Deuxdiesel

PM with cell # and I can send pics. Can't figure out why the picture links are broken.

While I figure this out, I can send pics via text if you PM me.

Any reason you chose the A-8 over the A-10?

I can't imagine what those would cost coming from Japan. For something that simple, you can buy horse hoof wedge pads from a farrier supply for about $10 each and DIY.

Can't see the pics?

Ride Deadbolts have been pretty nice so far- double Boa, plus a power strap and Intuition liners. This is the real issue in my opinion. That is why I am so interested in the Ride A-10's- a simple highback that a strap can be easily added along with a highback hook in place of the forward lean block.

Has anyone had a chance to ride or check these out yet? All new design- they look very simple with very few widgets to break or fall apart.

154x24, top sheet has some nicks and scratches, no base damage, lots of camber, super damp riding board. Needs a tune. $75 plus shipping. 161x24.5, good condition, normal nicks, needs a tune, very turny yet stable board. Needs a tune. $75 plus shipping.

Speedball 157x19, very good condition, needs a tune. $50 plus shipping. Ballistic 163x19, very good condition, needs a tune. $100 plus shipping. Ballistic 171x18.5, hardly ridden, needs a tune. $125 plus shipping.

Used just a few times- too small for my boots. $125 plus shipping.

It is too bad there are not any soft bindings specifically made for carving at high angles. A highback that actually wrapped around the boot top with a 3rd strap would be ideal, but it's a pretty small market. Even on my 27 wide Coiler and Ride, I have to go with 40+ angles for my boats, which leads to all sorts of funkiness.

I wear a Buff around my neck and just pull it up over my nose and mouth when I am in the lift line. On the chair I am only with my (vaccinated) family, so it stays down. I have to wear a mask 7 hours a day around my students, so any relief outdoors is appreciated.

I would love to see a boarder and Danny McCaskill on a real fat bike do it in winter conditions.

PM sent.

I had been teaching snowboarding (on my Burton Cruiser!) and skiing for a couple of years, and it was a pain to switch boots back and forth, so I found an old pair of Lange ski boots and some SnoPro binding to put on my board.

I get what you are saying, and I was being churlish (mostly), but to watch what those guys are doing makes me wonder- If it's really "soul surfing", why is it a contest? BTW, I was a terrible surfer but a pretty good windsurfer, so Gerry Lopez is well known.

I have not tried the Tracer, but I do have a Concept 161 and and Area 157 (actually my wife's)- both really nice boards, but the Area is too soft for me at 170lbs, and the Concept does well on soft, groomed snow. When you hear freestyle riders describe these boards, you would swear they were talking about 6 foot long 2x8's or something.

I must be missing something here. Are they supposed to ride like that on purpose? If so, I am totally stoked to know that I ride better than Fletch, Muchado and Lopez, at least on snow. Now if they were on Snurfers, I could understand it a bit more.

Does anybody remember the ski/snowboard competition back in the 90's called "trench wars" or something like that? It was run on a waterski style course with buoys (half balls) placed at different widths and you got more points for rounding the outer buoy than the inner ones. Racers could go on both snowboards and skis for the "skimeister" award. I remember watching Mark Fawcett race in Vermont and always thought that would be the future of alpine racing, but obviously it did not take off.

Awesome job! Congrats and much respect for representing us older coots. Is it just the video or was the course really slow?

Drifting may not be skidding, but it is not carving either. Remove the gates from that image and it would look pretty rough compared to the graceful arcs you see at an expression session. Not that Karl isn't killing it time-wise, and is obviously exceptionally skilled, but the goal is to get there first, not prettiest. In the mid weighting 3 video, the radius of the two turns is different as is the amount of the center of mass the rider puts inside the turn. Both show great skill and similar technique, but not apples to apples.

I don't know about the future of "alpine", but the future of carving for me was just revealed after my first day on my new Coiler BX hammerhead 160x27. With Flow bindings and some stiffer boots, I was able to lay out turns as quick and precise as any I have ever done on race boards and hard boots, plus it was much easier to just cruise and skid around on when riding with slower riders. I spent years teaching people to carve with hard boots and race boards, plus more than a decade evaluating instructors (who used hard boots and race boards) mainly because free ride/freestyle boards from the late 90's-early 2000's were pretty terrible at carving on anything but hero snow. I went through a whole bunch of supposedly "stiff" free ride boards over the past 15 years as a patroller (simply because patrolling on an alpine set-up is not very practical) and they were all weak. Hard boots are still fun, and all the plate and sub-plate systems are fascinating to me, but as mentioned in this thread and others, race boards and race techniques are designed to get past the gates as fast as possible. Fully rounded across the fall line layed out zero skid turns are not practical in a race.

Thanks!

Even at 1,000 EU that's still 1,100 USD. 1,500 EU would be over 1,600 USD. Ouch.

An "engineered ski area" is my favorite term for these built-up hills. There used to be an actual landfill hill in SE MI called Riverview Highlands, and they struggled to keep snow on the hill even in good snow years because of the rising heat from the decomposition process.