Fleaman

I am riding Lemans boots and do ride in the walk mode when in ungroomed conditions. My stance is 20.25 inches and setback is minimal. I went to my shop and lowered my angles to 54 and 51 or so. I kept my original cants because It took me a while to dial them in so I dont get any shin bang and it feels good just free carving. I will try this out on saturday. Thanks for all the tips and info.

I was in my workshop waxing and drinking beer while oogling my Coiler PR 188. I got to thinking, I should sell it or trade it for a board I can ride more often. (I hate taking it off piste because it sucks for one in powder and it is too long and stiff for the bumps and I dont want to scratch the base on some rocks) I started to take all the stickers off and clean all the wax residue off the topsheet to make it nice and shiny for the pictures. I was aslo contemplating giving it a stone grind before selling it. I took most of the stickers off of it and decided that no way anyone is going to ride my pride and joy. I only get to ride it 3 times a year but she always brings me tons of pleasure. So I waxed it and set the edge bevels with my new beveler and drank some more beer. I cant wait to ride her now! What a great afternoon eh?

I havent tried different angles, but maybe I should. I guess lower angles are better for this type of riding. I am not trying to carve but rather ride smoothly. I do try to lean forward and attack the steeps but just the one side is hard to turn. I will try lowering my angles and see if this helps. I kept them the same as what I would ride my PR 188 so I dont scrap up my new cateks with more divots. Just being a bit overprotective. I am sure after a year or two, I will be banging them with a hammer to get them to move. :D Any hints on scrubbing speed in the moguls without turning your board into a sideslip?

During a lesson I took the instructor told me to get the board really high on edge by trying to drive the front knee to the snow. I was a bit apprehensive at first because it felt unnatural and I thought I would fall down, but with a bit of speed it works great. You have to feel the pressure on the side of your boots.

The other day, I was riding in the bumps and was having a hard time turning my board from heel edge to toe edge. I also remember last year in the powdery steeps and trees I would also have a hard time turning the same way especially if my board was across the fall line(which I have to to do scrub some speed.) Getting to it, I have tried to unweight my board more but I just end up flailing around to get it to turn. I ride goofy on a coiler am 172 with cateks at 60 and 57 not sure of the cants, but the front I would suspect is canted 3 degrees with toe lift and the back probably around 6. Does anyone else have this problem?

I get quad burn, glute burn ,tricep burn and lat burn I think the tricep burn comes from tensing up my upper body while busting carves. It sure feels nice though, kinda feels like you are working out a bit....escpecially when you get back to the lift and can barely breathe.

Hey Rob, I had a pair of bindings but I gave them to my bud here at Apex. You might want to reconsider, I think snowpro bindings dont have 3 hole disks if he wants to mount them on his supermodel. Unless you have some sort of awesome machining skillz. :D

What is this skiing you speak of?

Man I really want to go, it is practically in my backyard and I even have the time off but there is one hitch, the reason I have time off is because I am on Parental leave. We have a new baby and need to be home to help out my wife if I want to have a good relationship for the rest of my days. :( Oh well, at least I have a healthy baby and dont have to work! ( And my wife loves me)

For those of you who cannot picture what a tree well is, here is a diagram I just whipped up for ya!

I got stuck in one last year upside down head downhill, man it was the scarriest 30 seconds of my life. I climbed the tree with my arms and choked on snow the whole time. When I got out, I sat there for about 5 minutes trying to relax and catch my breath. It seems to be a common occurence in the west. Lots of people I told about it had a simmilar story. At least I had a radio, if I calmed down enough to use it, I could have called another patroller to come and get me. Man, I can't imagine I could afford all the beer I would have to buy after that.

Other than being a total waste of time, that is one of the smartest things I have ever seen. So fun to play around with. Nice work! Now when are you going to to the Burton Race Plate Monster Truck Jam where you run truck over the plates to destroy them and get points for style and shrapnel?

