crackaddict

It happened again! Another epic closing weekend...

Hey @Xargo Missed this thread the first time around. Will you please explain this extreme carve to me? In all seriousness. Sometimes called the "down un-weighted" turn, sometimes the "Eurocarve", it has more to do with compression and extension of the knees than weighting or un-weighting. In a pencil line carve I'm tall at the edge transition and maximally compressed at the apex; in the EC turn the rider is maximally compressed immediately after the edge transition (while still riding the downhill edge sometimes) and then the legs are fully extended through the apex. Seems to me this technique aims to get the body as low as possible to the snow surface, and this is what I don't understand. Why? The pencil line turn has less chatter and less drag so you can keep more energy through the turn, and without chatter you can turn tighter and enjoy more g-force. You can still get your elbows dragging but without any real weight on them, and you can make more turns if you don't displace so much snow with your board (just look at those heelside tracks at 57 seconds and 1:02 in the first video) and your body. Your heelsides are much better than your toesides. Your knees are straight through the apex but you compensate by bending at the hips over the front of the board so it puts you in a better body position with your shoulders somewhat level and facing the front of the board. Some compression in the knees at the apex would smooth out the chatter. In my opinion your best turns (first video) were from 14 to 33 seconds. These leave a nice pencil line track. Now, if you had left a pencil line through the first 13 seconds of turning also you would have come to the flats with enough speed to get a hand down for a few of those turns at least. At 45 seconds you can clearly see the EC position, but the Eurocarve does have it's place. That is kind of a high turn on a steep section and even I have been known to extend through an apex over a roller or across a steep face on toeside, but when I do it there's less weight on the hands and thus less snow on the moustache. Also less chatter. I call it the "safety turn". I also do the safety turn when I don't have enough speed or space to make the turn I really want. Like you do at 53 seconds. This was a good turn, smooth track. Well placed if unfinished. At 50 seconds there's a kind of proper heelside with level shoulders, this one is decent with only a little chatter. Again, you're overcompensating for the straight knees by bending very far at the hips. 1:32 was another good heelside turn; well finished, good style. It kind of works sure, but why? What is this style? Why not aim for less chatter and a smoother, faster turn? And more turns! Why lie down on the snow? For real. Why compromise the turn just to drag your butt and your armpit? Should you not maybe first master the chatter-free smooth turn before trying to do it fully extended? Please explain the extreme carve to me. And if you're dead set on learning this technique, it looks to me that the best EC riders have only the rear armpit dragging on toeside and the front arm down the side of the body (hand on thigh), with more open shoulders and less rotation than you demonstrate. Try that.

Indeed they were... I was getting pretty excited imagining how high the carved 360 video could go. It seemed to have stopped quite suddenly at 74K views on Monday and I'm not sure I can get that many again - I only have one trick! Despite all my new found fame I want you all to know that winning the day on ASB means so much more to me than all the adulation from the YouTube strangers. Thanks friends! I knew you all would appreciate the empty chairs, empty runs, and the perfect grooming on some of the widest steepest runs anywhere, but the reality is that it's not like that here very often anymore. I had to wait all season to get these sections on video; it was a lot of cloud and fog, and a lot of very soft corduroy this winter, plus they don't groom the best sections very often and it's exceedingly rare to find them done three days in a row (my minimum standard to bring the camera out). Having said that, the next few days should be exceptional carving! It has been such a great winter, one of my best for sure... (Is there any snow left in Colorado? I'm dreaming of a road trip. Will it stay cold in Tahoe or just be refrozen crud every morning?)

Ya but... snowboarding

Stay domestic! Deep base and fresh snow in the forecast every day this week in Revy!

Apparently people like my videos this weekend...

Thanks Ink. That's my voice.

I can't stop laughing at this one... Even funnier than a guy getting hit in the nuts. For real though, not only does he not head check at all (on toeside yet!) he aims right into the park exit! Douche indeed!

Better than it looks with the sun skimming right across it... That was 9:20 this morning - 50 minutes after the lifts opened! I think people have forgotten it's still winter up here.

