SunSurfer

The Apex Composites X-Plate http://www.apexsnowboard.com/x-plate.html Cutouts in the carbonfibre plate allow the plate to sit between the axles, while minimal plate overhang beyond the axles prevents impingement. The mounts on the board apply the turning forces closer to the edges than the Bomber plate. The metal in the hinge/hinge-slide mechanism is reduced to a minimum, compared to say the Bomber version. They state the plate top is just 15mm above the board and total weight 1500g. UPM & 4x4 mounts available. Axle diameter, whether solid/hollow, and bushings detail not available. There is something runnning diagonally under the plate under each set of binding inserts, attached by the 4 bolts that have no obvious purpose in attaching the plate to the mechanicals underneath. Guessing this is some kind of torsion resistance / reinforcement, but in the absence of photos showing what's actually there. Does anyone know, have photos? This is the way I would have loved to build an isocline plate. To my mind this design concept maximises the geometry to achieve isolation while minimising height.

Just to lighten this up a little. An Aspen local gives his view of the effect of carvers on a ski slope during SES 2012. Neither of us knew the camera was running.

Hi Pat, The NSR is now a testbed for trying to work out if I can tell the difference as I play out the options around interaxle distance and whcih way round to mount an isocline plate. My modified 4mm BBP and the NSR are the constants. My working hypotheses - 1/ Slide at the front gives a more solid underfoot feel, giving less sense of lag/delay/slop in response. 2/ The ball of the rider's front foot should be between the axles, or at farthest forward over the front axle. It should not be in front of the front axle. 2a: The ideal front foot weight point is over the front axle. This, plus stance width, and having the bindings evenly placed between the axles, leads to calculating the optimal interaxle distance for a given rider. 3/ Greater interaxle distance gives torsional/twisting resistance to a greater proportion of the effective edge. Question: Is the gain in torsional resistance worth moving the front axle further forward, and away from the ball of the front foot. I have two weeks planned in Central Otago for mid August. As well as this stuff to work on, I'll be able to take the full collection of boards (12)/boots(Heads, Raichle 323, Dalbello Rampage) & bindings(Bomber/F2 Intec, Snowpro Race (std bails), to play around with 'cause I'm driving rather than flying down. I should be completely confused but blissed out by the end! Alan

A while ago Bruce Varsava made me a 180cm NSR with a set of extra front and rear plate mount inserts, each pair 4cm beyond the standard UPM pattern. I've finally got round to making up the concept I had in mind when I asked for them, an evolution of the my original isocline plate design that I've ridden for the last 4 years. The result takes a 4mm BBP and stretches out the interaxle distance, at rest position, to 74cm. The 4cm distance between the mounting screws allows the slide unit to have 1.4cm of travel. The stack height of the plate is 21.5mm at both axles. The axles are 8mm solid 304 stainless steeI, the bushings and plastic supports are UHMWPE, the aluminium extrusion around each axle is designed for making hinges and has an 8mm diameter pin socket. There is no impingement of plate on the mounts at even unrealistic amounts of board flex because the plate projects only 3mm beyond the line of the axle, at both ends, and sits 3mm above the axle frame. Nor does the design interfere with the camber of the board, although the bottom of the BBP clears the board surface by 3mm at the waist of the board. I mount my isolation plates with the fixed axle at the front. I get to ride this in mid-August.

When you get to Aspen, feed back on how you do. Plenty of us cheering from the sidelines. :)

I'm 56 and a relative latecomer to carving. Not that long ago I was at the stage you are now, able to get down most places without falling too often but skidding at least part of pretty much every turn. The key to the next stage is learning what a carved edge feels like without having to worry about the fact you're now doing 80mph down a slope. I took my pride in hand and went back to a wide gentle green slope, and then rode it over and over again, concentrating on getting the board onto it's edge, applying a little weight to that edge and then letting the board do the rest. How to apply the weight depends on mostly what your binding angles are. Angles greater than 60 degrees will work with the weight applied from the sides of your boots. Angles less than 50 degrees will work well with the weight applied through your heels and toes. In between, either might produce the result. I ride 65 F and 60 rear. I learned that to keep the edge carving I had to concentrate on applying weight to the edge with the knee on the outside of the turn. Turning to the left, my right knee was the one. If I lifted off the lateral pressure being applied then the edge would begin to skid. At a Pureboarding clinic I learned that for the lower angles I should apply the weight with my rear foot toes on toeside turns, and with my front heel on heelside turns. But the real key was practice, practice, practice, on a slope where I could concentrate on technique and not have to worry too much about speed control. Once you know what your edge really feels like you'll have a solid foundation on which to build your riding.

