kipstar

Mt Rose would be like 5 guys maybe out of 500 boards? so 1 in 100. But it is the same 5 guys everyday. Alpine; I saw 3 other guys in plates; let's assume maybe 1500 boarders, so 1 in 500. Kirkwood I heard is more. In New Zealand, might see on Whakapapa (which is a icy north island ski field) maybe 10 guys in plates out of 1000 boarders... that is back to 1 in 100. Here in Thailand... well there is me and....so that is 1 in 1 ....100%%%!!! In general I'd say at the moment seems to be as high as 1-5% on a really good day (of snowboarders) and as low as almost nothing. Except for Bprataet Thai....100% - the carving centre of the universe... actually when Skategoat was here it was 2 out of 2..still 100%%%%!!!!!! I really think the key is to convert reasonable skiers across; once they learn the carve, then going to a snowboard is a nice way to extend their skills... less sure how easy it is to convert the skate rats in da park wid da bAgGY pAnTz.

Forrest For the longest time I thought ski boots were great; bought some pair of snowboard boots and never had the right feel.... until the breakage forced me to change. I can definitely see that snowboard boots (raichle indys in my case, with race tongues and the RAB tapped out so I can stand a bit more upright) are better in variable conditions...they are also less work once you get going on using your calf muscles (which is something I used to not need to do at all in the ski boots, which you can just lean against the cuff for). I never bothered to cut slots into the raichle ski boots (even though back 10-12 years ago that was the boot and the adjustment to do in Mammoth where I was riding) because the bindings back then weren't so stiff. I think going to a set of bombers now, with ski boots, would be a bit too stiff sideways - that little bit of fiddle is quite important I think for driving into turns and not butchering your shins. Mind you, I have almost not sensation in the fronts of my shins anyway from 5 years of Thai kick boxing anyway :-) I've watched a guy called James Ong, who rips up Mt Rose; he rides with the whole back of the boot cut off so there is no RAB or locking mechanism, and gets more pressure onto the edge of the board than I can with either set up; I am sure he is doing it through really using his calf muscles on the toe side turns, and not just leaning against the front cuff of the boot. It was watching that which made me realise how lazy I'd got in the ski boots. His boots must be like so soft and yet he can crank so hard in them; that must mean that the stiffness of the boot is not the driver for edge holds. But saying all that, there is not much more sweet than well groomed snow in full cranked ski boots; the absolute locked in feel means every single movement ends up on the board; and I've yet to feel quite as powered up in the snowboard boots as that. Different story in the rough of course :-) Ski boots seem to be far more angle and cant specific; you get it wrong and it feels so bad, because there is no soft spot in the middle I think where you can whiggle around. It is more locked in. That said, I ride exactly the same angles and cants now as before; wide, slight heel lift, slight cants.

OK, well I rode in ski boots for the last 10 years; I only reluctantly switched to indys this year due to breakage and inability to replace the cables of my raichles...having switched, I can say that in perfect carving conditions, ski boots give up almost nothing....but in anything less than perfect, the softness of the snowboard specific boots are actually pretty nice to have; definitely easier on the feet and shins too. BUt that said, at your level I think you should be getting more fun than this out of the ski boots, and the heel side is the one that you are probably giving up less on since most snowboard boots don't have a rearward spring system anyway.... there are a few technique things I would suggest - bear in mind I haven't ridden much for years, and it is 12 years since I was an instructor (of sorts): - in the first picture, you are turning through the fall line... but you are not really committing to the turn. Your legs are rotated, but your body is not. Snowboarding, you should drive through the turn at the point you are at; your head; your shoulders; your hips; they should be rotating through the turn, all in the same direction. I am big on rotation when I ride, and I am pretty sure why I have stopped breaking gear as a result; it is easy on your body and smooth to watch. For a heelside turn, you should be starting off the turn out of the fall line tranversing on toe side; let's imagine that if facing forward was 12 oclock, then you might be around say 10 oclock. When you start your heelside turn, then you should have bent legs , your weight should go to about 65% front foot 35% back and you should rotate your hips, and shoulders to about 1-2 oclock as you go through the turn... your eye line, at least initially, should be trying to look over your shoulder abou 20 degrees higher than where you want to go. As you go through the middle of the turn, weight is about 50:50 and at the end of the turn is maybe 45 55; slightly more weight in the back foot. I usually finish the turn rotated around as far as 3; but that is probably from the Swiss style I was taught back when. Your arms should be easily at your sides, your upper body is best off straight up down, and you have dropped your whole hips into the turn; that is where the edging is coming from, not from leaning out in the upper body. When I look at what you are doing; you seem like you could rotate your hips and shoulders; at the moment your eyeline is ok, but your body is not following; that's not surprising, many skiers don't really turn out of the fall line. Your right arm is out and back; it should be low and more forward and around than this. You could bend a little more even in the second shot at the knees (the 2nd shot looks quite a bit better than the first) and this will enable you to straightup your upper body to be a little more upright, which will stop the feeling of being toilet seat sitting. To practise, try setting up at moderate speed on a toeside traverse. Then go into a nice heelside turn, thinking about rotation, dropping down into the turn, and nice stable upper body first up. Just go a turn, and keep going to you are running at 90 degrees to the slope again, then flick around and do again. and again. If you try to link turns, you'll start going to back to what you are doing now. If you have everything right, then you should be able to crank a nice turn on the heel side out without chattering or slipping out at all until you come to a halt. If you are unbalanced, you can cover it up by going straight into your next turn. By breaking things down, you can get the bit you need right. The second step, think about getting that right arm in the right place. Third step, work on forward backward weighting and start to get a bit more dynamic. You should be able to do this drill at almost any speed; not necessarily cranking high speed. Photos are great; you'll be able to see how you are progressing. Regarding boot settings, just set them not too tight, and try to loosen up the buckles on the cuff; particularly the back one. What type of boot are they? Hope this helps/////

