Emdee406

Apparently a new production version of the 34" GS is on its way to me... wonder what I'll do with the Proto...

Great to see two of my best buddy Paul Price's signature model Pavel, but you need one of my Geckos!

Sold!

I have a 171 blacktop Kessler for sale, I think it is circa 09-10. It belonged to a female racer who didn't have it long before she retired through injury and decided to focus on College. I bought it from her but have only ridden it half a dozen times. Topsheet is in great condition as is the base. I will take some pics tomorrow. I think the stats are Nose: 248mm Waist: 195mm Tail: 232mm Radius: 14,3m I'm looking for $650. Thanks.

Sadly now the Visa regs have changed, it's not going to get any better. No more highly qualified foreign Instructors unless like me, they have Green Cards! The Aussies still had a hardboot element to their Full-Cert course and the Kiwis were encouraged to try it.

At Park City I generally only get to teach a handful of Hardboot lessons a season, almost all are Private Half Day lessons with regular clients. I have managed to intercept some riders who were unsure if they wanted to spend that kind of money and told them about the "FREERIDE" group product. This is a normal group lesson price, but told them to say that they rode hard boots so therefore could the instructor be in the same. It meant they got a Private for the price of a group, I got to use my hardboot expertise, the resort got SOME money as opposed to none! Win, win. I did get paid half what I would have got for a Private, but a) they probably wouldn't have booked it and b)it's good PR for the sport and for me. Many resorts run similar programs so ask, but also give them some notice as Curt is right that most Instructors won't have their Alpine set ups readily available.

I used to coach the Royal Marines/Royal Navy Snowboard Team a few years ago, some of those boys are still racing Alpine events in softs, so may want a way into hardbooting on a budget. Look them up on Google as I'm not sure who is the contact now. I think their FB page might be "Snowboard Navy". Good Luck.

I'm pretty sure Reto Lamm has done it already!

Here's the link! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-05/slopestyle-snowboard-parallel-slalom-added-to-2014-winter-olympic-games.html

Looking for a Vist plate in good condition.

Happy Birthday....dammit, you're in my age group at Nationals now :(

Really beautiful work. We'll have to talk skating next time we meet!

I believe in recycling, so never have many boards, I pass them forward... Bottom to top... - Custom cruiser built by Munchh in the UK (signed by my old crew) - Gecko SLE Tight Slalom mounted with GOG trucks - Gecko Proto 34" Hybrid/GS board with GOG trucks - Old Roe 36" GS/6-wheeler test bed. Hopefully enough snow has gone that I can finally skate again!

Next season when I take to the SBX course, I'll be wearing one of these... http://m.competitivecyclist.com/product-apparel/2011-poc-cortex-dh-helmet-7301.10.1.html Sounds like one of the safest out there. I'll be using a standard POC for Alpine riding and my lightweight Smith for low level teaching. Done.I'm old and forgetful now, don't want to make it any worse.

As someone who has ridden both at high level for over 30 years, I would respectfully disagree, unless of course you like to skid a lot on your Alpine board ;) Anyway, each to their own... For me at least, carving on my Gecko GS board is the closest I can get to the same feeling on snow and definitely helps me maintain my skill level in the off season.

For a group of people so obsessed with carving on snow, why the fascination with sliding on concrete?

Darren, we were built for this sport, tell all those lanky gits to go play Basketball!

Damn you...my resort just closed and I miss winter already.

You will be fine, these boards don't actually flex and their quickness of response comes from the lack of flex! However this is more of a loose slalom/tight hybrid wheelbase so not as good for long radius turns, like buying a 165-170cm alpine board. Blue is right, bushings make a huge difference, try stiffer in the rear to deaden the rear and soft in the front(for slalom) or both the same for GS. Shape to makes a difference, barrel shaped bushings for rebound, conicals for a looser ankle-turny style. Khiro do a huge range. Hope this helps.

As someone who does both, an option that might work for you is more of a GS/Ditch board. Something like this: http://www.sk8kings.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=SK8KINGS060&Category_Code=C Which would give you a turny set up that is pretty stable at the same time.

Great post Gecko (that's the name of my board sponsor incidentally! ), but I think is more wanting to carve rather than slide. Trucks definitely make a difference, for carving the more precise the better... I use GOGs which give me more of an Alpine board response. Ironically a lot of Tight Slalom riders use Indys due to their high angle of attack and maneuverability. Trackers too will make carving easier.

You can see very similar movements here to the Swoard video, obviously a little faster; There are 3 BOL members on there too! Towards the end there is some action from a "Hybrid " course which is halfway between slalom and GS. On a full GS the similarity would be more obvious. I'll try to find some.

Another factor to consider is also the durometer (hardness) of the wheels relative to the grip available given by the surface. My background is as a slalom skater rather than a longboarder per se. Therefore I am more grip-orientated rather than slide-orientated. Temperature is also a factor too, as in very warm conditions, a soft normally grippy wheel will mush out and slide like a greased pig, where a harder wheel won't deform and grip like poo to a blanket. Wheel profile too can decide whether a wheel will grip, slide and go or slide and lock back on. Technique-wise, it would be cool to see footage as if you are inclining rather than angulating, you will actually be applying lateral rather than downward pressure and forcing the board to slide. It would IMHO be almost impossible, without the use of an inclined bank, to EC on a longboard because where a snowboard edge is embedded in the snow, the wheels are resting on the surface of the ground and therefore cannot achieve the same level of grip. That's my gut feeling, but I'll give it some more thought...

Bloody hell, that's an RAF Bloodhound S-A-M missile! Good find

Sharing the podium with two of the best all-round riders you will ever meet, David Paulger and Sean Keough...plus two of the nicest. I met so many cool people that week!