SunSurfer

Attending MCC 2023 was a like a pilgrimage, something a carving snowboarder should do at least once in their life. It was an adventure, with lots that was new and different for a New Zealander visiting Montana for the first time, like driving a hire car on the "wrong" side of the road in winter without snow tyres or chains (cue a diversion into a snow filled ditch and a tow from the snow groomer). There was off the snow fun too, the roller skating night and the banquet band being highlights that DR hasn't mentioned above. But most of all for me, it was gathering with my "tribe" and catching up with old acquaintances. With climate change and the impact of air travel I may never make the trip to Libby again. But I have wonderful memories, as do the 2 skiers who came along for the ride with me!

Suspect that the motion we're seeing is relative to the camera mounted on the nose of the board. Rider tilts the board midsection, but nose and tail don't tilt to quite the same amount due to board twist.

IMHO spring setup depends in part on the technique you use to tilt the board onto its edge and to control and maintain the edge angle. Heel & toe OR Sides of the feet I tilt my board by creating a sense of putting my weight onto the left or right sides of my feet. For me the springs are acting like the suspension system on a mountain bike, helping my quads muscles absorb the bumps in the riding surface and allowing my lower legs to move through a safe range of movement to facilitate that shock absorption. My front lower leg needs a smaller range of movement than my rear. If you ride more using heel and toe weight distribution then your goals for your springs are likely to be different. Because I don't ride in that way, I won't make comment about how to set the springs for that technique.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/us-canada/301031951/snow-at-record-low-in-us-making-for-not-a-very-white-christmas What I'm reading in the Southern Hemisphere about the northern hemisphere snow cover.

What, no nocturia? Or......(TMI)

Go to Aspen! A few years ago I had one of my best days ever, carving with @slopestar and others at Buttermilk during a previous AFC gathering. All the stars lined up, good snow and grooming, blue skies, and great company. At the end of the day I couldn't stop smiling and I could barely walk!

@patmoore You gotta buy better beer.

@arcingSent you a message. Appropriate combinations of lift and cant are related to the individual rider's physique and stance choices.

That's not good news, whatever the reason Dan is out of action. I bought my boots through him a few years back, a very smooth process. Getting equipment for our sport in New Zealand is never entirely straightforward. Thanks @martock_carver for the information.

As an intermediate level carver a few years back I clicked into a Skwal USA Powder Skwal and was carving turns at an indoor ski slope in a run or two. Ditched my poles by Run 3 and had a ball. Binding setup is crucial for comfort, but using @Jack Ms test above, for me a Skwal is a snowboard.

@softbootsurfer As you clearly understand, there is no Planet B. https://www.sciencealert.com/25-of-the-most-iconic-images-of-earth-ever-taken-from-space

@barryj You're not the only holdout. Despite my newer boards being great rides without a sliding axle plate, I still use my Bolier plate, and my home built sliding axle plates. I have a Hot Blast Slalom Race board with a single radius 8m sidecut that I ride with a plate that is similar fun to an MK.

@johnasmo Wow! Reading this makes my heart sink! As an anesthesiologist that's an outcome we work really hard to avoid. I'm assuming from your surgery and nerve damage pattern that one of the blocks was done just above and behind your knee. What you describe is indeed most likely to be the result of drug injection actually into the nerves. There are normally a number of checks in any block process to try to prevent this from happening. These include commonly using ultrasound imaging to guide the needle tip to the chosen spot as well as pressure checks during drug injection. We're trying to get close, but not that close. You have been desperately unfortunate to have this complication. Nerve signals are necessary for muscle health, so that muscles deprived of motion signals weaken and waste. Remaining muscles have to work harder to compensate, hence get tired and sore faster. Sural nerve supplies sensation for much of the sole of the foot and underside of your toes, and that area is crucial for balance and board feel. Calf and foot muscles crucial for actual balancing. Hoping for your recovery! PS: Injection pressure check can be as low tech as a known volume of air above the drug being injected and monitoring the volume change as the air is compressed. If the volume halves, then the injection pressure is approx. 15psi, which is too high!

Agree. Was all I could find in hardboots. There's some soft booting footage in a conditions report for Tremblant, and some of him ski carving on his ICI skis..

