Corey

Interesting. Looks like there is excellent snow clearing areas for the attachment points, though the bottom of the heel looks like a trouble point.

Smooth and powerful! Awesome riding, James!

Did you know that you can adjust the volume on most audio devices? I have mine quite low, to the point that I can barely hear it over wind noise while moving.

I've found that a 'bus driver' with a weighted barbell in a land mine (or corner) hits this exact muscle very similar to snowboarding. Regular deadlifts and squats don't hit it enough. It's my right side of my spine, regular-foot rider. I also add strengthening exercises for the sides of my calves (the muscles that roll the foot along its long axis) to my training program. Dr. Austin Baraki of Barbell Medicine is a medical pain expert that openly critiques things like the McKenzie method. Check this video for a reading of one of his short articles. If that intrigues you, they have many articles and podcasts on the topic, as casual or science-y as you want. I'm amazed at how fast I've come back from a couple back 'tweaks' using their process, laid out in the video linked within that video. Get past Alan's 'big badass Marine' voice to hear the content. I used a foam roller and lacrosse ball when I was having flare-ups of that muscle, though I now realize that foam rolling is a placebo. A placebo that's pretty cheap and worked, so I still carry that lacrosse ball in my riding gear on trips. Haven't used it in years. @FTA2R, the comment at 4:00 is exactly addressing your comments. Catastrophizing is only adding to your issue. The spine is made to bend and twist, and over time you can progressively strengthen the supporting muscles. I had a similar mindset to you; defeated to an ever-shrinking range of motion as I aged. My back hurts less often now after a few years of training than it did 10 years ago.

Hey @ktv, just wanted to say thanks. That Apekx Bluetooth player is exactly what I wanted! Small, good battery life, functional with mitts on (barely...), etc. It has replaced an old iPod Shuffle as well as eliminating a cable between my jacket and helmet.

Metal boards can bend and take a set. It's still rideable, unlike a cracked glass board, but its glory days are over.

Very true!

The Ski Tracks app worked pretty well, though it confirmed the pathetic situation of skiing/riding in the Prairies. :sigh: Riding a Coiler Angry (~9.5m sidecut) in traffic resulted in a top speed of 28 mph (45 km/hr) down those whopping 260' (80m) runs. I don't know what triggers the 'run count' to increment, but it's more than 260' as it indicates that I did zero runs all day long. It said 7 mph (11 km/hr) average speed, though I assume that includes the lift line and lift as it couldn't tell what was a run and what wasn't in the prairie wonderland. I'm pretty sure I'm not THAT slow. The track is pretty choppy, indicative of a low sampling rate looking at a waveform. This IS a phone app that uses the on-board GPS, so no big surprise. A 10Hz signal from something like this Qstarz unit would be interesting if it could communicate with the app.

Moved to Vintage For Sale. Neat board for the right buyer!

Absolutely this. It's a three-point system*. As the pins/wings slide down the ramp on the front of the heel receiver, they push the toe forwards. In theory, the toe bail gets tight just before the retractable pins pop out into the holes. This generates some preload that reduces slop. Keep in mind that this is a plastic boot with a squishy rubber sole, so it's not perfect. I had the plastic sleeves in my Fintec heels split and fail. That led to funky things as the pins could move up and down. I had to loosen the toe bail slightly to allow the pins to engage consistently, at least until I figured it out! * Pedantic note: It's three points as viewed from the side. The assumption is that left and right sides work the same, giving a toe pad, toe bail, 2 stationary pins, and 2 retractable pins, all in various states of preload.

http://www.snowperformance.com/index.php/what-we-do/camps used to have a carving camp at Sun Peaks resort that I seriously considered. I don't see it now. I'll add another vote for https://montuckyclearcut.com/. There are casual clinics but you learn a lot by osmosis too, being around other riders. It's not just high-end riders either; there's a mix of people that are all eager to help each other.

Truly crummy. Sounds violent... All the best for your recovery!

Best wishes for the kid. As a father, I can say I would have struggled to keep my cool if someone hit my kid like that. "Inherent risk"? WTF? The skier's responsibility code disagrees. This must have been favoritism at its finest. These kids consciously took a large risk, and someone else paid the price. If you've spent significant time on the snow, you've no doubt received a random lecture by some blowhard patroller for some incredibly petty thing. How would that same patroller treat this ski racer?

Neat! Nice looking app. Thanks @Emdee406! Now I'll be able to add an intelligent answer after this weekend.

While I've been curious, I've never actually cared quite enough to take steps to measure my speed. @Emdee406, what phone app did you use? I suspect that average speeds are probably higher than recorded with how infrequently phones take GPS samples, and that peak speeds are likely not to be trusted. I have definitely slowed down over the years. Frankly, I shudder when I think back to speeds I hit 20+ years ago, and the conditions in which I did that. Ah, the perceived invincibility of young men...