boostertwo

Well, I guess. I don't think, however, that for freestyle applications, hard boot setups are 'superior performing equipment'. I don't think it's by accident that the best freestylers in the world use soft setups for freestyle events; the configuration obviously works best to achieve that particular outcome. Is it a better brain surgeon who could perform lobotomies using a chainsaw instead of a scalpel? I guess you could say yes...and it would seem to be an even better surgeon still if they could perform the surgery with one hand, with their eyes closed. For my money, I'd rather have my next lobotomy from the guy with the scalpel. But I'd want to build my next log home with the guy with the chainsaw. IMHO, the best situation is to have both soft and hard boot setups and to use each one in the situations where it provides optimal performance.

<center></center> You <I>could</I> race the Tour de France on a mountain bike. But you would not likely be sportin' <I>le maillot jaune</I>. On the links, you <I>could</I> hit drives using your putter. You would not likely make the leader board. Most of our snowboard pros at Vail/Beaver Creek can rip arcs on their soft setups. Could they rip harder if they were on plates? Most likely yes, but they would then sacrifice the freestyle and all-mountain performance they enjoy on soft setups.

Thanks again for a great day.

<B>Q:</B> How many boards does a rider need before he finally has enough? <B>A:</B> Just one more.

Scott, If you haven't yet checked it out, Tognar has some excellent information on tuning.

Thanks for your interest. The Burton FP 160 has a new home. Cheers, B-2

<center>Mirror, I think your idea to donate an unused board to help riders who might want to try a hard boot setup is an excellent one. It brings to mind the communities, like Boulder, that share free public bicycles. Simply jump on one (if its not being used) and off you go! I also have a well-used board that still has plenty of good turns in it. I'd be happy to donate it to an aspiring carver. <B>Burton FP 160</B>, 200 cm waist, Sidecut Radius 9.62m. Freshly tuned. Absolutely free, plus shipping.</center>

Swing? I've taken many great runs with but never a swing at a patroller. In my experience they're 'kindred souls' who are equally stoked to be on the mountain. I'm happy to ride with patrollers as they are passionate, knowledgeable, and skilled about what they do--and they know the best secret stashes on the mountain!

Sidehill Carves: Similar to Hangers. Ride the high side of the edge of a catwalk, alternately carving with the uphill and downhill edge. Develops the ability to make small, quick movements of the feet, ankles, and knees to engage the downhill edge, and pressure control and fore/aft skills to ride the powder/bumps/ice/variable snow on the ungroomed high side of the trail. Also helps develop the ability to look ahead to spot abrupt changes in terrain and snow conditions. A good drill to energize those somewhat-less-exciting 'commuting runs' on catwalks. Alternative way to change edges while carving on a sidehill.

Long Radius Retraction Turns: Starting on a wide, well groomed slope, allow your legs to quickly flex through the finish of long radius carved turns. Vary the quickness and size of the flexing movement as you practice. Progress to steeper slopes and varied snow conditions as you develop your skills.

Boots are sold. Thanks for your interest. Cheers, B-2

A few years back these guys did some terrific work for me. I highly recommend Greg Hoffmann if you continue to experience foot pain and want to custom-fit your boots. While he primarily works with alpine skiers, his knowledge of anatomy and bootfitting is unsurpassed. Not only will you experience pain-free riding, but you should see a boost to performance as well!

How is the snow in the Gatineau?

Summit County's free shuttle service will get you to Copper and A-Basin--as well as Keystone and Breckenridge. Keystone and Breckenridge also offer daily bus service to Vail ($10 pp RT), from which you can catch a shuttle ($3) to Beaver Creek. The bus leaves @ 8am sharp, arriving in Vail 1 hour later. Call 970-496-4FUN for times, locations, and to make a reservation. You'll likely find carpooling from Summit a better idea (less hassle, less$) when heading to Beaver Creek. The snow, by the way, is very good! Cheers, B-2

This may not be appropriate to your situation, but it does seem a good place to expand a bit on 'diving' with the upper body vs. moving the hips across the board to start the new turn. This is a fairly common movement pattern with riders in learning to carve--especially on toeside turns. Here are two examples of a rider 'diving' with the upper body into a turn: With this movement, the rider does not 'unfold' the hip angulation he uses to create heelside tilt. Instead, he tumbles across the board, leading with head and shoulders. The hip is the very last part of his body to cross the board as he moves into the new turn. This is generally less preferable to moving the hips (and CM) across the board to start the turn. One kinesthetic cue to help riders develop the movement of the hips is to focus on the sensation of the ribs 'pinching' together as a rider creates hip angulation. At the finish of the turn, ask them to focus on stretching the pinched ribs apart, which allows the CM 'room' to move across the board to transition into the new turn. Again, this may not in any way address your difficulty, but it is a fairly common movement for riders learning to blast arcs. Many riders experience big performance breakthroughs when they develop the lower movement of the hips to start the new turn. Hope it helps. Cheers, B-2