Proudly presenting the first ever T4 softy Contra! 174cm overall, 298mm waist, 14m radius, stiff enough to scare me just a little... Just in time also, we're expecting at least two more days of top notch carving before the next storm. See those two small lights over the nose at treeline? Those are the groomers working hard to cover all my tracks from the morning session. So inspiring! Sadly, this may be the last new board posted to this season's board porn thread, but it's also my third in this thread so I think maybe I win?

Skip to 25 seconds if you can't stand looking at this guy's big red butt sticking way out.

Yeah... I don't know where the confusion came from, I'm gonna have to ask Coach Cam what he was thinking.

Thanks Boys!

Thanks @inkaholic and @SunSurfer. This is the way I've always done it, on bikes too. The confusing part was the coach telling the kids to stand tall on top of the roller, and then trying it and it kind of seemed to work... Is there an alternative method that works in certain circumstances or was Coach Cam just plain wrong?

Thanks for all the answers boys! I looked at those European manufacturers' websites and only saw two boards with even mid-wide waists: The SG Soul goes at 275mm in the XT version but it's only 159cm long with a 9.75m scr. The OES FR Wide 162 boasts a 28.1cm waist and a 9-14m scr but it's not metal. All my Canadian softboot carving boards are titanal with waists between 29.4 and 30cm and sidecuts between 12 and 16.5m. Wake me up when Kessler, Oxess, or SG start making big metal freecarvers at 30cm please. Only one more question for now: When I try to gain speed over rollers I compress at the top and push into the downslope and that's what I see in BX races too, but tail guiding for the kids' team here the coach was telling them to stand tall at the top of the roller and compress in the lowest part between them. I tried it and it worked, but now I'm confused...

Looking good @Jack M! Are those the same pants you had at SES 2009?

Yeah... I think the bindings should match the boots should match the board should match conditions... No sense coupling the stiffest bindings with a too soft boot for example, you'll just have to ride the binding loose to keep from crushing your feet and then you might as well have the higher heelcup too. The stiffer your interface the better your board will carve in great conditions; I'll loosen the boots and bindings for very soft or icy surfaces though. There's no such thing as too stiff in the soft boot carving world (unless you want to throw in some Knapton style flatland tricks). Hardboot stiffness might be too much some boards sure, but I just order stiffer boards and it's not a problem. I'll take some of the stiffeners out of my boots and ride Drake Podium bindings on my production NeverSummers (mid-wide West Bound DFs) for example. I like the O-Drives for poor conditions, slow speeds, and high comfort; the Podiums are fine for all mountain riding on production boards; the Flux XV is for high performance direct responsiveness on my fastest boards.

@dhamann I have two sets of XVs, these are the bindings I use for testing boards (that's why two identical sets). I have ridden the CVs too though not a lot (they were borrowed). The XV is hands down the stiffest and highest performing soft boot carving binding I have ever tried; very stiff, boot-crushing ratchets, low profile, good adjustability, fast in and out, lightweight... However, I do develop some pain in the outsides of my lower legs when I ride them too much and I've heard this from other Flux riders also. When the pain comes on, I just switch to softer more comfortable bindings for a few days and then back to the XVs as soon as possible! Love the feel and the ride. The highback on the CV is way softer and the extra flex is noticeable for sure. To me it's weird that they put the higher heelcup on the softer binding. I would love to ride that CV heelcup with the XV highback.

@Sochca Is it noon already? I was just sitting down to write up some feedback for you... I guess I'll give it to you tonight instead. (Please bring home an olive loaf and some avocados.) Oh well, I guess we only caught one fish, @Cthulhufish Show them the 360s! (360s in progress really, more like 270s...)

Taking a coaching cert this week and a lot of questions have come up. Looking for some history and current culture please. What was the first twin tip board? When was the word "switch" coined? I thought we used to call it fakie? Is there soft boot carving scene in Europe? Are Oxess and Kessler making wide waists yet? Thanks Boys.

That's a good start. Next work on carving to 270 degrees on a wide flat section with the tail spin finish, and then pretty soon you're doing the full 360!

Try grabbing your front knee with your front hand (on toeside), straighten the arm and lean back on it, pulling on the knee. Or try a different board with a softer tail...