kipstar

I have an oxygen 149 and some bindings to go with it for a kid; just needs someone to pass through Thailand to get hold of it.

I am almost inclined to do what you did with the dalbellos, will check them out next time I am stateside, as they sell them at Footworks in Mammoth and actually did recommend them to me last time I was there....

LOL Beckmann... I like your thinking! RIght now best scenario I think is to persevere with the concept of the reverse spring for the heel turns (one of the benefits of the BTS) but to locate some shorter springs. Otherwise, I can chop up a piece of G10 and mount it in place of the spring as a fixed position stopper. The thing about lifting toes, is while the net result is similar in a static position; effectively the amount of travel from position 1 (neutral) to position 2 (aggressively fully loaded into the turn) is reduced as you are preloaded up and ankles only bend so far forward....hence why I like being quite upright. Also...riding only a few days a year (at most) it is a lot more natural for me to be more upright and less effort that way!

So I managed to assemble my indys and put the bts in after like 3 years and the flex in the boot is just awesome. However I ride pretty upright; I like standing straighter in the boots than the std position with the bottom nut wound to lowest position. On the rab I tapped the thread to get the boot straighter; put it down to 15 years riding riachle flexons and diminishing skills and fitness. On the bts I can see thinning up/changing out the lower nut, changingthe spring to a shorter one would work; I am not sure I want to stiffen up the setup which is the option of compressing both springs from the top nut. Or do riders better than me suggest I just man up grow a pair hit the gym and start riding with more fwd lean?

In boat building and windsurfers where there is a bigger premium on weight to performance, there are 'miracles' pitched every few years. For strength material, S glass, E glass, carbon and kevlar seem to be the way to go. Core materials range from foam, wood (cedar) and nomex. This stuff has come up, but no widespread use.

Lots of interesting comments...actually Sierra Manor was one of the first to kick off the idea of buying, I do remember the so called 'ghetto' of Mammoth around (now this is going back a while) Shakey's? Pizza, in that area past whisky creek but before factory outlets as you drove down towards the motorway. Sierra I can vaguely recall, but it's been a while. Now I am thinking...why not in the village; the advantage is that there is the hotel pool system, more likely to not have unexpected surprises, and we do hotel branded residences here in Thailand (in our case The Ritz-Carlton) so I get the concept and believe in it. $200k USD is not so bad if there is some earnings attached to it. Like Dantheman I am based in Asia, and I am earning Thai Baht, not USD and based out here, so usage a few weeks a year is enough, with an eventual plan to spend a month or so each year riding Mammoth mid week. I understand Prop 13, and it is ironic that on the one hand, that's one of the major reasons why the state is going bankrupt...but on the other hand no one wants to be the first to actually pay tax for what things are worth. From an outsider viewpoint, it is an example of one of the reasons why true democracy doesn't always work. But all that said, the other option is around Lake Tahoe...incline village would be nice. I have so many happy memories of Mammoth (not nearly as many at June, which was always just to escape crowds really) and so that's why it is under consideration. It's a pity that The Ritz-Carlton seems to be on hold there. Northstar doesn't appeal to me. Alpine is also an awesome mountain; however the free shuttle around mammoth and the way the town is laid out means you could do without a car for a while. Not sure Tahoe (Alpine, Southshore, Incline, etc) it is so easy to do that, but I am not sure i ever saw a more beautiful place than Lake Tahoe in the world....

