John Gilmour

So yesterday he had 3 runs on hardboots at Aspen Highlands. Let's see how he does on Aspen Ajax, a Mountain with no beginner terrain. He is a runner, but dies not do squats, so fatigue limits him to 2 runs on Ajax Express, and one on the Gant lift " the couch" a slower lift which I chose to give him some rest. Last run was a top to bottom run down Copper A pretty steep relentless carving trail. It was icy in the shade so he just carved the top. Total riding time about 1:45. Now there is a lot to criticize here, but YOU MUST keep in mind how did you ride your first 6000 vertical (3 runs of 2000 each) feet in hardboots? His stance is not optimized mostly because we don't have much time or vertical footage to adjust. His canting is off, his stance is too wide by possibly a full inch. We have not had time to fiddle with boot settings , he does not have enough Gilmour bias because we would have to disassemble his bindings and flip his toe and heel plates. He is a size 8 USA boot. Also he is definitely on too wide a board for his foot size and is inbound for his angles, something I am very much against, but without dialing his angles up to make heelside easier to learn ( we will back them down incrementally ) it would have made the transition frustrating for him. The board being too wide makes recovery from over tilting with too little speed more difficult. I will , once his aggressive turn imitation increases , put him on a 18 cm Madd 158 or my Madd 170cm so he can see the difference from a board that looks to be 21 cm waist or so. His board would be a bit wide for me as I like a 19.5cm with a 9.5 US foot. He is working on trying to lower his CM, turning more to heelside, involving his front foot more on toeside, and being more situationally aware (I run protective interference for him). Slopes are wide open and we were empty all MLK weekend ( parking was super easy in Aspen ) making this one of the best years to learn carving ever...too bad the snow is a bit icy and extremely firm. Ryan K’s video editing is so much nicer. This isn’t a “how-to” instructional video , it’s just a result of showing what can be accomplished in 6000 vertical feet in hardboots if you use the positive attributes and familiarity with soft boots and ease of toeside carving in soft boots and combine the superior heelside carving power of hardboots and alpine boards with higher stance angles . The rider knows how to skid a turn in soft boots - skidding in hardboots was not a focus. Instead he is focused on dynamic carving and only skids terrain he can not carve . How long did it take you to carve at this level on a mountain as steep and long as Aspen? He gets about 3 -5 days of riding each month so maybe he rides 15-20 days per season . For me that’s not even enough to get riding legs.

so this is after the starfish carve to stop. Forget the Heelside it is not taught at all yet. The rider has to become familiar with a deep toe side carve first. These are his very first moving carves learned after 1 run. I hate editing video even more than fixing my typos.

Please note , most,of this is done in softboots only the very last two,days are in hardboots on an alpine board , so the rider is very comfortable and familiar with the gear . Because they learn the skills so quickly the rider doesn't have time to be turned off by a bad fitting hardboot, and is glad to invest time in bootfitting once they can rip carves in hardboots. Rider goes from Joe Schmoe to turning heads on the lift , and totally understands why someone should have a alpine set up. Note: Edited for clean up and added some info. Hopefully this helps carver's help,others to join them without frustration, pain, or exhaustion. So ever since 1983 when I was the first Sims and Winterstick Rep on the East coast I have been teaching people to ride and of course carve. I coached racing at Stratton , Wachusett , and of course when I would demo our Madd Boards if I could get someone to lay deeper trenches on our boars than on their board a Madd board sale was more likely . I got pretty burnt out teaching in the 1980s because it meant I couldn’t ride the way I want I was just waiting for people to improve at a better than average rate not having a fun time myself . But that has now changed . . So I have always tried to teach people as quickly as possible. I used to limit it to just a few friends each year . I had a couple personal bests for just getting people riding quickly Loon Mountain NH: Josh Netz (fantastic balance ) 250 vertical feet and riding faster than people who got 45 days in their first year in a single run .Killington : Alexander Scott lightly carving both ways in 500 vertical feet . Aspen Ajax: Alexis Olbe 500 vertical feet . Thats fine for just making Someone skid and maybe lightly carve . But what about making Someone ride better than most carvers would get in 10 years of trying to learn on their own? Well first off. Bad habit’s are hard to break. And fear inspired many a bad habit and FEAR REINFORCES learning and imprinting bad habits that we flail for when we panic . It’s in our evolutionary survival. So fear based bad habit learning should be avoided at all costs. The runs are limited to prevent fatigue in multi days so that muscle fatigue doesn’t cause bad habits . Day 1 . Aspen Highlands March 2020 3 runs from the Merry Go round 2700 vertical feet for the day . Zero fatigue day. Dry land balance , eyes closed getting into modified gunfighter style position while holding onto picnic table , monitor and correct . Gunfighter will be modernized and relaxed and opened up,later but this gets them close to a low carve position quickly. It also feels so different they don't blend back to their bad habits so easily. Toeside carves to full edge tilt , carve to FULL stop starfish on snow 5-8 mph . REST and analyze. This introduces the snow to the rider as they gently drag to a stop face down . There is now no fear of full edge commitment. It's like playing in the snow making a snow angel but with hands together .Riders immediately embrace the idea of carving low to stop because it is a VERY gentle landing sniw is used for support . Then progress to ALL TOESIDE FOCUS, NO HEELSIDES ..now carves can have a slight low speed pop up to stop. Later pop up to setting up for another toeside ALL COMPLETE STOPS . THIS IS A VITAL,PART OF IT,its when learning and analysis happens NOT WHEN MOVING . The rider is in full control at all times using the 3/5 middle of trail. The student can now DEEPLY TRENCH on his toeside . I typically teach this in soft boots on an all mountain board because they have lots Of toe side modulation in soft boots and the speeds can be lower for a carve because the side cuts are tighter. Day 2 . Dec 2020 Ajax Exoress to Silver bells 5 runs 5500 vertical feet More toeside carve to full stop in snow and then to almost touch the snow VERY HIGH EDGE ANGLE gliding snd carving low - no snow contact . This is to remove the “training wheels “ of using the slope for support . The rider now knows how the deep carve looks and feels they start to get AGESSIVe , which is the hardest mindset to teach and has to be fostered carefully. You need aggressive attack to make for a confident rider as opposed to a tentative rider afraid of steeper slopes and increasing speed,and G-force. Rider is taught to self Analyze what went right what went wrong for every turn coming to a full stop each turn And contemplating and modifying their technique . I help them guess and teach them to guess better . Day3. Dec 2020 Ajax express 5500 vertical feet . More toeside deeper turns . No heelside at all. No linked turns. I don’t want people to ride snd link turns if possible NO SKIDDED TURN LINKING ALOWED WHATSOEVER - because it's A BAD HABIT which prevents good quality carving and can lead to catching an edge, This is very counter intuitive. They already have been doing slow skidded turns into attempting a carve , so why would I want to reinforce years of crap habits? Only no switch to hard boots. Everything else has been done in soft boots with amforward stance. Now that they can carve on familiar equipment it won't be as much if a shock to go to hard boots. And heelside carve learning in soft boots carving angles is frustrating BUT IT IS MUCH EASIER ON HARDBOOTS WITH A HIGH ANGLE STANCE. This is a temporary high angle stance like 58/54 and then pumped up to 60/55 somthey can really feel the heelside carve that has eluded them their whole lives . I will later back them off of angles and add more Gilmour bias. Day 4. Ajax Exoress 4400 vertical feet . Ideally hardboots and high stance angles to facilitate heel side carves . Much too frustrating to do this in soft boots despite great soft boot success other days. Rider Does some carves toe side as well to adapt to hardboots. With a familiar feel, they know the toeside carve feel, so the rig doesn't feel foreign except for clipping in. It feels natural but more powerful. Thenare amazed by the edge hold. Day 5.Hardboots alpine GS board. Buttermilk West buttermilk lift 5 runs 2500 vertical feet. More deep heelside to stop. More toeside to stop. This is a intro to g forces in carving speeds about 15-20mph. Day 6. Aspen Highlands exhibition lift 4 runs 7600 vertical feet. Intro to dropping the downhill edge to roll into the next turn. I call the term roll over and roller over dive. Rider is taught to dive from heelside to toeside . Rider is shown how scary it is to be tall when doing this and how not threatening it is to stay low snd roll it over in to the downhill edge just with hands 4 inches off the snow ormon the snowmif needed. . Rider learns it’s easier to stay low . Rider learns it can be used to quickly reverse direction across the slope . Rider becomes wary of being too tall . ...because the rider learned long radius turns to a stop , now he, just waits until he is moving across the fall line and rolls over staying low. Smooth transition pure carving no skidding. Rider begins to,feel carving to,stop letting board do the work is both less effort and less strain on the joints. He was fully laying it over linked by his 2nd run. The lift was engaged watching him and whistling. When you do this - riders look as if they have been carving for many years . The rider may be the best carver on the hill at this point . bad habits avoided , patting the dog, not enough edge angle resulting in skid , tentative carves without quick attack. As soon as they can roll over , move the rider off green trails and let them try blue steeper trails . They immediately find they have even more edge power and that the roll overs are far less scary on steeper pitch. Balance is easier. They want more steepness immediately because their body position and speed makes it easier. ....and that’s how in 13 runs at a 2000 vertical foot resort or about 7 runs down Ajax. , you can make someone an amazing carver . But it really helps to reduce the vertical dome in any single run to prevent fatigue from too many back to back squats. cat tracks are used for front heel to rear toe turns of short duration and radius to moderate speed while being flanked by skiers on a narrow fairly steep hill. Rider is encouraged to do,short crossing under turns, and moderate medium radius turns to find the boards sweet spot in effortless carving, theynaremtaught to learn howmthenboard wants to behave and work with it. The rider is able to transfer from green trails to very steep blue trails with full confidence immediately ...Instead of getting stuck on green trails for a few months before getting rid of bad habits . It is as if they have been carving plates with a full season pass for 10 years. Nothing seems unfamiliar, and every step,along the way gets increasingly easier , somsoeed isn't a fear factor and neither is edge angle. Its the best profession I have done using the easier parts of both hard and soft boots to get someone to be a great carver in very little time. It's exciting for me because I know I can crank out success much faster and not have to wait for them to,practice on their own. It's a quantum leap,each run. So find someone to help carve. They will be happy to find you because they can find stores to buy the stuff ( loan them your older, easier to ride gear) or ski schools have abandoned Hardbooter completely so it's up to you.

