Jack M

https://usasa.org/nationals/national-championship-update Having been coaching TVR’s son and the CVA team this year, I was really looking forward to this. Super disappointed. He will now finish the season in first place nationally for GS and SL in the Breaker boys age group, but not the way we wanted. I was also looking forward to finishing off my season in the Legends age group and hopefully bringing home some hardware of my own. Oh well, next year, right? #firstworldproblems

Wait... are you suggesting there are carvers who don't like this?

I'm just saying it's the only thing I've ever personally witnessed that has significantly grown the population of hardbooters here. Not saying this is happening everywhere, but if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere. Times are different. There was much more necessity for hardboots for carving back when softboots and bindings sucked. Today softboots can get you most of the way there. So much that most people say it's good enough. At Buttermilk it is all you need. Kids faced with the sight of hardbooters occupying a podium they thought would be theirs can be duly inspired, as has been my recent observation.

Generally speaking, kids aren't on this site. I elaborated on kids getting into racing here.

I can tell you that the two times the ECES was at Sugarloaf, it did effectively nothing for the hardbooting population here. I think most demo day participants would be doing it on impulse, whether they are ready for hardboots or not. Softbooters who can't already carve, or can't carve their downhill edge are going to have a bad time with that. Kids getting into racing has been the only effective change agent I've seen here. An idea I've had for a long time but have never been able to make it happen is a 5 day midweek carve camp. At first it would be open only to people who are new to hardboots. The expectation would be that they arrive to camp able to carve their softboots on greens, and the camp would provide demo alpine gear and coaching. 10 students max per coach. I'd like to see this happen someday. Yes, exactly. I'm not convinced we actually have a problem. The sport is awesome and it keeps getting better.

I told you so.

That's the diagram from one of Mario's links. It goes with the equation I posted. You can easily measure s and c on your board at home. Then plug those numbers into the equation to find r. How high you tilt the board. Board flat on the ground = 0 degrees, board tilted all the way up = 90 degrees. (But at that point you're not carving.)

Good links. To summarize, find the sidecut depth - s, and the contact length - c, then sidecut radius r is: r = (4s2 + c2)/8s This of course is an average along the whole contact length, it does not account for VSR or non-radial shapes, but it gives you an idea of how big or small the board will carve. Keep in mind the board's published sidecut radius is actually slightly longer than the longest radius it will truly carve. The higher the edge angle, the tighter the carve radius, as the board bends more. Additional reading here.

I started snowboarding when I was 13 for two reasons - I started seeing kids surfing the mountain, and, my best friend was doing it. My parents were/are big skiers. They weren't keen on me snowboarding, they thought it was a fad and I'd get bored with it after a while. I had to buy my own snowboards. In 1989 after one season on a Burton Elite 150 I knew I needed something better. I was torn between the super cool Mystery Air or the badass Safari. I figured that for my money I'd get more use out of the Safari here in Maine. Got hooked on the carve and never looked back. Spent hours watching video of Peter Bauer and Jean Nerva starting with Snow Rules.

I have had a very heartwarming experience this season. Last season a bunch of students here at Carrabassett Valley Academy (alma mater of Mark Fawcett, Jeremy Jones, Jeff Greenwood, Adam Hostetter, Seth Wescott, Bode Miller, others) went to USASA Nationals and observed that most podiums were occupied by hardbooters. These kids are at CVA because they are competitive by nature. They were participating in racing mostly as cross-training for Boardercross, but they came to enjoy it and wanted to be more competitive. A wave of them decided to get into the Alpine gear. CVA contacted me for help with part time coaching and sizing/acquiring gear. We started the season with 6 and then other kids saw this and wanted in. We are up to 9. They are consistently collecting medals in USASA racing and are headed to Nationals at the end of the month. CVA hasn't had a team like this in a generation. Other kids are making noises about doing it next year. Similarly, Lynn Ott is helping with Gould Academy's team down the road at Sunday River. Because these kids were already good softboot carvers, they took right off in hardboots. It was awesome to see. It confirmed my belief that the transition from softboots to hardboots should be easy and liberating, not grueling and frustrating. This is the only significant growth in Alpine in my area that I've witnessed. This is why this site is dedicated to supporting youth racing through USASA, and USSRT. I've set up the director of Snowboarding at CVA with my old RC10s and my Kessler 168. He's an expert softboot carver, but his mind was expanded by the hardboots. He's loving it. I did the same for the chief engineer at Winterstick (which is headquartered at Sugarloaf), he had been on hardboots many years ago. He's also an expert softboot carver. I wasn't able to be with him when he took it out, but he texted me "OMG, I had forgotten that feeling!!" Carving in hardboots is distinct from carving in softboots. In my opinion it's more fun. I don't see it disappearing ever. If it was going to, it would have happened already. Look at the racing scene in Europe for one thing. Also, with climate change creating more thaw-freeze cycles, hardboots will be getting more useful, not less. I'd estimate the ratio of good groomer days to powder days here is at least 25:1.

The best softbooter I know (also a great hardbooter) uses Now O-drive bindings and K2 Thraxis boots. https://thegoodride.com/snowboard-boot-reviews/k2-thraxis-review-and-buying-advice/

Best USA finish in recent memory. Awesome!

Sacrilege! I have some friends who might be interested, let me know. Interesting 2020/2021 update on http://www.coiler.com

Thanks to YOU and your subscriptions, classifieds donations, merchandise purchases, and interest in our advertisers, we have been able to donate $1000 EACH to USASA and USSRT since my last update on April 30 last year. We have also donated $100 each directly to USSRT members Bobby Burns and Cody Winters to support their racing dreams at the international level. Thank you for being part of this site and helping to support our weird fringe sport!

Sir, could you please turn your suit down?

ASB is this site - AlpineSnowboarder.com. All proceeds beyond the cost of running the site are donated to USASA and USSRT. Donations to ASB can be made here. Thanks @soybomb!

Buy with confidence from Dave!

Burns took 4th in the small final! Best USA finish in a long time. Let's go!! Indeed Ledecka is spending more time this season with a snowboard on each foot. She just popped in to win an actual snowboard World Cup on a whim.

I was surprised at how much more lateral flex my UPZ RC10s had than my previous Deeluxe Track 700s. That was with the stock liner. Intuition Power Wrap helped with that, significantly. My .951 World Cups had the desired lateral stiffness right out of the box, and fore/aft flex smoothly controlled and adjusted by the spring system.

I like lateral stiffness.

I mean I guess this is ok...

Right. At the top and bottom the chair would detach from the haul rope and be guided through the terminal in the typical way. The heat wouldn't have to be always on. I'm not really wishing for more uphill capacity, just a lift that would almost never go on wind hold, and would never do this. The speed comment was just for a chuckle. Yes there are funitels and funiculars, but they take up a lot more space, are very expensive, and I think this could be built for less.

What?! 2 years ago I finally had him make me a new pair to replace the pair he made for me as a wedding gift... in 1998.

Up!!

Why does this not exist?? Or does it? It could be pulled by the usual cable. Of course the rails would have to be heated. Wonder how fast it could go...