Mike Tokar

I have the 18th pencilled in, but may have to weasel out if work interferes. I'll do my best to be there. MT

I'm in, possibly with 3 others. Okemo is great, but I'll go where ever it ends up. Just hope it stays cold. Definitely there for the weekdays, but even a Saturday that late in the season shouldn't be too crowded. MT

My friend was walking along a lakeside beach with his girlfriend, and came upon a sign that posted the hours a lifeguard was on duty. She read the sign and said, "Lake Hours? I thought this was Lake Laurie." From then on, we called it Lake Hours. MT

taper refers to the difference in the width at the nose vs. the width at the tail.

I'll be there with at least 2 other alpine riders. If you want to meet up, I think it will be pretty easy to find people because so few trails are open this time of year, but drop me a line if you feel like it. - (mwtokar at earthlink dot net) It's snowing there now and will be cold all week! MT

One of the other things you could check is to see if you always have your boots clicked forward. If you're always locked in, and don't get a chance to straighten your legs, it can burn the thighs up pretty quick. I've been keeping my boots in the relax mode more often than not anymore. Think Snow!!! MT

I bought a variety pack of their wax (cold, medium, and warm weather), and think it's just as good as Swix or Toko. It goes on smooth, the price is about the same or maybe cheaper. The bars are about 2.5 times the length of the little Swix bars, so it takes longer to get to the point where you have to hold the little stub close to the hot iron just before it burns your finger. I bought it because it was recommended by the guy at a pretty reputable shop - (Starting Gate near Stratton). Lately I've been rubbing wax onto my board first, then dripping a line along each edge before ironing. It saves on the wax, and reduces the amount of scraping. Another thing I've been doing is spraying a little water when I brush, almost like a spit shine for shining army boots. It seems to make the brush work better, but maybe it's just in my head. Anyone else do that? MT

If you're pressuring your front leg more than your back, it could be that your bindings are set too far to the back of the board, causing you to have to weight the front leg more than the back. I think it takes a lot more energy to carve high-G turns than to do speed runs or generally freeride. Things I've done to help my legs include riding with a Camelbak to stay hydrated and gobbling up Sportlegs. (www.sportlegs.com) Even with that, my legs are usually pretty beat from a day of riding, and it's 10 times worse on opening day. Enjoy your trip! MT

Even if the lower half is getting rain, it looks like the upper mountain would be more than enough to keep a rider happy? Any comments on where to stay, what to ride, and getting the biggest bang for the buck would be appreciated. I'm thinking I'd be OK with my Coiler AM 177. Is a decent percentage groomed? I have a decent size quiver of carving boards, but I'm considering bringing a soft boot set up also. Is it necessary? Think Snow!!! MT

"GS" board is a Sector 9 - about 38" with a nice camber, 70mm Kryps and R2's. Tight turns, dynamic ride. "Downhill" board is a 56" Dregs Supertanker with 85mm Kryps. Smooth ride, really stable at speeds. Pads when things get serious. I think skateboarding helps to keep the legs used to snowboarding and is a lot of fun, but doesn't come close to the intensity of the runs you can have on a snowboard. Think snow!!! MT

I broke a Burton FP185 behind the rear heel-side binding from trying to crank a turn too hard to control speed. I tip the scales at about 220 and at the time I was using a fairly narrow stance that allowed me to really rock back on the tail. I also used to ride pretty fast, and that adds to the stress. I broke the heelside tail of a Burner that same season, but like Jack said before, split and swallow tails don't count. One guy I know that used to break boards on a regular basis is a great rider that would fly through bumps. He didn't break any alpine boards that I know of, but went through his fair share of Burton warrantees. Not a big heavy guy, but just tough on the equipment. If anyone will be at Windham or Stratton the Friday after Thanksgiving, look for 4 of us from PA on the hill! MT

On Coiler AM177 21.5waist. Like the last guy said, I'd let the board dictate stance angles to get close to the edge without overhang. I'm more comfortable with both feet at the same angle. I think it's easier on the knees and hips. Think SNOW!!! MT

