Jack M

who said 0 to 400???

Yo Ray, I wasn't insinuating that your poll was Virus slanted or anything, I just know you like them and recommend them. I am sure I would love a Virus. I am so sure, in fact, that I do not want to try one because then I would want to buy one. I know it costs over a grand to get a Virus here. If I'm going to spend that kind of money on a snowboard, I want it to be with someone I know and who I can talk to about the board or anything else. It would just make me feel better. I'd like to think that I'd be helping Claire Martin get to college or something warm and fuzzy like that.

I know you're a big Virus fan, Ray, but I have to admit that if I'm going to drop 4 figures on a snowboard, it's going to be with someone I know personally (Sean, Chris, Bruce, Mike...) Also, if I'm spending $800-1000 for a snowboard (my poll response) I'd want the board to perform within 85% of new for about 200 days. Someday when I'm making more money I could see myself owning two $850 boards at the same time. But I'd have to be pulling in some big bucks before I'd consider owning more than say $1800 worth of boards concurrently.

BS in ME working on MS in CS boarding since '88. hardboots since '92.

www.fastfreddy.com probably a common nickname for people named Freddy!

will be more direct to Baxter and points north. Just so you know, what used to be 495 is now 95. What used to be 95 is now 295. 495 is no longer the name of any road in Maine. 95 and 295 reconnect just south of Augusta in Gardiner. Any travel from Portland and south to Gardiner and north should be done on 295, it's shorter. Unless there is a blizzard, in which case 95 is plowed better.

We've created a forum at www.eces.us for arranging accomodations, transportation, or anything else. It is a public forum, so you don't have to register, just post away. Of course if you do register, people will be able to contact you through that forum, just like here. It is NOT intended to be yet another carving forum, just a place for participants to make arrangements with each other for the ECES, and to have discussions pertinent to the event. This will keep such posts off BOL and will make them more visible and useful. Go to www.eces.us/phpBB2/index.php to see the forum. Thanks!

Just remember that when you're carving there is no steering and no skidding. Are you riding terrain that is maybe a little too steep and you are instinctively trying to check speed? Because it looks like you are trying to push the board around and turn it with your feet. It can be frightening to just lean into the turn and wait for the edge to take you around - but that's what you need to do. If you haven't read the article on The Norm yet, I suggest you do and then spend a full morning practicing it on a green circle until you've got it nailed.

Interesting! I can't seem to find any good pics on the web though.

Very cool Freddy. The more carving on the web the better! Can't wait for vids. But... does Freddy Spencer know you stole his name?? ;)

Pretty sure "the big 3" have tooling for different widths for many of their boards, but they either don't publish them or they don't draw a lot of attention to this fact. But yeah, I'd like to see a choice of widths become a standard option, in my perfect world. Say 180, 195, 210mm for starters.

You'd be looking at the Grand Summit Hotel package. 2 midweek nights plus 2 weekend nights for 2 people = $1008 total, which includes taxes and fees. I am pretty confident that paying for our package deal is still the most economical way to go, even if your dad won't be using the lift ticket. Instead he can take 25 Sugarloaf Dollars per day, or he can take the lift ticket and you can use your imagination as to what to do with it. Also, the rooms in the Grand Summit have 2 queen size beds. How you fill them is up to you. Or, if you could get a group of 4 together, you could get a 1-bedroom condo and pay a total of $1408 for the 4 of you. Of course, you are welcome to call Sugarloaf at 1-800-THE-LOAF and tell them you are interested in the ECES deal and explain your situation. They might be flexible and they are typically helpful.

http://www.hardbooter.com/news/archives/49-The-Big-Madd-Stick.html Great job guys. The Madd 180 is truly a special board - easily my favorite Madd (I like bigger boards). The big radius is a real eye-opener/jaw-dropper. Just one question - is your 180 narrower than mine? You seemed to mention a narrow waist repeatedly. Mine measures about 192mm, fully 12mm wider than the 170. I really like the width of the 180 - feels "just right" for my 28.5 mondos. "stiff cord under the board" - that made me smile.

