jtslalom

It's the same as you riding hard boots. I ride softboots as if they were hard boots. I guess it sounds strange to most but it works for me. Coming off of riding hard boot gear since 1992 I traded it all in to go back to softboots in 2005. I never changed my angles. I will ride 15 15 or even 3 12 back-front from tine to time but if I am driving turns its 60 57. Basically I look like I am hard booting when I ride soft boots.

57 front, 60 back with cant beds to bring my knees together.

So a friend lent me his 157 Nidecker Area 2018 board to ride. I have ridden it 6 days at my local resort with crazy steep binding angles 60-57. Yes I know they are steep and a little crazy for that board but that's how I ride. Today I went to a small resort in NY called Catamount. I rode the Nidecker for four runs. I decided to swap out boards for my Rad Air Tanker 172. After only 1 run I completely understand the reason why I love this board so much. I really have to say that the Rad Air Tanker 172 is the "BEST" Carving board that I have ridden on softboots. It is such an easy board to ride in all conditions and completely outperformed the Nidecker. I am really annoyed that I spent so much time on that Nidecker. Don't get me wrong, it's a good board but for me, pales in comparison to the Rad Air Tanker. Jt

Some solid riding conditions today at Catamount. Smiling Dave and I met up with yet another Dave to ride the mountain. It was great turning boards with you Dave and yet another softbooter that can really carve a board. We drove some great lines in Upper and Lower glade runs. Seemed to be the nicest slope on the hill for carving. Thanks to ski patrol for opening it late and giving us first tracks. All in all Catamount is a very carving friendly mountain. It has just enough pitch, width and trail length to satisfy the 172 Tankers appetite. Definitely will make a trip there again this season. Jt

Smiling Dave and I will be riding Catamount all day on Wednesday 1/19/22. Hope to see other carvers there. Jt

Rode today Friday 1/7/22 for the first time this year. The season has gotten off to a SLOW start. Yes the mountain has been open for about two weeks but today was the first day worth while for riding. Surprisingly the conditions were not bad. MC has been making snow every chance they can get since this past weekend and it has paid off. Took 5 runs and can honestly say that conditions were pretty good. Trail width is not quite there yet but you can carve edge to edge on smaller boards. The only way down from the top is Turnpike so there aren't many choices for runs but they are making snow on Garden. South is open as well but again there is only one run down the south summit. Is it worth the drive from NYC, No. If you are looking for variety, go north. If you are looking to burn your legs through human gates then MC is a good choice. See you there. Jt

Have you sold your Rad Air yet?

Day 36 & 37 over the weekend (2/13-02/14). Was one of the best riding weekends I have had in some time. Saturday we made 12 carving runs arcing big turns at north and granite. The corduroy felt like Styrofoam. Riding Rad Air Tankers 172 cm we were able to drive deep GS lines without having to make way for other skiers and riders. The slopes seem to be completely empty prior to 9:30 am . So much room to carve. Thanks to MC management for opening up the triple chair early on Saturday. It certainly lessened the crowd on the cab and gave us an option to actually sit on the ride up. No lines to speak of and the overall carving conditions was a 10 out of 10 on my scale. Sunday we actually found untouched powder in the woods and blazed fresh lines in some of the mountain bike trails. Yes there were still stashes of untouched powder. Riding my K2 Fatbob it felt like we were at a different resort riding the woods. We were able to get 13 runs by 11.

100% Open. MC even has a glades run called Moonspin. That was the old trail that has been more or less over grown that once ran under the old Blue Chair. Conditions have been fantastic. Day number 32 was yesterday. Took the day off today just to take a rest. We are getting up to five inches of snow tonight and into tomorrow morning 2/9/21. Not that we need it but every thing only helps the cause. Carving has been off the charts. There are less people on the slopes because the resort does not pack the lifts. This means a less dense crowd on the slopes and plenty of room for carving. It's truly a dream come true. If you can handle the 10 - 15 minute lift lines you will certainly enjoy the freedom of carving side to side along any slope. Jt

Day number 29 today. WOW!!!!! We received anywhere from 29 - 33 inches of snow in Vernon from the last storm depending on where you measure and who you listen to. Conditions are completely AWESOME. If you are into Riding through the woods, down mountain bike trails and bumps/moguls then you should come out and ride. Bumps are forming on Racing trail, Kamakaze, Zero-G, and Grand Prix. There are countless woods shots but any fresh powder is hard to come by at this point. I made 9 runs at Vernon Peak yesterday 2/2/21 and got the 4th lift up for the day. Zero-G was completely untouched with 10 inches of powder over the softest groomed run you can think of. We were able to get 4 fresh lines with no one else on the slopes. It definitely got crowded by our 4th run so to the mountain bike trails we went. Today 2/3/21 was all bumps/moguls on Racing trail and KK at Bear Peak. Leave your carving board home until the end of next week. It looks like we have two more storms coming through on Friday and Sunday. Friday may drop snow and rain while Sunday looks like all snow. Not much accumulation expected but enough to keep the bumps big and conditions soft. Again, leave those carving decks at home and bring a bump board and a woods board, Your gonna need them. Jt

Day number 25 yesterday 1/28/21. I rode Bear peak for a little over 2 hours and was able to get in 11 runs. Conditions are excellent for carving. Every slope on Bear peak is now open. Trail width isn't great but it is enough to get a Tanker 172 to carve a good line. I finally got the chance to ride with three other carvers. It was awesome to look back at our lines and try to decide who made what line. It's also nice to try to match carves and stay in some one else's carve line. The dumb games we play! Anyway it was a great day riding and will only get better with the cold weather that is upon us and a possible 6 inches of snow on the way for Monday. I will be riding today in the later afternoon on Bear peak and Saturday morning on Vernon peak. Hope to see other carvers out there. Jt