Regardless of who "owns" a name, there can still be an informal gathering of carvers and it shouldn't require any sponsors, logo's or special deals. If a bunch of riders want to converge on a hill for a day or 3, it can still happen. It's a shame if there's a personality conflict or whatever the problem is. There are too few alpine riders already, and we should do our best to stick together. I tried the ECES.us site, and just got a black screen. Oh well, maybe we can just find a couple of days to meet somewhere. Haven't been to Whiteface in a while... MT

If so, does anyone know the dates and location(s)? Is anyone willing to say what the real situation is? MT:confused:

Good to see your post, even though it doesn't come close to making sense beyond the "One time, at band camp..." category. I read some of the stuff you wrote on your blog, and they were hilarious rants. Try to step up the quality of the BOL posts, slacker. Let's try to meet up ride Windham or something (Whiteface or Gore?) this season! Does Seth still live near Lake Placid? MT PS - You opened yourself up for the public abuse because the you blocked receiving e-mail through your profile.

There's a speed event at Hunter Mtn, NY every year open to skis, boards, bikes, sleds, shovels or anything else you'd want to ride down the hill. It's a great time because the people are all there for the thrill and the fun. Practice runs on Saturday are almost as much fun as the race on Sunday. The hill they use isn't anything scary or spectacular for safety reasons, but snowboarders reach speeds in the upper 60's, and some guys did over 70mph last year. (I think CMC was there and did pretty well on a 230cm board) There should be info about Speed Weekend on the Hunter Mtn web site, www.huntermtn.com . The hardest thing about the race is riding a flat board. No turns are allowed in the course, so it's a lot different than normal riding. I did about 66mph in the '03 race (on a Coiler 196), and would have felt a lot safer up on an edge. I'd guess that the really sick guys that ride Les Arcs are using a board with a relatively straight sidecut and a lot of taper to track better when riding a flat base? If there was a course set up on a closed run that would allow you to just ride fast, and be a bit on edge, I think I'd be more comfortable and more stable at a higher speed. Speed is your friend! MT

I hope Cindy's not disappointed by her thread going off on a tangent, but it's still kind of on the topic of the future of the industry. It seems as though the marketers and advertisers in and out of the industry already think alpine is cool, not because of the racing angle, but because of the edge angle. There is probably a larger percentage of pictures of alpine riders laying out carves on brochures (vs. pics of freestylers) than on the slopes. It looks cool, it looks like fun, and it will make some people think "I want to do that". I see 2 types of people that would enjoy alpine equipment, or maybe 2 aspects of alpine that anyone into snowboarding would enjoy: the carving/surfing aspect and the speed rush. to some, I'd sell the fun and free-riding aspects of alpine rather than techno-jargon and racing discipline. Snowboarding is supposed to be fun, not work. I think a lot of people convert to snowboarding to surf the hill, and start with the most inexpensive and comfortable set ups they can get. As the soft boots get stiffer for freeriding, the hardboots get softer for the same reason, and the snowboard population ages its' way out of the terrain parks and turn to carving, there should be some point of convergance that creates a greater demand for alpine equipment for the fun of it. (Obviously, you don't HAVE to have an alpine set up to carve the slopes, but it makes it a lot easier and a lot more fun.) All the carving fun aside, the other thing that's cool about alpine is the speed. Going fast is fun. The clock doesn't lie. Races are definitive. Alpine gear is the fastest stuff. By that rationale, alpine gear is the funnest stuff. (To the speed freaks of the world) Regarding Cindy's question about racing: Boardercross and PGS events have a clear winner, not some subjective BS like figure skating and half-pipe. I still can't believe that there aren't any races in the US Open anymore. The Winter X games should have a pure downhill event. Just a big hill, no gates and some FAST riding. We all need a venue to bring out the big boards!!! Sorry for the long rant, MT

Is it a big deal to make a bit wider mold to make a wider board? It seems a shame to let Jasey ride someone elses board, and there are probably a bunch of riders out there that would like a wider Coiler for both BX and/or powder. Good seeing you at ECES! MT PS - Good info - thanks for posting it.

for telling you to stop whining and get back on the slopes. Sorry, Dr. Walkitoff

I can't believe the number of pictures you took. You're button finger must be as tired as my legs were. Good riding with you in the snow Friday afternoon. I guess limited visibility gives photographers a chance to get some runs! So where/when is it going to be next year? MT

