philfell

Even more reason to test an SG as well. The SG's and Kesslers ride quite a bit differently. Some may like what the SG has to offer over a Kessler, and vice versa. So to leave the board out and try to make a test stand as legit is lame. Actually I think most "freecarvers" would like the SG a bit better then the Kessler.......But without adding it to the test I guess we'll never know.

One of our guys JJ ended up in 5th!!!!!!

How can a review of race boards be considered complete, without the board which has won the World Cup Overall for the past TWO seasons, SG!!!!!!

There is a big differance....Read through the vairous post about the sidewinders.

Cheer for the athletes there with the ISTC: Ross Powers Shaun Palmer Jarod Minghini Bobby Minghini JJ Tomlinson Faye Gulini Kayla Klaus

Yup, if Shaun would have got a 2nd, instead of a 3rd last week he would have been in. Also if Ross Powers would have got an 8th instead of a 9th he would have went. Super close competition for the SBX team this time around. Our next 4 guys who did not make the team would be a fully legit National team for pretty much any other country, except maybe Canada.

Baum is about as big as they come and he is using cartels. Other big guys are on C60's or C02's, pretty much everyone is riding Burton bindings. It also seems like most of the guys on Oxess are not riding risers, and the guys on Kesslers are on risers....Mostly just personal preferance. I don't thing you will see any hardboot/softboot showdown at this years Olympics. It will be an Oxess/Kessler grudge match though.

4 World Cups down, 4 Canadian male victories!!!!! With 3 different athletes!!!!! Absolutely impressive!

Not really the race directors fault for implementing a policy to do his best to protect your daugher from harm and injury. Keep in mind that most clubs are set up around skiing and they enforce rules that are based in a ski world. At FIS and USSA ski events you can only wear a soft eared helmet in SL ONLY, GS and all other events you MUST wear a hard eared helmet. The director probaby assumes that the helmet rules are the same as in ski racing and if your daugher was racing in GS then she would need a hard eared helmet. It's also not the race directors fault your daugher did not stick with the program for longer than 2 races. She needs proper saftey equipment regardless if she was to do one race or a full career. On the snowboard side the helmet rules were tightened up for this season, and after KP's injury they may be tightened up again.

First soft boot equipment is getting so good that many of the old "advantages" of riding alpine gear in SBX are pretty much gone. Second the courses now are not very hard boot friendly. They typically have very techinical start sections. This is to create seperation in the riders and cause less collisions going into the first turn. Because the starts are more technical it puts hard boots at a bigger disadvantage. Third risk of injury is higher in hardboots than soft boots. I would really like if a plate system was developed for SBX. The biggest thing holding back plate systems in SBX is the added weight. It's so important to be able to make powerful quick moves through varied terrain, when you add the weight of a vist plate or hangle plate you loose so much of this quickness that you loose out on any advantages that a plate gives you.

Good for Nicolien on the win. Too bad The Netherlands has to import thier SBX guys from the US.:p

Beetle, thanks for proving my point that FEW real pros post here. Out off all the registered members you pull two names. One is a legit World Cup athlete who rarely post anything or checks this site's forum. The second is a semi-pro athlete who is one of the top up and coming riders and will some day be a full time world cup athlete, he does post from time to time and takes part when he has time.

Beetle is you read Jessica's posting she does a good job outlining what she is looking for. "The best athletes possible", "pro and semi pro snowboarders". Why can't you understand that she is looking for high level snowboarders who make thier living by snowboarding. It seems that you have an issue with your own ego, and it may be good practice for you to be honest with your self. Although you really want to be involved in Jessica's survey, and want to be associated with athletes like, Chris Klug, Graham Watanabe, and other PROFESSIONAL snowboarders, you must realize that you are not a prefessional athlete. You are right Beetle, the majority of people on this forum are alpine snowboarders, but that does not mean they are professional alpine snowboarders. Again she has outlined that she is looking for pro and semi pro snowboarders. In order to be considered a professional at anything you must earn a majority of your income through this profession. To be a semi pro you at least have to make some money at it. She said that she wants to keep the standard high as to make the study as publishable as possible. Mixing data from top level athletes and Nastar racers will not give legitimate results.

