gdboytyler

Julian, your level of improvement is quite impressive

Thanks, I knew you'd come through. I am insulted by the music selection. I have never inhaled :p

Now I have footage showing I was the downhill rider during the minor incident when the skier ended up in the fence:eek: I'm just glad no damage was incurred on Loc's VSR. Oh, and the skier was ok also.

I might have to copy Neil and start using that neoprene mask. I've got the worst windburn on my lips, ever! I look like a damn leper now.

Here's the trail map showing the approximate location of George's incident. Marked by the blue X. Everybody riding at Mammoth this week should go check it out. Don't get too close to the edge.

Yes, I was tempted to ask George if I could borrow the Kessler during his recuperation period. But, that would just be tooo cold-hearted. I can wait to be actively employed before I ride another Kessler --- which will be customized for me:eplus2: George's 180cm Kessler is my new favorite board. It is an EC machine!!! It's too bad the timer for the race course was broke on Sunday. I really wanted to see if my race times improved with the Kessler. The race course runs I took on the Kessler definitely felt better compared to my Coiler Stubby, but the race course was also a little softer on Sunday. Yes, I will probably be one of the yahoos that is willing to spend 75% more for that 5-10% improvement :p

Whoops, left that out of the report. "Hey John" saw the board slide away and he was able to recover the precious Kessler.

The number has been added to my cell phone contact list. I was carpooling with George, so I was able to drive him home.

Me, GeorgeS and Hey John headed over to Mammoth for the 3rd day of SNES. I think we also saw Frank over there. The snow conditions were softer at Mammoth, but the grooming was not as good. Especially Stump Alley, there were high ridges everywhere. But we still found some really good areas for carving. The face of Chair 3 was probably my favorite carving runs of the weekend. Anyway, we were taking Coyote Trail from Chair 3 to Chair 5. It was my first time on Coyote. It has some nice steep sections, but it is a narrow winding run with a steep drop-off, off the right side of the trail. GeorgeS was railing a heelside turn on his Kessler, lost his edge and went over the side of the trail. He hit a tree and stopped. He released the front binding of his injured leg to relieve the pain, then released the back binding. When his bindings released, his board slid away, then he slid another 50-80ft or so face first. At this point, I caught up and peered over the edge of the trail to see what happened to George. Hey John was able to call Ski Patrol on his cell phone to take George for his toboggan ride. John, what's the number you used to call Ski Patrol? After George told us to get ski patrol, his very next comment was, "Can you guys find my board?". Definitely a hardcore carver. From the emergency room X-rays, George's leg is broken in 2 places below the knee. He is suppose to see a specialist today to determine if surgery will be needed. GeorgeS, get well soon!!! Looking forward to ripping more turns with you NEXT season.

I'm in total agreement with Rob. I used Flow bindings and Dupraz 5'5" on a snowcat trip with Steamboat Powdercats last season. The board worked great. The Flow bindings on the other hand sucked. It was fine when I was strapping in on one of the cat tracks. But when I fell in the deep pow and had to unstrap, it was a pain to get the binding totally cleared. It's stressful knowing the rest of the group is waiting for me, while I'm having technical difficulties. This only happened once, but once is enough After the trip, I sold the Flows and bought Burton C60 bindings. Haven't had a deep pow day yet with the Burton bindings. But as a plus, the Burton bindings are a lot more comfy for carving on hardpack. With Flows, I had to really keep the straps tight for toeside carves, which killed my feet. With the Burton C60, I only need to keep the straps snug for good toeside performance.

I've read extensively about the F2 step-in binding that broke after one day of riding and the rider almost had his leg amputated due to injuries sustained from that incident. I've read about and experienced having a bail break on my plate binding with less than 65 days of riding. And I've seen on a couple occasions where a 4-hole disk strap binding separated from the from the board. So I'm not putting up my Burton channel board on E-Bay because of one report of a bad bolt. And for bolts getting loose, the only binding that I owned that had that problem was TD2's. But, I definitely appreciate Softbootsailor's report. As I will also replace the channel bolts after 30 days of riding. But considering I only ride my freestyle board part time, it will take a few years to get 30 days worth of riding in.

I won't be riding with the crew on Sunday. My friend will be working on my car on Sunday. But, I'll probably be snowboarding on Monday. Carving conditions at Bear was really good on Thursday; without a cloud in sky. Not quite Hero, but close. And the super pipe was in the best condition I've seen it all season. Weather is looking good for Sunday:biggthump

I'd vote for "slope kill", but it sounds too much like something out of a Vietnam war movie.

