gdboytyler

Check out OVR's pics here: Snow Summit Report Snow Summit did open up additional terrain today. Some snow is forecasted for the weekend, so it could be good. Just make sure to hit it early, before it gets really crowded (around 10:00 am).

Warning, heresy about to be commited: Snow Summit was better than Mammoth! Yes, carving conditions at Snow Summit today were better than the 4 days I'd ridden at Mammoth this season. Snow Summit had a very light crowd, grooming was very good and the snow was carvable and smooth all day long. Not enough people to bump up the snow

Was that WAM 161 a custom board? I didn't see it in the Coiler website.

I weigh in at 132 lb and the Proton GS 164 was my main ride until it got benched by a Donek FCII 163. It worked great for laid out carves, EC style. But, I couldn't do quick slalom turns on it. I think that was mostly due to the sidecut and not the flex. The Donek FCII 163 and the Proton GS 164 feel like they have the same flex, but I can turn the Donek a lot quicker and tighter.

Sometimes, you just gotta say f*ck it, and do what you wanted to do in the first place. Then post a video to show whether the decision was good or bad.

I'm seeing more and more kids sporting the bandito look. It's working for Shaun. Shaun will be a favorite for an Olympic gold medal. I hope he does better than the other heavy favorites, like USC and Indianapolis.

Contact Donek about their mail order demo program. You only have to pay for the return shipment. Last spring, I did a mail order demo for a Donek FC2 163, loved the board and ended buying one in the fall. A board with a 12-13m sidecut radius will make it a lot easier to do the laid out carves EC style. The Wild Duck Knifer has got a SCR in the 12-13m range. I don't think the Wild Duck Swap in the classifieds is the board you're looking for. Also, I remember somebody posted about a Wild Duck Knifer last year. It rode well, but the edge started to separate from the board. For EC style, here are the boards I've tried and rank from best to worst: 1. Swoard 161 2. Oxygen Proton GS 164 3. Donek FC2 163 4. Oxygen Proton SL 149 5. Donek Incline 160 6. Burton Alp 157 The only board I didn't own was the Swoard. I borrowed a friend's Swoard for a couple days. My favorite board out of the list is the Donek FC2. The 10m scr is better for riding the smaller resorts in So Cal. For cheap boards that are at least 19.5 cm wide and with a SCR bigger then 12m, you should look at Oxygen Protons and Burton Factory Primes. If you get a Proton or FP and don't like it, you'll probably be able to re-sell for the same price you bought it for. If you can afford $600, contact Donek and demo a FC2. If you like it, Donek might even sell you the demo at a reduced price.

The Pogo D-Day 169 (swallow tail) has got a 12m scr and 23.5 cm waist. Pogo claims that it's a great all mountain board, not just a powder gun. Pogo D-Day 169 I'm going to try one out, the next time I've got $1000 burning a hole in my pocket.

Can somebody explain the setup on this guy? Philipp Schoch *Looks like he's wearing ski boots. *I've never seen so much canting on bindings. *Are those riser plates on his board? It cracks me up that the Olympic gold medalist uses duct tape to keep his shin guards in place. Alpine boarders really must be on a low budget.

Here's what Sean Martin from Donek had to say about this: Prior 4WD vs Donek Axis? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think the major difference between the Axis and 4X4 is how we weighted the powder vs carving performance. When I designed the Axis, I build a board that could go anywhere, but I looked at the frequency I felt many riders would see hard pack vs powder. I felt that the hardpack won out in most cases. As a result the Axis was designed to be a carving board that can do trees. I think the 4X4 is more of a powder/tree board for carvers. Chris might say it a bit differently, but the flex on the 4X4 is a bit softer than the Axis. This will lend itself more to powder than boiler plate. I hope that helps a bit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gary, if you had a shorter 4x4, I'd want to try it out the next time we rode together.

Hell yeah there's snow. They've go a 1 foot base!!! What more can you ask for? Alright, it won't be comparable to Mammoth/June, buuuut it's local. I'm meeting OVR at the bottom of the mountain at 7:00am. We'll be on the first chair at 8:30am.