When I was there INtrawest were not so popular; everyone wanted to see Rusty Gregory running the show. So... does anyone know if Rusty will actually be doing that? I heard $70 lift tickets - the place was so crazy crowded on my 2 dayer there last year; cannot ever seeing hitting up Chair 2 or 23 again on a weekend.

Well I like the parallel course. For someone not knowning that much about racig, it provides clear visibliity of who is winning and losing. The idiot box has forced this sort of simpleness on many sports. You look at a sport like boxing; now they have to commentate and explain the scoring each round, so people know what is going on. In fact, rally is a great motor sport, but one of the most varouite of the non true enthusiast is the special stage with head to head racing; otherwise rally is against the clock racing...hard to know who is winning. Pro skiing used to do the parallel course.. I think that side by side vs. single courses make not that much difference; it would be the same ppl racing either one. But for the non racer, head to head is easier to understand. Lots of things killing our sport, but I think we have gone through the worst, rather than getting worse.

I think as long as there is some market, that the makers will be able to justify making the same boots from the same molds; there is a fair bit of cost for the molds. But without racing, then it will reduce the market since some people race to avoid school, please the parents etc ; so I could see the market shrinking even further...not good. However, I think there would be perhaps consolidation with fewer manufacturers, but if say head and others shut, then it would still leave deeluxe doing ok.... I actually think all the cut price dumping of oxygen stuff and others doesn't do anyone any favours long term for the sport (other than us building some big quivers)... manufacturers hvae to make money and there needs to be some decent distribution channels to ensure that the stuff remains out there. I looked at Mt Rose and was pretty happy with the scene, although there is not so much growth in the sport yet, with people representing like you, it encourages others to get into it. As long as there is growth, then we can onward and upward right? That's the beauty of bomber and catek and so on; they provide the info and the channel to distribute; we need physical places as well, otherwise it just is so underground no one knows about the sport.

[i have clarified all my messages; it never occurred to me that anyone would read into it that I was accusing anyone!... as per Baka Dasai I am trying to put forth what I recall from law. My mother was put out of business in New Zealand for something vaguely like this... someone tripped on a stair going up to her office; apparently she should have known that the step was difficult to navigate and the threat was great enough she declared bakruptcy.... one way of solving things but probably not the best for the NZ economy. As I have stated before, Boards and More while not a particularly successful company (at least in the world of windsurfing) have some serious cash and it is their system (heel piece) that seems to have caused this problem. Cannot see how Bomber are connected personally, subject to the law test that would usually be applied in this case offshore. ok....clear mai?! :-)

there was some kastinger like this 10 years ago; not exactly a new idea, but not easy to wander around in (like a softie) when in the bar, nor as performance as a hardboot...so not so surprised it didn't work... but as a powder boot? Would be pretty nice I would think...never was so convinced with the clikcers.

