fivat

@ Cyrus (aka Frank Dietzel): Again aggressions, lies, sarcasms, arrogance, dishonesty and a kid attitude… After aggressing the shapers Bruce Varsava, Jacques Rilliet, etc. and various members , after almost claiming that you have invented snowboarding and after writing that you will win Olympic Games, you should relax a bit and stop ruining this Forum. You have been moderated several times here and I would appreciate that the moderators continue their job, thanks. I hope that Jack Michaud is reading this. ;) Moreover Fin has started a Sub-Forum "Vendor Announcements". I wonder why all the posts which are Virus advertisements are not placed there and why they pollute the main Forum. For sure I would participate here in some interesting threads based on real facts and technical questions if we were not systematically aggressed. Such behaviors are just unbelievable. Bravo to all people who post videos like those Russians (by the way, they really rock!). This is real facts, no blabla. In the recent movie "Carved" made by professionals in 2k (= double HD) and 120 frames/second, one can see in details how the Swoard Gen3 is phenomenal and is working perfectly at all inclinations (including 90°). This is Swiss quality and performances like in all brands producing in Switzerland. Everyone is still waiting for a video showing Cyrus himself in action riding one of his boards (please, show linked turns on various slopes). But the community is getting from him a lot of blabla and aggressions. Greetings to all nice people (almost everyone ;)) and my friends in this Forum! Patrice Fivat

What generation? It has evolved a lot in 5 years. Now it's generation 3... Most riders have not yet started the season. Wait a little bit for serious reviews (made with proper flex and size, during several days). Fin has some demo boards (in sizes 168 and 175, flexes M and H... no 161 and no flex S in demo for now). But select your Swoard correctly (and follow the advices about settings; it's wide! ;) ): http://www.extremecarving.com/swoard/choose.html By the way, I have tested the Swoard on ice, hard and soft snow. Damn, it rocks even more than generation 2! :) More comfortable, it forgives more and it's easier to enter the fully laid turns (and to recover when you want: awesome grip which can be controlled). I can't wait for next week-end and Christmas!! Patrice Fivat

This thread is just a SPAM about Rolex replicas! :) Anyway we are all used to see good Swiss products being copied! When will the excellent Kessler boards be copied too? Fortunately, like the watches, what is inside do all the difference. Ethics / etiquette: You can buy what you want and Rolex replicas if you want. :) As well as buying illegal DVD copies, downloading MP3 illegally, etc. It’s just bad manners and bad ethics (bad etiquette). Making copies of the Swoard outline and taking the same model name is a “Chinese” method of making “news” boards. Again, it’s bad etiquette (and illegal by the way). Fortunately most riders here understand this and are not dishonest (special thanks for their support!). And they prefer the original Swoard. ;) If you have the opportunity to test one Swoard this winter, please try generation 3 and not generation 1 with incorrect size or flex for 1-2 runs only. History: Not true at all. Or maybe he can prove it? Pictures from 2001 tell a lot about history and truth: http://www.extremecarving.com/photos/photos01.html Look at the prototypes on the pictures. :) There are even older pictures with previous prototypes from 1997 there: http://club-ski.web.cern.ch/club-ski/snowboard/Photos/patrice.html#1997 Moreover, the excellent Carver’s almanach (www.alpinecarving.com) is a good book of history. There are also many witnesses in the Bomber forum since day one (like Fin, Jack Michaud, yyzcanuck, Scott Firestone, etc.). As shown on the 1997 and 2001 pictures, we had already developed before 2001 a prototype of what was going to become the Swoard. We had to develop our own model because at this time we could find on the market only narrow alpine boards (example: Virus width 15 cm) or not designed for the riding technique we were developing (laid turns armpit to armpit AND linked). Then people have asked us if we could make this board available to the public (since such type of wide boards didn’t exist anymore or had bad performances!). Fortunately Jacques Rilliet had still many contacts in the industry because of his past as shaper. In 2002 we could finally produce the first Swoards resulting from a long development on snow started in 1995. Note that these pictures had provoked many reactions on the Bomber Forum in early 2001: some members didn’t believe that it was possible to get up after such laid turns (armpit touching the snow), and to link them… Then appeared the videos. The boards and the technique had been named “extremecarving” by us (that’s why we have www.extremecarving.com): this word was criticized at start because of the “extreme” term, what I understand because it’s used a lot in the media. But full laid turns have the maximal inclination, what is extreme in this sense. Factories: All brands (even Burton) use sometimes other factories from other brands to make their models. The Swoards made by Duret were not Duret boards. The Swoards made by Virus were not Virus boards. Indeed, we came with our own shaper, concepts and know-how. We also brought our own materials for some parts, like the cores, fiberglass and top sheets for example. Above all, making an excellent EC board requires many many tests and years of experience by experts of the discipline on the snow… I wish to everyone an excellent season! With honesty and loyalty. Our small community doesn’t need untrue posts, bad manners and conflicts… Alpine snowboarding future is uncertain. Let’s stay a good family. I ask for respect from each other and good etiquette. Ah, and if you travel with your board, watch out at the customs: they take and destroy the Rolex replicas! ;) Patrice Fivat

