serge

Hi All, I am heading this Revelstoke this weekend, Any suggestion for carving runs? Looking so forward to the western fluff :D

Hahaha... Yeah.. we tend to get hardpack most of the time. I think I saw 2-3 days of 10cm+ of powder on the hill at my local resort. We usually get a lot of small snow falls during the season, which helps keep some fresh snow on the hill, and is usually groomed out the next days. Now I know what you guys are talking about when the snow gets "chopped up" :) I actually ended up at Sunshine on Friday. My aunt's massage therapist was heading up at Sunshine, and we ended up going together. I told her I was a snowboarder and that was it. When I took the board out of the bag.. her reaction : " Huh what is that ? " :lol: After explaining what it was she was quite intrigued, and was quite impressed after seeing what a carving board could do. Conditions were great.. I have to say that I have a new appreciation for soft snow/powder carving. It is fun.. and much more work than carving on hardpack. (Again, that is a east-coast perspective ;)) We spent most of the day off the Standish and Angel chair. I would do my carving run, she would do her thing in the trees/park , and we would meet up at the lift. This past week has been awesome. What I love about Sunshine is the openness of the mountain and the variety of terrain. I only went to Lake Louise once this week, but I sure love the way they groom their trails :) Unfortunately, I did not make it to Nakiska. I spent the weekend with my relatives, and got a free massage . Well I am back to Ottawa tomorrow. I will definitely let you guys know when I am back. And I hope next season in Calgary will be the same as this year :D Cheers

Went to Lake Louise yesterday. Conditions were A+ for carving. Well groomed hard pack. I was first in line at the Gondola and went straight to the Larch side. Yup.. Larch was groomed.. steep and wide. With the hard corduroy, that trail was ridiculous fast! It was a good trail to really work on technique, because if I was not on the ball, I would be going to fast, and have to scrub speed. I did see two other women hardbooters, but never met up with them... I spent the first few hours on the Larch trail.I also enjoyed the bottom of Marmot by the chalet. That part of the trail was the right steepness for me for tight carve, or even open it up without going too fast. Stayed until 1'ish and went on the south side. left around 3'ish. South side had some good trails... but Larch had less people. I was going to go today, but my cold got the better of me. All I have to say is wow.. I can't believe the conditions for this time of the year... There is still a few more weeks in Banff for some decent carving. If I feel better this weekend, I might hit Nakiska Sat or Sun.. Temperature seems to be on the cool side... Cheers Serge

Did you ever solve you problem? I am starting to feel the pain because of the cable (I did mold it with the cable. However, this just started at then end of the 2nd season with the red thermo liner... Maybe I need to remold the liner, but was wondering if punching the heel would also help.

I spent the last two days at Sunshine, and no spring in sight on the slope. Yesterday was my first day at Sunshine. Arrived at the base around 9'ish. There was alot of powder. Wind was blowing snow all over the place. Not ideal for carving, but still had fun. I was surfing more than I was carving at time. Some of the spots had ridiculous amount of powder. I did my first kart wheel... was a bit too agressive on a turn.. and dug the nose in the snow and went flying. I am pretty sure my head was under my feet at one point, but no injuries:biggthump (We really don't get alot of powder days in Ottawa :)) Wind was so ferocious, they closed the Goats'eye and Lookout lifts around noon. Good thing I did a few runs before they closed those lifts. Around 2:00, a blizzard blew in.. zero visibility.. So I called it quits. Today. was just awesome.. light wind.. sunny.... some groomed runs. Conditions were good for carving... a bit soft for my taste, but still good. I spent the first few hours trying the trails that I did not do..World Cup downhill was fun. By lunch time.. my legs could not take the long runs anymore... so I finished the day riding Wawa Bowl. That is quite the fun trail.. like a roller coaster ! It was wide enough for me to make long carves, and steep enough to keep up the speed in the soft condition. I'll probably hit Louise tomorrow. If it's to my liking I'll go back on Thursday. If not. back to Sunshine... I am now fighting a cold I started last night:(Hopefully. I am not going to overdose on Cold-FX:) Thanks for the tips and updates.. this is going to be the best end of season! Cheers

