bigwavedave

Free to the first responder?...or do we just start bidding? How are the slopes at Indianhead/Blackjack? Still hoping to get up there soon.

Weather looks nice for tomorrow. Rearranged some appts, so I can join you for the first (best) half and then out by 2! MNSurfer's Jan 18th post made me do it.

Totally agree! SL is more suited to parallel. They even tried a triple SL course once or twice (I think to make the whole process go faster), but nobody liked it! And, it really emphasized how you can't watch 3 riders at once. I think they moved to the parallel format when BX came on the scene, and tried to create a similar "horse race" excitement with finalists racing to the finish line. I think they hoped to make it more exciting for spectators. As carvers, I think we are more interested in watching one rider at a time and being able to focus our analysis on how each individual manages to navigate a challenging course. Nothing like watching Nagano in 1998! I would love to see a clip of JJ Anderson's first run again, which had him in first place (and Thedo Remmelink, our current US coach in 3rd). Anyone have a link for a video of that? I have one for the 2nd run. If you get stoned enough, curling is pretty interesting to watch.

I agree, miss the the old GS course where they can use all of the hill for one interesting course. But... Racers love the parallel, head-to-head format. For them it's much more fun. If you get into the top 16, you get more than just one or two runs through the course. The further you advance in the finals the more it becomes a test of endurance. Having someone next to you can be at once a distraction and a motivator to push yourself to go faster. It would be nice if they would mix it up and apparently this used to get discussed often amongst racers and organizers in FIS.

I rode up the chair at the Buck Hill NorAm races last year with a guy from Steamboat (where they had been having epic powder days) and asked him if he was in heaven riding all that powder. He said, rather unenthusiastically, "Yea, it's fun, but It gets boring, it's too easy. There's nothing like getting big G's carving hard!". Kinda surprised me to hear that, of course he was a racer, but still...so maybe I do live in heaven where we ride on extra firm groomers 90% of the time! I always thought I was just making the best of what we had. Our powder days are when the snow is soft enough to make 3-4" trenches.

That looks really great! Your heelside looks pretty good, no counter rotation! You keep your body (shoulders & hips) facing forward. You can improve the power on your toeside by reaching down towards the board with your left arm or trying to keep you right hand up. When your doing it correctly your shoulders stay close to level with the hill. Then try working on weighting and un-weighting, coming down into the board as your edge engages and straightening up (unweighting) to release the edge as you come into the transition, and then drop into the next turn. This is usually a subtle motion, but it helps to exaggerate it in the beginning to get the feeling. This stuff isn't that important on perfect snow and easy slopes, but comes into play on steep and/or icy hills, so is good to practice on the easy slopes.

Acoustic, I had a 174 Nirvana FC with p-tex top and 12-14scr. I loved it in soft snow in Aspen where I demoed one, but liked it less on the "Minnesota firm" back home. I prefered the more lively ride of the REV I also demoed and brought home that year. Bruce later told me the Nirvana FC was a more carve oriented version of his All-Mt board─very easy to ride, mellow and versatile. This board, based off of Bruce's race board design, is a bit more lively than the Nirvana. Lively when you put the energy into it, yet very smooth and well behaved and great on everything from soft groom to hard pack and ice. I feel like I can push it harder than the Nirvana and I like the way it responds─rocketing into a turn with smooth aggression. My larger version (the 179cm) has a very slight delay as it fully engages and rockets off into the turn─FUN! Probably a small turny version of a Nirvana might be the ticket for the conditions at Mammoth. I'm imagining typically soft wet snow? At least that's what I've experienced on my few west coast trips, including Mammoth. Bruce would know what to build! I've been very pleased with the results when I've let Bruce do his thing after telling him what I think I want from a board and in what conditions I want it to perform best. Unfortunately, looks like Bruce's calendar is full for awhile, what with his upcoming knee surgery. Dave

