Eric Brammer aka PSR

Chris has always been 'grounded' in his approach, and, while not a 'publicist' he is 'good for the sport', certainly! Any insights from his riding and, historically, specifically!? Thanks, btw. I wanted to have other's views, "from Then", now that we can effectively put such 'out there' without Postage Due... I still credit him with the 'suicide strap' of putting a 'rubber band' around my heel at S-6, using spare Burton Rear-foot gummy-straps, which held us in at the 35 mph+ speeds we faced on 'The Face'. No one wanted to 'step-off' a board at that clip!

I saw a pair of Bombers on a board one time - didn't get to try to clip into them or such. They were an engineering marvel, but looked gawdawful heavy and bulky, and seemed way taller than what I was used to. Don't get me wrong, I believe it when everyone says they're the top of the line in bindings, they were just a radical departure from what I was used to - the very minimalistic Burton Raceplates, with my front plate sitting flat on the board, and the rear with some heel lift and cant, but still pretty close to the board. The above is cut & paste; Below is my response. OK, so what you're dealing with is the 'toe clamp compression', where your boot gets 'CLAMPED' in place, at the toe. On a Bomber, at your weight, you WON'T MOVE Laterally at All! You're Now Stuck In Your BOOT {Hey, YOU picked a Hardshell, don't even Bug ME about That!}, and that means, YOU NEED MORE FLEX, Freedom, and less Compression. Your choice, your boots. pick how they CLAMP DOWN carefully. Sidewinders. I tried to make then 'tunable', but, they HOLD, and FLEX. Otherwise, CATEKS OS-2's, 4-u.

Warren was Great! His movies Always captured the 'vibe' of getting out, and Challenging your environs! It wasn't a 'who's best fest', but, a look into how One could Excel, where they stood {Skied/Rode}, and, GO down yonder hill from there to... He was Open to new concepts, and avenues of exploration. This led to some really great moments on film! Without that open-mindedness, we might've been stuck in the dreadful late-70's awhile longer!! Yikes, don't even want to think of that!!! So, Warren, THANK YOU, for the EXPOSURE!! "PSR"

Yup, and Sunapee or Okemo will expand this. Terrain factors in, certainly (as does snow quality, which, in the East, means the combo of snowmaking and grooming), so, I'm not doing the 'Next' at Pico nor Cannon. We held ECES at Stratton. Sugarloaf, and Stowe for the exact reasons of Terrain Choice, and the 'Other' things all Eastern Resorts have to try and be good at. Wachussetts was close to my student, familiar, and has just enough incline (though, it's Not Tall!), and has decent grooming, usually (though Nightime can be, 'iffy'). It's 'high traffic', so it lasts only-so-long before it degrades into mush-bumps everywhere (it's just outside of Boston! Many, Many Bodies, anywhere!) Being there Early is Key. Night, well, less bodies, but iffy grooming in spots. One has to know the Potential of any hill to 'plan' for Carving Lesson. Luckily, I know my way around these parts, somewhat.

HEH, Heh, Yes! Mine!! I remember "G.P'" when it came thru Shaggy's inspection area! Nice board! I sent this one out.. Got it Back!

The kingpin bolt, itself, can be found at Mc Master-Carr Tool supply. The lower nut, however.. (well, I might have some? In process of moving,,so stuff is scattered about. Sorry, but, I will look!) That lower nut is a simple thing to Lathe, so, if all else fails, a Machine Shop should be able to make such. You need to know the thread count, diameter of bolt, length of bolt, and stay with the 'head profile' of "button Head", and utilize either Torx or Allen head wrenches/punching. I do not, at-this-moment, have my own thread gauges on hand, but that info has to be 'out there'. So, anyone with THESE PARTS, can MEASURE AND QUANTIFY these, such that YOU can get replacement parts.

I could've used something like that in AZ, back in '87...Dang tree wells..

2.5 hours., including stopping for hydration, and waiting in Lift-line. 10 stopping points 'on the hill'. One Totally Interrupted discussion due to Jon Rutherford's (an Original Madds Rider) chance meeting in the Lift-Line. Brian is studious, and was able to convert discussions into action with aplomb, much like Shaggy or Todd B..