Great points and examples Rob.

I see no problem with retired pros adding feedback. As long as they were legit pros, not amatures or hobbiest. The the pressure is so much different coming back from an injury if you must perform on the race course in order to pay your bills, versus coming back from an injury to a sport you are doing because you enjoy it, but still have a job to pay the bills with. What a USASA or Nastar racer feels pulling out of the gate for the first time after a broken pelvis far different than what Graham went through after breaking his pelvis then winning a World Cup his first event back.

Actually I know most who do post here. Plus I know all the riders on the Nor-Am cup circut and a majority of the riders on the World Cup. These are the riders I would consider to be pros or semi-pros. Of these riders I know who post here and who does not. Professional- " participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs <a professional golfer>" Most people who post here have a job that pays the bills that is not snowboard competition. So they are either amateurs or hobbiest. NOTHING wrong with that. But when they start labeling them as professionals or trying to pass as a professional in research studies, then it is unethical.

Not the gossip

Beetle3 please go and actually read my post. I've said that FEW people here meet the criteria. I did not say NO pros post here. That is a pretty big differance. But to clearify I will not be taking the survey because I do not meet the criteria either. But I have passed it along to some athletes who do fit the bill. Ink you have been around the sport for some time. Do you think getting back on the world cup after blowing out your knee is the same for Tyler, and Justin, as it is for someone like this "I am not professional but i race snowboards at competitions and am hoping to qualify for serious events in the future", or the other post that has since been deleted claiming they are "semi-pro". Like I said I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just about everyone being honest with themselves. And reading her description of what she is looking for, then seeing the responses it was getting in the racing/coaching forum, made me want to bring people's ego a little more in line with reality. There is nothing wrong with being honest about your accomplishments, there is no need to pretent you are something you are not on the internet.

Sharpen your edges. It could be as simple as the tune.

Faye made a pretty big impression at the World Cup, with being the top US finisher in the SBX, and then teaming up with Lindsay and winning the team event with her. Faye and Ross Powers were being teched and coached by ISTC coach Ross Hindman for the event.

Please don't confuss a professional snowboarder with an instructor or patroller. A pro snowboarder gets paid to SNOWBOARD. An instructor gets paid to TEACH others to snowboard. There is a huge differance there. Plus an insturctor or patroller would not be considered a pro athlete. Yes they are a professional in their field, but thier field is not athletics, is public saftey and customer service. Since this is in the racing and coaching forum and she is requesting the help from pro athletes. These are highly trained full time competitive athletes. I still stand firm in my opinion that few people who post here fit that criteria.

Ross Powers 3rd place!!!!! That puts him in the running for an Olympic spot......

I just want the results of her study to be valid, and for her to maybe ask a bit about those participating in this. There are a lot of people here who greatly over estimate thier abilities and they think they are a top level snowboarder, but in fact are weekend warriors who race in a weekend beer league. Coming from someone who is very interested in the results for high level career snowboarders I do not want this tainted by guys who have no training, no high level race experience, have never won prize money, and have not had to deal with the off snow aspects of being a true professional or semi-professional. When I read her post on what she was looking for the people who responded in this thread did not meet the requirements that she put forth. Sorry to hurt anyones feeling, but this is a serious study and people need to be honest with themselves, and thier actual experience in the sport.

Key word there are retired. That means you must have made a living at snowboarding. Again there are very few people here who have made thier living entirely from snowboard competition, then decided to retire. The fear a highly trained career competitive snowboarder faces is far different than the fear a recreational snowboarder faces.

No trying to offend anyone, but in my opinion there are no athletes who I consider to be pros who post on Bomber regularly. Posting the survey here would ruin the integrity of the results. In my opinion to make the results accurate you must be a full time snowboard ATHLETE, who is part of a team training FULL time, traveling to FIS level events domestically AND abroad. The people who post on BOL do not meet this critera. The athletes I coach do, as well as the athletes MJB and other coaches who post here at times meet the standards, but those athletes do not post here, and if they do it's very rare. If you have not stood on the podium of a FIS event then you should not attempt to skew the results of a serious study.