st_lupo

Oh yeah that road *shudder*

Best advice I got from a pro mountain biker is to just focus on the exhale, inhaling will sort itself out. When you get used to exhaling while you are under exertion while snowboarding (for example), it typically carries over to most kinds of other activities that require exertion.

I had a trip to UT last year and wound up riding Powder Mountain with my bigger Coiler NFC and had a freaking blast. It is a perfect all-mountain riding kind of place with some awesome groomed stuff and awesome "powder carving" runs. I haven't been at too many places where you can do a single run by first dropping into a chute, then blasting into seemingly perfectly spaced glades, and ending up carving a groomer like a hero into the lift. Mainline / Whiskey Springs was so cool if you want to be a bit of an exhibitionist, and there were plenty of blues if thats your bag too. Very low density of people at the resort due to limited ticket sales and a relaxed ski bum atmosphere. The focus was totally on the terrain and riding experience and had bugger all for luxury. Absolutely brilliant!

Amen to that. I've got a 1.5 liter water bottle at work that I have to finish off before going home everyday. My dad got kidney stones and peed them out the good old fashioned way. I do _not_ want to go through that, ever. Besides, lasers up that hole just aren't my kink.

Damn... I used to dream of moving back home to Colorado when I retire, but that has gotten way too crowded in the past 10 to 15 years. I've been working a bit near Ogden the past few years, and I started imagining moving there or Eden (especially due to proximity to Powder Mountain), but if Utah is getting slammed with folks, maybe I'll just get comfortable with speaking børk børk børk the rest of my life!

Except that #3 was alway a crunch!? Careful with that!

*clears throat and looks nervously at the people gathered in the room*. Ahem, my name is Saint Lupo and I have a problem. When I ride up the chair lift and see an untouched groomer, I start drooling and try my best to rip off the safety bar so I can jump the 30 feet down to the ground before anybody else can make tracks. Other people on the lift might casually engage me in conversation about my unconventional snowboard, but after five minutes they start looking concerned and edging away from me. When unloading they absolutely rocket away from me. Some weekends I forget to eat breakfast or even take the kids with me up to the mountain, but I never forget my edge tuner. Late season my socks are usually bloody at the end of the day. I have a problem. Winter doesn’t last all year.

You remember that time when one of your kids was taking forever out in the garage (where you keep your snowboard parts) so you decided to see what the heck they were doing? Then as you started turning the knob on the door to the garage you heard a hurried shuffling sound like something was being hastily discarded? And then you stood there looking at your kid who had an expression like they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar? Both of you probably decided to let that moment drop and just forget about it. Probably shouldn't have let it drop...

Ossu sensei! Arigato gozaimasu!

I'd guess that one of the major benefits of the plate is that (depending on the mounting style of the plate) it removes two problem modes of rider input: A)twist and B) flat-spots in the boards longitudinal bend. I remember a Donek video showing that a weighted and inclined board should describe an ideal/clean arc on a plane. The nose starts the arc and the rest of the board follows through the same arc. If the rider provides conflicting inputs that twists the board or puts wiggles on its longitudinal flex, then different parts of the board are going to want to follow slightly different arcs, and you will wind up plowing an arc instead of cleanly cutting the arc. It could be interesting to hear if plates have different levels of improvement on single radius sidecuts, VSR, clothoid, etc. There is probably also a component that gives better damping characteristics of the board+plate+rider system due to the removal of a couple of mechanical constraints that are otherwise imposed by a flat mounted boot. Where the rider interface with a plate is akin to a simple supported beam and the interface with the bindings on the board removes the freedom of the board to rotate under the boot.

I love that this detoured off into kendo. To me there are tons of parallels between hardboot carving and martial arts (relentless pursuit of perfection, etc). One of the hardest things to develop in karate (for me at least) is to practically develop the ability to maximize power and speed by relaxing. Learning to relax the body while exerting only the required muscles is bloody hard but it is one of the things that separates the people with fast/fluid techniques from the sweathogs (me). I always thought flying sailplanes would be graceful, lazy and relaxing until I had my first lesson. It can look effortless and relaxing from the outside, but don't think that it is ever a passive activity. Stability during the turn is a very dynamic thing and there are probably dozens of things per second that need to be adjusted and tuned; the posture needs to be correct, weight distribution needs to be guided and adjustments need to be made to match variable trail conditions. To get that relaxed look you need to be able to both maintain that dynamic stability while minimizing/removing any unnecessary movements/tension, plus have the mindset/confidence that only comes after hours and hours and hours of riding, experimenting, crashing and learning.

