nils

let him finish my board first :)

Sandy, Glad I could help :) Gosh that Metabaron is awsome...I know many ride them SPanik in hardboots, so no worries if that's what you do ( i do ride mine in HB/TD2). What does not do justice is the side view of the board that is missing..the nose of kafi's boards are just so thin you will think they will break, but the flex is so well balanced it just bumps and bumps acting like shock absorber while the rest of the board stays stable.. It likes to be ridden on the front foot too ( no more flexed back leg in powder!) I recommend not doing to much tuning on the base of the board: I just do the edges and wax it, but i rarely grind them ( in order to insure they last longer...one is 1999 and the other in 2002 and they are almost like new.)..will post pics as i get it ( will likely fetch it and test ride it with Seb if I can) Can't wait to receive my Phénix 4 parts split...just got the news the custom pucks are under work :) Nils

Love the foam plank surfing...i remember a pic in a 1988 or 89 surfer of a barbados local or sri lanka local surfing on a door! Surfing is at crossroads of many new ways of riding and inventing new stuff ( hybrids, spoons, finless , mackie swallows etc..) and snowboard developpement is stalling....meaning at a point we shall see it disappear as it is I guess..split boards, wide carvers, fun boards..as we said in the EC manifesto back in 2002, too specialized equipement almost killed alpine...has not changed if you look at carving equipement today ( complex plates, boards, interface etc).. Surfing had the same issue in the early 90's with ultra thin ultra narrow boards that were aimed at good/pro level...then came the hybrids that saved the business, and surfboards dimensions evolved back to safety zone ( I remember seeing a KSlater board for sale in a surfshop in Hossegor in '90, it was so thin you could see your hands distinctly through the board's foam).. As for starting carving, it will be less painfull to learn on a board not designed for racing at its time...meaning softer tips, less stiff body..since choice on second hand is not that big a shorter board in the 158-170 cm range seems fine..bigger gets dangerous ( lock in trajectory syndrome). N

"emerging trend" :)

good grief! EUR 1.436,82 most amazing thing is that someone is going to buy them!!!

for the same money: go to argentina or chile at least you'll get snow and long runs... Glaciers are for the starving, competitors, or new model / proto testing...I find it depressing and the snow sucks....sweet hour last 20 mins from Ice to melted soup... Save the money for a italy/french/swiss/austrian trip next winter! N

Ablapia, First thing that will improve your backside and stop the skidding is rotation ( check all the input from extremecarving.com website, it explains how we teach it). I used to ride 19cm wide boards with 67° angle on my front foot, and my first time on a Swoard 175 proto was like starting from scratch again. Jacques was kind enough to provide the first advices, and I learned rotation by holding my arms together, forcing me to lock upper and lower body at the hips so legs would follow shoulder rotation... It took me 1 season to understand rotation and get rid of counter rotation, and 2 more years to get rid of backside skidding ( average of 22 days per season). Rotation AND push pull technique will help distribute G force along an arc backside, preventing skidding. You have to mentally understand how pushing early in the turn will help distributing the G's along a longer arc, thus reducing the forces on the tail edge...then do it on the slopes....takes time and trial /error process! That is the only way to get along fine with a wide carving board! Nils

Ok...I assume there was no way they could bring stiffness to the board the way the new sliding plates do around the pucks...especially on a 3/4 parts splits this is needed! N

What the hell is a sidewinder split-board binding....? i know bomber manufactures the plates for Spark's is that it? thnx Nils

It is likely the board was made in canada, where the prod was done until Régis created Apo. He had a joint venture with a Canadian at the time. Then he launched A snowboards, got purchased by Rossignol that took him down, then launched Apo! He is into splitboards now!

"Would love to hear a synopsis of the Duals capabilities and limitations...........I was very interested in the Dual untilI I saw their anorexic weight restrictions!" Hello Barry, We designed the Dual with the intention of having a board able to be ridden with plates and softboots, carve well ( Normal EC is do-able), hold and edge and perform in powder and various terrain...dual = do all..It does carve better than a normal freeride board, goes powder way better than alpine gear...Basically, it is the board I'm using when the conditions are not perfect alpine or full powder, always in alpine set up. It has limits in each range ( not the best carving board, not the best powderboard) but offers the biggest range of use possible on a board especially in the carving range which is usually the limit ( edge hold) on normal freeride models. Weight restrictions: As with the Extremecarver, we tried to offer as many flexes and core strength as possible, but there has to be limits in order to prevent breakage, and there is also manufacturing limits: it would be unwise for Swoard to produce special weight range (such as the XH flex on the EC models) for a board that is less custom in essence. The exotic flexes ( XS XH etc) are very rarely purchased even on the EC models, so on the Dual it would imply stocking boards that would be maybe never sold, and be a burden on finances...Difficult for a very small business that tries hard already to store as many flexes as possible ( I believe no other brand does offer so many flexes in non custom...). Last thing, unless you are really out of weight range, try a Dual if you can! Nils

cool pics :) am glad Paula is back on Swoard :) Nils

used to do that in the late 80's...most slalom riders in the WC did too...they used Salomon SX91 equipe ( the redboot) on front foot, and other stuff in the back. I had salomon SX51 in front, then Koflach Albona on the back ( before switching to SB121 on both feet later on with assymetrical boards) N

"You can find a site with dedication to Extremecarving and Extremecarving-boards on internet" I might have heard of that one ;) Nils

Hey Christian! Thnx for feedback and pics ( awsome board!!) its basically the same setup ( nutwood too but black outer sidewalls) i'm going to get, but: - longer board 183 ( am used to long tour skiis since I am 190cm tall and have 186 Elan Apex skiis) - 4 parts ( foldable central part): Seb said it would add rigidity since it adds a couple of locks on the board - Seb and Lucas are trying to find a way to modify pucks so I have bigger angles. Indeed I understand the scoop issue ( flat nose)..I guess its the drawback of riding a swallowtail vs a shovel like board... Nils

corey: you always paddle more than you should when surfing ;) appart from pro level, or native islanders that are born on a board, and barely paddle to take off: paddle is the major part of surfing time!

