kipstar

The sun in NZ is brutal. It is much hotter in Thailand, but burn time here is something like 5X slower on the worst days....in NZ you can actually feel yourself getting cooked. I have peeled skin here maybe 2-3X in 10 years including sailing windsurfing, cable ski etc. By comparison almost every year at some point in NZ I used to end up outside even with hat or sunscreen, and end up burned. Bringing back to Ruapehu, I have suffered massive sunburn one year riding in November, when I wore sunscreen without reapplying at lunchtime. Peeled and blistered, took a long time to recover from it. The same season (from memory) hiked to the top of the mountain with a German who insisted he didn't need goggles or glasses. He ended up spending the next 3 days in a dark room with some sort of eye issue where he'd burned out his eyes....combined with full on blistering multiple layers of skin peeling. If nothing else, you can bring back some great memories of Kiwi sun.

I've ridden a lot in Mammoth, Tahoe and a bit in Japan and Korea. I can only comment on Whakapapa and Turoa, as the south island for the cost never made much sense for me (relative to heading to USA/Japan/Korea) as a JAFA (just another f*(king aucklander is a standard term all Kiwis use). When the north island is good (which is not so often) it can match a good day at most of these places. Good relies on a relatively bigger snow year, and also, good weather on that day, and riding midweek to avoid crowds, we were spoilt in the mid 90s with a number of great years following Pinatubo eruption in the Philipines, now I think it is back to lighter snow again sadly. The thing is, the number of good days is not so many, and it is very hard to predict even a day in advance when a good day will be. Also, the snow quality is far down mostly, what you guys call Sierra cement would be considered quite ok snow by NZ standards and particularly by north island standards. The lifts are a bit of a mishmash of fast and slow with a lot of T-bars (some of which are being replaced with high speed quads) and quite a crowd on the way down (especially as the lifts get upgraded). As it is above the treeline, flat light in NZ is a major issue; I don't think I've ever seen light as flat as this in USA or Japan - yes I've ridden massive snow dumping days in those places where visbility is poor, but in the north island you can get <20m visibility which is like a mist, with absolutely no ability to see terrain you are riding on, and a wet damp mist which makes riding (and on the few days I did gate training especially) pretty unpleasant. As Sunsurfer says, you go 9 days, expect to ride half of those, as the flat light days are only worth it if you have a season pass and want to just do a few runs. In terms of terrain, I still love Whakapapa for free riding, it has a lot of variation, and some pretty awesome lines to run, in a single run you can get in quite a bit of variation which is similar in some way to the terrain at Squaw or Alpine Meadows. Turoa is a little more open and wider, and has probably the better carving terrain on some level. Glen Plake (skier who used to live in Mammoth) spent a little time in NZ and spoke fondly of craigeburn (for skiing) and also saw the similarities of terrain on Turoa with parts of Mammoth and Squaw. There is some great inbound terrain ungroomed, which is probably the highlight of the north island, as the standards of grooming are a fair way off what you see in Japan or USA. But it takes a decent snow year to access some of this good terrain. The north island does hold its snow quite a while (due to the dampness I guess) and so the season is fairly long, if you buy a season pass in summer, the cost to break even is only 5 days or less, so it can stack up. I still fondly remember hiking to the top of the mountain from the top of Turoa and riding across down Whakapapa as well as hiking to the top of Whakapapa a few times; it is quite possible to get some decent powder days 'off the top' with some great terrain up there often still not ridden days after a storm. I've ridden at Christmas a few times, as some years the season ran from June - early January, albeit pretty average snow from Sept onwards. The bad news is cost. NZ is an expensive place for almost everything, for food eating out etc it is something like 2-3X more than Japan, surprisingly. So for Americans, at the moment the NZD is super high, making the cost of riding totally uneconomic except as a holiday with other stuff going on as others have said. Around the north island, for trout fishing, it is unbeatable, the lower limit size is 12 inches maybe 2 1/2 lbs but most of the lake run rainbows I would bother keeping would need to be 3lb absolute minimum, and you can nymph all day and keep catch and releasing sometimes hooking (on my best day) 10+ trout all in the 4lb+ range in about 2-3 hours. For hiking it's quite awesome. Surfing, I have surfed at Raglan (which would probably be NZ's best most well known break) in winter, and it is getting pretty chilly. Big sailing scene as well in NZ. Going to see a live rugby game is totally worth it too. All in all, having said all of that, when it's good, it can be pretty decent, so is worth a look, especially since you can't ride too many places in Summer in USA (Mt Hood, and some glaciers) but conditions from mid Aug onwards are about on par with Tahoe/Mammoth from April onwards; with a freeze/thaw cycle going and some topped up snow from time to time. The spring thaw time on an alpine board is not so bad with decent wax, and the runs tend to be a whole lot less crowded; NZers are a bit funny when it comes to snow, it will be packed early season on the most lousy snow, packed on weekends until mid season, packed for school holidays, and especially packed from 10am - 1pm, and then in mid afternoon and late afternoon often quite empty, and late season it can be quite ok to ride as by September, Kiwis start doing other things, plus schools start to get ready for exams at year end. It's many years since I rode in NZ, but common wisdom is not to ride an excessively long board; I am leaving my SG180 back in Thailand this trip coming and taking a 162 Oxess, something that you would not ride in USA (probably) but would be perfect for the north island, as the run will have little cat tracks in places, moguls, the variety means you want a not too long board. Also this is partly due to my healing ACL injury. Also, you WILL clip rocks in the north island if you ride off piste at all, they are all over the bloody place. Key Kiwi phrases to fit in: - sweet as (you don't need to say as what - you can use this with almost any description e.g. hungry as, tired as, beached as) - choice bro (great) - pali (white person - used mostly by Pacific islanders) - what the F&*k are you lookin' at? (used if you want to pick a fight with someone) - aye (add onto the end of any sentence which isn't a question for emphasis) - chups (what we eat) - sux (the number six) - JAFA (refer above) If you understand why this is funny, then you are a Kiwi

