nils

thnx Fin Actually they seem unbreakable and they did not wear out at all ( the pads, and the bindings of course) the whole bindings are like new after 3 seasons! ( the best bindings I ever tried / had..no more bent bails, broken anything!) ..its just that the pad can slip out in some extremecases, despite the little aluminium angle that is supposed to keep it in place...maybe I could try sticking with double side tape a new one back..( yes its the inside heel / backfoot where the lateral pressure from the boot is maximum). What is good is you can still ride the binding with a missing pad! Am putting and order now for a new set so I have spare in case it happens again.. Thnx! N

Hi all, Have been using the TD3 SW for a long time now..last week I noticed one of the pads got loose, sliding out toward the center of the back binding..I went to a shop and pressed it back in....the next day it got loose again and I lost it ( blue pad).. Any idea what I can do to make sure they do not slide out during riding...it has never happened to me before, and I wonder why suddenly one of them slipped out... Since I'm doinc EC with low angles ( 46°back) and get a lot of lateral movement might explain something...might be the warm temperatures we had too. thnx Nils

gotta love it: " the new change for this year is the buckle binding!".. In 1985 the performer was already outdated by the Hot's, hooger boogers and Sims! The first time i rode a snowboard it was on a rental Performer in switzerland..bad buttpain memories! made me stay on monoski until '88! Nils

Winterstick base..the model i've tried and seen, around 2005 had a graphic on the base, clearer color. I'd say it was PTex 2000, but maybe some guy at the factory thought hey powder people don't care, lets stick to Ptex 1000 and save 50 cts.. Basically if its not black, its not good! Ptex comes as high as 4500 grade now with almost 20% graphite in it: yes its stronger, lasts longer, but its a pain to repair..Swellpaniks use Ptex2000 ( in 2002 like mine, maybe kafi has upgraded to 4000... I shall ask him..But I did not see any damage yet. Rossi nose: haven't notice but i'm only 82 kilos ( and 6.2 sorry not a giant like you). I guess at around 100kilos you could get a custom flex board..Phenix have a stiffer feeling, and Seb Perret can build almost anything, with out without carbon. Not sure Boheme has a custom order solution..leaves you with Kafi / swellpanik ( one season wait) and Phenix...there is also a newer player near chamonix..can't recall the name but they build custom. as well as Clone Ind, a small producer near where I live ( Lyon) Just found this btw

Taro=Gemstick yes Had to get rid of the ST website...no time to maintain with Swoard going on + architecture practice + family!... Never tried the japanese ST, they are too short to my tastes ( am 6.3 and they are around 160cm..) but they seem great! Haven't tried all the boards on the market, but Swellpanik remains my fav, followed by Pogo/ Phenix/Boheme I also love Miura but they are out of the market for now...but shaper Olivier Chaussende told me he is working on it...( tekila model 214cm !) Fascinating with Swellpanik is the thinness of the core and the board..the nose is so thin but still works as a real bumper acting like the suspension of a Baja racing car. Pogo have a more surfy feeling which is amazing in the soft powder, and phenix are powerfull ( lots of carbon) but tiring. It depends on what you want: I prefer the biggest versatility, because 100% powder is rare, and as soon as it gets tracked, the pow only boards get shaky...You also need to be able to hold edges in steep icy parts ( firmness under the feet required)...The Rossi Big Gun 198 was also a great board, the Nitro also. I heard the big Priors work well too ( but they lack the wood/custom work the smaller brands have ). Pintail is important, but I remember I had a excel sheet comparing specs, and it showed that it shouldn't exceed 1.5cm unless you are looking for a pow only board ( loosing versatility ). ( the Winterstick model for example is oversteering as soon as it hits hard parts...but it seems incredible in 50cm deep pow).

