neil sunday

For those of you who have not seen racing at the World Cup Level, you must try to get out and see these guys... Your perception of fast riding will be changed forever. I was fortunate enough to attend the race both times it has been at Lake Placid, and will be there again in March!

I agree with bob on the delam issue... you are taking a chance by needing to put another 24 holes into the board. i did it with my donek and raced this past season with no trouble. I also worked in a ski/snowbaord shop for about 7 years. i would advise not riding the hangl plate if you need to switch it to regular footed from a goofy footed stance- i think it's a big risk. the kesslerr probably doesnt have a 4X4 insert pack though, correct? i would recommend heli-coils or the equivalent if you are an aggressive rider. i got 60 days out of my set up and i weigh in at 200 pounds. (the system still has no visual signs of failure)... good luck.

phil- i couldnt agree with you more on the teaching college snowboarding issue... except... i think it's for old pervs (not excluding myself) that want to teach college cuties to ride, compared to the typical 14 year old punk kids we usually get to teach/coach! :) have a good holiday weekend.

KNT stands for Kessler Nose Technology which is the way Hans Kessler designs the nose of the board to reduce vibration.. the whole hangle plate issue i feel is a race related product only.. you really dont need the hangl plate if you are out free carving as, i would hit the lodge before i free rode in conditions that the hangl plate excels in--- icy, rutted up race courses, that are common in todays races.. for free riding i would consider the s flex but not the hangl plate. the advantage to riding a lifted system are there for free riding, but as far as dampening, just stick to early morning grooomers and dont worry about it.

Right on Trappy! Just like you did at Northstar on the way to victory!!! Good racing my man. good racing!

a new generation kessler with the KNT technology and hangl plate weighs in at 20.5 pounds. it's like driving a cadillac through a racecourse.

there's a reason that guys are not running td's in GS courses... you may want to try a binding with a little flex and give if you are racing.

i agree w/ boardy.. it will be a lonely year on the world cup if your not on a kessler for PGS AND PSL.... It's just a matter of time before bozzetto realizes he could win again if he switched to kessler....

2 feet is 24 inches...

Iwould not recommend the suspension system unless you are absolutely looking for performance in the race course. you will not feel like the system has changed your riding completely. it does change, but not $600 worth in my mind... i would look for a urethane dampening pad under the bindings (about 3 times as thick as the bomber suspension kit)... i'm making some for the female riders and lighter kids on our race team next season... the weight of the hangl plate simply makes it uncomfortable for all day riding sessions.

no they do not ride the rear foot flat. it has an awesome amount of heel lift. for GS they ride the front foot flat though... no canting on either foot when i saw their setups.. but how knows by now.... they are probably onto the next thing, as they hangl plate alone has changed about 5 times that i can tell in the last two years....

sweet jesus!

should anyone want detailed information on mouting the Hangl plate, email me at neilsunday@aol.com i would not recommend trying this unless you are expert at mounting skiis and snowboards... you can easily mount them crooked, and ruin the system. it took me 8 full hours to set my first pair up. bordy- the anti friction plate is on bob's pictures.. it's just been cut very short, instead of running from toe to heel, etc.. i wonder if it's to alloe the flex of the board a little more evenly... i noticed when we pulled one of these anti-friction plates off a board how stiff they actually were.. the thick plate is not titanal- it's aluminum. many riders are not drilling and tapping the threads improperly if they are pulling out of it. the usasa nationals rider you are speaking of (sam bashore) had TD2 toe and heel bails that are simply too loose. he has to ride them that way to get the proper forward flex in the binding.... as the day progressivly got warmer, the metal expanded, making them even looser... thus the reason he ejected from the board... he's an expert machine worker, and mounted the toe and heel bails properly top the aluminum plate, just need to set his bindings a little to loose to obtain the flex. for this reason he's switching to f2's next season. (he's also 6'1" and 215 of solid muscle.....) thus the reason he was hesitant to ride anything but td's on the board at first... my hangl plates are mounted with ski screws through my donek gs board. i used a melamine glue to help hold them in. after 70 days on the plates this season, nothing has been compromised twith this system. there are essetially 24 screws holding the "U shaped channel bracket" to the board screwed through the white "slider plate" (anti-friction) that allows the hangl plate to do it's thing. i personally use snowpro toe and heel pieces on my hangl plates, but am in the process of switching them out to f2's as well... the schooch brothers have now switched from hangl plates to VIST plates, at least in slalom, which are lighter, and i believe have more flex- but still allow the binding interface to slide and absorb terrain. i am in the process of getting the vist plates for slalom. more to follow if you guys want to hear it...

