Scott Firestone

Actually, it's the SB mold. It's unclear whether the new buckles can be used with the old SB or AF models.

Photos from Monday at the SES are up: http://www.alpinecarving.com/ses06/

That Minnesota boy can flat-out ride. http://www.alpinecarving.com/ses06/mon/

Yup. In this shot, I'm on a #ONE (just call me asym boy). In order to do the Pureboarding style correctly, Jörg insisted that I use 25º on the back foot, since their Pureboarding style is more like surfing, where there is more pressure and steering on the back foot. Jorg says to use any angle that's comfortable on the front foot, so I just used my usual 60º. I have not quite dialed this board in, so at the moment, I'm PoorBoarding, but I hope that in a day or two I can do Pureboarding "by the book" (though, I could really use a neon one-piece Euro outfit to complete the look). I just shot 600 photos this moring during our first tracks expedition to Ajax, and I'm uploading the pics from my totally full CF card to my laptop.

Photos from Sunday at the SES are up: http://www.alpinecarving.com/ses06/

I basically have the least expensive "prosumer" camera setup. The "70-210 4-5.6 D" lens is no longer manufactured but you can buy it on eBay for around $500. It's autofocus speed is *just* fast enough. I use shutter priority, and go for 1/500 or 1/1000, with center-weighting, with AFC (continuous autofocus). I have to stick with the lowest ISO on my camera, which is 200, since all the detail is in the shadows (especially for riders in black outfits), and anything more adds so much noise. I always shoot raw, so I don't worry about white balance. Since the contrast between blown-out snow and shadow details is so huge, I need the extra dynamic range that raw provides. In order to snap photos in a burst, I bought a fast CF card (Sandisk Ultra II).

Photos from Saturday at the SES are up: http://www.alpinecarving.com/ses06/ Enjoy. I'm using a Nikon D70, with a "70-210 4-5.6 D" zoom lens.

Photos from the "Friday before" the SES are up: http://www.alpinecarving.com/ses06/

Photos from Sunday at the Wasatch Trenchin' Convention are up, plus an extra *bonus* shot: http://www.alpinecarving.com/wtc06 If anyone would like full-resolution photos, let me know the photo number(s), and whether you want a raw .nef file (5MB), or full-res .jpg (1 MB)

Photos from Saturday's Wasatch Trenchin' Convention are up, plus some carving shots at The Canyons: http://www.alpinecarving.com/wtc06

Photos from Friday's Wasatch Trenchin' Convention are up: http://www.alpinecarving.com/wtc06

Photos from Thursday's Wasatch Trenchin' Convention are up: http://www.alpinecarving.com/wtc06

Photos from Wednesday's Wasatch Trenchin' Convention are up: http://www.alpinecarving.com/wtc06

Donek adds extra fiberglass underneath the core to lower the BSI (base suck index):

They are often sold on German Ebay. Here's a photo: http://www.alpinecarving.com/bp

They are the "1994" brand of bindings. Here is another model, seen at the 2005 SES:

Here's my Colorado CarveBlog for last weekend: I did Beaver Creek on Saturday, and hooked up with PCogan and Todd. The snow quality was good, but the grooming left a bit to be desired. It seemed like the resort was in "early season mode," because Larkspur Bowl was not groomed. I expected a bit more for an $81 lift ticket. I did Copper Mountain Sunday: - OK snow quality, OK grooming. Met up with D.T. and drscott. They were rip'n it. Here's a shot of D.T.: Then I did Vail on Monday: Everyone disses it, but I encountered the best hero snow of the trip. Seamless grooming and great snow quality, which lasted the whole day. Hero snow could be found on Emperor's Choice (Tea Cup Express Lift), Avanti (Avanti Express Lift) and Swingsville (Mountaintop Express Lift). Yes, there are more catwalks and run-outs at Vail, but the grooming is worth it. Plus, I hooked up with Lowell Hart and Jeff, another resident carving instructor, for a fantastic carving clinic. Vail's $405 price for a half-day private lesson with Lowell is worth it. (In addition to the $81 lift ticket). Lowell shoots video of everything, then plays it on TV in the various training rooms at the resort for more analysis. Here's a frame grab of one of my turns: For both Beaver Creek and Vail, the best deal I could find on discount lift tickets was $2 off, so I didn't even bother. Then, Tuesday at A-Basin. It's the opposite of Vail. No faux leopard skin here. It snowed lightly the whole day, with maybe 2 inches of accumulation, and near white-out at the top of the mountain. Not the best day for carving, but I got some good turns, along with Crave2carve, Michelle, and Kim. OK, now it's back to Tahoe. Who's up for Mt Rose?

Today I linked up with pcogan and Todd at Beaver Creek - Those folks rip. The snow quality was excellent, tho it seems we are still "early season" since the Beav didn't groom some of the usual suspects like Larkspur. I'll be hooking up with Scott and D.T. at Copper on Sunday 12/11. There is also a race going on, so lots of hardbooting will be on display.

Check out the animated version of my MRI: http://www.alpinecarving.com/mri That was the shoulder injury that got me out of the half-pipe and into carving.

I will be carving in Summit County / Vail for the next few days, and I'd like to get a few hardbooting lessons while I am out here. I've already lined up some technique tune-ups with Lowell Hart, Jeff Smith, and Carve2carve for Monday / Tuesday, but I'm also looking for a lesson Saturday or Sunday in Summit County or Beaver Creek. Anyone available? You don't have to be an instructor - you just have to be able to describe your technique, be able to teach me me how to do it, explain why it works, and explain why it works better than other techniques. Any pointers to instructors up here would be handy, too. Thanks!

Thanks for all the kudos! That thing was fun to build. Side note: the "Fruit punch" model is Tom Palka's aftermarket modification to keep snow from sticking to the baseplate:

The TD2 Tweak-o-matic allows you to tweak Bomber TD2s using virtual reality (Flash 7 or greater required): http://www.alpinecarving.com/tmtd2

I'll see you there - I'm arriving a few days early to hang out with Jörg & Co, so I'm practicing my SwitzerDütsch. Attending the SES seems to improve my heelside, so I'm attending for all 7 days in order to get the maximum dosage.

The Carver's Almanac 2006 is up, with revisions and new content: http://www.alpinecarving.com If anyone has problems viewing the Flash-based hardbooter price almanac, let me know - I tested it on all the Windows browsers, but not on any other platforms. More premium content will be up later.

I'm at the upper end of the Catek short plate - 185 lbs, size US-10 boots. I just have a tweakhead curiosity on how the long plates feel. I have a feeling that they would be really good on certain snow conditions. I'm holding out for the Olympic long plate, rather than trying an older WC version long plate. As far as board length, I've maxed out with my Renntiger 178 for the moment, so I'll be sticking with that. But that 185 speed should fetch a good price on Ebay. There have been no recent Speed 185 sales, but there are some Factory primes for reference: Burton Factory Prime 185 '01 $219.49 sold 12/2004, eBay ID #7117547539 Burton Factory Prime 185 '01 $135.00 sold 02/2004, eBay ID #3662745405 Burton Factory Prime 185 custom (wider) $305.00 sold 10/2004, eBay ID #7106498914