Lots of interesting comments...actually Sierra Manor was one of the first to kick off the idea of buying, I do remember the so called 'ghetto' of Mammoth around (now this is going back a while) Shakey's? Pizza, in that area past whisky creek but before factory outlets as you drove down towards the motorway. Sierra I can vaguely recall, but it's been a while. Now I am thinking...why not in the village; the advantage is that there is the hotel pool system, more likely to not have unexpected surprises, and we do hotel branded residences here in Thailand (in our case The Ritz-Carlton) so I get the concept and believe in it. $200k USD is not so bad if there is some earnings attached to it. Like Dantheman I am based in Asia, and I am earning Thai Baht, not USD and based out here, so usage a few weeks a year is enough, with an eventual plan to spend a month or so each year riding Mammoth mid week. I understand Prop 13, and it is ironic that on the one hand, that's one of the major reasons why the state is going bankrupt...but on the other hand no one wants to be the first to actually pay tax for what things are worth. From an outsider viewpoint, it is an example of one of the reasons why true democracy doesn't always work. But all that said, the other option is around Lake Tahoe...incline village would be nice. I have so many happy memories of Mammoth (not nearly as many at June, which was always just to escape crowds really) and so that's why it is under consideration. It's a pity that The Ritz-Carlton seems to be on hold there. Northstar doesn't appeal to me. Alpine is also an awesome mountain; however the free shuttle around mammoth and the way the town is laid out means you could do without a car for a while. Not sure Tahoe it is so easy to do that.

interesting...June isn't quite enticing enough for more than a few days for me, wouldn't want to live there too much, although riding was quiet as the place is less crowded. Good in that respect. But hard to find runs like Scotties, a groomed cornice bowl, P1-P4, Chair 22, etc. But I hear you on Mammoth in terms of urban sprawl...maybe Tahoe is a better bet. I have lined up some passes (related to my old job in Mammoth) for this season, so hopefully can ride for free; thought I'd check out the real estate scene as well, but if it has turned into a crowded Big Bear type scene...well maybe good for the real estate but not so good for riding. It was always a mess in the weekends but good midweek. Dunno...maybe will look up in Southshore or Incline Village...or just keep money in the bank...problem in the bank is it doesn't seem to be as exciting as invested more in boats/car/condo/holiday home/etc....

Now bear in mind the first time I came to USA I was a student, and the USD was almost double a NZ one, and fixed at 25b/$1USD. Now.. I have earning power and earn THB with some savings here and in NZ...I am looking at prices in Mammoth (ok, so I only know Mammoth and Tahoe) and thinking man, that is cheaper than what I remember in 1995 for some of these bank owned properties. For less than $100k you can get something, that to me is unbelievably cheap; that's Thai or less than NZ prices...in Mammoth no less. Can anyone out there speak knowledgeably; is the US resort market relatively tanked, and likely to get better (it will always get better eventually) or am i just seeing absolute trailer trash property?

this is the pool and the technique my dad and I used to fish in (not my video) in NZ....the fish caught is a typical hen probably 4 pounds; anything less than 3 pounds would be put back as it is too small. usually when I've fished what we called Pete's pool (the one upstream around the bend) is a good one.... It's the only place where I've caught and released and caught and kept a decent number of fish reaching the limit in a day (3 kept, about 5 released). 'Cause I'm a hack. Not sure what systems you guys use, but I am now pretty undergunned as people double fist the rod and are running often 10 or 11 foot rods now; i am still on a 9 footer (last time used 8 years ago though). Double nymph with a woollen neutral bouancy float (not allowed synthetic floats), on about a 10 foot leader then a 2nd nymph about 18 inches back. Fish go for both nymphs, usually a glowbug of heavily weighted first nymph and an unweighted of lightly weighted dropper; both usually something like 16 hook size. COuple that with the mountain only 1 hour's drive away, and it's quite possible to snowboard until 3pm, head to the river for the late afternoon; put on the ipod and listen to pounding drum and bass while tranquil water flows past.

awesome picture.... :_) (it says what it needs to say)

and now I have seen in fact the long pins (which are the bent ones) are sold out. FIN - HELP!!!

