vice versa. This is exactly what they refer to in half-pipe or slope-style contests/moves. Which is made double-y confusing, when riding switch. Entertaining and memory jogging conversation. BTW, someone mentioned the Step Into Liquid video, there's a scene in there of surfing Lake Michigan, my friend Lester is narrating....yes, you can surf a lake............frontside, or backside! Surfs up, Erich

So, I'm fairly sure the photo is Laird Hamilton dropping in, backside, on a really big wave, Mavericks I'd guess. More so, he's a regular foot, going deep on a "left" wave. Us goofy's love lefts, less so, rights... Why, because a "left" is a toeside wave for us goofy surfers. Being a skateboarder/surfer first, the terms still make sense to me. But, I do see the reasons for confusion. So yeah, I find myself saying, toeside or heelside more than not, much less confusing to beginners. Um, what were we talking about?

"Then mesure the contour's length in cm - that's your mondo point." I pretty much did that, by stepping on a paper ruler, from heel to big toe. It showed about a 26.5cm, but the Nordica guide had me at a hair under, 25. So, I'm guessing, somewhere between the two is about right. Around here, finding shops with varied measurements, is pretty difficult. Thx.