bigwavedave

Hit Spirit in the afternoon when I got back from Giants Ridge. Sheets of ice everywhere , the ever present ice base layer under an inch or so of loose granular, bare spots, oh my . Tried 2 different runs, no decent carves to be had. With out a miracle snow this week, I think Spirit is done, although with temps cooling this week they could try to pull off their spring bash next weekend.

The snow at GR is pretty good--No ice, no bare spots. Some runs had a crusty groom from the night before when it was still warm, but runs that were groomed later were good carving. One major problem was that the 2 main chair lifts that served the best carving runs broke down first thing this morning , so I left about noon because they still weren't running. Plan to go up tomorrow providing the lifts are working. The groom should be really good as it didn't get above freezing today. Ran across Jim Rothman and hiked up one of the runs with him. ...and rode down on the new safari Coiler...

Decided to head up tomorrow, Saturday and maybe stay over for Sun if conditions are good.

Price reduction bump...

How about some photos Dave? My first and only time at Mt Snow was also my first experience skiing classic "corn" snow conditions, spring break, late 1960's.

Well, it's a little late now, but I've thinned the quiver, at least down to same species.

Coiler revelation 180, 13-14scr, 20.5 waist Raceboard (NSR) construction/flex etc with all the latest raceboard tweaks, but with an (almost) single sidecut radius for old guys like me who want to slow down and take a breath between turns. A big brother to my Donek safari rev 11-12scr. I might have gotten another rev, but with the current favorable exchange rate (USD/CAD), it was hard to pass up the chance to have Bruce work his magic on this concept. Bruce said it was really fun to ride in the pre-topsheet test, in fact he's making one for himself. I'll get to ride it this weekend.

I think I read the warnings here about leaving boards unsupervised in the closet...This is what happens... started with this: and this happened:

Just heard from Jim Rothman regarding conditions at GR: "The conditions are great. After the warm weather last week, they do change some from day to day, and throughout the day, but overall, really good. Plenty of snow left on the hill." I'm still thinking about going Sunday. Should have something new to ride!

Anyone been up there recently? Wondering how the snow conditions are. Thinking about going up this weekend, maybe Sunday.

Spirit announces that they will close M-Th for "slope maintenance and snow conservation". Thinking about going to Giants Ridge Thursday, maybe. Rain today can't be good, but colder temps on the way. Should be thinking about a Lutsen trip before the end of the season too.

Yup, metal board construction with all the decamber in the nose & tail, and feels pretty damp so likely has some rubber layers in there too. The original post listed the scr as 14m, and that feels about right, but it is likely one of Bruce's blended scr's with an average of 14m. And, yes, it handles all conditions well, but is really optimized for soft snow conditions, like a big Coiler AM. The extra width & length provides flotation, and that combined with the soft/damp/decambered nose & tail , gives it a "Cadillac" ride in crud and chop. It's a lot of width to get up on edge on hard pack, which is 95% of my riding. It's the board I wished I had at Aspen SES last year where every day was super soft snow that got chopped up pretty quick with deep trenches. Here's a link to Bruce's comments about this board: http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/21402-any-coiler-monster-ride-reports-yet/?hl=%2Bcoiler+%2Bmonster

$350 shipped (lower 48) SOLD Coiler Monster 188 23cm waist 14scr The link below is the original post from last summer when I bought this. Was hoping to ride it in the soft snow conditions it was made for. I rode it a handful of times, never in soft snow, so this Cadillac should go back to the mountains. Hell of a way to demo boards. http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/40206-3-metal-coilers-1-metal-donek/?hl=monster

I read Fin's original post #1 and his recent clarification. Pretty clear he's asking from a forum-host/customer service perspective, not to open a debate about which is better. I haven't read all the intervening posts (and I don't want to go there), but apparently some folks were offended by the ensuing bashing of various footwear 4 years ago. A few years ago I stumbled upon this video from Cliff Ahumada (godfather of the Aspen expression session) commenting on this thread which apparently had turned into a hard vs soft debate, and touched a lot of nerves. https://vimeo.com/10741375 I think a sub-forum makes sense as it seems that there are more softbooters discovering the aesthetics of carving. Sole brothas sub forum Meanwhile...back to "drinkin' beer at the bottom of Buttermilk and lookin' like somebody".

