markbvt

The Farmers Almanac seems to have more in common with reading tea leaves than actual science. And it's about that accurate. Occasionally it gets lucky and hits the mark, other years it's way off. I place a little more stock in the National Weather Service. Their seasonal forecast, which is based on computer models taking El Niño into account, looks rather different from the Farmer's Almanac prediction for the northern half of the US, although they do tend to agree for the south. http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=4 --mark

My theory is that most people's riding simply plateaus at a certain point. Constant improvement requires constant practice, and the vast majority of people aren't dedicated enough to the sport to be riding that much. For that majority of riders that just wants to have fun those 5 or 10 days a year they get on the snow (if that), the lack of stylish riding is no surprise at all. But I do suspect that the teaching methodology, gear, and setup that's been fashionable for some time now does play a big role. Back in the '90s, the common wisdom was that snowboarding had a very steep initial learning curve, but once you learned how to link your turns, you were able to progress very quickly. Stances were almost never duck; you saw a lot more 30/15 than 15/-15. Good instructors had a well-thought-out series of exercises to teach students how to use their edges, how to position their bodies, and how to get the board to respond through a turn. I haven't observed any recent snowboard lessons, but it sounds like they're much less effective at teaching snowboarding's fundamentals, allowing the currently-trendy gear to mask lack of technique. But at the same time, that gear prevents decent technique from developing. Several of us are avid motorcyclists as well as snowboarders, obviously. The funny thing is that there are actually a surprising number of parallels between the two sports. This has turned out to be a fascinating thread. --mark

Yeah, I owned a DL650 (aka Wee-Strom) for 40,000 miles. Good bike for touring, but still crap off pavement. I know because I rode it over those hundreds of miles of Labrador gravel. I rode the same stretch a couple of years later on the bike I replaced the Strom with, a Triumph Tiger 800 XC, and it was a night and day difference. The Strom is a streetbike tarted up with a 19" front wheel and upright riding position. The Tiger is actually in many ways a better off-pavement bike than my Honda XR650L, and ate up those gravel miles with confidence. Sure, you could ride the Trans-Lab (or a woods trail) on an SV, but it's more fun when you use the right tool for the job. Sorry for the thread hijack, but that guy started it…. :D --mark

SVs are great bikes, no doubt, but there are plenty of questions starting with that to which an SV would NOT be the answer. For example: "…riding single-track through the woods," or "…riding hundreds of miles of loose gravel on the Trans-Labrador Highway." Even "…comfortably touring the backroads of the Appalachians for a week." But for general purpose street riding and commuting, yeah, I've recommended SVs to quite a few people. That's exactly right. Burton's R&D was focused on the boards that sold in greater numbers, for obvious reasons. They had a few standouts in the Factory Prime lineup (the '97 FP 5.7-180s was a terrific board; I still have one), but for the most part, their alpine boards were far behind what companies like Prior were making. I only learned recently that Burton contracted Prior to make custom race boards for their racers such as Mark Fawcett, but it explains a lot. By the late '90s Burton obviously already realized that their race boards wouldn't be competitive; I'm actually impressed that they kept making alpine boards for as long as they did. I demoed a few later-model FPs and Ultra Primes at the time and was never impressed with any of them. By that time I was riding a Mistral Sonic 167, which was a super fun board that held an edge incredibly well and felt very responsive; it was an interesting design with a huge amount of camber. By comparison, Burton alpine boards of the time were wider and flatter and just felt sluggish and a little lifeless. In retrospect, I feel like Burton gave the alpine market their best shot and continued to try to support it long after it made financial sense for them to do so, but eventually they had to concede that the small custom builders were doing a much better job with it. --mark

I was actually implying, in a tongue-in-cheek way, that a battle might ensue between the East Coast Madd faithful and this previously-unknown Italian impostor. I was hoping someone else would come up with something appropriately humorous. I'm bored at work today… :) --mark

