GoofyFoot

My pleasure! I look forward to seeing you on the snow.

Hi folks, So far, I have met Ben, Ian, Billy, Serge, Chris and Tabby since joining this list, but have only managed to share a few turns with Billy and Tabby at Vorlage to date! I am still waiting for some of you fellow carvers to rise and shine for first tracks at CF some Sat morning (except Feb 5th when I will be out of town). 8:29 at the Clifford chair... Thus, I am going to propose two more dates: How about Friday the 25th of Feb at Mt St Marie? That gives everyone a couple of weeks to make (personal) plans and excuses (to the boss!). Also, I plan to be at Mt Blanc for the Shark Demo Day on Sunday Feb 20th. Chris is also on for this one. Cruising the QC ride board, I believe a fair number of local carvers will be out that day as well. I'm hopin' that a good representation of the Ottawa hardboot crowd can make it so that we can collectively put a noticable showing of freecarvers on the snow. -Brian

CaR, Thx for the "Vorlage tip" - and the CATEK bindings! (See my other comments on the Carvefest poll thread) I went to MT with The Vivacious Redhead on Friday (we played hookie from work) and I was impressed at how hard the maintenance crew have been working to get runs open. The hill is in GREAT shape considering how little natural snow the area has received to date. For carving content, I spotted another four (all individual) carvers on Sunday and one lone Kessler rider the previous Sunday. I also ran into about a dozen friends from Ottawa that I knew! Sat, I was at my teaching post at CF. I had a very busy day giving five lessons back-to-back non stop from 9:30 to ~3 PM. That sure cuts into my personal riding time! However, the snowfall kept the runs in good shape for most of the day before the boilerplate came out mid-afternoon! On the plus side, I cleared out three more SBs from my basement from which profts I passed on to Chris to buy his bindings. Finally, on Sunday, for a change of pace, I went out XC skiing at Mer Bleu. The weather was fantastic and it was neat to sight both chickadees and pileated woodpeckers. Cheers, Brian (packing for MSA later this week ;) )

Hi T,Q1: No. Q2: In general the large wedge (six degrees) goes under your heel plate to help move your center of gravity forward (this would be a good thing for you! ) and the small one (three degrees) under your toe (with the fat end towards the front and the thin edge pointing to the rear). <O:p</O:p I dropped by Chris’ place on Sunday to buy his last pr of CATEK bindings. While in the neighbourhood, he gave me a quick run-down on his TD2-Coiler setup. This is how he has his bindings set-up (as above) with each wedge providing all lift and no cant. Chris also mentioned that Bomber has a fitment guide on-line if you want to try different combos of lift and cant. <O:p</O:p As mentioned before, the final set-up is up to you as there is no right or wrong set-up. For instance you may end up flat X 2 (like most racers), small lift under heel & none under the toe, etc. Be aware that equal amounts of patience and elbow grease are required! <O:p</O:p -Brian

Réal, Je serai en vacances (avec trois autres amis (skiers)) à MSA 4-11 fev et j'ai déja decidé de "rider" à LM le 7 et problement le 10 aussi. Nous resterons à Club Vacances Toutes Saisons à St-Anne-de-Beaupré. Ou restez-vous? -Brian

Pour votre information: I am rallying the Ottawa carving crowd to get out some carvers to Mt Blanc on Feb 20th. I hope to see lots of other hardbooters there! -Brian

Nitros, Surf Quebec a vous donné du bonne conseils! Pour plus de confort, un chausson thermo (thermoliner) marche très bien. C'est un "custom fit" a vos pieds que donne plus de confort et mois d'espace de plus (slop). J'ai acheté un nouvelle pair des bottes Track 700 (qui viens avec les Thermoliners) chez Boutique Shark, le printemps derniere et je les aime beaucoup. Je suis un moniteur de ski et planche et je t'assure que mes bottes de ski Nordica Speed 10 sont encore plus difficile à afficher que mes bottes de carving Deeluxe! Le "bonne chose" ici c'est-ce que, en general, le plus difficile le botte est à afficher, le plus élevé le performance simplement parce qu'il y a moine de "slop" entre le pied et le botte. -Brian

Ian, Congrads on moving up the CASI ladder! As for Fri night, I would like to join you, but The Vivacious Redhead decided that I should be riding at MT tomorrow instead -Brian

Andre, I do not know any race coaches personally, however, here are some leads. YYZ Canuck is a Canadian distributor of alpine race gear and therefore will have lots of contacts for you. Ditto, Boutique Shark, a Montreal retailer of alpine gear to which YYZ is a supplier. I bought my last pr of boots there - Deeluxe Track 700s, in the spring of 2010. Lastly, and perhaps most critically for you, Mt Tremblant is home to Jasey Jay Anderson, the PGS gold medal winner at the 2010 Winter Olymics. He has set up a business running race camps. I just looked at his website and it is not mentioned, however, ask around and you will quickly find out the dates. I am not sure if he has already run it this season but it will certainly be worth your while to find out since it is not often you have the opportunity to ride with the world's best :) . Welcome to Montreal and Canada!!! -Brian info@yyzcanuck.com Voice & Fax: 416.743.6304 Post: YYZCANUCK Inc., 16 Todd Brook Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M9V 1R4 http://www.sharksco.com/home/ http://www.jaseyjay.com/

Hi Andre, I live in Ottawa (two hours down the road) and ride almost every Sunday at Mt Tremblant. I will be there this Sunday for sure if you would like to ride together. I am "over the hill" for crashing gates, but I still enjoy riding hard on the groomers. -Brian

Hi folks, Here is a summary of what Andrea & Dave of YYZ Canuck posted on the QC ride msg board. Shark Boutique (for which YYZ is one of their main suppliers of alpine carving gear) is hosting four Sunday demo days in QC (all of which are closer than the demo day at SOS in ON, north of TO) as follows: Mt. Habitant: January 23rd (come & gone) Mt. Blanc: January 30th (I am committed to being at Tremblant that day) Mt. Orford: February 6th (off to MSA & LM o/s of Quebec City) Mt. Blanc: February 20th (my pick!) Is anyone else keen on getting to Mt Blanc for Sun 20 Feb and trying out some new gear? If you want more info call Sharks at (450) 663-5543 and ask for Michel or email them at info@sharksco.com to find out details on equipment available and during what hours they will be available on the hill. I expect Andrea & Dave will be there as well. They have done me a few favours over the years (all "long distance") and I look forward to seeing them in person (finally). I hope some other Ottawans can get there as well. -Brian

I enjoyed my once-a-decade visit to Vorlage more than I expected. It was good to catch up with some of the carving community in Ottawa. If you would like to catch up with me here is the majority of dates I plan to be on the snow: Every Sat at CF for the rest of the season except 5 Feb. I will be at the head of the lift line at 8:29 since I have reserved the first hour of my day for freecarving. ;) I plan to be at Mt Tremblant on the following Sundays; Jan 30, Feb 27, Mar 6, 13, 20, 27. I will likely be there on these Fris as well; 28 Jan, Mar 25 and 1 Apr. I always have an empty back seat if you are looking for a ride. If you are looking for cheap tix, I have a couple for sale at $55. Apart from that Costco sells MT tix at ~$65 which also includes lunch. My annual pilgrimage to Mt Ste Anne and Le Massif is 4-11 Feb. Ride, baby, ride! -Brian

UP - just barely :) This WE, I will be teaching at CF in the AM for sure. However, given the brutally cold temps forcast, I may come home early in the PM. Sunday is supposed to be more seasonal so I will be in my car at the crack of dawn to be first in the lift line at MT. Again, home by late afternoon. I will let you know later in the week what my schedule looks like. -Brian

Ian, That is why you need to get away from Vorlage more often! You don't need "softer snow," you need more running room ... like Mt Tremblant. How is that for a thinly-veiled enticement to get you guys up for some serious vertical (and speed). Really Ian, I ride my 173 Volk (At least as stiff as a Factory Prime) and the Prior 177 WCR Metal at Camp Fortune regularly. Speed is your friend! -Brian

Slabber, If you are still looking for a board, I have several I would like to get outta my basement. On the "inexpensive" side, I have a 163 Burton Ultra Prime (in gorgeous fushia, no less) that I will give to you if you drive out to Orleans to pick it up. I also have a 170 Oxygen "Dangerous" that is in great shape for $100. The Burton UP is a well-used and used-up board that I used as a rock board up until I bought a couple more newer sticks and moved my Volkl 173 (alternating black and yellow Vs - if anyone remembers that far back :) ) to "rock board." The Oxygen is also an older board but in much better conditon. It is fresh off the Kunstadt Wintersteiger tuning machine; the edges are razor sharp and the base is in great shape. An added bonus: the topsheet is much more manly - it sports a snarling Doberman hound on a dark background. I also have a range of bindings if you need something to hold your boots onto the deck!

