1xsculler

Thanks for the replies. All very good points. Sometimes I just throw shit at a wall to see what sticks. My last two days I did use a new 163 slalom board and enjoyed it very much. I doubt I will ride anything longer at Crystal again. One thought though: to use the tighter side-cut, or any side-cut for that matter, effectively it seems you must get aggressive enough (pissed-off enough) to bend the board significantly if you ecpect your arcs to tighten up. I hate to keep bringing up age but one knows that these demanding endeavours , i.e. hardboot carving, surfskiing, kite-boarding, competitive sculling, taking care of kids and grandkids and dealing with kid's exes, evaluating whether you will run out of money in retirement and myriad other issues of one's 70s, 80s and 90s all play into whatever energy you have left. Dick Specter (a BOLer some years ago), the 99 year old Utah skiier and the 100+ Japanese skier come to mind as I contemplate the future. I suppose my stoke will return next November but switching gears for the next 6+ months will tell the tail.

Probable last day this season was yesterday. My stoke started last December when I dedicated myself to get my nine grandkids on skis and/or boards and since I was starting over my skill was about equal to their's, i.e. we went down similar slopes at similar speeds. I had a great excuse to go to the Mt. which is something my wife doesn't enjoy. It soon became apparent, as my skills improved, that I could make only half as many runs when I had to wait around for the little munchkins so I went bonkers going every Tuesday and Friday (the two days my wife worked) by myself determined to become a board bending, 45* carver. I have been on a mission since then, my stoke never wavering. I improved a lot on my own but didn't advance to where I hoped to be with the exception of a few well done, pencil-line, linked trenches. I am really, seriously questioning (and so soon after the season has come to an end) whether I will become rededicated next November. Maybe I'll throw in the towel like I did in 2005 and find something else to do with my time next winter. A dedication to carving certainly doesn't fit into grandkids. In fact, it doesn't fit into hardly anybody else I know. Two hours drive up, two and a half hours on the hill, two hours to drive home, sleep deprivation and drive schedule to miss the traffic. Boy, I just don't know but I guess I don't have to worry about it until next season.

SES, funny. I kinda, sorta thought I could carve on my Red Rossi Race board back in 2005 so I went to SES that year...arrived on a Thursday, if I remember correctly, and at the top of the lift Fin said, "follow me" and that was the last I saw of him or anybody else (my fault). So I got up the next morning drove my rental car back to Grand Junction, hopped my flight back to Salt Lake City, drove up to Alta and spent a day in four feet of bottomless powder on my skis and flew back home to Seattle. I even had a new Coiler AM on the way and when it arrived I sold it to BOLer and abandoned carving. I can't even remember why. So, I feel like I started from scratch this season and my grandkids are what got me back to the Mt. They loved watching me do faceplants while they were learning to snowplow. I did get well beyond faceplants this year after about thirty-five, two and a half hour sessions on the hill but I didn't make as much progress as I wanted to...just another 10,000 turns, I guess.

I really appreciate all of your comments. They all make great sense and I can relate to every one of them. Looks like my last day for this season was today and a great one it was, i e. full bluebird with boardable snow on my level of slopes until about 11:00. I learned a ton this year and linked a few decent turns but I won't consider myself a carver until I can get my board to at least a 45* angle and bend it to bring the carve around faster to slow me down. It's going to take an ATC to get to that next step, I think.

Thanks for the replies. I should have done my own tiny bit of research to save you the trouble but thanks for responding anyway. So, it appears there's no need to increase the weight of a board or weaken it by adding a set of UPM inserts.

Maybe a silly question but are there plates available that don't use the UPM insert pattern and/or don't need any other than standard 4 x 4 inserts?

WTB Donek Rev 163 and 180, not that I need any more boards but I never mix up wants and needs.

Not in the lift line but on the chair yesterday the guy sitting next to me looked down at my board and then at the snow below us and said, "those must be your tracks; nice pencil-line arcs and no contact between them." Hey, I am getting better even though that was one of the few sections on the hill where I made those tracks. There's hope where there's stoke!

Thanks, Bruce, who told his wife, and me, you've just got to get angry and your board may start coming around faster than you want it to.. I'm sayin' you've just got to get down, dirty and get pissed! It's black and white, no in between. You either push those knees into the hill, bury the side wall and get that board on a 45 with no slippage or you don't. It's a discipline that requires total concentration and a fair amount of quad strength. Ain't there yet but sneaking up on it. Also not telling you anything new...just posting to myself. On another note, I will probably never ride a board other than my new (today) T 163 SL NSR here at Crystal. I was fighting my 172 NFCB, 175 Classic and 176 AMT on narrow, steepish slopes and I now realize a 163 is plenty long enough for here and this little slalom board is just right. Thanks to Corey for the idea. Thanks to many of you and a lot of trial and error I have sorted out a ton of info. during my 35 trips to the Mt. this season, i.e. boots (bought and sold some), quiver of boards (bought and sold some), liners, foot beds, bindings, angles, cants, lifts, tools to carry, socks, I could go on. Last day this Friday unless I can make it to Mt.Hood. Hoping for ATC and TTC next year especially if my wife decides we're spending months at a time on Maui as I'll need a break.

