Peter Vu

Hej Saffain, Are you referring to the Swoard Dual (or "do-all" )? If so, I have personally own/rode the Dual in both Powder and carving on piste. I rode the Dual in both soft and hardboots and it is a fun high performance all-round board. You can carve hard on the Dual even on hardboots and its torsional stiffness is excellent thanks to its inner ATC Matrix material. Compared to the Swoard Extremecarver, the Dual carves as well but is not as fun to ride EC style as its shorter radius would not allow you to lay out nice long arcs. That said, for an dual purpose board, it will be difficult to find a board with a long sidecut as long as the Dual. And last but not least, you can semi customize your selection with respect to size/weight on the Dual so the performances are optimized. Additional reads are found here http://www.extremecarving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6380 Though I rode F2 before (including windsurfing boards ), I am not familiar with the F2 El Diablo. Good luck.

Salut Redia, Tres cool que t'as ete a Zinal. Je suis jaloux. Je me suis rendu a Zinal pour visiter Patrice/Jacques en 2005 mais ECS n'existait pas a l'epoque. Les photos ici ont ete prises a Zinal par Maitre Fivat (tres bon photographeur aussi). http://www.extremecarving.com/swoard/swoarders_fr.html Bref, tout ca pour dire que j'ai une Gen3 et une Pro 161M et donc j'aimerai commander une ecusson aussi. Je t'envoie mon adresse de shipping separement. Merci Peter ps: a fait, concernant la Sector 9 vs. Da Monster, je roule exclusivement sur Da Monster maintenant. Elle est trop fun.

Happy birthday Dr. Zone. I am sure you are still tearing the slopes out there.

As a disciple of Rob Crobar, would like to share some views on Swoard as I own both the Dual and Extremecarver decks. Some reviews above mentioned the Swoard to “lock into a carve”. Would like to respectfully disagree as what makes the Swoard special is its ability to instantly change direction during a high speed carve almost at will. Having tested other brands, the Swoard is the one that “lock” the least while having fantastic edge hold. From a surfing feeling, I think the Swoard is an excellent choice. I both windsurf/waveride and ride (somewhat newbie) at skateboard parks and the Swoard does provide that surfing grooving feel. For sure it is not designed nor intended to ride between gates with competition technique. But then, last time I checked, there are no gates on waves :o. Would like to second everything NTwoO said about the softness of the Swoard. 2 cents.

Hi qowah, I am a Swoard owner and live/work in Sunnyvale. Feel free to PM me if you want to meet/chat over lunch or evening. Cheers, Peter

I was in Zinal in 2005 visiting J&P. Before hitting the snow, they told me the conditions were going to be "great". From Tahoe standards, it was so-so to average (sorry Swiss boys, we have better conditions here in Tahoe...hehehe). At times, it was hard snow, similar to the conditions in Montreal when I lived there and both J&P were at ease and carved hard. The only time I did not see Patrice carve was when we hit this slope because on that day it was blue ice under a thin layer of snow. During dinner, I remembered Jacques mentioning about the very icy conditions they had during the film Stoked. Overall Zinal is a fantastic mountain for carving. Too bad it is not located in Tahoe....:) Peter

I have been to Zinal in 2004 and had the honor carve with J&P (and got my butt kicked in the process ) but I have never attended any ECS. It is very tempting to join ECS 2010 (if I still have a job, :rolleyes:) so I am *thinking* of going there next year. Is anyone interested in heading to Zinal as the contingent of North American EC Team?