Hi folks, I plan to be in the lift line on the north side of MT at the 8:30 opening Sun AM. I have a spare seat if anyone is interested. -Brian

Wow! This has to be one of the more intersting threads happening at the moment. In general, the serious answers are right; especially since there is no "correct" set-up. That is why those rotational base plates have so many options - you get to choose what feels good to you! Over the 15 years years I have been riding, I started on softies at 0/15, then worked up to bigger speeds and bigger angles: 25/35 (greater angles did not work in soft boots - I tried). When I started riding switch, I went duck at a symetrical -15/+15 and have left it there ever since. Like several other riders here, I am a CASI instr (lvl II with carving cert). I just attended a Dec refresher course at Tremblant. In CASI's brand new "reference manual" they recommend newbies start off at -6/+9 IIRC (I shipped off my manual - full of margin notes - to the Nat Tech Coord to address some editing issues so I am relying on memory). Personally, I find that riding switch is easier when bindings are set-up duck. However, as a result, I, too, choose to skate with my free foot on the heel side. Up until switching to a duck stance I would almost always skate on the toe side. In comparison, I have my alpine board bindings set up at 65/72. I have been told more than once while on course I should ride at more conservative but anytime I have backed them off, my riding turns to crap! Long story short, try different angles and go with what works for you and your style of riding.

Hi Ian (& anyone else listening :) ), This Sat I will be standing in the Clifford chair lift line at 8:29 ready for first tracks (and every other Sat except 5 Feb). As for Sugarloaf, can't make it, but I am up for a local carvefest whenever and wherever it happens. -Brian

T, Now we're talking! Yes, please let me know what dates you are considering. I am sure I can convince the Vivacious Redhead (and possibly others) to join in on the slopes and at the bar!

Chris, I just found your note and checked back on the earlier info. Much to my dismay, this overlaps with my planned week at Mt Ste Anne (4-11 Feb) for which I am already fully committed to attend with three other friends. Otherwise, I would be there... I will be thinking of you as I am laying some serious trenches on Le Gros Vallon at MSA (and Le Massif) ...

Ian, Thx for putting the poll up (gotta find out how to do that!). I will be there as long as it is not a Mon or Wed (meetings I cannot miss). MT is my preferred mtn but MSM is OK, too, if travel time is an issue for others. I am very familiar with both set of slopes. -Brian

Chris, Derek, Ian et al, Whadda think about a multi-day carvefest somewhere whithin a day's drive of Ottawa? I had been planning a trip out West with my GF, also know as the Vivacious Redhead, but for a variety of reasons that has been postponed to next season. So in lieu, I thought I would use my vacation days to see one (or more) of the nearby mountains I rarely frequent. If there was sufficient interest, I would be willing to make the lion's share of the logisitical arrangements. So, I was thinking anywhere from a Mon-Fri outing (less traffic on the hill) to an extended 3 or 4 day WE. The locale could be (or a combo of) Mt Blanc, Mt Tremblant, Mt Ste Anne, Le Massif, Le Massif du Sud, Jay Peak, Loon Mtn, Cannon (last two are in NH) etc. Accomodation could be a large B&B or a reasonably priced hotel. Any interest? I am planning a March trip somewhere so I would be happy to have some carving company! If there are a few positive replies, we could expand the invite to the QC ride board to see if we could entice a few other carvers to join in. Cheers, Brian

Ian, yes there are a couple of runs on versand nord of Mt Blanc that are excellent places to put down some mean carves. However, from Ottawa, Mt Tremblant is the same distance and has more and better runs. Currently, my fav spots to lay trenches are Beau Chemin, Beauvallon (both blue) Nanson Haut and P'tit Bonheur (both greens). C'mon down and I will show you the mountain! -Brian

JJ, While I generally agree with your sentiment (that we need to have more riders on long boards to keep the sport going), I am not optimistic about seeing a resurgence of carving gear on store shelves. When I started looking for carving gear over a dozen years ago in Ottawa, a medium-sized Canadian city (that also happens to be the nation's capital), there was a handful of stores that carried boards, boots and plates. Today, there are exactly none. I suspect the much higher cost of race boards and the tiny volume of boards sold annually are the cause of their disappearance from retail stores. When someone asks me what I am riding, I patiently give them a short, enthusiastic reply and hope that they then ask me where they can get their own so I can direct them to cool sites like this and The Carvers Almanac ... and the closest on-line or real store resource for carving gear. All to say that I think that the biggest factor to growing our sport is for each of us to be the best ambassador of the sport that we possibly can (no matter how tedious and repetitive it is). In my case, it is a tad easier since I am a SB instructor at my local hill so people approach me more often to ask me what the hell I am piloting! Rock on! Brian