Chouinard

I thought about filling the gap between the boot profile and the leg profile with a cast neoprene or similar product to spread the load out evenly. Anyone have experience with castable fillers? I am leary of a pack-out problem if I move to a thicker liner.

Thanks for info. I talked to Jim earlier this week about buying the top half of my T700 boots in a larger size to accommodate the watermelons.

I am looking for help. I am a self-identified expert beginner after two seasons with hard boots following too many years trying to carve with soft boots. I need to break thru to the next level and after working thru most of my setup I have one significant problem that is the root cause of several detrimental issues that I think are impeding my advancement. Boot fit, more specifically the lack of proper fit from the ankle to the top cuff of my 700T Deeluxe boots. I know the boots are correctly sized because I made the 250 mile drive to Toronto [twice] and sized the boots at YYZ. I ended up with the thinner, stiffer Thermoflex liners. My problem stems from the fact that the diameter of my leg immediately above my ankle measures 9.5” and measures 16” at the top edge of the boot cuff. Of course the transition starts just below the top buckle. The problem I am having is if I tighten the second bucket it pinches the bottom of my calf to the point of discomfort and if I leave it loose to eliminate the pinching it provides no support. I have extended the top buckle strap one additional hole by drilling thru the strap in order to provide a short range of adjustment because my only option was the last catch. At the end of last season I was clamping down on the ankle strap to stay in the boot and everything above was basically loose. For those of you who are beyond expert beginner, am I loosing leverage to rock the board over if I leave them loose and drive thru my ankles? I think I am. For those of you with similar geometry issues what have you done to address the problem?

Don't forget about Horizontal Shear. The delamination of the composite section is most likely the result of excessive Horizontal Shear stress while the fracture is the result of excessive tensile stress as the delaminated board was folded about the sharp edge of the plate. Look for witness marks on the topsheet for clues of an impact between the plate and the board. There are two options to mitigate future failures: 1) reduce the input loads or 2) become robust to the input loads. Change your duty cycle or buy a setup designed for your duty cycle. Your constant duty cycle [riding style] has broken two unique setups which leaves you only one option...open up your wallet and buy a setup robust enough to handle your duty cycle.

Please define camber

From: iSixSigma Precision Lack of variation in your measurement. Can be measured in terms of the standard deviation of your measurement system. Has nothing to do with accuracy, which is lack of bias. A precise rifle will shoot small groups. An accurate rifle is properly sighted in.

Are you using a footbed when trying the liners?

Point well taken but keep in mind careful selection of properly designed holes in areas of zero stress in the pursuit of weight reduction is why vehicle frames look like Swiss cheese. A similar approach can be used to reduce the stiffness of a thicker cross section and reduce the increased weight of the thicker material without creating creating detrimental stress risers. My original response was to make the case that compression strength is a significant characteristic of metal boards that improves their behavior on icy surfaces.

Compression is the key to the edge control on hard surfaces and the overall dampness of the boards. During a board bending event [turn] the torsional stiffness of the board distributes the centrifugal force across the width of the board instead instead of wasting the energy twisting the front and back ends of the board around its long axis independent of the stiff center section [due to the support of the bindings]. By engaging the entire width of the board [lateral stiffness] you then spread the load further along its length resulting in a longer effective edge length on hard [ice] surfaces that can withstand the higher load without yielding laterally provided you are literally riding the edge. Widening the width of engagement on a hard surface will decrease your ability to maintain the edge because you will loose the ability to penetrate the surface. Would you rather have someone stand on your hand with flat bottom shoes or with the stem of a high heal? By distributing the centrifugal force across the board you engage the entire cross section of metal which now acts as a simple beam between the two bindings and a cantilever fore and aft. Bending stresses developed during the board bending event are resisted by the available section modulus which is now the entire sheet of metal because it has minimal twist. Within the section modulus all the material above the neutral axis is in compression. The difference between a spring board and a damp board is stiffness. Due to the geometric constraints of a snowboard the only opportunity to increase stiffness is to pick stiffer materials with a higher Young's Modulus i.e. compression strength. Considering that the thicker material is even stiffer yet the comment above regarding the use of properly sized and oriented holes in a thicker cross section of material is a potential opportunity to deliver the same performance characteristics as the thinner material, all other considerations aside.