Taro is a true legend...He rides with Mick Mackie and they both got swallowtails in their genes..Mick makes the most advanced swallowtail surfboard available, and Taro refines swallowtails on the snow... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mackie-Surfboards/422426141171341

The idea when replying to this thread was not to take it to flames...but to pick up the fact that the specs where exactly the sames shapewise as the board Swoard took many years to refine and produce...Yes competition is fine as long as its fair, it gets more boards out, thus more alpine riders hopefully. As for the wild duck story: Since Jacques was the shaper for wild duck racing boards in the early 90's, it's no surprise that he started experimenting with his knifer design to get it to EC specs flexwise and torsionwise..If anyone has the right to "copy" that WD, I assume its the original shaper, especially since WD shut down alpine gear. The Duret story is different: While the first gen of Swoard was subcontracted at Wild Duck's own factory with the benediction of WD owners, the factory manager asked us if it was possible to use our molds, because he wanted to experiment with carving monoskies for the Duret Brand....it seems the press was running after hours than expected because many ( how many is unknown) Duret Alpine where produced..When the Duret factory bankrupt, all the time I had was to rent a truck, fly to the factory, and get as much materials I could save because they were sold on the black market...I had to put pressure on the manager to get hold of rolls of triax fiber that was already sold cash to some friends before the repo men came to recover IRS money... This is just a small story, not the last one of Swoard's adventures in the wild wild snowboard industry believe me.. As for boards breaking...it happens unfortunately...Some productions break, some rarely break, its very difficult to understand why certain constructions do and some others never do ( for example the Gen1 never broke one single unit...)...the warranty policy of brands does also belong to them.. N ps: 200 protos! It takes us so much work and time to analysis 10-15 protos over 2 seasons, I wonder how its possible to analyze / feedback 200 in...

Let's guess they all have xeon headlights! N

Keyzer: gotcha...also means lucky random ;)..BlueB: what I meant is it would be maybe more interesting to improve designs rather than following trends by the mm...this said the number of real "shapers" worldwide can be counted on two hands, maybe a bit more...

EC 168/22cm, 12.7m “Bulat” M 161/21cm, “Bulat” F Exact same specs as the Extremecarver....but that is total hasard I'm sure.. ;). N

I just got hold of the vola base guide: http://www.vola.fr/eng/sports/product/base-edge-r-glable-de-0-5-1-5/133.html with a good Icecut chrome file it is just amazing how fast you can do the base side.. I have tried to get the base edge done at 1° by good shops a few times with Wintersteiger top of the line machines....Each time the discs would eat a few mm of the base along with the edge...this is why hand tuning is far more precise if you have the right tool of course...but portable machines seem to be ok too since they use them in WC. N

Wouldn't it be more efficient timewise to borrow time from a Faro 3D arm or similar stuff..? This way you would have a perfect view as well as wall thicknesses of the shell etc.? All we know is the aluminium molds have disappeared from the factory in 2003 and are probably now melted into a building or other stuff..I've spent countless hours calling italy in 2003 talking to almost everyone at the factory / offices: they had no clue where the molds were nor had any drawings available we could buy! Nils

It seems it does not need to be yellow to win races: .900 does the trick too FIS race was won this week end using the low end .900 https://www.focus.de/sport/wintersport/snowboard-bergmann-gewinnt-weltcup-rennen-und-loest-ticket-fuer-sotschi_id_3529838.html

neat forum digging :) never saw that model! It looks like a partial assym ( same sidecuts but with advance gravity center on the frontside). they were basically three kinds of assyms: cut tail ( type 1) / forwarded frontside ( type 2 ) / full assym w/different sidecuts frontside/backside and forwarded frontside. The biggest improvement was taking type 1 ( first hoogers) to type 2.. It seems it was made by Serge Dupraz on the first Hot Assyms..What is funny is that it was also hype in wave windsurfing gear ( remember the HT hi-tech brand from Craig Maisonville?) Not sure about what models where of type 3, but I recall a brand advertizing them. for those interested in windsurf history: http://www.mauisails.com/barry_corner.php?id=33 there is an interesting part played by Dimitrije Milovich making carbon masts in early '83

After all these years I still have difficulties understanding your point and attitude...what's the problem?...jealous about potential competition from a very small company that casts shadows on your work? I'm now tired, after 10+years, of the bad vibes you put in the sport...accept the fact that there is other company working there too..that they might have produced better tools that you couldn't help but copy...Respect others like you want to be respected seems the basics of human relations and we ( me but also swoard as a company and its people/customers) try to push the good vibes there are in snowboarding up. As for beeing there with metal, Its not about producing a metal board at all costs, or swoard would have done it before..its just that it took years for a very small company to adress the issues of metal, taking time to produce a not common solution that works...the result is there..but right, it was there 5 years before. N