Well, the stuff in parentheses is my 'addenda' add-ons to Brian's notes, so, my typo's may apply? Oh, and with the shoulders, I want to clarify; This is the classic 'lift the inside shoulder' Angulation, but, with a focus on it being a relaxed motion. Brian had a 'twist' in the upper torso that, would at times, cause his shoulder to 'dip', or cause some 'torque-scrub' where the 'twist' transferred some rotation down to the feet, and caused a 'fuzzy' edge. In-between the Shoulder/Feet are the hips+knees, and that group of joints needed a 'cadence', a set-time-to-actuate definition.Once that came together, Brian was getting a good deal lower, and his board was tipped deeper into it's edging (especially mid-turn! Nice trenches!). It takes awhile to un-learn old habits, and replace those with 'new' moves. I'm certain that by the end of next Month, Brian will be digging even better arcs in the hill for others to trip over! "PSR"

Hey, Beckmann, did ya ever ride with Karol ? he was in/around Loon in those days.

I may consider Andorra as a place of residence?! Taxes there are??

KEEP THE RETO!! No, there isn't too many rides like that out there!! I was a R/A rider for 2 decades. That was a great board, and, no, Donek has yet to replicate it. BTW, I often rode mine in hardshells, and, in fact was on my 156 this Sunday, in Plates, chasing a 172 Donek FC...

Oh, and ya'll can thank me also, for the nifty lil' springs that keep your heel bails in place... No, I didn't ever get PAID for these innovations, I just 'Noted an Improvement' along the way. Why none of YOU noticed, I can't say....

Barry, you really Don't want sidewinders. It negates the effectiveness of using uber high angles by lessening the levers of the boot cuffs. My Idea behind this binding was to promote the for-aft movement WHEN USING ANGLES OF LESS THAN 45*, because THAT IS WHEN the BOOT CUFF IMPEDES at the Finish/Start cycle of a turn. Sidewinders would only hinder the edge-response of someone, LIKE YOU, who continue to use high angles (even on WIDE-ASS BOARDS?! Why??!!) and would therefore make every turn Sloppy and borderline in Control. Now, IF, and ONLY IF, you're going to sub-40* angles, do you want (though may not yet NEED) Sidewinders. I didn't come to the build-idea for those running a Racing Stance. It was based on what G+S Snowboards used when Henry Hester was still riding for them, which was the (very floppy) SPS binding, but with far less lateral motion, and dampening of such pivot action. CATEKS would suit you much better, and there's OS-2's fer sale' Right Now', even.

Stance the 'smaller' one back a bit more, run only a mild rear cant (but NOT FLAT) to let your hip drift astern. In the future, consider more 'rocker-up' along the nose, or, another 5mm of width up front to give better float. But, I know nothing, I crash Tankers like Capt. Hazelwood did... "PSR"

Yeah, I got THAT this Sunday, riding with Brian (thanks JM!) at Wachussets. It wasn't the 4-1/2 hours riding there, so much as the 7 hrs. the-day-b4 in 50* Slush @ Sunapee, but the combo did me in... Worse, my elderly Saab is a standard 5-spd, and my left leg was TOAST. The Clutch, in traffic, was Killing me on the drive home! I had to stop in Keene, and stretch out for 10 minutes.. Oh, and, I ran into Jon Ruthelford at Wachusetts, an old-schoolin' Madds Rider! Too cool!

Oh, & then there's THIS, when it's a "gravy run" and what the Judges Think don't Matter!

Sometimes, Sport is better served when 'the Judges' aren't Bought, beforehand. The same is true in Government (but, I digress). So, was Tomato's Score worthy? I tend to argue (w/ creds to back me) that it was. [and, see, Jack, I didn't overtly imply a belief, or what I'm thinking!]