Its got an extra X? I just bought an oxess slalom 162 board fornz and as my knee recovers. Now just need a Donek and I have a perfect quiver.

Jibber on a rockered park board. Carver on a new Donek. Who goes home with the perfect 10 model?

Given the variable riding conditions in NZ, the shorter boards are probably a little easier to get a good handle on riding before you go longer, even at your weight. Personally I always preferred carving on the Whaka side, but Turoa is probably a little better and easier for improving on. There is not much replacement for time on the mountain, and the Oxy 164 provided it isn't completely knackered should do you fine; they have not much taper in them (difference between the nose width and the tail width) so from what I can recall riding on them, they were quite easy to hook into a turn and carve right out the other side of the fall line, certainly more likely to want to hold the edge than my more modern sigi grabner, which is very happy to let go of an edge when you want (it's actually a good thing) as you pivot or modify turn shapes. I would definitely get to the point where you can handle riding the board in a variety of speeds and turn shapes and turn types before looking to go to the next level, and you definitely will want to keep a rock hopper for Ruapehu, the number of destroyed edges I have suffered from hidden rocks on that hill is a lot, plus flat light can be a bit easier to ride in on a slightly shorter board. Once you have got the oxy working well, then the logical step would be an increase in length and speed when you ride and that's where Coilers, , Doneks, Sigi Grabners etc come in. If you can hook up with him, there is another hardbooter in Auckland called Adas who has an SG and a Donek, good friend, maybe look him up and PM him.

interested in the boots (2nd in queue) if they are 27.5s. Let me know if Mr Karate Kid (pMorita) decides not to go through with it and the size is 27.5.

Retro style You carve you carve you carve even when is icy You carve you no slide I am riding hard Carving on my Sigi G Oops! torn ACL

