Alaskan Rover

I would have thought, perhaps, that foot-dominance would be a more accurate forecaster of board stance...but the polls so far don't seem to back this up. So far, about 83% (out of 30) of riders are right-foot dominate...I have found that most right-foot dominate people tend to end up right-foot forward for the sliding-test (sliding on a a bare, slippery floor in socks), and most also tend to put out their right foot during the "back push" test. However, it seems that right-foot dominance does not seem to carry over to the snowboarding stance, as most "regular" riders seem to be right-foot dominate as well. I rather expected right-foot dominance for those preferring "goofy" stance. I didn't expect as many "regular" riders to be right-foot dominate as well. For, me, as I have noted, I think my right-knee ACL surgery had intervened in my board stance..., as I used to skateboard goofy and can ride a surf-board either goofy or regular. I think now that I SHOULD have added a place for right-handed and left-handed in this poll, as I have a sneaking suspicion that the few respondees that checked "left-foot kicking" (17%), are also left-handed. That would correlate pretty well with the national ratio of left-handed to right-handed. Interesting, nonetheless.

I'm just wondering about something. I presume that as far a ratio goes, between 60% to 70% of you ride regular and 30% to 40% ride goofy... about the same ratio as for softbooting. But what I am wondering is: of those that ride regular, how many kick a ball with their right feet, and how many kick with their left. The same with goofy riders: how many left-footed kickers and how many right-footed kickers. This is basically termed "footedness". The other "reg vs. goofy" poll of a couple years ago didn't cover this. As for me: If given the push test (have someone "sneak" up behind you and lightly push you off balance) I ALWAYS put my RIGHT foot forward. I also kick a ball (or a person, if they get on my bad-side..ha ha) with my right foot. However, I feel most comfortable and natural on a board riding left-foot forward (regular)...this may be due to my having had ACL surgery on my right knee...or maybe was just born weird (I know, I left myself open to attack on that one). I would add right-handedness and left-handedness to the poll, but I think that would make the set of mathematical combinations too high...but apparently MANY right-handers are "left-footers", and vice-versa. <!-- / message --> <!-- controls -->

B0ardski posted the following photo: LL Bean has their own brand of board???? I haven't seen an LL Bean shop since years ago in Freeport, Maine. I can't even remember if they sold boards there...it was summer and I had already switched my mind over to hiking/kayaking (took a while, but I managed, without too many DTs :)) Have just never seen an LL Bean board before. I guess you could call it the "Beanie Board." Who make's them for them? What's next? An Orvis board made by Arbor?? High dollar meets high dollar.

Basically, the only SURE way is to walk out. Find your board and "boot-out"...and then walk or "swim" towards the nearest trees or rocks where hopefully there is also enough downslope to regain momentum once you get back on your board...a task in itself!!! Don't even bother trying to ride out from that spot, unless it is steep enough, as you'll definitely need a shove from gravity..and you'll most likely go absolutely nowhere! I've been in 5 feet of powder and way deeper drifts...a weird sensation...it IS like swimming. Get ready to get snowy and you might as well have a blast. ANY snow is good snow, except yellow snow. Gravity IS Life.

I just checked eBay for Burton Backyards. There are two at auction presently. 1) a 1979 model, looks to have been used a LOT. Suggested price $8000. 0 bids yet. 2) 1981 model...MINT condition. Similar in shape to yours. Very low serial #39. looks to have been initialed by Jake himself. JBC. This one has a "Buy It Now" price of $10,000. Also 0 bids so far. I checked completed listings: Only one shows up as a recent sale...final price was $2125 with 10 bids. No mention about reserve on this particular auction, so it may have had a low reserve price. Also, since it is no longer on the system, I can't see a decent photo of it...so don't know how it compares to yours in shape. I wouldn't sell that board to ANYONE until you determine an approximate value. You might want to contact Burton in Vermont...they may be able to steer you in a good direction as far as value if you explain what you have. Being in unused, excellent condition makes a HUGE difference, so it may be worth a bundle. Anyway, you have a find! I'm still sorry my mom gave away all the "boxed" GI-Joes and boxed Planet of the Apes figures to the Salvation Army, that me and my brother had stored and then forgotten in the attic. The boxes were all MINT and were apparently worth more than some of the figures. Someone at SallyAnn made some money that day!

