C-Carves

To solve this problem, I just put a few of the clear stomp pad dots on my board in front of the rear binding. You can't really see them, and they just act to knock the snow and ice off and prevent slippage. They are also really small, so probably wouldn't stick in a grinding... -C

Picture this auction: Auction the right to decide on Toby's fate. Let the capitalist world have the straight up dogfight for the right to decide... Wonder if Ebay would let that fly...

The Swoard comes in exactly those flavors. You can buy the stiff, medium or soft flex board precisely for that reason. Part of their argument for this hinged on the fact that a heavier rider needs a stiffer board then a lighter rider. At least when I got my Swoard, that was case. I understand they are making some changes to the new boards but I'd imagine they'd still offer different flex ratings.

My answers follow. While I've only been officially riding on carving gear for 2 years, I can still remember the day I first saw a carver. It took me a while to get a board, but once I did, I knew why I got a rush watching that guy ripping turns. Q1: Why Carve: Carving feels like you've harnessed raw energy and learned to fly with it. When you drop smoothly into a deep carve and you're firing effortlessly through a sweet turn, it reminds you of every sweet spot you've found on any baseball, or any perfectly executed tackle. For a moment, the world drops away and its just you and the carve. Then, you get to do it over and over. Q2: Feel Limited? Once you feel the crave for the carve, you quickly begin to search for the best carve. I've never felt limited in my hardboots because I can easily cruise the mountain, but I can also drop into a rail thin turn in a hearbeat. I admit I'm not one for the half pipes, so I don't miss that aspect at all. Q3: Can resorts make it better for carving? Yes, Definitely. First - provide gear and instructors so that people can get started easily. Carving requires rethinking the typical snowboarding experience from: "being able to slide down and have fun" to "being able to use the board to ride gravity with grace and have a ball." Second - Help raise awareness about carving - both snowboarding and skiing carving. As both groups of carvers make more sweet turns, there will be more across-the-mountain traffic. Third - Possibly dedicate (at least during some morning hours of the day) certain runs as carving friendly. Grooming runs near the lifts and attracting carvers to it will certainly raise awareness as riders of the lift will certainly see our runs. Thanks for this post. I can't wait to read the article! -C

When I converted to carving, I put plates on my Burton Canyon. It worked ok - but later, after getting a Donek, I started to understand how much more flexible the canyon was. I could carve the Canyon a little, but the radius was pretty small, so the turns were awfully tight if I got the edge down. I was given a few cautionary remarks (I posted a very similar post to this one when I did it) about being able to overpower a flexible board with hardboots - which I believe is completely true - I've felt the weakness of the board from time to time. Good luck, enjoy! -C

Anyone else notice that aside from the Sticky posts above, this post has had the most views? :rolleyes:

I got mine last season. Although I only took it out once (got it near the end of the season) I really liked riding it. I am no great carver yet but it certainly was easy to ride and seemed to "like to carve." It didn't take much to make the board turn on its own. The day I rode it was also not the greatest for carving - lots of mashed potatos by mid morning. Even still, was fun to just ride around on. -C

Now where's Nate?! Lets get some math and simulators going here to determine optimal swing time!!! Hilarious! -C

Until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of a crash.... Motto of one of my friends...

Very proud that I now have a few boards - two carving and one softie. :D Board bag now simply too big to throw in the car, so I got a nice roof rack... Says that it fits 2 snowboards side to side. Wondering if anyone's had experience mounting several boards in roof racks. I'm envisioning throwing two boards together with their bases towards each other mounted next to the other board. Concerns are obvious - high speed vibrations, edges digging into bases etc.. Also, anyone have a simple guideline as to things to do/not to do? I heard always a good idea to throw a cover over the nose of the board (assuming nose first loading) so that bugs don't get splattered all over the front end... So next question - do you load nose first? If you mount them without the bindings on them, what's the chance of the boards slipping out and flying down the road without me? A quick run down of experiences would be very appreciated.

He was great to work with. Sorry to hear he's sold out. I had tried a few different places to get them at the time, but found he seemed to be the only place I could get them. I've seen a few pair on Ebay from time to time. Good luck, I've been quite pleased with mine. -C

True, I only got to ride them about 7 days last year, but I loved them - after I had them stretched out in toes... I've got EEE foot, so I needed to have them stretched just a little bit. I'm also about 230 lbs, never broke anything on them, but also not laying them as low as some around here... Dan was great to work with. -C