darko714

Christian, I'm arriving at the Tully No-Tell Motel on Thursday night, and will be out on Fri. and Sat. (hopefully) for first tracks. This will be my 3rd year. Looking forward to it. Always a great event. Now I have to check if I'm actually registered. D.

Donek Axxis all-mountain 162 with 8.9 m sidecut radius - all-weather crudcutter that doesn't need a lot of space to carve. . . But I want one of Unicorn's boards, or one of Corey's.

Pat, after watching you race at Nastar Regionals last week I will testify that your low handicaps are legit. I'm guessing that you're riding your best ever at age what? 65? 67? What's your secret?

Aspen-dwelling powderhound. I'm guessing he hits the pipe or hikes backcountry once the powder gets skied up. Ask him again in about 10 years.

I try to avoid it, but between balance checks and wipeouts, my mitts get worn through anyway.

============================= Do you have LCI gear?

=================================================== Yeah, it was Kevin, and Hillary. Both spectacular riders, and great fun to ride with. "Ice" said it was icy that day. I should have mentioned that east coasters call that 'hero ice'. I want to ride like Kevin, too, but I'm almost grown up and running out of time. At this point, I'll settle for a weekend at Loveland.

Just heard about LCI. Saturday I was riding with my GF (skier) at Holiday Valley, in western NY, when we noticed two hardbooters skating to the lift - a rare sight in these parts. A guy - don't know if I can use actual names here - riding Prior PGS, and a girl, on a Donek Rev slalom board, were up for the day. Naturally we had to meet them. Both are absolutely great riders - - - he was finding bits of snow on the edges and ripping off big GS turns where he could, and she was weaving effortlessly through the heavy holiday traffic. We did a few runs, then hit the NASTAR course for a couple of turns. I found out NoirX252, once one of us, now rides with you guys. Small world. How can I become an LCI member, Western NY division?

I use a Donek Axxis 162 all mountain board for carving unfriendly terrain because it can be thrown around and skidded like a softboot rig when necessary. I'm 6' and 165 lb., so scale accordingly. Hats off for riding those wickedass ungroomed steeps.

======================= I'm looking at a Kessler KST about that length, but I have a few questions. I weigh 165 -- will that be a problem? What year was it made? Is this a KST? Does it require a plate system?

And amen here, too. Judging by videos of his riding, JJA is a fantastic athlete and capable of earning a medal in SBX, PSL, or PGS. My reservations would be that 1) He's on the small side for SBX, and may be vulnerable to bumping by bigger riders, and 2) in SBX wrecks are common and the risk of injury is much higher, and a bad wreck might end his chances at a PGS medal, for which he is a legitimate threat. But, that said, it's ultimately his decision. Why should another rider be given a spot in SBX unless he can prove that he's better?

The jibber goes home with his mother, the carver goes home with his wife, and the perfect 10 model goes home with the movie producer.

I'm going to camp; MHSSC. This will be my fourth year up at Hood. Just love it. Here are the pics of my "Die Hard" runs that unaccountably vanished when I edited my last post.

I'm coming up to Hood on June 30. Can't wait. I think I stretched the season about as much as I could in the East. After hitting Whiteface on April 20 & 21 did three final hike-ups on the last strip of snow at Holiday Valley, in Western NY on May 4. [ATTACH]34976[/ATTACH][ATTACH]34977[/ATTACH]

That's what I was thinking. Too bad I have to wait until next season to try it.;)

Here's a related question: I'm riding at an intermediate level but I'm still washing out my toe side turns too much. Could there be a barryj style quick fix for me? I ride two different setups: A Prior 183 WCRM metal top with F2 titanium race bindings set at 55/45, with 3 degree heel lift and 1 degree toe lift, and . . . a Donek 162 Axxis with TD2s set on fat yellow TD3 e-rings set at 50/40 with 6 degree heel and toe lift. I ride 19.5" on both boards and Deeluxe Suzukas with BTS, (mondo 28). My heelsides lock in nicely but my toesides start to wash at the beginning of the turn before I can get the board angled and tighten them up. Sometimes when if I do rail a toe side it takes me by surprise and I have to struggle to stay balanced. There seems to be some real expertise on this thread so . . . any suggestions??

I had plantar fasciitis for two years and it hurt like hell. I had to quit running, but it didn't affect my snowboarding at all. My doctor referred me to a podiatrist, and he prescribed a kind of boot to wear at night to stretch my achilles tendon by canting my foot upward (or my leg forward), exactly like a . . . snowboard hardboot! Ironically, the ONLY time it didn't hurt was when I was out riding. If you have the same problem that I did, riding might actually be the best therapy.

========================================= Exactly RideGuy. We have to be aware that we are doing something that people don't see every day. Stay safe by looking waaaay up the hill. I got t-boned by a straightlining skier on the first day, first run of the season. Dropping into a heelside I looked uphill, but, apparently, not far enough . He was about 230 lb., it was like coming across the middle and taking a big hit from an NFL linebacker. Knocked the lens out of my glasses & put a nice big cut across the bridge of my nose. The skier was apologetic, and I accepted the apology. But I can't put 100% of the blame on him, no matter what the rules are. Our wide, freecarve turns are best saved for the empty slopes of midweek, or those rare moments when there is no one visible above us.

Agreed, she did have a great coach. Go ahead, Bordy, make fun of NASTAR, but you can't argue with the low entry barriers and the high level of participation. It got me interested at the age of 49!!! And . . . where else are most of us going to get regular timed gate practice unless we're a sponsored World Cup racer? In fact, maybe you should get involved. Swallow your pride, and go out and lay down a few runs. Just take it easy and try not to make the rest of us look too bad, okay?

NHpete86: I have a 2006 162 Donek Axxes with TD2 step ins. My go-to board when I'm not racing. Rode the hell out of it all weekend. It carves wickedly tight and keeps a good line even in the crud. Fun, easy to ride board and great setup for eastern riding conditions and smaller, more crowded hills.

I always use a leash. But nothing is idiot-proof. At Mt. Hood in August of 2010 I had just finished riding and was preparing to 'download' on the lift back to Timberline, and I absent-mindedly unhooked the leash, dropped it, and then popped out of my front binding. There was a bit of an incline, and my board instantly slid out of my reach. I watched helplessly as it coasted down past the Palmer lift, gracefully rounded the porta-potties, and mainlined into one of the rocky, snow-filled gorges that snake down from the glacier. The board hit a rock, and flipped end over end and crashed on more rocks. There was an ugly gouge in the edge, and a couple of dings to the topsheet, plus the hike down and back up to retrieve the board.

Dave, I'm down. Bring it.

Skiers accepting the stubbies? Good to hear, Pat.

========== A couple of years ago I petitioned Pat Moore on the NASTAR forum for exactly the same thing. I proposed phasing out the skier gates in favor of snowboard friendly triangular ones that everyone could use. (No reason skiers can't use them, especially with the newer carving race posture!) Brilliant, right? Wrong. Pat said that skiers have a negative reaction to the snowboard gates and suggested that it would hurt participation. Ah, tradition. As for the list, it is cool, even though I'm not on it. All of us love to debate the accuracy of the handicaps--an admittedly flawed system. But one thing that NASTAR is great for is tracking your own progress, and your results, with different boards, bindings, angles, etc.

At Holiday Valley in Western New York the jibbers usually say "cool" when they see the hardboot gear and ask some great questions. I do my best to explain it and try to learn a bit about their gear, too. Never hurts to be an ambassador.