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is this the same james klassen of outland bikes fame?

according to current websites, morrow & santacruz seem to live on. how about aggression? ^holy crap, forgot about the mighty black snow. awesome state of the art-ness. obviously too advanced for it's time. my god, i'd love to see this graphic on a coiler. in your face!

despite the perceived negativity, it's an interesting discussion, and i'd love to hear your perspective on the design. your boards are things of beauty & there's not much info to be had about them out there. any info would be much appreciated.

it was actually the old excaliber gondy that had the mishap...

might come out for an evening this week (nights are starting up wed). how's coverage looking on the night runs (assuming no precip for the next few days)? should i be bringing the rock board?

is schweitzer a decent mountain? i've been to the bikepark (we hang out at the inlaws place on the lake every summer), but never ventured out in the cold season.

snipped from another page (with typos intact): "Steepwater Snowboards are owned and designed by legendary snowboarder Steve Klassen. He has designed these boards to perform on conditions that he rides, steep, rough terrain. This board will out peform any other board in conditions after the pow is chopped up and you still want to ride the top of the mountain. The board has is very steep and has minimul camber. This helps to keep a stable ground for a rider to land and go fast on in choppy terrain. The steepwater also has a tapered shape which will help make riding powder easier and assists in turning the board. This is a sick board for a snowboarder who loves to ride the top of the mountain every day from open to close."

reminds me of the old days @ baker when you had to get certified to ride a snowboard outside of the one designated bunny slope. terrain park waiver/passes do make sense due to the additional liabilities. really big stuff w/ unforgiving surfaces.

the safari homage rocks the casbah. i did covet those burtons back in the day.

just had a black chocolate stout last night - yummy stuff. tis the season for the burly ales. brasserie dieu du ciel's (from quebec) peche mortel (a coffee imperial stout) is another favorite. as is deschutes abyss, stone imperial stout, avery czar, great divide oak aged yeti... winter is a good season for beer. i'm jealous of you american's superior selection of esoteric micros - lot's of amazing stuff that isn't distributed up here. i smuggle a haul every time i'm south of the border.

actually, my favorite hill in that neck of the woods is castle. amazing continuous / decently steep fall-line & no lift lines (a concept generally unheard of in these parts). alas, don't have the time for the trek. will play it by ear re: cop.

was about to say, the only thing you're missing is a virus in that heap of exotica - & there you go. that be a sick collection.

i was about to write the same. wow. if this is the reject pile, what do the keepers look like?

i'm in calgary over xmas & staying not too far away (near children's hospital). is it worth packing the carving board for some evening turns? i'm concerned it's either too busy and/or short to bother. what say the locals?

they're rad-airs; look pretty much the same as pro-flex & f2's (non-intec), so on the flexy side relatively speaking, i assume. guess it'd follow that the soft elastomers would be the appropriate pick for me.

whilst on the topic of e-rings, are there general recommendations in regards to selecting hardness? ie, i'm 165lbs; would i go for the soft or medium (having no experience with what the 'engineered flex' of these bindings is like)?

i'm looking for some replacements for my decade old radair plates & this dilemma has me on the fence between os2's & td3's. i'm not sure what i really prefer (revisiting alpine w/ a new deck after many softboot years) & don't want to have to buy a selection of bomber baseplates to figure it out. part of me says split the difference & try 3d/3d & hope i'm happy, the other says go catek & know i'll be able to find something that works without additional cash outlay. kinda too bad bomber couldn't utilize a shim system. argh.

i think alpine fit this growing niche well, and there's opportunity for solid growth in the not too distant future. it's also got an alternative fringe element to it that appeals to certain demographics (now that softboot snowboarding is mainstream & has well defined stereotypes that many do not care to be associated with - as shallow as associative stereotypes are). granted, the very limited availability of gear is a huge hurdle, but online sales have been a huge boon to hardware access & sites such as these have done much to disseminate knowledge & foster a sense of 'community' within the small numbers scattered across the globe - both factors (i'm assuming) contributing to further growth. modern alpine snowboarding is just way too fun to remain in obscurity indefinitely.

option did make an alpine deck back in the day; i've got the c165 (same width & looks like similar profiles, but with different graphics). prior built some option boards in his early years; he may have been responsible for these. i think the vintage is closer to 10 years.

just looking out my back window - it's a clear sunny day & the cut on grouse is very brown. it's going to be a while, still...

a standard 177 w/ cosmetic blem (hidden by binding) for $450. couldn't say no (prices on remaining wcrs went up $200 on tues).

my wife is trying to convince me to rent out the house for a month & go live somewhere abroad. if some of the rental rates that people have been throwing around are even close to realistic it'd be a decent free vacation. though i'm somewhat curious to check out the 'olympic experience' in the city.

some great prices on new wcr's @ priors turkey sale, so i opted to keep my $$ local. so stoked to ride a modern board!

i hear that. keeping my eyes open for a used prior.

thanks for the info. fairly big scr's for the lengths, though sounds like they can be ridden tighter (steve), which implies versatility. any other appropriate adjectives to describe the performance?