freerider81

Great pics!!

That thing looks like a beast. I may have to try a regular board with hard boots some time. A few of the places I go have short mellow runs, not very good for an alpine board and the other runs are very short steeper runs. They are great for the kids but I get tired of them quickly. I will look for something with a smaller side cut and see what happens.

Thanks for posting Bryan. How does a board like that act on groomers? I imagine you cant carve as good as a regular alpine board but don't those boards have smaller side cuts so you could carve at lower speeds?

I saw the video that Phil W posted on riding in powder with his hard boots on a regular snowboard. Where could I find a few more videos riding a set up like that, both in powder and on groomers?

I rode my F2 yesterday and I really love that thing. I ride with a lot more confidence on this board compared to any other board I have (witch is only 2 others), but it holds so well and I do not feel as if I am going to slip out in a nice carve. Perhaps my other main board needs to be sharpened? I love the speed this board likes because the faster you go, it still has the control factor for me. When I get this board out it feels like I have rode the mountain hard (or big hill here in Minnesota) and I know it has been a good day. Then it comes time to get out something smaller and have some fun messing around.

Thanks for posting the vid. Wish the conditions were a little better but still had a good time. I overheard some of the skiers in the lift line say "Boy, those snowboarders sure ruin the runs they have been on, don't they" All I could think about was - That is exactly how I feel about skiers after a making countless piles of snow on a run.. "Friends don't let friends slide or swoosh" Rail or edges only.

It was nice to ride with you. Great day and good conditions, they got the Express lift going around 2 or so and I took some nice easy going smooth runs before hitting the road. It was great to get out the big stick and get a little speed "bombing" the steeps. Have fun at SES.

Looking forward to it.

I consider short line any one that can run the course 15 off or shorter at any speed, really just running the course in general. If I ski with 3 things in mind it is a walk in the park at 28 off, 36 mph. I have run the full course at 32 off a few times but none were very clean, never tried any shorter then that. Those 3 things are - early release of the handle, like just on the other side of the wake - stand tall and put some weight on the front of the ski coming to the buoy, set up time getting ready for the turn -stretching my arm as far out as possible during the lean around the buoy Yea, there are no smooth arcing carves water skiing unless you are free skiing, but those are only fun when you can't run the course because the wind is in the wrong direction. And like I was saying once you start playing around with how much you bend your knees or not, you can really fine tweak your riding style in both.

For the longest time I didn't bend my knees water skiing but started to do that and instantly felt the difference. There was less stress on the cut back to get to the next buoy and it seems like you get there faster, also for more set up time. Now I can totally tell the difference in carves when you bend your knees compaired to keeping them straight.

Where do you guys meet up in the morning?

Made it to Afton tonight and for the second night in a row I was very disappointed. Went to Buck Tuesday night. Choppy on 2, the bowl wasn't too bad but was so dark you couldn't see much, and the rest of the place is either to flat or to narrow for my liking. The rest of my other likable runs now have snowboard crap on them.

I made it to Buck last night and it was horrible. The only place I found that was half way decent was just down hill of the moguls. Was weaving in and out off the chair lift poles half the night.

I have water skied for 20 years but have only been going thru the slalom course for about 5. I was wondering how many others short line water ski? I always thought snowboarding was more like slalom skiing in more ways than it was like wake boarding, but now that I have been alpine boarding I am seeing almost the same body position, feeling, and just overall similarities between the 2. Last year I just got plan board with soft booting and decided to throw down some money for an alpine set up, best purchase I have made in a long time. Now, I only have about 2 months, late fall and early spring, between seasons. It seems like water skiing isn't even on my mind like past winters but later in the season I won't be able to wait to get back on the water, and I imagine next fall I will be looking forward to getting out the alpine board again. There was a SKWAL for sale on the forum a couple weeks ago and I wanted to grab it but It will have to wait until another time.

They sell Edgie-wedgies right at the ticket office if you didn't already pick one up there. I think they were $12.