Hey Not sure what you mean about what you mean: "Nils, take attention to what kurtsk8 (Snowboard Alpinismo) tell us, his is not that wrong." any link? 4 parts boards have indeed a much better rigidity and overall are almost as coherent as non splits, which is indeed good for our european conditions with various snows on the same slopes. This is one of the reason i'm choosing that too. ( the other beeing the ability to have symetrical skiis that are not too wide, with edges that work on both sides the same way) I prefer to use hardboots that could still use regular skiis when downhill with kids...I have so much gear already when I drive...Rather not add another kind of setup! Plum is awsome gear ( might get their front part) a bit expensive..will see. Pucks are indeed the part that need some Bomber ingineering to be able to get more angles ( Fin...? :) )...will know soon if I can get my 35°front with the modified spark pucks...I have a big stance so maybe the front part of the Dynafit/Plum will not be an issue..will see N

Surfing is way more difficult, because you're on perpetual moving ground....and need to cope with many parameters snowboarders do not have.. - speed of incoming swell - position of sweet take off spot ( too far away and wave is not powerfull enough to take you, too deep inside and you go "over the falls" because you have no time to stand up before the wall is vertical and eat it.. ( on fast powerwaves the sweet spot/take off/standup is a 2 second timing...) - beeing able to paddle with efficiency so you gain enough speed to get the lift from the wave - beeing able to time the take off kind of pushup with hands pressing nose of the board while feet move to stand up position. Sensations are 100x bigger with surfing, once you glide on water you never forget it! Even a 5 second wave will be printed forever if it was good! Learning curve is long, but worths it! Florida is one of the good places to learn ( I learned in SC which has similar conditions) warm waters, gentle waves not too big, beach breaks, no sharks usually! Try to learn with a softboard of bigger size ( avoid shortboards): you need stability and flotation. N

Wide enough for EC that ramp :)..wish it had no flatter parts!

moscow has mountains steep enough for alpine races....? wow

Got small feedback from Phenix...waiting for the quote too! Remarks: the existing pucks limit today the angles to 25°..I asked for a 35° front, and 25° back in order to avoir overhang.... will feed answers here! Nils

Pressure put on the disc is so huge, it is in hundreds of pounds per square cm...the fibers around the disc holding it in place cannot resist the offset pressure... In my case, my spine is not perfectly align ( tall...too stiff meaning joints do not act like bumpers and all physical stresses go to the lower spine) and arching my back with weight on the neck to lift and reinforce back muscles overpowered the fibers, and disc nucleus got pushed out... Allee: thnx for the sympathy...I was very lucky not to have unbearable pain...could still walk up and down stairs ( with sloooow speed).. Now cannot wait for training...crossing fingers about the fact that I can row again, and snowboard of course without putting my vertebra in danger ( next step would be surgeon, plastic disc....then step 3: vertebra "soldering"...then step 4: wheelchair..) n

Gosh I see am not alone! Early december, after a gym session at the rowing club ( was too cold to row on water) I got a discal hernia on L5/S1...fortunately the sciatic nerve was not damaged to the point needing surgery, and just received infiltration of corticoids to ease the pain. I am friend to a very famous back surgeon here, and he told me its always better to avoid surgery, unless the nerve is under so much stress it can get permanently damaged. The surgery on L5 is quite simple, its the recovery period that seems long and painful....after 3 full months I am now recovering ( got rid of tramadol and other myorelaxing pills after 1 month)...He told me the worst that can happen now to my spine is torsion moves...hence he does not recommend swimming but axis oriented sports. I am scheduled now to see a massage therapist specialized in sports in order to learn doe's and don'ts, and how to gain belly and back muscles in order to hold my spine. He also recommended a total reconfiguration of my office space: - ergo chair ( receiving my Hermann Miller Embody tomorrow, after trying many models this one is good with my back) - raised screen so my head is level ( not easy with laptops) - optionnal raised desk ( stand up position) > will consider purchasing Ikea's motorized model. As for sports, should be able to go back to rowing after the recovery time, then snowboard...I'll have to make sure I'm locked at hips ( mandatory rotationnal technique so spine is aligned as much as I can during turns...) Will let you know what exercice therapist creates for me ( tall / stiff joints kind of guy) Nils

ok thnx!...indeed you can float with narrow board as soon as you have speed, I try to keep my angles under 40° in pow ( 35°front/15 or 20°back) to have a more surfy feeling..means I cannot go lower than 23 cm in waist if I want to avoid huge overhang... N

Not sure what a alpine split board with a 20cm waist would be used for....? Please explain! thnx