I spent the last two days at Sunshine, and no spring in sight on the slope. Yesterday was my first day at Sunshine. Arrived at the base around 9'ish. There was alot of powder. Wind was blowing snow all over the place. Not ideal for carving, but still had fun. I was surfing more than I was carving at time. Some of the spots had ridiculous amount of powder. I did my first kart wheel... was a bit too agressive on a turn.. and dug the nose in the snow...no injuries:biggthump Wind was so ferocious, they closed the Goats'eye and Lookout lifts around noon. Good thing I did a few runs before they closed those lifts. Around 2:00, a blizzard blew in.. zero visibility.. So I called it quits. Today. was just awesome.. light wind.. sunny.... some groomed runs. Conditions were good for carving... a bit soft for my taste, but still good. I spent the first few hours trying the trails that I did not do..World Cup downhill was fun. By lunch time.. my legs could not take the long runs anymore... so I finished the day riding Wawa Bowl. That is quite the fun trail.. like a roller coaster ! It was wide enough for me to make long carves, and steep enough to keep up the speed in the soft condition. I'll probably hit Louise tomorrow. If it's to my liking I'll go back on Thursday. If not. back to Sunshine... I am now fighting a cold I started last night:(Hopefully. I am not going to overdose on Cold-FX:) Thanks for the tips and updates.. this is going to be the best end of season! Cheers

Thx for the info Dave...just landed in Calgary this afternoon...will probably spend the weekend with my relatives.... And then off to Banff for the week... Temperature looks good for next week:)

Yes.. you're right. I made a mistake. I have the Pro Limited. Those were the ones at 550$. 575$ for the FR2 Pro (non carbon) is pretty high....

Hello I have the FR2 pro. Main difference is the carbon fiber high, and different straps/ratchet ( I think the straps and highback were the same as the Nidecker the ACT 900) from. Everything else... plates, disks, etc... seems to be the same. Back then, about 4 yrs ago, Catek sold 2 models.the Pro was the premium model, which was about 550$ if I recall correctly. You can rotate the highback to a certain point by moving the highback bracket's position , one closer to the toe, and the other closer to the heel All I can say that the FR2 is the best soft boot bindings for carving that I have ridden on. Super responsive and stiff What I like about the FR2 is the adjustability. You can adjust lift and or cant with infinite options. What I hate about it is that they are high maintenance. Too many screws You have to check your screws once in a while (Loctite is your friend :), and removing the binding is a bit of pain. Since you have to unscrew the plate, remove the power bars. Only then you have access to the disc's screws I had it on my Burton Supermodel and Donek Razor at the time. I would not use anything else for carving on softboot (geeze... I can't remember the last time I used softboots) ;) ) As for Catek service... they're not that great... as you said, no response to email or phone calls. However, I did order toe bails for step-ins this past season and got them in 2 weeks. Be aware. Once you finish checking , your credit card will be charged before shipping. You might want to post something in the Wanted section.. and hopefully you'll get a hit.... Hope this helps... Cheers

Thanks everybody! I guess I am going to alternate between Sunshine and Louise.. I do have 4 days :D Well.. if any of you head out in that area between the 11 & 15th, let me know! Cheers

Hi, I am heading to Calgary for a week, and will be heading to Banff (April 11-14th). I was wondering which of the resorts have good carving runs Lake Louise, Sunshine, Norquay? or should I go to all of them :) It would also be great to hook up with any of you local to Calgary :)

I am quite saddened by this... I worked in Ishinomaki for a month several years ago. The people in Ishinomaki were the most friendly and welcoming I have met in Japan. My thoughts go to the people of Japan. Hope they recover from this quickly...

Not really a lift line comment, but I found this to be hilarious. Mike, a fellow carver, and myself decided to switch boards.He had a Coiler Pure Carve board, and I had my Coiler VSR. Mike was installing his binding on my VSR using the same holes that he used on his Pure Carve, since the inserts were pretty much the same. He kept on saying "Hmm.. this is not going to work.. the binding is way to forward". I was too concentrated on installing my bindings on his board and not really paying attention. As I finally turned my head to look at what he was doing, he stepped back, looked at the board.. and said... "Oh sh*t, that is not the nose, it's the tail!" :lol:. He put his front binding at the back of the board towards the tail.. We both laughed hard, and then had a great day, with his bindings properly installed of course! :D

Hi well no worries... I won't be able to make it tomorrow.. so hopefully sometime this season. Cheers

Hello Ottawa crew... Anybody hitting any hills on the Quebec side? I am planning to go to Vorlage on Thurs... or sometime next week? would be great to meet some of you... Unfortunately, can't make it to MSM this week as I have the carry the pager this week I usually go to Edelweiss.. but need a change...would be great to carve with other people and share my addiction Cheers

Thanks for your insights and replies... I guess it just a matter of adapting my riding to the VSR as well as being conscious of the snow condition. I went our riding yesterday morning. Snow was hard and fast at -18 degrees C. Did not have any issues with losing speed.. I was also switching edge before coming across the fall line. Maybe I have the wrong impression, but a ~180 cm board with the appropriate sidecut i.e. BIG would not be fun on small hills (which most are within half hour driving). I do go to bigger mountains a few times a year but not enough for me to warrant a longer board with bigger sidecut. I guess I need to test more boards to find out if bigger sidecut would suit me... There is a particular hill that I like in Quebec, and it is Mont-Blanc on the North side. My friend shot a short clip of myself carving down one of the trails. Hope it is ok to post a video in this forum :) As you can see I mostly carve across the fall line to manage the speed. Cheers

