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I'm excited about starting my daughter windsurfing this year. Up till now she's just riden on the nose or been towed behind on a body board. I got her a new Neil Pryde 2.5 youth sail with a 370 Bump n' Jump Jr. mast and boom. Just going to have her learn on one of my boards at first. I've also got her into longboard skatboarding and in-line racing. There's a mellow slope we go to and she likes riding "coffin" style down it like a street luge.

That's 2 "epic" events for MRM already!!!:lol:

Did your camera phone have a zoom or was it really that close?

BlueB, you've seen some crazy stuff!!! When did you live in Africa?

I almost thought you had found a photo of me looking at the top one. That was my first board and I have a similar pic of me doing a method. Nice spray!!!

:lol::lol::lol: Awesome!!! My daughter (9) had her first fresh untracked powder experience this year.

While windsurfing one time I looked up and saw a bald eagle. It came swooping down about 50 yards from me and plucked a fish up out of the water. Only my 3rd time seeing a bald eagle in the wild, and the ONLY time I'd seen one scoop up a fish. (outside of the Discovery Channel)

Not to answer in Jack's place, but the overall construction and design of the BX boards are to hold an edge under more intense forces. They are stiffer, have longer edge contacts, they have more rebound (that's for sure on my Madd BX, that thing is poppy!) and bigger SCR's than the typical freeride board, and are dampend to cut out chatter. Donek made the Razor, but I'd be more interested in trying out their new Sabre after some of the stuff I've heard on here. My Madd only has a 9.2 radius so I may not be speaking for other BX manufactures. Just a side note. My daughters name is Maddie and she said I should put an "ie" at the end of the "Madd" on the tail of my board.:lol:

Are there any longboarders out there (who maybe windsurf) that have tried windskating? Hybrid sport combining longboard skateboarding and windsurfing. I tried it for the first time a couple years ago and have refined it since. Here's a video clip of my first day. The problems I had were... 1 - I didn't want to mess up any of my decent sails so the one I'm using in the clip is a 7.0 that was about to be thrown out. Waaaay to big. 2 - The parking lot I chose (with the wind direction) was too narrow. Had the wind came from either the east or west that's a good spot because I can go lengthwise. 3 - I had the mast base mounted too far forward. I couldn't tack to get back upwind, I had to jibe and then try to push up wind and with that narrow lot it was just easier to walk it back up. (location and equipment problem) I'm going to try to do some filming again this year, this time on a 4.0 and I've go my North / South wind direction lot picked out so I'm covered. Edit: I should mention that the wind that day was 5-10, more towards 5. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odihza05aOc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odihza05aOc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Here's a more recent version <object width="320" height="240" ><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1377336203706" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1377336203706" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="240"></embed></object>

Slope Kill? I drove over a turtle at night in the summer with my Jeep (top and doors off) and it sounded like a gun shot.

What are some of the most "epic" moments you've had riding? Doesn't have to be carving. What are the most memorable times you've had snowboarding that will never be forgoten? I remember one time back in the early 90's we were getting some seriously dry, deep powder and I knew if I waited till the lifts opened the next day that the fresh would be gone in no time so around 11:00 pm I started my drive to the local hill. It took forever because if I went too fast the snow would blow over the windshield and I couldn't see anything. Took me almost 3 times as long to get there but around 2:00 in the moring I arrived. It had stopped snowing on my way up and I started hiking in the dark. The skies had cleared and the moon was about 3/4's so I could make out the surface just barely. On the first run I couldn't believe how quiet it was. Just the wind blowing past my ears. About half way down I went over a wind drift that I hadn't seen coming and became airborn. I floated for what seemed an eternity and I could barely tell I had landed. After one more hike/run I was spent and went home feeling super stoaked.

I think that comes from what we used to do. I don't have the newest boots, but from my start in 86 to just a couple years ago I always cranked down the ratchet so tight it felt like I was flattening the arch of my foot. I found that I didn't have to tighten so far while teaching my daughter. I always went for comfort when out on the green and blues with my daughter and one time Grandma and Grandpa came up to watch their precious angel ride (not me, my duaghter) and I took a couple runs with the relaxed fit and it worked just as good if not better than over tightening. Could just be a force of habit or expectations that we over tighten. I think overtightening also weakens the boot which makes you have to tighten even more. Just my opinion though.