Can you have too many paintings in an art gallery? For those of us that aren't blessed with the lifestyle that lets us ride every day, the spousal justification process for multiple boards becomes more difficult. I used the "art collector" approach, and also the "jewelry analogy". Why do you need more than one necklace if all you have is one neck? (Mr. T could ruin that argument) Each of my boards has a story, a history, and a purpose. Some I sold and then bought back years later. Since we're listing: Snurfer Skifer (Nash knockoff of the Snurfer) Burton Backhill Burton Elite 150 Burton Safari 175 Burton Kelly Slopestyle 171 Burton Alp 169 Agression (Volant) 173 Burton Factory Prime 185 Coiler All Mtn 177 Coiler Pure Race 196 Burton Supermodel 181 I mostly ride the Coiler All Mtn - it truly does it all. If I had to have just one board, that would be it. I need more time and more bindings!!! MT

If you're in the Allentown area, ride Blue. It's only 1080' of vert, but decent grooming and a new trail that's great for carving. I'll be there on Thursday night 2/19. Or, see you Sunday at Windham. MT

Good topic! In the old forum there was a lot of discussion about defining flex using some sort of scale, but there was no consensus about the best way to define it. First off, we're mostly talking about longitudinal flex (from tip to tail) as opposed to torsional flex (twisting the board). Coilers are each custom made to provide a rider with a preferred flex, based on rider weight and riding style. From what I hear, in order to get it right for each board and have a frame of reference from one board to the next, Bruce uses a fixed amount of weight and has his own flex measurement scale. I think that the flex can also be tweaked to respond differently at different spots on the board, depending on the core and types and amounts of glass, carbon and epoxy. As for the perfect flex, I think it would have to be somewhere at a happy medium, stiff enough for stability at sick speeds, and just soft enough to handle the bumps. My All Mountain is pretty close, but a bit on the stiff side. At 220lbs, I'd rather err on the side of stability. The thing is, my "happy medium" is going to be radically different from a rider that weighs in at 140lbs. If the industry was to choose a standard measurement, I'd like to make it based on supporting a board at the beginning and end of the effective edge, and gradually placing a weight (25 kilos/55 lbs?) in the middle and measuring the flex in mm's. It would also be interesting to measure the torsional flex given a fixed amount of torque twisting from the back to the front binding. I'm no techie, but it would be good to have some kind of consistency across manufacturers instead of just arbitrary terms like "soft" or "stiff". MT

I agree with the others that hard boots will definitely give you more support, and severity of ankle injuries vary enough that only you'll know what you can do. I sprained my ankle at the 2nd ECES, and was dying to ride. I tried everything, including binding and boot adjustments to find a comfortable position, but all pain aside, the ankle just wouldn't work. I tried again a few weeks later, thinking that because I was walking better I'd be OK, but after one run I realized I wasn't going to do it any good. I got some good PT from my chiropractor. He had a muscle stimulator unit strapped onto my leg while also using cold water, and in addition used some massage to loosen up the tissues. I pushed things faster than I should have because I didn't want to miss more of the season, and as soon as I could, rode my board, my bike and got back into other stuff. I did it too soon and my ankle still hasn't healed properly, I lost some degree of flexibility. TAKE TIME NOW and save yourself for the long haul. The 'visualization from the bar' was the best tip yet. Good luck, MT

I broke a burner 188 on the heelside tail just before my first race of the season (that's where a quiver comes in handy!). The board rode great up until the time it broke, and like the others said, it did ride 'shorter' than a non-split 188 because the tail flexes so easily. It also seemed to bounce more energy back to you, as you initiate the turn toward the nose, and then finish toward the tail, you could almost feel the board kick back to push you into the transition to the next edge-set - until it breaks. Enter the Coiler split tail: Aluminum stabilizer bars that can be moved forward or back on the tail to change the boards carving characteristics AND strengthen the whole thing. One of my friends has been riding a Coiler split tail he bought used, and riding it HARD, and it's still going strong after more than 3 seasons. (I wrote about it in the thread about the coolest board ever) At 195 lbs, you might break it, you might not. When mine broke the shop I got it from took care of me with a replacement so it didn't hurt too bad. MT