I'll give you my advice, for what it is worth (i.e. not so much! :_) 1. Go for a decent board that might be a challenge the first day or so, but once you get on top of it, it is a joy to ride; for that you need to clearly decide if you want a board for handling groomers mostly (pure carving board) and how wide those groomers are (dictates sidecut radius) or something more all mountain. Personally, I would always go for a supreme carve board, and switch back to softs or manhandle the board if you are riding ungroomed. If your budget allows, you can always ride a super cheap rock hopper for early season I guess, which might be a little on the shorter side. NZ snow being pretty average and there not being so much of it when it falls (plus being wet and gluggy), I'd say a decent carving board will handle almost all the powder days and slush days as well. First off, what you hear guys riding in Japan, USA....I don't know if you have ridden there but the runs are far more open, the grooming better, the snow quality a LOT better on average and with less crowds than the north island. South island maybe a little better. In a big snow year NZ is fine, but when it is average or less than average, north island you need a shorter more manouverable board IMHO than say Mammoth Squaw or Vail. Also in flat light, if you have a slightly shorter board it can make life a little easier in NZ since you can carve it in control at slightly lower speeds. Assuming you want the macdaddy carving board, given your height and weight, I'd guess if you are on Whakapapa/Turoa type terrain, that something around 166 - 171 is going to be close to the maximum you can realistically handle in the first couple of years although the first couple of days might be tough. Something like a Donek FC, Ogasaka ARM R, Coiler, Sigi Grabner FC etc or similar. You can ride older technology boards, but there is a pretty decent gap between a good modern shape board and the older style. Depending on your boot size you will probably want a waist width around 195-205mm if you are around a 27mondo size foot; again with NZ variable conditions running slightly flatter angles than USA is not a bad plan. You might be able to troll trademe for an old school nitro scorpion, oxygen proton or similar as a rock hopper and possibly even with bindings; I would not spend more than $120NZD on such a board as it's not going to be your main ride...you are better off to spend most of your effort getting a really decent board. I know of a kiwi guy with a Sigi Grabner Full Carve 170 for instance that he brought back from overseas which has been ridden only 3-4 days so it's basically new...that would be a pretty decent ride if he would sell it. If you want a piece of junk learner board, I have one of my old nitro scorpions 155 lying around in NZ somewhere with a cracked edge on it; fine for learning a couple of days on, $10 and it's yours (its somewhere in Auckland it think). You will see the massive difference between the scorpion and the SG or whatever else you get. If you get a clunker, get a 4 hole pattern clunker, and avoid the asyms, you want to avoid using 20 year old bindings if you can as they aren't reliable. Get decent bindings. F2s, Bombers, this is the bit of your linkage to the board you only need to buy once, so get a decent set. you can PM me again I might have some stuff you can use or buy depending on your boot size. Personally, I would not bother with a plate; it is doubling the price of the board, and I've watched dudes riding with plates; they help in certain conditions but add weight and it's probably something to think about once you are cranking good turns both sides in a variety of radiuses and know how to ride through ruts/chop etc; if you can afford it the new school shapes really are worth the 3X price vs. a old generation burton factory prime, nitro scorpion, etc - they allow you to ride maybe 2X longer with less effort. Bootswise, you will probably need to either super troll trademe for snowboard specific boots like raichles - should only get a boot with 4 buckles skip the mountaineering 20 year old boots, plus you may need to add thermoliners, or get some closeout/end of season boots and try to manage the GST if you import them; better still get someone to handcarry across from USA if you can; raichles or UPZ seem to be the two options; you can't really go too wrong with either, maybe try not to go for the most stiff set up as it will be a bit brutal to switch from softies to that; UPZ the RC10 for instance you can set up a softer tongue...indy you can use the BTS with soft springs... If you can outline - where you plan to ride - how many days you do a year - where else you ride (in USA? Japan? that funny place in Albany?) - boot size that would probably help to determine what stuff you are best to buy. For sure, NZ is a place that suits hardboots way more than softies; I remember back in the day when a guy called Greg Prouse, a windsurfing RX7 driving speed lunatic whose name escapes me and a few of us used to all be riding around Whakapapa and Turoa; the variable snow, icy early morning runs and narrow little trails etc really suit hardboots well. Great fun. For what it is worth, I grew up riding in NZ, and I'd say the board I have now (a SG180) is probably pushing the limits of what you could ride in the north island on some runs productively (the last time I rode it until I tore my ACL I actually was getting the board to turn in the sorts of radius you would need to ride in NZ, but I weigh more and have a bit more leverage height wise than you) ; around 167 - 170 with a sidecut something like 13-15m would be pretty perfect once you got a good handle on riding. PM me if you want more info; the ppl on bomber are also super helpful, just need to separate out a few comments which are not applicable for North Island riding.

it's almost done for the 4th season??? wow...I watched the first 3 series in a single weekend while laid up sick. Not the ideal entertainment while trying to sleep. Its an odd mix; pseudo intellectual debate about existence vs. killing walkers with various implements. All seems a bit improbable, but then again the slopes are overrun with soft boot jibbing idiots who think they know how to carve, so anything is possible.

well that sucks. I guess this might explain why some brands (like SG) were releasing 2013/14 boards now rather than waiting until next season. Who makes Oxess and some of the other niche Swiss brands? From what Hans and others have said, their construction is first rate....maybe the factory can do OEM for SG etc? Maybe GST? Good news for the niche USA manufacturers though.

