Steve Prokopiw

That was awesome!

Great riding!Great video!

Our mountain had Nastar a few seasons ago but got rid of it because operating it did not turn a profit on it's own.The only resort in the region with Nastar now is Schweitzer,but Nastar only operates on weekends,so pretty expensive to do with lift tickets and such.I loved having a Nastar course to practice on back then,even though it was always skier gates.It enhances gliding skills to practice on the typically shallow grades that Nastar courses are on.I posted in the top 2 or 3 handicaps in the country several times the year Silver had Nastar. The two USASA races I did this season were my first ever with snowboard gates,though shortly before I moved away from Vail/Beaver Creek they started having a Nastar course with snowboard gates, but I only did a few runs before moving up here.Relative to other boarders I do pretty well with skier gates because that's 98% of the practice I ever had in skis school and beer league races.

Had more great fun getting to know the best performing board/plate/binding combo I have ever ridden the other day at Silver Mountain. I'm feeling pretty good about that,since I helped design the THIRST X8 board(with use of a plate in mind),modified the 5mm Bomber Plate for more torsional compliance,and lowered the stack height of the Sidewinders by about 1/2 inch.(I had previously written that I reduced stack height by 3/8",but it turned out to be 1/2").The video starts off with the camera lense centered,then at about 15 seconds in,I used the turnable lense to switch horizons to match toe and heel turns. I used this setup last Sunday to get the fastest combined time in GS#1(2 runs) and 2nd in GS#2 at LoupLoup ski area in Washington.It was a small event and anyone with real experience would kick my butt ,but I am still pleased with the result,especially since the two races I did this year were the only times I rode around any gates :-) I did just the one-day membership so my result won't show in the rankings but I am looking forward to racing more next season. I wish there was more racing left this season as I am just getting used to the Boiler Plate and feel like I will improve vastly by this time next year.Currently,I'm carving my toeside in the course and over thinking my heelsides and skidding/chopping out on a race course.Without those pesky gates in the way carving the heelside aggressively is no problem now as I become more acquainted with the plate. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/W_e6V7I4poo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Today was maybe the sixth day this season that I've proclaimed "The best carving day of the season!" Incredible hero conditions by the time I got on the hill for the prime riding hours of 11-1:30.Despite last week's rain (which was followed by a little snow)the snow is damn good for carving right now!

My best friend( a long time hardbooter) is visiting for the last 18 days of the season,and we're each getting the 99.00 deal !

Here is some mellow riding on the Boiler Plate I modified.It takes some getting used to and I'm a little gun-shy after tweaking my back earlier in the season but, I am pleased and thrilled with the new perspective that riding with a plate is giving me.I have also incorporated a couple of other ideas into this setup;the bindings are mounted directly to the plate without the use of the stock or BP cant discs.For the small amount of lift and cant I prefer(about 2-3 degrees of each),I merely used several layers of sub-floor matting like that used under laminate floors.I made sure to cut the different layers in shapes that would make for canting and toe and heel lift while staying put by ensuring each layer of matting is held in place by at least one of the 4x4 binding bolts.To hold it down I used modified aluminum center discs from some old Blax plate bindings.This all reduces stack height by easily 3/8" ;better lift/cant pads could be made without too much difficulty,but,so far, so very good :-) The fit of the boot in the bindings was getting slightly loose feeling so,since I can't get the toe and heel blocks any closer together,I removed the heel bails and installed a piece of bicycle inner tube over each heel bail and reinstalled them.This works fantastically well for adding a slight bit more tightness between the binding and boot.I will have to replace the inner tube periodically as it gets worn at contact points. Still another experiment that seems to have worked very well is the addition of elastomers held in place by bolts in the unused hardware mounting holes on the plate deck.Since they add about 3cm toward each end of the board I thought it would be interesting to see if this would help reduce the feeling that I was folding the board under the leverage points of the plate hardware.It works very well and added a subtle level of performance feel and confidence to the overall package. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uUmKnk-dYCU?list=UUek4XMMUITe0y_2_57visEw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

To my 5mm BoilerPlate.This had a subtle,but noticable effect on the 'pedalling' feel of the plate. I've adapted my camera mount to these bindings and to the Drift camera so I will get the first video I've taken with the lense being turned to meet the horizon of heelside and toeside turns and will post soon after today's riding.As you can see from the pic,it was a windy ride up-major tilt of the gondola:-)

I tried this setup today on greens blues and one black run and loved it!The lower stack height outweighs the minimal adaptation I am making to only slightly less cant and toe and heel lift than I had before.I was only using 3 degree cant discs with most of that 3 degrees adjusted toward lift anyway.I have about 2 degrees of cant and lift with this new setup and barely notice a difference, as another adaptation I made was to narrow my stance from 20&5/8" to 20 &1/4".That seemed to be the right compromise and I'm a happy camper!Loved the heel side but may slide everything back a cm or so as the nose feels short on toesides and I got myself in a little trouble:very nearly flipping after getting into the toeside aggressively.Overall I am pleased and the customized discs did an excellent job of keeping it all together. Rednecktech-it's part of the fun ;-)

...And in the ultimate 'dirtbag carver experiment on an almost pristine Oxygen 185 Proton,I decided to try and to low profile mount the Sidewinders -about 3/8" lower than using the Bomber cant discs.By virtue of several layers of rubber matting I managed to get about 1 1/2 to 2 degrees of toe and heel lift and cant. I'm running a 20 1/4 " stance,and used modified Blax aluminum center discs to hold it all down.Seems to do a powerful job in holding the baseplate down on the rubber matting.The slot in the plate is 9 1/2 " long and about 3/8"" wide.I went conservative and didn't cut out a whole lot.I did place the slot farther toward one end than the other. I'll find out how it works on the hill in the morning.If it all explodes in a blaze of glory well;Woohooooo!