I'm sure I will get grief for this however I ride 57 degree front and 60 degree back with K2 Thraxis soft boots and Ride El Hefe bindings on my Tanker 172. I really don't know what to say about it other than it works for me. I ride my softboots like any other hard booter (Plate rider) would ride hard boots. The stiffness in todays softboots very much resemble softer hard boots back when I rode hard boots (1992-2005). Salomon Malumutes and Burton Driver x used to be good softboots for carving but the Driver x's have gotten softer throughout the years. I have almost always ridden Ride bindings. I find the metal frame makes for a stiff base. They do break and I have gone through a few pairs but Ride warranties for life of binding. I also have a pair of Catek metal softboot bindings. They are stiff but weigh a lot. I'd rather ride with the El Hefe's. Jt

Sure, I'm riding a Rad Air Tanker 172 with K2 Thraxis boots and Ride El Hefe bindings. This is about the siffest set up I have found thus far riding soft boots. On that set up I ride with no cants and very little lift toe/heel. I have a 17 inch stance width with a 60 degree back angle and a 57 front. I'm sure not many riders ride soft boots this way. I have been told many times that my riding style is quite unique. I advise no one to ride like this unless you are riding plates. Jt

Belleayre had more natural snow than I expected. They received about 3 - 4 inches the night before I rode there. Conditions were pretty good for carving. I felt it was actually a little to soft but at times you could feel the hard pack right below the surface of the soft snow. Personally I'd rather just ride the hard pack. All in all it was a good day especially on Belleayre run. The top was a mogul field but the middle section was pretty good for driving good lines. Jt

Having tried just about every cant and lift configuration, I ride flat now. My Ride El Hefe bindings come with a little bit of toe lift on the foot pads but besides for that, I ride flat. Jt

I will be riding Belleayre tomorrow (Friday 1/22/21) Hope to see other carvers rippin it up. Jt

Top half ice frozen granular and bottom is soft.

Day number 19 today, 1/17/21. The lift opened this morning at about 7:45 am. Had three runs by 8:30. By 9:00 the lift line was like sleeping out waiting for concert tickets. Took a few runs on Sugar lift to round some turns. All in all the conditions were good for carving. Very firm frozen granular that eventually became dust on crust. The last few days before today had soft mushy conditions which I am sure most people liked, however it wasn't that good for carving. Cold weather coming in should stiffen up the slopes and make conditions prime for carving up some good lines. Trail widths are still kind of narrow although more trails have been opened. Bear Peak with KK and Race trail are now opened but not real wide. All in all MC gets an "A" for effort.

From a guy riding hardboots near the lift after a run says to me, " I thought you were riding hardboots." Nope, softboots.

Eboot, I will be riding at Catamount next week some time and can PM you. If you would like I can show you what I am talking about and we can take a few runs together. Jt

I know this is a picture of a skier but I tend to model my riding after ski racers. Look at his edge angle or board angle. Very high. When carving ice you need to get that board on a high edge angle. Coming out of transition you need first ankle flexion. This means you start your turn flexing your ankles and pointing your toes up. Your stance is around 60 degrees so flexing your ankles will start your turn. Next are your knees. Drive both of them together down toward the inside of your turn. Do all of this while keeping your weight forward and over your front foot. This does NOT create more pressure on your edge but rather keeps your center of mass over it. This will help in the case your board slides. In a low position where your center of mass is over your front foot makes it easier to regain control of your edge if it slips. Last is to create an angle with your hips. Look at the skier I posted and look at the angle he created with his hips. Look at the angle between his upper leg and torso. This is what you want to look like. All in all just think to get that board angle high but do it from your lower body up. Jt

For me its all about driving my back knee into the back of my front knee and driving them together towards the snow. In some sense I am still riding like I did in the 80's. I can ride flat, or 15, 15, or sometimes 15, 30 but when I am driving turns its got to be 60, 57. Those angles make it easy for me to place my hips over my board on heelside turns. It also allows me to use my knees to drive against the side of my boots and less ankle flexion to start driving my turns. It also enables me to really lower my center of mass on heelside and not place my hips so far towards the center of my turn. I have been told that my stance is very unique from many people and all I can really say is that it allows me to ride a very specific style of riding that looks and feels like I am hard booting but on softboots. Every hard booter I see that sees me ride will say to me, "man, I thought you were riding hard boots."

The Nidedecker Tracer is a good short board for serious softboot carving and all around mountain riding. I have seen so many kids driving good lines with them that I think I am going to go out and buy one myself. I have heard nothing but good things about this board. Demo one if you get the chance.

I ride 57 degrees front and 60 back on my Tanker with a 17 inch width. Lateral movement against the sides of my k2 Thraxis boot is very much like riding in my old Burton Wind boots. These soft boots are the firmest I have ever ridden in. I think any board like the Prior 4WD can certainly be ridden in soft boots. It just depends on how you want to ride the board.

Five years ago when the snow was good on my local resort, skidding was rare and usually applied only when you wanted to shower a wave of snow over your buddy that was waiting for you at the end of a run. My Tanker (172 cm, I think) was almost the only board I would ride. These past few years have not been good. Trails are almost always icy and their width is thin. I find myself sliding turns more than ever on diamond and some blue runs. These are runs that I would have rather died then to slide a turn. Under current conditions it is almost impossible to carve all the way down certain runs. Crowded, icy, with no width what so ever, sliding a turn is paramount. You can always down size and instead of riding that Rad Air Tanker 172 you can get on your Volkl Renn Tiger 153 and have a day cranking slalom turns no matter the width or conditions. Granted its not the same as driving big looping GS turns but you have a better chance of not sliding a turn.