If you take a look at the Full Tilt ski boot, that's essentially a 20+ year old boot with new colours and a new liner. Many of the Raichle models are also quite long in the tooth on the deeluxe side. Actually, I have an old pair of UPZ boots called a Mach Z (I think) if I can figure out where they are, that I never wore; lent out a couple of times but didnt' actually use as I was still in my ski boot phase. Now thinking as a softer alternative with better heel hold than the indys I have now (admittedly running race tongues and poked liners) I might have to locate and give them a go. Still a 4 buckle + strap boot though (from what I remember in 1997/8 when I got them) but they looked really cool. Which is like, 85% of the reason to use something. e.g. why do I date this girl...because she looks cool e.g. why do a watch that TV show....so I can appear cool e.g. why do a put ice on my sore knee...so my knee will be cool

I believe the oxygen bindings you have have a similar mounting plate to the TD3s; you can mount the bindings using any 4 inserts, but you can 'bias' the binding forward or backward in small increments (as you have done with the TD3s) using those 4 screws. Can you show this bit? Maybe it's as mentioned earlier, they have more range of adjustment. Doing this of course would enable you to bring BOTH feet closer together. If you have moved your front foot forward and your rear foot forward also, so the gap between the two feet is at 20 inches, that's the same as if you did the same on your oxygen bindings. But as many have pointed out, this is with the front binding moved fwd; if you move it backwards (so it matched the rear foot), then the stance width is around 19 inches. All we need to compare are the mounting systems for the oxygen binding and the TD3; I 'think' you will find they are both about the same in the way they work; you have some degree of bias front and back, and you are going to want to mount your bindings in the 4 inner most holes, then use the rear binding in the fwd most position you can from that set of holes (which you are not doing when you propose to install a new set of inserts, I am guessing you are looking at the 2nd from the end set so there's only 2, not 4). PERHAPS the oxygen has more ability to bias the bindings fwd and aft, but I am not sure you want to have that sort of leverage away from the inserts if you can avoid it, it's a lot of leverage in certain circumstances. If you show us a picture of what the oxygen binding looks like with the top plate bit removed, then we can easily compare why you are able to get the stance width narrower. My guess is it is slightly narrower but as a result of you moving both feet closer together (not having the front foot centred or pushed forward plus an impossible position on the rear foot pushed forward as you have on the TD3s, but having the rear foot pushed back and the front foot pushed forward as we understand but cannot see as we don't know how the oxygen binding works exactly). And for what it is worth, that's a very narrow stance; the wider stance feels different, but once you get used to riding like a cowboy for a bit, you will never go back. Also, I would not be second guessing the board maker that the inserts are in the wrong place; you are saying this on the basis of where you stand on the F2, or on the basis of being able to make the stance narrower on your o2 bindings?

Ok so now12 days after I have been for a follow up and seen another specialist also. I've been in a brace and all swelling is gone on the day of the mri they drained a bunch of yellow fluid (no blood) from my knee and now without the brace I can walk normally with no sense of knee giving out but odd small bursts of pain especially if I have been stationary for a while. All swelling is gone. I have the mris but not sure which bits are relevant. According to radiologist it is a partial tear of the acl grade II miniscus tear and possible torn left lateral collateral ligament. Both doctors have done lachman and pivot shift etc and as of day 10 there is no difference in movement betweeneither injured and healthy knee and a definite point of stop. It doesn't hurt to do although there is a slight ache afterwards. Pushing knee in other directions doesn't hurt. Therefore their conclusion is miniscus tear minor and grade I max grade II acl tear no lateral tear. Now I start doing quad/hamstring clenches and they both independently say with rehab no surgery needed. I can stop some activities which severely stress the knee and I can handle whatever rehab. I am quite willing to do surgery so next step is 3rd opinion locally. If I scan the mris and post online maybe u can comment if u have time? The most pain is actually my other leg which has never had to work so hard so feels like it is burning!

Dear Kitu. Skis were the problem lol! Said like a true snowboarder! Thanks for your explanation. Interesting. I believe fixing it if its busted is longterm the likely best solution.

If you are interested, I have an SG Full race 180cm pro team; used about 8 days; love the board but having just torn my ACL I may not be riding much in the near future. Also some F2 race bindings med size brand new which I could do at the same time. Sidecut is less than the 170, more than a 185. Shipping might be a bit of a mission, let me know if you are interested.

