gdboytyler

Hans, I was actually thinking about a smaller SCR because of what you wrote in the quoted thread. Carving about as tight as a Madd 158 is all I need. Carving smaller turns gets too tiring. http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?p=189861#post189861

At Bear Mtn, it's where Ripcord and Exhibition merge, above the Silver Chair loading point. I rode out of Ripcord and turned up towards Exhibition.

Video was taken with my phone today. Riding a Madd 158. Of course I did a better one earlier which I didn't get on camera:D Only had one take. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRzqG9aEhB4&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRzqG9aEhB4&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Thanks for the feedback:biggthump I'll go with the standard 13m scr.

I got to ride a friend's Prior Metal WCR 177 (11.5m scr), and it made me a believer in Metal Boards! I rode the Prior and my Madd 158 f1 flex (green sidewalls/soft flex) back to back. The Metal Prior held a better edge than the Madd in hard conditions and I was able to carve similar radius turns on both boards. Have you found that you could carve the Schtubby (13m scr) as tight as you could carve the Madd 158 (11m scr)? After a few emails with Bruce, he recommended getting a Schtubby and I'm now I'm on the build list for a Schtubby 171. Bruce gave me the option of getting the Schtubby with a 12m or 13m scr. I'm 95% sure I want the standard 13m scr. Are you Schtubby owners still happy with the 13m scr or do you ever find yourself wishing for a small scr when carving on a narrower run?

Swissracer, were'd you go to? I was at Silver Peak from around 9:30 to 12:30. The snow stayed hard and carvable the whole time. Ended up riding with Mark the firemen for a couple hours. He's back into carving after recovering from a hamstring injury. After 12:30, I switched to my softboot setup and rode the pipe and park. The Bear Mtn super pipe is in excellent condition. Conditions were so fun, I'll probably be back on Easter Sunday:biggthump

Go to Bear Mtn on Friday (1.5 mi down the road from SS). Me and possibly DarkClone will be there. It will be easy to spot us at Silver peak. The carving runs at Bear are steeper and at higher elevations than SS. Checkout the ride board for when your fellow BOL'ers are going to the local mountains.

Good Friday is a holiday for me. So who's in for a carving session at Bear?

I'm sure you're right that the longer length was part of the reason the Prior had such a better edge hold vs my Madd 158 and Donek 165. But the soft flex of the Prior sure made it user friendly. DC, before you drop the cash on a Madd, I would highly recommend demo'ing a metal Prior.

I got to try out Robert's Prior metal WCR 177 for a few hours. Best alpine board I've ever ridden! I was surprised at how easy it was to ride the 177, considering it was the longest board I've ever ridden. Snow got harder in the afternoon, and the metal Prior held a better edge in the hard snow than my Madd 158. The metal Prior also worked great for EC. Next season, I'll be getting a metal board:biggthump

Gary, good luck with the black lung thing. OVR, have fun in AZ. Watch out for crashing fighter planes. My friend finally received his metal Prior WCR 177, 3-4 weeks after paying for it (Ebay auction from Canada). So I might finally get to check out the metal hype for myself.

Tentatively going to Bear Mtn on Friday. Anybody else?

The forecast called for a cooling trend on Sunday, so I made a last minute decision to go to Bear. I expected hard conditions early, but softening up quickly. I found hard (almost icy) conditions in the morning alright, but then the snow stayed hard all day long! I'm guessing this was due to the off-shore winds that were blowing through. I ran into DarkClone and he was ripping carves in the hard conditions:biggthump For the first 3 hours, I was mostly skidding. I eventually got my sh!t together and started carving my Madd 158 (switched from EC push/pull to Bomber style). Breakthrough day for me. First time I was honestly carving on what most So Cal riders would call "ice". Thanks to DarkClone for inspiring me. If I didn't see him carving, I might of said screw it, put on the soft setup and went to the halfpipe. Once the offshore winds die, we'll probably be back to slurpee conditions.

Dupraz D1 5'5" is the best pow board I've owned. Equal to the 4807 168 and better than the Fish 156 in open bowls. Equal to the Fish 156 and better than the 4807 in the trees. The D1 outcarves both the 4807 and the Fish on the groomed. I ride all my pow boards with hardboots and plates.

For more info on the glass vs metal, read post #172 by Bruce V (Mr. Coiler): http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?p=173832#post173832 I went through a similar thought process a few years ago. Donek FCII or Swoard. I started with the 161 FCII, then went to an Olympic construction 165 custom Donek (which was similar to the Swoard) for EC and sold my FCII. Back then, only Kessler and Tomahawk were doing titanal boards. There are a number of carvers that go to Big Bear. Post on the ride board if you go locally or to Mammoth.