I'm with the others on this...I think it is worth what the highest bidder is willing to pay for it. While I personally wouldn't pay $8000 for ANY board, price is relative to one's desire for the object. #266 is a low number, and the fact that it must be in excellent condition is a BIG plus. I don't think these boards ever came in a box, so you don't have to worry about the NIB status. I'd imagine that because it was a gift, any price stickers were taken off...they'd add value to it, too. I am not sure if TransWorld Snowboard magazine has a classified ad section, put an ad in there, if they do. Or you can see if their website has a classified section. And, as others had mentioned, try eBay...but you'd need to derive some estimate of worth to put a reserve on it, first. Definitely DON'T list it "No-Reserve"...some bloke might get it for $6.85 that way!! Good luck with it. How come you never rode it?

Seems to me that when something comes out that is ostensibly supposed to do TWO different things well, one often ends up with gear that is destined to do NEITHER well. Dunno...maybe that's just me. Gravity IS Life.

I do a little surfing when and where I can. I'm no Kelly Slater, that's for sure....but I picked up a few things here and there. For your first board, there is no reason to spend a bunch of money...I'd recommend going used for the board, as people are always trading up and so there are lots of used boards at most shops. I too, recommend renting as many different type of boards as possible. I would stay away from the 'guns" for now, as they will do you absolutely no good for learning on unless you are a natural-born surf-god prodigy. I don't know your size, but for most adult learners...9 to 10 feet is good. You need quite a bit of flotation while learning. I'd recommend a long-board at first. Many shops only rent those 10 foot foam Bics...a really lousy board. I surfed Montauk before....most of the shops there just rent Bics....BUT they will let you demo certain good non-Bic boards. Single fin at first is fine for learning...you won't really have the skills at first to make use of 3 fins. The rounder shape at the fore end of the long-board gives you more flotation, but they're also wider and harder to paddle...get ready for some aching paddling shoulders at first, but you'll get used to it. The smaller comp boards are usually to squirrely underneath for most beginners. One good hint is to practice beach pop-ups. The "pop-up" is the manuever you use to get up on the board during a wave...it has to be done LIGHTNING fast and accurately, so it takes a LOT of practice. The pop-up is the SINGLE most important skill you need to learn for surfing. Watch some videos of surfing beach pop-ups on youtube or whatever. You can practice them on the living room floor or out in the yard....do like a thousand of them until you get a nice fluid action. I can't stress getting the pop-up down enough. Surfing is easy to learn when you're a kid, but buggedly hard to learn as an adult....but is truly worth it, for once you catch that first wave, and feel the ocean take you on it's merry ride, you're hooked. You also might wanna try paddle-surfing as an introduction to real surfing, as it will give you a good feel for the balance needed for standing on a board and is a good bit easier to learn...no pop-ups necessary...and you'll STILL get that great feeling of riding the wave. 11 foot long board works well for that. Gravity IS Life.

That seems like a pretty good model to me. The only style that I really LOVE to do on skis IS racing style...I just don't have the desire for any other style on skis. I just like the precision that is involved. It's a MUCH more technical style than rec skiing. I mean check out the pic below...even at that extreme carve, his body is still basically at the same plane. THAT'S precision. Gravity IS Life.

Last one....... Gravity IS Life.

Even more.....

More weird snow ways...

I was able to try ski-biking at Timberline Ski Area, WV a while ago. Was a blast. Turns out one can carve fairly well on a ski-bike. A long time ago, when our family lived in Switzerland, Ski-bobs were the big thing...basically tricycles with skis. These next pix show what happens when someone stays up too late at night...figuring out new ways to get around on snow. Being a sailor, my favorite is the first one...a sailsnowboarder (or perhaps snowsailboarder??), looks like fun. The tracked ski-bicycle evidently stems from a combination of staying up too late AND more than a few beers. Maybe Lance Armstrong could run up that uphill...I think one would need HIS legs to make it move. Gravity IS Life.