I see I'm not the only one who's transitioned to motorcycle mode now that it's above freezing outside. That said... I would argue that this claim can't be made about Ducati anymore. They're very successfully marketing the lifestyle/fashion side of the sport, and drawing in plenty of well-heeled young buyers who love looking hip but haven't a clue how to ride. Triumph has begun going after this market as well, though less aggressively. Thing is, fashions don't last... Speaking of fashions not lasting, I think it's only a matter of time before snowboard companies realize that a lot of kids don't think it's cool anymore, and they'd be best off marketing boards at lifelong riders as well as n00bs. Step back and take a look at the companies comprising the mainstream snowboard market -- you've got the ski companies who make snowboards on the side like Rossi and K2, you've got the companies that have always gone after the freestyle kiddies like Lib Tech and Never Summer, and then you've got Burton. As much as people like to crap on Burton, they're the one major surviving snowboard-specific company that always made a wide range of boards for different riding styles (their abandoning of the alpine market notwithstanding, but that could easily be an entirely separate thread); Burton is the company that ran this perfect ad back in 1995: And despite all the industry trends, Burton is the one mainstream snowboard company that's still making a selection of fully-cambered snowboard models. Naturally they need to make what sells best, but they're run by a core group of dedicated riders who know what really works best and will continue to produce boards for more advanced riders. (I'm convinced that they left the alpine market in part because they knew there were specialist companies like Prior, Coiler, and Donek who could serve the needs of alpine riders better.) That rental Custom Flying V notwithstanding -- they do still make the traditional cambered Custom and Custom X as well. My prediction: as snowboarding's cool factor fades, Burton will be the first mainstream snowboard company to begin actively reasserting the benefits of camber and other "classic" technologies. --mark

How has it been four days and no one's picked this up and run with it yet? --mark

Reminds me of the Burton Torque binding from the '90s, except for the addition of the ski binding interface. --mark

I ride a motorcycle. Which actually means that it's snowboarding that gets me through the winter. :D The funny thing is how many similarities there are between the two. --mark

Your form in the video you posted looks a lot like the style adopted by European slalom racers in the late '80s/early '90s, when asymmetrical boards were all the rage -- upper body mostly facing down the fall line, board moving around beneath you. The advice to look in the direction of board travel is not an absolute; the idea is to get you facing the nose of the board instead of the fall line. Once you get comfortable squaring up your upper body with the direction of travel and it becomes second nature, you won't have any trouble turning your head independently to look at whatever needs looking at. Another good exercise is to pretend there's a steering wheel or handlebar attached to the nose of the board, and to keep both of your hands on it (you don't need to pretend you're turning it; the idea is just to get your rear hand forward and roughly level with your front hand). --mark

Vitelli turn… wow, there's a phrase I haven't heard in about 20 years…! --mark

I admire your dedication to convenience! --mark

Wow. That's pretty. --mark

I haven't ridden significantly-deep powder in a long time, but if we did have a powder day, I'd probably use my Burton Triumph 73. Or if I knew the powder would be a foot or more deep, I'd probably drag out the old Burton Kelly Slopestyle (which has a big spoon nose and more abrupt tail, so it floats well in deep powder). And yes, I'd stick with hardboots, though I'd use lower stance angles. But this is all idle speculation. Pretty much the only way I'd get to ride powder around here is to hike the backcountry, and I'm too lazy to hike when there's a perfectly good ski lift to carry me. And frankly, riding the alpine setup on freshly groomed packed powder is up at the same level of fun for me as riding the freeride board in powder. May not be as uncommon a treat, but it's a lot more convenient... --mark

Thanks for the morning laugh! :) A few weeks ago I rode my freeride board with my old Burton Step-In Race Plates mounted. Wonderfully convenient at the top of the mountain, but I discovered when I got to the bottom that getting out of them is a serious pain due to the tiny release lever that sits down lower than the heel of the boot. I admit it, I could stand to lose a few inches around the waist, and bending down that far and flipping that lever is no longer very easy. But then last weekend an old friend of mine rode with me on his Factory Prime with step-ins, a setup that he hadn't ridden in years, and he had just as much trouble getting out of the damn things. And he's thin, so that made me feel better. --mark