I have not peaked. I ride far better now than I did in the early 1990s. I even ride better in soft boots in some ways than in the 1990s in hard boots. try this ... 1. have some mild squat conditioning before the season . Do a few static carving poses against the wall wearing your gear so your muscles aren’t blind sided . 2.DO NOT EXHAUST YOURSELF ON THE LAST RUN OF THE SEASON. Try to make your last 2-3 runs of the season with as smooth form as you can and stop riding a bit earlier than. usual. Don’t try to make a tough badass last run just use medium strength . 3.Next season Ride EXACTLY The same set up , same run, similar conditions ,the same way. No new gear or angles for first 5 days. Your muscle memory will come back even though you don’t have all the strength because you took those last runs last season as a “medium .” And used finesse and concentrated on form. Find the same “flow” of last seasons run. 4. You will resume from that point and as your leg strength returns so will you exact PEAK ability from the previous season only .... guess what it will return pretty quickly, not by the end of the season but probably 1st week of January if you get about 7-10 days in before January. 5. Then you will progress every season , each year getting a bit better because you are remembering the finesse not the raw power.

OF COURSE ...Then she will have to race Duck stance in hard boots in the future . Are you able to have more children ? Have you upped her life insurance ? But before you let this happen ... Just make sure the instructor can prove they know what they are doing . I suggest you make the instructor ride Duck in hardboots on a 195cm stiffer race flex Donek with 20 M side cut and a lot of camber with Catek bindings appropriately Duck at + 65 -55 to avoid overhang then ask them to carve Aztec on Ajax in Aspen to show how great the edge hold is with the superior modern Duck stance using no can’t or lift . Or alternatively he could shoot The bowl at Aspen Highlands in the bumps and the Increased effective edge will help him with its icy thin cover - he will be slicing through tree roots like butter . You may be sure he will perform at his Personal competency level and demonstrate how to make your daughter faster . He should accelerate to terminal velocity very quickly and then show his superior ability to run trees As a tribute to his skill you might want to get a policy on him too so he isn’t afraid to push the limits to impress you. I only wish I could have gotten enthusiastic kids for Alpine when I was Teaching at “The Wa” . I think myself and TJ Saotome were the only people on plates teaching . And that was in 1992-1993. Wa- Wa -wa-uh wa...wachusett big mountain skiing minutes away! to stay on topic : This year , not a single day of riding (uh just on day 7) has going by without some snowboarder ranging from great pro rider to learning liftie telling me they want to go full directional and angle up their bindings . And I have seen a lot of riders doing just that , and the deeper cleaner nicely placed carves left in the snow are reflecting a more forward stance . People are reverting to 1980s stances .

I ride very forward . Both when racing skateboards and snowboards . I’ve made it a point to ride angled on boards that were designed to ride duck just to show the performance increase in edge hold ,stability , speed and well its own radness. I also believe forward angles can be too much of a good thing for the equipment you are on. I’ve ridden at about 85/80 on Teleboards, 75/60 on narrow alpine boards ( sub 18cm) 65/58 on 18 cm madds (later 60/55 with Gilmour bias) and flatter on 19.5 cm boards 52-45 front and about 8-12 less rear depending on sidecut ( the preferred alpine width for me that gives me the most power for a men’s 9.5 US). For a teleboard angles above 70 are a great idea to make it work , for a snowboard, not so much. Same thing goes for slalom skateboarding where I can ride high angles offset parallel in tight gates but never found parallel to be much of an advantage because you sacrifice so much front to rear balance recovery ( if I had size 15 feet it might be different ) . In slalom skateboarding I often change my stance within the course to suit the upcoming gates but that’s nothing I would recommend to anyone without a lot of riding experience in tight technical skateboard slalom gates. IMHO those riding alpine with very high stance angles may find benefit Only if they have very large feet over size 12. And only because going to a wider board feels too sluggish edge to edge for the carving feel their brain is after. Adapting to lower stance angles ( 55 and under) was a fight for me, but going lower to a slightly wider board gave me more power at the slight expense of quicker turn transition and more lateral upper body effort .... which if you look ahead two or more turns was well worth the trade off. Snowboards and high end audio are a series of selected trade offs . Duck or as I refer to it “ Paper Doll” because of how it makes men look on the hill. “Paper Doll “ has benefits when riding choppy conditions , unpredictable surface grip, park, and when on a small hills with not much speed for hacking around, as the speeds if a small short hill and low speeds don’t benefit from more edge hold . urban snowboarding should never be done with a forward stance . Paper doll is also good if your skills are low. Not knocking it as it’s great for Shaun White too. While being an American I should look to Shaun as Duck but feel Terje rode best with a forward stance, the dude has it figured out , it’s not just that he is a stronger rider. For myself, a lot if the time in Aspen Colorado ( which is good carving snow) I ride a powder board ( currently a Jones Hovercraft because I enjoy versatility of a terrain when riding powder and yet I ride close to 45 front on it and I think about 26-30 rear so I can carve aggressively on steeps at 50+ mph speeds on firmer snow ) I find I can follow my tree powder seeking friends and ride with Alpine hardboot carver guests without feeling horribly disadvantaged by my gear choice and stance even if they are really good riders. To make that work I need a true articulating cuff firm soft boot, and a binding with excellent shock absorption and adjustable sliding length heel cup like The Union Force. I ride the Jones Hoover craft ( non carbon ) 156cm (Carbon was too much “ twitchy chatter”) I would like to design a better version with better nose if any one offers . Boots are 32 Binary Boa ( which I feel have slightly too much forward lean) But the flex is excellent as is heel retention and warmth . I don’t have to crank down in the inner boot lacing to achieve a performance fit like a Hardbooter and yet the bias give me enough tension to evenly distribute pressure Without cutting off circulation . I have a EE width foot. Bindings are Union FC carbons which I don’t recommend to people that ride frozen granular as the Union Force is more forgiving . The FC just gives me slightly quicker response and stability over 45 mph laid out. And frankly I could be just as happy and more comfortable with the standard Union Force for soft boots . I have not tried the Jones pivoting bindings . The TRUE reasons I bought the FC was because they were on sale for 40% off and made it lighter to carry my board and bragging about having carbon bindings which is lame. Would I buy them again ? Only for the weight when carrying the board as there are days when I miss the less chatter on the standard Force bindings when it is scratchy . If I wasn’t on Aspen or Beaver Creek snow I would ride the Union Force and never consider the FC. Riding with high forward angles enables me to ride far far far better than if I were paper doll. In fact I look very much like an average or below average rider when riding paper doll or riding in choppy scratchy conditions . I’d probably look at myself and think I ride pretty lame when paper doll and not getting air. And if conditions are scratchy I just take fewer runs and consider it a “rest and recovery lighter day” because in season my legs are always so jacked most of the time with muscle soreness that I actively look to avoid stairs and seek elevators But if the snow is carveable I don’t look like many other riders , don’t leave similar tracks, and have no problems setting off the lift with cheering or getting a round of applause at lunch at Bonnies restaurant after ripping a few runs on Ruthie’s run. Which for me is simply impossible to do when riding paper doll. If I could ride Duck well like say Ryan K. Of Donek without the crazy coffee can style super high modified highbacks and without the knee pain .. I probably would go Duck. But for me going Duck makes me feel average and not able to get any thrill out of snowboarding the way I want to feel and I do Not get the same fitness benefits (weight loss) riding Duck. I use every muscle in my body riding a forward stance - every thing gets a full workout. With Duck just my calves and anterior Tibialis gets worked maybe a little quad workout. I drop 3 inches off my waist and 15 lbs in the first 20 days of riding . That’s about as thorough as I could be in this and feel it’s necessary so people understand the honest benefit I feel from a forward stance that is aggressive . ps. One caveat , adjustments ( set back, stance width, binding straps, bias, and appropriate board width for your foot size ) must be MUCH more precise at these angles to get those benefits .

