Donek

That boom was simply a couple of pieces of 1X2 screwed together. It was originally made to simply verify position and distance. By the end of the first run, it was falling apart. Fin and I are working something much better for SES. Perhaps something will be available for sale next year.

We have a big luxury house for the week of SES in Carbondale. There is room for 2 more. The cost would be $500 for the entire week. We will carpool each day to the mountain. You'd be staying with Sean Martin, Kenny Tower, and Todd Brown.

I drove up to Arapahoe basin today to carve and do a little plate experimenting with Fin. Unfortunately, the snow was not ideal for carving and I found myself riding the tail. It was really impressive how the plate made most of the uneven terrain disappear though. Not wanting to waste the trip, I played a bit with some gopro ideas I've been thinking about. You're likely to see some vastly improved booms at SES, but this one certainly proved it works. <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tD03PJ9WIow" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

:smashfreaJust as a note. TD3 bindings don't break all metal boards. I have yet to see a Donek board failure caused by a tD3 binding.

Heard a rumor that that system is going away next year.

Yeah. Me and a grinder aren't bad.

I've been so busy the last few weeks, that I've been unable to make any video updates. I recently purchased a gorpr and played with it in the shop yesterday. Each of us wore it for a little bit. I sped things up a lot as it's pretty boring otherwise. I thought I'd share it here: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YqOdPYNrLE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YqOdPYNrLE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Just sent n e-mail to my Friend Pete Wagner. Hopefully, I'll find out a bit about them.

Perhaps we should start a physics conversation about how impossible it would be for those ankle to support her weight.

Been playing with my Gopro HD and my kids. When I tried to open the videos in Premier, all I get is audio. Did a bit of searching online. Apparently this is a problem with the gopro. Premier doesn't recognize the files. What software are you using for editing Gabe?

How long is the pole you're using? I got a GoPro HD recently, but my sprained ankle and Christmas orders have kept me off the snow. Hopefully, I'll get out and use it soon.

Every board I build is available in that width and you're looking at a 3 week lead time right now.

It's been discussed in another thread. Can't remember which one, but basically you tighten the sidecut towards the tail of the board. For a freecarver, this adds some of the pop at the end of the turn back into the board. For the racer, it provides the ability to make corrections should you get late and need to recover.

If you like the glass pop, then you probably want a hook geometry.

The last 20% of the sidecut ramps to a tighter radius. This can give you a bit of a glass feel to the end of the turn. In race applications it enables a degree correction if the racer gets late.

I broke one of my boards last year. At the time it disturbed me greatly as everything seemed to happen without cause. It was my first run at ECES. Probably my 5th turn of the run, I hit a mogul and my intec heel dissintegrated and the board broke. There was very little there to indicate something like this should have happened. As I reviewed everything, it occured to me that the last run I took on the same board at SES involved a collision and my foot coming out of my binding. I clipped back in a rode to the bottom of the hill without any problems. If you examine the above scenario though, it was the very next run (2 weeks later) that everything went to he!!. Every crash that a board goes through, every turn that a rider makes is one turn or crash closer to failure. Boards break, just like that fuel pump, transmission, shock absorber, etc. on your car. Something happens in their lifetime that results in failure the next or nearly next time it is used. Boards break. So do people. Hopefully the board breaks first.

I see it has not made it on the list on the web site. I call that a hook geometry. From discussions with Bruce, he uses something similar and I am informed that the 14-20-17 geometry is very close to what the Canadian team is currently using. A small portion of the tail is used to give a racer the ability to correct by driving off the tail if he gets late. recreational carvers like it for the pop they can develop at the end of the turn.

I have a video planned on VSR, but it doesn't look like it will happen in December. I'm too busy. In general, old school sidecuts for SL ranged from 8 to 9 meters and GS ranged from 13 to 15 at the world cup level. That has all changed with VSR, but you can be pretty certain those old number will at least be included in the VSR range. I don't think too any people are publishing their VSR radii. You can check out what I do under the specs for the individual models on my site and of course discuss those numbers with me when you order.

That's a bit broad. I don't suppose I'd really consider myself a sales person, although I handle almost every order personally and do my best to tailor each board to the individuals needs.

Definitely the crutch used by most sales people. Height plays a role in the amount of leverage one can apply to a board, but the rule breaks down as soon as the rider does not conform to an average build. The most important aspect of board sizing, in my opinion, is shoe size. Second to that is weight, riding style, experience level, the mountain typically visited and somewhere down at the bottom comes in height.

I posted photos in the photo forum, but failed to do so here. Here is a sampling: You can see a lot more here: http://donek.smugmug.com/Sports/Snow...14736261_6pUqP And I posted the party photos on the Donek Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000404736812

I think if you go back several weeks, you'll find another photo of that or a similar plate. It does use hangl hardware.

I shot the SL event on Friday: I also pulled out the camera to shoot Ace and Snowman freecarving There are many more here: http://donek.smugmug.com/Sports/Snowboard-and-Ski/Copper-Race-to-the-Cup-2010/14736261_6pUqP after race party photos are on our facebook page: http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000404736812

I think I recall a question awhile back about the use of a plate in slalom. I photographed some of the Slalom event on Friday. Here are a few shots of the plates these guys are using right now. Apex Tinkler same plate from the side Hangl Not sure Trappy on a Bomber plate: maybe VIST This looks familiar There are a lot more action photos here: http://donek.smugmug.com/Sports/Snowboard-and-Ski/Copper-Race-to-the-Cup-2010/14736261_6pUqP There are some photos of the after race party on our facebook page: http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000404736812

You're going to find there is a very nice range of price points in this seasons offerings. The primary driving force in cost will be stack height and weight. I think the Donek, Boiler, and Apex work on the same principle. It's a matter of whether the weight and stack are really valuable to you.