boostertwo

Hi QQ,The image Jack attributed to me was shot/produced by Ron LeMaster, and should rightfully be attributed to him. I'm fortunate to have had Ron's guidance on how to create photosequences out of digital video footage, but my involvement with this image was as subject, not as lensman. I'm happy to upload a larger image, but first need to ask if anyone would be able to direct me to a free image hosting site that can accomodate large (11MB file sizes). --Thanks! FYI, Ron does remarkable work shooting some of the world's best skiers. He works as technical advisor to the US Ski Team, and does annual technical presentations for snowsports schools and teaching/coaching organizations in the USA and Canada. He has addressed the issue of pressure management (addressing one aspect of the OP's question 'what do you do with you legs in a turn') in this article, and in some of his archived presentations. Ron is an accomplished ski writer and photographer. His book, The Skier's Edge is, IMO, one of the better resources out there that explains how skiing (and, by extrapolation, snowboarding) works. In his spare time, Ron also works as a physics professor at CU Boulder. His work includes designing web teaching tools to help people learn and understand physics (check out the simulations on the linked site). He has a gift for describing mechanics in simple, easy-to-understand language and is a world class ski writer and photographer to boot. This image of Men's PGS Champ Justin Reiter serves to complement Ron's image. Justin is extending his legs at the transition; the rider in Ron's image is flexing them. IMHO, a versatile rider should be able to do either movement to manage forces through the transition (and, as Ron says, to target the apex of the next turn). <img src="http://i11.tinypic.com/72uylip.jpg" border="0" alt="Justin Reiter, A-Basin, CO."> Cheers, B-2

Hey sn0brd83, IIRC, Vail Resorts offers some type of discount to Iraqi vets. I tried to call our ticket offices to confirm, but I'm afraid there's no one in the offices until 8am MST tomorrow. You can get Breck contact info here. We also offer discounts to AASI/PSIA members; you'll need to bring along your membership card and a letter of intro to be eligible. You might be able to get a better discount through contacting Tommy Banks, Breck Ski and Ride School Training Manager (you can reach him through the Breck switchboard). He can sometimes comp passes for visiting instructors--especially if you're dual cert/supervisory staff and indicate you might be interested in possibly working at Breck. <img src="http://i9.tinypic.com/6ofcwu9.jpg" border="0" alt="Unknown Rider, NZ Open, Cardrona, New Zealand"> Hope this helps. There is lots of great snow here, BTW. Please give a shout if you decide to head over the pass to Vail. Good luck, B-2

(most of this post is a reprise from a post in the binding angles thread--sorry.) I use toe and heel lift (and cant) to optimize my alignment. The outcome I look for is to position my boot cuffs so they cradle the shafts of my lower legs as they feed down into the boot: IMO an important consideration on a hardboot setup. This places you in a balanced starting point, and allows you to make subtle movements of the feet and lower legs to quickly deliver energy to the board. IMO the amount of lift/cant is partly determined by stance width: more width = more lift/cant. You can feel this for yourself, by first standing in a relaxed snowboard stance with your feet fairly close together, and then progressively sliding them futher apart. If you keep your ankles stiff (as they would be supported in your snowboard boot), you'll soon feel the outside parts of your feet lifting up off the floor as your legs move through an arc. <img src="http://i14.tinypic.com/85lly7a.jpg" border="0" alt="Your joints allow your limbs to move through arcs, a key consideration in dialing in your alignment."> The exact ratios of lift/cant change with body type, stance width and angle (and are also influenced by other variables such as board width, shape, flex, and binding location). For me, too much toe lift and I feel like I'm in a cramped cockpit, unable to flex my ankle much more to manage forces against the board and adjust fore/aft balance; too little and the back of the boot cuff presses against my calf and I'm less able to make subtle movements of my feet and ankles to manage pressure along the length of the board. I would think, Bobby, that it would be especially important for you to dial in your alignment to reduce the likelihood of the front of your boot cuff painfully pressing against your atrophied shin. And, equally important, to optimize performance. <img src="http://i9.tinypic.com/6qe1rx1.jpg" border="0" alt="Justin Reiter, A-Basin, CO."> I'm no expert, but this seems to work for me. Good luck, B-2

Here's what's open today. The ops guys say that chairs 5 and Blue Sky (accessed through Poppyfields) will open by this weekend, and Teacup lift as well (as egress). Frontside will be mostly open It's been snowing since yesterday, with more forecast through Saturday. Good conditions for a big fat powder board! <img src="http://i13.tinypic.com/6pzkwet.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Patterson, Vail, CO."> Should be good! Cheers, B-2

