Hotbeans

I'm sure many of us are looking forward to hearing about your first weeks in hardboots. I'm gonna guess that you'll feel like your getting it in a couple of runs (on the greens), which will suck you even more into the sport. You'll have a blast, get thrown over the handlebars a few times, start to lay out harder carves... and, then look longingly at a steep blue or black. Or, maybe go on an ice day... Then it's BACK TO SCHOOL!

Yesterday, 2 ski patrol rode up with me. One said, "I don't know what kind of snowboard that is, but you look like you're having a shtlod of fun on it.". The other says, "dude, you look awesome on that thing.". Of course, they didn't see me slide up to the lift line, catch the leading edge, and knock down a jibber and 2 of his friends... Even they got up and said..."sweet board.."

Well, being on the ice coast and having completed 3 weeks of ice riding last month, I found that "surfing" my turns (sitting down over the back of the board and angulating my knee's, pencil-pinching hip action) was the ticket for me. I could initiate the turn this way and then begin to move the board back (my cg forward) under me to tighten up the carve. Doing it this way while reaching for the front boot cuff with the opposite hand kept my edge solid throughout the arc. I think what it is, is that the combination of angulation and the reach with the hand allowed me to keep my weight over the edge and not off-set to the inside of the arc.

See? Firefighters show up, hotties trot over to watch, I pee in the firepit wondering where everyone went. Sheeesh.

Hey Bruce. You made this coiler for me, so, of course, it's right on! 7.4 stiffness, your scale. And, yep.. this thread reappears often, so I won't beat on this drum again!

Sorry, I wasn't clear 'bout the wavy line.. You said you'd like to carve more of a wavy line down the slopes vs. complete "c's". That is dictated more by you than the board. No matter what the board, if you just do the drawn out "S"'s down the run, you'll soon be going mach 5. And, yes, you'll be able to make the edge transition while carving uphill. It's a blast. This brings up a question I dont know: is it easier to practice on black slopes with a quick turning board or a gs board?

Isn't there some standardized assesment of a board's stiffness yet? If I hang a 25lb weight off the center of the effective edge (last contact point on tip and tail, board suspended on 2x4 blocks at these points) of my Coiler, I get a deflection of 5/8". Virus deflects 3/4". See photo for visual. Thoughts?

Some more experienced carver's here might chime in on board stiffness vs length, and a "de-tuned" board vs. a fully sharpened edge. These characteristics (IMO) would have a pretty significant impact on what you're looking for and how it will ride. BTW, BryanZ, I think you'll be surprised at just how much fun blue/green runs can be on a carving board. You'll get all the G's you want on blues for a good long time. I'm willing to bet that a "wavy line" down a blue will be like standing on a rocket... Eventually, you'll want to rip on blacks, and that type of arc will be put down at a sphincter-tightening rate of speed. You'll want to experience laying it out in a hard, full on carve that compresses your body to it's limit. For that, you'll want the "full-c" carves mentioned elsewhere.

Heiniken. Smells like bo and a skunk. Filled with piss. No votes for Blatz? At $4 per case of longnecks, it was a reallly cheap buzz.

I'm in PA, am getting my second season under my belt, and am coming off of 7 years freeriding/20+ skiing. I've got two boards: first was a coiler 164 SLC and now a Virus WCR 170. I've been getting time on both (in same day) on hard snow/ice. (My ski boots were stifffff, so I opted for a trip out to boulder to see Bola at Allboardsports for the boots/bindings, and some time up at winter park to demo some boards. Having Bola (and his shop) as a resource for a greenhorn was a huge benefit as I could try on any variety of boot to check for proper fit as they are all somewhat different. He has stacks of different types of bindings and more than enough boards to keep a tour bus full of carvers happy.) All that aside, the coiler is a quick turning board that is damp, as fast as you like it to go, and light. It's not metal, but it's really f'n fun and, having buried the nose a few times and endo'ing, I'm thinking I'm glad it's NOT metal because of the durability issue! (i'm 170lbs). The Virus is a freight train! It SOUNDS like a freight train going fast on ice..and holds a line like it's on a rail. It's not very forgiving if your technique is off a bit. I was having a blast on it yesterday (hardpack, blue ice spots) and had girls on the lift all screaming at me like I was some rock star. It can easily turn a 10 ft radius carve or draw it out at any time into a large gs carve. I'd suggest trying on hardboots specifically for carving and demo'ing as many boards as you can. Start with a shorter, faster carving board. The longer boards will lock you on the edge and not let go as you're heading for the tree's.

PFFFFFTTT. The more the merrier!!!

"When some of these idiot's get fired for surfing porn, just what do they tell the wife and kids?" Honey, you didn't feed the dog again, did you?

thanks for the input. Maybe I'll catch up with someone who has a modified shell that is same size as mine and try them.

...we've got some carving out here in PA... And, a nice empty condo just waiting to be filled.

maybe a dumb question..but what out of those pieces is broken?

sweet looking ride..

I'll toss this one out for opinions. I've only had stratos pro boots (no mods) and wonder are these stiff or soft comparitively? How would I know if I needed stiffer (or softer) boots? I'm sure the topic of "support" might come up, but how would I know if I needed more..or less? My boots feel pretty good now, but occasionally (and usually always in wet snow) the board will fold up under me (or my feet cant keep it carving straight..). Soft vs hard, stiff vs flexi... ARRGGGG.

"resting"?? That's what you call it? You are a lucky man..

yep. I'm coming from pa, so probably 300ft above sea level and just spent 3 days tearing it up with thor, et al. My advice: Start with a few Stella's, 8 capsules of sportlegs, and a smoke. Evening of first day: 4-5 misc. beers, followed by hot tub, followed by some coffee... oh, and another smoke. 2nd day: 4 cups of coffee, 12 sportleg capsules, 2 burrito's, 2 smokes. Finish with 2 chocolate stout's, 3 spicy bloody mary's...and a smoke. Stay up 'till 2:30am, have coffee, go to bed. 3rd day: 10 capsules of sportlegs, 2 old slices of french toast, 2 really stout coffee's, some water. Finish with a bit of water, a smoke, and a good story. That seemed to work for me..

american, just flew last weekend, 2 boards in a softbag, $25. (counted as second checked item). no questions asked.

It may be March now. Company has a product launch projected for mid-feb and has cancelled all vaca requests. I'll hope that you guys get dumped on first 2 weeks in feb.. then again in early march!

how much do these run? Where's the best place to get them?

What a great idea! Hopefully, it'll clear the slopes. Wait, .... "if it will keep just one person off my local hill, it will be worth it!". There.. and for the bonus, they can slide right on in to Cabela's!

Sure makes "progress" look pretty stupid, IMO. simple = closer to "life".

Oh, I'd be so far from being able to make a recommendation, that it'd be ridiculous! But, I am acutely aware of how stance placement relative to board center can make my coiler (or prob.any board) initiate carve's very differently... Centered = instant, set back 1.5 inches = need to drive knee's/hips more. I was just thinking that if you were set back a bit (as was my initial set-up) then it would require more dynamic movements to sharpen up the radius. that's all.