I will second what DrZone said. If *one* of your requirements is to be able to make pure linked EC turns on the steeps like the Swiss duo do, the Swoard is an uncompromised tool that has been developed and tested by the two best EC carvers. I also think the Swoard is also an easy board to ride thanks to its soft flex and the (now main stream) wider width. Two years ago, I demoed a Prior World Cup and thought it was a fantastic board. Great edge hold, very lively edge-to-edge and the ride at high speed was easy and fun. Linked EC turns were also do-able but not ideal. For example on the blue runs, the edge hold between Swoard vs. Prior is similar. The Swoard gives you a more relaxed surfing style because it has lower binding angles. The Prior World Cup provides a more exciting/lively feel thanks to its narrower width. The Swoard is well worth it but it depends on your riding style and requirements. Hope this helps. Peter

I actually tried my new Swoard 3rd generation over the weekend and it is a keeper. I have not used Ebay over the last 4 years. I logged in today to see what is going on and Ebay said that due to inactivity, my account has been locked for security reasons. There is a process to follow if I want to unlock my account again....which I will not do. So whoever peterv1224 is....I do not have a clue. Peter

I had the first generation Swoard in 2003 (s/n 005 yeah!!) 161M. I also tried the 161H at Zinal but that was too stiff so I can confirm for small people that the Swoard guys have the board flex setup accurately (I weight 130-135lbs). For 2008, I have the 3G Swoard 161M (thx to my bro) earlier this spring. I can't wait for snow in Tahoe to try it out! Watch out KW Lower Zach', here comes the 3G!!

Too bad they are succumbing to monetary, commercial and 'trendy' pressures. Considering that the publisher/senior editor, Steve Jarrett, was an ex windsurfing racer/canadian champion, you would think he would give a little back to the racing/carving community in term of small free articles or such. I was hoping he would not forget that the little but high quality guys (Coiler/Prior/etc...) cannot afford the high price ads in his magazines, esp. since those are canadian companies of world class reputation in his own backyard. This has been going for years, and I'm not holding my breath. So true....especially Chris Prior and Bruce were/are also great windsurfers

Thanks to all for the great replies. Putting pressure on the nose of the board seems to be the general solution. When I carve fakie/switch, I initiate the carve by putting weight on the tail knee. Just like riding in normal scenario, we initiate our turns with the front knee. However, from what people say, I do not see how I can initiate a carving fakie/switch turn with my weight on the nose leg.... Tom, Thanks for your comment on my EC. Not sure which video you were watching but they are probably old..... it was a fun process to learn EC with the Tahoe crew, they helped out a lot. BTW, I love you avatar. Looks like a shot from a helicopter Noschoolrider, I can skid fakie on the blue/black and carve fakie on the green. My problem is carving fakie on with a square tail on softer snow. Do you have videos of you doing air-to-fakie, fakie/switch bump riding, and fakie/switch tricks that you can share online or offline? I would love to go to OES but with two young kids at home, I can barely make it to Tahoe....

I am comfortable carving fakie with high angles (it's like ice skating backward) on a twin tip. When it comes to square tail, my confidence goes to zero as I am quite worried to dig the "nose" into the snow, especially the softer snow we have out West. Any riding tips to prevent this? Thx Peter

For comparative purpose, let’s take an average cyclist, give him a $4000 carbon bike and his performances would improve instantly. That does not guaranty that he can outperform the kid next door on a Wallmart bike. If I were to buy a metal board and another carver on a no-brand freestyle carves better than me, this would be very *VERY* embarrassing. I guess buying a high performance board is a double edge Swoard....oops I meant sword.:rolleyes:

Just curious, isn't Jamar's picture show a fully carved circle? His last bit of trench was pointing downhill before his (her?) snowboard got off the edge. It is not a video but one can imagine the carving process involved. I like the smiley face in the process with his/her hand down the snow in the middle of the turn. :)

Hi Ladia Still grumpy? ;) C'mon, it is a nice day in sunshine in California!! Maybe it is the oil spill in our bay that makes you upset... As a year round windsurfer, I am very disappointed. Since I am a lousy swimmer, maybe the oil would help me float when I fall. FYI, I bought a Wild Duck in Santa Cruz for ~$100 "a couple years ago" (<--Thx Jim!!). I agree that at this price, it is X10 the price I bought the VAS from you....