One of the reasons I started riding hardboots was because strap bindings were killing my feet. In my older bindings, I really had to get the straps tight to keep my heel down when I was carving on my freestyle board. That was the older Burton strap bindings and Flow bindings from 4 or 5 years ago. With Burton C60 strap bindings and K2 T1 boots, I only have to keep the straps snug and my heel is kept in place. The heel cup in the Burton C60’s are pretty deep. Softboots and strap bindings have come a looong way.

I do both. This is where I peaked in my mini-ramp skills: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aie1qKEFdk8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aie1qKEFdk8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> This is where I peaked in my bowl riding skills: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccp_bYHowWU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccp_bYHowWU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

I'm going to San Diego this weekend to have my friend work on my car. If my car is fixed in time, I'll join the crew on Sunday. I haven't seen ice yet this season. Now that wrote it, I better sharpen my edges for the first time this season:p

Going to Bear Mtn on Thurs, March 11 for some softboot and hardboot carving with some freestyle action thrown into the mix. Just got a Burton Custom V-rocker which I rode on Monday. Snow conditions on Monday were very carvable, but visibility at the top was horrible. Visibility on the lower part of the mountain was good. Did two runs with the Coiler, then switched to the new Burton Custom to ride the pipe and park where I could actually see. Thursday should be sunny and carvaliscious:biggthump

I just bought a 2010 Burton Custom V-Rocker 151 with the Channel system. It was 50% off at http://www.sierrasnowboard.com/ I'm using Burton C60 bindings. Burton supplied the adaptor plate for free to retro-fit my disk binding to the channel system. I also saw retro-fit disk plates for Flow bindings at Sport Chalet for around $15. I also read about people grinding down the Burton retro-fit disks to fit other manufacturer’s bindings. I've only ridden it one day and I weigh in at 135 lb, so I don't have any data on the durability issue. And since I’m not launching 20 ft airs, I not worried about ripping out the hardware. The Custom V-Rocker carved really well for a freestyle board. It held the carve until boot-out. It felt quick edge to edge and I didn’t feel any dead spots in the flex. The board flexed nice and evenly. I did my carving on blue runs on the way to the park and pipe. The rocker made the board very forgiving. When riding the pipe, I had some bad landings where I thought for sure I’d catch an edge, but I rode through it. I couldn’t butter my cambered freestyle boards and had problems with wall rides. The rockered board made all that jibbing stuff much easier; at least I felt way more confident. The next time out, I’ll angle the bindings more to see how hard I can carve the new board. This will be for ****s and grins because, I’ll stick to the Coiler Schtubby and hard boots for the real carving.

I'm in for the 28th and 29th. Snowboarder race gates would be great. I don't know if I could handle the pressure of being the favorite in the limbo contest:p I've got the following gear for demo: Custom Donek FC 165 w/ Olympic construction Oxygen Proton 149 Proflex plate bindings Head boots M24 All the above gear is also for sale (except the bindings). George, I definitely want to try out your Kessler!!! I'll volunteer to man to the quiver area from noon to 1:30.

I'm not in sync with the Snow Summit crew this season. I'll be going to Bear Mtn on Monday with a couple friends on freestyle boards. Weather is looking good for both Sunday and Monday!

Staying out too late. So I won't be at Bear tomorrow.

So I'm heading up to Bear Mtn on Tues. Anybody else? Will likely do alpine in the morning and some freestyle in the afternoon.

I'm a fan of the park and pipe. I can barely get above the lip of the super pipe and I'll hit the small and medium size table tops and step ups. I haven't done a rail or box in a couple of seasons though. When riding the park and pipe, I do switch to a freestyle board and softboots. I also prefer the soft setup for doing the snake runs.

I'm 45, I'm a hardbooter 90% of the time, and I think the baggy jeans/plaid look of the Olympic snowboarders looked great. I wear baggy snowboard clothes so that I can wear body armor underneath. Entertaining thread

Don't knock Snow Valley. I learned my lesson. I rode at Snow Valley on Feb. 4 and it was my best day of carving EVER in So Cal (outside of Mammoth/June)!!! The conditions were perfect for carving and the place was empty. The Ladder is my new favorite run. Perfect steepness for EC, consistent pitch, wide, and perfectly groomed. The Ladder stayed firm and smooth all day because hardly anybody did the run. The blue run that goes around The Ladder, is also really fun. The Face and East Side in the back part of the mountain is also good. I got some good EC runs on those also, even though it was a little bit bumped up by the time I got there. The only reason I did go to Snow Valley that day is because a friend of mine had some free lift tickets. I rationalized the trip by thinking if Snow Valley sucked, I'd continue to Snow Summit for a half day. Turned out to be an EPIC day. There is not a whole lot of variety at Snow Valley, but the steep runs are great. The snowboard park was also in great condition.