Jack M

Using my Nirvana and sometimes NSR185 for beer league last year: http://skiracing.nastar.com/index.jsp?year=2017&source=selectrankings2&pagename=viewrankings&overallsnowboard=Y&male=Y Using my new-to-me Kessler 180 for beer league this year: http://skiracing.nastar.com/index.jsp?year=2018&source=selectrankings2&pagename=viewrankings&overallsnowboard=Y&male=Y The Kessler has been a revelation. I bought it on a whim late last season when it popped up in the classifieds having been used for 1 day and at a price I couldn't resist. It's a lot stiffer and the tail is a lot straighter (19m). It is simply made to go around gates. I just carve it and the board goes where it goes and oh look, it arrives at the next gate almost by itself. Freecarve boards are happiest making "C" shaped carves. Race boards are happiest making "(" shaped carves. I can freecarve the Kessler, it requires more speed and more commitment than a freecarve board, but it is very rewarding, like nothing else. It takes a quick extra tilt of the edge on your part at the end of the turn to get a snappy finish out of it. If you just ease off the edge then the board won't hook but will accelerate downhill. Last weekend we had great chalky conditions - fast and firm. I used my Kessler on Saturday, Nirvana on Sunday. Coming off the Kessler, the Coiler felt like a noodle. I'm going to be using the K for more freecarving whenever it makes sense now. "Let’s assume you asked Bruce or Sean to build you two boards for the same turn size, one for carving and one for racing, what would you get?" Well, turn size is a function of sidecut and flex and speed. So two boards built to achieve the exact same turn size and speed I think would be built the same. However generally speaking, a freecarve board is going to be softer and curvier to be able to make that turn size happen at lower speeds. My Coiler NSR185 is softer and turnier than this Kessler 180. I also got a Kessler 168. That is basically a freecarve board as far as I'm concerned. I think it is similar to the 162 SL, just 6cm longer and 1m longer in the nose (8-12m vs 7-12m). Very fun, very versatile, finishes the turn, does not require ludicrous speed. Would be a great intro to race boards for any freecarver.

Oh hey! So this just happened... http://skiracing.nastar.com/index.jsp?year=2018&source=selectrankings2&pagename=viewrankings&overallsnowboard=Y&male=Y

That would be nice but if you were racing on a team in a weekly series it would be cheating. Team points are calculated with a hefty handicap for snowboarders specifically because we don't have poles and cannot skate.

No I don’t think that was proven. He was not stripped of his medal.

PGS Qualifiers: Wednesday February 21, 10pm ET PGS Finals: Friday February 23, 10pm ET NBC Live Streams: http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/how-watch-every-single-olympic-snowboarding-competition-live CBC Schedule: https://olympics.cbc.ca/schedule/sport=sb/full-schedule.html?intcmp=sr-byday-listview

Yes and no. A cinder block bolted to a snowboard could make a carved turn if you could somehow balance it and send it down the hill. We are just trying to be the cinder block. However we have to do certain things in order to achieve and maintain that balance throughout the turn, and then repeat. Solving the mystery of what those things are is the quest. Here's another physics article on this: http://www.bomberonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Physics-of-a-Snowboard-Carved-Turn.pdf

Yes, I had a similar impression.

I doubt that very much. If there was an advantage, you'd see racers using gear designed right up to the limit of allowed dimensions and stances. i.e., the limit for waist width is 16cm; everyone would be racing on 16cm boards if they offered an advantage. I suspect the rule was enacted because someone tried it, and the powers that be saw them and said no, that's not alpine snowboarding. Kind of like how speed suits are banned. If they were actually worried about an unfair advantage, that worry was not well informed. I have personally seen Ace ride his skwal at the ECES, as well as a number of skwallers over the years. If you can boil it all down to a single thing we need most when carving, I would say it's edge hold. Without that there is nothing else. I see skwallers getting less edge hold than alpine snowboarders, not more. I also see skwallers having a harder time on steeps than alpine snowboarders. Sugarloaf has a lot of steeps. The point about racing is that racers use the best snowboard gear for carving most efficiently and effectively. That's my goal. You make my point for me though - it's as silly to say "if you've never ridden one you don't know" as it is to say "if you've never ridden here you don't know". I don't need to try telemark or snowblades to know that I'm not interested in them either. I can see for myself what they are capable of without trying them, and I want more. Hey look it's all just glorified sledding, which is pretty absurd. We're not curing cancer here. If you want to try sledding down the hill in a different way, awesome. Does Skwalling make you a better snowboard carver? Possibly yes, possibly no. Lots of things can be used as training drills, such as riding with your boots unbuckled, riding duck, riding backwards, skwalling, etc.

Yes, I’m familiar. Do you think a skwall could compete?

How do you know what you’re talking about if you’re never been to Sugarloaf? Is anybody racing World Cup on a skwall?

No, just an observation. Although personally I have no interest. My home mountain doesn’t have much terrain that would be good for a skwall. Need a lot of fore/aft leverage here.

The best carvers I know have never set foot on a skwal.

That’s not centered though...

Fuego method (lol) is only necessary if you're really trying to carve at 100%. We don't know your priorities. ;-) That's because of the flare of the sidecut. The board is wider under your rear foot heel and front foot toe. If your rear heel or front toe appears to have underhang, it doesn't necessarily mean the boot's not centered.

I was referencing these guys:

Well this thread went sideways. noschoolrider, Erik Beckman was director of Snowboarding for the Sugarloaf Ski and Snowboard School for about 25 years. Few people on earth have spent more time thinking about, experimenting with, and practicing alpine snowboarding than him. A lesson with him will give one enough information to digest for a whole season. To Erik, similarly, Don has an impressive resume himself. Former PSIA/AASI examiner, USASA champ/coach, etc. I think there should be mutual respect here. As for the cited articles, I read the first one about Ted Ligety skidding his way to victory. I disagree, because he is the carvingest MF-er I've ever seen ski down a course. The person who wrote that article doesn't even understand how sidecut works, so I'm not sure why you referenced them. Stivoting is simply required now that FIS went back to 1985 with it's stupid GS ski rules, so while Ligety might be stivoting, I'd argue he is still carving more than others. So is Anderson.

Bottom line, stop calling it Gilmour bias. As much as I like the guy, he didn't invent it.

Ok, so call that reverse bias. Whatever, I think it's all pretty silly. I used to do it, thinking I was doing something meaningful and techy, but in reality it didn't improve the ride.

Binding bias. Why the hockey puck truck not? I've even run reverse bias in order to keep angles down on 18cm wide boards. By reverse I mean front foot towards the toe, rear foot towards the heel, because the board is wider at those points due to the flare of the sidecut. Now I just say screw it and leave my boots centered over the bindings. Happy medium.

Can we stop calling it that? This simple and obvious binding adjustment was being employed by many people well before it was ever eponymously named.

and, I agree with BlueB.

In '96 I had over 400 days on snow.

Sorry Bob, I was trying to differentiate for people such as myself who also spend some time in softboots riding all-mtn/powder/trees/park/etc. Not sure how to work your style into this poll... you are special Bob! Carve on.

Time for this poll again! Note the question is not how many days do you ride...

Looks fine to me, perhaps a little long for a 161. If you're enjoying yourself then don't worry. Set personal goals to try to vary your turn sizes, you should be able to tighten that up quite a bit on a 161. But if this is your favorite turn size you might try a 170-something. MK 161, steep: