bigwavedave

Day 3 with the races at Buck. 3 days of bright sun after weeks of murkiness. Even though temps reached close to 40F each day, conditions were best yet (at least for recreational carving). First tracks on Crossroad produced that extremely satisfying zipper-ripping sound of carving purrfect fresh corduroy. On the ride back up the chair I got to enjoy watching and hearing 75 or so racers ripping into that cord on their first warm-up runs. Later hooked up with @bobble and @DonPablo for a few runs before gate judging duty called. Snowboard racing legend Mark Fawcett is back coaching the Canadian alpine team! For those who don't know who the guy on the right is; he's one of those who came into snowboarding from a surf/windsurf background, became one of the most accomplished snowboard racers in the world, and had a hand in developing the legendary Sims split tail burner.

A day at the races Buck Hill An action packed 45 second film-all the boards! the racing, the side-slip competition and one man's quest for the perfect carve...

Snow started out kinda crusty/firm, then softened up and was pretty nice for carving. Nicest conditions I've been on this season. Got about 5 runs in before and then 5 more after the races. Back tomorrow morning hoping to get some runs in before the races get going.

Does this view help? One of many at the RTTC (PSL) at Buck Hill, MN today.

Gone is the murkiness! The sun has returned Groomed by carvers... Snow is pretty nice, firm but getting softer. Grooming was still a bit uneven but not bad.

Glad I didn't make the drive down yesterday. Checked the webcam at noon and it was still foggy. Weird weather.

Thanks for the report Bob. Maybe I'll wait a few days. I've got other stuff I should be doing anyway. Maybe the Thursday early bird if it looks good. Otherwise, I'll only manage to sneak in a few runs before and in between races, never enough to satisfy.

Hand signal in the parting shot is much clearer with gloves.

Rode with @rwmaron from opening at noon. Lasted about 2 hours. The riding is still rough on the knees with an ice base covered by a firm 2" groom. Flat light to start and then sun for our last few runs when everyone seemed to be inside taking a break. I find myself longing for @softbootsurfer's soft Aspen groom. We need snow...Patience... If I get the call to help with the NorAm races, I'll be down at Buck Hill next weekend. Hope the snow is softer there.

Drove by the hill this evening. They're blowing a lot of snow on the XC trails at the bottom. Wish they'd add some to the slopes that got rained on I was looking at the webcam last night and saw it was snowing lightly (maybe 1/2 inch?), then I saw several skiers going down the hill. The express lift was not running (maybe Skyhooker?) Some kind of VIP night? btw, Spirit doesn't open till noon tomorrow. Blackjack had almost 2 feet of lake effect snow in the past week and Indianhead opens next Friday!

Pretty good snow at Wild. A firm groom resulting in 1-2 inch "trenches" in a good carve. Some hard stuff underneath. Started out with flat light and then glorious sun. Funny how a little brightness and definition improves one's riding. Spent some time fine tuning my stance on the new boards (I was making larger trenches on my toeside). Some of my hard work today...

I saw this photo on the Thirst site and was hoping you'd post it here. I was curious to see this view as it shows a smooth arc with no kinks or flat spots under the bindings on these boards.

Wild 2018-19 Thinking of riding at Wild tomorrow (Thursday) on my way up north.

But, you can 2 days for the price of one at Indianhead with your Buck Hill pass.

Haven't been there, but I drive by it in the summer. There's a big old ski jump and the trails appear steep and narrow, at least what you can see from the highway. Thunder Bay apparently has a dispensary. I saw billboard ads this summer. But now there's Michigan...

Hey Dave, They all have a waist width close to 20.5. They each differ by a few mm because he actually made them specifically for my prefered stance width and angles, since a long board and a short board of the same waist width will have different widths where the bindings mount. Mark Miller (Thirst) can be very meticulous! The 184 has a sidecut in the range of 13-14m. The 175 is about 11-12m. The 162 is around 9-10m. If you've read the reviews of these boards you'll know that they have an asym sidecut, built for either goofy or regular, but not the way you might think, the heelside is slightly forward of the toeside. Also, the heelside scr is not the same as the toeside scr, and are not of a fixed radius. I think the heelside is tighter than the toeside, but I'm not sure. (correction: toeside scr is tighter than heelside) Certainly wouldn't know from riding it, it all flows nicely. And then there is the asym "WARP" wood core construction that smooths out the flat spots under your plate bindings and somehow is further tuned to work with the sidecut and flex. For me, the proof is in the pudding, even if I don't understand how it's made. An afternoon demo on a Superconductor sold me and ultimately put a dent in my retirement funds. So far, I've only ridden these on fairly challenging carving conditions at Spirit. ie, Man made snow that got rained on, a lot like what we had last spring when you and Cory were here. Can't wait to get out on some better snow. It will be interesting to ride them back to back with my other boards. Oh, and close to 2cm taper on each board.

These arrived throughout the summer in anticipation of my impending retirement. Instead of a gold watch, why not a quiver of carving boards! Large (184), medium (175) and small (162).

Rode with Russ for a couple of hours today in flat light, almost foggy. Not too crowded, but had to look out for the yellow/brown man made snow (river water tannins) which was firmer (icy and chunky). The white stuff was pretty nice for carving, although 2 inch deep carves found ice under the soft stuff, so it made one concentrate on good riding form. So, there's a good hard base, we just need several inches of natural snow to make for happy, carefree carving. Might have to consider a trip over to the U.P. if they continue getting lake effect snow. Not much snow in the forecast for Spirit next week. Have to remind myself it's still relatively early in the season and the best start we've had in several years.

1 1/2 inches overnight and still snowing a bit today. Stopped by to check on the hill and the surface feels better than last Sunday, so I plan to go out tomorrow (Friday, open at noon). Maybe they'll have a couple more runs open. Saw lots of x-c skiers on the new trail system at the bottom of the hill--they were zipping down the bottom of 4pipe--the snow looked soft, not icy.

...and what board is that? I don't get much powder time either (I found a used Fish that's great for the deep stuff), but out of my quiver, hardboots on a Donek Incline has worked best for tracked out powder, but it's still tiring. I'm wondering if a split tail like a Prior Powstick would be better? What do folks find is best after it's tracked out?

I looked at the webcam this evening and saw lots of carvers (10-15?) one by one, coming down Milk. Thought I could see some stubbies set up too. GTeam training?

Menards has these leather insulated super warm and durable gloves (also mittens) on sale for $14.99. I've had the same mittens for about 3-4 years and a pair of the gloves for 2-3 yrs. They hold up pretty well especially if you treat them with "sno-seal" (or similar beeswax leather waterproofing). Made in China, so we might not see this price again for awhile. https://www.menards.com/main/home-decor/apparel/gloves/winter-gloves/rugged-wear-reg-mens-deer-grain-leather-winter-gloves/6601761/p-1444421907876-c-7085.htm?tid=-1980189074866561122&ipos=19

Lake effect snow is turned on inda U.P.! I might make over to Blackjack this Friday. 11/29/18 Change of plans, maybe next week.

I like that Buck is willing to refresh the slopes when needed. Wild is good at that too. Once Spirit covers a slope they never go back to refresh after a meltdown