Beg to differ. JJA run to gold @ Vancouver Olympics has been on YouTube in 1920x1080 HD for a long time. https://youtu.be/IHj7j8hP_yY YouTube doesn't allow it to be embedded.

To understand why @Jack M is correct, watch the video linked in the Personal Message.

Your setup looks great. Intec heels are my choice too. Now you need some snow! A few riders, my self included, when the Intec cable is placed conventionally on the outside of the heel, get pain on their heel from a pressure point created by the cable. Swapping the Intec heels over on the boots so the cable runs up the inside of the boot has solved that problem for me. Probably won't be an issue for you but just in case.

Aiming just to put dots on the page. And hoping that when people look out their window and look at the world with their own eyes they might join up those dots. Tribal politics is not a good lens through which to evaluate science research.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/14/us-national-climate-assessment-global-warming-report Been wondering the same thing myself - old age vs. global heating, for a long time. Watching seasons get shorter, snow bases get shallower, snowmaking technicians saying the nights are too warm, a big local commercial field only just avoid going under completely and not have a secure future. No matter what the human race does the dye is cast for the remainder of my riding career. Make the most of your own remaining health and snow.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/14/us-national-climate-assessment-global-warming-report USA warming faster than average, US government report. Global heating impacts are outside your window.

Nov 2023 https://imgur.com/a/6zYsppD Left to right Retired: Coiler 177AMW, Oxygen Proton GS 164, Burton PJ 6.2 Rides: Riot Supercarve 178, Coiler Nirvana Energy Torsion+ 174, Thirst Superconductor 175, Coiler Contra 173, Burton Factory Prime 173, Palesport Spook 170, Skwal USA Powder Skwal 167, Hot Blast Slalom Racing 160, Kessler Alpine 162, Oxygen Summit 178, RadAir Pinkerman Extreme 169 Pleased with how the storage rack has worked. Maybe should have made it bigger!

I suspect that just as there are noses of varying sizes, so there are skull vaults of varying shapes and heights. In the absence of your identical twin telling you what works for them, trying various helmet and goggle combinations before buying may be your best option.

In the end I got see it in the flesh and bought it. Had had little use and stored inside. Some minor marks on the base and only surface edge corrosion, no pitting or blurring. Barely marked on top by the bindings. Oxygen Summit 178cm Tip 31cm, waist 25.5cm, tail 31cm, approx 150cm effective edge. Calculated SCR 10.24m Max possible stance 66cm, min possible stance 40cm. Binding inserts setback 5cm from centre of effective edge. Feels a little softer flex than a well used 2006 build Coiler AMW 177 I own which is marked 7.6 on Bruce's flex scale. Tucked away with my other boards till next winter when I will write a review. https://imgur.com/a/EMKs8B1 (Slightly better photos than the advert I saw. Public Imgur post so someone else looking for info & pictures will have more luck than I did!) https://forums.alpinesnowboarder.com/search/?&q="oxygen summit"&page=2&quick=1&search_and_or=or&sortby=relevancy

Short opinion: NO! Longer opinion: From my understanding of what sliding axle plate designs are designed to do, from designing and building my own sliding plates, and from my experience riding them, I would firmly say "NO!" This type of plate is designed to allow the board to freely flex along its length, to prevent bending forces from being concentrated in any one spot during normal carving. The farther the axles are apart the lower the effective rider mass that the board experiences. The board will flex less, it will seem stiffer, or as if it has a longer SCR, just @daveo reported above with his Kessler. The farther the axles are apart the greater the length of the mid section of the board that has constraints on its ability to twist. This generally improves edge hold. Remember, the current racer's favourite plate, the AllFlex has its hinges/axles at the outer ends of their plate. While @lowrider is correct in saying that we experimented that was more than 10 years ago and a great deal is now known that was not known then, and at the time the Apex V2 was originally marketed and the original instructions for use produced. If you would like to do the experiment and swap the mounting unit in reverse, make sure you have enough room for the sliding mount on the board to move at least 1cm towards the centre of the board as the board flexes. If you don't have sufficient slide room you will likely damage your board. But I cannot recommend you conduct the experiment.