Snowriter

Anyone know approximately how many snowboard manufacturers came and went during the 80s and 90s?

As much as listening to Miles Davis's Bitches Brew would be a surreal experience while hitting some great turns ... no way. At one of our local hills a group of deaf/hearing impaired riders/skiers are on the hill every weekend ... the group has a special bib so people know that this riders/skiers can't hear. IPOD crankers have no such bib to warn other riders of this limitation ... and thus put everyone at risk. As for tinnitus, yeah, you don't want it. Keep the music low when you're on the lift ... and if they would turn it down at the base lodge too!!!

What year was Tom Sims born? Anyone know?

I'm not a carver, just a freerider, but I find the T6 is great for ripping groomers and is very nice in powder. It is a Ferrari ... so be prepared to rip on it as it really doesn't like to go that slow... Don't take it in the woods... you'll hate yourself for it!

Looking For Photos of Milovich and Winterstick ... specifically, 70s and 80s. I have access to the stuff that ran in the Deseret Sun in 2003. Looking for other rare photos.

Anyone know when they started being sold to the public and when they stopped? Also, who was in charge of A-Team?

Rome has a good rep, so you might consider the verona, which is supposed to be an all mtn board. http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/outlet/RDE0066/Ride-Verona-Snowboard-Womens.html The Burton Feather is popular, and they have that in a 149. The Burton Feelgood is an all mtn board that's good enough for Kelly Clark and Molly Aguire. They have that in a 152.

Some people have said that the Snurfer is not a snowboard because the rider holds a rope. Thus, just like a scooter is not skateboarding, a Snurfer is not a snowboard. Others say a single plank designed for someone to stand on and ride down a snow covered hill is a snowboard ... it doesn't matter if you're holding a rope or not. What's your take?

IIRC, the last study I read showed that snowboarders had one more injury per 1,000 rider days than skiers.

Waterskiing is a passion. In fact, being a slalom waterskier is what made me gravitate to snowboarding.

Until your daughters are no longer your financial responsibility, maybe you should wear the helmet 100% of the time ... A lot of people say, "Let those who ride decide," but they are forgetting about or don't care about the impact their death/severe brain injury might have on someone else's life if they get in an accident. Example: You crash into a moving car. With a helmet, you would have lived. Without a helmet, you paint the car with your brains. Yeah, you're dead and you were "okay" with that risk. Meanwhile, the driver of that car lives with the fact that their car killed you while they were driving it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, gene pool, natural selection, and all that jazz ... Fact is most people will be traumatized by that type of tragedy ... A tragedy that could have easily been prevented had the helmetless rider been more responsible. Should bike and motorcycle helmets be mandatory? Sure, no different than a seatbelt. But, if it's legal in your state, it's your choice. Just realize that your choice has the potential to ruin the lives of others. FWIW: I don't bike anymore and don't ride a motorcycle. I do, however, wear a helmet while snowboarding 100% of the time and have since 2000.

Also, FWIW, the Twin was a 156 and the T6 is a 159, so I'm used to a shorter board, though I've had no real trouble when I go up to 162 (heck, years ago I rode the Burton Dragon 173 and had a ball). Anyone have any thoughts on the Arbors?

Okay, but will that cause any problems with tight turns in the trees or narrow trails?

Soft.

That is pretty messed up...

Okay, here's the deal. My main ax at the moment is a Burton T6, which I really love. It's a great ripper board. BUT ... Before I picked up the T6, I spent most of my time on an old school Burton Twin (the Ouija Board to be exact - got a decade out of that thing!). While, I love the T6, there are times where I don't want to be that aggressive, or I want to hit some areas with questionable cover and not have to worry about screwing up the base. So basically, I'm looking for a second board that I can mess around on. I'm mostly a freerider. Don't spend any time in the pipe, and can barely ride fakie (though I want to improve my fakie riding). Most people are recommending the Burton Custom or Custom X, but I've never been a fan of the Custom. It's always felt too clunky for my taste. Any suggestions?

Last Friday in March at Stratton. Powder day. Got several fresh lines to myself. My friends could hear me yelling WHOOOOO even when I was completely out of their sight line (they were on skis and I floated by them pretty quick). Caught air by accident - more air than I ever get as I pretty much stay on the ground - and landed on pillow and just kept moving. It was heavenly. Then I caught my heelside edge in some heavy powder took a fall on some exposed hard hard hardpack ... fell on my back/left hip, felt the pain radiate through my groin. Took a while for me to get up. My friend thought ski patrol was going to have to be called, I hit that hard. Shook it off and got back to the lift ... I was a little hesitant for the rest of the weekend after that ... and had some pain stick with me until Tuesdayish. But, oh, overall it was a FREAKIN' SWEET Day. Best day of the season, for sure.

Winterstick Collection being sold on Ebay ... http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Winterstick-Snowboard-Collection_W0QQitemZ170208582361QQihZ007QQcategoryZ21250QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Already over $3,000...

Okay, found it on oldsnowboards.com Yeah, it's an anti skid device. Clearly from the JEM period, not the Brunswick period.

Link is longer valid ... Did anyone save a pix of this? I would like to see it.

Yeah, as an east coast rider, I'm curious about the SuperModel ... Love the T6, but do need something for more mellow/tired days. FWIW: Haven't gone over the nose on the T6 on groomers, but did get the nose stuck in the Pow a bit after it was getting tracked out. I was at reference stance at the time, so might not have happened if I dropped the bindings back. Then again ... it might have...

If you are looking for a board to rip on the hardpack that also does nicely in pow, then the Burton T6 is worth looking into. This a ripper board first and foremost -- it wants to go fast. But, when I grabbed first tracks at Stratton a couple weeks back in 8-10 of pow it proved to be a real treat. Burton's powder boards also include SuperModel and Malalo, both of which are supposed to do well on pack, the malolo excelling more in Pow. Haven't tried them myself, but that's their reputation. For pure pow, the Fish has a great rep, but is supposed to pretty much suck on groomers... Anyway, I like the T6. It's an aggressive board, but when you want to push it, man is it fun. When you want to be mellow ... well, not so much ;)

Hit Stratton on 3/28, 29, and 30. Friday was a fantastic powder day. Just incredible. Got first tracks and near first tracks on some runs. Just insane. Saturday was nice and Sunday was beautiful. May be my last runs of the season. If so, ended on a high note.

Kurt is actually a good guy. Whether or not you agree with his logic, that's another story. Kurt edited one of my favorite mags, Snowboard Life, which targeted the 30+ snowboarder. Unfortunately, that magazine became a casualty when Transworld SB and Snowboard Life were sold by Times Mirror to Time Warner. SB Life didn't have a huge circulation, and TW felt the market was the snowboard under 25 crowd. Hard to argue with TW's bottom line move as 25+ snowboarders accounted for only 24.7% of all snowboarders in 1990 and was down 23.9% in 2006 So, it's easy to see why SB Life was killed. Too bad. I liked the magazine.

Snowboard Journal was picked in either '05 up by Future Publications, the same folks who put out Future Snowboarding and Snowboard Trade News). Unfortunately, the magazine didn't live up to Future's expectations fast enough and they pulled the plug in Fall '06. After Future stopped publishing TSJ, Scooter Leonard tried to shop it around to another publisher (including Surfer's Journal), but had no luck. Another coffee table magazine, Frequency: The Snowboarder's Journal (yeah, they were arguing about the title...) does still exist and their web site is here: http://www.frqncy.com/