bigwavedave

My SF was more akin to a race SL, hardboots only. I think he was thinking that the SF could be made as a crossover board for someone looking to get into hardboots. The Thirst CC is a similar scr to the SF, but is likely more softboot friendly. Best to talk to him. His daughter rides all his boards with softboots.

Tues 2.5" of damp snow overnight, mostly groomed. Sunny, warm, could be Aspen, I don't know. This is the 1st of Spirit's new Tuesday afternoon hours, 1-8pm. I made the first tracks 1½hrs before opening and hiked up for the second, and some pics...it was sweet! The snow was chalky, in that it both crumbled and compressed underfoot in a carve. It felt soft and firm at the same time, a little weird , kinda like what Hollywood movie fake snow looks like it would feel. It was still a lot of fun, carving with restraint (foot off the accelerator)....and not crowded either. Russ was on softies today.

You might want to check if you still need to pre-register with ArriveCan to get back into Canada.

Sunday Warm & sunny. Made 1st tracks from the top, then rode the 1st chair up with @khoward. Rode for 1½ hrs. Snow was great minnesota firm with 1" deep trenches. It got kinda crowded, but we still managed to get some good carving in. There were collegiate competitions all over―at the bottom was a 40K classic XC, GS races on BlueRuin and slopestyle in the rope tow park. I had a skier fall in close behind me (like 20 feet) trying to match my turns. Kind of freaked me out cause I could only see him out of the corner of my eye every other turn, and wasn't sure if he was trying to pass me. He was really struggling to match my turns, so I let him pass and then gave him the same treatment from behind. Tuesday should be nice after some snow Mon night.

Sat Temps quickly rebounded from -25°F yesterday to above zero this morning. Lots of activity and trail closures today. Collegiate XC racing at the bottom( F-S-S) so, Grand Ave parking full and Downhill Musher closed. Gandy and Blue Ruin are closed for ski racing Sat&Sun. Weekend crowds are squeezed onto the remaining open runs ,so it got crowded fast. Ran into Ken in the parking lot and we joined the growing line for the first chair up. We rode for about an hour as it soon became too busy for spoiled carvers used to having an empty hill. On the plus side, the snow was really nice―smooth, plush grooming, 1-2" deep trenches. Dim sun turned overcast with flat-ish light. Warm and sunny forecast for tomorrow. Same trail closures, so likely another short day. I'm planning to drive to the top for 1st tracks. Ken is planning to ride tomorrow too.

I said the same thing and was told the nose is a functional design feature. I'm gonna have to ride one to find out how and why, if I can figure out which way is forward. The wood topsheet veneer is the aesthetic alternative to supply issues with printed fabric. @Keenan I was talking to mark about my next board and he sent me a picture of your board. He really knows how to make you (me?) really want another board.

Thurs Sunny, -1°F, NW wind 15-25. Made 1st tracks from the top. Maybe 5 skiers on the hill this morning, half of them ski patrol. The groom was fast & hard, though softer and smoother than it has been. 1 inch deep "trenches". Carved for 4 hours, one of the better days so far this season. ...and the hill was empty. 3 other carvers on the hill throughout the day; @rwmaron , then Kylie, test driving a new F-plated 157 Donek Rev (she's a NorAm racer), then @khoward showed up. Ran into Jane over on the Gandy side. Gandy was still a bit uneven for carving across the hill. Skyhooker was nice. Temps rose a few degrees, then dropped below zero again and the snow got noticeably harder. It was really cold on the express chair traveling 15mph into a 15-25mph wind, but the carving was too good to quit.

Be careful, the XC pretty much replaced the SF in my quiver. Slightly larger turns with a longer EE, so it's a smoother ride on hard snow. It will turn remarkably tight in snow that is soft enough to engage the full edge length. Since you already have a Super and the SF, it's a no brainer, get the 8rw. When we have fresh snow, even if it's just 5 or 6", the PC becomes my favorite. That should be the next one after the 8rw.

I have standard, not step-in heels. Yes, appears to be pressed in, like the toe. I'm a little worried that having worked itself out once that it might easily do it again.

Yes, I forgot to mention that these are standard clip in. Without taking them apart, my memory is that there is no retention clip hidden somewhere.

I discovered a heel pad axle working its way out the other day and just tapped it back in. I discovered it after I felt my heel lifting a little bit after clipping in. I found one working its way out once years ago. I can't remember if I tried taking it apart to see if there is anything other than friction holding the axle in place. Anybody dealt with this before?

Wed out this morning for a few runs. Subzero cold, but overcast and flat light. The groom wasn't bad, a little harder than Sunday and a bit bumpy between groomer passes. Got bounced around a bit when carving across the hill. Had a scheduled Chiro appt this afternoon. I feel like I need it, as I took a couple of falls yesterday on the hardpack at Jackson Creek. Afterwards, I noticed that the axle on my TD3sw rear heel pad was working its way out. My heel was lifting.

I used to ride 18cm waist alpine boards, which was typical of race boards of the day. Race boards today are generally wider (19-20cm). Not that I race anymore, but my daughter convinced me to try a wider board about 12 years ago.The advantage of a slightly wider board is the ability to ride with shallower angles, say ~60°-55°fr and ~55°-50° rear, which enables you to apply more pressure to the edge using heels and toes in addition to the boot cuffs. This made a big difference for riding ice and hard pack, frequent conditions where I ride. When the snow is soft, I think anything works. If it's deep, I like something wider than my carving sticks for flotation. @Algunderfoot swears by his swallowtail skwal when soft snow is chopped up and tracked out. He sure makes it look smooth and easy.

