AK in PA

My wife and son took their first snowboard lesson a couple of weekends ago. I watched them learn to skate and get used to the feel of their boards for a while with their instructor before going to catch some runs of my own. When I returned to check on them, they were working on taking short, on-edge runs down a gentle hill. My jaw dropped though, when their instructor executed a perfect toilet squat and said, "OK, remember. Sit in the chair." to describe the proper riding form. My first lesson was probably 18 years ago and I've never instructed, but I distinctly remember being taught to rotate my waist and shoulders towards the front of the board, on Lesson 1. I'm sure alot has changed in 18 years, but "sit in the chair"? How in God's green earth can I eventually get them carving if they think they're to sit in a chair, dead 90* to the board? Is this the standard for what is being taught? Is the current idea to teach baby steps from the simplest of form, and then to try to erase that when more complex form is taught later?

Do you have an inner elastic snow cuff in your pant legs? And if so, do you keep it pulled down over the outside of your boot or tucked inside? I keep it on the outside and have never had snow get into my boots.

I've done that unitentionally once or twice, when I've forgotten to snap them in from walk mode. If your heel edge washed out, I think it's a fair bet they'd snap off.

I'm heading to Steamboat Springs in couple of weeks. I've never snowboarded off the east coast, much less ridden genuine powder. For economy's sake, I'd like to stick with packing alpine gear, and leave my seldom used softy setup home. Would it be a mistake to only take a GS board and hard boots out? Do alpine boards float enough in the event of good powder?

Email sent.

I switched something-teen years ago. I don't recall the switch being too difficult. Things will probably feel a little teetery at first, but after a few runs, you'll probably get onto it pretty quickly. Since you may be timid on that first run, you may fall flat on your butt the first time you try to carve if you don't have enough speed. I'm sure you'll notice how much more power your have and will then probably start seeing just how hard you can push it without the edges washing out. When you rail that first full-tilt-boogie carve, you're eyes will light up, and the words, "HOLY (your mind's unconscious choice)!!!" will erupt from your lips. :D I remember being in absolute awe over how unbelievable my first PJ setup with Burton plates and old Blax boots performed. Funny, the same thing and exclamation happened when I finally upgraded to UPZs, TD2s, and an Oxy Proton.

On the screaming kids, I've always empathy for the parents. If you think you had it rough listening to crying from 5 rows back, take a look at mom or pop when the plane unloads, and I guarantee you'll see a sweating, shaking, wreck of a human being, who for the last 4 hours has tried desperately to ease and quiet their little one; and who in the peak of their misery just might have swallowed the business end of a shotgun if so offered.

Haha, that's what I get for googling goggles just before posting! :lol:

Anyone think their googles offer good peripheral vision? Please post, as my neck is growing weary of craning to see what I might be cutting in front of.

My sole carving board is a 178 Oxygen Proton, which I'm thrilled with. When conditions are right and I can open it up, it's fantastic. But the optimum phrase is, "when conditions are right". At our small local PA hills, runs are often narrow, crowd packed, terribly choppy, or made of glace ice. The stiff 178, with it's 14m sidecut at these times can make carving more like running the guantlet than making smile plastered arcs. That was glaring obvious this weekend at Bear Creek, where thin, wet snow conditions reduced some runs to 30' widths, with little passing room around sliding bodies. Laying it over as hard as I could, I was in serious hurt of needing more real estate for much of the day. Despite my longing for a big gun around 185 or 190 (I can feel the speed and can only imagine what such a board would do in Steamboat when I go there in a few weeks), I've been slowly coming to accept that something shorter, softer (hack, gag), and with a smaller sidecut would actually serve me better. With my thoughts on daily function vs. rare moments of mind blowing performance, I'm wondering if something along the lines of an Axcess or 4WD might be best with the bumps and chops. A tighter sidecut might help keep speed in check on narrow ice and steeper stuff, too. I just don't want to get in a situation where I get a board that's great in crud, chop, crowds, narrows, and ice, but then can't do what I really love as well when I've got nice, wide groomers. How well do these boards carve, especially at speed? Are they really easier to manage in crud? Ice? Are they more of a detuned race board or more a freeride board with carving capability? Would a downsized race board be better? Or would you just stick with the Proton? (which I'm not about to give up) Just looking at expanding a 1-stick quiver. :)

I have wide, flat feet and have a terrible time finding any footwear that fit my boxy toes. Based on suggestions here, I also narrowed my search down to Heads and UPZ's, ultimately buying the UPZ's. I couldn't be happier with them. I did replace the stock footbed with a pair of "green" Superfeet, which are more supportive than the stock footbeds, but actually have too high of an arch to suit me. Keep that in mind, as those green Superfeet liners may work very well for you in your new Head boots. (On the cheap, too.)

