gdboytyler

I wear more armor than any body I ride with. My everyday load out goes as follows: Rock Gardn Body Armor RED hip pads Helmet I add on knee pads when riding the park and pipe. The hip pads has saved me from a lot of bruises when I've lost an edge during my many EC runs. I wear the body armor just in case I get T-Boned while ECing. I've had some close calls, but I haven't been hit yet. I did put the body armor to use once when I clipped another rider's board and went head over heels. The older I get, the more padding I put on.

I've only been to Switzerland once (March of 91 at St. Moritz for a week), and the snow conditions were great. The groomed was hero snow. And the 1 day that it dumped a couple feet, the snow was nice and dry and it stayed fairly untracked off-piste most of the day. And when I was researching that trip, I read plenty of articles that raved about the snow conditions at Switzerland.

Silver Peak at Bear Mtn is the least crowded and has some of the best carving terrain in So Cal. Once it gets crowded, I switch to my freestyle board and join the kids at the half-pipe.

And why is Switzerland a factory for ski talent? Because the Swiss get awesome conditions, which makes it worthwhile for the population at large to participate in the snowsports. I theorize that if the Swiss had ice coast conditions, they wouldn't be as involved in skiing and snowboarding. As for the east coaster being Supermen when they're out west, where is the video to prove this? From video clips I've seen of SES, I haven't seen any East Coast superiority I also theorize that the East/West debate is always brought up by an east coaster. Inferiority complex or jealousy

Considering the top alpine riders in the world come from Switzerland, which is known for nice fluffly powder, I call BS on the theory that ice coast conditions make better riders. And in the West vs East department (for the US), the best freestyler is Shaun White who is from Cali. In alpine, there are 7 US Snowboard team members nominated from the west, and 5 from the East. 06/07 Team Still no East Coast superiority. And finally, West Coasters have more fun

When I have a good surf session, I completely forget about snowboarding. The surf has been good in the OC, but freaking crowded I did have a carveboard session at my local hill a few nights ago. Tim, hurry up and get that custom titanal board. I want to try it out

Impressive That wave is bigger than anything I rode on my Indo trip from last year. I'm guessing that since the sequence didn't include the barrel shot, that Larry got hammered by the lip.

No, the problem was that there was a ton of wax on the base. I had assumed (wrongly) the board would be ready to rock and roll right out of the shipping box. My credit card worked pretty damn good on removing the excess wax.

I'm talking about the storage wax that is originally applied by Donek when he sends out a brand new board.

I would highly recommend replacing that storage wax before you hit the hill. When I got a new Donek FC2 last season, I went riding with the storage wax. The first run was horrible. I couldn't predict how the board would slide. I actually caught an edge and did a faceplant, the first time that happened in over a decade. I immediately went to the parking lot, scraped off the storage wax with a credit card and rubbed on some new wax. The ride improved tenfold. That opened my eyes to how much the wax job really matters.

So what don't you like about the O-Sin 4807? The only powder specific boards I've owned were the Burton Fish (156?) and the 168 cm 4807. Both boards made powder riding much easier and both can be had for under $150 each. I kept the O-Sin and sold the Fish. The Pogo D-Day (169 cm) is the ST I've been lusting for. But, at $1100 plus shipping, I'll have to wait a little longer.

I wear soft boots only when I ride the pipe and park. I go with a 20" stance and angles of 18F, 9B. Carving in my softboots is too painful to do for more than a half-day. Everything else: steeps, powder, trees, moguls, groomers, I'll do on hardboots, but on different boards. The hardboot setup is around a 19" stance and angles of 54F and 51B. When I'm in softboots and freestyle board, I can carve nice round turns on blue runs and soft groomed snow. On hardboots and alpine board, I can carve on black runs with firm snow. My perfect snowboard day would be deep powder, steep bowl, hardboots (for comfort) and a good powder board.

Check out this video for a Big Gun: My largest caliber gun is a 10 mm Colt Delta Elite. I installed a 24 lb recoil spring to prevent the gun from tearing itself apart.

The annual number of school related homicides has dropped precipitously from around 50 deaths in the early 90's to 28 deaths in 2004/2005 and 5 deaths in 2005/2006. The 2006/2007 school year is at 6 deaths (I think). http://www.schoolsafety.us/School-Associated-Violent-Deaths-p-6.html Overall, it looks like the schools have gotten safer. The occasional maniac just makes big news.

