snowmatic

Yes, keprotec® should be genuine, even if coated with a black kind of polyurethane rubber, like outside of the AX gloves seems to be. Cheaper made outside will not resist for long, if grinding on snow surface. Thats 80 days, right? There is a rule since decades: sporting goods for skiing / snowboarding are worn out in general after one full season, compared to / or 100 days of use. If any things can be used for longer, it's well. And there are other significant weak points on Thor gloves and AX gloves! Thats why I never ever would recommend them. They don't have dampening and they don't have any protection. On the peak of snowboarding time we had a daily quote of about 14'000 hand injuries worldwide (*). You know, issues like them on wrist, fingers and so on. 20% of all injuries are reported to not reach anymore fully satisfaction to movements and functionality of hands/fingers later. Maybe there are some users here on forum they had had some injuries on hands, maybe not, I don't know. Myself, dampenings and protections on gloves helped me many time to be kept on unlimited fun for all seasons. (* Source: universimed.com / They are involved to developments of some well known gloves brands. Hands on snow during carvings has been discused too, they published specific recommendations for improvements on gloves to that.) Well, it's interessting keeping eyes to products, things and scene, which are comming out now from up-comming countrys (eastern Europe/middle-east/far-east) of snowboarding and alpine snowboard carving. Even if they are decades behind the evolution we went through once here on the Alps.

Kevlar was once, we are talking now from ceramic coating. I'm on some custom made gloves using schoeller® keprotec® (up to 5 different schoeller® knits plus GORE-TEX® too on glove) since near to a decade now. Make sure to get the orginal schoeller® keprotec®. There are countless cheap copies of that knits on the world, even that signature-labels beside the mittens. Like we saw on AX gloves-picture written as "Keprotect" (pictures was changed now to mitts) it's even hard not only to weave it right, but to write label right too. I mean 65k won, thats realy cheap comparing to the basic material You have to pay for. Otherwise I have to ask if these are prototypes of gloves and mitts. Can we see how they looks after 10 days of carving hard? How fast that pads will peel of and when the seams are getting open? You may think I just write odd things. But I don't ride easy slopes protected by red fences left and right. Maybe slopes can be much longer and way more difficult for to carve hard - and one feet behind your trench - there is just nirvana.

That's it! Yes, even FIS marketing headquater recognite actual gate racing format failed, cause of very low reputation. Advertisements with hardbooters on, become more and more rare on public area too. As I remember me well, billboards like that (from a bank), showing a strong but clean message, I sawed last winter at only 3 resorts anymore. You know, it feels that terrible bad riding on places without any of such billboards. I mean I feel lost, even if no other hardbooters are on slope all the day.

Great work, but pleasy keep accurate! - "Deeluxe SB (299mm), Deeluxe AF (295mm)" is wrong. Twist the 299 / 295 for to be right. - why the ones have 11 slyces of shell, why the others only 10. (Yes I know, the ones are shorter with thiner liners and good for riders which whine about freezing toes) - MP27 is not like MP27. Burton 27 and UPZ 27 is more like an 26.5. - Shell size switch every two MP half size at Deeluxe, while Aigner UPZ step-up every three half size. - where are the plastic-inlays, which is a part of the boot concept (Raichle SB has, AF has no, Blax-Dalbello commes with a thick one which shape depends of boot size, UPS-Aigner's has no) - for to be accurate, measuremets should be done with inlay (if there is), with liner and with insole of liner. Carver might discuss about the boot volume. It's way better to fit boots, than to discuss about boots. Liners are part of the boot concept, that's important. I mean I can fit all of that 4 shells on my local store (they keep Head Stratos Pro on stock/shelf). There are differences you will only feel, if you fit them. Every boot model was designed out of a specific last (shoe forms). ***************************************************** One much more interessting thing of this cuts would be the wall thickness. Keep Your eyes to the Raichle-SB shell lower sections. Wall of shell is very thin there. No other boot of that 4 different shells is similar to SB shell. So we get much more ability for a side-flex and rolling the feets/boot than all other boots are capable. Damped flex of shell side-by-side, which gives you a way better "forgiving" ride on plate-bindings was the goal for to go, comming from the Raichle SB-121 (Snowboarder) shell. So no sidewinder bindings have been required then. This improvement was the reason why Raichle SB-series boots became that popular and why hardbooting became so popular with them too. Raichle SB hardboots had been than as flexy/stiff like stiffest softboots, but whith more controll and nice progressive foreward and side-flex. You can flex your legs easy to any direction you want, similar to softboots. Raichle SB boots became the most selling hardboots ever on the World! Others stay way behind. Unfortunately now-a-days Deeluxe SB-shells are to stiff (harder platics) compared to them of the Years at 2000. The difference is huge. If you switch from a SB shell to an AF shell it's very different. It's like you choose another brand. Due to the older age and havier weight of todays hardbooters and the longer and more torsional stiff boards, Deeluxe AF shell and UPZ's seems to be yet the boots for to go. Riders of FIS gate racing, choose stiffer boots (e.g. ski-boots) too. On the other side FIS marketing headquater recognite the last time actual gate racing format failed (very low reputation). There are remaining only some dozens gate riders on each country of the alps. If you look up to recently published rider lists for 2014/2015, we can find countrys where national team was shrinked from 8 (m&w) to only 3 top-level riders for Worldcup. How many WC rider will be found for 2014/15 in US and Can? Sometime industry should keep it rather to mainstream demands (like softbooting makes it), than to things which can fail totaly in a couple of Years. ***************************************************** There is one other point to discuss about rolling feets / side-by-side flex: canting and lift on bindings There are many sugestions and discussions choosing the right cantings - Extrem carvers, tiny waist boarders, gate racers. If you choose boots unlike SB shells (Northwave, UPZ's, AF) canting realy matters. Feeling depends on the amount of flexing the board. Choosing a SB hardboot it doesn't matter that much. Usualy build-in canting and lifts like we found on popular Snowpro's or Fritschi's, comming with 3° are fine. Even most rider are flexing the board only for a short time during a turn and feels than very comfy riding the board all the day on slope and outside of slope. ***************************************************** I like to ask Bomber/Donek: Why not slicing other shells too? The two generation of Burton's (easy to get in US), maybe the Oxygen and Kastinger/Drake/H²O. What about the F2-Proflex hardboots. And Northwave shell, if available for free. ***************************************************** Which SB boots You use? The ones with good old straps or the ones with ski-buckles?

Germany is going ahead. They blow-up their staff and: - are seeking for one more coach for alpine gate riders (Link to pdf (6 Mb)) - and for one more overall executive manager (Link to pdf (7 Mb)) For to progress further, Germany snowboard federation is asking public treasury for another $ 1'000'000 to all the existing financial support they get since Years now from state. They talk about they are in trouble bringing snowboarding ahead. Infrastructure potentiality needs a push and some more money too. Germanys snowboard federation (SVD) chief Hanns-Michael Hölz says we are requiring a halfpipe (super-pipe) now. Germany has not one single super-pipe, while on neighbourhood tiny country Switzerland they have 5 ones. Link So Germanys snowboard federation ask for the next $ 2'000'000 for reaching higher levels on international snowboard sport events. For to go clear, that money is more then only "844 signatures" on a petition. Even if in addition to existing money they get.

Doesn't affect now. I think this is/are trials on different ski boots which became available for free, like from rental shops or similar now on end of season. Until they close ski area May 25. the guy has enough time for more trials. For racing I think he will buy the right performing ones new and put than a BTS on shell. This can be to discussed if they ever will be available. Even such trials shows us getting hardboots for competing Alpine snowboarding are on ground zero now. It's like we are at time before Raichle brought out the first "Snowboarder" or "SB-121" hardboot. That guy on photo isn't a nobody racer. He is one of the world best alpine snowboarder (Worldcup top-ten ranking since Years). The trick is finding a balance between stiffness/flex of board/bindings/boots. For competition battelfield has changed after millenium. Alpine snowboards followed. Bindings not that much (F2 comes out with a new plate binding for 2014/15, which looks very similar to SnowPro Race from before millenium, but with F2 bails on). Hardboots didn't follow, except of making shell stiffer by less flexing plastics, other buckles, higher cuff (UPZ). Skiboots are way to stiff side-by-side. Todays hardboots are way stiffer, than they had been designed for. Take a NOS Raichle 313. Compare the shell flex to todays Deeluxe Track 225. The difference of flex is not big, it's amazing huge! Track 69 and Track 325 comes stiffer than 225. Same thing on UPS RSV (was top-of-the-line) to now-a-days UPZ RC10. Todays hardboots are stiffer because avg. rider weight is now 50-70 lbs more and they ride boards which are 5-8" longer. The result of that we can find in Your thread! (AIL "Alpine Injured List") This way children, but women too and light weight riders also, would no more be predisposed to become alpine snowboard rider. They won't find practicable boots, they won't find short and light bindings. Even F2 Titanium size S is just another crummy build choice.

