boostertwo

The avalanche awareness courses I've participated in have emphasized the importance of kicking off your skis if caught in an avalanche, as it will make it much easier to 'swim' in an attempt to stay on the surface--but what about snowboards? It would seem that with a board attached, an avalance victim would be more likely to be buried, and also more likely to suffer twisting injuries caused by the board and body going in different directions. A friend who was heli-boarding jury-rigged up a piece of webbing connecting the release tabs of his clickers, with the thought that he could grab and yank to release his bindings if he was avalanched. He never had to use it. It does't seem likely that in a slide, you could reliably pull the release mechanism on an intec setup--but maybe you could rig a similar quick release webbing mechanism on that system. Other than practicing good routefinding and snow assessment and thus not getting caught in a slide in the first place, what other options does a backcountry boarder have? Are there any bindings designed to release in an avalanche? Is this a legitimate concern? <img src="http://www.keyssonline.com/ncprojects/nz-powder.jpg" alt="" border="0"> Thanks for your input.

Unless you have some type of physical limitation, you should be able to reprogram your muscle groups to perform the new movements. Of course it will take a little time and some patience. One move that I've seen some instructors do is a 'break dance' move, where they finish a turn lying down on the snow. The object is to have fun, be goofy, and to make single turns to body slides. Perhaps this one-turn-at-a-time approach might help you to acquire the new movement patterns you seek. There seems to be a healthy contingent of skilled carvers in Southern Vermont--many of whom frequent BOL. Bet you could find a competent coach on these pages to help you learn to lay 'em out. FWIW, I wouldn't necessarily 'abandon the angulated style'. It's good technique and works in a wide variety of situations. Seems you're looking to add to it.

Here's a sort-of related article. Seems at one time you could pay to run the speed course at Les Arcs.

As a frugal New Englander, I've taken to rubbing the appropriate wax on the board, rather than dripping it with a hot iron. With the base covered with a thin coating, I'll then iron it in. I've found this uses much less wax than the drip or stream method--resulting in less shavings and mess to clean up and less wasted wax. I've always read to drip it on in tuning manuals and in clinics with world cup tuners. Is there anything I'm missing by rubbing it on to apply it, rather than dripping it off the iron? Thanks for your thoughts.

The article is titled "Line Up Your Approach to Spins in the Terrain Park", by Jeff Brier. You can get a copy of the magazine by contacting <I>The Pro Rider</I> <A HREF="MAILTO:wschrupp@aasi.org">editorial staff</a>. Hope this helps. <img src="http://www.keyssonline.com/ncprojects/jpsoulcarves-combo.gif" alt="" border="0"> Cheers, B-2

You might want to contact Jeff Caron (aka, at least during his college years at UVM, as RHINO) at Catek. Jeff was building plate binding systems at least as early as 1985 (and likely earlier). He had an amazing collection of early snowboards even then--called it the 'snowboard museum'. Greg Hall, another UVM student and Burton rider/racer, used to test some of Jeff's early designs at Jay Peak (one of the few areas that allowed riding) as early as 1985. Rumor has it that Rhino once mounted up a Dynastar monoski (dubbed the "RhinoStar") with a pair of his bindings and headed to Sugarbush, way before snowboarding was allowed on the slopes. Apparently when he tried to board the lift he was stopped, and informed that snowboarding was not allowed. He promptly responded that he wasn't snowboarding, and pointed at the board's topsheet graphics, which clearly spelled out that it was, in fact, a monoski (not prohibited at the Bush). Apparently he got at least one run on his board before the lift staff wised up. We all respected that. Anyway, Jeff should be able to provide you with some good info (and images?) on hard boot riding from the earliest years to the present. He is a veritable, though largely unsung, pioneer in the sport.

Don't know if you ever go slumming over on the AASI Member Forum, but this was posted there today by Jim Smith, Team Summit coach: <p></p> (sorry couldn't link directly as AASI Forum requires guest/member log-in)<p></p> Sounds like a great opportunity for an experienced/aspiring coach.<p></p> Cheers,<br> B-2

Found this while working through some images today. Thought it might complement the images of the lengthening snow strips down under. Ken @ SES/Beaver Creek Looking forward to next year's SES, but a little bummed about no Summit/Eagle county venues. But Aspen sure is nice. Cheers, B-2

From <a href="http://www.ski-injury.com/snowboard.htm" target="http://www.ski-injury.com/snowboard.htm">ski-injury.com report</a>: <p></p> "...In terms of injury rates, most ski physicians agree that boarding carries a slightly higher risk of injury than alpine skiing - around 3-5 injuries per thousand boarder days (as compared to 2-4 per thousand days for skier injuries). Remember though - that is still very low - at worst 0.5%! Once again, so much for snowboarding being a dangerous sport eh?! "<p></p> I suspect the numbers you posted might be a percentage breakdown of the types of reported injuries, not the overall percentage of people who are injured. <p></p> <a href="http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/1999/04_99/laskowski.htm">Another study</a>. Same rate overall injury rate of 5 injuries in 1000 skiers is quoted.<p></p> Not surprisingly, there's a much higher proportion of injuries to the upper body (wrist, elbow, shoulder), but there has been a increase in the number of ACL injuries in recent years.

