ur13

Another fun thread. I left this window open for a few hours and jotted down the places I've ridden. I came up with 87 total (74 in the US and 13 outside). I've spent the most days overall at Toggenburg, NY (my local hill growing up) and Stratton, VT (my home resort for over 10 years). Whiteface, NY remains my favorite ski are of all time, with Gore, NY being a lose second and labrador, NY being my third (I'm originally from central NY and like small ski areas). Copper is my favorite Western resort, with Mammoth being a distant second. Stryn Summer Ski, Norway is my favorite non-US place. Seven Oaks, IA is my oddest (Family trip to see relatives one winter as an annoying pre-teen). Arizona Snowbowl, AZ is my most exotic/surreal, it's on a volcano north of Flagstaff, the snowline is over 10,000ft even in winter so your head is spinning and you overlook the desert all around you, including the Grand Canyon to the north, you ride white snow in scrub pines and see red all around you. If you ever ski/ride on Mars I bet it will be alot like that, sans pines. Riding in Hokkaido, Japan was an experience too (though that trip was more a vacation for an ex and I, it's also the only time I've ridden rented gear anywhere) NY Whiteface, Gore, Hunter, Windham, Song Mountain, Toggenburg, Labrador, Snow Ridge, Belleayre, Bristal, Catamount, Swain, Thunder Ridge, Cazenovia Ski Club, New Woodstock Ski Bowl, Tug Hill Ski club, ADK Ski Club VT Stratton, Okemo, Mount Snow, Killington, Stowe, Sugarbush, Bolton, Mad River Glen (on Tele gear), Pico, Suicide Six, Bromley, Jay, Magic NH Attitash, Wildcat, Loon, Gunstock ME Sugarloaf, Sunday River MA Jiminy Peak, Washusett, Mt. Tom, Catamount, Ski Ward CT Mount Southington NJ Mountain Creek PA Jack Frost, Seven Springs, Hidden Valley VA Wintergreen MD Wisp IA Seven Oaks OH Alpine Valley MN Buck Hill CO Aspen (Ajax & Snowmass mostly), A-Basin, Copper, Steamboat, Vail UT The Canyons AZ Arizona Snowbowl CA Mammoth, Northstar, Snow Summit, Big Bear, Squaw Valley OR Mt. Hood, Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Mt. Ashland NM Taos, Ski Apache WY Jackson Hole MT Big Sky ID Bogus Basin, Silver Mtn. Canada Whistler/Blackcomb, Buttermilk, Tremblant, Mont-Sainte-Anne, Mont Gabriel Norway Stryn, Hemsedal, Trysil, Jotunheimen Sweden Riksgränsen Finland Ruokolahti France Val d'Isere Japan Rusutsu

Sorry, but no. Most ski resorts have conditions in their agreements (you know the ones you agree to when you buy a life ticket there) that people using their property can not have any impairment to their senses (it's worded differently everywhere but it's essentially the same thing). Many patrolers I know, if they see someone with headphones on they will go to them and ask them to remove and tell them about that area's policy. Second time they see the same person they usually yank the pass. 20 some years ago I remember when the Sony Sports walkmans came out (the yellow ones that were water resistant) and you started seeing them on the slopes. My home area at the time had a massive crackdown on them. It was a bad idea then and still bad now.

I'm sorry, headphones have no place at a ski area. Without a sense of hearing you are a hazard on the trail. At least the dolts that ride with earbubs you can see the wires to their ears and know to stay clear of them. But wireless bluetooth ons that can hide under a helmet and hood are just a bad thing.

Best boot fitter in the Northeast. The Starting Gate is one of the best shops anywhere. It looks scruffy on the outside but is full of wonders and knowledge. It is worth a stop.

I'm up to making some turns with locals and seeing some of the sweeter carving spots. As it gets closer I'll know more of my plan and my friend's plans for what is going on. Again, I'm a bit rusty and hope you locals go easy on me. I'll drop a email address here next week to set it all up. Jim - Thanks. I plan on riding some metal next season.

I'm still the same person, and oddly the "knowledge" (if you want to call it that) I used to have on snowboards and skateboards comes back to me sometimes... though alot of it hardly seems relevant anymore. Alpine snowboarding has moved on to better things and slalom skateboarding I hardly recognize anymore (both gear and riders, though the courses seemed to have taken a step back from the little I have seen recently). Anyway, I'll be is Whistler the week of Feb 23rd. Probably only on snow Friday and saturday of that week, though I'm still not sure what the people I'm going with and staying with have planned. This trip is partly social and partly for us to ride. No worries about keeping up with me. It will most likely be the otherway around. I'm a bit rusty after 2 years off a board and my riding form is all over the place. For the rest of this season I'm simply going to enjoy riding a snowboard and wait until next year to really relearn how to ride. If you see a dude in all black with yellow boots on a little Madd 158 then chances are that is me. I figured there aren't many of my kind out there. :lol: Thanks for the kudos, those were fun times 6 or 7 years ago.