yes indeed- great seeing everyone and riding in those perfect, warm spring days... (t least until 10:30am each day)... actually we hit some trails after lunch on friday that were still in great shape for carving... have a good safe summer and see you guys next year...

WC- are you selling the rest of the goodie bag from nationals as well? :) I like the caribou coffee breakfast bars!!!! -have a good day!

Noah- I'm in.. I have seven kids going. Busy week- but we'll talk at the coaches meeting. see you sunday at the practice courses.... - Neil

For sale: Lib Tech 157cm Freestyle board. It's the Matt Cummings Pro Model. Ridden 1 day by my wife. Will sell with the Drake Bindings included. $275.00 plus shipping. USED ONE DAY! email me for more info if necessary. neilsunday@aol.com

for sale: DeeLuxe Indy Boots used on snow two days... molded one time by myself, and simply sized too small... in "like new" condition. size 24 mondo red "softer" tongues in the boots. the shell is RED. $250.00 plus shipping. prefer to ship to the lower 48. Email me for info @ neilsunday@aol.com

long poles will shatter under the pressures of a tight line that we run in snowboarding, especially in giant slalom where the speeds are higher, the impact lower on the boot and the board carving more across the fall line than down the hill in slalom. www.reliable racing.com has 12" polyurethane gates for $15.00 per gate. i'm travelling to nationals with 15 or 20 in my travel bags. like DFJ said, bag o' gates, drill, wrench, and 25 minutes... instant course...

I think Bola has a few of the Sigi boards.. As far as stance setback, i know personally the Kesslers are set back quite a bit. Not sure as to the exact, as there are absolutely no center marks on the board, and with hangl paltes that come pre-mounted, it's hard to tell.. maybe over the summer i can get real precise and measure... but for now, it's time to ride! all i can say is the nose on the kesslers is VERY long...

now is the time to look at reliable racing, and world cup supply, etc... they often have end of season sales on limited stock tripanels, or stubbies. we purchased 40 tripanels two years ago at something cheap -- like $5.00 per tripanel. they are all blue, but still serve the purpose... if buying 27mm diameter tall break-a-way gates, you can usually get by using the "stab" in type, which will not need to be screwed in, thus saving you time during course setting. i believe the "stab-ins" are cheaper compared to a 10" screw base... as far as stubbies are concerned- you dont need the FIS approved "hollow-thumpers" that are used in USSA and FIS level events. You can purchase polyethylene (i think that's what it is) stubbies out of reliable racing for approx $22.50 per gate. they work fine, but tripanel slide off of them really easy, compared to the FIS approved larger diameter stubbies. It's a trade-off if you are watching your budget.

a friend of mine has the newest generation kessler, and he's 6'1" and 215 pouinds. probably one of the most aggressive-hardest riders in the nation. he's got 30 plus days on his 185 kessler w/ bomber td2 toe and heel pieces bolted directly to the spirig hangl plate system. no problems whatsoever to date. claims it is the best racing AND freeriding board ever made. the board weighs in at 20.5 pounds, and rides through crud, slush, ice and pretty much anything that we call snow in pennsylvania.

does this board have any taper???

DFJ- sorry, i just came back form two days of races at my home mountain... 2 slaloms sat, two GS on sunday... i have tons of pictures that were taken by a friend of the actual course setup... i have some free time to compose some stuff... i'll email you what i come up with, and vice versa. you can send me anything to neilsunday@aol.com Phil- any thoughts? See you guys soon..

i've been setting all our practice courses this year at 22-25 meters for gs training ,and 10-12 meters for slslom training. i'll be at Northstar from saturday the 31st to the following sunday, the 8th. i'd be happy to set courses on whatever days... i'll bring my ropes!