Aspen Covid positive test results are high. What people don't seem to understand is dormitory style living is a very bad idea with Covid for ski co workers who often, during holiday period , operate on very little sleep. Ski Co should have anticipated this based on Singapores approach to dormitory workers. Running any fever for any infection gets people sent home, which IMHO is great since flu won't be spread as easily this year. The flu rips through Aspen every year. Aspen flu right after new years is highest and then drops off after. Jan 4th . So should Covid positive results be highest then. My favorite coffee shop ( I haven't gone inside anywhere since I got here ) is closing for a few days because of " lack of staff". I asked "So are you are hiring ?" They said " no reason to hire , who just wants to work this job for only a week while people recover". Reports of 10% sick now. Which to me seems about average for this time of the year. Normally from Dec 18-Jan 2 I ride Buttermilk (but don't go inside the lodge) Highlands if snow is good , avoid Snowmass because of the need to take a bus, and no Aspen unless on a chair lift which in the past was hard to avoid the morning shared Gondola to get up top, but now thy are running chairlifts the entire way (brrr it's a long ride) . That has been my strategy to not get sick in Aspen since 2008 after getting totally sick 2006 and 2007 which has worked well with me only getting sick after Snow Polo DJ'ing in 2011. Rv' ing Aspen to avoid Covid doesn't really work because your rig is in the snowmass park and ride bus transfer lot with zero RV hook ups (no power or water) and no nearby bathroom access, plus you are back on a bus to go skiing unless you are in a sprinter, which could fit inside the lot or detach a travel trailer . No place to park a travel trailer or large RV in aspen , though Sprinter rigs might work for Ajax. Buttermilk has no overnight parking. I have been very comfortable in my carpartment with the heat set to 73 degrees when it's 6 degrees outside. It ensures I get tons of sleep and no Covid b cause of Bioweapon defense mode which I activate mornings that filters any bacteria or virus . Yoga membership includes showers. And, if it's gets Cloudy flat light it's a trip to the hot springs . This really only works at sunny resorts where you can ride everyday with tons of accommodations and après. The trails are wonderfully uncrowded , the groom holds up good all day. Après ski indoors is no dancing and scattered tables . Bonnie's got 9 geodesic see through plastic domes for making outdoor dining more comfortable - so bitching cool looking. There is a huge Heated tent (for food you bring) atop Ajax in addition to the regular sun deck restaurant which offers takeout service which is good since they limited sundeck to very few people and lines form starting at 1pm to get into to eat. My answer, to that is I cook out on the picnic tables. Aspen's Silver Queen Gondolas are frost covered in the morning inside and out as all the windows are open and have to stay open. They looked like they were removing hardware to keep the Gondola windows from closing yesterday.That might just lower your immunity. They spray the gondolas insides with disinfectant ( probably a great thing to do in the future too). If Pitkin required daily Covid tests or tests every 3 days for Aspen workers then they might have been able to control the Worker population from infecting the Tested Negative guests. But that did not happen so 10% infected. An imperfect quarantine is almost the same as no quarantine at all , it just delays onset of full infection, but once it starts the infection rates are about the same. You can't have a quarantine be effective when you have movement between separate quasi "quarantine " populations . California's high rates of infection seem to parallel traffic volume on the 405,5,110,10,91 Freeways. Infection rates dropped when traffic jams were none exisitant because movement between population was significantly reduced, it didn't stop the infection , it just delayed it. My worry is that now ski co has made its yearly profit , they might shut down again. Any ski operations from now until the next of the year except for Presidents' Day will be at a loss. And if given an excuse not to bleed red ink, they will likely take it. Winter X games has not been promoted . I just heard from my old boss that they might be needing help, it looks like the are a go ...but with a limit of 500 people total (staff plus athletes) my skill set is needed as sleds need to run athletes up for their runs unless they made temporary rope tows. The Aspen town race series , America's longest continuous running ski contest, will still run this year. I am helping out with it. No after party, no scoreboard. Social distancing in effect. Even if they shut the lifts down, we will probably try to use sleds to get everyone up. I'm sure racers would walk up if they had to.

Not trying to be political at all. I actually don’t have any party affiliations. I’m just trying to find ANYONE ANYWHERE that has had a death. I ask about 2-5 people a day since March . Not friends of friends of friends which could be inaccurate ... but family.

So far, my doctor in Laguna Beach has had people test positive, applied individualized treatment and had ZERO hospitalizations and Zero deaths. Caduceus medical at 333 Thalia Laguna Beach . never heard of a pandemic continuing with zero hospitalizations and zero deaths. I know only a single person who suffered covid like symptoms ( flu like symptoms) and was hospitalized and recovered . Still they can’t be sure it was Covid-19. So does anyone know anyone DIRECTLY. That had no comorbidity and was heathy that died of covid ... not just “ died after testing positive for Covid”? You can be hit by a car - admitted to a hospital with no comorbidity and test positive for covid and die of your injuries and be classified as a covid death. So who has known a Covid only death? There’s got to be a few out there in a “ pandemic” . Condolences to those for any losses . To me it’s an “unusual pandemic” as compared to other pandemics when supposedly it’s everywhere but there are no deaths from the disease only. Other pandemics nearly every family could pint to a death in their family. I’ve got no knowledge of anyone in my family even suffering from Covid-19. I have a big extended family ...my great grandfather Oei Tjong Ham had 3 wives, 15 concubines and 46 kids and my other paternal great grandfather had 26 kids. I have family gatherings in the Far East with hundreds and sometimes THOUSANDS of family members. I haven’t been yet, but they fill multiple hotels. I haven’t heard of any deaths . Zilch on Facebook . And that’s sorta a conservative estimate of Oei Tjong Hams wives... https://www.google.com/amp/s/tompepinsky.com/2014/01/10/the-many-wives-of-oei-tiong-ham/amp/ So in YOUR immediate family , have you had any losses ? Condolences in advance.

I can make one prediction. The luxury ski area Colorado groomed snow will last later into the day this season than ever before. Because of lessened air travel , fear, and possible limited daily ticket sales . I still believe there is a correlation of adaption to sudden attitude change and infection and transmission as altitude sickness lowers immunity . So cases may go up , but deaths won’t spike much if at all provided that social people who are less likely to be low hanging fruit - even older people can still have good immune systems . I fully expect Klaus Obermyer to celebrate his 101st birthday this December 2. 2020 in good heath and to ski on his birthday.

Ok so COVID causes lung damage , kidney damage liver damage , heart damage , I suppose erectile disfunction is next. The Flu causes viral or bacterial pneumonia, dehydration, and ear infections and sinus infections, especially in children. The flu can worsen long-term medical conditions, like congestive heart failure, asthma, or diabetes. You can also get Encephalitis (brain inflammation)and it can cause myocarditis, sepsis Guillain-Barré syndrome which is autoimmune, deafness, blindness and meningitis. Even paralysis can occur. Not limited to associated complications with ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and late onset Parkinson’s disease. So mask up everyone and get ready to quarantine for the rest of your life because the flu is ever mutating . There are very few strains of Coronavirus according to Bill Gates vaccines in development should knock all of the ones we are concerned with out. Not so with the Flu. There’s new Flu every year, in fact there are 20 new strains of flu every year! Holy shit! How deadly is the flu? Really deadly the 1918 Spanish Flu killed 1 in 5 people globally. If the Spanish flu hit today and we had no immunity like in 1918 it would kill 1,531,200,000 that’s Big number. It’s 1/5 of 7.656 Billion people. Covid-19 has killed 774,000 people world wide and cases are declining . That’s a big number too, but I reality that “big sounding number” is about 1 in10,000. Not 1 in 5. But that flu , you may as well tape your doors and windows shut because it’s going to happen again . Sell you carving boards And completely give up snowboarding because you shouldn’t ever go outside again. IMHO I think that clod who went to Brevit Mission and dig up “fat Lucy” and took the 1918 flu to Atlanta and isolated the 7 or 8 virulent genes... I think some of that ability of those genes were emulated in Covid. But as the researcher found out , if you messed with the secret formula and tried to make it EVEN more virulent as influenza you just moved further away from viral devastation perfection. Kinda like when you have the perfect flex, camber, sidecut and dampening and any change makes it work less effectively . You move away from peak intersections. This mRNA VIRUS IS NOT DNA (DNA is redundant protected code bound in Histones) and just two passes from carrier to carrier Of Covid-19 results in visible mutations . it will be a short time before Covids genetic formula is messed with so much through replication that a Madd 158 would ride like an Oxygen or a F2 Roadster or any average spec’d board. In part we become immune to flu types while they simultaneously are mutating into something which is more than likely becoming like a shittier riding carving board than a better riding board. The odds of it getting closer to viral perfection by chance are FAR FAR FAR less. Even if we try to help it , to weaponize it, most attempts will be worse. We can make it happen faster by doing randomness faster , but it is not easy to just add say receptor recognition and make it a more perfect virus ... with Spanish flu tests it actually weakened it. That being said if anyone wants to buy my original Madd 170 for $5000 because they are suicidal and want to go outside during flu season let me know. I will also sell both my Madd 158s for $2500 each but I need to sell all 4 boards at once . Then I can get a vintage Aluminum travel trailer to pull from resort to resort.