Maybe you missed my ride report in Post #24. The shorter Dupraz worked great. Or maybe you meant to quote "newcarver".

I copied the binding settings from what I used on my Tanker 172 (except the angles): centered on the binding inserts, stance width at 19 5/8", and 36/30 for the angles. I used a slightly flatter stance on the Dupraz, because the Dupraz has a wider nose than the Tanker. The Dupraz has a soft flex. Flex feels similar to the O’Sin 168, softer than the Tanker 172. I’m 5’7”, 133 lb. My friend that rode with me over the weekend is around 160 lb and he had a great time riding his O’Sin 168; I doubt that he would prefer a longer board. We did a lot of tree runs. My guess would be to go with the shorter board; easier handling in the trees.

I got 3 straight days of powder on the Dupraz 5'5" at Mammoth Mountain. I rode the Dupraz with hard boots and plates. The first day had 22" of accumulation at the top. We even had an in-bounds avalanche just before my first run. The snow felt kind of wind packed. I hit a rock and some ice on my first run from the top. After the avalanche , the top got closed. The second day had 17" of CO style, fluffy powder. The third day got another 17" of heavier, but still fun pow. The board is as good as the hype! Easy to ride centered in the pow AND it carves well on the groomed runs. In open powder, the Dupraz was just as good as my O'sin 4807 168. In a big open powder bowl, I doubt I could tell a difference between the two boards. In the trees and moguls, the Dupraz was just as nimble as a Burton Fish. I didn't think the O'sin was as agile in tight spaces. On the soft groom runs, the Dupraz is head and shoulders above the O'sin and Fish. I'd say it's close to matching my Tanker 172 for carving on the groomers. I didn't get enough carving in to tell for sure. The O'sin carves better than the standard softie board. I thought the Fish pretty much sucks on groomers. Here's my ranking of the powder boards I've owned: Dupraz 5'5" > O'sin 168 (still have) > Burton Fish 156 (sold) > Tanker 172 (will sell) > Burton SuperModel 161(gave away) Now here's the big question: "Is it really worth spending $750 on the Dupraz instead of $100 to $200 on an O'Sin?" If you're looking for best bang for the buck in a pow stick, then the O'sin on Ebay is still king. If you're looking for a great all mountain board, and didn't blow all your cash on hookers and beer, then definitely get the Dupraz.

I got to witness an in bounds avalanche at Mammoth Mountain on Saturday (2-23-08). Looking uphill, the slide happened to the left of Chair 23, under the Drop Out Chutes. 4 people got caught (the first ones down the run). 1 person got buried. No injuries. I was on Chair 23, about 2/3’s of the way up, when the slide happened. I only saw the tail end of the slide, and saw someone ride out. I got one run down Wipe Out Chutes. By the time I got back to the chair, the entire top got closed. The top opened up again on Monday, serviced by the gondola. Chair 23 didn't reopen, but the area where the avalanche occurred was still open. You just had to do some hiking to access the area. I didn't have the energy to do the hike.

I'll be riding at Mammoth from Sat to Mon. I'll be trying out my new Dupraz D1 5'5". I'm also bringing a Donek FC just in case.

What is your favorite color? Blue. No yel-- Auuuuuuuugh!

Sorry I missed Ruby Tuesday. But I don't want to use up all my vacation days riding locally. I'm hitting Mammoth this weekend (Sat to Mon) for some powder. But the weekend after that, I'll go to Bear instead of Snow Summit.

That fat a$$ cop reminds me of this guy:

I've been trying to drive my back knee more during heelside turns, and was experiencing some painful shin bang. I use the BTS with yellow springs. Until I changed my technique, I didn't get shin bang. I got a pair of booster straps, but it only relieved some of the shin bang. I tried ordering the Shintronics, but the online ordering from the website was no longer working. I then bought a pair of soccer shin pads for $20. I used one shin pad on my back boot (shoved the shin pad between the tongue and inner bladder). The soccer shin pad worked great!!! Totally eliminated the shin bang, and it's a lot cheaper than the Shintronics. The cheap $10 soccer shin pads would probably work just as well.

A friend of mine is an instructor at Snow Summit in Big Bear. He's an excellent carver on both snowboard and skis. I sent him your email address. If he's got time in his schedule he'll email you. Keep an eye out for an email from Jim W. I don't know what his rates are.