patmoore wrote: "My last ever standing backflip on my 50th birthday, Oct 25, 1996." Kudos to ANYONE performing a standing back-flip.....50 OR 16 !!! Now let's see you do one with the board strapped on... I saw your youtube Tampa, Fl weatherman vid from 1976...you look a sorta like Dick Smothers of the Smothers Brothers in that vid....and I was AMAZED at the size of the cars that show up in that video...like battleships!!! Davos is cool...we used to live in Geneva when I was a little kid....great mountains...too flat around Geneva, though :(

KingCrimson: Yeah...that's what I mean...seems a twin-tip would be a little more forgiving when you DO happen to land off-plane. I've had Air to Fakies where I screwed the landing and was sure I was going to eat snow and windmill...but I actually landed on the tip and was able to adjust my weight just enough to stick it. I think I would have had a problem digging that tail a little more. But the initiation of that particular ollie was pretty lame making my balance WAY off. Nearly bonked it pretty bad. Wouldn't have been pretty. But what about the cant and lift COMBINED with the 55/55 (or what-have-you) stance?? My hat's off to anybody sticking a good switch landing with all four (less tail rise; cant; lift; 55/55 stance) of those factors at hand!!

I am just wondering...how easy is it to land switch on an alpine board after doing something simple like an Air-to-Fakie? The tails don't exactly have a lot of lip to them for switch. Also, it would seem that the cant and lift that most people ride with would sorta screw up the landing. Does it? I would think it would be a good recipe for having a nice cold snowburger with a side of blood. Jes' wunderin'. Gravity IS Life.

Raining in Bird Creek?....THIS time a year?? You talkin' Bird...near Portage, yeah? The funky Bird bar that burned down n all that? Turnagain Arm? Or maybe I'm ripped and there's a Bird Creek in SE, where it DOES rain pretty much ALL the time...like near that ski area in Juneau...'Eaglecrest'....ha ha. JUST KIDDING!!. There ARE some pretty funky inversions that come in off the north pacific...pressure systems lofting in from the south like some sort of hi-jacker. I've seen rain in Anch in January....and RAINED OUT Fur Rondys!!! And iditarod starting lines where they've had to haul snow by the truckload from Fort Richardson. I figure you gotta be talking bout sometime last year, though. I haven't popped yer vid yet, 'cause my vid driver is on the fritz until I d/l a new driver. Where do you ride? If you carve, you're pretty much limited to Alyeska, but have you ever freeridden Tin Can Alley and all the stomp trails that are EVERYWHERE there? I usually head to Hatcher Pass in the spring, usually by snowmachine...or with one of my Healy friends that has Matt Tracks on his rig. But if you want a place that is easy to get to, Pioneer Peak in the mat-su is a GREAT place to freeride!!! The way the ascent route is situated, avalanche danger is fairly remote, 'cept for one segment below one sketchy cornice. A LOT of good places near Bridal Veil Falls on the way down to Valdez....LOTS of avalanche danger THERE, though!! Cool thing about AK is that there are mountains pretty much EVERYWHERE you look...unless you happen to be stuck in Nome like I was one winter, doing winter red king crab biological survey work on the ice. I am usually lucky enough to bring my board and stomp gear when we do remote wildlife surveys...depending how much gear our Otter is taking at the time. My favorite time was a contract in the Brooks Range near Anaktuvuk Pass...best place in the world to ride!!!...unnamed peaks EVERYWHERE. Hard to get to...even harder to get UP!!! Enjoy your AK riding...it's truly like no where else...well, the Yukon Territory is no slouch either, actually. :) I've got a chance to do a study in Greenland, though...and if so, I'll DEFINITELY take my board THERE...even if they have to mail-drop it!! :) I'll just call it "necessary scientific equipment"...ha ha. Gravity IS Life.