So hopefully this is pertains to expletive who wish to travel . I was watching a spear fishing program for the Bahamas . Apparently people can go there and avoid the 14 day quarantine , by testing in their home country and going through the quarantine at home. Perhaps ski destinations might adopt something along these lines.

Lowrider , good info About Canada. Last update I heard was that there was no surface transmission that was confirmed. Now they can really trace how people got this. Apparently these virus hunters , sequence Covid and in just two pass downs , it has genetically altered so you can really determine who DID NOT give it to someone else. It's sort of amazing . For instance, some meat packing plant had a few cases which initially was assumed to be transferred/acquired at work. In the end they found out through sequencing that it was acquired outside of work so the meat packing plant was about to quarantine those people and remain open . cool stuff . Yesterday , I got a call to see if I want to go back for another follow up antibody test as they are interested in my acquired immunity. So I'm definitely doing that. They want to figure out exactly how long my immunity can be expected to last. Might be a different test. Nice to know I can't get it or give it to anyone. No quarantining period required, just wash my hands.

Years ago, my childhood Dad, Lee Minoff born Aug 1,1934 ( moms boyfriend of 9 years) write a movie called “ The Yellow Submarine” I got to meet the Beatles .but before that he was a publicist and assistant to director Stanley Kubrick . He worked on a bunch of movies with Kubrick including Dr. Strangelove, or how I quit worrying and learned to love the bomb” . I was a PeterSellers fan and he was all over that movie. Lee just turned 86. https://deadorkicking.com/lee-minoff-dead-or-alive/ So there is a new virus. This one is not nearly as bad. Bill Gates predicts it will be 1/10th as deadly and that a mandatory vaccine for the new virus is about 4 months out. This one seems to only affect immo compromised people with about 60% of those people over 75. People are much less likely to die from ARDS and it responds well to Immuno modulating drugs to stop cytokine storms. Looks like after COVID-19 we can have a new lockdown for this virus and masks for at least 6 months . But without lockdown we could reach herd immunity much quicker. Possibly as fast as 3 months if we don’t lock down .The total loss of life on the way to herd immunity is about the same lockdown or not , like COVID-19, deaths will likely turn out to be about the same just spread out over more months if we do lock down again. It’s less deadly than a bad flu year but deadly none the less particularly to people over 85 years old who are expects to have about a 2% -4% chance of dying if they end up hospitalized and also don’t respond to anti-virals, early intervention, sntibody treatment, and thus end up in ICU. Time to buy some toilet paper if at this point you are thinking , no “f’ing way” I’m not doing this again , no reason as it’s not as deadly like the beginning of COVID . It’s not worth it to lock down at all for this. I have watched a bunch of people come close to dying of alcohol because they are too afraid to go to the hospital...... So let’s let this run out to herd immunity sequester the older vulnerable populations only and then use the vaccine. That’s my thought on it. As we approach herd immunity the R goes down rapidly masks or no masks . On the recent Bill Gates interview on Stuff you should know , a podcast ... that’s pretty much how current COVID is described. We are reacting to current Covid like old covid. Just like we did with AIDS . But AIDS is worse , you can’t get antibodies. It doesn’t go away . Masks don’t stop AIDS but as therapy I s got better for AIDS our freak out factor mostly went away. People still got AIDS but didn’t die as much as in the beginning of AIDS. COVID as a name is still terrifying as AIDS was in the beginning, but it will take people a long time for that fear to subside just like when AIDS therapy’s became much more effective. As I see it “ a brand is a promise”. Covid now is the most powerful fear based brand based on Early perception Of COVID. Insurance companies wish they could sell fear connected to a brand like COVID can. COVID is now the worlds most powerful brand. More recognizable than Coke, Pepsi, Budweiser, Madonna , Michael Jackson, The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton , Taylor Swift , the Olson Twins , Donald Trump , and entire cast of the Kardashians combined. But now most of COVID’s deaths as “low hanging fruit” has been picked almost bare. Sure we produce more immuno suppressed people every day , but it’s fair to say our normal standing “stockpiles” of immunity suppressed and Comorbid people are currently depleted as compared to before COVID. A recent PBS summary predicts 30 million of the 110 million American renters are at risk of becoming homeless if this goes on for 60 more days. You can certainly count me among those.. Except I done care if I sleep in my car and snowboard . Most people with their families can’t deal with that. Sick to say, I don’t mind COVID at all. People used to give me crap about not working and not wanting to spend money going out to restaurants because I would rather buy toys. Things are ACTUALLY better for me under COVID ., I don’t worry about getting the flu as much, I already have IGG antibodies, I get to freeze my credit cards, I don’t go out and waste cash buying drinks, and the more time spent scuba diving breathing purified sir the safer I am. COVID will mean the least crowded slopes in a decade, I’ll have more jobs for me since Aspen’s foreign workers will be less likely to compete for clients .Oddly despite losing clients at the end of last season ... I really like life under COVID ...” life for me. I adapted and really like it. I even can fly safely using my battery powered Bi-pap I run off of batteries because even though I can’t get covid I would still worry about other bugs, but now I can wear my bi- pap with a mask and 13 hour disk battery pack in its filter designed backpack ( it’s inside a taped shut HEPA vaccuum bag ... I don’t have to deal with funny looks . I wear a surgical mask over the CPAP face mask. I even expect Ski housing rental rates to go down so more of my friends can come stay in Aspen . So for me , if COVID went on for 20 more years ,,, I wouldn’t mind one bit personally. The thought of organizing a night skate knowing it’s now the safest way to do social exercise is a boon to me and that slalom skateboarding and rollerblade racing are ideal social distancing sports siice it makes course resetting easy to keep people at least 1 cone apart going Back uphill really works. I just feel bad for the rest of you. Luckily since I’m betting no one does the math and wakes up it will stay this way hopefully for more than 1 season . Possibly two or more Seasons as more viruses are treated the same way by the conditioned public. I now welcome the new normal. No BS here , I adapted and kinda like it. I love the reduced traffic and that a bunch of my friends can work from anywhere so they can come ride now. I took lemons and made COVIDade. So let’s look forward to good conditions even after 2 pm with almost no lift lines . The cost to my carving lifestyle ???? Après ski will be outside on the mountain, which means no more waiting for a table as the space can just be expanded ... I won’t even have to go back to the car to change clothes. Those are my thoughts on “ Dr.Nornal. Or howI learned to stop worrying and love the lockdown. Just FaceTimed him and even with Alzheimer’s he remembered that.