On an early outing I was next in line by myself for the quad and 2 skiers came up and stood next to me as if they were going to ride up with me. I said "hi", they nodded and when the next chair came I went up to the line and they stayed behind. Oh well, I got to sprall out. On the other hand I've had skiers get on with me and my daughter when I would prefer they didn't since my daughter rides goofy, I'm regular, and if we get on a full chair I have to sit sideways to keep from bumping.

Last Friday, me and my daughter went up to the hill after she got home from school and it was just beautiful out. Blue skies and there was still a covering of snow even though the temperature was in the upper 50's. We rounded a corner and the sun was angled just right that it made the stumps of the corn stalks sticking up out of the snow look like field of shining bronze. Another quarter of a mile we came across the biggest heard of deer I'd ever seen. There must have been over 30 deer on the right side of the road and another dozen on the left. The snow had covered the stalks for about a month so they were out there grazing. A couple other cars had pulled off to the side to watch and we even pulled over for a minute to check it out. That's one thing about snowboarding and other sports like surfing and windsurfing. You really get a chance to tap into nature and have one of those religious experiences you hear talked about by Patrick Swayze in Point Break. Can't experience that playing Shaun White Snowboarding on the Wii.

Absolutely. I've riden nothing but my Madd BX since I got it and have had it in pow, hardpack, slush, ice, corn... did well above average on all.

I ordered a pair of K2 boots and saw another pair I liked better after I ordered. They told me to place a 2nd order and send the other boots back when I got them and they'd refunded my 1st order when they got it back. I think I paid $9 dollars plus change to ship them back. Edit: Actually I think it was TheHouse, not Sierra. Oh well.

Is Paoli done for the year? Mad River shut their doors on Monday, but only with the promise to re-open Friday afternoon and stay open all weekend. Now if the rain would just hold off we might get a second weekend out of this. The old management would have pushed the snow from the park onto the main run and stayed open during the week, but now it's all about pinching pennies. Went windskating today and found a killer place. Usually I go to this church parking lot but they had something going on so I drove around looking for another spot and came across a park with narrow but extremely long parking lots that surround 8 ball fields. Nobody there doing anything so had the place all to myself. Did get stung by a bee. Haven't been stung in years. Not sure, but think he may have been hybernating in my sail and got mad I woke him up.

I also would say that would be the max, however, 3 strap bindings help with the lateral support and let you go little further. I've gone up to high 50's but your riding style changes when you go past 45 so I'm not recomending it. I've been experimenting with angles on my Madd 168 because the width is a very unique 24cm. Too narrow for traditional softboot binding stances but too wide for extreme hardboot stances. I've tried angles from 30-51 front and 21-39 rear trying to find out what worked best and I liked the lower end. Gave me more power for turning the board up on edge. This board could handle more than I have been used to and I've come to rest at 39 front / 30 rear. Just enought to eliminate overhang and flat enough to crank into a turn.

I think they did it more for a safety precaution, not to do us a favor. If you go from 50 degree temps during the day and it drops to 15 degrees at night and combine that with the drunk crowd.... Our hill has a team of 4 groomers with only 144 acres it gets done pretty quick. And they don't do everything, just the main runs.

Mad River Mountain weekend hours... 9am - 3am. They shut down for an hour at 9pm to groom. Did I just say fresh groom at 10pm?

We must sleep in here in Ohio. Our resort opens at 10 weekday! Actually seasons about over here. After having record snowfall through Feb., we've had 50 degree temps with on and off rain. Resort is closed during to week for "snow conservation mode". It will re-open Friday at 4pm for the weekend then depending on the weather this may be it till next season.:( And I had the day off and it's sunny today!

Seems a lot of churches (around here anyway) have made skateboarding an outreach program. One church even has an indoor skatepark that is free. Downside is if you're over 18 you can't go in. That seems kinda odd to me. Anyway, they also have a nice subtle grade to their parking lot which is about 200 yards or so long with an entry drive of another 200 or so yards.

I've been to TGR. Seemed more like a ski sight with a general snowboard corner than anything else. Is this the big option everyone keeps talking about?

Careful there. They are going to think I've gone and created another user ID.

:lol::lol::lol: