Carvin' Marvin

March 7th anyone?

If you are beefy and/or charge hard then the plastic baseplate of the carve RS might break and send you into low earth orbit. People love them for all mountain riding though. The race titaniums have metal baseplates and are pretty darn strong.

@FelixDSent you a PM, lets figure something out! I don't have the teaching ability of someone like @inkaholic,so you'll have to join the LCI for that good stuff. I do know my way halfway around a snowboard though so I bet you'll pick up at least a couple things through osmosis.

If your stance width allows it, mount the discs transversely across the board and center the bindings that way

@FelixDDarn you just missed us by about 49 weeks. You are a regular Breck rider right? I'd be happy to take some laps with you at Vail for Beaver Creek if you want to come over this way. I'm usually off mid-week to ride.

Lets be real, I don't think I've ever seen you make a bad turn. This is interesting. Lots of energy on the exit? I'm going to talk Mark into making me the meanest Superconductor he can. Hopefully I will end up with the best of both worlds. A demanding Thirst sounds strange but who knows it might work out.

Thanks James! I'm gonna have to add this to the quiver. A+ content. Even better with the edge catch.

Any chance you end up in CO for a few days again this year?

This is one of the smart guys I referenced. King of the setup over here. Listen to this man. I was mostly self taught for my first few seasons and wouldn't have progressed without his setup methodology and expertise.

That's great and all but really irrelevant. You are the only one using these metrics as far as I'm aware. No one is actually riding with their front toe in the air, just enough lift to get in a comfortable and powerful position. When people say they ride "flat" they mean that the bindings are flat and not their feet relative to the board. Forward lean is good. You should have the sensation moving forward not statically standing upright. Your ski boots are the same way. Ramped forward. You are way to obsessed with your own methodology and the numbers. There are many people on this forum wayyyyyyy smarter than I that I have listened to and learned from to get to the point I'm at now. I strongly suggest you don't eschew the conventional wisdom.

Ok I've got my helpful hat on tonight. Just to clarify when we are talking about degrees of heel and toe lift we are talking about degrees of lift added to the binding, not in the actual boot sole. So Corey rides UPZ with 6 degree toe and heel lift. This means that he has the bomber 6 degree cant plates under both bindings. This DOES NOT mean that he has 6 degrees of actual heel and toe lift through the soles of his feet. Like Metro said, the goal is not to cancel out the boot ramp, if it was why would they put all that ramp in the boot anyway? Having the front foot completely flat relative to the board will not help you accomplish anything. You are just losing valuable leverage. Remember the goal is to head forward down the hill so it helps to be leaned forward a bit on the board. I ride the same boots and bindings as you. I use the large lift block under my rear heel, and another large lift block under my front toe. I find this provides me with a super balanced position on the board in relation to my body mechanics. Try that setup and see what you think. I'm not even sure I could carve your setup well. Its such a far departure from what most people with normal skeletons actually ride. If it takes Mt Fuji underneath your front toe to alleviate quad burn, then the problem is something critical in your technique. Please feel free to PM me with any questions. I can also send pictures if that helps.

Had a slow night at work so here ya go

Got another one for ya. I'll apologize in advance for all my videos being cell phone footage. Conditions were variable, it was cold, light was off, and it was so much freaking fun. I sleep soundly at night knowing all my friends shred.

I'm gonna be honest, this is one of the funkiest looking setups I've ever seen. Personally I would be worried about the length of the screws you have holding that skyscraper of a toe lift onto the binding. I'm no enginerd, but I would think some interesting shear forces/instability would start to come into play with that kind of height with only two screws. Maybe you're onto something completely new, maybe its Maybelline.

Contemplating this coming Sunday. I've got the burnin' for some turnin'.

Thanks! That is a Donek Proteus 163cm, 10.5M radius, rounded tail. Its a custom job I got from @Jack M a few years ago. It is my second favorite board behind my 8rw.

@snowburn You're gonna love it. Like I said before I would have snagged it out from under you in a second if it was a little stiffer. This was the board I rode most at MCC. Great board.

@BLOODTYPEZX10R is this the board that was at MCC last year? If so I absolutely loved this board. Super stable and LIGHTNING fast edge transitions. I don't remember it ever losing grip either. $650 is a great deal. I plan on getting one just like it except extra stiff to put up with my oafishness.

Just some easy turns on some greens at Vail. The two softbooters are young bucks from Miami up for their first season on the hill. I saw their shiny new Doneks and we took some turns. They are pretty solid for just starting out! Ryan Knapton has quite the pull on the younger crowd for sure.

Looking good James. Definitely some of the more "hardboot lookin" turns I've seen on softies

You just discovered a limitation of the TD bindings. The rest of us just draft up something quick in CAD and get our CNC milling machines to make whatever parts we need. Just fire up your mill and go to town!

Glad to hear people are out having fun! See you dorks on Sunday!

Another Thirst I can't buy because it was made for some goof. Good luck with all the sales. What softie boards are in your quiver these days?

What Kneel said. If you put energy into the board in front of you front boot then thirsts will be squirrely especially when initiating turns. It is hard to unlearn but it will come in time. Focus your energy right between your feet throughout the WHOLE turn. It'll click then you'll be rippin it. It really rewards mindless riding.

There's nothing else to do in this frozen hellscape besides ride, so it's either ride or sit on my ass and fester. If it's great, then great! If it's not great at least I got outside and exercised/exorcised.