I found the one I rode a few seasons ago to be pretty easy to ride for a race board.At your size this board should not be too hard to skid when you need to and 'slarve' for the fun of it.You could grow as a carver for quite a while before needing an upgrade. Just one rider's opinion,but I would recommend it. I wouldn't,for a new carver ,recommend the TD-1 bindings however. F2's or even Snowpro Race would be more forgiving, and easier on the board itself.

Got the plate.Thanks Ryan!

Although I agree with some of what benttech writes,I don't agree with forgetting entry level equipment or that it can't be family friendly.On the contrary,it seems much of what is being sold to the main middle-aged-guy demographic are bindings that are easy to step into,boards that are easy to ride with minimal discomfort and a cushy ride,and comfy boots.When it comes to boots,it's just like in skiing;there are models that are more friendly to the casual user and models that are geared toward high performance riders and racers.And just like with skiing,many riders are out there on boots that are way too stiff because they thought that's what they needed-or simply because they think that racing boots are going to help them become the rider they aspire to be.(But will ultimately never become since they were over matched by their own equipment.) As for family friendliness,I have said before that pandering to the youth market will get us nowhere,but youth that see it as being fun and even cool,will come to the niche on their own terms.That might mean looking the way they want to look instead of the way we want to look.It's obvious from the responses to the inquiry about new board graphics that we are a widely varied group when it comes to aesthetic sense.My own 9 year old has been bugging me to try hardboots again,mostly because he thinks what I do and the crowd reactions I get while while doing it, are cool. Even though I am a dyed in the wool hardbooter, I also think that welcoming/promoting softboot carving is a good thing.To that end I have a 16 year old client who has been taking hardboot lessons from me for several weeks on the hardboots that his grandpa,who I taught,passed on to him after having open heart surgery.While it's obvious Will wants to carve,he has been riding his crappy old softboots and low end Flows before and after each hardboot session.So,I have talked his dad and grandpa into getting him Malamutes and upper end Flows to carve in(He's a big,powerful kid).While this may seem contradictory to what I have previously said about pandering to youth,I don't see it that way.I am merely facilitating Will's longevity in carving,by helping make it about him instead of about appeasing his grandpa and dad(much like a kid does by taking piano lessons).He is now going to be less likely to give it up as he will be in equipment he prefers to be seen in,but will perform much better than his old setup.Best of both worlds. There are no actual rules to this sport,but the best way to keep a tiny following is to act like there are.

Maybe I'll see you ripping on it at 'Have a C.O.W.' at Targhee!

Of course it means you should...it's fun.I thought that was great.I watched several of Signal Snowboards' 'Every 3rd Thursday' feature that episode was part of, and especially liked the solar powered top sheet board that they were all charging their phones and gopros with.

Well,my buddy will be flying home to Texas out of Spokane on the 8th,so we would likely come down for that Thursday, Friday and Saturday (4th-6th)and drive back up here that Sunday;optimum would have been the weekend of March 29-31 for which I could pretty much guarantee our participation.I have a feeling we might make a priority to attend even if you do decide on the weekend of the 6-7th,since we last rode Targhee together in 1989 and it would be a cool bro-trip to do it again after 24 years :-)

@Two Ravens,I don't want to jynx it by being excited to do this,so I'll just say I'm 'mildly interested'.My Best friend and fellow hardbooter will be visiting up here for several weeks and we were thinking of possible road trips.

@Unicorn Poop- Board is on the way and will arrive via UPS at the end of the day on Thursday in an 80" box I whipped up with lots of duct tape and way more cardboard than was necessary.Oh'and you can keep the flannel sheet I wrapped the board in(I washed it first).Enjoy. @terekhov-I do remember that the Coiler did have that nice ride quality;probably would be redundant with a plate.The 188 THIRST I ride now seems to be begging me to put a plate on to see what I might be missing.I'll be putting a new to me Boiler Plate on it soon.

Great pic Mike T. and Riceball !

I'd like to be next in line.Thanks

plus 1 on all that you wrote Ace.Despite having skilled riders,the terrain made for an anti-climatic video. Besides,the way you ride,I have no doubt that on a real carving run you'd be in contention for the top spot.

Keep in mind Beard, that what Jack said is true of the majority of hardbooters. You are definitely likely to get more positive responses on a site that has a younger crowd.

Hey Beard,as an art lover,I think it's all good.As much as we wonder what it would take to get young people into the sport,I can only imagine what comments I would get from the jibber crowd if my 210 was covered in Zombies.

Now that I'd like to see! Make sure you get video,lol. Thanks for the invite.I'm just the kind of lifetime snowboard bum that'll take you up on it.

Excellent snow at Silver lately!.Even when it's been raining in the valley it has been snowing on the mountain.Today it was snow all the way to the valley and took us right back to what February should be.The boys and I may even get the igloo finished!