I've got a pair of Raichle SB224 for $100 plus shipping. The boots have thermoflex liners (molded twice) and the 5-position lean adjuster. Size is Mondo 25. Raichle SB224 is an older version of the LeMans. Email me if you're interested and I'll email you some photos.

At the 50 sec to 1:04 mark, where you were losing your edge, did you go back and redo the run to figure out what went wrong? I remember watching the original footage last season, before you added the music. I remember the old footage looking much cleaner. The new footage has a lot of jagged edges. Anybody have any tips to prevent the jagged edge problem?

I'm going to Snow Summit on Tuesday, 1-17-06. I'm predicting awesome conditions :D Snow is forecasted for the weekend (plus good snowmaking weather) and the MLK holiday crowd will be gone by Tuesday. Who else is in?

"Battle Without Honor or Humanity" from Kill Bill Vol. 1 Soundtrack "Over the Mountain" by Ozzie Osbourne. Included in the Totally Board 5 soundtrack. "Hate It or Love It" by 50 Cent.

Check out these: ProFlex on EBay I bought the exact same bindings from the same seller($49 delivered). The ProFlex are older versions of the F2 bindings. The ProFlex are easy to set up, flexy and the rear bail stays up when you want it to. The ProFlex comes with a removable cant wedge. My only complaint was that regular shipping took 40 days! If you want the bindings right away, you might want to opt for air shipment. I think those Snowpro Force bindings have a 3 deg cant set into the binding. You can't adjust the cant.

Before I watched the video, I was assuming you had telescoping ski poles to help you out if you fell. I didn't think you would be riding with the poles in your hands.

I use Raichle SB413's (M24) with TD2's on my O-Sin 4807 168cm with 25deg front/20 deg back. I've got a little bit of boot overhang. But I find the shallow boot angles make it MUCH easier to get in and out the bindings when I hit a flat spot and get stuck in the powder.

Catek Standard Bail Kit = $50 The kit includes 2 Levers, 2 Toe Bails, 2 Heel Bails and 2 Heel Blocks. I only need the 2 levers and 2 toe bails, but Catek won't sell them separately. I'd rather spend the extra money to get a set of OS2's and find out if the OS2 takes care of all the complaints I've got about the TD2's.

You are right. I've got Raichle SB413's. Although my complaints are minor, it's enough to make me want to try out some different bindings. I ordered some cheap Proflex bindings from Europe to put on my O-Sin 4807. However, the bindings got lost in transit and I'm about ready to file a claim with PayPal. Now I might just bite the bullet and buy a pair of OS2's. I was hoping to read some more in-depth reviews on the OS2 before buying a pair.

Then you end up with heel overhang. I've got TD2's and I would have to say my biggest complaint is the toe bail sticking out too far. My other complaint about the TD2 is the spring on the heel bail gets worn out fairly quickly. I replaced the spring after 20 days of riding because it kept getting stuck in the down position. My third complaint is that for Mondo 25 boots and smaller, you will have to undo the heel block to change binding angles or to switch the top half to another board.

I want to see some video. So I know what to do for the rare days that encounter ice.

That section looks pretty steep, and he makes a nice round carve. If that same section was ice, I doubt anybody could follow the same line, no matter what technique they use. I keep hearing about carving on "ice", but I haven't seen any photos or video of anybody actually carving it up on "ice". I think it's a myth :D When I've encountered "ice" in So Cal and in MI, if it's steep, I'm skidding, if it's shallow, I'm carving really shallow S-turns. The EC guys have proved their style works on steep runs with good snow. Those are the conditions I look for (and usually get) when I'm out carving. Guys that have rode with J&P say the style also works on "ice", but I haven't seen any footage of J&P on "ice".

I suppose Michelle Wie is also another exception to the soul-less, mechanical, Asian-American golfer. Michael Vick, Daunte Culpepper, and Donavon McNabb are exceptions to the rule that blacks can't be good QB's. I've got a brother that has good-looking, natural golf swing and he sucks at math. What can I still believe in? Next thing you know, someone will tell me there's no Santa!

A friend of mine tried putting the tongue style in his Burton hardboots (don't remember the model), but the liner was too short. The top of the liner was about a 1/2" below the boot cuff. He returned the liners and stayed with the stock Burton liner. The wrap around style is taller.