Steve Prokopiw

I am embarassed to say I can't remember the brands of any of this stuff but my board for four years has been this 43" with 105mm treaded wheels,180mm trucks with 1" risers.The grip tape is what I'm most proud of as I cut it out free hand with an exacto knife out of one roll of tape with no breaks in it. I then sprayed a light clear coat over it and it has lasted very well. This board rides the chip sealed roads around here super smoothly and rolls forever on the bike path. Not the kind of speedster lots of you guys have but suits me very well as I can get pretty inclined and slide if I need to.

I'm always saying how this or that are my favorite things about this site but detailed reviews/reports like this are great and very interesting.Although I know what I will be on next year ,reviews like this help me to decide what I would try at a demo session.Alot like the music reviews I read when deciding what to listen to before I buy.Thanks very much! p.s. sounds like they make the most of snowboard life over there!

If they remove the park at Silver it would actually open up the best long(relative term) run on the backside.That said, superpipes are actually fun to carve in(depending on upkeep and conditions) and if jumps were made to launch out instead of up serious injuries would not happen nearly as much.The jumps at Silver are made by skiers for skiers even though 75% of the users are on boards.Although they pale in comparison to big mountain jumps, they are incredibly hard to clear to a smooth landing without overshooting.I feel safer and more confident on the rails which seems like a cruel irony.As at many mountains the phrase "trauma park" is just what the terrain park is called these days as if it is acceptable. Expecting raging hormonal teens and agro twentysomethings to stay off just because it would be more prudent is unrealistic.They need to really pay design attention to setting up the average,not so great rider for success rather than for catastrophe,because the great riders can still make the most of it regardless..

Let me get this straight...A person who has already lived three or four times as long, is supposed to be saved by someone who has their whole life in front of them.Young people who sign up for the armed forces do it of their own accord and are to be commended for it, but to call non-military young people cowards for not jumping up to bar the door,when there is no knowledge of what must have been going on in their heads, is jingoist crap and completely assenine.The "old' gentleman did the right thing.

This is a similar "sue for our own screwups" scenario as the lawsuit against Derby Cycle ,a former distributor of Raleigh bikes back in the early 90s. The successful suit for 7,000,000.00 was because the 16 year old who was hit by a car at night did not know he should use a light to ride at night.The bike had all government required reflectors ,but the manual included with the bike did not say that a light should be used at night and so the distributor and the bike shop, not the government that made the regulations to which the bike shop adhered,got their pants sued right off.

Being comfortable in the aero position does not mean you are doing anything wrong.In fact evolving gradually into a progressively more aero position on your own with a little guidance can be as effective and even more so than having someone else try to imprint you with their philosophy on fit. If you are entry level particularly, being comfortable in the meantime will make you faster.I know several riders and coach a couple that put out considerably more power in more upright positions.As for Trek being number one; if it was all about stage wins in grand tours and other races on the pro tour, that wouln't be the case. Cervelo would have them beat with the numbers of races actually won on their bikes.Some people just want a new bike and as a bike shop owner it surprises me that someone who obviously wants a new bike would be told to keep the creaky one they've got.Especially in a forum based out of a manufacturer/retail site.

Cool! Another all mountain board ridin,jump takin, cliff dropper,joins the hardbootin fray!Awesome!

Sounds awesome.Never been up there yet but that ride will be worth it just for the fear factor.

We all pay high taxes on both sides of the border but it seems healthcare is a good thing to pay for with them.As the powers that be try to make the middle class pay for everything to fill a few pockets in big industry with all of the money things will get worse up there if the conservitives try to follow the Bush model.The the upper middle and up will afford it like they always do and everyone else will get screwed.Hope the voters keep it from happening up there because it will be too expensive for those just making it income wise.The US model does not work.edit;nearly as well as the uppers would have us think.

I have a matched set of big lumps from broken collarbones on both sides.For the second I was on a bike ten years ago(the procedure you speak of was being performed in my area at the time)and had only insurance with a high deductible so I got to do the sling thing.The main bills were the ambulance and emergency rooms which were hilariously expensive,all to tell me have fun with the sling and some good drugs.My wife is from Toronto and misses socialized health care.Just curious if your surgery was covered by that or if you had to pay alot.I can't imagine what it would cost down here,as it would most likely be considered elective by my current health insurance which has doubled in two years .The right to pay so much for it is considered a "benefit" by the company my wife works for.We have raised the deductable and are looking elsewhere now for coverage. Even many middle class down here don't have health insurance.

As the parent of two young children these things put a dagger through my heart.I can't imagine what the parents(at any age we are always our parents kids)of these college kids must be going through and for my kids' sake I hope I never will. My prayers are with them.