Funny, That, Jack!! One of the MOST PARTICULAR JUDGES I ever Worked with was Claude Robbins, herself a Judge of Ice-Skating/Ice Dancing! See, that, and having an Architect/Statistician Head Judge, with Suzi Rueck as Director, kinda made MY FOCUS on the 'moment', NOT ON THE ATHLETE. Thus, I feel, to this Day, that the Judging we provided was FAR BETTER, MORE IMPARTIAL, AND QUITE COMPLETE in the Green Mountain Series than most any other provided by the USASA/ISF. Mike Chantry even noted our competence, and, hell, we used His 'Trick Descriptions' in Our Manuals, with notes on 'Innovations' as they Showed Up, mid-Contest. So, THAT's THE BASIS, but, b4 it got Politically Corrupted by the FIS/USSA into the crap that-sucks-in-Money-For-Scores system that's involved now; even the Core System for Judging has survived. I QUIT, because the POLITICS were CONTROLLING the Event, not THE PERFORMANCES! I Stand by my abstinence, knowing that even My Loud Voice would've been drowned out by Lawyers in Court.. But, at least, I've 5 Olympian Snowboarders whom I've Coached, so far.

At Donek, please Talk to Sean!! When (18 yrs ago.) i was Coaching at Stratton, he went and R.D.'d the Boards We Needed for the Teenagers I was Coaching (Mac and Marley, and Lindsey) at that time. While the shapes/sizes that came from this are likely just a bit obsolete, I've every Confidence that Mr. Martin has improved upon 'just how' to make a light-weight rider's super-fast Board! Tell him "PSR" Sent Ya!

For 23 seasons, I've been in a Raichle/Deelux Hardshell as my main hardboot. In that time, teaching often over 150/days/yr., I've rode 80% of my Hardboot days, doing this: I put my boots in 'walk mode' by having the rear slide-lever folded Down, but I turn the 'knob' 90*. This gives me the 'forward lean' I'd get in 'Mid" locked position (3), yet Lets my Ankle Flex Forward as Needed to create a 'soft-touch' on Toeside Carves and Slid turns, too. What I've done to add-or-subtract Effort/Leverage is use either Softer or Stiffer Tongues, as Raichle and DeeLux made these available relatively easily. I have owned only one set of RAB springs (and sold them, DoH?!) that I used for less than one Season, so, the Bulk of My Riding in Hardboots is the settings I describe above. All I can say is this; It works, at least for me. But, then again, I only carve 'moderately', and suck doing it switch...

My YEARS on things like a Stat-5, Nitro EFT 156, "Small" Rad-Air Souls [I had 2 148's!], my 2 Madds 158's, a few Hot's that were no longer than 163cm... I've come to this conclusion; YOU ride the Board, not Vice-Versa. So, RELAX every so often! If you don't, you'll kill leg nerves you never Knew existed! My 156 Reto (a Free-ride board, fat, slow, etc .. NOT) burned my legs today in about 5 runs (made me almost wish for an automatic tranny! yikes!). So, it's all in Your Riding Choices, and CONDITIONING. I'm a tad out-of-practice? [eek]

WHY EVEN BOTHER? They 'know' they're "Right", and they FALL OVER following Me. Ow. Oh well.

He 'shuffled' that rotation, but, given the 'slidey' factor built into freestyle boards (No/little camber, beveled bases), it's hard NOT to unleash to torque of a multi-spin any other way, well, other than an Edge-snag-Splat! The Quick 90, was done in the 'Tranny' zone, no yet on the flat bottom (but not on the Wall, either!), and, WITHOUT AN EDGE CATCH, completed the Spin. Delicate Ground, stuff I Addressed 20 yrs. Ago in the 'Results' of ISF's Judge's Compliation, but, now it is Canon, per FIS. He Landed It. That's their bottom line. I still give this run a 99.9. No other flaws, if this even IS ONE.

On Heelsides, go in at a slower pace; LIFT your LEAD shoulder, Lift your TOES UP while in the turn!,try to stay Ahead of the Board by putting your trailing arm near where you can Reach (as in a Grab) your front shin/knee, and let the front arm/shoulder Lift (and 'Look past')your front shoulder, such that your ARM isn't in your vision at all, but AHEAD of You. Let your hip turn, forwards a bit. That, that timing, it's up to you, but I do this 'sooner-than-later', where AASI-taught folk won't even.. They SKID, I Carve. Whatever.. [30 yrs. later, I'm still explaining this?; Crap!] But, importantly, turn 'at the knees' INTO your turn! If you hold them, bent, but Without Any Aim, you'll 'Skid', the Best Riders 'roll' the Knees, bent, Towards the turn's center. How much, is up to You, but, it Works, regardless! AASI are Dorks on Lunchtrays! I'm Out..