Derf

When you guys speak about folding the nose, how hard do you pressure it? When I pressure my nose to much, it digs in, I lose my edge (not enough pressure on the rear part of the board) and go in a spin before it digs in too far. Is it because I don't pressure it as much as you guys or because my board has a "stiff nose"?

I tried my hand at downhill and it is not my thing. In the summer, I prefer agressive city riding (as an ex bike messenger) and corss country mountain biking, less chances to dislocate/break any limbs.

First, EC looks very cool, but like someone said in an other thread, it is an advanced technique, so try to carve regularely first, and when you're good, you can try to EC. Trying to EC when starting can give bad habits, like trying to reach for the snow which makes you bend at the waist. Second, for the board, a Donek Freecarve would be a good starter I think. I never rode one, but I learned on something similar so it is feasable and this board is a board that is good for advanced riders also, so you won't "outgrow" it. Another good option from Donek is the Axis. It is a good carver, but wider than the freecarve and a little more versatile, but like the Freecarve, I never rode it. As for the Madd, I never tried it either, but it is considered an advanced rider board, it is very stiff and you need a good technique to ride it. I don't know if learning on it is a good idea, maybe someone will have something to say on this.

I agree, I too have bad days. I went snowboarding 2 times this winter, and I've had a good and bad day. The good day was Monday Dec 20th at St-Bruno with 2 other carvers from Bomber, nice conditions, very few people (because of the very cold weather). The boards did not glide that well, but the conditions were there for carving. The mountain is small but the inclination is good for carving. It still was a fun evening until I dislocated my shoulder. Started well, ended badly. The bad day was last Tuesday at Mont Blanc. It was very crowded, icey and choppy. The mountain is higher than St-Bruno, but the runs are sometimes narrow, the inclination is not regular and the grooming is not very good (maybe because there was too much people). Add to that the bad lighting conditions, it was hard to see the irregularities and the mounds of snow on the icey slopes. It would been ok with a good freeride board with softies, but it was bad with my freecarve deck. I am not good on ice, and when I could set an edge, i lost it because of the irregular terrain and I don't have enough confidence to go fast on ice and make big carves to scrub if speed, so there was a lot of side slipping. So it was not a fun day. Next time will be better hopefully.

I checked and it is Shannon Melhuse.

Thanks for the feedback. Like I said, there is more to come, so I'll keep you all posted. Stoked, thanks for the link.

The main reason I would guess is because most people (the vast majority) don't wax and sharpen their board themselves, they have it done at the shop, and most competent shop guys know they have to do this. It's how I learned it, by asking if it was better to bring my board to the shop with or without bindings. And these are the things you learn when doing stuff regular riders/skiers don't do.

I finally added my snowboard page to my website! Even though my website is in French only, the snowboard page is bilingual for all of you to enjoy! There is not much information, but it is information that you won't find anywhere else. Any feedback will be appreciated. It is hosted on my personnal server at my friend's appartment, so the the speed may be a bit slow. Thanks everyone. Here is the address: http://derf.dyndns.org/~derf/snowboard/ P.S.: Don't worry, I'll add a links section later and all other sites will be there hopefully.

Actually, Head liners are supposed to mold themselves with your body heat and don't need to be heated but can be.

I read on this forum that several racers like Burton bindings because they flex more, thus absorbing the irregularities of the terrain, which is crucial in racing. I for one ride Burton bindings because it's what I bought in 1997 (it's what they had in the store on sale), they still work well and I don't have the budget to change them if they are not broken.

Monday, when riding with CarvCanada and Bartron, it was -25 degrees Celcius with a windchill of around -40 degrees Celcius (read -13 deg F and -40 deg F for the metrically impaired).

Sutton: glades and bump, very few cruisers Orford: been 10 years since I went, but others like CarvCanada and Bartron say it's good for carving Owl's Head: never been, but seems nice. Family oriented mountain with good vertical Bromont: never been, but I hear it's crowded because of the very cheap season's pass. They have night skiing.

Looking at the details, I also notice the Burton bindings and boots.:p

I don't know where you are, but here in Montreal (more specifically Laval), there is a shop (Oberson) that has lots of leftover Blax boots in size 22.5 Mondo (or similar sizes)

Meaning March 2006?

I'll be there with one or two skiers and a snowboarder, and here is a picture of what my suit looks like (brown, burgundy and blue jacket with black pants). I wear a dark blue helmet, black Burton boots and ride (goofy) a blue Nitro GTX 166.

Don't forget, it's tomorrow! I checked the weather, and it's going to be COLD, around -17 to -20 degrees Celcius. And don't forget the warm piece of clothing to give to charity so you can get your free ticket. As for rendez-vous point, I was thinking maybe in front of the chalet around 7h30pm, or inside near the door if it's too cold outside. I'm going to try to get to the mountain around 5h30-6h00, but we never know with trafic. If anything, email me or post here.

When you pull out an insert, the leash, attached to the binding who is attached to your boot who pulled out the insert, is of no use.

When you say "older setup" on a used Burton board, is it the 3D pattern (1993 and more recent) or what we call the "5 screw pattern" (1990-1992 I think)? The reliability of Burton bindings varies with several factors, including year of the bindings, models (Race, Performance, Carriers), your weight and how you ride. I ride Burton Performance bindings and I weight 170-175 and I never had any problems with them. I don't ride hard like some of the riders here either. So like I said, several factors come into play to decide wether Burton bindings would be ok for you or not.

Oops, pic didn't upload, I'll try again...

Here is a pic of my leash setup. The image is a little skewed as I scanned my binding and a scanner is not meant for this.

When reading (mostly) American forums like Bomber and Slashdot, I tend to forget about thing we take for granted here in Québec, like being able to buy beer at the dépanneur (what you guys call cornerstore or a 7-11) at the age of 18. Even English speaking people in Québec say "dépanneur" in English instead of saying cornerstore. And speaking of Québec specialties, I forgot about another obvious thing: maple syrup (and sugar shack/sugar house, whatever it is called in english). I'm really kickin myself for forgeting as I work all day making equipment for this!!! The Americans that tried it for the forst time at my old work place really liked it. But from what I understand, they are some in Ontario and North-Eastern US, but the ambiance there is not the same. And about the main subject, I'll try the red bumpers and see how it comes out. I'm going bording Monday, but I have to fix a minor delam in a corner with some epoxy and a C-clamp this weekend.

I still use the default Burton leash that came with my Performance bindings. I have it attached to the rear bail and it is kept low on the bail by a very small aluminium strip folded over and held by a screw and a nut. I'll see if I can scan it (I don't have a digital camera).

It's not offensive at all, well, maybe offensive to a sensitive stomach. People from the province of Québec love it, not Canadians. Québec is quite different from the rest of Canada, even if some will say the contrary, and it's more than just the language. Fleaman, indeed, the blue bumpers are stiffer than the red ones.

Sorry about the bad english, I wrote this post late last night, and usually, my English is not THAT bad. You guessed my mother tongue is French. It should have read "put my bindings back on". And yes, you are all right on those things: we have REAL beer, poutine, smoked meat and hardbooting never died here!;) And no, we don't say "abOOt" in Québec, we pronounce it correctly and we don't always say "hey".:p