There far away over the Atlantic sea, we can find a new International European gate race serie, witch is independend from FIS. The goal of Alpe-Adria snowboard-cup is to take up open mind ideas, like we had once on ISF. So it's free for every-one to participate some/all races. Even start-fees/lift-tickets ar on low rate. At this first Year of cup, up to 80 hardbooters from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Austria joined the races a day (Sudelfeld Germany was canceled - lack of snow). FIS Worldcup riders like Christian Veith and Markus Kofler joined serie too. see: http://www.aasc.eu (please use google translate) It's a contribution of riders and clubs from Germany / Austria / Italy Alpe indicate the Alps, Adria indicate the Italian-Croatia coast of the Mediterranean sea. Alpe-Adria snowboard-cup contains PSL, slalom races and a PSL team-race. The cup is supported by F2, Goltes, Rabanser, and Kessler snowboards. 15 snowboard-clubs, or snowboard departments of ski-clubs are with, like the well known and legendary Lipizzanerteam and the Kreischberg Indios (see links on www.aasc.eu)

The last time we can see breaking away sponsorships from Deeluxe to hardboots riders. This is is not claim to be true, but there are more and more riders witch removed the Deeluxe logo on homepage. We know it well, hardbooting is totaly going out of focus these Years. So it seems Deeluxe turns to the core (softboots) of business to reduce unnescessary costs. Worldcup riders without Nortwave Point series hardboots are looking for alternate solutions. Quality of Deeluxe hardboots are comming more and more worse and UPZ's are not for everyone the way to go. Like we saw the last Years someones ride Dalbello Krypton's, or other ski boots. One solution is now on trial-and-error, like we can see it now this weeks: It looks very crazy how todays worldcup racers are searching for usable solutions. This is an older to vintage 4-buckle ski-boot on photo with some alloy adapters for to mount a Bomber BTS on shell. Maybe such constructions will lead into the future of hardbooting. Otherwise it hurts to the eyes watching such a complicated setup (board & isolation-plate & bindings & skiboots & bts). It turns far away from what hardbooting was once.

Hi philipatkinson86, Can be there a reason to not put a copy of all of Your tattoos to the surface of a board? Can be there a reason to not buy a snowboard which is on Your demand only, on now-adays skill and also further skill. Well, maybe thats way harder to get anywhere in London / UK. Go rather near to the Alps. Check up Radical snowboards for more technical boards, or Genius snowboards for extravagance! qualyfly.com which is also mysnowboard.ch and welcmesports.ch is able to make anything You wish. The brands are known as Qualyfly (freeride and freestyle boards), Doorslammer and Genius (raceboards / carving boards) See also making-of-boards on video: I'm sure, not many users here on BOL knows anything from that boards before, even if riders like Xavier Hoffmann wons overall worldcup on them and Pleasure snowboard magazine comes out with 2 issues showing boards on front-page. Doorslammer / Genius / Qualyfly are made since 1992. and they seems to be strong: Board examples with full carbon, or Carbon spring-flex: - Viper 160 (edge 141, waist 13.8, SCR 10.5) - Spaceneedle 171 (edge 157, waist 14.5, SCR 10) - Viper 180 (edge 166, waist 15.4, SCR 12) - Anakonda 163 (edge 145, waist 22.9, SCR 9.5) - Mamba 165 (edge 150, waist 20.4, SCR 9.5) - Natter 159 (edge 142, waist 20.8, SCR 9.3) - Race 166 (edge 151, waist 20.6, SCR 10.5) On www.qualyfly.com or better now www.mysnowboard.ch you can play with a board-configurator, where You can choose type of board, length, width, nose-shape, your weight, size and footsize (use google translator). There are a lot of designs too, or custom design. On demand you choose snake-skins (the real-worlds one!), skin of a cow from slaughter house, wood, carbon, custom 3D carbon upper, Titanal and so on. Don't peel-away Your skin with tattoos now. Genius knows a way to bring Your tattoos to the board without any hurt. And it's realy unique, you are able to choose a concave nose/tail area on Genius carving boards, which gives a similar ride like on Bataleon's TBT! I switch now to more technical boards. Snowboards which are able to be manageable for beginners and powerfull to ride for experts too are rare. For that choose a custom made long living board from Radical! See also on video: There are not that much board makers on the world, which have the nose and experience to match flex-pattern/shape/torsion to good custom boards. And there are not that much board makers on the world which are the head of country snowboard school association. You may think radical-sports.com it's new? Definitivly no, Radical is not one more of many brand like we can see now-a-days copy shapes of carving boards and raceboards on a crummy way. It's good to know, there have been Years, more than 50% of all medalls on worldcup and world championchip on gate-courses have be won by Radical customs. Even if brandet as well known other world-labels (carring brands orginal topsheet). Carvingboards and raceboards from crummy way brands, will never reach that reputation. Radical can also customize topsheets. All of such boards I talked, will stay and will remain rare for to get secondhand. Why? Just because owners of them are fully satisfied riding that boards since Years. This is the big difference to other board labels with an e.g. "custom" on, which operates with big mouth, but are on missing reputation at all, or board labels which make crummy copy of any other boards. They will never be capable to win worldseries, worldcup, worldchampionchips, or Olympic medals!