I, probably like many others, read your post about a week at ATC and not making the progress you wanted to. What's the level you want to realistically reach? Fine line tracks on greens and blues, laid out extreme carves on blacks, or somewhere in between?

Why hard booting? From my seat, wearing my 207cm GS skis (that tells you how long ago), on the Mt Hutt chairlift the guy carving short swing turns looked so sinuous, and smooth, and awesome! "That is the most graceful thing I've ever seen. I have got to learn to do that!"

If Justin does that too often snowboarders will lose that 10% NASTAR handicap.;-) But seriously now, I'd happily lose that handicap if it meant that US alpine boarding got the respect that brings sponsorship dollars to support a racing programme. It just needs someone like Putnam Investments to think that if Justin can do this out of his own pocket then what if .............

What, you're no longer riding commando in rawhide lederhosen on those 110% slopes of sheet ice?

By "cross the fall line" do you mean in the depth of the turn where the rider is going down the fall line, or, the transition from one turn to the next, where the rider is closest to traversing the slope. My understanding is the EC riders extend during the turn and compress just prior to initiating the next turn. Sigi, free carving in the video above, clearly unweights during transition by extending upwards.

Any kind of touching the snow, even with my HDPE hand armour, noticeably slows me down and makes the steeper runs easier, and narrow steep runs possible. No touch demands tighter C turns to control your speed. Like you, I admire SGs fluid technique.

Anyone had experience on Glissade's Big Gun series?

Until this finally delaminated it was a treat to carve (video credit OhD @ SES 2015). 1995 Avalanche Saunders signature model 167cm, 10.5m SCR, 65F 60R. Don't necessarily need to spend a lot to have fun, just find a board with a little more stiffness than the average noodle. I recently snapped a Salomon Fastback 174, fitted with F2 Race Intecs, just in front of the front binding, so slightly beefier construction, or base plates to spread the load may be a good idea if you're not using softboots. I had replaced the Avalanche with a Rad Air Pinkerman Extreme 169 which has heavier construction again and has withstood my efforts in hard bindings so far, and carves well even with the forward binding angles I use. The InterNet has the specs for many of these older boards hidden away, you just have to take the time to look and keep an eye on the eBay, Craiglist & TradeMe's of the world.

I'm a confirmed isolation plate user, but the biggest advances in my riding have not come from chasing the latest equipment. I'm continually amazed at how much better my old boards perform as my riding technique improves.

Looks like old and new faces. Fin for a start. And the Ryan Knapton? (light blue and black) sequence from Highlands, direction changes, carves, tricks, and explosions of snow is amazing.

Pick an appropriate board SCR - links below to Jack Michaud's equipment winning a USASA GS. SCR 12-14M VSR. Not necessarily a full blown GS board, more like the equivalent to a NASTAR "cheater" GS ski. http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/42695-usasa-race-at-sugarloaf/#entry434342 http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/41873-2015-2016-new-board-porn-new-purchases/page-7#entry432566 The best musicians don't just play the notes (gates), they perfect the gaps between. Here Ted Ligety blasts through a NASTAR course (POV). He's motoring, yet the turns seem to be made with plenty of time. Teach your brain and eyes to find the right place to be between the gates, then there'll be the time to make the turns. Ligety practising at Sochi Hirscher practicing at Vail Where's the right place? The series of videos Midweighting have some suggestions and other tips for the snowboard racer.. https://www.youtube.com/user/mcirigliano52/videos I've also watched lots of YouTube NASTAR course runs by skiers (and the occasional boarder) trying to train my brain & eyes to visualise the point between the gates I need to be, to be properly set to make the next turn. The most efficient would be halfway along a straight line between the next two gates, a bit higher gives you more leeway if you stuff up the turn you're about to make. The tendency for us to end up where we're looking when we ride is very powerful. I've had a lot of fun (& frustration as I also struggle with exactly your problem) testing myself in NASTAR courses when I get to visit North America. On snow practice is the most important thing, but making the most of it by off snow prep should help you progress.