I preferred flexy bindings. So I sold my TD2's and bought some Proflex bindings. Your quiver is missing an all-mountain board for those powder days. I'd post up a photo of my current quiver, but two of my boards are at PTC getting tuned up.

If the maniac had a knife, he still could have killed one or more of the students. If the teacher had a gun, the tragedy coud have been avoided. If the male students would have fought back, the tragedy could have been avoided. In 1998, in Oregon, 5 students subdued a school shooter. There are in the neighborhood of 70 million guns in civilian hands in the US. In the real world, those guns aren't going to disappear. Prohibition isn't going to work. I think that if a teacher wants to go to school armed, he should have the legal right to do so. Once a couple of school shooters get killed by their would be victims, the number of school shootings will go down dramatically.

I've read that the average police shooting occurs within 21 ft (7 yards) and the police have a hit rate of 20%. That means 4 of 5 shots by a police officer will be a miss. Sorry, but I don't have any references available. Oh, and police and military are taught to shoot center mass (the chest). Head shots are difficult. So, I would rather depend on myself, instead of waiting for the police. Except for SWAT, I don't think police officers have to practice very often with their service weapon.

Here are some statistics from the link: "In the U.S. for 2001, there were 29,573 deaths from firearms, distributed as follows by mode of death: Suicide 16,869; Homicide 11,348; Accident 802; Legal Intervention 323; Undetermined 231.(CDC, 2004) " I think the statistics are misleading on how dangerous gun ownership is to law-abiding citizens. Where are the gun deaths that are attributed to police shootings? Did the justified police shooting get lumped in with legal intervention or with the homicide number? How many of the 11,348 homicides were caused by criminal vs criminal (gang shooting, drug deal gone bad, etc.)? The people that committed suicide by shooting themselves, probably would have committed suicide even if they didn't have a gun. As for accidental deaths, here are some more statistics: Accidental Deaths in the U.S. for 1998 Source is the National Safety Council 41,200 deaths related to motor vehicle accidents, 16,600 in falls at home and on the job, 4,100 from water in drowning, 9,400 from poisoning, in the same year, 3,700 due to fire or burns, 3,200 due to choking, and 900 from guns I think I'll continue to live dangerously and keep my car, surfboards, and guns.

Many lower income folk buy team jerseys, and other paraphanelia. Plus the marketing power of the athletes. Clothes, shoes, atheletic gear, cars etc. that people buy just because athletes advertise it. If people stopped buying all that extra stuff (in addition to not buying tickets), then the players wouldn't get paid so much. But since football, basketball, etc. generate so much money, the players should get the HUUUGE paycheck.

John Deere, Yes the Proton is still available. Crucible, I got your second email from Bomber. However, your Bomber email address is still not accepting my reply. Email me again through Bomber and include your direct email address. I would guess that your email address in your Bomber profile is incorrect.

I've used this place for a hot wax, edge sharpening and a light grind on a couple of my boards. Ski Surf Shop Address: 1765 Artesia Blvd, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 Phone: (310) 379-2312 I just eyeballed the finished work and it seemed competent enough. They got the edges sharper than what I could do at home. However, I plan on using PTC for my custom Donek and Madd. You should learn how to at least do your own wax jobs. I use Wax Whizard. Much easier than doing a hot wax.

I could be wrong, but I think this is the forum in question: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/ I went and checked out the TGR forum because of this thread. Those guys have got some awesome photos. Like in this thread: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52505 I still prefer a good powder day over a good carving day.

Crucible, I got your email via Bomber, but I got an error when I replied directly. So, if you didn't get the email, the Proton 164 is still available. Gdboytyler

I use to have the Burton Alp 157 (regular) Click for Pic . That board sucked. I could carve better on a Donek Incline 160. I sold the asym Alp for $30 and I felt like a thief. I still have an Burton Asym Air, which I haven't ridden in years.

Thanks for pointing out Powder Mountain. The $625 for a day of heli-boarding at Powder Mountain seems reasonable and the terrain looks good. I may have to schedule a trip to Utah next season to sample some different resorts and try-out the heli-boarding