Pennsylvania's archery season started a week ago. I've been out both saturdays and every morning before work, but have been seeing very little. It's been very hot and muggy, which seems to have the deer on a fairly nocturnal schedule. The gear I made for this season includes a 62# osage selfbow and 650 grain ash arrows with self-nocks, snakeskin cresting, and trade points hafted to the front of the shafts. I also made some 905 grain hickory arrows that I'm reserving for my close quarters spots.

Man, I haven't ridden while listening to music since the mid-90's with my Walkman...which I still have, somewhere. Every year, I'd make a new "Grateful Shred" tape, as I named them. Lord, Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream", Metallica's "Fight Fire with Fire", and 2 Live Crew's "C'mon Babe" were favorites back then. I used to get some wild looks at the top of the hill when people standing near by could hear the 2 Live Crew lyrics blaring in my headphones. (I'd just grin.) :D I wanted anything with a fast, hard beat to charge me up, drown out the sound of my edges chattering on ice, and rip out fear. Worked great and for a long time, I never rode without it. Anymore, I'm a Dave Matthews Band junkie. If I'd get an ipod and do it again, I'm sure I'd load "Don't Drink The Water", "Crush", "JTR", "Cornbread", "Watchtower", and "Tripping Billies", at a minimum. Of course, when I listen to DMB, I'm often trying to play my violin along with Boyd, which is ugly, if not just wrong. Come to think of it, I'm a little nervous that if I actually listened to DMB while carving, I might wax my board with rosin and end up wrapped around a tree, skewered with maple and spruce shards, with a bow jammed in my @ss and horsehair flowing out my nose, wailing "Crash Into Me" in a shock induced stupor...

A 178 Proton is my only ride. I bought it used to replace my 6.3 PJ and Asym Air. Blows both of those boards away. On good days in PA, I LMAO alternately bouncing my butt cheeks and right arm pit off the snow wondering, "How is this possible?!" Damn thing can be hooky though. I've come within inches of my life trying to get the thing to release while careening at trees at 40+ mph. The mental image goes something like this; "Shi*, SHi*, SHI*!!! Crackle, crackle, crackle, crud, crud, crud!!! Holy CHRIST that was close!!!" :lol: If I rode enough to justify a new Donek or Coiler, I might try it. Goin' to Colorodo this winter, so we'll see.... Cost vs. performance wise for the average Joe riding a handful of days a year, it's tough to beat. That Proton is a carving BEAST!

When the slopes are nicely groomed, I love the harder blues and blacks. Roundtop's Susquehanna, with it's turns and pitch changes is a favorite. The speed and G's feel incredible. But once they get choppy, I have too rough a time carving across the fall line as that path takes you across the peaks and valleys. (I've seen guys at Roundtop carving choppy steeps very well though.) My biggest problem with riding the faster slopes, though, is that my thighs get burned out quickly. (Unfortunately, I don't ride that much.) And thigh fatigue turns my riding to crap. I was at Roundtop on Sunday and spent most of it carving Fife & Drum, even though Susquehanna was in great shape and Minuteman was just moderately choppy. That little hill can still be carved like mad, but didn't wear my legs out like Susquehanna was starting to. Glad to hear there are more hardbooters at Roundtop. The constant barrage of questions in the lift line, from skiiers and snowboarders alike, had me starting to wonder if alpine had faded from existance. I was astonished at how many people said they had never seen anything like that. (Oxygen GS board with TD2s and UPZs.) I remember 13 or 14 years ago, there were always a good number of hardbooters carving the hill.

I build one-piece, self backed wooden hunting bows, from tree selection and cutting, to stave seasoning, to layout and tillering, to finished bow. Of course, I love to bowhunt as well. I just finished making my hunting arrows for this year (650 grain ash arrows). Hopefully, at least one will be stained crimson red before long. I'm getting excited with the season opener just two weeks away! An osage bow with horn nocks, made this summer... A snakeskin backed bow... Last year, 200 yard stalk, 20 yard shot...

An Oxygen Proton 178 (14M sidecut) is the only race board I own, and pretty much all I ride. (Come to think of it, I didn't ride my freeride board at all last year.) I ride small, crowded Pennsylvania hills; Roundtop mostly, with the occassional Poconos jaunts. The 178 works great on the blue and black runs, and even on bumps and steeps. It only becomes difficult to manage on a handful of skinny runs that don't deserve a name (but it would be hard to avoid sliding your edges even on a slalom board), and on most green hills where I just can't get enough speed to make the board work. Regardless of what board I ride, the crowds are often heavy enough that I have to wait at the top of the hill until the bodies are scattered thin enough that I can avoid the hords and pick a line through the rest. I'd "like" a shorter board with a tighter sidecut for ice, and a longer board for faster runs on light days, but the 178 suits me as a good all-around board. Now it these resorts would just quick turning perfectly good groomers into friggin halfpipes and terrain parks!

