jtslalom

The line for the cab has been long but moves fast. I haven't waited on a long line this year only because I leave before the line starts to get long. Tonight will be day number 12 for me. I started riding the south summit as of yesterday 1/4/21 and I have to say that riding on south mountain is much better then riding north (Vernon Peak) There are features on the south run but not on all runs. There is plenty of room to make big looping carves as long as you navigate around the features. There are also much better riders at south and from time to time you will see riders carving good lines. The weather is supposed to be good for making snow at nights this week so if you are planning to make a trip up to MC try to wait for this weekend. There will be more trails open and hopefully the trails they have opened now will be wider.

I ended up riding today 12/27 and yesterday for about 1 1/2 hours. Maybe took 6 runs each day. Conditions aren't too good for big carving. I have seen some guys rip some turns on smaller boards but it's tough when you can't see because of all the guns running. Snow isn't bad and will only get better as this week goes on. Only Turnpike, Twist and Sugar slopes are open at north and basically one run down at south with features on it. All in all it wasn't that good for carving this weekend. I will be out Mon - Thurs this week in the early morning for an hour or so. See you all out there. Jt

Had a few days out b4 the massive rain that we had yesterday and today 12/24->12/25. At this point the rain has washed away any natural snow that we had and also worked its way into the base. I don't think it is worth it to ride over the next few days until MC gets a chance to build its base back up. I am a little desperate and will probably ride one of the days this weekend. Jt

Feels weird writing 2020/2021. Bought my pass yesterday $269 for an all access through the Vernon PAL. Jump on it while you can. I called the resort today to ask about COVID restrictions but nothing has been developed quite yet. As far as the mountain looks, people are still mountain biking all over it. No blowers or snow equipment have been moved on the mountain as far as I can tell but winter is definitely right around the corner. See you all out there. JT

That's Jimmy on his hard boots riding his F2.

Very disappointing season. Mountain Creek has had one of the toughest years making snow that I have seen in some time. Their snow making has been hampered by warm weather. It seems every time they get a few days of snow making it is followed by a few days of rain. The season has been going like that all along. There doesn't seem to be any relief in sight as the local forecast is calling for rain over the next few days (2/6/20). I have to give the place an "A" in effort, however it is an effort in futility. I am hoping that next week we get some cold weather in preparation for presidents weekend. All in all check the weather before making the journey to Mountain Creek. If it has been warm go somewhere a little more north because more than likely the trail conditions are not that good. If it has been cold then come on over. Mountain Creek does have the ability to make ALOT of snow quickly and will provided the weather allows. Jt

Coming in to the lift line and starting to unbuckle a skier says, "Oh, I thought you were on hard boots."

Hi Kneel, I've gone a total of three times this year so far. Usually I would have closer to 8-10 days out but conditions have not been good. Now that the rain is upon us and day time temps are up in the 40's I wouldn't bother going until we have a few consecutive days of freezing temps. The forecast for the next couple of days does not look good but hopefully the second week in January it should get better. Jt

It almost feels funny writing 2020. Well Mountain Creek is now open for riding top to bottom. Only the old Turnpike trail is open with Jumping Jack and Sayanora open as well. The Sugar slope is also open. I haven't ridden there yet but will ride tomorrow night 12/19 for a few runs. Let you know how it is after. Jt

I had a pair of Burton Ions and thought they were a little on the soft side. I also had a pair of Burton Driver x and felt they were about the same. I know K2 makes a pretty stiff boot. I tried one pair on last year and thought I could have been in my old Burton hard boots. Any way I am glad to hear that some of you are making a transition back to soft boots. Believe me that I never thought that I would do it but 15 years ago I went back and haven't ridden in hard boots since. I hope it goes well for you. Jt As far as bindings are concerned. Ride El Hefe's are good. Most Ride bindings will hold your feet tight to the board. There isn't a lot of play between the boot/binding interface with Ride. I have used them exclusively since getting back to soft riding and have never had a problem. Jt

Crazy as this may seem but I don't do anything. My Ride softboot bindings have inward cants. Basically they cant so that my knees get closer together while I ride. Other than that I have no heel or toe lifts.

Just chiming in here but I see some angle stances from softbooters getting steeper and steeper. I ride my softboot angles at 57 front and 60 rear with a 17.5 inch stance width. Now im sure most softbooters and evan some hardbooters dont ride that steep but it works for me. What I can't do is ride with such a wide stance width. I'm still stuck back in the 80's riding with my legs jammed together.