40.3 % of beginners require medical attention? I do not think this statistic is accurate--not at all. The others seem way too high as well. I tried to google the 'international resort injury survey, but could not find the survey you quote. Would you please link to your source? Cheers and thanks!

Pic from Vail's skimming event, held earlier this spring. As I recall, it was also called the NA championships, tho' all of the competitors seemed to be from the Vail Valley.

M. Gotantas, director of the Ski & Ride School, expects the Basin to stay open until June 13. The riding is good: hard in the am, and softening up as the day progresses. Bring yer rock boards if you will venturing off the groomed areas. On piste, the coverage is very good all the way to the lift.

The spring carving is still good with coverage top to bottom. However, the most of the white that was in the snow is now in the rushing rivers!

Lifting your bindings will provide more leverage when you edge the board as it creates a slightly longer moment arm to tilt the board (similar to using a length of pipe as a 'cheater bar' when you want to loosen a stuck nut). A longer moment arm provides more leverage to edge the board, but will result in a slightly slower response (shorter levers provide quicker response than longer levers: imagine using a ten foot long light switch to turn the lights off and on!) Obviously, lifting will provide additional clearance if you suffer from boot/binding overhang, and people with big feet will sometimes use lifts to help stop boot-out on soft setups with low stance angles. I've noticed that when I ride with lifts, the longer moment arm will also provide more leverage in the <I>other</I> direction. In a turn, there are external forces trying to pull your board flat. It seems the longer lever arm amplifies these external forces as well as the forces you generate to tilt the board. I definitely notice this when I ride the TD-2's instead of a lower binding (like your B-tons). I notice it far more when I ride lifters on a wide board with soft boots and because of this I no longer ride the 2cm Palmer plates. Lifting will also increase leverage for fore/aft and torsional twisting movements, but the effects, IMO, are far less pronounced. If you're questions about flat vs. canted/lifted, alignment and canting issues are fairly thoroughly discussed elsewhere in this forum.

The Basin is still going strong. We had to cancel a video shoot today because it was snowing and blowing. Tomorrow may be a powder day. Or it might be sunny. Or both. Cheers, B-2

Perhaps it's not perfect toeside technique on a carving board, but it affords lots of opportunities for repetition--and improvement!

I worked at the Remarkables for a season and can attest to the drive to and from the area being the most exciting aspect of the day. By far. It is an amazing experience! Cliffs. No guard rails. Huge exposure. Sometimes icy/slick roads. I remember the staff bus becomes ominously silent whenever the bus loses traction on the slick spots. In the afternoon, you would sometimes look down, straight down, on the tops of commercial jets as they made their final approach to Queenstown airport. Don't remember hearing about anyone driving off into the abyss while I was there, however. Haven't done the Mt Hutt drive yet but I heard it is even more exposed than the drive to the Remarks. I'm looking forward to it! The most interesting riding at the Remarks is in the chutes accessed by hiking above the lifts. Here's a view from the ridge, hiking above Shadow Bowl. Escalator Chute is in the foreground, Sugar Bowl and the lines above it, are in the background. If there's good snow, the riding is some of the best in NZ.

The springtime black mystery goo on the base of your board is a combination of airborne pollutants, car and diesel exhaust, 'blowback' from snowmaking air compressors, grease from lifts and groomers, organic compounds from trees, dust, and wax from skis and boards. Plus smaller amounts of other stuff. As the snow melts, all of the residues that were suspended in melted overlying layers collect on the snow surface. That's why you see it most often in the spring.

Here are two listings for new (2002) Burton boards on EBay that might work for you. I've purchased several boards from this seller and can recommend them highly. Please note you'll need a three hole compatible binding for these boards. Cheers, B-2

Jim Dines is very well known for his tuning expertise. He owns Precision Sports in Frisco (and Keystone).

Did you see the footage of him skiing last night? I'm stoked to see him hittin' it--both ways! Does skiing AND snowboarding make him a preferable candidate?

Soft boots or hard, skilled riders can rip arcs. Binding hangover and full-tilt boot-out is the challenge for bigfoot riders like me.

Many of the CO resorts close around mid-April, and Loveland and Arapahoe Basin stay open long after all the others close. A-Basin stayed open until July 2 last season, and will go longer during banner snow years. Even into late May, the riding is often sensational, and the beach party that erupts at the Basin even more reason to make a late-season visit! The riding is often outstanding in the spring. Most times it's sunny and warm, and night-frozen snow quickly thaws to silky smooth corn and deeper mashed potatoes. Other times it dumps: some of the best storms of the year happen in the spring. Then you can ride deep midwinter powder until it warms up again. Spring is a great time to air it out off the cornice!

I don't think it does. Not at all. It looks especially fun to see a rider rip arcs on softies and then throw a 180 and do the same switch.

I've seen lots of folks rip in softies. I certainly wish I could, but even using wide boards and 2cm lifters, I haven't yet found a setup that I can tilt high on edge w/o booting out (I am blessed with size 13 dogs).