JohnE

I ride with the same buddy all the time. We are very familiar with how each other rides. In 15 years we have only collided once and it was pretty uneventful. I feel safer with him ahead of me or behind me because it cuts the direction that someone can can collide with either one of us by about half.

What is your ideal number of riding partners?

Thursday 12/30 was my first day up. Not a great day: traffic pretty slow going up, the winds had all lifts closed but Chet's and #2. Not very windy below timberline. Crowds & lift lines. Snow conditions were pretty good but on the soft side. We had a few good carving runs but the hassle/fun factor just wasn't there. If this was a typical day of snowboarding, I wouldn't be a snowboarder.

Up for my first day of the season on 12/29. Not a great day. I'd estimate my score as about 14. Crappy traffic driving up, weather was so-so, crowds were bigger than ideal, conditions were OK, drive home was pretty easy. I should probably modify the scoring scheme. I realize that getting in some really good carving runs can make up for a bunch of other less-than-ideal circumstances. It wasn't a horrible day - just not much fun. Maybe one of the worst days in memory - short of getting injured. I feel that if we don't acknowledge bad and mediocre days, we can't really appreciate great days.

We have a 4' x 8' surface plate at work that is flat to within 0.001" (or better).

Does loss of camber correlate to a loss of stiffness? Can a board lose stiffness and keep it's camber? Conversely, can a board lose it's camber but retain it's stiffness? While prepping my board for the season I noticed that it had very little camber. I put it on a surface plate and it has only about 1mm of camber (with risers and bindings installed). Time for a new board?

Agree on the weather conditions. Some of the best powder days ever had almost zero visibility. What I paid to be there that day is almost immaterial with a season pass. The bigger cost is the hassle factor: Is the riding worth the hassle that day? Agree on the crowds. Having to be constantly on edge about what others might be doing can ruin the joy.

I wish that I could say that buying a Flux would allow me to ride like Ryan (but I don't)! However it is the best board I have ever owned.

Nope - just external conditions

I was thinking that each day of snowboarding could have a conditions scorecard. Each category could have a rating from 0 = Terrible - should have stayed home; 5 = Fantastic - one of the best days ever! The conditions categories could be: The drive up: 0 = Stop & go - bumper to bumper; 5 = Great - I could drive as fast as I wanted. Weather: 0 = Cold, snowing, blowing, zero visibility; 5 = Blue skies & sunshine - not too cold. Crowds: 0 = Long lift lines, lots of A-Holes on the slopes; 5 = Where is everybody? Snow conditions: 0 = Icy, rough, crappy; 5 = Near perfect groom or 12+ inches of new powder Drive home: 0 = So bad I forgot what sort of day I had; 5 = Great - I could drive as fast as I wanted. So a perfect day could have a score of 25. A bad day could be near zero. What other conditions factors should be considered?

I think Coiler has some means to characterize the stiffness of a board. Not sure if Donek does as well. Some time ago I tried to measure the relative stiffness of several boards: I supported the board on blocks at it's contact points and put a fairly big weight (a bucket of water) at the waist and measured the deflection. Knowing the weight of the bucket I was able to measure the "pounds per inch". Has anyone else come up with a similar technique? What did you find? I'd have to repeat this between my Coiler and my Donek to see if there is a significant difference.

Beautiful cloud Bob!

Have you ridden your Donek Flux? I had one made for me at 160 pounds. I don't know how boardmakers characterize flex but I love the way my Flux rides. I don't think I would want it any softer or stiffer.

My question is regarding stance width. For me this applies to softbooting but I wonder if the trend is the same hard & soft: All else being equal what are the advantages / disadvantages of a relatively wide -vs- narrow stance? If I decrease my stance width by 1" or 2" what am I likely to notice? What do I give up? What do I gain?

"Conditions are still great"? It's great that you are enjoying yourself - but that is different from great conditions. Great compared to what? I have photos of myself from long ago skiing the week of Thanksgiving in powder. Even when conditions are marginal resorts often hype the conditions. When they're not saying anything you know the conditions must be bad.

Thanks for the videos. Any idea what type of drone that was? Was it being "flown" or was it some type of "follow me" mode?

I have this fantasy that one could buy an inexpensive drone camera, throw it up in the air and have it fly 10 feet behind you as you carve down the slopes and have it land in your hand just before you get on the lift. And have some great close in videos. I realize that drones are illegal in National Forests - but that doesn't deter people. I looked at drone/snowboard videos on Youtube and found that for the most part the snowboarders weren't very skilled and the drone technology isn't anywhere near this advanced. When the drone didn't loose track of the rider it was usually hundreds of feet above the rider and the riders were specs in the video. If you get past the against-the-law thing, is the technology just not there? Or am I not looking in the right place? Is anyone aware of videos anywhere near my fantasy?

I don't think 4 Paks are available from Loveland any more. Maybe Craigslist but that is normally only late season. Pass holders should be able to get you a discounted ticket.

Loveland has the advantage of elevation. The base is about 10,000'. This allows them to make snow when lower areas can't because it's too warm. I think there is very little natural snow. Around here when conditions are fair to great they hype it like crazy. When conditions are poor they keep quiet. It's been pretty quiet lately.

Is there any area of the Northern Hemisphere that has good early season conditions? It pretty much sucks in Colorado. Denver hasn't had any significant precipitation since June. It's been in the high 60s & low 70s here (almost every day). I went bike riding in shorts last weekend. Very little snow in the Colorado Rockies and it has been too warm for many areas to make much snow. I read that in Steamboat they normally have 200 hours of snowmaking by Thanksgiving. This season they have only had 8 hours. Is it any better anyplace else?

I think Disneyworld has tried something similar. They wind up selling so many "priority" tickets that even those who buy these wind up waiting in line. Sounds like a revenue generator. A better solution: Ride on weekdays!

Any reports from closing day?

Smart to preserve her vanity!

Lucky (old) dog!

On Sunday morning about 10AM I started riding my bike toward Boulder. Very dark skies in the west. Thunderbolts over the Indian Peaks. I modified my route to head south, then east. People were pulling off the road to photo the big front moving in. I rode hard to head back home. About 1.5 miles from home (around 11:30) I started getting pelted by hail. I took shelter under a carport waiting for the front to pass. After about 1/2 hour, I proceeded home in pouring, cold rain. This must have been the front that hit the Divide around 10AM. It was a monster. Very strange weather for May 2nd.