Obviously, this is a copy/paste of the Swoard. They did not even bother changning the very similar name located near the tail. I wonder how our community would react if a small company copy/paste the TD2 in all shape and format and rename it DT2...

dshak, I also weight 130 and I own a Swoard 161M and a Wild Duck. It's my 2 cents but with your weight, you can EC on the WD. I tried it on the steepest slope here in Kirkwood, CA and it worked great. It has a smaller sidecut than the Swoard so you can't press on the gas to the max during a turn but that's a small detail. Compared to the Swoard, it is like a riding steel bike vs. a full carbon bike so it feels a less precise. Hope this helps. Peter

I cut/paste a short discussion from another thread here in case others can help me understand more on board and equipment design. Basically I have questions on the meaning of “damp” or “stability”. From my windsurfing background, I can (humbly) assert that a heavy epoxy board is “stable” and even “damp” in windy and heavy chops which is a comfy ride. On the other hand, a full carbon super light board would be too “unstable” and too "lively" but an expert (not me) would love it. Here are some random questions - Is it possible to draw the same conclusions to carving boards? - Since I am not an expert, is “lively” actually a bad thing in the carving world or is “damp” recommended? - Is heavier equipment recommended for a light weight person to make the ride more “stable”? - Due to my 130 lbs, am I equipment-weight sensitive? - If the answer is “yes”, then should the board/bindings/boots manufacturers design lighter equipment to meet smaller rider needs? (This means better equipment for women to pick up this sport ). Michelle, what is the feedback you had from other female riders on equipment? Too stiff? Too heavy? improvement suggestions from female riders? - Back to my windsurfing background....It took some 30 years for the industry to focus on lighter equipment for women and children. I would like to question whether the current equipment is properly designed for lighter riders. It's always possible to customize a board but how about bindings and boots? Thanks beforehand for your replies Pow Pow, I agree that snowboards have flex while windsurf don't even though they have rocker that would simulate a flex especially during a turn.D-Sub

I do not want to hijack this thread into an equipment discussion but I have questions on the meaning of “damp” or “stability”. From my windsurfing background, I can (humbly) assert that a heavy epoxy board is “stable” and even “damp” in windy and heavy chops which is a comfy ride. On the other hand, a full carbon super light board would be too “unstable” and too "lively" but an expert (not me :o ) would love it. Here are the questions - Is it possible to draw the same conclusions to carving boards? - Since I am not an expert, is “lively” actually a bad thing in the carving world or is “damp” recommended? - Is heavier equipment recommended for a light weight person to make the ride more “stable”? - Due to my 130 lbs, am I equipment-weight sensitive? - If the answer is “yes”, then should the board/bindings/boots manufacturers design lighter equipment to meet smaller rider needs? (This means better equipment for women to pick up this sport ).

Vahur, Thanks for the nice link for ECS07. Also thanks for providing the answer to DrZone question. We don't have the luxury of having 170 carvers emulating EC at our local hill so your feedback helped a lot. Wait, we are getting OT here.... ;)

When I first started HB, I was surrounded by ~ 10 other carvers and that was a very frustrating experience. I was swamped with feedback and each carver was breathing down my neck to make sure that I followed THEIR tips. Bottom line: avoid the big carving group and stick with one good carver. But that's my 2 cents.

Ah well, Rob Starr kindly reminded me that the photographer behind this picture is not Hiroshi (even though he always generously offers his time to take picture/film other carvers) but it was Larry Chen from lchenphto.com. Larry is a freelance photographer from Seattle and we met Larry at Kirkwood two years ago. Larry was riding up the lift and was so impressed with Rob Starr carving skills that he asked to tag along for a few hours to take pictures of the group in action. Next time, I will carve with a grin like Jim and hopefully I'll make it to the Huyndai Pony Catalog ;)

The picture was taken by Hiroshi from Tahoecarvers.

It's uncle Jim from Santa Cruz !!!! Go Jim Go !!!!! You are my hero !!!!