Square up your shoulders more with the tip of the board. You're standing too sideways, especially on heelside turns. Try pointing your rear knee forward in line with the board. For heelside turns press it inwards over the heelside edge, and for toeside turns press it outwards. I've found that this usually helps people get into the proper stance and initiate good turns. You're off to a good start though. Just work on technique and practice. You'll get it in no time. --mark

I had the Flex bindings on one of my first boards, but then their successor, the Torque bindings, after that. The Torques were sturdier bindings overall. But I'm still much happier with hardboots and plates! --mark

I don't sit down to clip in, I just find a flat spot to stand (I make one with the board if I have to) and clip in standing up. This gets easy with a little practice. If you do need to sit down, it's much easier to get up if you flip over onto your toeside edge and get up from a kneeling position. The only time I get up from a regular sitting position is if I'm on a pretty steep slope (because my butt is already higher than the board). Absolutely. I remember my first run in hardboots -- felt awkward as hell at first, even though I'd been riding with three-strap bindings up to that point. But it only took a few runs to get used to the different angulation required. The basic mechanics of snowboarding definitely carry over. I made the switch in part because I found myself constantly cranking down the binding straps so tight, in order to get improved response, that my feet would be killing me. This was back in the days that even the stiffer softboots, like the Burton Comps I wore, were still very soft compared to some of the current ones that are nearly as stiff as hardboots. It finally occurred to me that since I was most interested in going fast and carving, it was stupid for me to suffer all day long with aching feet when I could just use hardboots and have both increased response AND comfort. Last year, after a long break from snowboarding, I tried a pair of Burton Driver X softboots (one of the models that's almost as stiff as hardboots); thought was that maybe going with more of a freeride setup would get me back into snowboarding. I actually really liked the boots, but I immediately remembered how much I hate strap bindings. After the convenience of flipping one lever while standing up to clip into a plate binding, having to sit down and fiddle with straps was incredibly frustrating. This year I have indeed gotten back into snowboarding, but I've very happily stuck with my hardboots. :) --mark

Looks like you accidentally listed your stance width as the waist width. Like Neil says, it's probably more like a 25cm waist. A few weeks ago I rode my Burton Triumph 73, a similar all-mountain freeriding board, because it had snowed overnight and conditions were soft. I used 45/42 angles (normally ride a skinny race board with 60 degree angles). It did fine in the soft stuff, but didn't want to carve very well on hardpack. Part of it was what Corey is talking about -- between the tight sidecut radius and the relatively soft flex, the thing just wants to carve really small turns. As Neil suggests, try lowering your stance angles a bit so your toes and heels are on the board edges. --mark

By the way, was meaning to post this earlier and kept forgetting, but here's the current collection. Most of it belongs in a museum. Left to right: '94 Burton Kelly Slopestyle, '94 Burton PJ6, '94 Burton Stat 5, '97 Burton Factory Prime 5.7-180s, late '90s Prior custom slalom board (got it cheap heavily used), Burton Supermodel 68 (I forget what year -- first year they were available -- '97 maybe?), late '90s Mistral Sonic 167, 2000ish Prior 4WD 179, Prior 180 custom (looks shorter than the 4WD because it's leaning back), '08ish Burton Triumph 73. I also have this season's model Burton Namedropper 58, but won't be riding it. Not my style of board. But several of my photos were used for the graphics so it's nice to have one on hand. --mark