Being a big guy too, I like to look at the guy or whoever and then look down at the board with a mean look, they usually step back. [insert] smilie with a strong arm or something[\inset] If you are riding a rock board you could aways slide it back and forth under his ski or tilt it on edge after sliding it back to his bindings. :D

Today I was teaching our new patrol rookies some toboggan handling in Powder/Crud conditions. It was clear when the snowboarders had the toboggan, they just walked all over it, the skiers were flipping snow all over the place trying to clear a route for their skinny sticks. Being rookies though they kept the speeds down and couldnt keep the toboggan going across the flat. But with more practice I think they can do it. I have done it a few times now with no problem, but having a board in tip top shape and a fresh wax sure does wonders to your glide. I love passing skiers polling across a flat section as I blow by them in a tuck on my board. :D

yeah his name is Dave Canuck, he is the one who coined the phrase Crazy canuck lol I hear he says eh? alot and likes vinegar on his french fries

It is the same at the snow cat operation in Revelstoke (Powder springs?) they allow visiting patrollers from different areas to work on the Cats, but they need to be skiers unless they are from the Monashee Zone. Kinda sucks for me. :(

Does he give any reasoning on that? I Have a set of Catek step ins now, after using the fast snowpros last year, the convenience is really apreciated. We actually have 3 people on the patrol that ride exclusively on plates. we had 5 a few years ago. Most of them ride with AT boots so they can do some touring also without owning 2 pairs of boots. Other than flat areas on the hill there is nothing a boarder can do less than a skier. Also if you judge the flats, you can 90 percent of the time glide through them with some route planning and anticipation. Here in Canada, the Central Zone allows snowbladers to run toboggans too.

Hey Stainless. I am not familiar with the article you are referring to. I am a Canadian Patroller. But I kinda catch what you are talking about. When I patrolled in Ontario we had to have our board attatched to something if it wasnt on our feet. We could use a stationary tobogan, tree, ice screw or even a bystander holding it. They didnt think leaving it upside down on the snow safe. Most of us who snowboarded soft and hard went to the long leashes that atatch above your calf. Out here in BC, they dont have too much regulations on our boards, other than make sure it is secure which in my interpretation is laying on its bindings. The area I patrol at also is not requiring leashes on soft binding boards but they demand leashes on plates. weird eh? Also when the terrain is really steep and cruddy or powder, most patrollers here will call for a toboggan and a snowboarder to pilot it down to the infirmary. They are more than happy to admit it is easier on a board in most situations other than a long flat area. If you have a link to the article if it is online, I would like to read it. And I am pretty sure Hopscotch is a patroller too. I used to have a few pics of me riding in colours but My hard drive conked out and I lost them.

A good snowboard vise goes a long way to make life easy. I cant see spending 100$+ on a vise. I have a set of Toko ski vices that I have mounted on my bench. I can tune skiis on them, but I prefer to insert a 2X4 T that I made myself and stapled the coloured ruberized shelf liner onto the top. I put the t's in the ski vise and plunk my snowboard on top of it. The shelf liner grips the board like crazy and works well with skis. You do have to adjust the distance between vices for different boards, but that is easy as 123. If the shelf liner gets too dirty or waxy, you just rip it off and staple another one on the frame. You dont have to use Toko vises either. any way to clamp the t's to a bench would work lice C clamps (of course you would have to screw a base to the T)

Hopscotch, are you still patrolling this year? One of the reasons I need something handier to release the binding is because I am not only stepping out at the bottom, but all over the mountain to fix ropes, bamboo etc. Not to mention helping out ski bunnies anytime I can!! :D

Haha, maybe they are obsolete?

I can find the handle and even get my hand around it through my pants, but while bent over, I cant unweight the foot enough to release smoothly. I also have to take my glove off to grab the handle easily.

Come to think of it, I got stuck in a tree last year and had the FAST system Snopro's. The handle is pretty exposed and easy to pull. It sure saved me from choking on all the snow that fell in with me. Steve. I am not too worried of the strap catching on something inside my pants. Even if it does, it will only be extended on my back foot which I can manage if it releases. I wouldnt want my front foot to release, it would be disastrous. And yeah, after ripping it up on a run and stoping before the lift line, I am liable to pass out while leaning over to release my binding. I like ergonomic equipment. If it makes my life easier, I will definitely try it.

I won't run it outside my pants, it would run up inside my pants then out the waist area where the side zipper ends and poke an end out. It would still be covered by my jacket, but I can slip up my jacket easier than my pant leg. :o Are you talking about down by the boot cuff to make a slit?

HMMM, that sure opens a lot of doors. Thanks! Now all I have to do is try every quick release buckle I can find in the house untill I find one that fits. I think I will go with the webbing option and run it up to the waist of my pants.