Way back when when we only had heel entry bails I popped them open so many times on race courses and otherwise. The thing that made it worst was it was usually the front leg too. Not a good thing. As much as I loved the old Burton 5 hole plates they tended to flex alot under load and the front bail would pop open all the time. To make it worst I rode Koflach mountaineering boots for a while as my "soft" setup and a flexy binding with a flexy boot was a bad bad idea. I had all sorts of "creative solutions" to solve the bail issue...all of which involved duct tape. So when I rode I not only clipped in, I taped in as well. When I moved to the next gen Burton plates I actually used a velcro closure (part of an old leash) on my boots to keep the bails closed...even when they moved to toe closures. I solved the problem by switching to intec heels in 2002. I never looked back.

If you are using Oakely googles their "High Intensity Yellow" lens is simply amazing for dark days with flat light (even dusk and night riding in well lit ski areas). It really brightens everything up amazingly. Oakley's Persimmon lens is good for flat light as well but needs more light so it ends up being the better all around choice if you can't buy both. I've been using both for well over 15 years. The persimmon longer actually. THough to be fair, I have blue eyes and am sensitive to light. I've known people with dark eyes who don't have the same reaction to Oakley's lenses as I.

Another option is to find softer binding. Now, I'm not being a flip. If you are using Bombers or Cateks you have a very rigid binding under foot which is great for power transfer but bad for shock absorbation. So landing jumps sucks. Look at some of the softer plate bindings out there, the non-metal ones like F2s, the old Burton plates (or whatever they are called now-a-days) or whatever other resin/plastic option is out there. Also if you are using step-in heels, try getting this softer binding with bails. That will also provide a less rigid ride. The only thing (and this is why I don't ride bails) is lots of jumps/landings and bails can equal opening bails (which happened to me so many times over the years, especially when we had heel entry bails) due to boot flex or (softer) binding flex. That being said a resin/plastic bail plate will be much more of a forgiving ride than a rigid Bomber/Catek metal step-in (or even bails). It will fall somewhere between a rigid step in Bomber/Catek and a stiff soft boot, closer to a 3-strap stiff soft boot, but slightly more rigid. Trust me on this one. I went the same issue as you a few years back. I loved my plates but wanted something more forgiving for freeriding. I tried the stiffest softies I could find (Burton Drivers with Head S-LTD liners with Booster shin straps) at first and hated it (it had been 3-4 years since I had last ridden softies at the time) and eventually found some F2 plates that were soft and forgiving compared to my Bombers. They rocked for a while until I switched to intec heels and couldn't find the step-in heel part for the binding and my boots at the time) with intec heels didn't support bails. It's been 5 years since then and now I simply ride rigid step-in Bombers for everything (I got used to it) simply because I prefer it that way (or I'm simply a glutton) Point is, even the stiffest soft boot...still sucks compared to what I described above. I simply found recently that if you are going to bother riding softies in the first place, simply get a floppy boot and ride it in waist deep only (on a Burton Fish). Otherwise don't even bother. They are no fun once you've experience a good hard setup. The other perk is you can look on ebay and usually pick up some old Burton race plates for $50 or so to try it out without spending too much. If that doesn't feel right then try the softies...but at least try this first.

Sound advice Jack. Sound advice indeed!