BTS allows adjustment of heel & toe, forward and back movement in the boot. How to best set up the BTS will depend upon how you ride your board. I'll explain what I mean. At SES 2015 I went on Joerg's Pureboarding Clinic. I changed my bindings from my usual 65 degrees front & 60 rear to 48 degrees rear, as far as I could get my foot across the board without boot out. Joerg explained that in his technique the rider pressured the toeside edge with the rear foot toes, and the heelside edge with the front foot heel. And for me, with my feet more across the board than usual it worked. He was absolutely right! So I rode like that for a while, and then experimented, gradually bringing my rear foot back to its' usual 60 degrees setting. Around 55 degrees I noted a transition. At angles less than that I rode out of the heels and toes of my boots to apply edge pressure. At higher angles, i.e. at my normal 65/60 degrees I pressured the edge out of the sides of my boots. Many riders on Bomber describe their riding style & binding angles in a way that suggests they apply edge pressure out of their heels and toes. Jim's description of BTS settings may well be a good start for this style of riding. I prefer riding higher binding angles, and so I set up my BTS quite differently from Jim's description. Currently I ride with BTS only on my rear boot, while my front boot is locked in a nearly vertical position. I feel this allows me to apply front foot pressure in a very controlled way, while the rear boot is left very soft to allow a low body position when I get into the "stacked" body position Richard advocated in his Steeps Clinic at SES 2015. BTS adjusts fore and aft movement. How to set it up depends upon what you want your boots to do in that direction of movement.

Heel pain can also be caused by Intec cable pressure. Dragana11 isn't using Intecs (at least not in the photos) so it's not relevant to him. Carp doesn't specify whether he is or isn't. Here's the link to the thread where one solution to the Intec cable problem is discussed. http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/34408-intec-cable-heel-pain-ive-found-something-simple-that-works-for-me/?hl=%2Bheel+%2Bpain+%2Bintec

Ted Ligety is said to be faster because he stivots less than his competitors. http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2014/sochi-olympics/giant-slalom.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=SP_GSX_20140212&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=0 While Thedo Remmelink is explicitly teaching the slide and engage turn in this video originally linked on Bomber in 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzNZqvL1RLg

Rusutsu is known for its' lift accessed deep powder tree skiing/riding, and less for its' motorway wide, almost empty pistes (at least when the ski school groups aren't about). The pistes are almost all gentlish Blue runs (the Japanese mark these Red) but there are a few steeper groomed sections. The surroundings are beautiful, when you can see them! I swear it has snowed for 90% of the 7 days on this trip. The group I'm with have lost at least 1 ski in the powder, and there's been one episode of "tree-hugging" when a turn didn't quite complete the way my colleague intended. He seems intact and hasn't needed hospital care, just lots of ibuprofen and oxycodone. I've discovered how much a selfie pole throws me off balance when carving, and am unlikely to repeat that experience. This is why I won't be at ATC 2016! Equipment: Coiler NSR 180, BBP 4mm / UPM, Head Stratos Pros (modded), GoPro 3+ Silver @ 60fps

This video and another showing Galmarini at Sochi are already in the video section (the best place to look for and post videos). The bolting and flex control is commented on, and shown in better detail when the racers are in the gate prior to starting.

Absolutely agree there is a world of difference in the wave shape ( and size) in the videos available for both sites. The pier in the background looks very similar suggesting the technology is from the same company and that the technology is improving, installation by iteration.

One current listing on e-Bay http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=td3&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xtd3+bindings.TRS0&_nkw=td3+bindings&_sacat=0 Asking US$390 on eBay for used. Bomber will sell you the same new for US$389. Go figure why they're not offered here!