Thanks Seb, I updated the list. German rider Maximilian Köpf retire also (see German snowboard federation, published at May 6.). There came out the last days an article on FIS homepage: http://www.fis-ski.com/news-multimedia/news/article=time-say-good-bye-snowboard-retirements.html

from how many users? there are activ just now on forum following users: kbmf8247, keuw7918, kjnb6879, kpww7971, kwhz5003, lktr3302, lymj1529, mksu8734, mtbd4392, mtmk1414, myne5985, nsrl8406, ntse5905, odfs8312, okef8815, some minutes later: pezf2587, pfsh5343, pqeg3625, pweo2803, pwxj0896, qhap1190, qsyr2585, qufc2394, qysv0242, rfzv9423, the newest one is: nA5bD0dB4w they all can not be found on member list!

for them who seek for a good price Oxess Carbon CAP board with SCR 10.5m (I'm not the seller, just found it): http://www.fr.ricardo.ch/acheter/sport/snowboard/boards/alpin/longueur-140-cm-149-cm/oxess-carbonboard-inkl-raichle-boot/v/an735153316/ The Oxess Carbonboard CR145/ SCR 10.5m (later named as RS 160, "CR145" because of running lenght) seems to be from 1999 Bindings are rare Fritschi's, similar build to F40.1, but with front-step in. Initial bid is now at $ 12 / Canadian Dollar 13. Delivering to Canada and US can take 10-14 days, shipping costs are $90

It was very clear before winter 2013/2014 there would be some older riders retire at end of season. They can not seen anymore on WC races next season. It's hard to get informations about who is retired now. Some riders which retired: Grabner Siegfried (AUT - SG) - continues SG-Snowboards Walder Ingemar (AUT - Oxess) - now as head-coach of Swiss national alpine snowboard team Koepf Maximilian (GER - SG) - police-man Matt Morison (CAN - Kessler) - helicopter pilot Michael Lambert (CAN - Kessler) Schoch Simon (SUI - Black-Pearl) - working on construction and continues Black-Pearl snowboards Schoch Philipp (SUI - Black-Pearl) - working on construction and continues Black-Pearl snowboards Haldi Roland (SUI - Kessler) - working on car service station Please help to continue the list, if there are any informations.

