Miguel

Powder....what's that? Hailing from the Great State of New Yawk we don't see much of that stuff but on the off chance that we do, I would be breaking out my trusty lil' Prior Khyber....ridden with plates natch. It's very similar to the ever popular Burton Fish.

Just think about when you're trying to get somewhere on the flats. You'll go a lot farther if you run your board as flat as possible. If your edge digs in at all you'll noticably slow down.

I'm a teacher, so even though we get plenty vacation time, we can only take it during certain times. Unfortunately it never coincides with the SES. I have been able to attend a couple ECESs during the weekend in Vermont. Maine is just a bit too far of a drive for a weekend. The bright side is that I retire next year and my plan is to never miss another SES/ECES....EVER! I am sooo tired of salivating over pics of you guys shredding mid-week groom in Colorado! Miguel

He used to post here quite often. His posts were too unique to have just had a name change. I kind of miss his posts.

Been there...done that....same conclusion. I bought a Prior Khyber for pow, bumps and trees last year along with some nice soft Salomon boots and bindings. After one day on the setup the boots and bindings are currently collecting dust in my basement. I put some Bombers on the board and have ridden it with great satisfaction with my Raichle 224s. Speaking of the Khyber...it's a sweet little board. I was surpised how well it actually carved. Haven't ridden it in the pow yet. I guess it's Prior roots are showing through. Miguel

Having started on an Alp I would suggest staying away from it mainly because you'll soon outgrow it I would suggest a Donek Axis, Coiler All Mountain or a Prior 4WD. All are versitile, carve like hell and are forgiving. Eventually you'll have a quiver and one of those boards will probably be part of it anyway. Welcome to the addiction...err fold. :) Miguel

I'd have to go with my Coiler AM for being the most versitile. Mine's a 169 with a 21.5 waist....couldn't be happier with it. Miguel

That was so sweet I put it in my favorites! More please!

I'm a possibility. Have to check to see if I have any personal days at work. The last time I "played hooky" from work and went on a little adventure I wound up breaking my heel in a climbing accident. Since then I've been a little gun shy of taking sick days to play. I'm from Elmira NY up on the PA/NY boarder. I have to head down to Montoursville (near Williamsport) to pick up a kayak that weekend anyway. Perhaps I could combine the two. How's the carving there? I'm not usually found (read-never) carving double black runs but I'd certainly be interested in attending a clinic to see if I could! Miguel

I'm from south/central New York so I do most of my boating in the NY/ PA area but have traveled to the SE and out West several times. Been to Moose Fest a bunch of times....always a good time. Maybe we should put together an ECBES (East Coast Boating Expression Session, of course), made op from BOL folks. I'll bet there's more than we think. BTW Tried to submitt a picture but can't figure it out. How does one do that? Miguel

A few we days ago there was a thread about toe side turns and where the body should be facing. I mentioned that I face the front of the board during toe side turns. It was suggested that I was counter rotating and that wasn't a good thing. Check out the photos submitted by Scott Firestone....specifically the toeside turns. Almost every rider is facing the front while turning to the toe side. This is what I do and it works well for me. Is there some negative aspect of turning that way and if so, why are so many people doing it? Miguel http://www.alpinecarving.com/wtc06/wed.html

When conditions are good It's hard to beat my Donek FCII 171. Having said that, I've been on my Coiler AM 169 this year much more than the Donek. The Coiler has a 21.5 waist and seemes to have a damper ride than the Donek. I'd really like to try a Coiler AM with more narrow waist. Both are great but I'm staring to lean toward Coiler as a favorite.

Right on Bro! Been yakin for about 18 years now. I agree with and enjoyed your analogy except for the "off season" part. I've been out boating twice in the past two weeks, one of which was the ultimate weekend....ie...boating on Saturday and boarding on Sunday! Goretex drysuits are "your friend"! SYOTR, Miguel PS Where do you do most of your boating. I'm mostly NY/PA with occassional excursions throughout the SE, West and a couple of times abroad.

Interesting! I forwarded your post to my daughter who just arrived in Korea a few weeks ago. She's teaching English for a year in Souel. I taught her to ride on plates several years ago but unfortunately (for me) she didn't stick with it. I'll be going over to visit this summer. I just found it interesting to find a post about Korea here on Bomber. Take care, Miguel

You'll be soorrry! I entertained the same evil thoughts last year and went ahead and bought some top o' the line Solomon boots and bindings and mounted them on a Prior Khyber. Long story short....can't stand it! The only advantage I've found is that walking around is a bit easier. Tonight I'm going to mount a pair of Bomber stepins on the board and use my 224's maybe in the walk mode. Unless you're in the half pipe/park I really don't see any advantage to the soft boot setup. Just the hassle of putting on the boots and getting into the bindings was enough to turn me off. Well...that and the lack of control when riding. I bought the board for bumps, trees , powder and general sloppy conditions.. I love the board but have no time for the softy setup. Just my take on it. Miguel

Same here in New York state...heck..we broke out the kayaks last weekend and hit some whitewater. When your dealt lemons...make lemonade! On the upside...I was told the Farmer's Almanac is predicting heavier than normal snow for the second half of the winter. Hope springs eternal! Miguel