Don't think they ever made 28.5 shells. I have a pair of size 28 nearly new Track Free 69s (identical to 325s except for color) shells only for $200 plus shipping.

F2 stepin heels work great if you file the mounting holes a little. About $28 a yyzcanuk.

F2 stepin heel and F2 micro adjustable toe works perfectly for me on my rear Catek OS2s. You could probably just use the Catek OS2 heel bail on the toe if you didn't want to buy the F2 toe. I prefer the microadjustability of the F2 toe as you can easily fine tune it with a POS 3 handy-dandy snowboard ratchet screwdriver tool on the hill with minimal time and effort.

Steel F2 stepin heels are easy to adapt to Cateks with a little filing with a round file to move the mounting holes out a smidge. They're still usable with F2 bases as well.

I think I may have posted this in another thread but it belongs here and you may get a laugh out of it as I did so I will repeat it. I was standing at the top of the chair getting ready to stepin and go when a softbooter said, "great carving, Dude, you're really laying it down...very cool!" Well, I had been working hard on getting my board up on edge, i.e. side wall buried, but I knew, and still know, I have a long ways to go but, hey, a compliment is a compliment no matter how you look at it. Anyway, I was a little puzzled until my next chair ride up when I saw a "real" carver (only the second I'd seen all season) really gettin' it done on steeper, pretty narrow slopes right under the chair. I tried to find my new idol but never could catch up to him. His last beautiful pencil lines went to the bottom and he evidently got in his car and drove home. Haven't seen him since but I see him in my dreams. I've got the stoke...I'll get there if I don't run out of B-days first.

Nuisance releases do suck big time. I have a hard enough time when both feet are well locked in let alone when one lets go at speed! It has happened once and I now also carefully rock side to side to be absolutely certain I am locked in. Carrying a spare cable is a great idea.

If you have any issues with a big toe it's easy to fix with a heat gun and and a simply made device using some galvanized pipe in a vice. Further questions please ask as I can post some photos, etc.

I'm assuming a good coat of wax ironed on wax and, maybe, at least loosening binding fasteners...anything else?

T 163 SL, NSR (New Style Race); 172, NFCB; 175 Classic; 176 AMT (All Mountain Titinal)

Still looking for one....4/14/2017.

I sincerely appreciate your offer but I board at Crystal on Tuesday and Friday mornings only because those are the two days my wife goes to work. Breaking away to Oregon isn't in the cards but I will keep it in mind. Thanks again, Eric.

Even if offense was intended none taken by me. I have messed around with lots of gear and I am well aware that it's not a gear problem but it is a lack of numbers of turns by me problem. That being said I had my best carving day today and I have three remaining this season. I have made a ton of progress and I still have the stoke for next season. We all have different ways of getting there. I must add that when you start snowboarding at age 73 and you feel like a yellow jacket must feel as winter approaches, i. e. you're running out of birthdays, you get in a hurry to get stuff done like learning to lay down nice trenches. If there's any possibility that a piece of equipment just might be holding me back I am going to try something, anything, different right now. I'm not in a position to demo anything in hardbooting or in rowing racing shells so if I want to try new stuff out I must buy it, try it and then sell what doesn't work. Like I said, I had my best carving day yet today and it was partly due to a new board I received yesterday. Much to my pleasant surprise I really did make a significant leap forward because of this board. The conditions happened to be ideal which helped too.

Great idea! I don't believe they damage boards if you use the Catek plastic protector between the binding and your board. I haven't had the F2 front adjuster screw loosen yet. If it does a simple snugging with a POS 3 bit would solve it.

Stepin only on rear works great for Cateks, i.e. F2 heel and their micro adjustable toe or any toe for that matter.

I doubt anybody pays any attention but I want to be clear that I am in no position to criticise anybody's riding style, technique or anything else. I have my hands full trying to figure this sport out for myself. It will be a bit sad but also like getting out of jail after April 23rd when my season ends and what a fun and great one it has been. I haven't had this much Mt. fun since I was skiing 50 days a year during and after college. Thanks to ALL of you Bombers for indulging many of my stupid questions and comments. I'll be back next year and will throw out a little more BS before thus year is over.