G'Day, I have been riding a Coiler VSR 169 w/med sidecut (~13m) this season, and love the board. Great on steeps, but seems to slow down on easier runs after a few turns. To fix this, I'll do my transition between the fall line and across the sloped, but need to be more conscious about it since I have made the habit of always finishing my turns perpendicular to the fall line I was wondering if any of you have tried boards of the same sidecut, but different length and noticed any differences? assuming that the boards were made for the same weight... From what I have read, the extra length would give the board more speed and stability. Is my understanding correct?

For what it is worth, I took a chance and ordered a pair of SI bails in January, and got them in 3 weeks....Never got any replies to me emails. Mind you, 30$ for USPS shipping seems quite steep though...

Hello all, I found an interview with Jasey Jay about his camp and snowboarding.Thought you guys might be interested: http://www.theadventureshow.com/v2/listen.php?t=d&tid=14 Cheers

Hello all, I found an interview with Jasey Jay about his camp and snowboarding.Thought you guys might be interested: http://www.theadventureshow.com/v2/listen.php?t=d&tid=14 Cheers Edit : Sorry, I mistakenly replied to the post instead of starting a new thread

Glad to see more newcomers like me....just a suggestion.. don't get annoyed with the comments you hear.... alot of people don't even know that alpine snowboards exist...and you will hear more from where that is coming from As a matter of fact.. you may turn some of these people to the dark side I had one guy run after me... I guess he saw me carving earlier... He just said " What the hell is that.. and where to I get one!?". I spent at least 15 mins chatting it up with him. showing him the equipment, explaining the difference . I suggested that he check out Bomber... for used stuff, and asked him to check out Prior, Donek , abd Coiler. He left with a smile on his face.. telling me..."Great Thx! Watch for me next season..!"... Mission accomplished Another time, I saw an instructor on HB.. made of point of going up the lift with him thinking he might show me some stuff.. Turns out he was a ski instructor on a break .. trying out his board hhe just bought used... I ended up spending a couple of hours trying to help him out... He went from skidding to doing a couple of carve on his first time out... I even make a point of acknowledging people staring at my board...by just smiling at them... just that will open up a bunch of questions .... alot of people are quite intimated by hardbooters... The funniest comment I got this season was : "Man, you must really get some air in the park with that thing ":) So at the end... just be patient, and "promote" the sport... Alpine snowboarding is still a "fringe" sport.. and it is really up to us to keep it alive...

Hey Pokkis.. nice pics.. I will have to one day ride on a slope like that... but I would probably need tons of muscle relaxant.. , because my butt would be permanently locked after one ride down...;) I saw some of your video.. pretty good... It is funny how the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.. You have been having fun for the past 10 years.. and I wish I started 10 years ago....well as long as we are having fun :)

I want to see you carve on that :lol: who knows... maybe more jibbers would want to hard boot ;)

Hey Thanks... Yeah.. I would love to start EC'ing.. but next season.. I think I need to work on my form....:D I am just wondering if I unconsciously picked up that habit from watching too many EC videos :lol: Putting EC aside.. my upper body/shoulders should still be facing the nose of the board during the edge-to-edge , correct?

I had the same problem on my FR2 Pro.. power plate was slipping. I noticed that the head of the screw wore the power plate ... Never had the problem on the OS2s (it is my first season though). On the FR2, when I removed the plate, I notice the tilt screws were not tight... i could freely turn them easily enough, when untightening them to remove the plate. Looked at the plate.. and they were toast. I think you really have to tighten the king pin first.... and ensure that the tilt screws are raised ( I am assuming that your left/cant are already set) so that only the king pin screw is holding the plate, and not have the tilt screw resist. I leave a bit of ply so that I can wiggle the plate with just the king pin tightened. Now, tighten the tilt screws...with equal turns.... I usually do 1/4 turn at a time for each screw, and go diagonally... i.e. front left -> back right -> front right -> back left.... Unfortunately, I can't say how tight it should be, I just tighten it to feel. So, the king ping hold the plate down, but when you screw in the tilt screw, the force will push the power plate down onto the disc. I think that give more pressure onto the power plate.... Of course.. make sure the power plate screws are tight.. but not to tight , or you will strip them when removing them. Anyhow, hope this helps. Never saw the problem again in two seasons with the FR2 and 1 with the OS2, or maybe I just don't ride aggressively enough:) Cheers