SunSurfer

@slapos "Feeling", on any floating axle plate system with the ability to vary the position of the axles in relation to the rider's binding position can vary enormously dpepending upon how it is setup. JJA system has more variation possible than many designs. Unless you have a good understanding of how the various factors interact, you will need to try a number of variations before you get a really good idea of how it will perform, and the best compromise for you on the spectrum between loss of snow feel and isolation from the bumps and ruts that form on a ridden slope. Personally, I would love to see an up to date guide document from JJA on his approach to set up his design.

AA, what has been your experience of the wear and rear on the pins used in the JJA brackets? I had concerns from looking at pictures of the design for wear problems from narrow diameter pins with small surface area, metal on metal, contact points.

Whether it's worth it depends upon what you want it to do. That can range from a) expensive bling to pimp your ride to b) win a gold medal at the next Olympics.

My aims in writing the thread were primarily An aide-memoire for myself just as you suggest and Secondarily, to describe, for others seeking to improve, the clues I'd found that might help them find a way to progress. Riding through the soles my feet allowed more turns, and tighter turns, to be made on steeper slopes with no perceptible increase in effort. I carved slopes I would previously have side slipped or slarved for fear of losing control. I carved slopes that were more cut up and lumpy than before because my knees were more able to work as shock absorbers. I was thrown fore/aft less because of the more sensitive balance and the longer base of support. I was less fatigued than those who rode with me. And it was great fun. It felt like I needed to do very little to put the board on edge and keep it there. I could enjoy the journey rather than concentrate on the driving. Very definitely more produced for the same or less effort. Looking forward to finding the next way point on this journey.

Postage stamps will never look quite the same. (Read to the end) -------------- Voodoo doll and cannibalism studies triumph at Ig Nobels https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/sep/14/voodoo-doll-and-cannibalism-studies-triumph-at-ig-nobels?

1/ Good off season fitness maintenance. Cardio generally + strength work for legs and core are essential. 2/ Pre-acclimatisation for Aspen's altitude. Acetazolamide has it's uses. Sift the chaff from the wheat when it comes to remedies for altitude sickness. 3/ Isolation plates reduce quads fatigue. 4/ Good technique enables carving with much less effort, all other things being equal. 5/ Don't do the waist strap on your body armour/spine protector up too tight! Been there, done that, and wondered why I was so out of shape. ?

Reflecting on this trip, my last day's riding, and my evolving technique and perception of it. Previously I've described the way I ride as feeling like I'm applying edge pressure with the sides of my knees leveraging the sides of my boots, particularly the knee on the outside of the turn. I'd found if I didn't feel that outside knee pressure the tail would washout, the turn would be "slarved" not carved. If I was to describe what I feel now I'd say I'm carving by shifting my weight from one side of the sole of my foot to the other. I ride balanced front/back on the balls of both feet. To initiate a turn I push down with the front foot AND roll that pressure onto the side of both feet in the direction I want to turn. I ride Regular (left foot forward) so for a Right turn that means pressure over my left foot big toe and my right foot toes 3-5. A Left turn uses pressure over my left foot toes 3-5 and my right foot big toe. If I rode Goofy (right foot forward) the technique would be exactly the same. I've become much more conscious of the feeling of pressure through the soles of my feet when I ride, both to balance front/back and to turn. The movements of my forefoot within the boot are small, subtle movements of inversion/eversion. I can still feel the movements in my knees that I used before, but the point of emphasis, the sensation my brain is predominantly monitoring as I ride has shifted. I have a memory that Erik Beckmann has talked about these kind of small foot movements as being crucial to carving. I've just been reading descriptions of ski carving that talk about almost identical use of foot movements and pressure. Now I have to retain the memory of those sensations till the next time I get to ride.

Captains ( both sides and down the middle), & Whitestar (including Sluicebox) got carved today. Last dayon this trip tomorrow. 3 hardbooters, 1 softbooter on a Donek Flux, + the Chinese Junior alpine snowboard squad all digging trenches today. I'll ride Captains when the groom is fresh, just for you Allee, tomorrow! ?

Intuition Power Wrap. Developed a blistered rear shin after a few days riding standard UPZ liners in RC10s. Also not as good heel hold as I wanted. Been riding last 10 days in the above. No shin blister problems. Second, heel hold in my modded rear boot (see UPZ mods thread) is fantastic. And I generate a lot of heel lift in my rear boot. Sufficient to cause metal fatigue failure of the rear part of my Bomber TD3 Intecs. And sufficient that in checking my boots last night I discovered I had sheared off the lateral rear screw holding the Intec heel on the rear boot. But the Intuitions are holding the rear heel down!

Having read Chouinard's quote I'm contemplating some Zen carving today. Blue skies, sub zero temps, 2 day old groomed snow. ?