I bought a soft boot setup at the end of the season last year. The boots were supposed to be quite "stiff" and the bindings were "top of the line" Salomons. You wanna know how many times I've ridden them? You guessed it...a grand total of once! The one and only advantage those boots have over my Raichles is when I'm walking across the parking lot! They are a royal pain in my arse when putting them on what with all the double lacing and crap. Of course that's after spending twenty minutes untangling them in the first place. The straps on the bindings have to be so friggen tight that they cut off any chance of blood reacing your toes! Even when they are tight you still don't have anywhere near the control of hard boots. Frankly my Raichles felt like a pair of sneakers in comparison and I can put them on in half the time. Let's not even talk about getting the boots in and out of the bindings prior to riding. Step-ins they're not! My days of sitting around on my arse or even bending over to strap in, for that matter, are over! I'm planning on taking them off the Prior Khyber and running Bombers with HARD boots in the walk mode. Miguel

Man....all this techno jargon is starting to give me a freakin' headache! Vin Q, previously from Out of Bounds in K-Town once gave me the same advice so apparently it works for some of us. If I could draw a sketch I could probably explain my position better. I'll give it one more shot! I ride 55/50 on my Donek Freecarve. If I maintain my entire body facing the direction of my boots and angulate staright to my left side on a heel side turn, my weight naturally shifts more toward the front of the board (a good thing). If I angulate straight to the right on a toe side turn, my weight and my hips naturally move toward the back of the board (a not so good thing. Therefore, by turning my upper body toward the front of the board on toeside I wind up angulating much more directly across the board, similar to a skier and negating the negative effects of moving towrd the back end of the board. I agree, the lower the angles you're running the more twisting is involved. I don't feel like I'm twisting much at all although I'll admit to twenty minutes of Yoga every morning! Now you'll have to excuse me while I go take a Tylenol! PS It always amazes me how many differences of opinion are given on the same subject here at BOL! I've tried lots of different techniques derived from articles and posts gleaned from BOL over the years, many contradicting the other. I've come to the conlusion that it's true...there is indeed more than one way to skin the proverbial cat! Peace, Miguel

Ginsu....look here for the source of my information. Pay close attention to paragraphs 5 and 6. It's in the Tech Articles section here at BOL and is written by Doug Taylor (Carving the Steeps). All I can say is that it works for me. I seem to be able to angulate better on toeside when facing the front of the board. If you face the same angle as you boots on toe side, when you angulate your hips legs etc it seems to naturally move them more toward the back of the board...by facing forward and thus more square with the board your angulation and weight is shifted straight across the board and not to the rear. That explanation probably sucked and made no sense so read the article and more importantly go try it....it works well for me. Miguel http://www.bomberonline.com//articles/carving_the_steeps.cfm

I face my upper body in the same direction as my boots for heelside turns and I face it toward the front of the board for toeside turns. Staying low but with an erect upper body also helps. This advice is taken directly from one of the articles here at BOL and has served me very well. I also had problems with toeside turns until I started thinking about facing the front, staying low and angulating. Give it a try. Miguel PS I ride the same angles as you on my 19.5 waist Donek

I quit cold turkey a few years ago. It was much easier than giving up cigs. I just wanted to make sure I controlled it...not it controlling me. I started back up after about two years but I am much more responsible now than before. I had read an article about one man's theory as to why most diets fail. He felt most people have a difficult time giving up vices such as fatty food, cigs and booze forever. He felt it was easier to give up it for a period of time and periodically "reward" yourself. He dieted for five days and then ate what he wanted on the weekend. He lost a ton of fat. I did the same with cigarettes. I couldn't face giving them up forever but quitting for three months seemed totally plausible. I easily cold turkeyed for 90 days and bought a carton on day ninety one. I repeated the same a month later and haven't had a cigarette in the last twenty five years. I basically did the same with the beer but it lasted for two years. I initially had set a six month limit and then extended it. I'm much more responsible now particularly when an auto is involved. I can honestly say I've haven't driven a vehicle when I would have failed a sobriety test at any level. I couldn't say that in the past. This may not work for everyone but it worked well more me. Like the sign says..."DWI...you can't afford it". Good luck. Miguel

Danielle The obvious benefit is that you can enter/exit your rear boot much easier with stepins than with standard. I did it because of cost. I had two boards, but only one pair of stepins. I then came across a killer deal on a set of standards. Since the rear foot is the one we exit/enter after each run it only makes sense to place one stepin on the rear of each board. Long story short...it's more convenient and cheaper! Miguel

I don't know how to transfer the picture from an internet site to this post. They are actually mounted on a pair of skis but are labeled as being "plate bindings". They look more like plates than ski bindings...very interesting to say the least. The site is...http://mountainbuzz.com/swap/data/154477dsco1691-large.jpg Or if someone can explain how to do it then please enlighten me. Miguel EDIT: Duh...after some short research I found out they are Linken Tele ski bindings...still quite interesting looking. Could they work on a board if the heel didn't rise up?

Booster........that's one of the coolest snowboarding pictures I've ever seen. What's the story behind it? Miguel

Riders = Billy Bordy and Phil Fell. I saw Billy boarding but didn't see Phil fall. :p