SunSurfer

Thaw/freeze cycles in peak season have been a routine part of NZ snow sports for 20 years. We have just had a major ski field essentially go bankrupt for lack of snow. This is despite it being a significant tourist drawcard and focus for local small businesses and receiving significant financial loan support from our national government (federal equivalent). Global heating is deniable only by the intellectually dishonest. My response to this is political, and personal. Look at the images provided by the Hubble and James Webb telescopes. The space even just in our galaxy around us is incredibly hostile to human life. There is no Planet B available to us.

/\ above. The boards design/construction plus the riding style made for a really twitchy nervous ride compared to the ride of boards made in the last 5 years, ridden with a longer stance distance.

No surprise for those people who had their eyes open. RAL did not explicitly acknowledge climate change as a risk to their business in their annual reports. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/130146363/ruapehu-ski-field-crisis-a-climate-change-wakeup-call

That is peak snow sports season on a field that was opened in 1978.

Ruapehu Alpine Lifts goes into voluntary administration. This is the operator of 2 commercial ski fields in the North Island of New Zealand. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300710275/ruapehu-skifield-operator-placed-in-voluntary-administration

This explains why inward canting can feel more natural with lower binding angles, but also how the need for cant and lift changes as your angles change. It also has a reference to a thread on 3d printing binding cants, although for a different model binding.

My thought precisely. Or some company make soft boot bindings that actually provide 360 degree lower leg support?

Looking forward to being there and catching up with lots of people I haven't seen since the last Bomber SES/ATC! Well used to driving front wheel drive cars, and to the smooth driving technique needed on snowy/icy roads from my winter driving here in NZ. A gravel road is unfortunately NOT a sealed road and I have no wish to void any indemnity on a US hire car contract.

4 car hire companies at Kalispell airport. Avis, Alamo/National, Budget and Hertz. Avis don't offer skierised vehicles, Alamo explicitly forbid chain use, Budget don't allow unsealed road use, leaving Hertz who offer skierised vehicles, but after their recent financial troubles, at eye watering prices for a 5 day hire. Hertz it will be.

Yeah, looks like my best bet is to actually talk to someone at the other end, rather than going on website info. Thanks.

Very familiar with chains use from winters here in NZ. Here, the hire companies make chains an explicit extra part of a winter hire so you know they're part of the equipment. The hire car websites I'm looking at make no mention of chains or winter tyres. Nor do they specify that a given SUV class is guaranteed 4WD.

Getting my vehicle hire sorted for our MCC 2023 trip. Flying in via Kalispell with 2 others and gear. Doing this via the Net from New Zealand so don't have local/USA knowledge others may have. Hertz/Avis/Budget/Alamo at Kalispell Int Airport. Budget have great deals currently but have T&Cs that say "no unsealed roads". On Google Earth the access road to Turner looks unsealed. Yes/No? Looking at hiring an SUV mostly for carrying capacity. Can I assume that a Montana based hire in winter will have all weather tyres? Do I need to get 4WD? Or even on a heavy snowfall day would the road be cleared fast enough to allow a 2WD up?

Staying in Snowmass, riding 28 Jan to 4 Feb 2023 inclusive, before heading to MCC. Hope to catch up with you. Will have a couple of skiers in tow.

USA air quality plummets as a result of wildfires made more likely by global heating. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/22/air-quality-wildfire-smoke-pollution-health-risks

Covid will likely be with us for a long time. Natural selection will continue to produce variants that will evade the relative immunity produced by current vaccination targets and previous variant Covid infection. While there may be a lull now, the world is not back to pre-Covid norms. There will likely be a new normal. Facemasks/coverings were very common on snow riders of all ages at Cardrona this NZ winter. The search will go on for effective Covid vaccines that target parts of the virus that have minimal variation. On other points, ethanol is a dose related carcinogen. So is sunshine. So is the radiation dose you receive every time you fly. Glucose is an essential fuel for your body, especially for your brain. The brain has very limited ability to utilise other fuels and low blood glucose levels will cause permanent brain damage or even death. The aim is moderation in all of these things. To end on a light note.... An alcoholic is someone who drinks more than their doctor.

Have read good things in other threads here about i-carve, the banner vendor at the top of the pages. Has worldwide shipping. I have had no direct dealing with the site.

The one Aussie store I knew about that has stocked alpine snowboard gear in the past, First Tracks, is out of stock for hardboot bindings.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/02/new-zealand-weather-warmest-wettest-winter-on-record-aotearoa Cold enough down south for about 6 weeks for much of that rain to fall as snow there. Farther north it fell as rain (see Allee's comments above). The cold enough window gets shorter, year by year.

Remember, medicine is better in the USA. While in most first world nations 80% of doctors are better than average, in the USA at least 90+% are the best in their field. Trust me, I'm a doctor!

Skill absolutely, and fun to watch, but a lot easier than following a free riding boarder that closely. Both are following a relatively gradual and constant slope slalom training course, so start & turning points are defined and speed is going to be much the same. Riders are likely well matched in their ability to run the course, and like many spectacular on line videos we don't see the "fails".

You need cardio-respiratory fitness, quads strength, plus good balance reflexes, and practice at analysing what's in front of you at speed (line choice and dealing with terrain change). Riding a non electric mountain bike as fast as you feel comfortable will tick every one of those boxes plus it's done outside and it's actually fun in its own right. Isolated quads exercise will strengthen your quads but should be part of what you do, not only what you do. PS: To get full value ride a hardtail! Then your quads (and calves) get a major shock absorbing, anaerobic active long travel suspension role with every descent, as well as the aerobic training in the uphill.

If it's only for private use, you can put whatever music you like to it and no-one is likely to be bothered, although some viewers may draw the line at Stockhausen . Doing your own editing means you get just what you want. I assume you and your mate aren't going to stop videoing your riding so this is a skill you would continue to use. Selecting some clips, stitching them together, and laying some music over the top was not particularly difficult in any of the editors I've used. But I also enjoy learning stuff and new skills, which is not everyone's taste. Having had some interesting experiences getting some old analogue video digitised I avoid getting other people to do this sort of stuff for me.

Be cautious with a return to concrete, a break through the thigh bone part of a hip replacement is a major problem. I suspect your surgeon's reaction to the idea of you on a skateboard might be entertaining to watch!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300669151/more-than-130-staff-made-redundant-at-mt-ruapehu--troa-skifield-closed Mt Ruapehu has 2 major ski areas on it, run by Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, a non-profit organisation that because of steadily declining visitor numbers was already in financial trouble before this year's disastrous snow season on Ruapehu. With Turoa now closed till further notice Whakapapa on the northern side of the mountain has only some lifts running. In contrast the ski areas in the South Island have had more snow this year than for 20 years. I suspect the contrast this year will accelerate the flight of skiers and boarders to the South Island. How much longer Ruapehu Alpine Lifts will remain in business is anyone's guess!

Any video editing software beyond the most simple will have a significant learning curve. The current GoPro Player didn't recognise my old GoPro Silver 3+ files, but did recognise my 8 Black. Have used a range of free editors over the years and they have steadily grown in sophistication. Currently using the free version of DaVinci Resolve which has an enormous feature set, including colour grading and stabilisation, and will render in 4k. Given that the free version is the generation behind the current commercial version I hope to be using DVR for quite a while yet. It is not the simplest out there, but it is basically a professional level feature set for free. As your needs grow you probably won't need to change software. Music can be troublesome if you plan to post on YouTube etc. During the upload process YouTube will recognise tracks and flag if there are copyright issues.