Fun thread. A trip down memory lane. I left a window open on my laptop most of the night and jotted these down as I remembered them. I think I got them all, though some of the specs have been forgotten. The list seems long, but I was shop sponsored for many years (which meant I got 4 boards free a season and wholesale on anything I wanted beyond that). I've ridden many more boards than these, but this list is what I personally owned. I tried to get these in chronological order starting from 1984; -145cm'ish homemade board from 1930s oak/ash 200cm+ skis with rope on nose, made in 1984 (10 year old kid with access to his father's woodshop and a garage full of old stuff, was bound to happen) -Snurfer from a local garage sale (it was yellow) and had a rope on nose (my neighbor growing up had one, I wanted one) -145cm'ish homemade board got some waterski "bindings" and the rope removed circa 1986 (the ideas kids get!) -Burton Elite 150 (150 seemed HUGE at the time) -Black Snow "Performance Series" 135 (Christmas Present from a family friend, I taught 3 people to ride on that thing!) -Burton Safari 155 (tri color) -Burton Safari Comp II 165 -Burton Cruise 165 -Burton Safari 200 (never knew how rare these were until I met PSR in 2001, my shop had it, I bought it for $400) -Hot Asym 160 something (I HAD to have it, mail ordered from Europe, rode it alot and turned it into a noodle) -Burton Mystery Air 161 -Kemper 160 something (won in a contest, never t-bolted it, sold it the next year for $80) -Burton M series 165 -Avalanche "Kick" 165 (I was a Burton boy but idolized Damien Sanders and his hardboots) -Burton "Craig Kelly Air" 161 (orange/red/black) -Burton "Craig Kelly Air" 161 (orange/red/white) -Morrow twin 150 something (won in a contest) -Burton PJ 161 (original 91 model) -Burton "Craig Kelly Air" 161 (purple/blue/black) -Burton Air 161 -Burton PJ 147 (might have been '93) -Burton PJ 161 x2 (broke one that season, 1992) -Burton PJ 171 (again might have been '93, the multiple sizes were from the first season Burton had sized PJs) -Burton Alp 165 (was 1992 I'm pretty sure) -Burton "Craig Kelly Air" 162 (1993 model) -Burton "Craig Kelly Air" 170? (1993 model) -Apocalypse Snow "Jimi Scott" pro model (won in a contest) -Burton PJ 161 (1993 model, it was all black, factory second) -Burton Brushie "Stalefish" -Burton Twin 164 "Ouji board graphic" -Joyride twin 159 (another had to have, this was 1994 and round one of the jib days and urban riding) -Burton Stat 160 (forgot the exact length this was '94) -Burton Stat 170(forgot the exact length this was '94) (Stopped being shop sponsored in 1995 and started buying my own gear at full retail) -Burton Iguchi 150 something (?, was this 1996?) (didn't ride in 1997) -Burton Balance 161 -Burton Balance 156 -Burton Supermodel 163 (came back to alpine riding again in 2000) -Burton BMC 162 -Burton Ultra Prime 163 -Burton Factory Prime 175 -Burton Supermodel 168 -Burton Factory Prime 160 (something) (Barely rode in 2002, was focused on slalom skateboards) (Had enough of Burton by 2003 and them deciding what snowboarding was to be) -Sims Burner 190 something split tail (scored on ebay, I rode it once and traded it for slalom skateboard stuff, yuk!) -Rossi 158 (more ebay, broke the nose off of it at Stratton) -O-Sin 4807 split tail (never rode it, I live in NYC for god's sake, why did I need it, sold it on ebay) -Nidecker 160 something (it was red/grey, got it on this site, rode it a few times and it got stolen at Stratton) -Donek Freecarve I 162 (from ebay, sold it in '03) -Prior 4x4 (bought at Stratton, sold at Okemo 1 month later) -Donek Incline 164 (Ordered in '03, still ride to this day) -Donek Freecarve II 163/10m custom sidecut (Ordered in '03, still ride to this day) -Donek Race Custom 161/9m sidecut/19 waist (traded from slalom skate goodies) -Madd 158 BX tail '03 proto (Bought in '04, still ride to this day) -Madd 158, an original slalom model (Traded for in '05, my main ride to this day) (I didn't ride at all in '06 or '07 due to burnout and personal strife) This season I'm riding the Madd 158 mostly and have done a few runs on the Incline and Freecarve. I did buy a second set of bindings this year, they were Cateks...but only because Fin was out of TDs with 6* discs when I needed them. Next season I plan on buying two new decks (right now I'm thinking a Donek Axxess 163 and something narrow and maybe metal, I also have the gimmes for a Virus Thunder, we will see what I do buy in the fall)...

Vlad Popov has been doing alot of instruction videos over at http://www.icarve.ru/ (you need to read russian) and you can find some of them on youtube search keyword "vlad popov"

After Turner died I stopped going after that stuff, that was also when the courses changed and my interests in the courses changed. I worked with Roe/Insect then skatebuilt after that...but never was "sponsored again"... It's just snowboards for me now...

Ya, it's been a while. I got burned out on skateboards and snowboards for a long time along with alot of personal drama. Some two years later I'm back to snowboards at least and life is good. How's things with you?