>> #75 1 Day Ago Jack Michaud Quote: Originally Posted by kipstar quite why Bomber is involved is unclear to me; unless they knew or should have known that the product would not work for someone that size. Jack replies.... I find it wildly offensive that this even enters into your brain as a possibility. Well, this is a fairly standard test for liability for someone selling something relating to negligence around these parts from what little I know and can recall from studying law. I have no doubt that Bomber are trying to do the best for the sport, but this is parroting the usual test. I am not implying anything about anyone. That said, I DO see that Bomber have recommended weights for bindings such as the Raichle... based on the body of evidence now building regarding the strength of the step in, it would seem that perhaps this prudent step should expand to include the whole step in system. <edited to be clear again> and by system I mean the two parts of the system, the binding (which apparently never has any problems) and the heel (which at least in this case did). So in the history of this sytem what other cases are there to support that this <edited to be clear again!) SYSTEM ie. heel piece is simply not strong for big guys?

I enjoyed it.... but..... I need to see you guys ride in some better snow...there is some difference between the smoothness of your EC which looks to be not as refined as the guys on that other website, and it could be snow, equipment or your skill. Sure you can do it, but I say that, until I got to ride with some guys who could REALLY EC and the difference was a lot (and a lot more than you guys). That said, I don't like EC style much anyway, and so I much prefered the other riding you were doing anyway :_) which is more how I try to ride. If I want to watch EC I guess I can go the EC site; for the cross over cross under cross through stuff... what you did was awesome and first I have seen it so clearly. What would be great is to shoot the same types of turns on hero snow, on slop, on ice, on variable and on a race course, then compare what the changes are for each... like a technique clinic online. PPl would pay to download that (I would). Liked the soundtrack as well.... Look forward to the next edition!

I look at this whole thing not having really spent anytime with the US courts system, which I understand to be crazily out of control with regards to suing. However, I feel that the manufacturer should take responsibility for their defective product. If they are not willing to do so, then that is what a court is for. A distributor should take responsibility and sell products in an appropriate manner. If there is any evidence that the F2 binding is not suitable for people of 200 pounds, then any retailer/distributor should try to get this information across. The consequences may be great, but it is small compensation for someone who loses their leg...without consequences, what incentives do companies have to improve their products and practises in this case? I see that a thorough and objective review of the facts would reveal whether the fault lay with the rider, or the equiment. The rider (who I know of from Tahoe Carvers) seems to feel it lies with defective equipment. We currently cannot comment that he should have been riding slower, or faster, or less powerfully or whatever without having seen it. In a perfect world, justice will prevail, and the case will either agree with him, or not. Let's hope that this occurs. It is an incredibly inefficient way to solve the problem, but since no one seems to be able to agree who is to blame and one guy is there with no use of his leg....well I guess this is about the time that it should go to court. I don't really agree with the idea that he should "suck it up" to save our sport. If the equipment sucks, this isn't made clear and someone gets hurt as a result of that then I would rather the equipment gets changed and the maker gets pinged. Boards and More are a huge company, and certainly would appear to be able to handle the cost of this sort of thing; quite why Bomber is involved is unclear to me; the only thing a lawyer could ever pin them for would be unless they knew or should have known that the product would not work for someone that size and that is impossible based on what I know, since they would not have dispensed any advice in this case; I cannot see what question would have ever been asked. (edited so people understand exactly what I meant by this phrase). I hope it all gets resolved, but most of all I hope our fellow rider gets his health back and one day can ride with the Mt Rose massive :-) For those of you worrying, perhaps buying a new set of bomb proof bindings is in order; at least you can stop worrying about breakage. I personally think that the binding with toe clips, the toe clip should clip onto itself, not the weight of the past 1/2 way concept which to me seems inherently risky. I have popped out of bindings a few times; a few times with the back leg and once the toe clip broke and I was riding in the back seat for a while.... not a fun situation...that's also why I ride well slow... I know I ain't that good. Kip