I assume you've read The Norm? I think maybe those trails (or at least the first one) are a little too steep for learning? Hard to tell. Here are some things you should be doing when you make a heelside turn, that it looks like you aren't: <ol> <li> look where you want the carve to go <li> both hands in front, where you can see them. <li> weight forward - about 70% on front foot. <li> pressure the heelside edge simply by <i>leaning</i> (not sitting) to that side. <li> drive your right hand forward and down throughout the turn - keep it in your view. <li> as the turn comes around, shift weight smoothly to both feet. <li> use knees for shock absorption only - not to "get low". </ol> You're really fighting your equipment in these photos, trying to force it to do something it doesn't want. Carving is not really a sideways sport - remember that. When you're riding properly, in harmony with your equipment, it will feel and look like you're not really doing anything at all, and the board is almost carving itself. -Jack

your thread was purely political. Don't take it personally, it's just prohibited stuff.

Snowboarders do owe a lot to ski design. Not everything, but a lot. Burton was shaping his snowboards with an uncarveable "V" shaped sidecut until 1989. I think Avalanche may have been first snowboard with a radial sidecut, and it was pulled directly off a ski. Ski designers probably would have figured out the whole sidecut thing on their own eventually (like, many years later), but it is a known fact that the inspiration for shaped skis was that skiers were jealous of snowboarders' carves. Now, whether they would have figured out the whole twin-tip, park, and pipe thing on their own is a different matter. I highly doubt it.

http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=14

LOL, no. Shaped skis are a direct descendant of carving snowboards. Twin tip skis are a direct descendant of freestyle snowboards. Anyone who was in the ski industry around the time the new skis were developed will cop to this.

Ah yes, I was wondering when an EC zealot would chime in here. What took you so long? "Hardbooting race style is the opposite of surfstyle, extremcarving or any other stylish way of riding with hard setup." Racing or riding with a racing style is not a problem. I know this from watching all the heads on the chairlift snap around like dominoes when someone like this screams by underneath: <a href="http://bomberonline.com//images/SES05/bigs/kevin11.jpg" target="top"><img src="http://bomberonline.com//images/SES05/bigs/kevin11.jpg" width=640></a> No, the only problem I see here is two experts arguing over which style is "better". Get real.

Personally I love that racing exists. I think it's super cool and I hope it stays forever. However one interesting take I've heard on this subject is that if snowboard racing stopped tomorrow, then people wouldn't be able to say "hardboots are just for racing". I think that's one of our major hurdles - many people dismiss alpine out of hand because they have no interest in racing, and think that's all we do.

Hardboots do make it easier to carve a turn. Just like race slicks make it easier to go fast around a track. But saying that someone is the best carver because they look good on Buttermilk-like terrain is kind of like saying Matt Mladin is the best motorcycle racer because he wins AMA Superbike. That said, I know nothing of Randy's riding, and nothing of the video in question. I just know that it makes more sense to film an instructional video on moderately easy terrain, so I'm guessing Randy's video was. Oh, John, I misread your post, I thought you were talking about hardboots for some reason. But I still think there is a solution for your feet in softboots.

Because it does. Sort of like holding a freecarving competition at Stratton. :p

Ouch! For a guy in highschool and then college it was. Don't ask how many days I get now with children. what's your phone number? :D

I'm sure you enjoyed riding the pipe in that set-up, but fully enjoyed it? I doubt it. Did you pull any George Pappas behind the back two handed layback alley-oop nosegrabs? And (don't worry Derf) I spent 2 solid seasons (about 35 days each) riding nothing but a PJ7 with ski boots. It just so happens those years were particularly dry and I don't remember any powder days. Like you, I had a blast, and I don't regret it at all. But I can tell you I didn't gain any new skills in the pipe during that time, and a different setup would have been better in the spring. you can rarely judge steepness on video. I wouldn't be surprised if he was riding Buttermilk-like terrain on hero snow. Anyone can carve that.

clearly you don't have custom footbeds and Thermoflexes. AAAaaahhhhhhh. Buckle up at 8am, unbuckle at 4pm.