DjulezD

They have a very good line indeed (Storm, Euphoria...). Some boards on sale on ebay right now.

Skategoat, this is exactly what happened to me the first time I rode the Dupraz, wanted to push it like a GS board because of the length and speed it developed. Happened tu turn like a small freeride board...

Can anybody provide one ? The way I understand "the float" is a technique where you apply a varying degree of pressure to modulate the turn radius. A progressive/elliptic radius vs a circular radius. Big curves at speed/SGS curves involve a blend of staying locked on edge/turning on the edge/skidding or slarving. The difficulty in applying this technique to a short radius/shorter board is to control this pressure and handle the chatter at speed.

This is such a cool thread ! I assume the torsion bar will increase the level of reactivity from the board to these feet movements you describe. In a way, this is already the case with toe/heel lift. Turns are initiated quicker. Now if you have less torsion of the board at turn initiation as a result of the bar, this little "feet a-synchronicity" will just have to be milder to obtain the same effect. I can only see it as a gain.

You have pics ? What year is this board ? I see France in your profile. What about shipping there ?

That's a good reference indeed. Surf sessions, which is also published by the same guys, has been on the market for more than 15 years in France. They have a good recipe. Now, the comparison also brings back the issue of editorial angle, because a good number of people who buy that magazine don't surf. They buy it for the dream/cool factor and the nice pictures. A bit like big motors magazines, not all their readers own a S8 or a boxster... In this context also, ads must be thought out in terms of content. 30% of porn board pictures would be way better than 10% of bud ads !

Alex, this is a great idea; something a lot of us here must have been dreaming about. I second what Niels says about audience, ads, etc. With the nuance that you would expect such a magazine to be a showcase for the sport, hence reaching out to potential carvers. I remember someone here saying that carving was for snowboarders getting older. Don't want to judge that assertion, but it is true indeed that a whole lot of people are carving without being aware they do. Ultimately, they should realize they belong to the community. A more philosophical question is "how focused" ? And I guess it also has to do with the title. If it is purely about carving, then you can write articles about carving on skis, but doing so about about big mountain freeride could be considered a little off-topic. This is an important choice but of course it's all about editorial angle. In my opinion, you should keep that open while making clear it's about snowboard carving. Features, columns, etc. I think you have the basics. As a devoted reader of very specialized magazines on other topics, I would suggest you take great attention to the small columns, the ones that are short and informative. In my opinion, that's what keeps me coming back to these magazines I like: a column on history (that requires knowledge, study, specialized books, etc.), something about the blogs out there, a travel guide with addresses of seclusive places (secret spots, references, etc), invitations to private events. The main columns are the base for which people read the magazine, but after a while, your reader will realize that even though the pictures are glossy and the text is sharp and fun, this is more or less the same story repeating. Of course, your reader loves that, but you need to balance that feeling of "déjà-vu" with crazy features, because they will make the reader think "this magazine is like nothing else". Distribution : should be worlwide for sure. THE Reference. If at some point there is a market for local magazines in local languages... French, Italian, German, Japanese, Russian, etc., its likely someone will come up with an idea. Julien PS : By the way, I am moving this summer to the "love island" at the Far East of the Mediterranean. Might have a chance to go riding in Greece. So you should make the first issue give all the Greek addresses and spots ;)...

email sent

Thanks all for the answers. I'll probably go for one of the victoria boards (foam resin construction). Photodad: I am definitely looking for a wave oriented board for myself, but would like to preserve some ability to ride on flats if the kids want to give it a try. That's the dilemma in fact. Versatility matters. Maui skimmers are more like short surfboards: thicker with a big tail and a long rockered nose. They even do a wakeboard inspired shape. Considering I will be riding on a rather powerful shorebreak, this is appealing, but probably still an overkill and almost useless on smaller waves and flats. Boarderboy: my previous skim was custom made by a local shaper. I believe it was a wood/foam/resin cap construction. Very similar to the foam skimboards available now in thickness, length. A little more heavy and less rocker probably. It also had a square tail. The same shaper also made a few skimboards with the same construction as a surfboard and I got to try these as well. Mine worked great on flats, no discussion to that. Very fast, long rides, good for tricks too. On waves, it was good for bottom-ups and jumps on small to mid-size waves (0.5-1.5 m) breaking on the shore. Beyond that, it didn't work. The other one was kind of frustrating: useless on flats, and still very slow on big waves. But you could really surf them with it, provided you took enough speed. That was a long time ago though and when I came across Maui skimmers, it thought I would love to give it a try. Based on this experience, I am naturally inclined towards a more classic wave oriented skimboard (3/4 or 5/8" thickness). You can still make huge jumps on big shorebreak waves...

I am considering buying a new one since I broke mine two years ago. I would honestly describe myself as an advanced rider, both on wave and flat. I checked out here http://www.skimonline.com/equipment/buyers_guide/skimboards.htm So far, I am considering Victoria. But I am intrigued by the new shape/construction developed by Maui Skimmers. Anybody here who can offer advice ? Thanks

Don't flame me for saying that you can't do EC carves on a soft setup, but yeah, this is definitely fishy. The movement of sthe snow and the rather minimal steep rather suggest a radical, yet sylish, emergency stop than a EC carve.

