Deuxdiesel

Fascinating but sad- I hope it gets to reopen. Michigan has a lost ski area website and there are literally dozens of small areas that have shut down, plus a few of the larger ones as well. I don't think the future climate bodes well for this industry.

Small Town Titans- the guy's voice is amazing, Chris Cornell with MORE range if you can believe it. Lara Hope and the Arktones- Patsy Cline meets pin-up girl. They have the most romantic song ever- I Love You More Than I Did Yesterday Because Yesterday You Kind Of Pissed Me Off.

I still have it.

I'm not sure if this fits in this forum, but if anyone is interested in experimenting with a teleboard as a Skwal, I have one (181 Pursuit) I would dump cheap. It has standard 3-pin nord inserts, so they would have to be T-nutted for 4x4 discs. I was great fun when I was a Tele skier, but those days are past. PM if you have questions.

Have you considered Okemo? I haven't been there in years, but they were open until 4/15 last year and have great wide open runs.

I have a few older skis that I would love to try this on, but I am betting that it won't be cheap. Nor should it be if it is well built and well engineered, but I'm guessing it has limited appeal.

The green and black one, so it's older. 8.5 SCR, 4x4, Located in SE MI.

I've enjoyed these, but parts are hard to find.

How about an Elan Ballistic 163?

Sorry, my age is showing through. I guess they are called "shock pads" now, but they aren't very common. If you go on-line to McMaster-Carr, they sell lots of different thicknesses and durometers of sheet urethane. It's not cheap though. Another option to check out is equine hoof pads, which come in a huge variety of durometers, thicknesses and profiles (the ones for draught horses are like giant cant plates). Cheap too- about $10 each. Hope this helps.

I was standing and screaming in front of the TV for the gold BX race. It seemed to help. BX is certainly entertaining to watch, even though they sometimes look like geese trying to take off from water with all the flapping. It may be inelegant, but it serves a purpose, unlike our body- dragging eurocarves, which is for aesthetics.

You can use skateboard truck risers. They come in various thicknesses, plus you can create a larger footprint than the stock bumpers do.

Thanks for linking that article Frenchy. What's the incentive for Vail to change, especially when they make $2B a year? Having experienced first-hand what happens to a local area when the take over, the smoke and mirror show they put on the first season is impressive but it's not sustainable.

I really like my Ride A-9's, but I know they make a composite base version (C-9) of that binding that offer more flex. Their new binding line is really simple. A for aluminum base, C for composite, increasing numbers for stiffness/responsiveness.

Welcome! Do you know what sort of binding angles you want to ride? If you can manage higher angles like 35 degrees or more, then a 26 cm wide board might work. A wider board than 26 cm will allow you to ride lower angles with less chance of dragging your heels and toes. For reference, my boots are M29/E44.5/US11, I am on 27 cm wide boards (custom Coiler 163, Nitro Pantera 161W) and ride around 30 degrees front foot and 21 degrees rear foot. The more angle I ride with soft boots, the less precise my turns become, and if I ride less angle, I start to drag to heels and toes. The OES you listed is the widest, but I have no experience with any of those boards. I hope this helps. D.

18/19 model, very good condition, ridden maybe 10 days. I love this board- light and snappy, holds an edge really well in variable snow, but alas, it is too narrow for my size 11.5 softies at my preferred stance angles. I have tried Donek risers and Bomber power plates, and while both work, the weight and flat spots work against this board. It will need a tune, but the are no gouges or edge nicks. Shipping from 48130.

PM sent

Steeper terrain will automatically increase your edge angles, but there are some things you can try before making that commitment. Practice some garlands while traversing where you are engaging the same edge over and over. Continue to focus on vertical movement, as you are still pretty static throughout much of your turns. You are correct that you are folding over at the waist on the toe side turn- think more about driving your knees into the snow to increase the edge angle as opposed to reaching for it with your upper body. As far as the highbacks go, you may not be using them much at this point, but you will eventually- if they are just touching the backs of your boots when you are in a neutral stance, then it should be fine for now. One other thing- your lines in the snow don't lie- you are carving! And for as little time as you have spent trying this aspect of snowboarding, you are doing great. From here it's mostly mileage with little tweaks along the way. Check your PM's.

What's the flex on the 195 like? Built for you?

I wouldn't expect any other outcome based on how different the boards are. I wonder how the Tanker would stack up against something like a Nitro Pantera?

First Sochi, now Beijing, so hopefully that will end the IOC's placation of dictator-led countries.

As we watch on our Chinese made tech while wearing our foreign made clothing...

Those are some fairly smooth linked turns, so you are well on you way. I would say the first thing to work on is to relax. You are stiff as a board, and are kind of teetering into each turn. Softer knees and ankles will allow you to initiate turns with more subtle lower body body movements, like pushing down/lifting up on the toes instead of using the tongue and highback. Also relaxing your upper body, especially your arms, will lower your CG, which will also help. Relaxing your body when you are terrified is tough, but will make a big difference. What area was that filmed?

Almost a year later, I would like to do an update on the Ride A Series bindings. I finally purchased a pair of A9's in November, which were $80 less than the A10's. After spending quite a few hours on them, I would say that they are the most "invisible" two strap bindings I have ever owned. I still have two pairs of Flow bindings, but these are pretty special right out of the box. They easily secure your boot in the binding as firmly as the Flow's do, but I literally don't feel them when riding groomers, whereas the Flow's almost have a "boot bang" feel to them. Today I rode a Nitro Pantera 163W with 35/20 angles and it was a seamless feel. I have tried several other bindings on this board, and these were hands down the best feel overall.

RCR in Fraser MI builds those D-Type replicas. $35K for the chassis, so by the time you add the drivetrain, seats and everything else, you are in the $60-70K range. I would much rather have one of those instead of a Cobra replica.