Gotcha Phil u're right! Read too fast! sorry! but still: Why would one to add dead weight to an already heavy gear ( hardboots) in powder? The reason why I'm not using my SW in powder is that they are too heavy compare to TD2.. Maybe in very deep powder, the added height clearance of the plate setup helps shorter guys not to drown ;)

Here is an example of a good alpine rider in 12'' powder. Wide EC board ( 23cm) and F2 bindings with canting with alpine angles I personaly ride swallowtails with plates ( TD2) and big yellow ring..works fine with lowest angles I can fit on the width ( around 40°front / 30 back) Nils ( I edited the rush from Carved shooting sessions so they appear all white out..it was not totally white out, but kind of..)

Really sorry to hear...Did not know him but always watched with pleasure his experiments with gear and riding style...Very inspirational and in the spirit of the sport! Nils from far away France

http://youtu.be/rbo9zjdT6-o

Hi all, Just finished uploading Canon Surf II! Enjoy! http://youtu.be/IwxuTrBcpGI it's the sequel from Canon Surf I ( 1987) ( link to first movie in next post cos forum won't allow 2 in same post) Same band, almost same crew! Those are the movies I'll cherish always for they made me try snowboarding ! Nils PS: might one day receive a warning email from the makers of the movies to take them out of YT...so take measures if you want to keep them!

You might want to read a few tips here, from JBT, Tooltonic sharpening guru: http://tooltonic.com/conseils.asp?smenuactif=4 check the users manuals: even if you do not own his tool, you can learn from that he developped a new technique that preserves the edge life and makes it very easy to resharpen on a daily basis too...: Steps ( résumé) for a 89° efficient edge 0. Sidewall "shaving" 1. steel detemper using diamond file 200/400( the steel has been heaten by riding or by ceramic discs at the factory and is too hard to sharpen) 2. base beveling (1° guide + race file) plus polishing as much as possible ( diamond 200/400/800/Stone) ( at least one hour per edge by hand) 3. side sharpening with file @87° + diamond 200/400 that is when the trick is happening: 4. side sharpening with diamond 200 @88° ( 12 times along the edge) + diamond 400 (8-10times) at same angle the idea beeing that you will get only a fraction of the steel at 89°, lower 1/3d of the edge, meaning it will be very easy to retune using very small moves and metal consuming.. Hope i'm clear ( I think he has info on the site about that) Nils

Sorry was on a mountain vacation without internet!.. "I just think it's very dismissive and short sighted to phrase things in a way that suggests that going to boards with new school tweaks detracts from that." You're right, and I'm using black and white / right / wrong argumentations on purpose: of course it's not all that simple and things are more complex than that..but like in the manifesto we published in 2002, it's better to make a point using different/radical views than to raise subtle differences... Yes there is guys able to ride EC with long titanal Kesslers/SG with rocker camber and VSR radii, I've seen them in Zinal, I've also noticed they are usually riding with a smooth slower style and that each time they pushed hard into the turns in order to make short linked EC turns, the result was less impressive...but still they do succeed....same goes with the Russian crew doing really nice vids on their almost flat home run that does not require hairy turns..( I'm also bored with vids of EC doing long slopes crossing before turning...I'm looking forward to see/ride tight slope, edge to edge EC turns that require lots of techniques and stamina and speed..but that's another subject...). As I said, since we've tested titanal in our first protos, we've noticed we lost the board's versatility, among which the way the board would be able to distribute the torsion along the edge, with the ability to twist the torsion longitudinaly during the turns if needed. Like a foil of paper you bend, if suddenly you adjust your weight or pressure on one foot tip, the board has ability to twist needing very little energy, and allows you to change edge bite, body placements, exit the turns if pressure increases etc.. What we got with a regular thickness titanal sheet was boards that lost that ability: boards that were locked torsionwise, stiff as hell despite their rather soft flex, making body placement difficult and making the ride not so comfortable ( this negative aspect is enhanced by the use of plate!) We've fined tuned the boards with Nidecker's factory gurus, and couldn't get back that versatility we had previously torsion wise...hence our hesitation and years of prototyping...Is the greater dampening worth the loss of versatility: until now we decided it was not worth it, and versatility was among the big assets a board should have, along with lightness, grip and forgiveness...anyway we experimented different things until now so dampening could be improved.. We are almost done with that research, having found a way to keep a cambered board and use titanal in a way it would give its dampening without killing the progressive torsion..It should be ready by next season... Again: it does not means all the titanal rocker boards are not working, but it's just that we figure its better to have a normal camber board with good dampening and confident grip and edge hold that gives bite all along the edge and is still versatile and easy...that's the path we're following!! maybe camber boards will be extinct, or rocker boards will disappear: time will tell... Nils