Funny you should mention that Brian; because I came home and experimented with my stance on the am board I reluctantly had to ride after all the fun on the borrowed boards at OES.The revelation I had riding those boards with you guys is that the chronic pain my right knee that had been having for weeks before OES went away on the Identity and the Coiler.It turned out that for all the fun alot of underhang toeside had been for the past few years (deeper toeside trenches mainly),my knees were now telling me I can't continue to ride that way now as it puts so much strain on the lateral side of my right(rear)knee(meniscus is my guess based on a similar injury to the other knee years ago).Riding your narrow boards with my toes much closer to the edge was the cure even more than the increased angles which I also increased on my am board when I got home.So, on my 25.0 waist am board I cranked the angles to 50 front and back and moved the back binding across to the toe edge more and eureka; cured! Still riding in the park and spinning on the tail,just no more pain.Still can't wait to get that Coiler though!

It's interesting how widely varied the stance preferences are here.I personally have gone all the way from about 16&1/2" in 1992 to 21&5/8" now.I prefer this on both all mountain and carving boards as I like the feeling of being able to 'manhandle' the board with alot of flexion both torsional and longitudinal.I feel like the board handles me with a narrow stance so I have gone progressively wider even as my stance angles have begun to increase back toward the numbers I used to run in the old days.My bindings are 3 degrees canted front and rear with no toe or heel lift and at 50 degrees front and rear for all mountain(including park riding)and 60 when the emphasis is on carving with a narrower board. I like to blend freestyle oriented movements with carving so that's what works for me.

Well, the second to last Saturday(operations on Sat. only now) of the season was surprisingly good with corn and nice slush that got faster after the clouds gathered.The kind of stuff made for an allmountain board.The park was fun and apparently I was the only snowboarder doing the whole forty foot rail.Not like many were there to do it but pretty cool feeling to get get kudos from the local teen-bonkers at 42yo and on hardboots.My backside threes in the bumps and the laidout toeside carves on the quarter pipe elicited similar reactions and I credit the hero snow with most of it. Also tried the beer special sent over by Coeur d'Alene Brewery.A Vanilla Stout that went down oh so easy!This is my new favorite brew.WHO NEEDS FOOD?! Word is we're getting a superpipe next season and better attention to grooming(guess I wasn't the only one bitching) and a solution for the ailing chair 4...Hope it all comes true. They are committed to opening one more Saturday on the 21st if snow holds up and then there is the Leadman on the 28th (board/ski,bike/run)

One of my favorite things to read about here is when people first experience the real exhileration of carving.As an instructor these accounts bring to mind many memories of seeing that in person.Great stuff!

I read bomber at least as much for the 'characters' as for real info, but the bar analogy makes sense.I know nothing about this situation other than when I've seen willy's name on a post I've known it was going to be interesting and or funny.He doesn't know me nor do I know him, but I hope he'll be back.

I like to put the smelliest substance (Misty's ****e)on earth in the trash can of a neighbor whose yard is usually a trash heap.Especially if it is hot out and several days before trash day.I am otherwise couteous to my neighbors and other bike path users by tossing it in one of the poop cans along the path.

I had the great pleasure of meeting and working with Bob at Silver Mountain on a couple of occasions while I was conducting regional riding improvement clinics for board patrolers. We hit it off from the first minute as we shared a passion for all things bike and board. It should be noted that Bob was a Hardbooter and was very interested in the advantages that the boots and bindings might provide patrolers.We were going to do alot of work togeather until cancer infiltrated his life.He was the most knowledgeble and friendliest trainer I ever worked with.I am extremely saddened to hear of his passing.Snowsports,biking,patroling and anyone who knew him have lost a great friend.

Interested in May dates.Not ready for it to end as this was the first winter taken off teaching full time since 88/89.Did first two bike races of the season this weekend and all I thought about was how our new Scott team bikes CARVE tight turns really well.

My wife and I used to think being instructors in a busy skischool was the best birth control. Then after about eight years all the little stuff didn't bother us anymore. We still didn't know about bringing a kid or two into this screwed up world...well, I may not be a better man for it but the world is now a better place for the fact that my two incredible boys are in it.

I'm not really what you'd call a dog nut, but our dog, Misty ,is a nut and our oldest ,Evan, is nuts about his stuffed dog,Carlo, who he named by himself when he was one year old.Misty's the one licking herself.

Mike, thanks for posting the info.Doing my darndest to get down there before it ends and to bring the $ for the coiler.Steve

That board would look good in a garden surrounded by lots of shrubbery!Or in my garage next to the three Lacroix asyms (three different flexes) I have from that same year or maybe 92.

Seems like a series of 'Farside' type greeting cards based on these posts would be in order. I know I would be giving them to everyone on my list.Funny as hell.

I'm a pretty average 5'9& 1/2" and the one expression session I've been to so far(OES)I sometimes felt like a chijuajua amongst great danes.It didn't help that I showed up with a 161 am board and with a few exceptions most had lenghths of 180 or more.Of course Doug's 252 brought up the average all by itself.