Donek

I want to come back.

Alex, I've got a 200 Hazelwood you can take out.

The Razor, Incline, or Saber will fit the bill depending on your exact needs. I'd be happy to discuss them by phone with you. The Saber is much more race and BX oriented. The Razor is primarily a carve board and the incline is a carve oriented freeride board. All can be custom tailored to your needs and the ability to blend characteristics from each is there if your style requires it.

I don't really know that the plate is something that will protect you in many situations, but I do believe it did protect me in this case. Cartwheeling down a super steep run on a carve board is a fairly rare occurrence. I did suffer from a sprained ankle in November as a result of overloading the nose while riding a plate.

So I thought a little explanation was in order for those who were not there. Schweitzer has some of the most amazing groomed steeps I've been on. On Friday I came down upper Kaniksu and was pleasantly terrified. Just before lunch we headed for Stiles. Assuming the the grooming to be the same, I dove right in. Unfortunately the extensive recent snowfall had made winch catting that run a bit challenging and I found myself on a run with some significant inconsistencies. By my 3rd turn I decided it was time to put on the brakes and stop. Unfortunately, I was too late and I found myself doing 6 to 7 cartwheels in the soft snow on the side of the trail. With each turn I heard various pops, cracks, and snaps. Stuffing the tip and tail repeatedly and levering through the snow is simply beyond the structural ability of most snowboards. When I came to a stop, the tips and tail were dangling. The interesting thing was I was completely undamaged and never felt and real strain during the fall. The plate really saved my legs. Unable to bend and decoupled from what was happening to the board in the fall, my legs and the plate formed a very stable triangle. I wonder how I would have fared without the plate on. I guess we'll never know. The board will never ride again, but I went in and got another board and went out and rode the remainder of the trip without and any issues.... And yes I went back the next day and conquered Stiles twice.

I just got home. This was an excellent event and location. The early loads were great. Empty runs open only to carvers is always a blast. The grooming was excellent. I think it rivals any I've seen and the steep winch cat stuff was terrifyingly fun to ride. The crowds, even on weekends, were so minimal I never felt like I had to look over my shoulder. This is definitely an event that need to be repeated. While next years ECES is likely to keep me away, I will be returning in 2013. Thanks to the organizers and especially Mark for transporting me to and from the airport.

Sidewinders without a doubt.

Todd and I did a bit more playing with the boom cam on Monday. Here's some of the footage. <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HlP5i4k4cQw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I finally got the snowcat footage up. <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tufh7oSSlP0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Won't mention his name as us narrow stance guys seem to get all sorts @#$!, but he is probably one of the smoothest best riders you will ever see. Comes to SES every year and rides a 16.5in stance. And no, he's not on a skwal.

I'll see what I can do. It's really a work in progress. Our attempt at improving it for today did not really work. Still getting a log of vibration even on firm conditions.

Run the stance that is comfortable for you; experiment, but listen your body. As for where to put things, it's going to vary from one manufacturer to the next. Your best approach is to take a allen key with you and move it around during the day. Last season, some of the guys were preferring about 1/2in forward of the insert pack center on my boards. I haven't really checked in on that since the changes I made for this year. Small changes will make a big difference, and you'll find what you like pretty quickly. Being the obsessive engineer I am, I always ride the center of the insert pack because that's the way I engineered it.

Thanks. I've been having a bit of problem with the boom. First gen was really weak. Because of it's poor connection to the board, it actually didn't bounce as much. Now I've got something that fastens really securely, but it picks up every bump in the snow. If we had some groom, I think it would be better. I made some mods last night, so perhaps it will improve today. I was hoping to get some of the really good guys up here to ride with one for a bit, but we need better conditions first.

The file name is ryzdrone+industr7 I found it on a link on this site: http://www.seabreezecomputers.com/tips/freemusic.htm There's ton's of really good stuff out there with free licenses.

I put together a bit of footage from the boom mounted gopro from day one. The conditions have been pretty rough, so it's tough to find footage that stable enough, but here's a bit. If we get good groom, I'll shoot some more. Maybe first tracks tomorrow. <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GIvOztqMv9M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Carving on a wide board for someone with large feet is no different from carving on narrow board for someone with small feet. We spend a lifetime developing the muscles necessary to walk down the street, run, or stand on our toes. A snowboard that is of similar width to your foot will not be difficult to edge or have any different reaction time than is natural for your body. As for the video. It implies a great deal more than is typically executed. It provides the tools to determine at what angle you do boot out and if it is dramatically different from toe to heel. If there is a big difference, then you plainly have some adjustments to be made in your setup to balance toe or heel drag. Once you know how far you can currently go, you can start to assess how much further you might need to be able to angle your board. As for sizing a board width. Width is about 1/4 of the equation in building a board. Length and sidecut radius determine the maximum waist width. These are based on individual preference or the terrain and type of riding you do. Your mountains vertical rise, trail width and snow conditions can all affect these things. Your preference for long super g style turns or tight slalom turns will affect things as well. If you provide the additional data, I can begin to help size a board for you.

I spent the day making some more industrial versions of the boom. Should be able to handle just about anything you can dish out. I have 4 done and ready to go. They are designed to mount to a plate though, so don't expect to use one without a plate. Bring your gopro or other POV camera and a handle bar/pole mount if you wish to try one out at the Session.

Board technology has changed dramatically in just the last few years. Variable sidecuts, and decambering can all be obtained in the older fiberglass constructions, but will make your ride smoother and way more dynamic.

I find this all rather ironic. The people complaining about being censored are the people who were complaining that I did not censor snowman's graphic. I have a very simple policy when it comes to custom graphics. It is founded in the principles of the the country I live in. I do not censor anyone's custom graphics, period. The most I will do it refuse to put my logo on a graphic I find distasteful. The fact that I don't find the teen-aged idolization of a car distasteful is perhaps my own problem or more likely a result of the region of this country that I was raised. This issue arose over displaying a flag that is associated with slavery and racism in some parts of the US. There are millions in the world who see the US flag as a symbol of evil. Does this mean we should stop displaying it? There's no way anyone can get away with saying that's different just because of what side you are on. It is exactly the same thing.

This is the best way I've come up with to determine appropriate board width. <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZtsIM88T6A0" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

Just bend the board. You can try decambering it, but bending backwards usually does the trick.

A weighted system will follow you as the centripital acceleration causes the weight to swing out. A semi balanced pendulum will reduce reaction time and stay level for a little longer, but eventually swing in line with the rider. The only way to keep a rock steady horizon is with a gyro of some sort. I am investigating this and will probably have something working this spring.

On the upload page, down near the bottom, you'll see something that says "use the basic uploader". Click on that and you'll have no problems with the upload to youtube.

I use an older version of premier which does not support the mp4 fils from the gopro. I have had good luck using the free software: MP4Cam2AVI My settings are: Output settings action : Conver & join -> One AVI video format: Source Video (no compression) audio format: Source audio (no compression) conversion is very rapid and there seems to be no loss of quality, just bigger files.

Just got my tickets. I'll be there Fri, Sat, and Sun. I will be able to ship out a few demos. Please let me know if there are any specific requests. I will of course bring some plates, so let me know what boards people are most interested in.