Mike T

Good news! In for the whole thing, assuming there's any snow left by then (Or, perhaps it'll dump and we'll all ride powder! If that happens, I'll be rockin' the softies on my Prior Fissile)

I may only be riding on Sunday... will let you guys know as soon as I know...

I certainly wouldn't complain about the snow being firm enough to last the day!

Not laughing... wore through my Burton AK's today. Left hip has road rash.

Bob!!!! He rides an alpine board every now and then. Watching him manage the lines @Sunshine during the holidays was a hoot. Whoever has been grooming Olympian over the past week should be fired, it's been AWFUL!

Angie, Jim, SBS, other locals... how's the coverage?

Got some surprisingly good turns in on Beverly Hills (1st 5 runs) and then Kangaroo today. Need to rest my legs tomorrow... otherwise I'd say let's meet up

Check that the F2 Carve RS will work with your boot size. My wife used a size 22 Raichle boot before she became a full-time softbooter, and had issues with the Carve RS standards. She liked the Race Titanium standards just fine and had no problem with them accommodating her small boots.

PRAY FOR SNOW!!!! Today wasn't bad for carving as long as you're OK with very firm snow and either keep your hands off the snow or layer your gloves. Leeway was smoothy and hard but not really icy all day. Thunderbird was cartable all day too, although you had to deal with a little bit of frozen granular. Olympian and DSQ were worthless for carving as they were sugar over ice from the beginning and you didn't know if your next turn was going to be in 5" of frozen granular or over a sheet of blue ice with groomer treads imprinted. Beverly Hills was firm packed frozen granular, but groomed WIDE. The kind of snow where you pick up speed really fast and then sometimes it gives out underneath you when you are fully committed. Also the kind of snow where if you put your hands down they get hot really quick even through two pairs of gloves. In other words don't come expecting hero roomies until they get some new snow. The best you'll find is smooth, not-quite-icy. The best runs are likely to happen after 10:30 or 11 after the rough edges on the groomers have been skied off. Outback has thin cover... especially on lower Kangaroo.

When comparing these boards, make sure to compare apples to apples! If you rode an NSR with no plate (or, say with a Donek AF plate or Vist plate) and a Kessler with a Hangl plate, the difference is going to be huge and the plate will make up most of that difference. I've ridden a couple of Kesslers with Hangl plates and man were they "locked in" and I've ridden one without a plate and I could skid it around trivially. All square-tailed GS's, 180 and 185. FWIW I have no problem skidding my NSR 183 with the Coiler Magic Carpet plate around at will... in fact it skids around easier than pretty much any other alpine board I've owned. It's camber profile is in fact designed to allow it. I had a 185 that was one of the first dozen or so NSRs made... that one didn't transition from skid to carve and back as easily as my newer 183 but I could certainly skid and slarve it at will. I'm of the opinion that the square tail vs round tail makes almost no difference when riding forward on groomed, at least on boards where the effective edge ends before you get to the tail. I've yet to see a square-tailed Coiler race deck where the effective edge went to the tail. If memory serves the older EX decks had edge length go to the tail maybe? IMHO the difference is aesthetic and psychological only, unless you asked Bruce for something unusual when ordering. In any case the newer NSR's with V-Cam (Variable camber... a tailored camber that higher in the middle but flattens partway out before it decambers at the ends) are really great for edge grip when you want it and skidability when you want skid ability. My 183 has a 170 effective edge but but if you run it flat on its base on firm snow there is noticeably less than 170cm of base on snow due to the camber profile, hence the skid-friendliness. I never notice it when carving... even weighted down with a plate it makes quick, nimble, solid edge changes and the entire edge feels engaged from the get-go. No idea if Kessler is doing anything similar...

Conditions are a changin' with the warm temps coming. Snow was wet packed today. Hoping for full-on corm the next 4 days... soft boots will likely see significant action up on Summit

Michelle, what was the name of that place you recommended to me for dinner last year? Bruce, OhD and I went and it was awesome.

Have some more Best Days Ever!

In addition to what Corey said... the NSR sidecut is somewhat turnier than the typical Kessler sidecut, especially in the tail end... it doesn't shoot you as straight and fast as a Kessler in a similar size would when you get your weight back. Tail isn't quite as stiff on the NSR either from what I recall from a NSR vs Kessler test a few years ago. Dunno if Kessler has changed their flex profile over the past say 3 years. The NSR has evolved, subtly.

Headed up tomorrow with my other half, hopefully it keeps snowing... feeling done with frozen granular.

I keep a pretty big bubble... I am willing to wait several minutes for a gap if I need to. Even on weekends it's usually not necessary at Bachelor save for a few runs (Carnival, Kangaroo, Leeway, Olympian). The ugly orange Charlie Brown jacket seems to help, everyone averts their eyes from it. I used to get hit once a month in a black jacket and have never been hit (knocks on wood) in 3+ seasons in the ugly orange.

+1 on location being very, very useful. Is there a way to make the popup that appears when you hover over a user's name, include that info?

OK, twist my arm... I'm in M-F.

The wind chill got to me after 3.5 hours... anyway the wind was practically blowing me back uphill at times. looking forward to more normal temps.

Bring all-mountain gear- It's been 12 years since I've been there, but I remember spending way more time off-piste than on even though it hadn't snowed in a week.

Hey Jim - I asked the same question about a year and a half ago. YYZCanuck told me that the 131 would be better for my low-volume feet. I'm using a size 26 131 in a size 25 Track 700 shell and my low-volume feet couldn't be happier, I wish my soft boots were as comfortable. If you have higher volume feet or prefer a denser liner the 141 might be better for you.

That Fin's old one? Yeah, you might win :D

Mid - Feb is good for me as well.

I gave mine a lazy hot wax to keep it from looking dull, will see what it looks like when I take it out of summer hibernation. FWIW it is a very DAMP board...

You're gonna love that thing. I have a 184 20.5 or 21 wide version (can't recall which) and it's a blast.