JohnE

That was a custom graphic. Raven was our beloved Greyhound. Unfortunately she has passed. We have another - Piper. I think Donek may still have that artwork. You could have them alter it to suit you and your dog's name. The logo is just the logo from a Greyhound bus. If you want to contact Donek, you have my permission to use that artwork.

Wow! 75 attendees! Say hello to Alan from NZ!. Love the T-Shirt!

Thanks! Sean at Donek has a Graphic Artist that helps out with the graphics - topsheet & base. The line between the black & white on the base is so tight you can't feel it.

My riding buddy Gregory and I met lapping Lift #8 at our near-Denver ski area Loveland about 20 years ago. We were both ex-skiers riding regular soft-boot gear. We were both intermediate riders seeking powder and riding mostly intermediate runs on weekend days. We were well matched in our abilities and where we liked to ride. We got on a chair together and we’ve been snowboard riding buddies ever since. About 5 years ago we borrowed a couple of softboot carving boards from Sean at Donek: a Saber and a Flux. We both loved the Flux and ordered custom Fluxes from Donek. My wife bought it for me for my 62nd birthday. In recent years we’ve bought mid-week passes to Loveland and haven’t ridden a weekend day since. It’s always Gregory and I and occasionally an additional carver. The grooming at Loveland has been SPECTACULAR and the slopes are mostly empty. We’ve been working and working on softboot carving and we both believe that in spite of advancing age, we are actually getting better at it. A couple of other Colorado carvers (Bob & Arne) are real inspirations that we may be able to continue to enjoy the sport for many years into the future. This season we ordered another pair of Fluxes from Donek and have dubbed ourselves “The Fabulous Flux Brothers”. Gregory is “Sine” and I am “Cosine”. Our new boards have mirror-image graphics and have our names on the tails. We love to drive up to Loveland mid-week with little or no traffic, have a bacon and eggs breakfast in the lodge. Be the first chair to load at 9AM and ride 3 ½ - 4 hours straight until our legs can’t handle it any more. Back to the lodge for a beer and an easy cruise back to Denver. Our routine is very repetitive but WE NEVER GET TIRED OF IT! What’s your carving buddy story?

Another great day again yesterday. Once again the lodge was full of older skiers. Very little concern about unaware people on the slopes, few if any straightliners. We were one of the first chairs up Ptarmigan. As we cleared the knoll we saw that Firebowl was groomed TEN PASSES WIDE!. We carved that up again and again and again. Bennet's was about 2 passes wide and Roulette was ungroomed. Blue sky, sunshine, cool but not cold, no wind. 14 runs between 9AM and about 12:30.

How large a group did you have? How far have people travelled to get there? What is the mix of HB vs SB?

How many attendees? How far away have people travelled? What is the mix of HB vs SB?

Flux update. I ordered and received another Flux from Sean at Donek. My first Flux was 158cm x 26cm waist x 8.5 - 10m SCR. I ordered a new one because I was concerned that the older one had lost it's camber and that somehow negatively affected the board. I asked Sean to make this one different than my old board - but different BETTER - not different WORSE. He replied that he couldn't guarantee that. So, we settled on 162cm x 27cm waist x 7.5 - 9M SCR. The boot & binding setup is almost identical: Flow (Nidecker)Talon boots with Flow (Nidecker) NX2-CX bindings. I LOVE this boot / binding setup. Myself & my riding buddy agree that this setup makes the rider / board interface invisible. I am almost unaware of the connection to my board. I've ridden my old board & new one in many conditions from groom to powder to cutup powder. I have more hours on the old one so this is not a 1:1 comparison but pretty close. Bottom line: I really couldn't tell which board I was on without looking down at it. The differences in the ride is very subtle. I can't tell that the lack of camber in the older board makes any difference. In my estimation the biggest factors in carving well are: 1) Conditions, 2) Ability, 3) Equipment. All that being said I love my Flux boards for all conditions. I don't think you can go wrong with the small differences in specs. I never think to myself: "Am I on the right board?".

Myself and my riding buddy have 5x Donek Fluxes between us. We LOVE them. There is one for sale used in the For Sale / Want to Buy section of this forum for $500.

Very nice!