You can easily adopt a wider stance on a softboot setup. One or two inches more than on your HB setup I would say.

hey Dylan did you get my email ? I'll be out of town soon and won't have access to a computer for quite a while.

Hey thanks for the thread and please keep adding these ugly gloves pictures. Mine are nothing compared even they are ptexed and ductaped all around. My wife took me to a shop the other day because she found my gloves made me look like a pikey. (Un) Fortunately they didn't have a single pair of anything made of kevlar, like the ones I have now. All the soft stuff is stored in a bag now and I won't take a picture. But I'll certainly show this thread around to anybody commenting on my gloves. Btw, is this red stuff the product that was refferred to in another thread on gloves ? Just curious to know how complicated it is to do it...

I'll take them if this sale falls.

There must be something wrong with the site though, it redirects to the page of a restaurant in the UK. :confused: Picture of the chef below

To be a sailor means being humble.

The boot of my dreams: - adjustable forward and lateral flex - full lean option - walk mode and bts - interchangeable soles for ski/SB/AT compatible with intec heels - option to reduce / increase the number of buckles - booster strap Everything should be interchangeable. Only a basic shell form that suits most purposes needs a costly mold. All the plugins will fit any size and can be outsourced (funny it reminds me stg).

Yes ! Also, you can race the WC or the Olympics and still be in the average or even suck in your own opinion.

+1 on the 6' and the softies. I wanted to post a review on the D1+6' but I didn't have a chance to put it to the test in powder, so that would have been incomplete. But here are a few impressions I got from riding it two days on hardpack and slush (in hardboots) : Pros + very good edge hold, close to an alpine board + length is definitely not a problem, I even found the board a little turny, especially on flats + it loves speed, calls for it, very, very stable at speed Cons - this board needs to be ridden with a particular technique, i.e. with the two feet acting together, surfy style or so. - I had so many comments and questions that it became embarassing and even annoying...;) With the pros listed above, I almost felt like riding my alpine board, but it didn't work so well because I pushed on the nose and it chattered a lot. I also had one or two serious washouts on heelside and even one bad toeside washout (which almost never happened to me riding a HB setup) when trying to lay down EC turns on steeps. Things improved when I started to adopt a more relaxed, cruising style of riding as it started to melt to slush. At the end of the two days it was a bit frustrating because I didn't enjoy as I would have with my alpine board the hard conditions in the mornings and there was no powder to try out the Dupraz in its element. I don't think I completely figured out the technique to ride the Dupraz yet and I will have to wait until next season anyway. But my overall impression remains very positive. The ability of this board to remain very stable at speed is close to incredible and is full of promises for the plans I have for it:eplus2::eplus2: So, at this point, my best conclusion is: This board is meant to be ridden in softies because it will be easier (at least for me) to adopt the technique that is required for this board. The only exception to that is powder where I think riding it in plates (a soft hardboot setup, for instance with AT boots and snowpros) would help getting the technique right for all-mountain use, including carving on groomers.

C'mon ! This whole thing is a joke, so let's not be too serious about it. How can you compare objective/measurable levels, like WC/Olympic, with fully subjective self-assessment ? Unless there is some kind of test or judgment, like in freeride contests, it's impossible to prevent these claims, so I propose that unless you can't do a 360 carve, you can't call yourself a master freecarver ! :lol::lol::lol::lol:

+1 on the duck stance - best learning curve for the transition from hard to soft boots. I finally came back from the "dark side" this season after about ten years on softies (freeride, powder). For me, the most difficult part in switching from one equipment to another was to adjust technique to each and refrain from using HB technique on the soft setup and vice-versa. All this became blurred because I went back to HB to learn EC technique, which involved focusing on rotation, lowering angles, etc, which was not my riding technique back in the days when I rode HB (I think it was just when riders started to not tuck their rear knee in the front and use outward canting). So I figure that riding a duck stance will probably be a radical shift, but helpful because such a pitch will definitely prevent you from trying to ride with the wrong technique. Also, as it has been said before on the forum, switching from on setup to another will definitely improve your abilities as a rider, so, in this sense, "welcome to the Dark Side". Just in case, I also have freeride boards wider than your proto for sale here. (I may be interested in a trade also).

Sorry, I was actually referring to the pope, because the analogy was very good. I come from Europe where we don't wear helmets as much as here in the States. I decided I would when I was hit in the back while on a heelside EC turn by a snowboarder. The impact on my board and the damage to my jacket made me realize that 50cm more on the left and I would have been hit in the head. Everybody is free to do what they want, but prominent figures should not get the wrong messages out.

You here so much crap on the radio these days ! It would be better if a well known and prominent figure of the sport would come out on a spot and say, look, I am out there doing these radical moves and trenching hard, but I would not do it without protective gear !

I'll be there too ! Julien