Lowell Hart

While we were ready to help with proven and effective exercise lines and progressions, these guys all ride snowboards a lot and have a well-developed skill set they applied to the new (to them) gear. We went to a wide, well-groomed, mostly uncrowded, gentle to intermediate pitch on which to practice, underscored some key safety components, asked them to make sure they could skid to a quick stop from any point in a carved turn series (start, middle, finish toeside and heelside) and got the hell out of the way. Participants lapped the chairlift which served those slopes at their own pace, with small groups forming and dissolving, while Fin, Michelle, and Mark Lawes and Andreas Grogger (trainers who both came over from Keystone to join in on the fun) providing demos, tips, and suggestions when necessary. To foster a strong learning environment, we did have a big screen set up in the demo room which showed plenty of images of high performance carving while folks were set up on their gear, which may have helped folks get a general idea of the movements and mechanics they might be using when blasting arcs. At the end of the day we did video review and analysis to anchor learning, identify avenues for future development, and to celebrate a great day. Which it was.

A huge thank you to Fin and Michelle for making this happen. All participants are completely stoked to throw mind-blowing arcs and are already looking forward to next time! Cheers and thanks again, LH

Kimo, Best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery. I look forward to riding again with you soon. <img src="http://i29.tinypic.com/2u5gn4h.jpg" border="0" alt="Thedo Remmelink, A-Basin, CO."> Cheers, LH

For those who might be interested in attending Jeff's memorial service in Vail, here are some details. Sunday, December 16, 5-7pm at Eagle's Nest in Vail: Upload the Eagle Bahn Gondola until 4:30pm. Vail will provide complimentary foot passenger tickets to those without passes via a greeter with a sign at the Gondola entrance. Guests with passes should please bring them. Service starts at 5pm on the plaza, near the fireplace. Guests are encouraged to wear winter gear and, if you'd like, bring a blanket. Service to run 30 min - 45 min. It will be absolutely beautiful outside and the atmosphere will be memorable. Reception in Marketplace (2nd level) to take place 5:45 - 7pm. Appetizers, beer, wine, soft drinks, water, coffee/tea. A donation account has been set up at 1st Bank for Jeff Patterson’s 11-year-old daughter Hannah's education and care. Checks should be made out to “Donation Account for Hannah Patterson” and mailed to 1st Bank, Attn: Jessica Hermosillo, P.O. Drawer 5270, Avon, CO 81620. Click on image for a few clips and images of Jeff: <a href="http://blip.tv/file/536388" target="_blank"><img src="http://i19.tinypic.com/72ifiav.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> Cheers and best wishes, LH

Hey Steve,So sorry to hear of Mark Janelle's passing. FYI, Jeff's remembrance is scheduled for Dec. 16th, not the 15th. <img src="http://i7.tinypic.com/80xgvwy.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Patterson, Secret Stash, Vail, CO."> I regret I won't get to Loveland to see you Sunday; instead, I'll look forward to seeing you near the 16th. Cheers, LH

It is with sadness I bring to you news of the passing of Jeff Patterson, who succumbed to a stroke at the age of 43. Jeff enjoyed a long and successful career in snowboard and ski instruction, and his tremendous passion and enthusiasm for snowboarding and skiing positively influenced the lives of all he touched. Jeff was a ripping rider—in soft boots or hard. He knew where the goods were and enthusiastically hiked to secret powder stashes, often long before the lifts opened for the season and well after they closed. Many images of Jeff have been used on BOL to illustrate forum posts. He lurked here more often than he posted (as Vailrider), but often commented to me about the discussions on the forum. <a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i4.tinypic.com/72i8hh4.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Patterson, Vail, CO."></a> Throughout his career, Jeff brought an unbridled passion and enthusiasm for all snowsports to his work—directly touching the lives of countless thousands of people. His contributions to the American Snowsports Education Association are many and significant. He was a husband, father, a teacher’s teacher, role model, mentor, beloved friend and riding companion to many, many people. He will be greatly missed.