Thanks, John E. I think it is like a car's steering wheel. Cars have had a simple worm and roller or rack and pinion steering system for EVER. The other systems of a car have changed dramatically, but two things seem steadfast: the steering wheel and the four wheels and a rotating drive shaft as a way of steering the vehicle and transfering power to the road. Essentially the same for 100 years now. Why? Because they work well and do their job with SOME modicum of efficiency. That said, sooner or later someone is going to come up with a wholly different approach to driving a vehicle. We are a LONG way off from a vehicle that hovers efficiently or drives 100% autonomously...but that doesn't stop people from trying out different ideas. That fact cars are basically still recognizable as cars means either of two things: either that spectrum of 'auto" inventions simply didn't work...OR they were TOO expensive. You are EXACTLY right about simplicity!! Simplicity of design is the essence of grace. My first idea for a binding was grounded in trying to find a more simple solution to the boot to deck interface....but that first idea didn't work. I was thinking about it wrongly. So, I'll keep trying other ideas....because once an idea takes hold, it's like an itch, one that I have to scratch until I figure it out. The larger base that a strap-type binding base provides will afford more room to work out a way to get something that is easier to engage...especially the 2nd foot, as OldSnowboards.com had mentioned. That is the vexing problem. But, I've got some other ideas that may alleviate that problem. If I hadn't posted my initial query, I wouldn't have known that I was on the wrong track. I have garnered some EXCELLENT suggestions from people here. My first path was the wrong direction. From correspondance here, I am now thinking of a slightly different platform....one that will solve the engaging/disengaging problem, and also, due to a new idea that I've had, ALSO be able to have ADJUSTABLE cant and lift. Ice is another problem. But everyone would still be on wooden skis with Spademan bindings if no one tried different ideas. So thanks everybody (excepting, of course, the unaccepting Tex1230), for your input!

Thanks, John E. I think it is like a car's steering wheel. Cars have had a simple worm and roller or rack and pinion steering system for EVER. The other systems of a car have changed dramatically, but two things seem steadfast: the steering wheel and the four wheels and a rotating drive shaft as a way of steering the vehicle and transfering power to the road. Essentially the same for 100 years now. Why? Because they work well and do their job with SOME modicum of efficiency. That said, sooner or later someone is going to come up with a wholly different approach to driving a vehicle. We are a LONG way off from a vehicle that hovers efficiently or drives 100% autonomously...but that doesn't stop people from trying out different ideas. That fact cars are basically still recognizable as cars means either of two things: either that spectrum of 'auto" inventions simply didn't work...OR they were TOO expensive. You are EXACTLY right about simplicity!! Simplicity of design is the essence of grace. My first idea for a binding was grounded in trying to find a more simple solution to the boot to deck interface....but that first idea didn't work. I was thinking about it wrongly. So, I'll keep trying other ideas....because once an idea takes hold, it's like an itch, one that I have to scratch until I figure it out. The larger base that a strap-type binding base provides will afford more room to work out a way to get something that is easier to engage...especially the 2nd foot, as OldSnowboards.com had mentioned. That is the vexing problem. But, I've got some other ideas that may alleviate that problem. If I hadn't posted my initial query, I wouldn't have known that I was on the wrong track. I have garnered some EXCELLENT suggestions from people here. My first path was the wrong direction. From correspondance here, I am now thinking of a slightly different platform....one that will solve the engaging/disengaging problem. Ice is another problem. But everyone would still be on wooden skis with Spademan bindings if no one tried different ideas. So thanks everybody, for your input!

NateW: Ha ha...your message made me laugh. :o :) Subtle, well constructed humor is the whipped cream on top of the mocha...it tickles the nose, but oh, is it sooo good. Unfortunately I am very saddened that the liquid Dihydrogen Monoxide presently falling from the blasted troposphere is causing the solid Dihydrogen Monoxide that so deliciously covers the ground surface to rapidly disappear from my vision...a vexing new scenario for one that relishes the propensity for acute acceleration that the gravitational force doth provide when the forces of friction are sufficiently minimized. :( ShortcutTomoncton: And thus it shall be known evermore, that the word "thus", from this moment on, shall be promptly and resolutely expunged from my vocabulary...thusLY thwarting any lateral movement towards pedantism. >>>>>......;);)>>>>>:)

I remember my mom used to have those white Hanson boots with the totally rubber liner and odd-looking front joint that were all the rage amongst the fashion conscious back in the day. Oddly enough, those same Hansons ended up in the movie 'Waterworld', if I remember correctly. My dad at the time thought they were ridiculous and said fashion should be left at the ski lodge where it belonged. He much preferred a bullet-proof pair of steel-buckled orange Langs, as he thought they were much more common-sense...and he was probably right. While I never owned a pair, I was always intrigued by the Scott rear-entry boots. I thought they were very eclectic, and I guess, in there own way, they were the Saab 900 of ski boots. I may be wrong, but weren't those Billy Kidd's boot of choice? Gravity IS Life.