I wear a leash EVERYTIME! Last week, I was riding my big swallowtail in knee high powder, and the TD2's I had just mounted and reset to my boots after lending, just opened on my front foot during a big backside turn on a steep slope..the back foot released shortly after during the crash, and I ended up rolling down protecting my head from the board...the board landed flat on the base and started to go down quick before beeing stopped shortly after by the leash!..Relief! If I hadn't had the leash: the board would have increase speed and maybe travel 500/600m and crash in a forest where I would never find it again! ( or kill someone in the process) I started using back the leash in 2002 after a scary board loss in a chair lift. I had just received my TD1's and did not retight the sole length screws after a few runs: Having just the front foot locked on the chair, I removed my foot from the support getting ready for the arrival of the chair lift...board just went down like a gliding plane about 10m high, falling on an almost flat spot in snow/rock area...took me 15 mins to get it back and luck! no one was near or no slope was just under me at the time of the fall... Now I use blue loctite, leash and double check things before each day of riding! Nils

Hi all, Our friend Pierre and his team, has spent countless days and finally released the snowcoach application. I've seen it work in beta, and the history section itself has lots of details ( he's dug into history!) It also has nice pics and the instruction vids are smart as hell ( gifs instead of vids) Best of all: it is FREE ( for some parts grr) ! UPDATE: humm..its not free if you want to see the teaching classes ( and its not cheap ugh..) Business model is selling the lessons which makes sense.. Update 2: for the moment in french..history section has nice pics of the riding turks ( villagers that snowboard for more than a century) More info here: http://www.extremecarving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&p=113063&sid=ae4b0fdb6720f2b798550d4358e662c5#p113063 and here http://thesnowcoach.com/TheSnowCoach/TheApp.html Iphone for the moment ( iOS 6)...android before summer Nils

BlueB, I have nothing really against decambered, and the Swoard concept is kind of decambered in a way since the idea is to have an low camber and progressive flat nose that is indeed kind of familiar today ( we settled around 8mm camber for a 175 for a while)..it's just that when you make a board with more rocker, it just doesn't fit into turns the same way.. The way I see it ( again I'm thinking of writing something about it) is that inserting titanal big ways the way it got after Kessler did it made it necessary to add rocker, otherwise boards are so locked in turns that they loose all versatility: there is no way those sheets of titanal can be torsion friendly when you need them to be: added rocker made it possible to loose grip and gain that easier ride that would otherwise be a no go for titanal appart from very specialized boards. Racers need the extra dampening, thus need titanal, thus get decambered boards, thus it went into mainstream/ fancy in alpine...again, it suits well racing / bomber style where u press the boards with legs down the line, but push pull is difficult on such boards, especially when they are coming from a vertical position on the snow ( which is almost never the case in racing, normal freecarving down the line..). Dampening is an interesting path, but to my opinion with titanal we lost wings on the way...we created rocker boards, plates for extra dampening, heavy weaponry that is good for racing or for some kind of turns that is not what I and the EC guys over here like ( light gear, close to the board, no cant no lift, versatility)..It doesn't mean we should not use titanal, it means titanal, the way it is used now, has not given us the good results for EC or versatile light boards... Regarding VSR, its also something that is made for racing / freecarving down the line but doesnt suit our rotational turns the way it works...I also think like you that it feels unpredictable.... anyway... ;) N