Well now that a binding manufacturer and good friend has no more financial interest in this, I can say something....... The best binding, is no binding at all. Not in the way we think of a binding currently. We are used to binding plates, levers, straps buckles. garbage. Dead weight. Ugh. The points of interface on the board must be minimal in size and weight and allow for easy board stacking. I , for instance liked the ability to have one pair of Catek carriages and multiple discs. But even then the discs weighed a lot. It has to be more minimal. I started riding hardboots before there were highbacks and only made the original soccer shin guard highbacks prototype NOT for myself , but for others that refused to pay for hardboots and insisted on using construction boots just to try the boards on the inevitable frozen granular and hardpack. I figured they would swap to my Koflach Valluga lite randonee boots, but some just never wanted to give up convenience cost and perceived comfort vs control . I love comfortable softboots. But I hate the clunky size, the fact that I go through 1-3 pairs a season, and the fact that they suck for kicking in steps plus most weigh a lot. Current hardboots have always annoyed me. I have used ski touring boots which are too soft for alpine because the taller calf fit of the hardboots and the restrictive flex killed my fun. So how could we get what we want? A lightweight, durable, warm, comfortable boot, that can work for both alpine freecarving and all mountain riding and well EVEN freestyle? A boot with adjustable flex without affecting fit. A boot that offers the benefit of a softboot outer wrap but without the down force pressure , a boot that fits to the riding surfaces of our feet ( which is often not just the soles of our feet BUT ALSO the edges of our feet) a boot that has a custom insole mold not just for the bottom of our feet but also for partially the tops of our feet ( this doesn't happen ENOUGH with heat molded liners BTW which are not under enough pressure ) Back in the 1980's Damian Saunders tore it up in freestyle in Koflach Albonas ( a slightly firmer hard shell randonee boot I rode for many years) and those are more than twice as heavy as today's lightweight touring boots. They were slightly heavier than the older soft boots. Tom Burt ABSILUTELY killed it in Back country powder in hard boots. I think these riders would not have the performance they had in the soft boots of the day. I do think that some of today's soft boots are firmer than the hard boots they rode back then . Well the good News is a plastic boot can be nearly as light as a pair of old air Jordan's. certainly 1/2 the weight of most current stiffer soft boots and almost 1/4 the weight of a set of Raichles. Also I believe the attachment interface should not be on the board but on/in the boot. I envisioned a smart interface , so you can snap into snow shoes, or crampons, go telemark mode, snowboard or ski and the thing you step into and the attachment points dictate release or non release. Certainly you want release of boards and skis when you pull your avalanche bag rip cord. But you probably don't want that to happen if you are wearing crampons in a slide which you might need to get out of where you end up in a slide. Yes molds are VERY expensive. But some parts can be 3D printed, some could even be CNC machined. I thought you might be able to 3D print a mold and then sputter coat it with metal internally to cut down on cost for small production runs. To make molds more cheaply and experim not more cheaply . I even looked into how sail makers create curved sails out of flat materials to see if we could,design a boot with flat strips and ultrasonically weld those into 3D prototypes. I also think dedicated snowboard only boots should be partially asymmetrical for goofy and regular footers. This should be adjustable for your binding angles. I never cared for the way the intec heels rode. I preferred regular lever plates. In part because I don't think the attachment pints should be symmetrical . I think they should work with the way we exert forces on the board and the way our feet pivot naturally within our boots. I think there of an axis of longitudinal rotation within our boots which may not be exactly longitudinal .and I think it is offset relative to the typical longitudinal axis of the heel. Burtons new step on has it in the center of the heel, which IMHO feels better than the inter or fintec, but I still am not feeling like it is optimal right down the center. i also believe that the padding in the boots should not be uniform and should use durometers more suited to forces brought to bear. too late to type more. Zzzzz

Well let's hope we aren't forced into simulators from global warming...I'm just hoping it advances skill level

I am for the most part self taught. But the few times I took lessons even after having riding for 3-4 years were helpful to have a few tricks passed along. I do feel many alpine carvers tend to plateau and get stuck, often thinking that that is the limit of their talent...and over the years as they age thinking that they can never get to be as good as they once were, "if only I was 30 again". But the reality is when someone is dialed in better and told what to look for and how to "flow" after into or even attack a turn then" flow" they get better than they were even when they were younger, stronger , with better reflexes. I'm not unlike so many others in that I like to stick with what works, but I still try new things and trends. There was a time when a 18" stance was considered really too "wide". One thing I wanted to develop in the 1990s was a feedback system through the board that let you know what direction and speed to pressure the board for top performance. It's possible to measure edge pressure , velocity, Decamber, G-force and slope inclination ...and to give feedback to riders. Also it's possible to record a professional riders inputs and then try to emulate that rider or say a few riders that have a similar body build and flexibility to your own- by playing back that ride. The pro riders might have to stay closer to the middle of the run and the person emulating might be able to err to say anywhere in the middle 3 fifths of the run. That's sorta cool. So let's say you found yourself on upper walking boss at Loon on the East coast, or Gondolier at Stowe, white caps at Waterville Valley, Ruthies run in Aspen, Centennial at Beaver Creek, Sneakys at Snowmass, on a decent packed powder day. Ahem of course the snow isn't exactly the same day to day or even run to run , the board and bindings and boots wouldn't be identical or even buckled the same... but you would still get closer than with no feedback at all. At the Reebok Sports Club in NYC in the 1990s I rode the largest snowboard simulator ... it wasn't just a rolling carpet, it moved in all directions, pitched, yawed and tilted... In the simulation I rode behind Kevin Delaney in Aspen. With the giant screen it felt pretty good. And after riding with Kevin in Aspen... it felt pretty close. maybe we are all in a simulation...or that's the future of Alpine.

Super annoyed at the whole deal. So I debate what to do each year. This year instead of Full Epic The only reason to do that is to not have holiday blackouts and be able to have beaver creek call for less than $1000. And ski less at Aspen. Instead I feel pressure to get the Aspen pass at $2600. Ugh again! No "f,n" way after the way they handled this. The Crowns , I expected something smarter and more accommodating from them. They have so many good ideas.... but disaster mitigation isn't in line with their luxury thinking. $2600 again is "fricking " ridiculous. Consider THAT Aspen has one of the shortest seasons in Colorado, high food costs (Beaver Creek is almost worse, but amazing Grand Hyatt breakfast that allows a bit of take out so,it's almost like 2 great meals for the $36 buffett price). Supercharging at Beaver isn't possible , so you end up slow charging 8kw/hr at Vail. But Vail has a youthful bar scene. The Really get to bogie in down with fun loving skiers taking a year off before college. Yet Aspen has the raging on slope après ski.no,walking or reporting required and Vail's parking is frankly a colossal shit show of EPIC proportions ...designed to suck the fun out of you ski vacation while you either get raped by ridiculous parking charges or have to take the COVID-19 and influenza buses . Beaver Creek has a few free spaces but still you are doing the shuttle bus dance. Here is my Beaver Creek shuttle Frusteation. 1. Drive up to the skier drop off zone. 7:00 am Unload 65 -80 pounds of boards boots bindings onto the racks near the Chondola to avoid the 400 yard slog through the artificial ski mall of shops that offer nothing of interest. Patagonia store?... mail order, The only shop worth a lick isn't in BeVer Creek it's Buzzs boards in Vail... nice guys there. 2. Circle the car back around . Drive up the the Grand Hyatt with snowboard boots and helmet in knapsack ( if they see ski gear they charge you a $70 valet fee - oh so pleasant) . Declare you are here for the Buffet Breakfast... check in and eat until 7:45 giving yourself 15 minutes to digest. Mention you have to get something and leave your check open. Ride until 10:30 and cone back for your early lunch. 3.pick up your car from Valet and drive to free parking in town way down hill. Gives you a bit of time to digest. 4. Board uncrowded shuttle ( not needing to carry a board) back up the hill- maybe dump a layer, grab a snack for later. You swung by the rack to grab alpine boards on way down so you aren't worry about them getting ripped off, or getting knocked over on the rack . Soft boot board is in the rack up top because you brought it up first run ( The boards are much less likely to get stolen on top of the mountain at the base) . 5. Ride until 3-4pm if you après at Beaver you get two hours free parking in their lot - worth it to do it as shuttles down are frequent and you'll end up eating late après or doing dinner in Vail anyhow because you gave to charge there in the lot which is only free 3 pm to 3am. 6 . Charge until full. Drive back to Beaver Creek free parking . If not full charge elsewhere. 7. Starbucks... then repeat. -------- Aspen's parking Dance. 1. Snowmass many charging options. But all of them are slow. 2. Buttermilk has superchargers close to lifts. Plug in - take three runs and you are full. 3. Aspen park close to lifts- it's the best . Slow charging and very limited ... you'll end up at Buttermilk. Valets hook me up with free charging . 4. Highlands , either leave car in Aspen and take the bus ...or park in the lot and wait until after 4 pm to leave through employee pass. No charging options at Highlands except for the Ritz. Aspen Sundeck food on mountain is better than most in town dining options and you get a 25% discount with Aspen premier pass before 12 or after 2 pm. Back to the oasis quandry. However the only saving grace to the $2600 Aspen/baseIKON pass is when Aspen starts to melt out mid March - April 15 ... you can use the attached Base Ikon pass to go to Mammoth (tons of Late march snow and colder temps and less wind as you get into April ...less wind just means you aren't pelted with ice balls in the parking lot ( like you are the last one left on your outnumbered paintball team) . ...and you can also do early season...possibly at SoCals Snow Summit. This is only worth it if you do a looooooong season from late Oct. to May. We have a good chance of a short season either from less snow as can happen every 4 years... or if Hong Kong keeps rioting .... oddly another NEW pandemic might start again... not kidding even the tiniest little bit. ----- cost breakdown. Per day ridden . So this year, the season started late Dec 13th first day on snow, and one IKON day at Winter Park ( which was like skiing in Mt. Tremblant in January.) one IKON day at Steamboat (also iceberg city) and zero days at Mammoth. Thanks Fauci for making us pay for the virus by funding Wuhan with 7.4 Million to play with Bat corona virus and doing "gain of function " research to ASSIST with having it jump species to humans . This is not political because he worked for both administrations, he is just so " turdly". Season ended a la covid-19 on March 13. 90 days for me Dec-March ....of which I worked running Winter x games snowmobiles for (14) , went to California to avoid Holiday crowds Dec 23- Jan 10 (19 days lost ) Some days (7) were shitty no visibility foggy "1 run annnnnd done days" . And some early season days were like just a few runs to get the legs back (5). So really averaging about $57 a day... pretty awful might be an all time worst season pass day rate. In contrast had I done FULL EPIC at Beaver Creek $979 ... I would have still been able to ski aspen for 34 days ( I get 20 comp passes for working and get to ride during those 14 days) and my price would have dropped to about $21 a day Plus I could have ridden Beaver Creek for 11 of those days. Way better.... Clearly The Aspen/Ikon pass is not worth it at all. When facing a foreshortened season with possible "rolling black out " like shut downs due to outbreaks. And if these outbreaks happen within the season, according to the season pass insurance you won't get any refund. "F'd " again I won't even consider buying Aspens $2600 premier pass this coming year. I'll still run the Sleds shuttling the Winter X athletes , and my friends give me their free passes (4) , and early season $69 passes (4) and I get about 2 more freebies . So that's still 30 days at Aspen . Which if you pick the right batches of days ( chunks of clear days) is enough. I'll still ride with my Aspen peeps and help out the ones who want to carve there and with Epic peeps , but I won't be able to ride at any IKON resort other than Aspen with the IKONITES people who pay $150 for the pass upgrade ( it's another Crown Affair?.. but I have to say ...they had to do something to limit the IKON impact on holiday weekends which kinda killed Aspen's normally uncrowded slopes and on some days made it feel like Vail.) The on,y drawback of no IKON is that I like Mount BACHELOR ski resort quite a bit, and I haven't been to Jackson hole yet, (Grand Targhee is the powder gem there anyhow ) Steamboat didn't have a very challenging trails for carving and I'll miss out on Sun Valley for the first time yet again. Plus no Zermatt , which sucks as I have use of the Van Clef and Arpels ski chalet there for free. ( Got that from a dog and turtle sitting gig , not some fancy Aspen party ) . But seeing as there is nothing stopping these weasel mountain conglomerate penny pinching accountant scum sucking bastards ( and I say that with restraint) from screwing us all over again next year ..... it's the only viable " PAYING for a pass" strategy . However... I still lose Snow Summit early season which is good for "SoCal early season soreness hit and run day trips". ...and I lose Mammoth Late season... and because A- basin isn't in the mix on EPIC anymore I can't rely on that either ( that early season ribbon of death is a slaughterhouse designed to feed EMTs) . Maybe with all the money I save I could do June in NZ. Mammoth late season can be hit by rain intermittently so sometimes I bid a hasty retreat to SoCal and dive for lobsters to bring back up to the slopes until the snow returns after 2 storms. BUT without IKON the lobsters for lifties program I donis dead for Mammoth. ( I cook lobsters for Aspen lifties birthdays at the chair lifts if they get stuck working on their birthdays ) So that strategy of no late season Mammoth ain't so good either. But when faced with a possibility of a season cut " virus short" ...buying the Aspen Pass is just a crappy idea. The alternative is going back to race dept. Which is in the cards and not paying anything. Because it wouldn't have cost the mountains much do do smoothing nice for all of us. And if it's going to be a short season... at least it's free Aspen . What ELSE could thay have done? To make this easier for all the season pass holders in the USA who were "F'd" this year? God help you if you got this far..... here is the reward. Here's the "Gilmour everyone wins plan". Or why I should work for marketing for one of these companies.... Well at ZERO COST Epic and Ikon could have gotten together ( "WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER" ...except EPIC AND ALTERRA who are out for themselves) and traded days ... yes cooperated! Just for one little possibly foreshortened season... .....and offered skiers who bought EPIC or IKON pass 30 days at EACH OTHERS resorts ( Aspen days limited to 5 unless you pay an extra $150 and get 10 more) the same deal works the other way for Beaver Creek . Maybe even Mountain Collective could have jumped in . How does this help? Now that we'd get the airline industry going again , hotels would flow with cash, and for everyone could ski together instead of being divided by Epic and Ikon. We would truly be " ALL IN THIS TOGETHER ". No snow in EITHER your EPIC or IKON network this year ??? ... no big deal, you could go almost anywhere. The mountains could have put a smile on our last season horrified ripped off faces...for really No cost at all.... fricking nothing, in fact they could have written that "gift" off as a loss and made more money by " pretending to purchase days from their competitors to do this ( instead of bartering) . Could have had a nice fat tax write off when they needed it most. By pretending to buy the passes at single day rates .. some day rates are $229! That's a instant write off. Instead they pushed their customers off a cliff into the rocks below, without giving it a moments thought. Typical corporate short sightedness. That last plan should be the post of the decade for ski comglomerates.