OK.... I know a little....well nothing really, but here goes.... - Dave McCoy let his children run it and they basically almost made it bankrupt in the late 80s, so he brought in a guy called Rusty Gregory, who had worked there quite a while, who got it working properly. Around the same time, they started to get into detachable lifts with Dave's mate Yan - Yan lifts were some of the best fixed grips, but the detachables were a disaster and had all kinds of problems. Yan also built the QMC tram on June and the flying toaster on mammoth, both which were disasters. Yan got sued enough times that he no longer makes lifts in USA. Thank goodness - now he makes some sort of creations in mexico. - In the 90s, Dave gave his kids shareholdings, and they sold these to Intrawest almost straight away, kinda breaking his heart a bit in the process. However, Dave still had voting control, but not actual majority shareholding - I think Intrawest owns around 54% of the shares, but not all voting stock.... Intrawest came in primarily as a real estate developer, and they did the village; fixed up some of the lame yan lifts and generally upgraded the town - this is the reason why housing has tripled in price there since the mid 90s - Dave now wants to sell as he is 80 something, and his kids are too useless to run anything for the most part, but Intrawest have been selling off to get out of debt, so they are probably not in the market. They have first right of refusal, but Dave has drag through? rights, which means they get first chance to buy, but Dave can also make them sell to another bidder should the other bidder want to buy. Plus Intrawest are mostly real estate developers, not ski resort managers - e.g. Village at Squaw=real estate, not the ski lifts. Incidentally, a friend worked for them, for a big company they do seem incredibly badly run... the main bids are likely to be Vail, and one can imagine that perhaps an inside deal from the senior management and perhaps an entertainment conglomerate would also be in the works - Mammoth needs a decent airport; the area there is fine for it, but the Sierra Club have successfully blocked it for years; because it is so small it has never been successful; the location can certainly be windy, but if you've landed in Wellington airport in NZ, then by comparison Mammoth airport is not so bad.... probably another location would be better, maybe even Bishop, but the whole area has wind problems I guess - good for gliding I hear! - Mammoth wind is nothing compared to some NZ ski resorts; but it certainly gets a decent breeze on the top compared to other USA resorts, and the weather is quite a bit colder than Tahoe.... That's why is has the great windpack off the top; my friends who go to Colorado tell me the storms there are worse, and places like Lake Louise sometimes cannot open because it is too cold, by comparison Mammoth is not that bad - Mammoth now is so packed on the weekends that they are trying to increase the prices to reduce the numbers of people and maximise their revenues, not to price gouge. It is actually at the point of crowded to be unpleasant; so I think the price increase is a wise one.... sure they are not Vail, but Vail doesn't have the "only game in town for Socal skiers/boarders?" With only lame Big Bear, Baldy and Snow Summit (which aren't exactly uncrowded either) and economic growth in SoCal, you can see why Mammoth is doing so well. The tough part for them is getting people to ski midweek, so expect to see some major marketing for that with any new owner - I'm pretty sure June has lost them lots of money since it got going, but I could be wrong about that - Pretty much most other stuff in Mammoth is badly run; the Mountain Inn is a disaster, and the McCoy children sadly have the Sadim touch - mostly the stuff they touch turns to turds - Ronnie McCoy though is pretty good with his snowboard shop, or used to be...over here there are lots of family businesses, and some turn out like this. The question is are Intrawest any better? I thought the village was kind of like McDonalds, the one in Squaw looked exactly the same, so I am not sold on this idea of Starbucks on every corner...but such is progress. Be interesting to share any more gossip and unfounded rumours that you guys have heard too?

D-Sub I feel really bad for you, and hope that you'll get your gear back.... What I cannot believe is that PSR guy - he clearly does not understand kharma at all! How could anyone say that someone deserves this sort of thing?! Even you>! :-)

I think the deal was, if you don't have a value pass this year, you will not be able to buy one in the following year; (and therefore if you do have a value pass, then you will be able to buy one next year too).

I don't kite myself, but a good friend of mine here owns a kite brand (and also a windsurf brand), so I can tell you a bit........ - wakeboarding, snowboarding, skateboarding - all help in terms of balance aspects; wakeboarding more than the others - also help in terms of the fitness bit too - kiting does have the aspect of flying the kite as well, which is something you really need lessons on; there have been some quite bad accidents as compared to a windsurfing sail, it has a lot of power and if you don't know how to control that power, then things can go a bit astray. Plus, you can't just lay the kite down when you get in trouble like you can with a windsurf sail..... the lessons don't need to be from a qualified instructor (although that helps!); just someone who knows how to control the kite.... If you rent the movie Space Monkeys, it has some quite good instruction stuff; http://www.airush.com has a bunch of info plus a forum to ask and answer questions and so on... but this bit it sounds like you have mostly figured already - the other bit you need to know before you start going out is how to do the things other than fly the kite; flying the kite from the water when you drop it; drifting around to get your board back when you have it fall off etc etc; turning around - again someone teaching you is best - I can find out for you, but a bunch of the kiteboards are made here; I may be able to line you up a decent one straight from the factory; if you are serious, PM me; you'll need to describe exactly, because I am a windsurfer, not a kiter I heard the winds are really good at Hattaras... I am sure you'll have fun.... we just got 15-20 knots this last weekend; first time out sailing in 3 months and I well underestimated the wind, then couldn't be bothered changing sails.... note to self, 11m sail in 15+ knots is a little overpowered :-)

He looks good when he is riding in your signature picture, I had not expected a 7 year old to be powerful like that. However, his jump is a bit soft, he should be doing the big gap jump in the park and stuff like that :-) Awesome to see parents that give their kids a chance to get on and do cool stuff....RESPECT! And yeh, get him on some plates.