IMO the key concept is to dial in the lift/cant of your boots so that it cradles the shaft of your lower leg as it feeds down into the boot cuff. This places you in a balanced starting point, and allows you to make subtle movements of the lower leg against the boot cuff to quickly deliver energy to the board. The exact ratios of lifts and cants change with body type, and with stance width and angle. I would recommend: 1. Checking with a podiatrist/pedorthist about the inward 5.5 degree lean of your lower leg (does your lower leg tilt inwards from a past sports injury?). If this is caused by excessive pronating he can build you an orthotic to stabilize and support the foot, which should help you achieve a strong, balanced, 'neutral' stance on your board. It'd also help in your ski boots (which may need to be 'unground') and with other sports. As you seem to be interested in high performance in all of the sports you do, I'd be surprised if you haven't already done this. 2. Only after you get a good foundation under your feet that is specific to your anatomy , I'd start to further adjust lift/cant on the bindings. IMHO the key concept is to adjust lift/cant so the shaft of the boot cuff cradles your lower leg as it feeds down into the boot cuff. Your exact lift/cant ratios will change depending on your body type, stance angle, and width. For me, on narrow waist width boards (18 cm) my big feet require high stance angles (70/68) and in this stance my pelvis/hips are wider than the board. This positions my legs to 'feed in' to my boots from an outside angle, and thus I cant outwards. On wider boards, as my stance geometry changes, I find it better to go flat or cant inwards slightly (only at really low stance angles on wide powder/backcountry boards). IMO the amount of lift/cant is also determined by stance width: more width, more lift/cant. You can feel this for yourself, by first standing in a relaxed snowboard stance with your feet fairly close together, and then progressively sliding them futher apart. If you keep your ankles stiff (as they would be supported in your snowboard boot), you'll soon feel the outside parts of your feet lifting up off the floor as your legs move through an arc. <img src="http://i2.tinypic.com/80njxxx.jpg" border="0" alt="Your joints allow your limbs to move through an arc--a key concept in adjusting alignment on your snowboard."> It can be helpful to start adjusting alignment on an absolutely flat surface (you can do this indoors). If you're in a balanced 'neutral' stance, you should not feel the boot cuff unevenly pressing/pushing your lower leg. It should snugly and comfortably cradle the shaft of the leg, allowing you to freely and easily make small movements of the feet and ankles to balance and work the board and to also effectively use the cuff as a 'handle' by which to control your board. <img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/2e3y4oz.jpg" border="0" alt="Jasey Jay Anderson, '09 Race to the Cup PGS, Copper Mountain, CO"> This should get you in the ballpark, but from there I'd suggest taking a tool out on the slope and running a 'balance lab' to further fine-tune your alignment for your particular stance angles and width. I've found it useful to include straight running on a very flat slope at a slow speed to feel if it is comfortable and balanced. I'll also include quick, repetitive edge-to-edge transitions, isolating movements of the ankles and knees to tilt the board. Whatever the task, I'm looking for a comfortable, balanced starting point and immediate, accurate response from my movements to control it (tilting, pressuring fore/aft, flexing/extending to manage the forces pushing against it, and pivoting/steering it). <img src="http://i8.tinypic.com/8bdykxz.jpg" border="0" alt="Tyler Jewell, Race to the Cup, Howelsen Hill, CO."> I'm no expert, but this has worked for me. Mi dos centavos, B-2

You can find Bode's run, plus all WC footage from this weekend here.<img src="http://i10.tinypic.com/8foa0q9.jpg" border="0" alt="Bode Miller, Beaver Creek, CO."> Cheers, B-2