If possible, check out a World Cup or pro event. You'll see great examples of world-class technique, plus tactics and line selection in different course configurations. As a bonus, you often can share a chair with participants and ask questions.

I think you are on the right track. It sounds to me like you might be using full-body inclination to tilt the board, rather than moving the hips (and CM) to start the turn, or that you are making either a slow or late movement with your hips to create edge angle on your board. Obviously, inclining the entire body like an upside down pendulum (rather than moving from the hips) at the start of the turn is the slowest way to get to your new edge. Many riders 'dive' into their turns when learning to get big edge angles (leading with head and shoulders) from an angulated position on the previous turn, and experience big performance breakthroughs when they substitute a different, lower movement, from the hips, to start the new turn. To get the feel for moving from the hips, try this indoor exercise: find a doorframe or hallway to support you while you practice moving across an imaginary board starting with the hips (rather than 'diving' with the upper body). Get in a low stance, and, using the doorframe or wall for support, practice moving the hips laterally across the board to increase and reduce edge angle. Stay low throughout the entire sequence. As you get the feeling for this movement, increase the speed and the magnitude of the movement, so you are making a fast movement of the CM across the board at the start of the new turn. This is exactly the same movement that you'll use when blasting arcs on steep terrain: flex your legs to allow your hips to quickly travel across the board to start the new turn. Practice on the hill will give you a feeling for how far you can move them at any given speed. Of course, without actually seeing you ride, this is all conjecture. As Chris mentioned, video review of your performance would be ultra-helpful. One other thing to check would be your equipment: does it restrict you from deeply flexing your legs or moving as you did when practicing the movement indoors? Adjusting the forward flex and forward lean on the boot cuff or alignment on the board (through lifting/canting) would be other factors which may influence your ability to make this move. Hope it's snowing where you are! B-2

-Boostertwo -Vail -Looking forward to Beaver Creek, and hopefully a day in Aspen. -See you there! B-2

I'm getting confused by this stuff. I'm going riding. What would you do? Thanks for the great tech discussions. You guys rock! Cheers, B-2

I'd like to offer a slight correction to Jack's post. I did not create the image of the rider in orange. It was created by Ron LeMaster, an amazing guy who teaches physics at CU and works as a technical advisor to the US Ski Team and CASI. He also writes books and articles explaining the physics of snowsports in a simple, easy to understand style. His book The Skier's Edge occupies a permanent place on my reference shelf and I consult it often (even though it's about the mechanics of skiing, the physics is not altogether dissimilar on a snowboard). I highly recommend it. Ron has a great website that feature eyepopping photomontages of some of the world's best skiers in action. He also has, on his website, a powerpoint presentation entitlted "riding from the snow up", which he has presented to our staff at Vail/Beaver Creek, at Aspen, and for AASI-RM (and probably elsewhere). If you're interested, check it out at http://www.ronlemaster.com. I did create the other images, but this one--and the training that has allowed me to produce similar images--is Ron's work.

The images are created from digital video footage using image editing software.

Thanks, Baka. I'm glad you like 'em. Cheers, B-2

We did this one today: Form groups of three, with snowboards off on flat ground. One of the three will stand in their snowboard stance between the other two (they will be on the toe and heel side of a virtual snowboard). Ask the person in the middle to keep his feet planted on the snow and to sway back and forth, using his partners for support (like the 'willow in the wind' trust initiative). Have him start out by keeping his legs extended, so that he makes an inverted pendulum movement back and forth between the two support partners, who gently 'catch' and 'push' the rider back to the other partner. After several repetitions, ask the rider to flex his legs through the transition between partners, keeping his head the same height off the snow. Encourage him to extend the legs as he moves towards each partner, and flex again through the transition--exactly the same way he will when he makes the retraction move during the turn transition. Obviously, it helps if each of the 'recievers' is large and strong enough to catch and push the person in the middle. Try not to partner up with a Shaq sized person if you can help it.