Being in thailand it ends up costing a lot more with shipping duty etc. And duty is calculated on the shipping as well. Anyhow I am happy to buy a new set but would be easier to use local stainless (which we use a lot of in the boat yard I own). I do agree that the bts is less likely to bend the pins as the fit is right across the void; the raichle method is a bit rangi to say the least! i will place the bomber order and lets see what happens for shipping :-)

I have removed the rab from my indys to fit the bts and have discovered both top longer pins are substantially bent to the point u cannot insert into the longer solid tube bts housing. I need to replace the pins with a similar solid rod. My question: - is it stainless 304? - can anyone confirm diameter? - any advice on avoiding the same problem again? I am not so keen to use a threaded screw of smaller diameter plus the thread. 7

Now we find out that TD1s are the reason that the US economy is running a current account deficit; all those nickels being used worldwide for investment in anti-cant technologies........

its my new best mate on Bomber (the OP sold me some trench digger 3s, arrived in pristine condition, man I am so happy right now :-).... Regarding the liners, you would be best to bake them without any additional padding attached, as the concept of the moulding is to get them to fill as much of the voids around your foot as possible. That said, if you are like me with thin ankles but relatively large bones, then you will end up attaching the C shims anyhow as the boots pack out. By cooking them with the shims already attached, the liner is moulding excluding that volume already; however it's not all bad as the shim is probably a more dense foam and thus won't pack out as much. I can imagine there is some slight benefit to having the tongue wrapping clockwise on the right foot, simply as you will tend to pull you right leg towards the inside of the boot more than the outside; and also because you ideally don't want a seam sitting over the top of your arch of your foot (the top of your instep) because there are a bunch of nerves that run over this area, so any seam or roughness will tend to pressure your foot and that's partly what causes your feet to feel damn cold as well as sore. All this said, if it works I can't see any logical reason why you couldn't run stuff back to front if the end result is you are comfortable....but if it isn't fitting so well then perhaps best to reset them. The shop that sells tents and other american outdoors bullS*(t products like BBQs in summer in reno or that place in Squaw or of course footworks>? in mammoth all would do a good job to sort you out.

Yes, the old emeries had a similar concept of soild centre and soft sides. The problem is u are flexing by distorting the sole relative to the bail/toe clip. Which was why the emeries were a bit fragile and also booted out sometimes. The only way to introduce flex would be so the entire boot sole and bail all flex together, otherwise given how far we've come since the emery in boots and techique I think you'll destroy yourself. If u must use odd add ons, try synthetic chopping boards. They will be less prone to splitting or splintering. I'd go for td sidewinders.

Another option is you may be able to find a pair of the older Oxygen/Fritschi/nitro (possibly F2) bindings where the binding closure itself has a locked position onto the wire bail; I always felt this to be a more secure way to go, and AFAIK the new TD3 has a similar system now as well; finding any of these then getting or modifying your existing bail might help. Just looking at it, I'd be inclined to bend the bail closure so you could get the shape more aligned to the boot, and have the bail closer to the boot; as others say this is the reason perhaps why you are having issues.

those look like fritschi bindings (also OEM for nitro as well and oxygen for a while). Very nice bail design on them; I used these bindings for years, and so far still have only broken 1 pair I think.

I am fairly sure this Nitro is from the 1994-97 period, somewhere in there. While a very nice riding board for that era, it is heavier and possibly not quite as nice to ride as a modern board. Waist is about 200mm and it should ride like a shorter GS board. I used to ride the 163 scorpion which i believe is almost the same shape from what I can guess is 1 year earlier or 2 years earlier than this one. The bindings should be ok for someone of medium size, and the board would be about on par with a factory prime or rossignol of the same era. Having bought an oxygen 178 since and ridden them back to back, I would have to say that while i loved riding the scorpion, the lower noses and lighter weights of subsequent boards means you can enjoy a bit more length with better edge hold. I'd say since I paid about $200 USD for the oxygen brand new (a 2004 board I think), that the board with bindings should be priced something similar to the FPs and rossignols that you see from time to time from the 90s; maybe $80-150 for the board and about $50-75 for the bindings. But I know naaaaahthing ('ullo 'ullo) Based