None yet. I've been riding a few of the boards I already owned to experiment with options, and also try changing stance angles a bit. Last week I took out my old Prior 4WD 179 with Cateks at about 60 degrees; not bad, but at that length it's not a particularly nimble board, and the stance angles put my toes and heels a little too far inside the edge. Next soft-conditions day we have, I'll try it out with my Burton Race Plates at 54 degrees; I expect those bindings and angles will be better suited to that board. This past weekend, I took out the Prior 180 custom because it hadn't snowed all week apart from a dusting here and there, and I was reminded once again how awesome that board is. It's so confidence-inspiring and stable, and holds an edge like it's on rails. I really want to try a Kessler or other metal board so I can see what all the fuss is about; but from the descriptions I've heard about the way they ride, I expect this Prior is fairly similar (though probably more lively because it's fiberglass and has a LOT of camber). I might have to email Chris Prior and see if he remembers anything about it -- it was a prototype he'd built to experiment with certain features, including lots of camber; I expect he also used plenty of rubber dampening in its construction, and it looks like the nose is slightly decambered. At any rate, I was having so much fun on it that I never bothered to switch to the Factory Prime 5.7 I'd brought along in case of crowds. I'll do a little more experimentation the next few weekends as things warm up, but right now my gut is telling me that something along the lines of a Prior 4WD or Donek Axxess around 165-170, with a waist around 210-220mm and built to my weight with plenty of camber, would probably be a great choice for those softer/more crowded days. This season has been a huge success for me, first and foremost because it got me back on snow and interested and engaged in snowboarding again, but also because it confirmed that I was on the right track all along in terms of gear and setup. Over the past few weeks I've stopped second-guessing myself and realized that the solution is really a lot simpler than I thought. I don't need anything that's very different; for riding in the sorts of conditions that make the Prior 180 no longer be fun, I just need something a little nimbler and a little less likely to dig in when the snow gets soft. Donek might still rack up another Incline sale though: I got a friend of mine to try out an alpine setup earlier in the season, and he loved the sensation of carving. He had a Burton Republic that he broke a couple of years ago, and switched back to skiing. As much as he liked the alpine snowboard, he was saying that if he was going to pick up a new board, he'd get something more all-mountain oriented, but for the time being wanted to concentrate on improving his skiing. But this weekend, since it hadn't snowed all week (he uses those fat skis and likes the trees and backcountry), I got him to throw his old softboot bindings on my Burton Supermodel 68, and he ended up having a blast. Commented several times that it carved way better than his Republic did, and that he'd forgotten how much fun snowboarding could be. I'd mentioned the Incline to him before as a board that would be ideal for what he likes to do, but when I mentioned it again on the skilift ride, I think he paid a little more attention. :) --mark

Nice toy collection. Especially the KTM. :) --mark

Funny you should post this; I'm in pretty much the same boat. Rode religiously up to the early 2000s, but a number of factors lessened my enthusiasm and ultimately made me lose interest. We had several winters in a row of very cold temps but little snow; I got a little bored with the mountain I rode at, but economically couldn't justify switching to a different one; I ran out of people to ride with; and in particular, I just wasn't having fun anymore dealing with crowds. It just stopped being worth it dragging myself out of bed in time to get to the mountain for the 7:30 first lift, and leave by 9 when the crowds showed up. But last winter I got out once and had fun, so figured that this winter I should get myself back into it. And I have -- not to the extent I used to ride, but enough to rekindle my interest. So I signed back onto this forum after years away and did some research about the boards now on the market. The changes in our little niche of the industry are fascinating. I am of course still riding my old gear from the late '90s/early 2000s. Favorite board is a Prior 180 custom GS with an 18cm waist and a huge amount of camber; the thing has awesome edge hold and is a very fun, engaging ride. I've also got a '97 Burton Factory Prime 5.7-180s slalom board that's a lot of fun when conditions demand tighter turns. Plus a number of other boards that see infrequent use. I have not of course ridden any of the new metal boards or variable-sidecut models. I'm curious how I'd like them. The Prior 180 has really spoiled me for a lot of other boards; it sounds like in terms of geometry/design, it's very different from the new metal boards, and probably rides very differently too. I'd love to do a comparison. Maybe I'll make it to the ECES next year and demo one of the new boards. I'm glad I've gotten back into the game. It's good to be riding again. --mark

I have to admit, the thought has crossed my mind to wear my motorcycle helmet snowboarding. Besides being full-face, it's also warmer and a lot more comfortable than my snowboarding lid. But I just can't bring myself to do it -- generally speaking, I don't much care what I look like or what people think of me, but wearing the motorcycle helmet snowboarding would just look too stupid. And you're right, it would fog like crazy. I'm definitely not thrilled with my snowboarding helmet and agree that something with more protection would be a good choice. Keep us posted on what you find. --mark

Thanks, but way too wide. Sounds like a fun board otherwise though. --mark