This guy's my ski hero....not because of his grace, he didn't show much on that 1976 run, but because he managed to hold it all together...against a lot of odds, and win the gold. He was all over the mountain during that medal run....probably should have blown off the course at least 4 different times, and I am sure a racer of lesser skill WOULD have. He took it to the limit in that crazy awesome race, that fact shows in his ungainly style, and he could have easily died on that killer course, but he didn't give up...didn't give in. Wouldn't want to be ANY of those guys in the beginning of the video, though!!

Jon Dahl: Thanks. Yeah....I am going to try and get a hold of as much used gear and parts and pieces of parts that I can...and just start messing around with various ideas. I originally LOVED the idea and look of the K2 Clickers when they first came out, and the boot was actually very well made. But when I rented a pair at Whistler...I found they just sucked in deep snow if you needed to boot-out and then boot back in. They'd cram up with snow, and also were VERY difficult to put on while sitting down...nearly impossible sometimes. I took them back after 1/2 day and got strappers instead!....but those boots and bindings SURE ''looked'' nice!! In that regard, that is one problem this present idea will have: it will be difficult to put on while sitting down. Or standing on incline. When I am booting in and don't want to sit down, I'll walk around in circles like a dog, digging a flat spot, until I find just the right spot. That lack of useability in anything but level hardpack is [probably one of the reasons Clickers never caught on as they should have. I gotta work on that problem of engaging the binding easily in all conditions. Ohob: thanks for your ideas. My idea has changed a LOT since those sketches. I made a mistake and forgot the disc doesn't rotate...the binding rotates around the disc. Stupid mistake...and my board is strapped to my car just 60 feet away!!! Anyway...I am now envisioning the T-track on base that rotates around the disc...not a track welded to the disc itself...somebody pointed that out, and I am thankful. Envision the bottom platform of a strap binding. That would give a LOT more area to secure a track to, hence making it more resistant to moment stress....plus it would look more finished to boot (no pun intended). Would also be room for a harmonic damping system I am playing around with. I've got some old strap-bindings I can grind the upper strap brackets off..and put HDPE under the platform to contact the board within 0.5mm or less. Matter of fact, if I ever get the whole thing down, or whatever else I come up with, that'll be it's name: ENVISION. ha ha. Gotta work on that problem of easily engaging the channel while sitting or standing, though.

Kjl: I guess I must admit that I am a tinkerer of words...I love turning them over, studying them from this angle and that, adding one to another and seeing if they implode. I love playing around with the geometry of words and the architecture of sentences, but you can have no doubt about this next salient point: I always strive to ensure that my words have meaning, and that each sentence or paragraph has a point, whether merely for entertainment or for some more inductive purpose...otherwise they simply become audible fluff. Perhaps, as you had once suggested, your views of me are tempered by a post I had written a week ago, and thus forever more, every idea that I have and everything that I write gets submitted to that filter...a polarizing screen, if you will, of words and ideas. Sometimes though, the screen may be too dark, and it filters out the good along with the bad. I can only hope that sometime in the future you will endeavor to see a spectrum of ideas through the unfiltered eye. Given that, however, I take your input with certain weight...as I would the input of anyone. Yours comes from experience with hardboots on a board, whereas mine comes merely from AT hardboots on two skinny boards. I have no dread of failure...in fact, initially, I rather expect it. But I think, perhaps, that ideas are like plants, in that new ideas and new inventions sprout from the soil of failed ones. I guess if Bruce Willis can turn into John Travolta merely by the addition of a cheap toupee and a white pimp-suit...ANYTHING is possible. Ideas are free...will is sometimes taxed.