nils

Did anyone mention Everest, germany..i have a pristine Everest plastic board...looks like a snurfer made of injected plastic with two footstraps..totally unridable ( never tried)..will try to find a picture! Everest - Germany Bird Surf - France Anders Bringdal Snowboards - France / Sweden ( made in France by Oxbow i think for the former windsurf champ) N

backup of the backup is needed sometimes too ;) in french its called belt AND suspenders provider reinstalled the backup but it still fails at login grrrr i hate that Nils

We have a small problem due to a HD crash at our provider's...trying to fix things out and reupload the backup from yesterday ( thank god we have one)... Please be patient since no one can login on the forum for the moment! thnx Nils

Well i could try to help but aint coming to the SES this year... i assume the guy is not willing cos of the unknown shipping costs to the US...Regular post will just not work, only fed ex, ups, tnt and stuff would and its soo crazy expensive the best way would be to ask your fedex to pick it up his place on your account...Basically shipping a board from France using Fedex is about 150 euros economy its weird ! Nils

jack is right: Loose bails are more subject to fatigue and despite some riders (Jacques for example) liking the loose feeling its putting to much stress on the bails that will break. Another factor is likely to add fatigue to bails, is wide boards ( 23-24 cm) with lower boot angles. Despite having the bails locked tight, the bails get more stress, they are subject to micro bends that tend to, after a while, make the steel weaker and break. I assume there is not much to do besides checking them often, and changing them after a few months of intense riding ( i always carry a spare in the pocket) N

best match: Al, For your size and weight: 3 choices 175 H if you are powerfull 175M if you ride usually icy slopes 168H if you are scared of the length and want a smaller radius the best choice would be 175M ( more versatile board) but the H should be ok :) test both at the SES if you can! Nils

since its asked...we updated the flexes this winter and now offer xs xtra soft flex on the smallest size for girls ( light ones mind you in the 45-55 kilos range)..as well as offering new flex for the BBM out there ( 168 XH and 175XH)...well the weight limit is about 110 kilos now so we assume that we can cover almost any one's weight and size...We feel its almost custom without the wait for a custom board since we really feel weight and size have something to do with choosing the right board. We are looking forward to get many more people adopting smaller angles and to have fun on more forgiving boards that we make.. Let us know what you think of the gen3 boards when u can try it ( SES will have demos :) and forget your high angles for a while and cruise ! Sorry about the lack of time that prevents us to release new vids !! time is running fast when you have lifes to take care off too :) Nils

say goodbye to da baby :) More seriously: you need fiberglass and epoxy to fix such dings. Otherwise it will keep braking ! Nils

always bring spare bails with you...those snap like plastic on the emery course!! N

<div style="font-size:80%; text-align : center;"> <object width="649" height="404"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.zapiks.com/share/player.swf?skin=zapiks&file=21376〈=en"></param> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed src="http://www.zapiks.com/share/player.swf?skin=zapiks&file=21376〈=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="649" height="404" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" ></embed> </object><br /><!-- Thanks for playing it cool - do not remove these credits --><a href="http://www.zapiks.com/xavier-delerue-avalanche-and.html" title="Xavier Delerue: Avalanche and Safety">Xavier Delerue: Avalanche and Safety</a> via <a href="http://www.zapiks.com/_videos_/snowboard_/" title="Vidéos snowboard">Zapiks</a></div>

Halleluia this is great news :) N

BlueB u need to open a french school :) reminded me of Inspecteur Clouzeau As for that tail, its just beeing precise, i don't care really lol... the burton fish ??? does anything beeing called fish gives confusion??? i thought alpine riders where freaks when it came to gear accuracy :) ;) N

semantics says 4807 = fishtail ;) N

does the front bail/back bail on non step in matches that of the TD2? It would be great news since my bails are custom built and unbreakable and i dont want to fight again into the process Jacques went through to make them... N.

Just picture yourself in the seat of Serge... He runs a snowboard company full time, organises a banked slalom tour during the winter, goes to every exhibition, is fighting big brands, trying to fight copies ( btw i find the subject of this topic a bit strange and not very honest toward someone's work.. "does someone has copied X...because i want to buy a copy.."), and building a network of retailers worldwide with only a few people helping him... and imagine the number of emails he gets everyday...medias, shops, customers and people wanting demos...There is not many small brands that are so active worldwide with so few people on board...believe me! knowing how nice guy he is, if he did not answer you its because he is saturated by emails, i guess he has to prioritize with no other choice... Why don't you get in touch with Bola if you are looking for demos instead of dealing with Serge directly? N.

I'm glad i have one :) Look at how it saved Xavier De Lerue ! ( starts after 2'00 mins) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3RPHa6iHU0 he ended on top of a 6 meter snow avalanche, few broken bones and bruises, but alive! N

I'm not pretending swoard invented wide boards u silly :) i was just saying that in 2000-2003 the widest you could find in alpine was 21cm at best, and most of the boards we could find were 18.5... ( maybe its not true but i don't know any alpine performance board of that time that was wide as 22-23cm! Of course the logical, the eagle race etc in 92 were wide beasts, but they were kinda different flex pattern ( aka hard to bend and physically tiring )... and the wide board is more stable at low speeds is not an argument, its just a fact! :) If you ever tried to take a teleski ( not sure of the name in english) on a skwal vs a 23cm board, you know the stability is there when its wide !! N