I was thinking about going up with a friend of mine - separate cars etc. I went for an antibody test yesterday and found I have antibodies but not enough for full immunity yet. But not COVID -19 contagious So I probably got through THE INFECTION while in quarantine in my car in March. But that would have had to be the case I was infected just before leaving aspen. What is more likely is the Aussie girl brought it with her infected Aspen and I got it in Early February. I have some flu now, and the sore throats is much worse and linger lasting than what might have been covid-19.

As the First Sims rep. on the East Coast I got sent an early Sims video which showed TK in a halfpipe. a natural pipe on his round tail. I thought--- oh shit here it comes again. Sims didn't so much lead the charge, He was a surf influenced skateboarder to the core. I saw him race on a long Sims Taperkick in Nassau Coliseum https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/19/archives/whoosh-skateboards-zip-back-into-big-time.html And the tail of his skateboard was so long it was hitting all the Slalom Cones. Henry Hester won that race. I later raced with Henry and Chris Yandall. Tom saw freestyle and personally he liked longboards that felt like surfing. But Tom also saw the writing on the wall. Tom did continue to make Alpine boards. He held a race st Soda Springs (a mountain that did not allow snowboarding so there was no locals advantge) if you could beat Tom you won one of his boards (he also set the course) no one beat Tom. At the Time Mark Heingartner and Andy Coghlan were at Stratton and we had to take tests to ride the "upper mountain " and get your certification card. They were defeinitely into racing- but then again so was Palmer . Palmer Brushie and Kelly all raced before some for Cross M. But at the time I would say Coughlan and Heingartner were more well known. Palmer and Kelly didn't figure in until teh Sims Switchblade era, after the Sims 1710 blade which was the first vertical laminate CAMBERED board. (of course there was Avalanche boards before that, but they were tiny at the time. the 1710 Blade had wooden sidewalls as in no side walls - so you had to revarnish them after every sharpening . I broke mine in a season and got a SIms X-2000 which was the board Kelly won the open on and then swapped to Burton. Yes the VT guys were all about racing, but freestyle didn't take off overnight. Transworld Snowboarding IMHO was the real impetus for that. They sent me about 40 issues which I wish I still had. From the first issue it had a feel that you could see was going to do the same thing that Vert skating in Skateboarder did to the sport. Magazines survive off of advertising revenue. In the early days of slalom skateboarding and downhill Di Dootson used to publish a little list of race results at La Costa, I was at the Viva La Costa reunion this year with Henry Hester , Laura Thornhill, Steve Evans, Ritchie Carasco et all. When You have a racing based sport there emerge 2-3 "main players corporate teams" with a few smaller race teams winning about 15% of the time. Unless the product is expensive and needs constant replacement it is very difficult for an action sports magazine (not a mainstream magazine) to survive off of advertising revenue of just 3-5 sponsors that sell the majority of the product. Often the esoteric brands which are harder to produce have smaller production runs and so have no budget for advertising. In judged sports with freestyle- its more about marketing and hiring of athletes and distribution than it is about pure race times. In racing the money shot photo is the racer crossing the line- it's a hard shot to get (particularly in the 1970-1980s , you only get one chance and high frame rate video screen grabs aren't possible like today . In freestyle you have a zillion takes, tons of time alone with pros, endless marketing opportunities. It's easy to bracket your exposure to get the perfect shot- even if you are a hack, if you can compose the shot , bracket it and have the athlete do the same thing over and over, eventually you will get a magazine worthy shot. It also supports more athletes- more money paying interior shots that the athlete gets paid for not just the cover shot, or end covers. No one really cares about the 18th place skater in a race unless he is dressed cool. But freecarving is not racing.. ...whew thank goodness for that, because you could support a couple of freecarving shots, but again..we got an Alpin Punk article and that was about it. -but in part because a magazine has publishing costs, minimum distribution, minimum runs etc. to be profitable and relevant. This is not true of costs for online publishing ...again. ...whew So - I had a talk with Michael Brooke, I had just won the 2002 Longboard skateboarding world championships... we were at some cool skateboard vert meet up - at I think the wooden hangar bowl in South Carolina. We were talking about another fringe sport- longboarding , online of course existed then, and I talked to Michael about the feeling of holding a magazine in your hand, and being able to leave it on a coffee table for friends to look at. Something- which is aspirational and inspirational. And that a Sport without a Magazine isn't really a sport at all. Now- if anyone is thinking, Gilmour is full of shit... he couldn't have any influence on this... Just call Michael Brooke ask him yourself. HE will never forget those sort of conversations its his duty to remember and report this sort of stuff. Well Micheal IMHO had a very good run of it. Publishing International Longbaord Magazine and later The Concrete Wave after a bit. With great photgraphy somewhat reminiscent of the earlier skateboarder Magazine, but representing skating from all over. He felt he should represent more than just a single facet of the sport- and that the GEOGRAPHIC stranglehold that Dana Point had on skateboarding should not limit its scope of coverage so he made it TRULY INTERNATIONAL. Canada is pretty far from Dana Point... which ironically is where I am typing this article- from a great hill to skate on- that ends near Hobie Alter's bronze full size Hobie Cat Statue .... Ironic. The issue I see is that the images are not consolidated anywhere. and there is no anticipation of an issue coming out. I'd like to see a curated magazine of images that comes out only once a month or realistically just 3-5 months a year. and if you like it- you order it on Amazon... and you can even pick the binding quality of the book and cover quality. When You buy one Mag its a singles price ... yor ou can spend double and get 3 issues (and you don't have to select them all at once). You have say 6 sequential issues to select which ones you want. Or if you buy a 3 pack maybe one of them could be a giant size format. Like some bitching Atlas size. and then ---- place MAG(s) on your coffee table. So when people come in your house - and see your boards (where ever they are) you can show people what those boards mean to you. That helps Alpine future.