I live local to MC and ride nights and weekend mornings. There is a small group of us that ride their. Some of the guys are able to ride during the week in the am, I'm usually not one of them although if my work gets cancelled because of bad weather you can usually find me riding in the am.

We are trying to get a small group of carvers together for a trip up to Jiminy Peak on Saturday 3/9/19. If your not familiar with Jiminy its a great carving mountain in Mass. about 2 1/2 hours north of Mountain Creek. If you have a seasons pass to MC you will get $15 off the lift ticket on a Saturday. Please feel free to reply to this post if you are interested. We can always use a few more carvers to rip it up.

Looking to ride at Jiminy Peak on Saturday 3/9/19. Not totally set yet but we have some interest from a few riders from my local hill. Hoping to see some other carvers up there to help slice up the mountain. If any one is interested please feel free to reply to this post. Jt

Steep riding angles on softboots has been around for a long time. The stance width is the thing that I find odd. 60 cm is like a football field wide. I guess I am OLD SCHOOL riding at 18 inches = 46 cms. I couldnt even think of riding at 60 cm. Kudoo's to those guys.

Patron snowboarder on lift line: "Saw you riding down the mountain, are you riding hardboots?" Me: "Nope"

So I bought a pair of Ride "El Hefe" bindings two seasons ago. For those of you that are not that familiar with softboot bindings, "El Hefe" bindings are Rides newest version of strong tight softboot bindings. The high backs are made out of some type of carbon fiber which the store salesman claimed were indestructible. Yeah! First run of the year on them and snap. I'm happy that Ride will warranty parts for the life of the binding or at least until they stop manufacturing it but don't listen to the hype, they break.

I think I will be heading up to Jiminy Peak on Friday 1/25. I was wondering if anyone has ridden there this year yet. I know that recently they got some decent snow. If any one has the day off and would like to ride with some old school carvers please come and join us.

Its usually Dave and I on early weekend mornings. Jimmy and Ken will ride early as well. Jimmy is usually the only one riding in hard boots but all of have had many years riding hard boots. More than likely we will be able to help you out. If you come up on a week day maybe you can solicit Eric J to ride. He knows a little about it too.

Jeff, A few of us ride first lift at north just about every Saturday and Sunday morning. This up and coming weekend will be Jan 27/28 and most of us will be riding however the conditions will more than likely not be so great. If you are coming up regardless of conditions try to get there as early as possible. The cab starts loading at 8 am and usually we are part of the first group on the hill. See you there. jt

I have Ride El Hefe bindings and Burton Ion boots. My riding style in soft boots with steep angles 57/60 is the same as my hard boot style. I jam my knees together and drive my turns with my knees pressuring the sides of my boots. However when i ride low angles it is probably similar to most soft boot carvers that use a lot of ankle flexion to turn. My riding style is very strange. I will admit that and most people question why I ride such steep angles. It works for me but I'm not so sure it would work for others.

My softboot angles are 60 degree back foot and 57 degree front foot. My stance width is about 18.5 inches. I still ride my softboots like I am riding hard boots and have never gotten away from my steep angles. From time to time I will ride 15 back and front but usually only when the snow is very soft or I am either park or woods riding. Most of the time I am carving groomers so I ride some pretty steep angles. I have had a lot of people asking me about my stance angles lately and talk about how they are thinking about moving their angles steeper. Today a guy started asking me if it helps to carve. Funny but I really didn't know what to say because I really don't know of any other soft booters (except one other, Dave) that rides in such steep angles for soft boots. I think there may have been some threads about binding angles but I don't know if any one exists about steep (say 45 or better) soft boot angles. I'm curious if any other soft booter rides steep angles or am I a lone misfit. Thanks jt

Day number 6 for me was yesterday 12/28/17 at MC. They have been making snow non-stop all of this week and have a lot to show for it. They are open top to bottom with a little more than half of the slopes open. They have been making snow on Zero-G, Grand Prix, and Great Northern for the last few days and more than likely will be open this weekend. As you can guess conditions have been good. Lower Straightaway and Garden State are both open along with twist and Sayanora. Matchmaker (the old pipe) is soon to open as well. I have only ridden north but they have also been making snow on south and Bear Peaks as well. Connecting trail is not open yet but I think this weekend they will be able to open it. I will be riding Saturday and Sunday mornings at north and Granite. Hope to see other carvers.

Has anyone been riding Jiminy Peak lately? I may make a trip up there next week 1/3/18. How have conditions been?