My favorite Vt. areas and why: 1. Stowe as BobDea mentioned, great trees, groom, bumps and steeps. Best of all is the off-piste. Some of it is above treeline and when you go there, find a local for beta on hiking to the Chin, Hell Brook, Teardrop, Sunset Ridge, and Bruce trails (all on Mt.Mansfield). On the Spruce, check out the Birthday Bowls (which bring you into Smuggler's Notch). 2. Jay Peak some of the best, most reliable pow in the East, and great trees. A local can help guide you down the backside, off the tram, to Vt. Route 242. Also a good opportunity to practice speaking quebecois. 3. Sugarbush Like Stowe, a great variety of terrain and (at least when I was there) less crowded than areas south of Vt. Route 4. 4. Killington if you catch it right, there are some terrific groomed double-diamond steeps, plus good groomers and bumps. It can get crowded on long weekends--IMO a lot more than areas a bit further north (Sugarbush, Stowe, Smugg's, and Jay). <img src="http://i7.tinypic.com/85vctgm.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Patterson, Secret Stash, Vail, CO."> 5. For non-resort riding, Mt. Washington offers some amazing Big Mountain descents, including Tuckerman Ravine, Gulf of Slides, Great Gulf, and the Ammonoosuc drainage. If you're not into winter camping or avy aware, best done in springtime. Mi dos centavos, B-2

I don't dispute that wider boards are more frequently used by racers, but I'm not sure I understand this statement. Wouldn't a narrower board (w/ resulting higher stance angles) allow for faster edge-to-edge transitions? It seems to me one other reason that slightly wider boards are being used is that a lower stance angle allows for bigger and more powerful pivoting movements. While pivoting is generally detrimental to carving (as it can result in skidding, scrubbing speed), when the course requires it most successful racers are able to pivot their unweighted boards in the transition, and to 'lock on' to a carve to maintain a fast line. It has been my experience that lower angles are much better than high ones for these pivoting, 'leg scissoring' moves. <img src="http://i4.tinypic.com/6t2o5cz.jpg" border="0" alt="Billy Bordy, Race to the Cup, Howelsen Hill, CO."> You can feel this for yourself by standing up now, as you read this. Try standing with very high stance angles and then then try stepping your feet to move your legs through this pivoting move. I think you'll find that higher angles allow a smaller range of movement than lower angles. Lower angles also recruit stronger muscle groups and allow for further pivoting movement through using the knee as a hinge to 'sweep' the foot. Not only does this result in quicker, stronger, accurate movements, it also results in better balance, as it seems that riders with extremely high angles have to make additional movements of the upper body to get the board around, resulting in imbalance and a jerky, edge-of-control look to their turns. It seems that for these biomechanical reasons (larger range of movement from the ball-and-socket joint in the hip, using stronger muscle groups, and, when necessary, using the knee/ankles to further sweep the board) that slightly wider boards are more useful whenever the course requires pivoting moves. If you're free riding, lower angles are useful in situations where you might need to quickly, powerfully, and accurately pivot the board, such as bumps, trees, steeps, crowded slopes, etc.

FYI, AA has a ski destination sale through Nov 28. Vail/Eagle airport is much closer (90 min-2hr) and less hassle than Den to Aspen. Prices are pretty good IMO.<a href="http://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewNetSAAverFareSalesDetail.jhtml?saleId=2118&fileName=AA.Winter.Ski.Sale.11.07.07.xml&repositoryName=FareToolSpecialContentRepository" target="_blank"><img src="http://i10.tinypic.com/7wyi03s.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Smith, Vail, CO."></a> Hope to see you there. Cheers, B-2

Click on image for an update on Garrett Lisi and his work toward finding a unified field theory. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/11/14/scisurf114.xml" target=_blank" ><img src="http://i3.tinypic.com/82xyeky.jpg" border="0" alt="Gerrett Lisi, Beaver Creek, CO."></a> Garrett was at SES a few years back. He was easy to spot, even on a slope full of carvers, as he blasts his arcs in a lab coat. A fun, exuberant guy and a talented rider. You can DL the paper, published in pre-print form, here.

Interview with Peter Panagiotis. RI's slope is Yawgoo Valley. <img src="http://i1.tinypic.com/4ozaqso.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Smith, Vail, CO."> Cheers, B-2

Update on the Castle Rock wildfire. <img src="http://i9.tinypic.com/4mjb1q8.jpg" border="0" alt="Heelside: Jeff Smith, Vail, CO.">

Daily at Vail. Road trips to other CO resorts. Hope for a day or three at SES. Spring at the Basin. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5634cfxB4g"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5634cfxB4g" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> SWSC coach Thedo Remmelink carves late season A-Basin ice Mission: Constant Fun. Looking forward to it. B-2

is to pick up a prior version of Photoshop on EBay. CS3 is the most recent version of PS; I'd suggest anything from version 5.5 to do the image manipulation and design work you'd like to do. If you're new to PS, you can also pick up training materials on EBay as well--once again at very economical rates for earlier versions. Plus, you can upgrade from earlier versions (PS7, CS, or CS2) to CS3. The sum of the earlier version plus the upgrade is usually less than the retail price of the software. <img src="http://i18.tinypic.com/4mbbl7p.jpg" border="0" alt="Garrett Lisi, Beaver Creek, CO."> Good Luck, B-2