After going to Japan yo ride two seasons ago - there was a lot of carving there. Japan has the ability to start trends... look at how popular face masks are now when we used to think Japanese wearing face masks do not to infect others was silly. Jk but really - At Niseko United resorts in Hokkaido I would hardly say the snow was good for carving, a bit better at Rusutsu but not by much. Japan’s Gentem Stick Snowboard company has a way of looking at snowboarding on Japan’s relatively mellow inclines compared to the Rocky Mountains in Alaska as surfing on the snow. Which is something that should not be stopped it is a continuous motion from top to bottom. They try to emulate surfing styles. So the carving features more surf influenced moves and surf influenced cars, though no very aggressive backslash is certainly they like to hold the rail for a long time. You could see some of this in evidence while I was driving snowmobile and running the riders up to the knuckle hack at aspens Winter X games this year. While waiting to pick up the riders at the bottom of the chute I got a near front row ticket to seeing all the carving antics after they had landed their tricks. The Japanese were keen to try to outdo each other in carving ability at the bottom of the hill and not just do a slide to a stop. The speeds They didn’t want to looked rushed by doing For instance a high-speed butter and make it look like they were just trying to recover their balance after a sloppy landing or detract from the trick so they want to enhance it by throwing in a very stylish carving move at the bottom. For instance a high-speed butter and make it look like they were just trying to recover their balance after a sloppy landing or detract from the trick so they want to enhance it by throwing in a very stylish carving move at the bottom. Some Americans did try to emulate this. Sen Powell and I chatted on the ride up as I used to coach at Stratton where he went , but he wasn’t going to put carve the Japanese .. I also took some of the Japanese riders up and tried to encourage them “ that carve was sick” . But they were going to carve without any encouragement at the bottom anyhow. Four years in Aspen I leave my signature tracks on certain parts of the hill, just like softsurfer likes to leave his signature high line carve track close to where the Ajax express lift just crosses Silver Bell. I like to leave some harder to duplicate track coming over a plateau just under the same lift. so pretty much going up the Ajax express left we’re always curious to see who is here and look for people signature tracks but this year I’ve seen a lot more quality deeper trenching softboot carves and they aren’t attributable to any one person or group of people. this year early season I saw Angie and her Husband , and then later Daniel Ziv, and only about 2-5 other hardbooters all last year ( missed holiday riding so missed Lance and others) but to say during non-holiday periods hard boot carving was certainly not very visible. On Ajax. Ziv I saw at highlands . It was the least alpine snowboarding I have ever seen in a season. But I do think some of the splitboarders in touring boots might be getting the skills for deep trenching .

idte

I'll go with SoftbootSurfers observation about people going back to skiing. Used to be Alpine boards delivered a carving experience that was far superior to skiing. Now ...not such a huge gap. Again skiings versality in carved shapes, tech derived from snowboards , skis that carve well, skis that handle powder with as much surface area as similar length snowboards , and terrain versatility.... skiing is back in vogue. This past year I even felt like getting on some Palmer P02 skis just for the heck of it. But it's not just a wild guess, it's an observation, I get on lifts with people on skis that told me they used to carve on alpine and went back to Skiing. The only thing I see to help alpine is Splitboarding- the fastest growing niche. Because these guys are trying to innovate and not just accept a mediocre status quo. In 1985 I helps a friend write his MIT thesis for Mechanical Engineering, he won the MIT prize that year and cited me, and split the prize money with me. His thesis was making a releasable snowboard binding. We had two designs a sequential release and a simultaneous coupled release. Only now do I see a real world application for split boarding in avalanche areas, coupled to an Avalanche bag rip cord. These guys need a releasable lightweight binding and hardboots. No one wants to be permanently strapped into a split board while skinning and caught in an slide. If I could get a comfortable lightweight set of boots for alpine that didn't give me shin bang, heel pain, sixth toe pain... that would be nice. When you rail at high angles, it's not like there is so much pressure on the bottom on your foot as on the side, and the padding in some boots just is not sufficient to prevent pain while pulling g-s and loading that part of your foot. A soft boot gives some, plus they are replaced frequently enough that they don't get packed out. But softboots don't work well for splitting on double fall line terrain. I want a hard boot that is in the same weight range as the randonee boots, one that is versatile. I started working on one this year, contacted one of the guys who worked on the flexor comp , and I want to make a better lighter more versatile binding. That would make me so much happier to be on hardboots and alpine again. I park very close to the lifts. Sometimes I wear a set of Ugg boots, carry softboots inside my pack, strap another pair of hardboots on the outside of my pack, carry an alpine board and a Jones Hovercraft ... and ride Alpine in the Morning, and swap to soft when it gets clumpy. Did that 2 seasons ago. But three sets of boots? Because nothing walks easily so I go with Uggs- sometimes in loose soft boots. But still swapping boots (and insoles) and socks, when I want to swap boards is annoying. I don't want to ride hardboots all day- I used to in the Northeast because the snow can be bullet proof all day and never get very clumpy, but in the West ...nope. But I look at split borders and randonee skiers happily walking in their lightweight boots. That makes sense to me. I was at Fin Doyles place in spring of 2019, looking at his cool solar tracking device he was developing, and we were talking about split boarding and he also believes that the boots we rode were too heavy and too stiff and that he rides better on his lightweight hardboots for splitting than he ever did in traditional hardboots. That's in part why I favored my Nordica TR-9 randonee boots while I was on the East coast. So I think split boarding with lightweight plastic and CF touring boots with lighter bindings will be the only thing to bring back alpine. Because it will introduce lightweight hardboots that aren't overly stiff (if you cut them) to snowboarders who swore by softboots and now see the advantages of a hard boot when asked to do multiple disciplines... like Crampons. IF people who liked softboots try those hard boots, IF their carving improves on them and maybe IF on harder days they decide to use those boots on an Alpine deck with plate bindings ...we might have a resurgence , but that is a lot of "IFs". If I could have one set of boots that worked for both, and maybe skiing too..and boards that were just as light as naked boards without bindings... I'd happily carry 2 or 3 boards (heck maybe skis once in a while) to the hill and ride Alpine every morning... and seriously I walk only about 100 feet to the gondola...plus there is almost zero board theft at aspen so I don't bother locking anything. But carrying 3 boards with bindings sucks no matter how short the distance. I was so happy when Catek came out with the disc system... that made it a lot easier..but still the binding overhang could vary from board to board as the angles changed and width under foot. I want the binding to be integrated mostly into the boot. I want boots that know what they they are being clipped into and adjust release settings automatically to what you ahem them in, crampons (no release) Snowshoes (release) Skis (release) snowboard (probably not releasing except in some conditions). A multi purpose hard boot like that....well that might even attract some skiers to try Alpine. So for me, its the hardboot's situation weight, comfort , short time to packing out liners (My Head Stratos packed out in 15 days) , shin bang, little availability, little selection, difficulty to get a good custom fit , and low traction in ice .... thats what you have to fix for Alpine to get any growth . As pessimistic as it sounds, I'm trying to get Alpine noticed. I raced the last 3 GS races in Aspen this year. And a few said they would race next year...a few threatened to race this year but did not.... because the skier courses weren't very conducive to snowboarding. But at last I got a few people thinking about it. I won more points for my team than any of the skiers. And that got the people who do both to start thinking about points. (which is why I might ski a bit, but I don't think I'll be competitive in that) . The other side of the coin... Throw Alpine races and have REAL Prize money..... that would be huge help. If someone sees $5000 or $10,000 as a prize, it gets people to consider it. But unless Jeff Bezos starts snowboarding ..... IMHO It's up to splitboard boots and bindings. And the current split board bindings don't allow for high stance angles...and they have heel cups that aren't good for high lean angles either...sigh..... Stay safe

I wouldn't believe it either except it happened to me. Brian Hipona, a coach at the winter X games can verify this stuff he was a customer of mine in 1988. he saw all the media, and stuff that I had done before the first color magazine format for snowboarding even came out. Some people don't believe that I ever rode hard boots. Believe what ever you think is right in your gut instead of actual facts and stuff that people actually did. Feel free to make up your own history...like some old mustached German guy in the 1940's. I'm dealing with a downhiller, talking smack about me, who would like to re-write history in a podcast- despite the fact that every competitor who was there conflicts with his story. But people might believe him in their gut. How about some other "firsts"? I spec'd biased FORWARD camber on the Madd Boards. That was the first time people messed with camber profiles. I also applied Hi-fi principles to control vibration from turntables to snowboards. I also put rubber sheeting to absorb vibration in the boards , I spec'd alternating the types of wood in the core to reduce vibration across the board. We raised the resonant frequency of the board so it wouldn't hop and chop out in a turn, I fixed all the delamination issues of having aluminum, steel fiberglass, rubber sheeting, and carbon all coming together in less than inch. I even applied "anti-skate" turntable methods to my riding. But don't believe me. Make something up instead. Sorry just a bit annoyed right now without snow.

