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st_lupo

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Posts posted by st_lupo

  1. Should we all just start straight lining? Is getting smoked by the general public from behind the new norm?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    12 minutes ago, Odd Job said:

    The most visible colors are red/orange/yellow.

    For any other color, even if it's bright. Watch them ride away. They will look like the trees in the distance, or like the snow. You want to look like neither.

    I've seen pretty obvious colors like blues look like trees once they got far enough.

    How about black?  The number of people that wear black while night skiing is surprising.  Even with a massive amount of flood lights turned on, black clothes against a black horizon is never good fashion.

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  2. Heard it in the lift line 2023-2024

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    On 4/18/2024 at 8:15 PM, Hug Masso said:

    I dont know about you guys, but the lift line has been awesome, with many people saying “that thing sure rips”, “that is awesome”, "that things just flies doesn't it?", which makes one feel really good. Besides, I find myself pushing harder when the trail goes under some chairs, which I feel has helped me give that extra boost in diving into the fall line that helps bettering myself at a faster rate, although sometimes (more often than not) it ends in me falling and sliding on my ass (I have disintegrated 2 pants this season). No shame on that since I am not even 25 days in on my hardboot journey. But the lift line definitely improves the overall experience. Thank you lift line!
     

    Hugo

    I’ve always thought that there is an untapped business model here: pants by subscription.

    • Like 1
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  3. Electric Snowboard

    in The Lodge

    Posted

    Watched about 60 seconds of that.  Might be a defect in my head, but I don’t get it.  Looks like ok transport, but that was as inspiring as a lump of cheese rolled in gravel.  But then, I get off on stealing all of the downhill ebike KOMs on my “acoustic”(bleah) bike.

  4. Sidecut calculator reborn

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    On 4/6/2024 at 11:09 AM, SunSurfer said:

    I was exploring the CARV website a couple of days ago. Was invited to trial run a couple of web pages relating to a new product they are developing. New version is just motion sensors clipped to boot cuffs, no sole pressure sensors, so easily exchangeable between boots.

    They are now, as well as reporting turn angulation for each leg, reporting G forces experienced in the turn. The higher the G force the more powerful the change in direction, the better the carve effectively.

    I think there is enough in the graphs the app produces that I can interpret for myself as an alpine boarder to make it worth my while trying it. I'm hoping the new version actually appears in time for me to trial it this Southern winter.

    Ski IQ is a derived value to stroke the ego.

    I have more interest in the data. Only one way to find out.

    I hope they have some form for calibration so we can remove boot cuff flex from board inclination. Half of me really wants to get raw data, the other half knows that I would probably loose interest before I got any actionable info out of it.

  5. Who’s done for the season?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    A perfect season end.  The snow was still pretty good, but rain and warm temps will kill that this wee and the hill closes next saturday.  Snuck out of work early on friday and biked up to the hill, then I took an early saturday morning ride today.  Hardly any people, pleasent weather, and about 30cm of fresh snow, Nice! 
     

    Now I’ve cleaned all of our sticks and packed them away.  MTB forks and shocks are on the way back from service.  
     

    Anybody else hanging up for the season, and is it on a high note?

     

    IMG_7480.jpeg

    • Like 3

  7. Sidecut calculator reborn

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    On 4/4/2024 at 5:49 PM, SunSurfer said:

    CARV ski technology has the ability accurately measure changes in ski (boot) sole angle from a zeroed calibration point. In the boots of some skilled hardbooters, it would provide a definitive answer to that question.

    https://getcarv.com/ 

    And Carv explains why Ted Ligety is so good.
    https://getcarv.com/blog/why-its-almost-impossible-to-ski-like-ted-ligety
    Note Ted gets edge angles up closer to 80 degrees in his turns.

    Problem is they don't and won't support snowboarding.  When I asked about the possibility to recalibrate it for use on an SB, just for data logging, they basically said: nope.