Saas Fee (Switzerland) has one of the best glaciers in Europe. Many teams from all over the world come there to train in summer (alpine and freestyle snowboarding). More info: http://www.saas-fee.ch/en/welcome.cfm

Hi Bordy, Thanks for your reply and your politeness. Yes, your review is long and contains also positive remarks. At start I even told to myself: "Ah, finally a less good review than the ones from other riders" :D However the words "leave the Swoard in the scabbard" are not nice and people who don't read the posts in detail will focus only on this. Here are two problems in my opinion: 1) You tested a board (175H) that is made (width, flex, torsional stiffness) for riders who are +84 kilos (some of our customers are 100 kilos!) and +181 cm. You should have used a 168H or even a 168M... It's important. Even if you are used to long boards from other brands (that are made for your weight and that are not so wide), the Swoard 175H is absolutely not designed for your weight and size, whatever your skill is. I have no doubt that you are honest and sincere. But imagine that I test a board which doesn't really suits to me: a small and too soft 154 board from another brand. I would say that I don't like some points, and could write honestly and sincerely why in details. I know the guy (Jean-Paul Ohaco from Chile) who lent you the board. I exchanged some e-mails with him a few months ago. His order was a mistake: he should have bought a 168H, not a 175H. This summer (winter in South America) we sent him the proper board, and he told me that he really liked it, while he had problems of course with the 175H (he disliked it!). On 18th August 2004 he writes about the 168H: "This board works really good". 2) You have tested the board for only a half day apparently when you met Jean-Paul Ohaco at the lift. As explained on the Website, it may take 1-2 days for someone to get used to the Swoard, and especially to the EC technique (developed for this board, thanks to this board). Fortunately people feel already at start the potential of the Swoard. Last season at the Extremecarving Session (ECS '04) it was really funny to see how some testers progressed a lot in 3 days! From a marketing point of view, the Swoard is a bad product ;) because one can't test it really in a few runs. One sees nothing special on the outside of the board (except the wideness), and one has to learn the EC technique explained on our Website. To conclude, I would just mention that I was surprised to see on Harbooter.com that the only and first board review you have posted is the one about the Swoard 175H. You have mentioned you have a large quiver. So why have you not posted reviews about some of your boards you use a lot? And why do you make a review about a board that you have tested for a half day in wet snow, and that is note suited to you? Sorry for my bad English, or my eventual misapprehensions. Keep your Website growing! Thanks for what you do for the alpine scene. Patrice Fivat

To everyone: if you test a Swoard, please choose only the proper Swoard. I hate the Swoard 175H and 175M, hehe ;) I love the 168H... Read my reply to Bordy here: http://www.extremecarving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6408&highlight=#6408 Patrice Fivat