Alpine, as in Hardboots that are heavy and Plate Bindings that weigh a ton a $$$ board that is limited to early morning groom or race courses by its flex.... well that is pretty much deader than dead. I don't see it as a growing market segment, no matter how much people tell me. Now I have been SUPER wrong before. Like when Jeff Grell of Sims and I talked on the phone in 1983 about the future of snowboarding and whether I should patent the highbak I made from soccer shin guards and I decided so few people would subject themselves to the frozen granular beating most take in the Northeast.At the time Sims was making about 70-150 boards. We thought sales of snowboards for Sims might be limited to a few hundred boards a year, and maybe double that for Burton. hahaha I was way off. But This time I lived through Alpines multiple attempts at resurgence. And PGS well I think that is so much less interesting that a real GS or Super G. I think that killed it a bit more. BX courses with those drop starts... that would kill Alpine by its flex pattern even if you have a rounded tail with hardboots. The courses banked turns no longer- so less advantage for Alpine - the jumps got hairier. I was the first person to convert his Sims pre-highbak bindings to Hardboots on the East coast. I had to become a Koflach dealer to order the Koflach Valluga 4000 lite randonee boots because there were none in the USA. So I initially started hard booting in what was a Sims 1500 FE swallowtail. There were ZERO racing boards at the time. It was All Softboots with no hardbooters. The only Hardbooter to make it look cool (and he did an amazing job) was Damian Saunders of Avalanche who rode a pair of the Koflach Valluga Lite early on with Avalanche Plate "uni Bindings" and mostly later in the Yellow and white Koflach Albona boot which I also switched to. (See Snowboarders in Exile Movie) . So much for "influencers". He was doing multiple backflips on hardboots when no one else was doing a double back flip, he was super funny, very cool, covered in hot chicks, married a Penthouse model, owned a nightclub full of rubber and pimp and hoe nights.... Where were the people lined up for hardboots? Sure that was later.... so let's go back in time to before hardboots again. I started the Worlds first snowboard camp in Tignes Val D'Isere and advertised in International Snowboard Magazine (so small in circulation it was on newsprint ) I started a company called JASBAR sport which stood for John (Gilmour) and Steve (Day, a friend from MIT) Bogue All Retailers - just because we wanted to buy skis and snowboards for ourselves at wholesale prices and sell a bunch to cover our snow habit without having a brick and mortar store. Jeff Grell agreed to teach at the snowboard camp , but I had fewer than 10 people sign up- most were skiers who liked the good deal. A two week trip $714 for airfare from Boston, all lifts , airport transfers lodging and breakfasts - so sadly, I had to tell Jeff I couldn't cover his costs. I couldn't do a halfpipe in the USA because of liability- they wouldn't even allow kickers! Over a phone conversation , Jeff and I discussed the design of the worlds first half pipe, Jeff sketched it and sent the drawing to me which showed we were pretty much on the same page. It had low walls and a lot of flat bottom space at the top and as you went down it got closer together and blew out into a huge bowl with lots of vert at the bottom. The reason I wanted a bowl at the end was to make it look like pool riding, and It was influenced by Campo Grande skateboard park in Brazil where I used to ride about 5 years earlier. Again, I thought the halfpipe thing was an even smaller oddity. Too hard and expensive to maintain. And so few people would have the skills to do it, and enough days on the hill to master it that it was just a novelty. HA ha ha. SOOOOO Wrong I was. But that was predicting a future with no past of the same sport. Now we have a past to refer to. I tried to push hard boots on people when they were riding in construction boots in 1983. AND STILL I couldn't get people to give up the "comfort" (sarcastically) of riding in soft boots- I rode with LL Bean boots when I started and so the switch happened rafter only 4 days of LL bean boots because of the pain on top of my foot from the fastex buckles (The SIMS binding bails weren't made until high-baks came out). The heel of the Valluga fit perfectly into the heel cup of the soft boots- no need for a high-bak. I only made the high-bak so my friends could try snowboarding in their winter boots. I thought they would buy hardboots after getting hooked, But they were not interested in going back to a cold , heavy, stiff flexing plastic boot that they identified with skiing and not surfing. Plus there is the cost of the gear. A good Alpine board isn't cheap- a Donek Madd Killer runs about a grand without $600 boots and expensive bindings and you could buy a pretty good complete Softboot set up for under a grand. Getting a skier who is accomplished at racing and trying to get them into Alpine snowboard carving is a lot like taking a guy out of top Ferrari that also has the ability to run in bumps and putting them in a slammed to ground Honda Civic with nitrous that is limited to a few trails and really is at its best in the morning. Getting kids into it is hard as they look at their other friends riding together on softboots and feel excluded on their hardboots- or worse ...weird. Kids don't like to feel weird- too much peer pressure. I can't even get my Godson's dad to let me put his son in hardboots because he doesn't want him to get distracted from freestyle . It might as well be ballet skiing. Now those ARE perceptions. I personally don't care what people think. Or that I look odd being the only one on the mountain in hardboots. I know I can ride well in hardboots. So why am I not on hardboots more? I used to ride in soft boots for less than 5 days a year, now it has flip flopped even worse with only 10,000 vertical feet last year. I feel that the current flex patterns of good softboots in good bindings on an above average board are good enough to allow for performance riding, carving and fun. This was not often the case 12 years ago. But the comfort factor in softboots and additional support, improved internal heel retention , heat moldable liners, ankle donuts, made in the last 4 years is , well... insanely good. You can release BOAS like Hardboot buckles to give your feet some blood on the way up the chairlift. Plus you can rail on softboots comfortably in anything remotely resembling packed powder... on frozen granular... things favor Hardboots. and in soft snow like after a dump, the softboots and softer flexing non submarining non alpine boards are a better choice. Softboots are warmer. Easier to walk in, and easier to get a "custom fit" in. Now, I don my hard boots or soft boots on the gondola ride up, and doff them on the gondola ride down. I rarely walk around town in either. But even so... I prefer the softboots for walking around in the lodge even if its just a few steps. And because of these things..... I rode my hardboots in (3) GS races this year and ZERO runs on the slope free riding. If I had more days on snow- or days on firmer snow, I would have ridden alpine. It takes me a few days on snow in softboots to ease into hardboots every season. I rode Alpine because some of the ski race courses in Aspen would have not been possible in softboots, which is why Zero softbooters entered. I did do one of my two race runs on a GS in softboots on a powder board at thunder bowl at Aspen Highlands this year, and it was a struggle to survive the course, and that the only reason I swapped to Alpine on the next run. Alpine snowboarding is BY FAR the SUPERIOR workout. You want leg strength? Alpine builds it faster than anything else but you will feel a lot of fatigue ripping 40+ mph turns all day on groomers. Plus hard snow or injected courses pretty much demand it. The reality is, soft boot snowboarding now can deliver enough carving pleasure and thrill that you don't have to buy an Alpine set up anymore to have fun carving. And that is why Alpine will probably never recover. I ran snowmobiles for ESPN Winter X games this year, I brought the top riders to top of the halfpipe , to the big air, and the knuckle huck this year. I brought SEB up (SMS graduate) who win the knuckle huck , also the top Japanese riders (Who consistently ripped gorgeous carves after their landings) and saw more soft boot carving than ever by athletes... but again I doubt this will translate into hardboot and Alpine board sales. However, if a person learns to carve at a high level on softboots in good snow, and lives in an area with very hard snow for most of the days of the year ( Vermont , Maine, Montreal area)...I could see that feed into sales. but again marginal sales as it simply is more fun to ride on good snow than frozen granular I tend to wait for packed powder and avoid days which have had no snow for the previous 2 weeks. But hell. I love Alpine. I am even thinking about how I would design the next Alpine board and the slopes have been closed for a month.