elex

place was closed before i moved here, so looking forward to exploring it without hiking. just nice to get some decent size runs without having to go to boyne...which isn't that far, but i don't have time to spend 3 hours driving back and forth.

Maple City area, so just minutes away. Place has been in constant turmoil for years, prospective buyers, previous owner went to jail, who owns the resort was in question for a few years as well...just a mess. So we're hoping this is the real deal. It has quite a bit of vert, about equal with Boyne. So, keeping my fingers crossed.

Looks like it's in the works to have the Loaf open again sometime in december. Finally after 10 years, we get our hill back.

No edges, just 1 solid injected piece of polycarbonate that you basically resharped similar to a normal edge. i think u pretty much want to stick to soft snow and powder. Weight isn't too good, super flexible....I have not ridden it so I can't comment on that. Anyways, it's something different and it's not crazy expensive.

I know quite a few of the factories and suppliers, some stuff I won't mention cause it's one factory or company talking crap about another...always 2 sides to a story. By the time TWS biz info comes out, it's usually super old, for the most part. China factories can make nice boards, they are getting better & better every year. I have a friend who has a super small factory there & can make some really good boards that are quite complex constructions, then there are other factories that build boards that go to Big 5 for a reason. Bigger brands see boards that look good & are cheap, but going to China is a huge effort if you want a really good board...it's tough & frustrating, in the end everybody looks at margin. Europe is a piece of cake, they pretty much have everything dialed. US well most brands have their own factory, that's about the only way to do it. Every country can make great product & as you know can make crap...even the US.

M3 was only good when Epic/Yoshida owned them, but Sims decided to change their name instead of paying Epic & all the other suppliers so a lot of companies/factories had the final nail in the coffin. M3 is maybe actually owned technically in Taiwan, it's the same owner as the Sisco factory in China. I know there was a legal battle & Sisco won, then won again when M4 went to a legal battle. Elan/Artec, not sure how long that is going to last, Elan had 2 horrible years back to back, with a huge warranty issue this past year. Pale shut down this spring, Nidecker is selling off part of their factory, Burton can't even keep the factories they use in operation....more & more is going to China for most brands. F2 is still making boards in europe for 09/10...so that's some good news.

Spiral snowboards, they used the old look lamar trikstick shape....why I don't know. Crap was actually part of Glissade snowboards...they are still around. Solid is back in business, so that can be taken off the list. Yaqui is alive but isn't so much a brand as it is a factory in China, which actually build Moss (japanese brand). Burnt snowboards, PL snowboards are both gone think they were all part of the Jamie Salters crap. M3 is still around, they are factory direct from China to a chain store near you, no longer Blaise's company. Molly...which became MLY (which is already mentioned). Hazmat is gone. Suprised nobody mentioned 24/7 or did they spell the name out, Mordo/Sons has a company or did have one with a similar name. Damn, so many small companies that are at the tip of my tongue...need a longer tongue.