John, it hit me last weekend that the MADD 158 is about 13 years old. I was on the lift with a bunch of hardbooters I've never met at Stratton last weekend and one guy pointed it out by saying "Someone brought out an old MAAD for the day, cool.". The board still obliterates everything else I've ridden and it is still my go too board. But coming back to the scene here I've seen metal as the new hot thing and am curious to try some of the new tech next season. Still, it will take some doing to get me off my 15 year old 158.

I've ridden 4x4s, even owned one for a few weeks around 2001 or so, never liked it... too wide, too sloppy..and this is back when Prior's liked to delaminate at an alarming rate. But I would like to see the Prior factory and check out the new boards. I have a coworker who is a soft boot rider into big mountain riding who swears by them lately. My Freecarve II is actually not stock...I had it made with a 12m sidecut instead of the stock 10m. It rides very long and should do fine at Whistler now that I think about it. Though I'll most likely stick to my MADD as I like it's ability to go deep and tight, especially on wide open groomer terrain. Thanks for advice on where to play on the mountain...

I've had many custom boards made for me, some by Sean, some by others....I'm the opposite of you, I much prefer short sidecuts (8m is my taste which is why I love the MADD 158 so). I live in NYC and ride in the Adirondacks and Vermont mostly. In my mind snow isn't snow unless I can see my reflection in it. I'm not a soft snow person at all. It works for me. Though I realized recently that my snowboarding will generally be less in Vermont and more out west as I'll be traveling more (something I rarely did back when) so starting next season I may start looking for longer decks. I do agree with you on 13m feeling nice, which might work out west... Mr_roboteye - Thanks for the local knowledge. I'll look for those areas. If you have any other local knowledge you'd like to drop...I'm all ears... Civ - Hello again. Thanks for the props but I remember when you start destroying myself and Noah on the courses being set...you were killer back then. Jack Michaud - Hello! Neil Gendzwill - I did consider that. How close, literally, is the Prior factory to the village (where I'm staying) and the mountain?

Hi again (to those of you who remember me from way back). For those who do remember me I got way burned out on both slalom skateboards and snowboards for a long time (not to mention some personal drama circa 2006) and dropped out of both worlds for a long time. For those who remember me, hello again. To all those new names I don't know here, hello for the first time. Come 2009 I have zero interest in riding/racing slalom skateboards but have re-found my love of snowboarding again. I have a trip planned to Whistler in late February and to test the legs again I drove up Stratton, VT way this past weekend to see if I could still ride a snowboard (it had been over 2 years since I rode any type of board). I learned two things, three actually. 1). Snowboards are fun. 2). Alpine snowboarding is more fun. 3) I have almost zero interest in riding any snowboard that isn't an alpine board, even with hardboots. I started the morning on my trusty original MADD 158, setup just as I left it some two years back. Within a few turns it all came back to me. Granted my shoulders, butt and head were a bit off, I couldn't get as low as I know I should and I was sloppy...but I could still ride alpine. Then to test my "all mountain board" (Donek Incline 164, 22" stance 30f/20r, new cateks with proper cant and lean) in a Whistler setup I clicked into that. Three runs later I stopped falling all over the place and started getting a feel for the wide board and shallow stance angles (compared to my 60/60 I run on the MADD 158)...and it hit me..."this sucks". It just wasn't that fun. I could handle trees, soft snow, crud and everything in between...I could carve wide arcs and do jump turns down steeps stuff...but it simply wasn't fun. So I went back to the MADD and went to some of the same trails. Things I wouldn't have even considered riding a alpine board on years ago were fun again, even skidding jump turns were needed was fun. This lead me to think that I'm only bringing 3 alpine decks to Whistler in a few weeks, the Donek Incline (a fine board) will stay home. I haven't been to Whistler (technically I was at Blackcomb in the summer) since I was 18 years old. I'm bringing the following quiver; 1) An original MADD 158 2) A MADD BX proto 158 with slight kick tail 3) Donek Freecarve II 163 Know that unlike my Stratton friends of old...a 163 is a LONG board for me...I never liked anything 170cm+...and I do have a history riding the Donek Freecarve as a all mountain (including powder) board. I am going with a group of friends to Whistler who are all casual soft boot riders and not the most aggressive folk on snow. Even if I didn't bring alpine boards I'd still end up riding groomers with them and given I've not ridden in some time there will be no real off-piste for me on this trip. So I guess my question is this. Is the quiver above a reasonable one for a few days at Whistler? Or, given Sean could ship a board in a bit over 2 weeks, should I consider buying a Donek Axxess in the 167cm flavor (for all mountain riding)? I'd prefer to not purchase a new board this season and wait until next...and I did ride the Axxess years ago when it first came out and other than the tail and ability to ride fakie a touch better I found it about the same as my Freecarve II in feel and where I could take it... Has it change that much in the 4 or so years since I last rode it? The wider waist appeals to me for softer snow...but that is about it. Oh and yes, I like shorter boards, as I said...and I know consider 167 a "long" board is silly in some people's eyes here. I know, I know. So hello again to this I know, drop me a PM and we will talk if you like. Otherwise, hello to the new faces.