I haven't done a lot of racing, but this is what I remember. To finish, first you need to get round all the gates For each turn, the aim is to exit on the right line in the right body position with the highest possible speed which sets you up correctly for the next gate; this may mean doing a slow in fast out turn (which ideally means you scrub the speed at the beginning and then exit with as much speed as possible, not the other way around). So a lot of the drills racers run (from my limited experience) seem to involve learning how to find that good line which is often not the rut line particularly if they are skiers, and also learning how to ride in a nice centred position so your centre of gravity is more over the edge than out laid out carving style, learning how to change edges with different timing (so as to match the course rather than matching what you feel is the time to be ready of changing to the edge), learning to skid into a turn then carve out the other side, learning to skid round an entire turn without scrubbing tons of speed, learning when to use which kind of turn, learning how to 'read' a course before you race it. To be honest, much of what I was taught is more than a decade out of date now, but I do remember that practice definitely helps. I think most novices ilke me tend to start their turns way too late and try to carry too much speed from attempting to carve every turn; not doing that especially if the top of the course was steep helped me finish a bunch more courses and also avoid going late into gates. There's a great video of Thedo Remmelink somewhere on youtube that explains the skid into a carve type turn that is used a lot on steep and tricky sections. The carving bit becomes really key in the flatter sections of the course as you can hold a ton more speed sometimes; that was the only thing I did well enough to win a couple of races against other idiots of my skill level :-)

I used to get boards from nitro, so after my last scorpion I received in 1996 I think it was and used until 1998, I didn't really do any snowboarding again until 2004. From 1993 - 1997 I guess I did at least 50-200 days a year, riding northern and southern hemispheres, plastic oxygen/nitro bindings, raichle ski boots modified. Old school style gear from 1993 onwards I guess as the first time I went to USA that's what people were mostly using in Mammoth (sym boards, various bindings, modified ski boots). Boots I did try snowboard boots a few times, but always found them too soft. Then after a bit break, by this time, I was somewhat sure that despite cheaper boards being on the market, that 'they probably weren't that much better' and so I stayed riding the scorpion and for the most part wasn't riding with that many alpine riders, and when I did, usually was somewhat holding my own technically and so on....so I figured any further improvements were lack of time on the snow rather than the gear....easy to say when you do less than 20 days in 12 years. That said, I did buy a few cheap boards including a couple of new oxygens a 178 and a 185, and a nidecker 171, and the raichle skiboots snapped a cable so then I had to switch to a pair of indys that I had purchased and didn't actually intend to use. The first day was very very sucky for the first few runs, then I discovered that actually a softer boot was a lot less work. Within a couple of days my riding had improved and now I can only think of a couple of conditions that I would prefer the stiffer modified ski boot and even then, the tradeoff of weight and energy needed to kind of work around the stiffness I now can see had held me back a bit probably when I was doing a lot of days. The next discovery was that the oxygen 178 was actually fairly light and had substantially better edge hold than the scorpion, which at that point had received a severe thrashing for many years and was noticeably worse. I have no doubt I will have a similar step forward if and when I get my new TD3 bindings/metal board etc and get to spend a decent bit of time on them. But doing less than 10 days a year, I could ride the scorpion or even my old EFT 156 (my first race board), and to be honest, it wouldn't be so much the board holding me back most of the time, it would be lack of ride fitness and lack of time on the snow more than the gear. I also sail, used to do triathalons and windsurf. The money I spend on sailing and windsurfing is probably far more than snowboarding (especially the gear - new sails etc) - so a new board for $1000 USD isn't much money for me. However I've got 2 unused boards bought in the last 3 years that are still unused because I haven't ridden at all since 1996!

awesome. truly funny. the amazing thing is when you watch films and TV from this era, because of the way film was shot and editing, the shots are so long; check out singing in the rain; it's basically a single take from start to finish. Compare that to the modern soap operas and dramas and commercials; we often would use 20 takes or more breaking up that sequence so it then becomes so simple even a caveman could do it. Speaking of which.....are Gico still around?

well at least you have more time now for concentrating on the important matter of scoring some hardbooter chicks. I always felt your snowboarding time might interfere with your focus on that. BE the date. BE the date. Get well soon.....have a few drams of craigemore to get through it.....

Cool reminder of Mammoth; it's been 15 years since i went anywhere near the warming hut side....still miss it! hmm, this is right out the left hand side looking up at the hill, around chair 15/24 is it? Not a lot of snow coverage is it, blimey, looks pretty sparse and warm.