Thanks Bryan! Jay Peak, where I was riding in '84 (as well as hiking/poaching at Stowe), didn't make the Absolutely Radical list. Jay was an early adopter and a great place to ride.<img src="http://i20.tinypic.com/ip5wqu.jpg" border="0" alt="Tracks and Sky, A-Basin, CO."> Thanks, Fin; I'm all set. I'll look forward to seeing (and hopefully riding) with you sometime early this season. <img src="http://i22.tinypic.com/msfz37.jpg" border="0" alt="Darren Ratcliffe, A-Basin, CO."> It's snowing here in the Snowy Range, Wyoming. Thanks again, LH

I'm fortunate to do occasional video work with Jeff. He's a talented rider and one of Vail's more experienced teachers. He's done good work--a lot of it under the radar--for AASI/ASEA. I still do occasional work for AASI and help with various projects. But I'd rather be out hiking and riding powder. <img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/4kcp89v.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Patterson, Vail, CO."> Thanks for your help, LH

As there are many on BOL who have been snowboarding for a long time, I was wondering if anyone might have an old issue of Absolutely Radical or ISM handy for a project I'm working on. What I am specifically looking for is the short list of "areas that allow snowboarding" circa 1984/1985. <img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/5223jud.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Patterson, A-Basin, CO."> Thanks for any help you might be able to provide. Cheers, LH

I'll be there. Never trained with Nick before. Looking forward to it. <img src="http://tinypic.com/jfx9jr.jpg" alt="xray"> See you there!

While it may, at first blush, seem a bit steep, the price is for 1-6 people. For groups and families, that can work out to $67.50 per person for a three hour session. That's pretty reasonable. We do also provide group lessons for less cost--but not (yet) hardboot specific.<p></p>FWIW, we do strive to provide excellent value for the investment.<p></p><img src="http://tinypic.com/iymlgg.jpg" alt="Scott Firestone, Vail, CO"><p></p>Here's a <a href="http://www.snowfun4you.web1000.com/scott_carves.wmv">clip</a> of Scott blasting turns at Vail (right click/save as). It's a failrly large, 36.5 MB file. Don't try DL unless you have high speed connection--or lots of patience!) <P></p>It was a good day.<p></p>Best wishes for a terrific holiday,<br>LH

At Stowe on the foodbank days, we used to see folks poaching all of the closed trails (Liftline/National being the most visible). If they were caught and Patrol clipped their pass, they went back their cars, got a few more cans of tuna, and purchased another cheap ticket (when I was there I think it was $5/per). One of the wool-clad locals called 'em 'disposa-tickets' and called them the 'poor man's heli'. It was great during early season when the trails didn't have quite enough snow to be officially open, and you didn't mind smackin' the odd rock and hugging the P-Tex candle late into the night. Not encouraging you to poach, as I'm sure you have all of the secret stashes already lined out. Wish I could join you. It generally brings out a crazyfun retro-crowd.

Congratulations and best wishes to you and your family.

Hi Lee, I'm with you. Soft snow, Soft boots. Mostly. <div align="center"><img src="http://tinypic.com/1j0o6o"><br> <font size="-3"><em> Rider: Jeff Patterson <font color="#FFFFFF">...................</font> Secret Stash, Vail, CO.</strong></em></font></div> Hope to see you sometime soon! Cheers, LH

If you want to learn how to rip high performance arcs and think the cost of private instruction is high, book a group lesson. Group size in most group lessons diminishes at more advanced levels. You will sometimes be the only one in the group--especially if you plan on going during less busy times (If possible, go midweek during non-holiday periods. If you can only get away during the busier times and weekends, afternoon lessons are typically less busy than morning ones). All advanced level group lessons are comprised of similarly skilled people with similar goals, so you could look forward to riding with a one-on-one session (at best) or a small carving posse (also best). The others in your group will also be interested in carving--and if you show 'em what's possible on a hardboot setup, they'll be stoked--at the very least. They'll probably want to try it too! As Fin said, <B>DO</B> call first and mention that you are looking for hard boot carving instruction and specifically request that an instructor well-versed in hardboots is assigned to the lesson. FWIW, it also helps to ask for a certified instructor when booking the lesson. It costs nothing more, but guarantees that you will work with an experienced, knowledgeable pro. <img src="http://tinypic.com/1izseb"> Hope this helps. Cheers, LH

Thanks for the feedback.<img src="http://tinypic.com/1h4d8y"> 'Preciate it. LH

<img src="http://tinypic.com/1exki8"> ...Heelside. Cheers, LH

Here's a small (1.6 Mb) video file.<p></p> Depending on your connection speed, it might take a minute to download (right click>save target as). <p></p> <a href="http://www.keyssonline.com/ncprojects/one-footers.wmv">One Footers</a>: intentional and otherwise.<p></p> 1. Danny Kass, Vail Session, Jan 2004<br> 2. Ross Powers, X-Games Men's Halfpipe, Feb 2004.<br> 3. Soul Surfer, Vail Pond Skimming Championships, April 2004<p></p> Hope you like it!<p></p> Cheers,<br> LH

Even though you heard this during an official AASI clinic, I don't think it is AASI policy to dismiss <I>any</I> aspect of snowboarding.