Yes jacopodotti I agree, it's a alpine carving board forum here and not a ski forum. But it's good to know Kessler skis sells many time more in Europe, then Kessler snowboards - and there is more than only one single prime minister on Kesslers on the World. It's impossible for me to be on a resort without some skiers on Kesslers, while rider on Kessler snowboards remains rare Didn't You forget to write Rossignol, what can be a very interessting label in case of On-Edge-Style! You are refering to this? Yes, Sean Martin of Donek is not wrong with his statement. It's even not possible to put one more carbonsheet, or a titanalsheet on a board for some extra $, without giving an new adjustment to the shape and flex pattern for building a perfect snowboard. And it's not possible to start with a broad palette of boards which ride excellent out of own developments. Well You may think, all the builders like Nidecker, Hot, Nitro, Mistral and so on, have been cheesy shapers all the Years, as they offer boards with only 5-8 alpineboard shapes over any lenght and type. We stay now more and more in a world where copy everything seems to be the lead of any progress. I give You an example: Doppelmayr has installed 70 ropeways in China. There are even about 140 more Doppelmayr ropeways in China now, which never have been build by Doppelmayr. Someones are with wrong written logos. and others too! A product start to become famous and exclusive only, if there are followers. There are patents on extremcarving? It's good to know there is one man on the world who is holder of one special patend for skis and snowboards. Out of his sight today, he would never publishing again a patent like this anymore, rather he keep things secret. There are countless of violations against this patent since Years now. Unfortunately that enthiusastic shaper like very much to develop better and better snowboards. He doesn't have time, power and money to go to court. Patent is from 2006 so it's stil not free now. Even if a society or a company would take hands on it, helping that man against all the violations (there is huge money to earn), that man would be capable to blow out the lights of at least 95% of all ski and snowboard producers/labels on the world. There is another example. One more clever snowboard builder did publish a patent too for his unique boards. But he/they kept production process secret. For sure many ski and snowboard manufacturer force open the boards and try to do copy - and they failed all without any exception (unstable construction, or not usable for riding). Patent is now free, snowboard label doesen't exist anymore (even there is a remaining stock of new ones - accessable to insiders for sure). Because of a secret process producing the core, no-ones try it ever again. Icegripp, running silence (I'm talking from very weak slopes too), capability of speed and smoothness to ride can be compared to a 170-y board, even if board is only 153 short. The 160-y compared to a 185 and so on. The faster you go, the more damper and stable the board is. The slower you are, the more lively it is. and many of them are copies of others idea again and again. Genuine boards became more and more rare, because it's easyer to copy than to develope own shapes.And this wouldn't change by new copies like OES seems to be. Even not if based on cheaper's Rossignol mass-production-factory knowledge from Spain.Diversity of bords is not that big problem yet, we are sparsely on bindings and for sure on boots! Jusk ask children and women, freecarvers and freeriders, what they think about.

Was it at Cypress mountain? Checking Alpine trail map, it must be the Fork trail and the lower Fork trail, which is colored as blue. Blue trails are on same class like blue ones in Europe. So You show us riding an On Edge Style snowboard on a blue slope, right? What a great opportunity to ride on an Olympic BX slope! Just watch a video of one of Olympic snowboardcross runs and take time lap of it. So You know how fast enough you should go on that slope. Why not to ride straight down such a slope on a GS board, without loosing control. It can be called speed. I mean genuine boards are just designed for to do that. They are manoeuvrable, controllable and are running silent on high speed. And beside this, they carve great. What does speed mean? Speed on a GS board means if it look like this: means shutter speed of camera isn't able to freeze snowparticulars, while boardnose remains sharp due to the excellent vibration dampening. So even on bad and diffuse lights from sky, genuine boards are ready-to-perform on higher speed and even on worse slope conditions. Just because they are made for it and not just to be made as a copy of anything. By the way: we know now there is a new Russian snowboard label. That Russian boards are a copy of anything and they are made in Spain and price is low as F2. So tell me please, why Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, has some Kessler skis? Why he doesn't prefer to go on copy made skis?

About boards which are a copy of brilliant other ones I think in conclusion and according to many other test-reports on forum is: You can test and compare a Porsche to a Honda Civic CRX, it's open to everyone. But avoid comparing the Porsche against Honda Civic only on rush hours traffic jam. This is non-sense, even if Your report is full of details. Can You imagine that You are absolutely wrong? I mean women allows me to share their slopes, thats it! Way more than 50% of hardbooters I see on slopes are women. Even from least than 20 female hardbooters I have phonenumbers. This include woman once racing gates in the US too. It's never a problem of sharing slopes. Slopes are for everyone, sometimes really for everyone, like shown on the sign here on photo: Oh, I'm really so sorry. I didn't find just quickly a photo from such a sign, without a female hardboot rider on it ;-)

