Chouinard

Burton Prime Speed including three hole cant and discs. Length: 178 cm Waist: 20 cm Estimated side cut: 14 m - 15 m Board is in Very Good Shape, clean top sheet and base. $150 + shipping.

Sold

“...this is why when people offer advice here, they need to start with what the surface conditions are they are riding on..” “Typically here in Colorado we have Hero surfaces for maybe 90% of the seasons available days...” 90% of SE Michigan’s season is a couple of inches of ground ice over ice.

Do it. I need an excuse to make the 9 hr drive. Of course if the conditions aren't like your post above it will be a MESS.

Incredible last day at Nubs Nob Sunday April 8th. 99% diehards taking in the last stoke of the season. Couple inches of fresh over impeccable groomed recent 12" dump encouraged everyone to ride out of their bindings. Shout out to @Pat Donnelly and @Trenchman who put on a show for everyone. And the brisket was tasty as well.

Knocked down and cleaned all my gear getting it ready for storage when low and behold my coach sends me an email about the last weekend at Nubs Nob with 60% off lodging and lift ticket combo’s. I’ll be damned if I no sooner make reservations to ride on the frozen ice ball when Mother Nature dumps 12” of lake effect on my parade.

Can you provide a brief description of your technique? Is it the same for all boards and conditions or does it change depending on any number of factors such as: pitch, board type, surface condition, etc.?

UVEX OTG - only comes with yellow lense. I use prescription sun glasses under them when sunny and clear glasses under them when cloudy/overcast. Outstanding range of vision. However I may be going to a UVEX visor helmet next year.

Heard it in the lodge - pulling my boots off I overheard one guy leaving the hill talking to another guy booting up, both skiers. The guy leaving tells the guy booting up that that face is trashed out. He says " guys on boards this morning were leaving trenches this deep" as he holds his hands about six inches apart.

Is this the same barryj who was carrying on a few weeks ago about riding on rocks? What kind of texture is a 3'-7' dump?

You need to load the board to bend it. If a board is too stiff then YOU need to push the deflection by using a greater entry speed and then maintain the energy level by storing it in the bent board thru the carve only to release it at the exit. The cyclic loading on your legs takes a toll. I have two boards one on the stiff side of my weight and one on the soft side of my weight. There is a significant difference to me when I ride with the same inputs.

58 yrs old. Mid 70’s on a yellow snurfer on the terrain on golf course next door. Early 90’s on a Burton M6 with Sorels. 2010 on a Donek Razor with Driver X boots and Flow NXTAT bindings. 2014 on a Coiler Nirvana AND i got an email just yesterday from my coach which said: “What angles did you have your bindings set up on Sunday? I was going to suggest 60/55 if you were at 55/50 . . . You are so close, your upper body and trailing arm are much improved from a year ago “ How long does it F#%king take?

How would you compare this board to a Rev with a variable sidecut [small to large]? Can you open up the curve at the end of the turn or does it hook up?

A couple of weeks ago on my local bump I turned in the empty lift line to head back up the hill. The lift line has a 90-degree dogleg to the left towards the loading area. As I stopped at the inside of the 90 to release my binding a skier comes blasting thru the line, makes the 90-degree turn, skies up to the loading area, jumps onto a chair and off he goes. I looked up to see a ski patrol skier in the chair. I followed the douche bag up the lift and found him leaning on his poles engrossed in a conversation with three other ski patrollers. I tap him on his shoulder and he turns around and gives me an up and down stare ending with a “what the f#@k do you want” look. I said loud enough for all four to hear: “I was in the lift line unfastening my bindings when a skier came flying thru and onto a chair without stopping.” He gives me a dumb stare. I then said: “Who might that be? He Replied: “Me” I then said: “Is that the kind of behavior you should be demonstrating to all the kids on the hill?” He replied: “Fair enough” It was only after I looked down on his coat and saw a metal ski patrol badge pined to his chest did I realize that I just talked to Barney Fife.

Snow fall has been light this season after a decent start for most of the lower and east end of the upper. Searchmont is run by a government backed entity because they did not want to lose the tourism. Very laid back operations but a quality groom when there. The pitches are fairly wide. I make GS turns with plenty of room. I asked everyone if it was a typical crowd and everyone said it was a little light but I don't think they would get buried due to location. It's a very nice local ski resort. There were the usual straightliners but I honestly don't think they see many alpine riders. I went into the Sport shop and the cashier said he saw me on the hill.

Woman shrieks: Those are ski boots! I reply: No, they are snowboard boots. Woman shrieks: But they are hard! I reply: Yes

Few pictures. Sunset looking west at Straits of Mackinaw from Big Mac Bridge. Sunset afterglow on Blue Ice built up on shore. Yes, the get some snow.

Searchmont Ski Resort - Alpine Ski & Board As the only Midwest ski resort actually located on a mountain, Searchmont is proud to say that they have the most diverse terrain, the longest runs (18 in total) and the greatest vertical (750 feet!) in the area. Located just 30 minutes drive north of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada [and US] Over two days of riding, I spent 75% of my time on the “Main” which is on the far right. Total of 6-7 benches as you drop approximately 650’. The lift discharges about 30 short of the peak with a flat spot about 3’ x 4’ if you can find it to clip in. From there you drop down two benches before blending in with flow from two addition feeds in a large bottom bowl, football field or more in diameter. Drop off the bowl into a short pitch that feeds directly down slope over a snow outcrop or left around the end with a toeside feed [regular] into a football field wide pitch that drops down two more benches and finishes in a bottom wave washout. Of course, the only onsite lodging has patios viewing the final drop. If you have been to Buttermilk the terrain and drops remind me of the bottom third of the main run from “Bear”, “Lower Savio” & “Columbine” to the lift. Snow texture: Frozen granular Chalk. Groom: Good to excellent, some areas of ripped open surface but was not frozen solid washboard typical of freeze/thaw cycles. Everyone could set an edge and dust never grew more than inch thick. The surface was smooth underneath. Other Runs: Multiple runs with varying pitch Blue-Black to Black-Black with fewer benches [see shadows in photo] thru mix of evergreens and deciduous trees. Partial sun thru day. Runs on far left were only available part of the day due to a lift out of service. I stayed off the other runs because I had plenty to do on the Main. Qualifications: Unless you go early in the season or after a dump, you are not going to have “Hero” snow after mid January/Early February due to freeze/thaw cycles. Although the nighttime temperatures were in the teens, the days were pushing 40 so it was more packed kernels than packed snow. I was skidding [2”-3” wide tracks] turns until the surfaced softened. It was way too fast in the morning for me to do otherwise. Final thoughts: I do not know if it is necessarily worth the trip from the west end of the U.P. but it is certainly worth the trip from downstate Michigan to bypass the Boyne/Nubs Nob foothills and drive up into the Canadian Shield formations. I have driven seven hours to go to upstate NY for similar elevations but the terrain at Searchmont will pull me back and it is a shorter drive. In fact, I going again next weekend. Lift tickets $56 CAD.

Saw your post and lack of reply. I'm going to call them about grooming because their website is not clear. They have been hammered with Superior lake effect recently. If I go next week I will submit a site report.

Anyone carving on Searchmont? Rain has decimated local bumps and looking for something different than Boyne or Nubs.

Because the Nirvana was useless today. I moved the bindings back on my Coiler AM and had a blast.

Rejoice, You have taken a major step forward.