The answer to the original question lies at the intersecting of desire and opportunity. I view this sport like three other similar activities that I have dabbled in over the past thirty years, two which follow a similar trajectory with respect to opportunity and one that is more limited based on desire. Winding surfing and its natural extension kite boarding are both ultimately dependent on Mother Nature’s offering of a strong consistent wind. When first starting out in both activities wind does not play a superior dominant factor in the enjoyment of the sport but as you climb the learning curve and master the skills of either sport the need for strong consistent wind quickly becomes the most significant determinant factor for enjoyment. You become dependent on better conditions which occur less frequently as your skill increases until you get to the point where you may stop (like I did) unless you are blessed by living in an area like the Columbia River Gorge, Aruba or Hawaii, etc. Other areas can offer ripe conditions but you must be flexible to capitalize on their infrequent occurrence. Similar to alpine carving, stand-up jet skiing was at the root of personal watercrafts and like alpine carving is now the niche part of the sport as it was left behind by the popularity of sit-down jet skis’. For the vast majority of people the ease of plopping down on a sit-down jet ski satisfies the desire to get out on the water and have fun. The development of the skill sets to balance, ride and yes eventually lay down a carve on a stand-up [which sinks under the weight of its rider while at rest] is way too much work for the average rider of a sit-down. Even though the production and availability of new stand-up jet skis has greatly diminished over time, the community is populated by a group of like minded riders who thoroughly enjoy the challenge and freedom that a stand-up jet ski provides. In this case opportunity to ride is everywhere there is 12” of water but the desire to do so is the limiting factor. Unfortunately alpine carving is limited by both. The soft boot population is content on skidding around on the slopes with a subset of riders that ride their edges. In contrast, alpine carving by function does not favor skidding around so in that respect it is one dimensional. Within that dimension there is a wide variety of paths to follow but they are all variations of riding an edge verses riding the flat. So there must be a conscious decision to commit to predominantly riding an edge, also known as a desire. Furthermore the as you progress up the learning curve the enjoyment of riding becomes not only dependent on the availability of suitable terrain but also on mother nature’s offering of favorable riding conditions. In that respect the limiting factor becomes opportunity and in reality equipment costs, lift tickets, getting to the slopes, etc. unfortunately are really just the price of admission. So on a nutshell "Why is the carving community so darn small?" it's because there are only so many enlightened people in the world and you should be glad you are one of them. Live to Carve or Carve to Live, either way this winter season was to damn short.

This is a great deal if you can plan ahead.

I'm going to Aspen but would like some runs before then. I am going to Boyne Sunday/Monday for some boilerplate riding. They are forecasted for some snow. We'll see. Thanks for feedback.

How are the conditions? Do they warrant a 10 hr drive from Flint? I was planning a trip to Boyne but looks like they are scheduled for rain.

What?

Boot fit is the most critical input to the carving process. Grab your foot beds and go to the best boot fitter available who has a variety of boots to try. You need the optimum fit in the optimum boot, anything else degrades performance. Optimum boot includes: shape, flex, etc. tailored to your carving mode. If you have access to a convection oven consider heat molding the liners yourself. There are plenty of how to instructions online.

I know it's an old post but I am looking for a pair of metal 3 hole disks. Anything available?

Purchase Pending. If lead falls thru I will respond further.

Looking for 14-15 m board to expand quiver. 190lb rider on East of Mississippi ice. Limited budget. Base, edges and cross section rules over cosmetics.

Since the early 90's.

Xmas present to myself. Coiler Nirvana replaces my Donek Razor.

55 yrs old and heading to Syracuse this weekend to learn some new tricks at the Pureboarding event.

Been riding a Donek Razor, Flow AT bindings & Driver X boots. I am switching to a Coiler Nirvana and hard boots and keeping the Razor for the fluffy conditions because it rides like my windsurfer on powder...sit back and float down the slope. Board choice is dependent on majority of snow conditions. Partisan

Whatever you buy look for a camera with good video functionality. Stop action sports photos (soccer, hockey, lacrosse) are difficult without expensive lenses however you can pull still images out of a video clip (24 plus) frames per second that can rival or exceed the best slr sports lenses. Partisan

If they are still available I will take them. I sent you an email as well.