No team, domestics of the Alps are just guys and girls which lives, works and go snowboarding sometime, but sometime often around some/many skiareas. It tooks 15 to 90 minutes for to go skiing, or snowboarding. A potential for everyone, budget doesn't matter. So buying a lunchtime-skipass (11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) for skiing instead of having lunch, can be nice for having good time. And mothers joins skiarea 10 a.m. with an alpineboard for cuting some nice trenches too and leaves then 11 a.m. going home for cooking. And yes, domestics are many time the whole day on skis/snowboards too. Sharing slopes with worldcup ski riders, training gates can be usual. No separations, it works without crashes, even on narrow tracks and tricky terrain! For to be clear about that Velvet-Pro videos, the first, second and maybe some vew one more can be funny to watch. But than there is the question, when ever they intend to start snowboarding. Just only posing on ultra-wide easy slope, thats the lower skilled boarders choice, since more than one decade. Rather we should talk about a GREEN GROOMERS TROLL SKI CLUB, where rider are testing, comparing and than posting things about new boards, even of boards which are copy of brilliant other ones. Hey comme on BlueB, go deeper go further, ride positive. Why not supporting Canadian brands. There was once mass production alpine boards, like from Oxbow and Option, all made in Canada. By the way, what happens with all that nice video-reports "on-the-edge" from that Canadian snowboard team?

Sometime sweet things happens! This winter a women clap hands and cried anythings as I re-enter slope comming from the trees. You know all that story here on thread sounds some kind of strange for me. I never heard things like that here on the lift line or on slope. But there was one case just happens this winter on this miniscule resort capable for to ride 4000ft altitude difference only. I was riding outbound on nice playfull powdersnow fields with my all-purpose mid-waist snowboard with hardboots on. Some followers, a man and a girl, took up my lines for riding nice powder lines too. So it happens I was just rejoining the slope comming from thight trees. The girl (softboots) was riding on the slope and she was claping hands and she sayed loud anything. I thought I scared her. On a stop I ask that pretty and realy open minded woman, why she make one's felt. Well, she was a Canadian girl from a student exchange program. And she was just lucky and happy to see hardbooters running slopes, but outbounds too (there was a second hardbooter on slope also that day). She was from the same Canadian town like Matt Morison (FIS Worldcup rider) is. Thats why she did know things about hardbooting and plate bindings. So I asked her, if there can be find a lot of hardbooters too on Canadian slopes. Unfortunately she was dissapointing me, in general there must be no, means like zero hardbooters on slope. Except if parents of Matt Morison and Matthew himself are riding alpine boards around there where she like to ride. We had a nice 15 minutes long chat on the border of slope. Even we talked about desaster which happens to Canadas Olympians. I was talking about slopestyle, halfpipe and snowboardcross, because she was on softboots. She was giving answers about hardbooting, because it matters for Canada! All the huge personaly and financial investments didn't worth at Sochi. Well, her boy-friend (local guy) was becomming more and more nervous, so we continued each to ride some next powder-turns.

[ I didn't know Americans prefere nice morning groomers only for carving with hardboots. For sure we had a longer report this morning on our news about what's going on with Parti Québécois and Pauline Marois after Quebec's provincial election, but about preferences how, when and where to ride alpine snowboards in Canada we are on poor information here. You know, I just watched how Amarican guys like Jeremy Jones, was riding his Super-G race here on that great video-tape [thread=42271]ISF 1994 Race at Mt Hood Meadows[/thread] some days ago. So as I remind me well, since 1994 Jones went "deeper" and then he went "further". So I thought I wouln't be that wrong, showing on that post a picture carving slopes with a 45° gradient. Just because to be accorded to go deeper and further carving on alpine snowboards. 99% of the carvers prefers nice morning groomers only? So say me snowboarding is turning now from fun-sports to recreational-sports? It's amazing what happends on the World these days. Did You ever see what Russians carver do. They do exact the same. Try to watch Velvet-Pro videos on Youtube channel. They just prefer ultra-wide and no challenge, nice early morning groomers for carving too. For us domestics of the Alps, these Velvet-Pro videos are such a kind of very boring things ever. Well in Russia they couldn't ever know what hardbooting is, they have been very busy by Perestroika that Years.

This becomes more and more tricky, we ar on Global warming now. You can find near to black and muddy slopes (toxic contaminations!) up to slopes on fresh all-white powdersnow. seek for resort informations: - Tignes, la Grand Motte (FRA) - Les 2 Alpes (FRA) - Val d'Isère (FRA) - Ponte di Legno / Passo Tonale - Adamello Ski (actual they are on 550cm snow) (ITA) - Passo Stelvio Valtellina (starts June 1.) (ITA) - Matterhorn ski paradise / Zermatt or Cervinia (SUI/ITA) - Saas Fee (starts mid of July) (SUI) - Hintertux (AUT) Please avoid black and muddy slopes of that kind of ugly silt. Containing many small stones, they looks realy ugly and are to slow for riding. The higher You go, the more white on Glaciers will be.