Cheap? No clue, name a price and I'll see how I feel.

Anyone got a set of the older black cateks for sale cheap? Long plates? e-mail me.

So you own a Mini? I am considering buying one but the issue of driving it in the snow was my main concern. Do tell more about the Mini in snow and/or what you don't like about the car.....any lingering issues, etc. I've read lots of good things about the mini, but want to hear a real owner's opinions, especially a fellow carvers. thanks

I own a Donek Incline 164. When I bought it 3 or 4 years ago I bought it to ride soft boots on it. I set it up that way at first and all was nice. Then I tried my bombers on it and have never put softies on it since, 3 years now. I don't even own softies anymore because this board is so good with hardboots. I take it into anything and everything, steeps, pow, trees, ice, crud, slush, mud, groomers, kitty liter...I've hiked with it as well all with my bombers and Head boots, it even can handle it's own with very well 45*+ angles and alpine style carving on groomers... My nephew and then two of his friends tried the deck out over the years, all three with softies, and all three of them own and incline or one of it's wider cousins. You won't be disappointed with it in softies or hardboots. Trust me! It is hands down the best snowboard I have ever owned (and that is saying something, I have owned at least 150 boards in my 20+ years riding). For years I compared every non-alpine board I rode back to my beloved 1990 Burton Craig kelly Mystery Air...that was until 2001 when I bought my first two Doneks, incline included. Now I compare ever non-alpine deck back to the incline.

Nothing new but one classic Madd 158..... maybe some new gloves too. Otherwise my other Madd and Doneks have held up nicely for 5 years as does my patagonia outerwear and base wear. My Head s-ltds have been rockin for 4 years now (they get better each season) and my classic bomber step-ins never go out of style.

I don't have an "all mountain" axis like deck but I do have 3 alpine decks (donek 163, Madd BX 158 and a Madd 158 classic) and a all around deck (Donek Incline 164) with one set of binders (Bomber TD step-ins, the older model) and one set of boots (Head S-LTDs) and of all that stuff it covers 100% of my riding from groomers to trees and steeps. Alpine i tend to ride 57*+ f/b sometimes a bit more depending on the waist width for for all mountain/trees/pow/steeps I'll ride 24-36* front and 12-24* back with my TD step-ins and Heads and that works just fine. If i want to hybrid my Incline for groomers in the AM and crud/trees/steeps in the PM without adjusting anything I'll run about 45*f/35-45*b (depending on how much of one thing or the other I am doing). I use the same canting, 7* (or whatever the older TD max cant was) front and back (toe lift/front, heel lift back) with a stance width 21" for alpine and 20" for freeriding.... lots of number but hope it helps.

carving in softies and carving in hard boots are both great...in different ways. One isn't better than the other, they are just different. I spent years carving in softies and freeride decks. The mechanics of it are different and the feel is different but it is great. People say you can't carve as well in softies as you cna in hardboots. I disagree. One can match the turn style, radius and speed in softies that they can in hardboots...but the form used to acheive this is much different. if you try to carve in softies like you would in hardboots It won't work, the same is true the otherway around. I ride hardboots 100% of the time now-a-days though. Even on freeride decks in the trees and pow. Now my only real interest is perfecting a carve and riding hardpack (soft snow, blah) so hard boots are all I want/need. For the little I ride off-piste (pow and trees) I can deal with and work around the restriction of my hardboots in that too. In my 20 years of riding I've learned how to work around that but if I was a beginner I doubt I would even try to ride trees/steeps/pow in plates. If I rode alot of pow-trees I would buy a soft boot binder/boot. i've considered it a few times recently but when given the choice between untracked fresh pow or freshly groomed (setup nicely over night) untrack groomers...it is not even a close choice. I'll take the groomers 100% of the time.... If I had to make the call and ONLY pick one boot type (sorta have anyway) it would be hardboots. i not only find them more comfortable and easier to deal with but for the type of riding I want to do (even just cruising around) plates are the only way to go.