Wow, this thread really went sideways, but I'll go along. I'll have to say I love the sidewinders because of how they dampen that side-to-side motion─much easier on the knees than the hard stop I felt on other bindings with sideways movement. I once mounted a Gopro right behind my bindings (Catek World Cup) and was very surprised to see how much my boots (Burton Reactors) rolled back and forth with each turn. I would add to the SL board discussion by saying that modern SL boards (Kessler, SG, Rev (all of which I've owned & ridden) and probably F2, Oxcess, etc) are totally different animals than the older full cambered, glass SL boards with single radius sidecut─even though these are great fun, they're just not insanely fun, and have their limitations. ...and I've seen racers get pretty close to a EC turn in a SL course...modern SL boards can do things you wouldn't expect to work on an an ordinary little board.

Hey Ron, I have really enjoyed riding this board this year. It's been on almost exclusively groomed hills, anything from "Minnesota firm" (½" deep trenches) to "Aspen plush" (4-6" deep trenches) and it rides really smooth, even on the hard stuff when it's getting chopped up─surprising for a relatively short board. My first day on it last spring was on a sheet of ice covered by 2" of groomed, loose sugar snow, and (careful to use my best technique) it held an edge like there was no ice. It has a pretty wide nose and it seems to be soft enough to bend into a carve in soft snow. I would be more comfortable in really soft snow if the nose were not so blunt. I recently went over the nose on my Rev (similar blunt nose) when it drove into a soft spot, mid carve, and then came to a stop in a hard spot. I think a more rounded nose might ride up over those hidden hard spots. It is a lot easier to ride than the SG163 full race, I think mainly because of the near radial sidecut, which makes it easier to complete turns. I like to take my time, doing "C" shaped turns, bleeding off speed─I know you like to relax a bit when you ride too Of course this board can change it up and do some nice quick linked slalom'y turns. Not sure I would change anything. I have learned to trust that Bruce has the ability to deduce what board to build for you when you give him enough information about what conditions you mostly ride and what qualities you like about other boards you've ridden. I wish I was able to try some of the different side cut variations he offered for this board, like the 8-10-9 for a bit turnier feel, but I went with what Bruce recommended (9-10), and it's pretty nice. I can ride it all day without getting tired or bored. Dave

I'd second the SG163 full race. One of the most fun and versatile boards I've ridden, especially if you ride at a smaller or crowded hill, short runs, so you can have time to catch your breath. If you really like that single sidecut ride of the Proteus, I don't think you can get a custom Kessler or SG, so you're stuck with a wide-range variable scr. I'd be curious about a Thirst board, although it's not Euro. Algunderfoot (who has ridden and owned a lot of exotic boards) wrote a pretty glowing review of his new board in the carving boards section.

Yup, prototypes, likely from a racer during the development period with the SSWSC.

You know it's going to be a good day when it starts out looking like this...

I went to a few world cups, back when they still had a stop in the USA. Jasey Jay was the only racer I saw taking runs in between races for the fun of it, layin' down huge turns on the chopped up run next to the race course.

Rode from 10 to 2:30, part of the time with Rich and Marba. There were a couple of hundred high school racers over on the Gandy side today, not on the Spirit calendar. Stayed over on the express side where the snow was very nice and firm and great for carving. Light was relatively flat, but not bad.

Not for all day “relaxed” riding . Race boards, particularly GS boards, seem to have a bit of set back of the inserts, necessitating the aggressive forward, go-fast stance. I prefer to mount my bindings centimeter or so forward of the reference stance on race (GS) board for more relaxed ride.