Thanks Gben for telling us Your result. Really? You know, there over in Europe, we don't just come down things like that, we like to do carving things like that! Ever heard anything about carving? Carving means making some trenches to the ground, e.g. like here: Well, it's not from the same place You ask and it's just only a slope. It's hard to make good pictures on the steep ice You asked, because of near to no visible trenches on ice. And powdersnow is comming down from carving, ereasing anything like e.g. grooves. For to be clear, there is no shift on angles with my camera. I can show You a crop of that above, there are visible constructions like a bridge on the right and some power-lines at the upper background. Pleas tell me if they build them out of angle. So there over in the Alps we can find slope angles of around 45° what means 100% of gradient. For riding that we dont use and need style on edge. We just choose boards which perform 100% and we choose boards we can trust 100%. On every kind of snow and every conditions of slope. Even on cases if gradient can outreach that 100% up to 65° like on the lower part of the trench. And Yes, resort does matter, it's a small resort, only 18 miles of mostly narrow and steep slopes. And they are lucky now, because upgrading this season from 3 to 4 Ratracs. So each one of the driver has now 4.5 miles only to grind each day. Ahm, for sure they use only Ratracs with rope winch, all of them, others are simply not usable! Ahm, and Yes never step out of bindings on such hills, keep Your board on ever. It's slipery, a stop can be obtained around 900ft lower of altitude. There are known victims which crashed and died.

Yes, I agree. I was thinking about riders from Europe. April Fool's Day? Yes for sure! But the tragedy remains to be not limited to one single day. Thanks a lot to the thread opener for this pin-up story. Yes, I had my April Fool's Day! But it was some days before April 1st. I was out on powder, it was an exciting day on the European Alps. And what I had to read then after on an blog-entry of a Worldcup Pro rider? He wrote things like from barbecue and road-cycling that day! What a f***, we are March with tons of snow on the mountains and not July. What the hell goes on with FIS riders! They do trainings on poor snow - muddy glaciers and artifical snow in autumn, they race on artifical snow slush then, near 100% on a way-to-low resort/slope and they stop season mid-of-winter. It's realy not a choice to race all the venues at 3000ft artifical slush, it's better to go to 7000ft altitude for powder-snow, like more than a decade before! And at least they miss best winters snow-conditions and go cycling! (one of the guys (SG) doing such things too, has ended career this season) Tell me what is more stimulating people for carving a board. Muddy artifical slush or all-white spray of powder-snow. Who calls one's hero for young rowdys? Why they like to choose hardbooting? Because of FIS Worldcup Pro riders showing themself on roadbikes yet, or things like that: Yes demographics matters. Studies says the next decade the agers of 60 Years old women will become the main groupe of wintersport enthusiasts on slope! They have time, they have money and as You can see they are enjoing good days: Sunny weather, a great view (like here 8000ft from high to low altitude), some nice&easy and soft turns to do, time to drink coffee and endless chater makes them very lucky, thats it! What about declining participation? It's good to know snowsports was mainstream once and very popular for the mass in Europe. There is a change in progress. Just see cars value to and back of the mountains on changeover days. It's a significant indication. We have now close to 100% quad, 6-seats and 8-seats highspeed chairlifts, or 8-seats/10-seats up to 20ft/second speed-gondolas on resorts. We like to have 100% coverage by artifical snow on any slope on demand. We like to have wide and non shaking runway type slopes (like Rob Stevens wrote: green slopes and no more banks and drawn outs). And for sure there are now well known resorts offering 100% full W-LAN coverage on any slopes off resort (e.g. over 150 miles!). So You can share videos, photos and what else to the world, where ever You are and when ever You want. All that goodies are not a gift. Lift ticket become more and more expensive. There is one nation very well known for skiing - Austria. Skiing is an national affair, it's like the base of their proudness. What is now hipp and cheap for the elite of upcomming nations like Russia, Czech Republic and so on, for many Austrian family is running out of budget, because skiing and snowboarding is more and more too expensive for them. So we can see all that new goodies, like much more comfort on ropeways and slopes helping riders of upcomming nations to be able to manage downhill a slope on skis, or snowboards. While domestics which can manage easy some rough and tricky T-bar lifts and narrow, shaking slopes, will decline. And this matters a lot to the type and the amount of ski's and snowboards You can buy. Even more for racing, in our case on alpine-snowboards was/will declined/disapear also. and impractical equipment on top of that! Why the hell a 11 Year young carver on a Kid's Kessler has to be on a way to stiff and much to heavy for the kids F2 Titanium size S binding. He never will be able to set the angles of his bindings himself, because he didn't have the power to force out the center-disk of the gasket. All that kids plate-bindings giving light weight and a flex appropriate to the board flex, have been disappeared from market. Where are the kids- and woman-hardboots which offers more flex, lower cuff and lighter weight? Can it be the goal for a 13 Year girl to have a Deeluxe Track 325 boot with RAB's and ultra stiff 5mm golden springs in? What I want say: it's realy strange what happens the last Years to hardbooting, but wintersports too!

