bigwavedave

5" of fluffy pow on top of groom this morning, and still snowing! 4pipe groomed down the center, everything else had 5+inches, as the wind was making deeper piles. Had a lot of fun. This new stick really slices through the tracked out stuff, yet the nose seems to lift to the surface in the untracked snow. Love it when it you can't help but holler out, so much fun

Finally got out on my 8RW today. 5" of fluffy "baby" pow on groom and still coming down! Started out on the Super which seemed to magically float and stay on top, not driving deep into the soft snow like my other carving sticks might. I then hopped on my trusty 180 Incline, typically my favorite board for soft, tracked out conditions, and I really got bounced around a lot. 1 run and done with that. Then I clipped on the 8RW and I had so much fun. This thing carves through tracked out, bumpy (baby) pow like nothing I've I've ever ridden! I managed to find some untracked stuff and it also seems to magically float near the top like the Super, but with it's length was a bit smoother, and carving across the hill, it sliced through the tracked out crud as if it wasn't there. Looking at John's video above really shows how nicely these boards slice through crud without bouncing the rider around much. It's no wonder so many folks have had one demo on a anyThirst board and turned around and ordered one (or 2 or 3). They seem to ride as good or better than anything in most all conditions.

Sounds like you took 23 all the way to Askov? I stopped by the hill as the lights were coming on around 4pm. The lower parking lot was almost full, the lift line was just as long as when we left (probably the same line), and...the Summit chair was running!

Drove to the hill this morning wearing my boots, @bobble style, except with the added challenge of a standard transmission and clutch....and there's Bob getting dropped off by Ms Bobble for a morning sesh (lured to the hill by a brief appearance of the sun). We had two hours of really nice carving with uncrowded runs, warmish temps and perfect snow making 3-4" trenches. Eventually our luck ran out and we found ourselves at the end of a long lift line at the bottom. We took a break and tried once more when the sun came out, had a nice run, but there was even more people at the bottom. Looking forward to 4-6" of snow in the next 24 hours and a sunny , but cold forecast for New Years dayPlanning on first tracks to start the new year out right No sign of @nelsonboat

Bob and I rode the first chair this AM with very few people on the hill for the first hour or so due the single digit temps, a north wind and overcast. Snow was very nice carving 2-4 inch trenches, best on the Express side (4pipe, Double jaw, sissorbill). Bindle, Sky and Gandy were all inconsistent with soft snow, crust and ice chunks. Cinder and terrain park closed with snowmaking. Fresh tracks under the chair show about 6" of new snow on the ground from the recent storm. We rode for about 3 hours with 2 breaks before quitting mid afternoon due to a crowded hill, and being cold and tired. Sun came out mid day PS, as we rode up the Gandy chair and got a look at the surface, we could tell it was a hard and bumpy groom. I said "let's go back over to the other side", and @bobble said something like, "hell, we have to do it for @Corey". So, one run and then back over to the whimpy side of the hill where the snow was good and the lines long.

Well, nothing like the forecast above. There was about 2-3" of wet snow on the ground when I got here last night. Temps have been hovering around freezing with another 2" of wet snow overnight. A blustery NE wind is producing some light lake effect snow this morning as the temps drop. Spirit reports "over a foot" of snow. Maybe they got more snow on the hill a mile from where I am. Should see soon. Conditions should certainly be much better than they have been. Much more snow apparently along the north shore. Lutsen reporting about 15". Finland close to 20". update 11AM: Snow is pretty nice, a firm chalky groom with a light dusting blowing into piles on the edges. Nothing near what Spirit's website deceptively reported by citing the snowfall report from the Duluth airport which is about 12mi north and inland from the lake! The parking lot at the top was filling up fast and early. Flat light and a lot of folks on the hill first thing, looking for the nonexistent foot of pow. I'm taking a break and plan go back out when the crowds thin and the sun burns through the clouds. update 4pm: back on the hill at 2pm with the sunout and many folks in the chalet (and not on the hill). Chopped up crud and cold wind but great snow for carving! It should be very nice tomorrow and Sunday, but it will be busy (lots of kids in "Holiday Camp"). Hint: Get here early and take a run before the lift starts up at 9:30. Then after the first hour or so, or when it starts getting busy, take an early break, then get back out as kids go in for cocoa and people come off the hill for lunch.

Heading up this afternoon with a load of firewood in the trunk next to the boards! I will file a snow report later. Might you be coming up after the snow? Looks like we may get several inches of powder on top of all the wet stuff for tomorrow morningI might have to drive all the way around to the top of the hill to get first tracks, and I'm packing the wide boards Spirit will be open at 9:30 each day through New Year's day.

Probably not entirely fair to trying to compare from memory, since I no longer have the K's or SG. I contributed a review of the SG 163 FRT in the "carve specific board" section. I'd like to get more good days on the Thirst boards and ride them back to back with my current boards which are all race derived construction with "recreational" sidecuts that like to complete turns. Thirst boards feel like a board designed with all the best characteristics of a modern race board, but designed from the bottom up, for recreational carvers who like to do big C shaped turns and experience some of the smoothness of a plate (built into the core) without additional hardware or any loss of snow feel.

No tricks. Looks the same material. More like a linear fabric. Anyone who got a Kessler recently seems to have this. This Kessler is the only other board I saw with this topsheet material out of about 80 SL race boards at the Buck Hill RTTC last week. The Thirst is my 162SF, delivered last summer. Daveo, I just posed the two boards here to show the similarity of the topsheet material, the Kessler's not mine. I sold my both my 162 Kessler and 163 SG.

