JohnE

15" in last 72 hours. How were conditions yesterday?

Thanks for the link. I do remember seeing that video (or a portion of it) before. It explains pretty well the physiology of why the back and forth motion is so addictive. We rode yesterday and kept doing the same 6 or so runs over and over until we could barely stand up. I used to rollerblade a lot back in the 90s. When you get good enough the sensation comes close to carving - but nothing beats carving!

Better conditions yesterday than I anticipated. A bit crunchy up high. Turning to mashed potatoes near the bottom by 1PM. But still a great carving day overall. Firecut was groomed wider than I have ever seen. Skier's left almost to the lift. No more moguls. We were in the lodge in the morning having breakfast. I overheard Vinny saying that the owners were in the back room. A bit later the door opened up and a couple of women came out. I went over to introduce myself. The woman introduced herself as Cathy Upham. Chet was her dad and Ginny Lee was her mom. We told them how much we loved their area and how great the grooming has been this year (in spite of challenging snow conditions). One of the guys there said they recently bought some new Pisten Bully snow cats. If it continues to be warm and they don't get any new snow the conditions could deteriorate pretty quickly.

Corey - I've watched you board - a lot. I can't ever recall a mistake. Also - just got back from a carving day yesterday. I'd like to edit my initial premise: simple harmonic motion is just one aspect of carving: when your rhythm causes you to spring from one edge to the other - that is simple harmonic motion. However most of my carves are much lower frequency, much higher amplitude than SHM. These turns still get the dopamine rush and are still addictive.

For most skiers and most snowboarders, variety of terrain and slope is a significant factor on where they want to ride. Speaking for myself and my riding buddy, variety doesn't matter much. We've ridden the same slopes hundreds of times. I've shown videos of us to skier and snowboarder friends and while they think it is pretty cool, I think they wonder why one would want to do this run after run, day after day? I think it has to do with the effect of simple harmonic motion on the inner ear (or vestibular system?). The back and forth motion creates dopamine and is addictive. It's hard to explain to others who haven't experienced it. It is common to snowboard carving, riding a motorcycle, driving a car on a curvy road, slalom skateboarding and in-line skating, etc. I can't say that I understand why this stimulates the inner ear but the only reason we stop at the end of each day is because we are exhausted. Do others here agree? Is variety of terrain important to you or do you just carve the same runs over and over and over?

JRAZZ - my riding buddy & I too ride the latest NX2-GT (CX?) (non-hybrid model). We also both ride the latest Flow Talon boots. We both LOVE them. The design of the Supermatic looks very similar to the NX2 except for the ratcheting step-in. This looks like it would save bending down to step in. Bending down to get out would be just about the same. I don't think that I would have a concern about unintentional release. Since this is a multi-tooth ratchet, it seems likely that you might slip from tooth to tooth rather than a catastrophic release (my speculation). You mention that these have a really thick heel loop. Not sure I understand. If so, how is this a downside? If I get a boot out on the heelside, it is usually the heel of my boot that contacts the snow first. Where did you get to try them out?

A challenging day yesterday - but fun nonetheless. Blustery day in Denver. Full on winter at the Divide. 5 degrees on arrival, snowing and blowing (but not too hard). About 3 - 4" new on top of groom. The snow was very slow. Visibility above timberline was almost nonexistent. We would get off the lift and head "over in that direction". The only way we could move at all was because we were so familiar with the terrain. We kept landmarks in sight and engaged in some "faith carving": "I can't see where I'm going but I have faith that I can deal with it". I've never experienced vertigo so badly - except in powder. But we were riding a lot faster. Below timberline the visibility was much better. Soft carving conditions were good. We stayed mostly on Ptarmigan and #6 but then abandoned #6 after a few runs because it was so hard to get going from the top of the lift due to the slow snow. We did one non-stop from the top of Ptarmigan to the parking lot. I don't recall the last time I did that. 13 runs in about 3.5 hours. We got cold and headed inside for a cold beer. If they don't get a sudden warm-up the snow should be good for a while longer.

Up to Loveland today. Not too bad on the way up but ran into winter near Bakerville. High winds and 5 degrees in the parking lot. Went inside for breakfast and they lost power about 8AM. Went to reserve (generator) power. They never opened Tuesday due to high winds. Finished our breakfast and waited for them to make a call about opening. By 9:10 the lifts still hadn't started and still no main power. No estimated up time. So we packed it in and headed home. A long way to drive for a mediocre breakfast!

That looks like a whole lotta no fun!

Conditions yesterday? Is spring break done with?

We've had a lot of "best days" this season. Yesterday wasn't one of them. Lightly snowing off & on. Poor visibility, crusty snow. My thinking brain told me "you can do this". My reptile brain said "are you crazy?". Often the lizard brain won out and I dialed it way back. The visibility did improve some as did the surface conditions. We had some good turns and some good runs but not every run/turn. Good day anyway (not great). So Marvin is 33? My birthday was last Sunday. I'm only twice his age!

Love my NX2-GTs. On my 2nd generation.

