mattj

I survived my first day of the season today. Gave the new TD3 SI a go and sorted out the stance. Loveland was good, lots of sunshine and not too many people. I picked up a season pass so I'll be there more often this season. Matt

I survived my first run of the season. Loveland is not too crowded and the new td3 si are doing well. Matt

I'm keen. Stacy has Thursday's off and I have a pretty open schedule at the moment. Matt

G'Day Y'All, With all of the discussion about plates and technology, I thought I'd throw this in. The August 2010 edition of Snowboarder Magazine has some articles on reverse camber and a two page spread on new sidecuts. Page 1 has: - Salamon board with three straight edges - no curve at all. Page 2 has: - Gnu board that is asymmetrical and has "Magne-Traction" (serrated edge) - Forum board with "raised sidewalls" Are these the future or just a marketing gimmick? Matt Page 1: Page 2:

Currently three boards: Prior WCR 174 x 21 (2001 ish) Volkl RT 178 Sims Daytona 166 I had a Nidecker 157 SL but the wife has decided to "borrow" it. Matt

I haven't got many photos. The first one is from 2004 and is my first and only go at Bordercross. The next one is from a summer race camp on Mt Hood in 2001. And then there is this one taken by Sean at SES2010: http://donek.smugmug.com/Sports/Snowboard-and-Ski/SES-2010/11164935_y5NHM#785734767_Ro2Kh Looking at all of these, I need to lower the "wings" a bit... :)

I have a pair of these but I went back to the standard toe clip after popping out of them a few times. Really make sure that you are clipped in and that it is nice and solid before heading down the hill. I found that a short phillips head screwdriver made a good ice pick and was also useful for binding tweaks on the mountain. Getting ice out of the holes in the boot heels is annoying! Matt

I was just looking at the Prior site and noticed a new model - the BX. Anyone know anything about it? Matt

I never wore a helmet until I went to a snowboard race camp at Mt Hood in 2000. I survived day 1 of the camp and bought one that night at a sale in town. Have never boarded without it since. Matt

I moved from surfing to snowboarding and started in soft boots. I missed the feeling of the bottom turn on a wave and the long curved turns but one day I saw someone on an alpine board and thought "I want to do that". I crawled around the web looking for equipment and learning about alpine and then made the move to hardboots during a trip to Val D'Isere. I then bought boots, bindings and a board on a trip to Whistler. I arrived in Whistler and started franticly running around the village looking for gear. I ended up buying a Sims Daytona because I couldn't find any alpine boards in the shops. I bought boots (SB324's) and got them fitted at Fanatyk and they have been the best thing I have ever done. The bloke there also setup the bindings and provided heaps of guidance and binding tweaks at the end of each day. A couple of days later I made a quick trip to the Prior factory and picked up a factory second 4WD (early model with the square tail). Life has been good ever since :-)

Yep, count me in as well. I'm in Canberra so it's only takes a couple of hours to get to Thredbo or Perisher. Matt

G'Day, It took 6 months and it's now summer here in Oz but I just got the rack built under the house. Matt

G'Day All, As it is getting near winter here in OZ the yearly Canberra ski swap meet was on a week ago and I picked up the following boards for my wife and I. Both boards are brand new and in plastic. 150cm Nidecker Laser - AUS$50 157cm Nidecker Custom SL - AUS$250 I have managed to find some info on the Custom SL - the 2004 model on the Nidecker website seems to be a 158cm but the info agrees with the cardboard "sticker" on the board. I haven't been able to find anything on the Laser. It's sky blue, has a slightly upturned square tail, three pairs of inserts (instead of the normal 4 pairs) and is reasonably stiff. From the look of it I'm thinking it's more of a BX board than a directional freeride. Does anyone have any info/hints & tips/experiences on this board or on the Custom SL? Thanks, Matt

G'Day, I'm going to be traveling from Australia to Washington DC 26Feb - 17 Mar and am going to catch up with friends and board around the Washington DC area - probably Timberline. I'm going to bring clothing and a helmet but I'm still decideing if I should bring boots (Raichlie 324's) as well. I was not going to bring a board due to the annoyance factor in dragging a 174cm Prior from Australia to the US for ~4 days of boarding. Does anyone know of anywhere in the Washington DC region that rents boards with plate bindings or am I just going to have to hire softboots :-( Thanks, Matt

Regular! I came from a surfing background - did surfing as a sport at High School and lived near the beach - so I tend more to long sweeping turns than skateboard style/halfpipe. My wife had never ridden any sort of board (surf/snow or skate) and spent a miserable first day trying to ride regular because "that is what the instructor said to do". With a bit of screwdriver work she enjoyed day two goofy and has not looked back since. Matt

Local shops while traveling: France, USA, Canada. Am starting to look more at the internet as there is not much carving equipment available in Australia. Matt

34 but going to be 35 mid season :-(