Really?! Sorry.... if you are out here again PM me and we'll catch up.... what sort of project?!

very interesting; I remember this guy as a motivational reading when I was always trying to lose weight back in my boxing days.... The most interesting thing is that he is saying the high protein low carb approach is NOT the way to go; normally this is pretty much what body builders and Atkins type people seem to go for; low carbs low carbs low carbs and lots of protein. http://www.cbass.com/HighProtein.htm I always suspected that I did triathalons better after carb loading for days b4; I guess I can throw away that Atkins book now :-)

I don't know whether I got a better deal than most, but for $20 I got a full bsae grind, edge sharpening, wax, this structure thing that leaves a grid looking pattern in the base (which I'd never seen before) and the board base of my 10 year old nitro scorpion looked like brand new. well, until I turned it over. Great job; Reno Mountain Sports....

Ray If you want a super cheap deal on a pass, Mt Rose is about $300 or less for a season pass, and their grooming is awesome. It is a million times better than June, but I have a personal dislike for June, so bear that in mind! YOu should move to Tahoe.... no really..... go all in at Texas holdem, and you might be able to get very very rich. Or very very broke I guess.....

What is that?! Some sort of Chiang Mai dish I guess, it looks like some sort of Dtom Yum clear soup with something in it?! Anyway, for wakeboarding, come to Thailand. We have a cable ski lake; like a detachable T Bar with handles hanging from the cable; ity goes around in a square and you can catch big air, slide around etc etc. I am not a huge wakeboarding fan, but it gets you fit for snowboarding, and you get to have bodybuilder shoulders :-) Only $5 for the first hour, and $2.50 each hour after that. How much does it cost you to run the boat?! D-Sub: I'll fly you to Thailand if you just bow down to the superior skills of the east coast massive on that other web board.... go on, you know they are gods.

To be honest, I was super disappointed with Mammoth this season, but put that down to bad timing. Around Tahoe is some great grooming, although it may be too hot by now... I found Mt Rose to have some of the best grooming I've seen. And the local riders there rip. I actually like the runs to have slight ruts and uneven bits; Chair 3 (now renamed to some stupid other name by INterwest no doubt) used to have some wierd stuff going on. But Chair 2 for instance seems to always be groomed well, although it is a bit flat for the most part. (again interwest have given that chair some stupid name as well). I think June is less undulating in terms of what is under the snow, so maybe that's why it is easier to groom.

Reno Mountain Sports had a pair onsale for $250 27.5.... They may still have them, perhaps you can get in touch with them via phone... their shop is right in Reno township, they have some sort of website. I tried em on; for the same size Raichles, the head seems a fraction bigger, and the liner seems well made and padded a bit more, so there is probably more room than the raichle straight off the bat, which can always be packed out.

and yes, that's a Daks tie, you think I would miss the chance to show off a bling bling tie?!!!! I might even start wearing it when I race against Bordy in that East Coast Challenge that they were talking about on the other board with CMC et al. :-) Photos of drunk racers is always good :-).... bring it on Phil!

I tell ya, it is nice to live here, but I do miss the snow. Pretty much you can buy any legal drug over the counter without prescription, including (if you so wanted) valium, viagra and so on. Since I am a bit of a drinker, that is not really relevant to me, but not bad when sick to not have to go to a doctor. I actually used to play Muay Thai boxing (badly), quite a helpful sport in a spot of trouble, did you like the dance before the fight?! The grace of the "wai kruu"is then matched with brutal elbows to the face and other fun stuff. Confucious say, Fleaman with hand in his pockets, feel himself today. Fleaman with hands in someone else's pockets not feel himself that day. In my defense, after not wearing anything other than boarding gears for a month in USA, I then had to wear a shirt and tie; I will loosen up right about the time that Dsub buys me some free boards, and does his bit to fix the USA/Thailand trade deficit by sending it to me.