I've been playing with the Ski Tracker App. We were at Loveland last Wednesday. Here is a screenshot of four of the runs. These are on Chet's over on Lift #8. Ginny Lee Cabin is visible in the lower right corner. Snow that day was a mix of groomed and quasi-powder. The run in the bottom of the photo was some low amplitude, high frequency turns under the lift. The 2 runs in the upper portion of the shot were skier's left of the groom in windpack snow. These again were higher frequency, low amplitude. The run down the middle was on the groom just east of the lift. These were big, carving turns. It's interesting that the App has a high enough sampling rate that it can show the big difference in the riding style.

Wow! Spring Break. Wednesday felt like a weekend. Slopes were crowded!

I have less hardboot experience than most on this forum. I transitioned back to softboots about 4 years ago. I too am in my 60s. My carving buddy & are riding Flow Talon boots with Flow NX2-GT bindings (I think Flow has since been bought by Nidecker). He is on his 4th generation of this Flow combo, I am on my 2nd generation. We both LOVE this setup. I have never had any snow-sliding (skiing, hardbooting & softbooting) footwear that offers such an intimate connection with the board and still be so comfortable. The highest praise that I can give is that I am unaware of the rider - board connection. My buddy agrees. The heel hold down is amazing. The Flow bindings are quick in / out - but not step-in or step-on. You have to slide your rear foot into the binding and close the highback. No more sitting on the snow. We both have custom made Donek Flux boards. However, my riding buddy got out his late 90's (?) K2 Eldorado and absolutely loved it. As a Mechanical Engineer I really appreciate the design evolution and features of the new Flow equipment. Something to consider. Good luck!

Spoken for!

Rjnakata was the first to respond. Once he pays - they're his!

Head Stratos Pro liners. Used but in good shape. You pay shipping (Paypal) = $20 CONUS.

Another great day yesterday. Easy / quick ride up & back. Lodge and slopes uncrowded. Wonderful groom. Coming off of Firebowl they groomed 2 - 3 passes skier's right that headed toward the lower portion of Bennett's (right toward the cabin). Carving this was really fun because each toeside was uphill and each heelside was downhill (or vice-versa). Did a couple of non-stops on Roulette and 6x on Chet's. 13 runs total in about 3 1/2 hours. We stopped in the office to compliment on the wonderful groom.

Yesterday was another great day. Best snow of the season (for me). About 6" of new dry, dense snow on top of nice groom below. We were on the first chair. Powderhounds made it a bit more crowded than a typical Wednesday but not too bad. The first 4 runs or so were the definition of Cold Surf. Big, wide-open turns through big sections of lightly tracked snow. After it got somewhat tracked-out the snow was still wonderful. We got about 11 runs in between 9AM - noon. We never questioned if our Donek Fluxes were the right board for the conditions. Wonderful!

So - Pete - you were the "returning LCI member". Hope you are doing well in ABQ and getting in some turns. Arne has been out healing from shoulder surgery. I think he is out for the season. Take care - John

I recall tales of (younger) guys who got pretty seriously injured doing some sporting activity. They heal up and get back on that horse. I, on the other hand am pretty sissy. I have never been seriously injured and I'd like to keep it that way. I'm afraid if I ever got seriously hurt snowboarding, I may just quit. That is why my primary strategy is to avoid crowds. I now only ride mid-week and try to be very aware of those behind me. If it gets even marginally crowded, I become very distracted and turn to a self-preservation mode. I'd like to believe that I can learn from the mishaps of others. Hope you heal soon and completely.

Another great day yesterday: Easy drive up, cold in the parking lot on arrival (~4 degrees) but sunny. Typical mid-week lack of crowds. I think Denver had more new snow than Loveland. Maybe only 1" or so of new. Firebowl Turtle Creek, Bennet's and Roulette had wonderful groom. We mentioned this to one of the lifties and he said that Loveland had recently acquired a new groomer (?). For whatever reason, the groom was great. We did 3 back-to-back non-stops on Roulette. I think it was the best turns I have ever made on Roulette. As usual we headed over to #8 & started lapping Chet's. Very nice and nearly deserted. Warm & sunny at the bottom. Cold and windy at the top. I don't think it got out of the single digits with a ~30mph wind blowing straight down the lift. Each time we would approach the top we would question if it was worth it. By the time we got to the bottom we said "Hell ya - it's worth it!". I think we got in about 15 runs by 1PM when my rear quad told me it was time to bail. I think that was about #6 of the best days I have ever had (most of them since the beginning of the year)!

That is one of the issues that I had the most trouble with when I was hardbooting: When I skied, my shoulders pointed toward the tips of my skis. When I soft boot snowboarded, my left shoulder lead. When I worked at hardbooting my shoulders were somewhere between. I never really got used to the in-between orientation. So I regressed back to softbooting and all is well. The other thing I had trouble with hardbooting is that driving one's knees is partially lateral. With softbooting knee flex is in the direction knees were meant to flex. Good luck on the transition.

Have you seen the Visa ad during the Olympics with all of the people sliding down the mountain? That's what Vail felt like to me last week. TOO MANY PEOPLE!