Prunes

The discipline seems to attract people who are interested in the more technical side of snowboarding. I like its geekiness and the requisite tinkering... I think what really scares people (hopefully not away) is the gear-buying gamble. It's overwhelming trying to decide based only on specs or recommendations; more opportunities to test drive the stuff would help overcome this (a challenge with such a niche). In many ways it reminds me of speed skating; technical sport, super specialized (hard to find) equipment, and a relatively small, friendly, fiercely devoted group.

I can’t offer a wealth of info on Switzerland, but here are a few observations from the not-too-distant Bavarian Alps and Tirol: The conditions are terrible early in the season. For the past few years there has been almost no snow until late January. Last winter was particularly bad, resorts across Europe were dealing with low snow. When there is snow, the grooming is exceptional. The best resorts are often the smaller, less popular ones. The big, destination resorts get clogged up quickly with vacationers, especially during public holidays. You’ll quickly find an out of the way, hidden gem. Costs are significantly lower than in Canada. Lift tickets generally run about 40 euros per day, with season passes ranging from 350-600 euros. (The 600 euro option gives you access to numerous resorts on both sides of the German/Austrian border - great value!) That being said, everything in Switzerland its expensive, so I would expect the costs to be higher there. All of the mountains, including the tiniest holes-in-the-wall, have new lifts. It’s like they get a deal from the manufacturers to show off the most cutting edge lift technology. Most places issue you an RFID card, and use automated turnstiles at each lift. There’s no attendant to scan tickets / passes or attempt to keep order. If it’s busy, much pushing, shoving, and line-cutting happens. The clientele seems less hardcore; a coffee break precedes a relaxed lunch, followed by at least one more coffee / beer / schnapps break in the afternoon. If you time it right, you can have entire runs to yourself! Transportation is a breeze, and the trains have racks for skis and snowboards (bikes in the summer). Taking the bus with a full compliment of gear is perfectly acceptable. It’s still very skiing oriented. However, the availability of HB gear is much better!

Very cold, freezing cold, or ice cold. I'm not sure which is better...haha!

Indeed!

Ouch! What happened?!

I agree, it's not worthwhile becoming entangled in a legal battle over a snowboard. I've asked the shop management again for some reasonable gesture of goodwill, and I'm hopeful they will come through. I won't be recommending them in the future though. The tech is supposed to be the tuning expert - what's the point if they aren't? This is a shop that i've used in the past with great results, and the tech has a reputation as one of the best in the area...which is why this incident completely blew me out of the water. Ultimately, it's not the end of the world, shit happens. I just expected them to deal with it in a more professional manner.

You hit the nail on the head - I would have been totally cool with picking it up untouched, had they called me and explained that this might not end well!

I will push harder for some compensation. I agree, public shaming is in order should there be no resolution. However, I don't have the time, nor desire to take this sort of thing to court. Below is the explanation from the tech (via email): "As for your board I did the best that I could. On the first pass on the grinder the stone only touched about 3 inches of the board in the middle which meant that it was in the shape of a horseshoe and what we want is it to be flat. I tried to get it as close to flat as possible but made one pass too many and the tip got taken down too much and shows through. It is a cosmetic thing as it is not in an area where it effects the performance of the board. As always my main goal is to try to make the board perform the way it is designed to but sometimes I can only do so much due to the condition and construction of the board. Take it out and give it a try the performance of the board will be greatly enhanced." The above explanation fails to address how only one side of the nose was completely chewed away. It's as though it got stuck and then was lifted, pressing that one corner into the rotating stone. I should have saved myself the aggravation and just left it in the basement!

They didn’t tell me about the damage, in fact they released the board to me just as though nothing was wrong. I figure the unusual shape of the nose (angled shovel) was just way too complex for them to deal with and got trashed. It really is a jungle out there folks! It’s a piss-off, but I like the idea of a rock board better than a bench.

Thanks for the input guys! I’m having to push through a little runaround, so yes, politeness and persistence are the keys. I’ll get in touch with Steve, perhaps he has something he’d like to get rid of. The takeaway (for me, at least) is that regardless of how old / new / cheap / expensive / good / bad your board is, it’s one shop visit away from becoming a bench or wall art…

Hello everyone! I was hoping for a more positive first post, but here it goes... I had a '94 Burton PJ 6.0 sitting in the basement in Garmisch collecting rust and dust (but otherwise in great shape). I brought the board to Calgary at the end of July, and left it with a reputable tech for a full tune-up. Long story short, the stone grind didn't go so well and they took down the entire base/edge in one spot, right at the front of the board. I'm trying to work out some sort of resolution with the tech. Is it repairable? Still rideable? Totally dead? Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. Prunes (Will)