Is there anything going forward on FIS PAR Worldcup races? I say nothing! Hey come on volks, do You have dreams? Just some examples: * The last two season we didn't saw any tour sponsors on the whole FIS tour. Only that all black plastic-morgue on start, finish and behind podium. One Year of that was enough for me. So I did call-up FIS headquarter last autumn for to say them they should make a change. They didn't make a big change, but they put some white on the black above heads for 2013/2014 season, what helps a bit. * Sochi Olympics is over since many weeks now. The whole world is talking now about Ukraine and Krim crisis. Sochi is out of any mind. What do You think how much interests Russia will take to snowboarding sports after Sochi-2014. Maybe Vic Wild has good time for one or two Years only, but no more longer. Snowboarding has not the reputation like ice hockey in Russia. * Snowboarding in general, is decreasing on a double-figure rate every season. What was happen in Europe after Vancouver Olympics 2010? There was an Olympic medal holder ending career. Just because couln't find any more sponsors! We are now 4 Years later. What do You think happens again? A holder of silver medal from snowboarding in Sochi loose his main sponsor too. That sponsor has enough financial background, but they like to turn to much more interessting sports then alpine snowboarding. * Last weekend anyone was free to compete to an Alpine snowboarding Olympic gold medalist on a gate course. What a rare and big chance for any Alpine snowboarder, isn't it? I mean You, and You and You too. It was an open to everyone GS race. Located on the middle of the European Alps and well published since the victory on Sochi games, even in English language. It means 2½ hours from Milano (Italy), 6 hours from Paris (France), 5½ hours from Stuttgart (Germany) by ground transportation. What did we saw? Only 3 woman racers at all from 2 countrys competing together, including that Olympic gold medalist. Totaly with the Youth they had been 19 racers. On men categorys we saw 5 racers, course setter was racing too. Including the Youth, we can see 11 racers on the final list. Weather and slope was brilliant. Conclusion: What happens on USSA is not right. But it just reflect what matter to snowboarding and for sure to Alpine snowboarding especially.

As for an example F2 Junior Speedster 139 2013/2014: Euro 299.- The 145cm is sold out! Thats the point. And countless of copying manufacturers try to make it again and again and again, since now many Years. Realy? These hours are the best hours of the day. Refrozen slopes are faster than any early morning slopes ever. Bur for refrozen poorly groomed/day abused runs you need boards which perform. Thats the point where raceboards starts to make unlimited fun! This fun was once the lead, why raceboards became so popular on the European Alps. For soft day with some freshies and perfect groomed slopes You can carve any boards, even any cheap freeride boards with plate bindings on, they will go well also. Unfortunately it's much harder for board manufacturers to build boards which performs on refrozen poorly groomed/day abused runs well. So any boards of all that countless we-do-copy manufacturers as-we-can will fail than. As I wrote above different volks need different shapes and boards for different mountains for sure. If riders of upcomming nations think it's great to ride some 150ft high, perfect groomed hills only, they need boards for that. Even if they think just to wobble the hipps, that's carving an alpine board. Maybe they will fail immediatly on other conditions, like we can see it well on that videos of OES if they enter moguls and crash so helpless to them.

F2 Speedster Junior are available in 139cm (30-45kg) and 145cm (35-55kg) now. Ask au-vieux-campeur! You can buy them also as in similar shape, branded as TRANS Race Pro SL for Euro 50.- less, then F2 Speedster, but they come without wax-topsheet like on F2. For next season F2 Speedster Junior leght 125cm and 131cm are avaiable too. F2 comes with proofed functionality, quality and warranty out of thg GST factory.