I wanted to upgrade from old, oversized Blax boots last year. I have wide, box ended feet and ALWAYS have trouble finding footwear that fits. I narrowed my search to Head and UPZ, and ultimately bought the UPZ. I really like the boots...great fit for wide feet. The only thing I did with them was to have a shop heat mold the stock liner and replace was the floppy stock footbed with $30 replacements. (Replacements were a good investment, but the arches on the ones I got are too high.) The 26M's fit perfectly at first (very snug, with no pinch points), but the stock liners packed out slightly after a dozen days and I had a little heel lift in my back foot by the end of the season. I can't wear my super-thin women's nylon-type socks any more, but I still do well in the standard thin ones. I'm reluctantly "considering" Thermo liners to regain fit and performance. The shells are great; fairly stiff which is what I like. The 5-buckles are a great feature, too, though it seems they could be beefier when you compare them to what is used on ski boots. (No problems yet though, and they are way better that what I've seen on other snowboard boots.) I can feel the spring flex working well. The factory settings seemed to suit me, so I haven't messed with them. Huge improvement over what I had, and I'm very happy with them. (I'm 5' 6 1/2", 175-180#, and ride aggressively on a 178 Oxygen Proton with TD2 step-ins on eastern slopes.)

I grew up shooting rifles...lived for it as a kid. Shot in the NRA Junior rifle program, smallbore silhouette, DCM service rifle matches, etc. Never really got into the trap/skeet/sporting clays, or handgun scenes. I don't shoot firearms too much anymore, with the exception of my flintlock longrifle. Blackpowder and patched round balls still equals enjoyment. My true love really lies in archery. I do virtually all of my shooting and hunting with selfbacked wooden bows of my own making.

I came off of riding old Burton clip-in's and into new Bomber TD step-in's this season. What a world of difference! The heel bails and overall construction is so much beefier than my old Burton's, And my legs no longer flop around in the step-ins. Switching to the step-in's felt almost like when I first switched from softboots to hardboots. Solid. I also like how much easier and faster it is to get into and out of the binding. (I keep my pant cuff pulled up a little on my back foot so I can grab the cable easily.) Once I get around to getting new pants, I plan to cut and seam a small slot in the leg for the cable, so I can keep the pant leg pulled down. One thing I like about the Bomber step-ins, is that there is a small bevel cut in above each hole. That makes it easy to glance down after stepping in to make sure the pin is engaged.

You know, I started doing this by accident this year. I came off of my old Burton PJ and oversized boots setup to a much newer Oxygen GS board with TD2s and good fitting boots. Needless to say, the Oxygen rides just a little bit...differently. :) When switching to toeside during the first 2-3 days out on the new setup, I'd often inadvertantly end up throwing my body down across the fall line well ahead of my board. Many times, I'd slam into the snow so hard it hurt (almost like catching an edge), but a split second later the board would carve tightly around and I'd be back on my feet and diving for the heelside. I'd get a really weird weightless sensation, sometimes punctuated by getting the snot knocked out of me. The flow would be be pretty much seamless, unlike a wipeout with lagged recovery. The turning radius is always pretty tight when this happens. I had this pegged for some sort of "false" Eurocarve that was born from overly aggressive riding/premature weight shift. Maybe not?

Anyone remember what the toe/heel sidecut radii were on the early '90's PJ's? I'm curious so I can compare the difference between my old PJ and new GS board.

I bought a pair for my new UPZ boots to protect the soles from treks across the parking lot, but they keep falling off. The fit just isn't there for board boots. Know of any brands specifically made for hardboots?

Sounds good, thanks guys. I've been carving up ice for over a decade on the PJ, (and beyond that on freeride boards) but I can only push the thing so far. Riding on mixed conditions (half decent snow with icy spots) is a bear. If I'm in the middle of slamming a hard carve on good snow and don't ease up for the ice, the ride gets pretty wild. Given the worn out nature of my stuff and the advancements in carving equipment design, I finally conceded that it was time for an upgrade. :) I was originally interested in a Donek or Coiler, but springing for a "brand new" board on top of new boots and bindings would have been too much at once. Depending on what I think of the Oxygen, I may or may not go for a new board next year. Sounds like Madd makes something worthy of consideration, too. For now, I'm really excited to have something I can lay over a little more without the edge flying out or rattling my teeth. Back to what "makes" a good board/binding/boots for the firm stuff.....length, radius, boot/binding stiffness, etc..?

Guess I should add, what physical characteristics "make" a board/binging/boots most suited for hard conditions? Stiffness, flex pattern, sidecut?