  11. Sidecut calculator reborn

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    6 hours ago, johnasmo said:

    Letting the calculator figure the radius is a good thing.  Calculating radius from sidecut depth and effective edge is a good way to take the sidecut shape out of the picture.  A VSR shape and a radial shape with the same depth will project to a plane with a similar curve depth, but the shape of the projection will differ, making that a design variable you can play around with.

    A turn size calculator that doesn't take into account snow compaction won't be able to explain how straight skis turn.  Trench depth matters, but predicting it with a calculator would involve knowing rider mass, speed, and some tangible measure of compactability as a function of depth.  Yeah, that's when the math and physics get so complicated that making and testing prototypes remains more practical.

    A calculator that took trench depth and board angle as input, though, could calculate your turn size without even knowing sidecut radius.

    It's always going to be about both flex and sidecut.  My feeling is that sidecut radius is a good predictor on firm hardpack so long as the board isn't too stiff.  In softer snow, say leaving two or more inches of trench, it's more about the flex.  And like sidecuts, different core profiles produce different flex patterns, making that a design variable you can play around with.

    This!  I'm fairly convinced the flex profile of the board is at least as important as the sidecut for determining the realized turn radius.  But, what properties of the snowboard are really important to describe?  Two boards can provide the same theoretical turn radii, but how the board reacts on the way into that operating point determines if the board feels good or bad or if you can even reach the required degree of inclination. 

    Like MTB: total suspension travel is one of the numbers that people get really hung up over (and it does, to an extent, describe the intention of the bike).  But factors such as progression rates, axel path, anti-squat, damping, length, reach etc, etc are going to have an even greater influence on the ride qualities that may inspire the confidence to really push the bike.  I'm sure there are some analogs between MTB and SB.  Damping, progression, etc in a SB are created by materials, camber and side-cut profiles.

    If you really want to capture the dynamics of a full SB turn, there is a lot of factors that should really be taken in.  Snow deformation is an inherently nonlinear phenomenon (Ski-Snow Contact Mechanics), camber and side-cut geometries would need to be handled simultaneously, board flex, length, rider weight, COG, and torque inputs at the bindings, slope grade, board speed, etc, etc.  In the above discussions I'm wouldn't even be 100% sure that the assumption of uniform trench depth is valid (but maybe close enough).  At that point you might as well perform you simulations on the hill.

  15. Should we all just start straight lining? Is getting smoked by the general public from behind the new norm?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Hmmm, alternatively not over developing prime skiing land, not overselling passes, not offering every luxury and convenience under the sun for the entire family, and enforcing a zero tolerance to bullshit on the slopes would be my preference. 

    Chilli in a drafty cabin served by a group of volunteers, half sketchy chair lifts without safety bars, only t-bars to the very top, deathtrap-one and a half lane road to the base, Subarus in the parking with skis and boards bungied to the rack, not a condo in sight and God's own stash of powder and glades.  Long live the dirtbag skiers/boarders that truly burn for the sport.  The dorks that complain that they can't get Wagyu beef on their burger in the lodge can get bent.

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  17. Getting down and riding the pencil line turn to turn?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    9 hours ago, 1xsculler said:

    I found a hill that turned out to be very conducive to my carving ability, i.e. the Holiday Lift at Snoqualmie Central. It was perfectly groomed and just the right slope so I could connect pencil lines and even turn back up the hill a little when needed to slow down. It bored me and it would be a hill few of you would even consider (their bunny run) BUT I loved being able to connect pencil lines!

    That's awesome, but don't let it bore you!  It sounds like you've got a great baseline to refer to now, and I'll bet that if you keep working at it on that same slope you will improve your technique even more.  If your tracks are deep enough to survive from run to run, use them as a guide.  Repeat the same run and keep your turns and transitions in the same general areas.  Focus on tightening your turns each run by pushing your ability to angulate the board.  Reaching/touching your front boot-cuff with your outside hand is a really good mnemonic for this.  By using your previous tracks as a guide you will get clear and immediate feedback on how your progression is going.  Keep trying to turn inside your previous tracks.  Repeating this will develop your balance and board feel.  Eventually you will probably notice that you are going slower and trenching deeper, you might even notice that you start ending the run with a dusting of snow on your knees...  Now try something steeper!