"CARVING Community" says it all, I vote no need for a separate forum. What about SoftBootSailor? , he's got more carving soul than anyone.

There is a big difference in the relative stiffness of "hard boots". I found the list below from an old thread helpful regarding the number codes for Raichle / Deeluxe boots. The 225's are stiffer than most, better for applying pressure to edges on hard snow. I found a used pair of 413's and they're way softer and flexy in all directions than any other hard boots I've had. SB series: Soft: 123 = 223 = 323 = 413 Medium: 124 = 224 = 324 = 423 = Lemans Stiff: 125 = 225 = 325 AF series: Stiff: AF600 = Susuka Very stiff: AF700 = Indy

Nomad is much closer to the Landlord, nearly identical at least in flex, shape (fat, decambered nose), stance set-back, etc, as far as I could tell, by comparing my Nomad side by side with a Landlord in a shop. I have not ridden the Landlord. The plus side is the Nomad has 4 x 4 inserts reinforced for plate bindings instead of a slot. I find my normal carving hardboots too stiff for the board in deep powder snow and prefer something like the super soft and flexy Raichle 123, 223, 323 or 413. I'm told they're similar in flex to a stiff soft boot. In the heavy wet stuff, like Blueb's "chowder", or a half foot of fresh snow on top of soft groom, stiffer boots and cambered boards seem fine. I prefer my Incline with the bindings set back for that. Caveat: I rarely get to ride true powder, so every time has been a learning experience. The last time was waist deep in Aspen last year, prior to SES.

1 1/2 weeks ago (March 3rd post above), I had one of the best days on snow this year. After a week of freeze/thaw temps, conditions are morphing into classic granular/corn snow. Started out below freezing yesterday on variable consistency groom (soft to hard) and flat light, but after about an hour or so the sun started softening the snow and each run got better and better. About 4-5 inches of granular over a hard base layer gave a surfy feel with enough grip for aggressive carves, but required good form. Had to watch out for one brown spot just out of sight over the knoll at the bottom of Chippewa. Although we tried to espouse the aesthetics of carving and the tracks we left behind to other skiers, by the end of the day we had to admit that we had butchered the hill! Satisfied with ourselves and a day well spent. Hopefully Russ got some decent photos to post.

Yesterday at Spirit Mt, 45 degrees, slarving in granular snow, lift op said "looks like you're water skiing, no... water boarding". Water boarding? I think not!

rwmaron and I heading to Indianhead tomorrow, Thursday.

Some soft groom today...

3-4" of groomed fine granular over the re-emerging ice base. Some brown spots on 4pipe, otherwise good coverage on all other runs (and less ice). Started out just above freezing at 10 AM and got up to over 50 degrees by 2pm. Snow started getting slow after a couple of hours. Rode 3 different boards, the 188 monster, the 180 Incline, and the 175 safari Rev, which is still king-of-the-hill.

Arrived in time for first tracks. Snow was noticeably different from Thursday, you could tell there had been some melting since then, as the groom was very firm and a little crunchy in spots, but still excellent carving. First run was in flat light, but the clouds quickly dispersed. After about 1-2 hours, as it warmed up, snow started melting on the board and then became softer on the hill, but still nice carving (2-3" trenches). Started to get down to the ice base on 4pipe where folks were scraping it off. I left a little after noon when it started getting harder to get a clean run and after having a close call with a very fast straight-line skier on Scissor Bill (I was looking uphill on every turn!). Looks like a headlong rush into spring conditions this week. I might be back for more on Tuesday. Slush boards are in the car! So glad we got out last Thursday. Likely the last we see of dry powdery snow til next season! Russ and I are still planning a day trip over to Indianhead this Thursday.

Hey Bob, get your new board yet?

Changed out my winter tires today, moving the clock ahead tonight, snow melting temps are in the forecast, feeling the urge to come out and play on the snow tomorrow as we rush into spring.