Crazy! For me it was the exact opposite, softboots was pow, trees and relax whereas getting out the hardboots is like taking a pavement saw to the slopes, vibration, violence and hooliganism. Speaking of pavement saw, Big Black would be in my top 10 bands for a hardboot carving soundtrack.

@pow4ever: I just tell people that if they aren’t falling, they aren’t trying hard enough!

Hey 1xsculler the single best piece of advice I got to get me low to the snow is to not think about getting low to the snow (thanks Corey!). Getting low to the snow is not a means or an end, but a by-product of good technique. If you're focus is on getting low while you are riding, you will wind up wasting your energy and likely just get frusterated. Don't think about getting low, just trust that when you have developed your technique sufficiently you will be rewarded by your knees or your hips unexpectedly brushing the snow at the apex of your turns. The point is to direct your focus to where you can make a difference. You need to focus on good technique (the means) which will result is great carved turns (the end) and given the right conditions (slope/speed, etc) the byproduct is going to be getting super low on the ground. Easy, right?! Now to technique... Like mentioned above, what style of turns are you trying to achieve? I focus on what I think is traditional bomber style and at the start of every season I have to re-learn alot of technique until I stop loosing my edges, but the things that typically get me sorted quickest have been mentioned above and repeated here: Square your hips to the board (especially true for me since I ride higher angles than most (65/62.5)) Look into the turn and preferrabley a bit inside of the turn (do this early). This is a really good trick to get your shoulders, torso and hips set up for the turn (especially effective on the heel-side turn) Lateral angulation of your body. This is super critical if you want to develop a turn that will get you low! Use what ever trick you need in order to bend your whole body appropriately so that the board is forced up on edge. You can for example reach for your front boot with your outside hand. or Focus on keeping your shoulders parallel with the slope of the mountain. or Pretend that the snow is hot lava that will kill you if you touch it For me, I try to focus on laterally bending my torso so that my shoulders are parallel with the slope. At the start of the season it feels like a really exaggerated motion, but I think that is OK. In the end, from your point of view, it winds up looking like the board is moving like a pendulum under you, with the nose pointing mainly straight ahead all of the time (since you are keeping your hips squared to the board through the turn) Regardless of style you need enough balls to whole heartedly commit to the turn or you will just not get there. It feels a bit scarey at times (especially hard snow/ice) because with proper angulation you are opening up and exposing your body, where your natural instinct may be to clench up and protect your body and maybe support yourself by touching the snow with your inside hand. You just have to override that instinct Ride dynamically. Your legs have to be bent and supple to soak up the surface irregularities. This needs strong legs that can hold out through the run. You can't ever just stand statically up on the board and lean over. More advanced things (for when you are reliably getting solid carved turns) Feeding the board into the turn (transferring weight from front to back) Learn how much pressure you can put into the turn and when. TLDR: You don't want to pursue getting low to the snow. You want to improve your riding technique!

I've got that one and it rocks. The hex is too small for anything, but the PZ2 bit grips really well. Fits anywhere and you don't know it's there. If you're the type that is constantly adjusting things after every run you might want something that is a bit more hand-friendly, but this is a really good tool to have for emergencies.

My local is pretty narrow and I Bruce made me an Energy with 10/12/11. It handles everything here with poise, and I definitely prefer the initial hookup on the Energy's camber. It isn't a rocket but it is a confidence builder.

The guy that played Sgt. Sixta in Generation Kill would be a great alternative.

Its the time of year that I’ve got to start thinking about riding duck and getting out the 90hp rope tow. Several hundred nautical miles of runs (before you hit Denmark).

FABS! Do the French thing: Forums d’Alpine Boards de Snow

Pogo? http://www.pogo.biz/en/pogo-snowboard-bindings-front-snap.html Tons of split-board hardboot bindings though...

Also Phiokka http://www.phksnow.com/en/snowboard-hard.html and the Carve Company Speed bindings http://www.carversparadise.com/product_info.php?products_id=1772

Jack, if you wouldn't mind, could you repost "The Greatest Snowboard Photo Ever"? I love that photo but I was lazy and never downloaded it. Purdy Please?

Snowboarding is definitely a broad-spectrum disorder for me. I've got plenty of interests but none that I identify as solidly with as I do with snowboarding. I guess if I have to pigeon-hole what kind of snowboarding I like it would have to look something like this...

I was going to wax my boards last night and I was all out of Swix red, had to use the violet. Sheeesh.