You must be curious, no? What's up with these boards?

Yeah, I had the same lift line experience, except he didn't have time to back out, so he just tried to push me aside. Real sour dude, sucks all the good vibes out of the air around him! On the ride up I was actually strategizing my move if he tried to push me off. Does he just hate carvers, or everyone? Reminded me of this... https://www.aspentimes.com/news/skier-reportedly-pushes-snowboarder-off-aspen-highlands-chairlift/

Merry Christmas! The updated graphic forecast looks promising for a happy new year!

Hi James @crackaddict, I'm thinking of spending a few days at Sun Peaks (Feb 4-6) and then driving to Revelstoke on Wed, Feb 6th to ride with you guys for a few days before heading down to Turner on Sunday. I would be most grateful to take you up on your offer to crash at TheCrackhouse on a mattress or couch or whatever. I'll be traveling solo and will have my own bedroll. So, do the ferries run all winter? The lakes don't freeze? This will be the trip of a lifetime...or the beginning of a lifetime of trips. I've never been to BC, it looks beautiful and I'm stoked! Dave

Very nice film, gorgeous images! Especially liked the moonlight carving and the blue sky/powder clouds.

Peroneus longus? ...Ahh, just saw your last post, pain bottom of foot, not a tendon in ankle/heel. The foot wheel works pretty nice on those tender spots, even better than a golf ball: http://a.co/d/f9qarPN Heat/foot-wheel/ice Ask your Chiro do some ultrasound on the bottom of your foot to speed recovery along. And he should still check those calf muscles esp the above mentioned Peroneus Longus...and of course adjust the foot/ankle/knee. You have custom footbeds/orthotics?

...Well, the snow was softer at Buck and pretty nice for carving. Been pretty quiet up in the north country. What's up? Anyone been out. Rich called and told me Indianhead was kinda icy and not to bother, unless I like ice. Heading up to sauna house tonight and there til Monday.

Mark at Thirst emphasizes that one of the design features in his boards is something he does with the core (in addition to the asym part) that tunes it to work with the sidecut and flex patterns and the changes when the board is decambered. His sidecut curves have some secret sauce as well, probably not clothoid spirals, but I wouldn't know. What I do know is if you ride a Thirst relatively neutral (which must be the way I ride anyway), it carves as smooth as any board I've ridden (Kessler, Coiler, SG, Oxess, Rev) and maybe even smoother and quieter, if that's possible. They also seem to accelerate faster through turns than my other boards while still making a nice C shaped turn. I'm interested to ride them back to back with my other boards this winter.

I taught at a local hill (Wild Mt) for a few years. They needed instructors to teach 1st timers who would get a free 1 hr lesson with a rental package and lift ticket. I had no certification and they showed us how to teach some basic skills. Pay was minimal, but I got a season pass for myself and my daughter, and I had to buy one of their red jackets for 100 bucks. Most kids in those lessons really weren't interested in learning basic skills. You really have to like teaching for very little pay. Turned out I was just in it for the free passes and prestige of wearing the red jacket (allowed me to ride up early for first tracks). It was fun and I got to ride a lot. Even if you're a good skier/rider, you have to start at the bottom. PS, I remember I had to take a written test as well as demonstrating my teaching skills after the class, so I think I earned some base level of certification. The serious instructors that taught me to teach were going through the process of getting higher levels of certification during the following seasons. Pay was higher for them, private lessons etc, but the process had some hurdles to make it a challenge to earn a higher level certification. I think they had to travel to a western resort for the classes and testing.

Yes, the red course was faster on Sunday. It's never completely fair. Courses get rutted up throughout the day, so racers that go early have an advantage over the last racers . Weather plays havoc with fairness, ie; wind gusts, temp changes, sun, clouds... Somehow it all evens out with season point totals and the best riders rise to the top. I once heard this sage advice from a certain wise old coach when his racers complained, "just ride faster".

I heard some complaining too. Not being emotionally involved in the results, the way I saw it is everyone got one run in each course in qualifiers. The fastest combined times get to pick the favored course for finals (there's almost always a favored course) so...yeah the slower times didn't get fair second (or third and final?) chance to beat the racers that were faster on those first 2 runs. I'm guessing they chose not to do the double run elimination because the courses were deteriorating in the 45° and because some folks had flights to catch after the race. I had no complaints about the noncompetitive carving

Bumped into this guy the other day at Buck Hill...

I was surprised at how good the snow was, despite the warm temps. Can't control the weather. In past races Buck has gone from green grass 2 days before the race to full coverage! The first NorAm RTTC the GTeam hosted was held at Giant's Ridge in 2013. Nice event on a hill large enough to run both PSL and PGS, but... Buck works better because it's an easy and inexpensive flight to Mpls from anywhere in North America and the hill is close to the airport with shuttle transportation between airport, hotels and the hill, so you don't even need to rent a car. Having only slalom allows them to really focus on one discipline and saves on luggage fees and the hassle of lugging additional boards around. Being on a small hill makes getting to the start gate easier. You can watch the races from inside the lodge when it's cold. There's a warm-up run with a similar pitch right next to the race course, and you can watch your competitors on the chair ride up. I didn't hear the guy who won both Fri and Sun complaining. I even saw him take a celebratory run down the course yesterday after the gates were pulled!