I'm just over halfway through a holiday in Wanaka, riding at Cardrona. My riding is different, some might say better, than when the trip began. What I've learned is due to riding a new and an old board. Many of you will already know what I've learned, just call me slow, because I recognise what I'm now doing from others descriptions of how they ride. New board - Coiler NFCE T+ (2017) 174cm Bruce built this for me in the knowledge that I rode a 54cm stance. I made a measurement error when I first mounted bindings on it, set them at the centre of the insert sets, not realising that actually that was 56cm. Rode it at ATC 2017 loved its' performance. Discovered at the beginning of this trip I'd been riding 56cm and experimented with the other 4 boards I have with me on this trip and it all feels good. For comparison with others I have a roughly 91-92cm inside leg measurement, ride at 60 degrees on both bindings and currently run 6 degrees of front toe lift, rear heel lift, and no canting. UPZ RC 10s. When I went back to shorter stances it feels less stable. Old board: RadAir Obsession (Pinkerman Extreme model) I bought this second hand as a better option for powder than my pure carving boards, but it's a relatively stiff, cambered board that can be carved. I'd not ridden it much, so I spent a cloudy day getting acquainted and working out how to make it carve. I started off with the bindings angled to put heel and toe as close to the edge as possible without overhang. For my mondo 29 boots that worked out to about 47 degrees rear and just over 50 degrees at the front with a tweak of inward can't. My stance was centred along the effective edge, rather than centred on the binding inserts. But I'm an old dog, a creature of habit, and I just couldn't get comfortable so I gradually/incrementally rotated back to my familiar 60/60 degrees. That felt comfortable, and what's more the toeside turns were solid and powerful when I leaned on the edge through the lateral toes of my rear foot. Normally I'd have leaned on the edge levering the side of my boots especially the front leg. But try as I might, using my normal lateral boot pressure technique for heel side turns, I could not get the board to carve well on heelside. Time to try something different. What would happen if I pressured the heel edge using the lateral toes of my front foot? As I tried to do this I found I also needed to bring my centre of gravity a bit more forward. And then I got the same feeling in my front foot on starting a heelside turn as I got in my rear foot on toeside. WOW! That's a heel side turn. The board hooked up, the edge bit deeply and solidly, and the turn was tight. Practicing that heelside turn, moving my COG forward, getting that feeling that I'm pressuring both edges with subtle pressure through my toes 2 through 5, and the ends of the foot bones that lead to them, led to my finally learning about loading the nose of the board at the very beginning of the turn. Suddenly my board angle is getting even higher and the edge bite is getting deeper and solid. I've read/heard many people describe it but until that day on the RadAir I've never really understood/experienced it and experienced how much difference it makes to a turn. So that day was a great day. But the next was the icing on the cake. Cause I took out the Nirvana and applied all I'd learned on the Rad Air. ?

Rode a 4 seat chair today at Cardrona with 4 carvers on board, Nigel C, Bryan Fox, and a young woman that we'd just found on an F2 board wearing ski boots. She knows about this forum now! Have spent much of the day riding with Bryan, and Nigel when he sneaked away from his group.

Just a quick outtake from 9th August at Cardrona for all you Northern Hemisphere types sweating through summer. Nigel C and I rode together for much of yesterday (Sat, 11th), but there is no video evidence of what went down. After today's high winds there's a lot of ice and grit/rocks exposed so we need some fresh snow.

Riding a chair at Cardrona today with 3 skiers, all on carving skis. One of the 2 guys to my left asks " What do you call that?". "That" is a pimped Riot Supercarve with Bomber UPM plate mechanicals and a DIY extra long plate made from an F2 Eliminator reinforced with unidirectional carbon fibre. Before I get a chance to reply, a laconic "Magnificent" comes from the Australian on my right. ?

Redman's just trying to appeal to the Aussies ?

Eat your heart out, or fly South! https://www.cardrona.com/winter/snow-report/ Counting down till August 8th! Wanaka, here I come.

For all of you who like to drive fast, very fast....... I'd had no idea what nearly 370km/hr looked like!

So how wide/narrow does a board have to be to be a skwal? And how high do the binding angles have to be to ride "skwal style"? Me, I'd call any board ridden with both feet at greater than 80 degrees "skwal style" and in its' rightful place here.

Good to see you've made the pilgrimage to the grownup kids playground that is New Zealand. Looks like you've had no shortage of fun on the way to where you are now!

August 9th 2018 for me. ??

Pat Moore will be gutted. Probably means no more NASTAR at Okemo.

Not mine. Auction has 6 days approx. to run at time of posting here. https://www.trademe.co.nz/1646495543 See auction questions for details.

@BlueBBlue Bee signature model! Hope there's still snow where you are, otherwise it'll be a LONG summer. (always read the fine print)

Note that boot shell external shape and toe bail shape varies. I run Intec bindings and the F2 toe bail follows the UPZ RC 10 boot shell toe curve beautifully, while the Bomber TD3 Intec has only a couple of contact points.

Nah, just consider flying south for the summer. Planned opening dates for some NZ fields from mid June, with the best snow in August (Junior World Snowboard Champs @ Cardrona, NZ end of August 2018). Then there's South America for another source of quality snow. The Aussies have mountains that get snow but an awful lot of them come here for their Southern Hemisphere winter fix. I'm riding Cardrona +/- Treble Cone between 9th and 23rd August this year, before a couple of days in Queenstown. Paid for a couple of extra checked bags so will have between 6-8 boards + isolation/isocline plates with me.