11° below at the start and 8° above when I quit 4 hrs later. Had the hill to myself for the first hour. Maybe 10 people on the hill total by about noon. Every other run had a cursory overnight grooming (no tilling) while some still had yesterday's tracks, I suspect because they had such a light day yesterday. So, why groom? As a result, the surface was pretty hard, but it softened in the sun later. And, there were some areas of windblown snow that made for some softer turns... I talked to a few people that told me how great it was last week, "Best snow ever!"

@AlgunderfootThinking of driving over tomorrow. It's gonna be cold, but I figure that should guarantee empty slopes and empty chairs, much like the picture above, just with more sun.

Is this one of those SG extra wide stance boards? Can you do a 19.5-20 inch stance width (center to center)on this board?

SUNday Sub zero temps and SUN! Didn't get on the hill til about noon today (a late night), but it wasn't an issue. It was less crowded than a weekday morning. Snow was fast and hard, and the groom was mostly consistent. There was a streak of hydraulic fluid down one side of the hill , so they still have some groomer issues. Trenches were mainly ¼" deep, occasionally 1" deep in softer spots. Rode the F-plated Rev 175 to smooth out bumps (and my ruts) in the hard snow. One of the better carving days in quite a while. Oh, and Spirit has announced adding Tuesday afternoons, 1-8pm.

ditto: MCC waist deep in the trees on the 2nd or 3rd day? Mid thigh high at Aspen once, a day before SES.

Fri Drove up this morning with very little traffic. There was already a sizable line for the gondola when I got to the hill ½hr before opening. Remember next time that lots of condo dwellers come up Thurs nights for their (once a year) long-weekend ski vacation. There was 4-5" of dry fluffy snow overnight. Unfortunately, Lutsen is apparently stricken with the same groom-resistant snow as other hills in MN. Over on Moose, underneath that nice soft fluffy snow was frozen, crusty snow, both groomed and ungroomed. It was kinda rough for carving. Rode the gondo back over to Uller (the baby hill) which had a nice soft groom under the new snow. Rode the 202cm TankerSpanker making big turns through windblown snow. They are still blowing snow on Moose. This new snow should groom out nice. Might come back on Monday when there are fewer people. Though I might head over to Jackson creek (formerly known as Indianhead). Al says conditions have been good and grooming is better than ever!

Sun!!! Drove up for 1st tracks. We had only 1½-2" of snow total. The cord was very firm, some would call it hard (it's why we wear hardboots here). ½" deep trenches at best, except for one groomer pass under the chair where they must have accidentally deployed the tiller. It was soft enough to make a 4" deep trench here... Everywhere else tracks were ½" deep grooves at best. 4pipe had the most consistent groom, ScissorBill & DoubleJaw were okay, but even harder. Everywhere else was awful , even in the park. Hard, bumpy, wavy with potholes and curbs between groomer passes. Made carving virtually impossible. It looked like someone's first time driving the groomer. Everyone at Spirit today seemed to be riding/skiing on 4Pipe. Luckily, single digit cold temps kept the crowds down. I rode for 4½hrs and 3 different boards, switching to Gecko and F-plated boards later on to smooth out our ruts. Russ was layin' down some nice track today too.

Wed ¼" of new snow over groomed crushed ice. Flat light, but at least it's snowing. I had several good runs carving with blind faith on crunchy cord until I started hitting hidden death cookies (either unearthed by earlier tracks or old frozen tracks) that were redirecting the board and knocking me off balance mid carve. I managed not to crash, but after my knees kept getting kicked up to their limits, I decided to call it after about an hour. There were telltale droppings of pink hydraulic fluid on the hill, so apparently they're still having groomer issues. 6PM: It's been snowing all day and barely an inch of snow. Maybe there's more up on the hill. I'll be out for 1st tracks. It's supposed to be sunny!

Funny, I sold my Kessler 180 shortly after getting a 180 REV. I found the REV more lively and fun. @barryj, it's not a BigBoy board, it's just right. And I've got an AF UPM plate made for that board that I can sell ya.

Is that Ink (kinda looked like Kevin's riding?) on the swallowtail? An Incline swallowtail? I'd love to hear more about that board. I love my Thirst swallowtails for carving. Somehow, they really smooth out chop and ruts. Nice riding everybody! RE: the big ruts, maybe just put down the pork rolls

Sat Another day with flat light and mild temps. January typically has subzero temps and clear blue skies. I'd gladly trade this for that. Plus, cold temps keep the crowds down. The groom was nice and the snow a bit softer today. DoubleJaw and the adjacent side of 4Pipe were chewed up from a running race this morning. It didn't take long to become difficult to get a clean run, so 6 runs in 1 hour and done. Made 3 runs with the 166 Contra without Geckos and switched to the Geckoed XC.

Fri 1st tacks, flat light with periods of dim sun. Snow was much firmer than I had expected, really had to push the edge into turns to get a solid bite. Surprisingly there were areas with crunchy, ice chunky snow, but overall it was good carving. As it warmed a bit, I was getting down to the ice base in deep carves (3-4"). It's home-school Friday with lots of beginners on the hill by late morning and generally busier than yesterday. Rode with Russ. I was riding the Geckoed XC again. Called it quits after about 2 hours. I drove though the B lot on my way out to see if the bigAir park was open―searching for softer groom. It wasn't open yet, but I spotted the Dr walking up to the hill and Jane the snowqueen was there too.