Great description! That's just what it feels like

I had fun today, 10am-2pm (earlybird ticket, 20 bucks). Everything was groomed overnight and seemed deceptively firm. Took one run on a carving stick and found it cutting through the packed powder surface into the soft stuff underneath─what one should of expect on first day groom after a foot of snow! So, got out the 164 Incline and had a ball. Nice to see both of the Bobs out @bobble @BobD Warner's was the most fun and stayed nice til shortly after noon, when it got discovered...this photo was at about 11am, the wind last night had spread some fresh snow around after the groomers...trenches were deep, snow was smooth Took a few last runs on the 180 Incline over on Milk, which was really chopped up, but it just cut nice big carves across the hill. Somehow that board seems to draw attention and I had several people comment on how cool and fun it looked carving across the hill. Good day! ...Yea Bob, the only time I laid down in a carve was when I pushed a little too hard and the snow gave away. Kept you on your toes

Not a set-up for all day riding, even with world cup thighs. Pretty sure GS race board inserts have more set-back than a recreational carver (although I've never measured it) so they can be ridden with an aggressive, go-fast forward leaning stance. I've been more comfortable on them when I moved my bindings forward about a cm or so for more relaxed (all day) riding. Just saying..... I don't race anymore.

3 wins in a row for Ester in PGS. Pretty impressive! Maybe coaches will be putting alpine boarders on skis for cross training? Just like how BX coaches started having their riders learn how to carve with the alpine snowboard racers several years ago. This looked like a pretty big turny course favoring bigger carves. This is from the FIS website. Just the final run. The final run of the men follows, worth watching them layin' it all out!...and nice to see Oxess and Black Pearl boards getting on the podium with SG and Kessler.

I've had both SG163 and Kessler162 SL boards. Insanely fun to ride, they will do anything, and I found them very forgiving, as I think they are designed to be able to recover from extreme situations. Of course, you can get into extreme situations faster than you can think, so you have to stay on top of it, which is a bit more work than riding a Nirvana. My newest custom board is a Coiler based off of Bruce's race SL design, a 165, but with a near radial side cut (9-10m). I can ride it all day, whereas the SG and Kessler SL were a lot of work to keep reined in. I don't know if it's any different from an Angrry, but I love it.

The BTS and DGSS allow a greater range of motion with an adjustable, motion dampening stiffness. End range of motion is mechanically limited both with the "ride" mode or add-on boot spring systems. This metal mechanical limit is still just anchored to plastic boot parts. Maybe it provides additional cushion from catastrophic failure in a crash. I think some riders can overpower and break just about anything. Better to have equipment breaking before body parts.

I have been riding mostly in walk mode for about 25 years (90% of the time on groomers). Up until several years ago, using old Burton Reactors which had very little spring dampening when locked, and more recently UPZ10's. I had been riding the Upz's (standard black tongues) in walk mode when it was about 10°F or colder (stiffness felt about right), and engaged the spring lock for more stiffness when it was warmer. I still felt I wanted more range of motion then the stock springs provided. After hearing all the warnings about risk of injury I installed DGSS last year and have been happy with it. The range of motion feels similar to walk mode. I like having the flexibility in all my joints to react to terrain changes. I also want my knees to last the rest of my life. Replacement parts ain't as good as the originals. I think the risk of injury in walk mode is likely greater with heavier riders. When I started riding I was 165lbs and could barely flex those old Reactors. Now I'm 20lbs heavier.

You're really on the light/small size for even the smallest stock 170'ish GS boards, unless you're a very strong rider or still growing. You could also contact Sean Martin at Donek Snowboards. He has a lot of experience building boards for young racers in USASA and SSWSC and should be able to advise you.

Rode with Russ all morning. Snow was very nice on all the runs. Skies started out overcast with flat-ish light and then mostly cleared after noon. It never got crowded, so rode till 3pm. Temps remained below freezing , yet were above zero all day for the first time in a while (no face masks or hand warmers required!). On Gandy Dancer... Looks like Sunday's potentially big snowstorm is zeroing in on Duluth

The other day as I was heading toward my car after leaving my mark on all the runs at a small local hill, a couple of soft booters came running up to me saying they had seen my tracks everywhere and wanted to know what kind of board I was riding that could hold an edge like that (a new coiler 165 SL)! Looking at the board they wondered if the magic was rocker and magnetraction (ready for adult snowboarding!)