you mean since 2003 when we launched the Extremecarver i guess.... Pros: - easier to built soft flex combine with high torsion resistance - more stable at low speeds - more versatile ( crud, pow, bumby terrains) - less tiring - easier to make a board able to carve AND slide when needed - more leverage = less power needed - more comfort for the knees ( lower angles) - no more need for cant and lift - more adapted to rotation technique( facing the boots rather than facing the nose of the board) - more efficient for EC with ease Cons: - slower edge changing speeds - sometimes can be heavier - harder to turn when not using rotation technique - need more push pull work The first thing to be noticed when you try a 23cm board is the stability, followed by the need to adapt riding technique to rotation, otherwise it feels like the board is heavy to tilt on the edge...and feels like a log... For my personnal point of view, appart from the EC i gained, i also gained less pains in knees and in my back (getting lower angles and no lift/cant) , and the ability to relax after a long riding day, not worrying about catching an edge or beeing aware of edge position all the time... I'm going in places with that board i wasn't trying to go to with my Proton etc...the loss of edge changing speed was no issue since i am too old anyway for snappy air changes... :) Nils

gunnar u're really wanting some tunnel board don't u! Since Dimitrije's work in '76 and the funky experiments of the early 80's that showed anything works almost in powder: skegs, fins, tunnels etc..( because its more like working on water ) is that you versatility is essential and the hardest thing to be able to make. Dimitrije had edges at a point and thought he would remove it for they were not needed in powder, he did not need to go back on the groomed : actual riders need to be able to carve on the groom, perform in steep couloir, handle speed in powder and crud conditions ( if you ever crossed an avalanche aftermath after it has frozen ( the famous snowballs of death)) you know what i mean ). Tunnels, fancy edge patterns or so called inventions are usually not able to keep the board versatility at the top and what u gain in a way you'll loose in another. The Volkl Selecta is basically a marketing gimmick that works ok until you compare it to another board with the same program in mind ( am not talking pure ST) and that is more versatile maybe... Same goes with the new tinkler design ( incredible craftmanship again btw).. i wonder how much it weights...in the pow light boards are mandatory since you are also working in the Z dimension of the snow ! I feel its gonna be a big beast to ride dynamically...nice experiment thu! ( last question is why use the tanker outline that is not intended to be ridden like a ST and has a very different flex pattern...) Would love to have someone compare it to a Nitro 198 for example! Nils

The issue number one with a powder channel ( aka concave tunnel right?) would be the loss of versatility for the board: it would be undrivable on the groomed, and appart from pure heliski, the board would be useless. Another issue would be the hard times in crud when u need, in steep narrow crud places to skid, slide on the side ( eg: top couloir before an open face where u need to skid 10 meters on 2m wide track) the concave would rigidify the whole process... next thing: how to you grind a concave hull ? How do u press it? sand it etc..? N

I'm also a big fan of the tooltonic tuning file... Doing about 30-40 boards a year, this is simply the fastest tool there is for: - removing sidewall and fiberglass above the edge. - sharpening with accurate angles without effort or pressure needed using the now famous Icecut chrome files from Vallorbe that is now used by all pro ski mans in the WC tour. - polishing quickly with the rotofinish that fits on it ( rotating diamond disks) Of course it does not comes out cheap but we ( at swoard) highly recommend it..I got rid of all the other tools i had for that kit and its accessories. I even carry it in the pocket with a roto finish so when i catch a stone on the edge, i can just repolish it while standing in the lift line :D N

three lines usually: - consumer ( cap / dualtec etc..) - race stock ( always sandwich ) - team ( sandwich prototypes made into custom boards for top end riders) :) basically what bobdea and tufty is the same no...? team skiis are next or in two years race stock models, but since they are team they are really custom to the rider.. i think its about 10 team skiis for a WC rider, each set differently for the different snows and disciplines. They indeed got fake graphics that make it look like stock race but they are not ( remember Isabelle Blanc at SLC olympics on that green Hot that was in fact a tropical tube prototype made for her...). Stock race skiis are available in selected shops for the happy fews, or teams that can find them easily through importers etc...usually at fair prices. Consumer skiis indeed have the "bling bling cosmetic marketing s**t that is just here to make it sell...If a gimmick on those stays more than 3 years its a miracle! N

winterstick.org is the place with the most pics from Dimitrije...the site seems down however....damn..

basically cap saves at least one big step of tooling in the process since it does the finish of the sides at the same time the board outline is cut with the bandsaw, hence saving two things for a manufacturer: sidewall profiling ( + material and labour cost) and sidewall bevelling after the press. This can save up to 25-30 euros ( 250-300 USD ( kidding ;) ) on one board produced in europe. The downside, as Sean said, is the need for mass production aka above 200-300 series to be able to get mold cost backs ( molds are much more expensive than semi-pro molds most smaller manufacturers make... a cap industrial aluminium mold is in the 4000-5000 euros range per size!, almost 10x the cost of a mold for a small serie of sandwich boards. If you know you are going to press 5000, then an industrial mold is required, and the scale benefit of cap vs sandwich is obvious... 30 x 5000 = 15.000 euros saved in prod cost. Small series and prod reliability makes sandwich mandatory almost when it comes to production.. Bola: the examples you give are basically people that would rip on any kind of boards: those disciplines dont really require incredibly complex boards to ride, and the rider makes the difference in 99% of the cases ( Put Kelly Slater or Terje of the good times on an average board and he will rip it to victory. If cap was so good, you'd see them in WC skiis, even if the cost ratio was bad since they would use the best... As for WC skiiers throwing away skiis like kleenex...untrue! They get pairs to develop and when the quiver for the whole season is set and tuned, they basically keep each pair tuned and untouched, just slight tunes here and there so the feeling on each particular pair is the same throughout the season. Countless hours are spent micro polishing edges, but you'll never see someone with a big file on an edge in the WC on a pair that is tuned already...This way the riders dont have to relearn the board/ski feeling each time and can concentrate on riding.. I like sandwich because it shows more man tooling than machine make, and because it is also easier to repair. I'll try to get Jacques write a few words of his thought on this subject too.. :) N.

why are the WC riders on majority not using SI then? N