In case you're interested, netradio updates here. <img src="http://i7.tinypic.com/5yhy8ig.jpg" border="0" alt="Darren Ratcliffe & George Pappas, A-Basin, CO."> Enjoy the ride. B-2

Yeah, when you're near an internet connection it's better to listen to Pandora directly--the better to discover new and interesting music. I mainly listen to the recorded stream when I'm on the slopes or driving--places with no easy internet access. FYI there are Mac-compatible soft/shareware recorders out there.<img src="http://i12.tinypic.com/4p0ghtd.jpg" border="0" alt="Keir Dillon, Winter X Halfpipe, Aspen, CO."> Cheers, B-2

While you might not be able to easily DL a specific song, you can DL the audio stream using a streaming audio recorder. If you create a Pandora station using that specific song, it's easy to 'catch' it when it comes around in the rotation.I've been using Replay Music which separates and auto-tags the music. Import to your Ipod/mp3 player to enjoy at your convenience. <img src="http://i11.tinypic.com/6gob2bo.jpg" border="0" alt="Short turns, A-Basin, CO."> At least for now, you can take it with you. B-2

For non-snow days, I've been digging YouTube--most recently the method tv profiles. <img src="http://i13.tinypic.com/61mbtyq.jpg" border="0" alt="Justin Reiter, A-Basin, Co."> Good stuff. Cheers, B-2

During the summer I live in a remote mountain lodge in the National Forest, far from most broadcast media (no cable, no tv, not so many radio stations). As Dave mentioned, for people who live far from major media markets, internet radio provides lots of options for not-so-local news and other interesting programming. <img src="http://i7.tinypic.com/6baoeon.jpg" border="0" alt="Vic Wild, A-Basin, Co."> I-radio is also a great way to catch news w/o a US media slant, and to grab weather/powder reports from the southern hemisphere. For me, it's a great resource.

Image is not me. I'm blessed with the 'perfect face for radio'--much better off behind the lens rather than in front of it. Rider is longtime pro competitor and coach George Pappas.<img src="http://i11.tinypic.com/54cgw1w.jpg" border="0" alt="George Pappas, A-Basin, CO."> I don't know what gear George uses. Maybe Bola or one of the SWSC crew can fill you in.Cheers, B-2

It's snowing and blowing here in Wyoming. Looking forward to hiking and riding Medicine Bow Peak this afternoon! <img src="http://i9.tinypic.com/4ukiq9e.gif" border="0" alt="George P., A Basin, Colorado"> Going higher, B-2

Through the last few weeks I've been connecting to Internet radio much more frequently than broadcast FM--IMO it is by far the better resource to "pull" programming that works for you (these days I'm waay stoked with Pandora). If you also like to tune in via the web, here's some more info on the Internet Radio Equality Act (not completely unbiased--provided by an interest group). http://action.freepress.net/campaign/netradio/ <img src="http://i18.tinypic.com/4ts9uza.jpg" border="0" alt="Tyler Jewell, Race to the Cup, Howelsen Hill, CO.">

Oops. Pali and East Wall are open again, and will be on a day-to-day basis. <img src="http://i16.tinypic.com/5ybstx2.jpg" border="0" alt="Vic Wild, A-Basin, Co."> Great coverage and even better riding! Cheers, B-2

The coverage at the Basin is very good, with 8 inches of fresh powder on top of frozen granular. It is still snowing. Pali closed for the season this week, and the East Wall has been closed as well. Weekend crowds extend the lift lines out of the maze on Exo and Lenawee. No one here midweek, except for some race training and hardcore locals. <a href="http://www.arapahoebasin.com/?page=site/snow_report&nav_id=de8e801000c42404f3aa42ed75521cbf" target="_blank"><img src="http://i14.tinypic.com/53onp06.jpg" border="0" alt="AK Callen trains with SWSC at the Basin"></a> It's worth a trip if you're in the area. Cheers, B-2

<img src="http://i12.tinypic.com/2ns8h2d.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Smith heelside, Vail, Co."> I don't think I've ever had a bad time carving at Vail. Maybe I've just been lucky and caught it on good days.