Emdee406

Ha ha! I’m actually going to thin out my quiver and sell it (I’ve got a Coiler on the way), so maybe I won’t

@Pythmere looking good! Let’s get out and ride soon.

Ha ha! And me, a foreign, black snowboarder, living in Utah... NO CHANCE!

Wow... when you think of how many people have been shot by the police, for far less. Dude was lucky...and no doubt, white.

Conversation on the chairlift this morning, traveling above a run I had just ridden, using high speed carves on my Matrix Escape... SKIER: (shouting) Hey buddy, you're leaving great big trenches in the snow! ME: My Mum always said 'wherever you go, leave your mark!'

@alpinegirl You were right! IT RAILS LIKE A CHAMP!!!! Fast, really grippy, surprising performance! With plates, it was amazing. My new favorite freecarver.

Park City is great for carving...but it’s a little busy during MLK weekend. We’re also expecting about a foot of powder.

@John Gilmour you need the right guide...there are several great carving trails in PC and the Canyons, ask Billy Bordy and Dave Tille!

Super stable carver, and stable at over 60mph. My set ups were as follows... Boots: Salomon S-Lab, size 8.5/Head Stratos 26.5 Binding angles: Soft set up - 42F 22R, Apex Gecko Stealth plates. Hard set up - 48F 30R, Apex Gecko Race plates. I rode the reference stance as marked. The El Hefes only rotate so far, so I didn’t want to go any steeper, and lose more heelside support. Once I got onto double blue pitch, I started ‘heelcupping-out’, when I got too low and aggressive. @Waboarder, video review above...you won’t be disappointed!

DO 161 VIDEO REVIEW. I got to ride the DO 161 twice briefly... once in softs, once in hards. The buddy I normally ride with, who’s an awesome videographer, is in Niseko, enjoying waist deep pow, so the filming wasn’t ideal...sorry. @Alloy Snow USA Don and I were having a discussion about rotating highbacks, not being able to rotate them enough, so you only get to use 1/2 to 1/3 of the available heelside support! Problem is, with the angles that most people ride in softs, the binding manufacturers don’t make them with enough rotation for the angles that we want to ride at! For me personally, I’d love a shorter (157-158), wider (26.4cm) version of the board. It would be awesome! That way, you wouldn’t have to rotate the bindings forward as much, gaining more heelside support in softs. One thing I think would help, would be to soften the nose slightly, making it a little more playful, while at the same time, the differential between the nose and tail, might well give it more acceleration, when you use a fore/aft movement. I didn’t get that much acceleration out of the tail, even with lots of fore/aft movements. But that may be the fact that most of the previous testers have between 15-50lbs on me! Crazy, with my two job schedule, I only managed to ride it twice, but it was great fun. Anyway, be kind...first time back in hards for 2yrs

It wasn’t just you... I got a Café Racer and it didn’t beat the carving ability of either my Sims TK2 or my Yes Optimistic. Pretty, but unimpressive. It’s currently on the Bay of E...

There’s also the Sims Terry Kidwell RT2? The 161X is 26.6, probably still a bit narrow for you though Really great carvers! Built in the Never Summer factory, full camber, with a micro early rise at the tip.

Ha ha! No such luck. Dude was tall too, about 6’ 2” and lanky...he did really well though, for the time we had.

First day testing out the Alloy DO 161.... thanks @Alloy Snow USA!

Just taught Ben Higgins, from the 20th season of ‘The Batchelor’. A really nice guy! It was for a piece on adventure sports in Utah, for the NBC show ‘First Look’. It’s where celebs try exciting activities for the first time, in cool locations.

@Sasquatch_Surfer I have bad news... the snowboard school has asked me to work on the 4th, teaching a celebrity to snowboard, for NBC... sorry

I’m in the process of corresponding with Bruce, over building a soft boot carver...he’s super knowledgeable, really thorough...and I’ve learned so much already! I saw him ride, and beat us all at Nationals, yup, he walks the walk. Mega impressed!

Nice!!!

That’s awesome, let me know. I don’t check here super often, so you can e-mail me for a quicker response. martindrayton at yahoo dot co dot uk

I'm based at Park City, where I teach (now part time), happy to show you around! I'm on soft boots 90% of the time these days. Unfortunately, although great resorts, neither Snowbird nor Solitude are on the Epic pass. Canyons and PC have some great carving terrain, and early January will be quiet after the 3rd, when I finish with a 12yr regular client. LOTS of terrain in what is now the US's biggest resort. Friday the 4th I'm free...will hopefully (still be testing the Alloy DO 161). If it keeps snowing, the tree runs will be great in both resorts, the groomers are already epic, thanks to cold temps and extensive snowmaking. Utah has such a dry atmosphere, that the artificial stuff is outstanding too! Let me know...

*Drool*

Fantastic! A demo 161 is arriving here in Utah on Christmas Eve VERY excited to try it. I’m going to attempt to do a review as well. I only have a few opportunities to ride it, between teaching snowboarding and working for an airline... I guess my snowboard clients are going to have to pick up the pace!

I recognize Jim Tullos and Dennis Mellon, both airline employees who I’ve raced in the North American Airlines Championships Series. Dennis races on a Donek Rev.

I have BASI (British) Full Cert quals, I teach at Park City/Canyons now (18 seasons), having taught in Europe for 15. The set ups are VERY different. In Europe you can’t go near a student until you have a qualification. In the Western resorts, you get hired unqualified, get 3 days of training, then in January you start taking clinics, with a view to sitting your exam in March. Here in Utah, they are so short of Instructors, that we trainers are told that we can’t dismiss any trainees at the Hiring Camp Its up to us to get them up to the required standard, end of story. As stated above, our instructors only get paid when they teach, but will get 15mins attendance pay, if they don’t. Hence the shortage of instructors, also given the cost of living in Park City. Most instructors have a minimum of 2 jobs Getting the job is not the issue out here, living off the wages, is...