Two weeks ago I went to Vail to meet up with some old college buddies. We realized that we had first skied together 48 years ago! The 6 of them were on skis. I was the only boarder. They indulged me by not going places difficult for a boarder. The snow was just OK. It was great to get together with some old friends but the skiing and boarding were just OK. Yesterday I went to Loveland with my carving buddy. The groom was purrrrfect. The crowds were almost nonexistent. Blue skies. We had one of the best days ever! It's almost impossible to convey to a skier how much fun you can have on a blue groomer. They just don't get it. I wouldn't either if I were on skis. Turn, turn, turn, turn - always on edge. Fifteen runs. Four hours straight until my legs give out. And I NEVER get tired of it!

We both agreed that yesterday may have been the BEST DAY EVER!. Snow conditions weren't Hero - they were SuperHero. Great groom everywhere: Firebowl, Turtlecreek, Roulette, Keno (even the steep section), Scrub and Apollo. Four to six cat passes on some runs. Cold but sunny. Very few people on the slopes - mostly older skiers. No close calls. Edge grip on the perfect corduroy was amazing. Making huge carves and hearing that edge just buzzing through the cord. The snow held up well and though the cord was gone, the carving was still great when our legs gave out about 1PM. 15 runs. I was at Vail last week with some ski buddies and the grooming sucked. We went down to the office at the end of the day and told them that Loveland Groomers are the BEST!

Gorgeous carving Bob!

Yup - That's RocketMan69 (AKA Gregory). He can be pretty enthusiastic.

My buddy RocketMan69 was at Loveland on Wednesday 1/25 and saw some hardbooters ripping it up on Roulette. Who was that?

I don't leave deep ruts either because: 1) I'm not carving hard enough and/or 2) I'm not heavy enough. My riding buddy outweighs me by about 100#. His trenches are visible from outer space. I'd like to think that we carve almost as hard as each other (camera footage appears to confirm this) but his trenches are much deeper. I occasionally cross his line at a small angle and it isn't fun. I think carving style should be the goal. Leaving trenches is the offshoot of this. I'd really rather not piss off others on the slope.

It's as though Kevin has powerful magnets in his hands that repel the slope. The closer his hands get to the snow, the repulsive force increases exponentially. He touches the snow only occasionally. The razor thin line between not touching the snow and dragging a whole arm on the snow.

I haven't seen Kevin ride in many years but his style is immediately recognizable and so flawless. Of all the riders I have seen, he and Norm have the most recognizable and beautiful form.

Sold! Original bid winner sleazed out. I relisted them with a $450 Buy It Now and that's what they sold for. Fair deal for both of us.

I have 2 Fluxes (~ 4 year old and new). Slight differences between the two. New one is 4cm longer, 1cm wider and a shorter SCR. My buddy has 3x Fluxes with slight differences. To be honest if I had my eyes closed I couldn't tell the difference between the boards. We both LOVE our Fluxes. They carve great and handle powder and cut-up snow with ease. No matter what I am riding do I ever think "Am I on the right board?".

1971 - 1972 season. Vail held the line at $9.00/ day:

The pins in your Intech heels are probably made of zinc plated steel (correct?). These need to interface with the holes in the zinc plated steel receivers. You're relying on the sliding between the surfaces to push the pins in. If there is too much friction, the pins won't get pushed in easily. I think Bomber tried for a while to supply "Bomber Butter" to make this sliding easier. Basically just some grease. Maybe get some silicone grease and put a thin film on the receiver before riding each day.

Do you walk through salt with your boots? This would definitely cause corrosion that is likely irreversible. Can you just order those parts?

Another good day at Loveland Thursday. About 9" of new on the picnic tables. More crowded than a regular weekday. I think the new snow brought out the powder seekers. Mostly older skiers in the lodge. Different crowd than last week (more school/college age people then). Arne joined us for his first day on a board since having vertebrae fused last October. FIrst run on Firebowl and then over to Bennet's. Arne was having equipment and other issues and bailed after 2 runs. Per our usual pattern we headed over to #8 by about 10AM. The lift lines were longer than any recent midweek non-powder day but the slopes were pretty open. Some nice partial powder runs followed by trying to carve cut-up stiff snow. No issues with other folks on the snow (mostly to ourselves). Still love our Fluxes and never thought "Am I on the right board?". Bailed out down Face (which still SUCKS!) with 2 - 3 more runs on Ptarmigan and #6. The recent snows should make for some great carving in the days & weeks ahead!

A co-worker went to Winter Park on Saturday. He left home at 6:30 and didn't get to the parking lot until 11AM. He had limited time so he took 1 run and headed home. Yuk!