I've never seen a AASI description of hard boots as 'archaic and inefficient'. Where is that from?

Hi Outsider, I'm not sure if you mean that for many seasons you rode like Ray, or with a focus on hip angulation as per Boostertwo's suggestion to Ray. IMO, a good rider should be able to angulate with the hips <I>or</I> the knees as the situation demands (or, for that matter, with the ankles or by leaning the whole body). All are useful and effective ways to tilt the board on the edge. The important thing to keep in mind is that we make <I>choices</I> from these available options as we ride. In certain situations hip angulation is a better choice than knee angulation (i.e., when the forces of redirection are large and you need additional torque to keep the board on edge). Hip angulation uses larger levers to achieve tilt on the board and is a better choice when ripping across the fall line turns at speed. The riders in the images Jack posted use this move. The trade off is that the longer lever (tib/fib plus femur) provides additional torque at the expense of quickness. Whenever you need to make a quicker movement to adjust edge angle, knee angulation is a better choice. It makes use of a smaller lever (tib/fib) to tilt the board on edge. Smaller levers, (i.e., a light switch) move quicker, but produce less torque. These images illustrate the different options a rider can use to tilt the board on edge. While the images were designed to illustrate the movement options for low stance angles, the same bones/levers are used to tilt the board with higher stance angles on carving boards (although obviously the direction and magnitude of the movements will be somewhat different.) IMHO, a versatile rider is able to make each one of these movements, and to blend them as the situation warrants. Here is a link to an archived article which details each of the movement options to create board performance, and the situations in which each is useful (it'll take a minute to download). FWIW. Cheers, LH

Nice thread, Jack. Several precision drills I've had some success with include: 1. Up the Ladder: Isolate each one of the possible movements to tilt the board on edge, starting with quick movements of the ankles. After a bunch of repetitions, move up to the knees, trying again to isolate the movement and not using any other movement to tilt the board. From there move to the hips, then incline the whole body to tilt the board. This works especially well as a warm up exercise, as each of these movements will be used when carving. Performing each one of the movements will warm up the surrounding muscles, oxygenate blood, and lube joints along the entire kinematic chain, rather than only in one area of the body. 2. Hangers: Traverse a wide slope alternately engaging the uphill and downhill edge. Rip a big arc on the side and repeat on the other edge. This requires a rider to apply knee and ankle angulation to engage and release the downhill edge, and to make larger hip angulation/inclination moves when cutting a hard turn at the trail's edge. 3. Singletrack: Ride exactly in the track of a rider preceding you, or your own track (on subsequent runs) if you are a loner. Requires subtle movements of knees and ankles to fine tune edge angle, quick fore/aft adjustments to further adjust the shape of a carved arc, and develops perceptual skills as a rider is forced to look ahead to see--and follow--the track. 4. Runaway Train: Ride a track one foot to the right (or left) of the track preceding you. If you are lucky enough to ride with a posse, have the entire group try it with each subsequent rider riding one foot to the left (or right) of the preceding track. This increases the challenge as later riders have to make big turns toeside and tight arcs heelside and vice-versa. Develops similar skills as Singletrack, but with the additional 'big turn, small turn' challenge. 5. Shadow Slalom: On a sunny day, ride a slalom course around chair shadows under the chairlift. Develops further application of edging and fore/aft movement options, and perceptual skills (looking ahead and choosing line). 6. Pierce the Pile: Pick out shadows, small piles of snow, or other objects and 'pierce' them with your carving edge. 7. Air Change: Carve off small bumps and rollers and change edges in midair. Land softly, carving on your new edge, maintaining the integrity of the carved arc throughout. Further develops pressure management, edging, and fore/aft movements, plus balance and perceptual skills. 8. Suck Ups: Perform carved retraction turns off knolls, on individual bumps, or along a spine. 9. Combos: Mix up carved extension and retraction turns so you can perform either on command. Develops the ability to extend or retract the legs to better manage forces through the finish of a carved turn. 10. Turbulence: Make long radius carved turns through small bumps and 'harbor chop'. Progress to larger bumps when your legs feel youthful. Develops pressure management skills and 'de-couples' flexing and extending movements from edging movements. 11. Trees: Will further develop accuracy and because that's where the powder is! Cheers, LH