    Focus on that mnemonic (I don't think you can over exaggerate that movement)  and it will get you pretty far (it tends to stack your body correctly rotationally and it forces your board to angulate steeper).  Other problems will eventually arise (backward weight shift on aggressive turns, etc), but don't worry about those until they show up. 

     

    • Like 1

  18. Getting down and riding the pencil line turn to turn?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Some observation from my pov:

    A lot of people over-drive the "balls" you need to attack the steeps (because they try it too soon?) and it builds an unnecessarily big mental hurdle in everybody else.  Practice the basics on terrain that you can master and graduate to steeper when you are ready.

    Mastery over speed control is alpha and omega in freeing yourself from the tyranny of the mountain and the snow conditions.  The degree that you can ride within your acceptable level of risk is completely dependent on how well you can manage speed.  A big part of this (for me) was realizing that I was consistently letting too much speed build up even before the first turn.  You very likely accelerate through the apex of the first turn, so you need to learn how to keep your pre-turn speed low enough so that the exit speed is acceptable and controllable.  Given you have a good entry speed, it's only edge pressure and completing those turns that are going to keep the speed in check unless you want to start skidding >yuck<.

    This leads to... the realization that steepness is your throttle.  If you can ride your favorite trail with your hardest repeatable pencil carves and decelerate, then your are ready to move up to something steeper, not before. 

    Assuming that you've browsed the tech articles and know what you should be practicing, do it.  Try to make virtually every turn of every run valuable.  Maximize edge pressure on every single turn.  Analyze what works and what doesn't.

    Groomers are like refined sugar, but crap conditions builds character.  Stay out when the trails are rutted up and teach those legs to ride hard but lite.  It's kind of an oxymoron, but you want to be able to set an edge with maximum pressure and at the same time you need to conform to the contours of the terrain.

    Age is a factor.  Don't mean to sound ageist but the general HB carving population is probably getting older and we either survive long enough to see a decrease in our abilities until we throw in the towel, or we get seriously injured.  I'm getting into an age where I have to start thinking about that more and more and I'm not happy about it.

    The only person you should measure yourself against is you.  Are you having fun?  Are you getting better?  If no or no:  take a deep breath, slow down and try to break the problem into smaller bite-sized problems.  Prioritize them and attack them.  What gives you the worst problems?  Steepness, ground clutter, ice, being able to carve repeatably,...  Then pick _one_ item and focus on that until you solve it.  There is no magic or talent required here.  Repetitive hard-work and reflection should get you on the path to improvement.

    • Like 7
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  21. How do you buy new board in these days?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    10 hours ago, Toast said:

    Well, you want to demo, probably not gonna happen much these days.  The market is too small.  MCC hopefully will happen next season, then you can demo, a few anyway.

    Buy new.  Donek or Winterstick these days for customs, Bruce says he wants' to quit.  Euro options exist, but no one's gonna demo in NA.  You wanna buy those K's or O's, do it.  Racy race style, buy the K, or, those O guys seem like they know they're what doing.

    Don't forget the V's.  (I've only ridden my own and it is awesome)

  25. Should we all just start straight lining? Is getting smoked by the general public from behind the new norm?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    One thing I happened to realize recently is that while I generally pick a lane and stay in it, I really get off on carving close to the trail edge/obstacles (half a meter or less).  This year there was a close call where luckily the person sneaking up approaching from behind wound up bailing before hitting me.  It finally went up for me that a person behind me picks the wrong side to pass on, the gap between me and the trees can disappear really quickly.  Given the choice they will pick hitting me over a tree any day.

    • Like 1
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