Dear Dr Paul Thanks for the advice; at age 40 I am sort of in the middle ground where I think most likely to give up 9 - 12 months of time to get a good knee for another 10-20 years would be totally worth it; I had already decided I was ready for surgery (even had a timing slot of public holidays in early May picked out) so the diagnosis was a bit of a surprise! I don't tend to do things conservatively, and I would not really want to know where the limit lies and go through the annoyance of the current situation again; so once the swelling is down I guess the next steps are to redo the pivot-shift test, anterior drawer test and the Lachman test and get a 2nd opinion based on the MRI? Your explanation of a rope snapping is how I understand the ligament works which is why you either snap it or you don't, not common to only partially tear it.... once I have some more pics (next week) will share here and perhaps you can talk us through what we are looking at (if you have time) as it's a pretty common injury for skiers (less common for snowboarders I suspect)

Dear Paul Thank you so much for your reply. I am 40 years old and injury occurred on tuesday; mri was today so a week later and I have been walking on it for the last 4 days for work (1-4km of walking daily). He also did a test with knee bent checking degree of instability and knee angle outwards. Both compared to my other knee. He claimed degree of movement was not much in those tests. Until his diagnosis I had presumed acl torn completely for sure, so it was a surprise to me when he said it was partially torn only maybe around 20-30%. hAving not had it before the knee feels unstable and swollen. I will go back next week and once swelling reduces will take the mri for a 2nd opinion locally. If it is ok with u wll post online asur advice is hugely appreciated. Due to other health issues realistically I do not have loads and loads of years left to do sports but non stable knees and likliehood of further injury are best treated now rather than having problems later. Doctor didn't say surgery wasn't going to happen yet; so maybe I got my hopes up too fast? h

After MRI seems I am in the 28% with an acl injury where it isn't torn completely...and in fact it is 25-30% torn only!! The doc drained about 100ml of yellow fluid today and I'm in a knee brace. Will know in a week but unlike Seinfeld it seems like it won't be prognosis negative. Best possible outcome but may get a 2nd opinion to be sure.

Thanks b ry. It was not a good fall at all and quite unexpected. Given my inability to speak japanese and costs I think its better to use internet wisdom for now. I also know enough ppl with acl injuries to roughly know that's this is probably what it is and I can't do much more than treat symptoms for now as I also have 2 days of work. In this case a plate would have made things worse as it was a knee out leading to a spin and any extra weight would have made the problem worse. Iam still on the hopeful side it is pull or minor tear. The pop feeling during the fall and pain and knee instability are kind of the counter balance. Bring on the mri saturday! Weird to get this boarding and not in the park.

Never thought this is the thread I would join. Riding in tomamu on a rolling straight groomer each run pushing a bit harder on the last of 3 days last hour. Pushed into a hard toeside and I think my left knee clipped the snow, went backwards rotating and sent the board and myself into a sommersault landing on the tail on the other edge; felt a POP in my rear knee and immediate pain. Waited 10 min then rode down and soon after was icing and compressing. Without access to doctors and now with another 3 days of work before I get back home to thailand I will just have to compress and ice. I have painkillers. Can't do much here as I have to fly and work. Knee now feels completely unstable 24 hours later and extremely sore although not swollen. Never had a fall like this; it was partly riding fast, grippy snow and a much longer board (180) creating some decent leverage when I landed back to front. Also my fitness was off this trip. Dammit!

beautiful; proof how well the new modern raceboards do it all (including EC).

I have made a switch from old FP era boards to an SG180 raceboard (modern decambered nose, metal, tapered shape) this season. The difference is massive. For a start, an older board ends up gradually more and more dead and soft, so you don't notice how much more work is needed to acheive the same turn nor do you realise how poor the edge hold at speed is becoming. On the modern board, the edge hold is simply frigging amazing; you can ALWAYS count on it to bite. Unlike the oxy 178 which really hooks into each turn, the modern boards I think as a result of the shape and the taper, you can adjust and do little pivots during the turn easily going in and out of a carve rather than the very 2 mode style of the older boards; they are either carving or sliding and hard to go from one to the other as easily. The variable sidecut means you can adjust turn size a little more easily. The metal just sucks up ruts, variable terrain and as a result, I find I have more energy to ride since it is less tiring (which means alternatively you can push the board harder for longer). Which means you can ride a slightly longer board with less sidecut (the SG180 has a lot less sidecut than the oxygen) on the same terrain. You do lose a little in that poppy feel of the older glass boards as you go longer; my guess is a board like the 168 Kessler/170 SG or the Donek Proteus especially is able to add that pop back into the turn partly from (this is all guessing now) construction and partly because of the additional sidecut. For me....no turning back; I only ride a few days every few years and the metal board is the difference of riding several days in a row vs. needing to take days off in the middle to catch my breath.

yep,Yonex I think is the factory also making some of the other brands as well. It was quite cool seeing so many carving boards and some funky plate systems as well that don't exist in the west.

Snowboarding overall is suffering the same as Apple; it's easier to be cool when you are fringe; harder when you are perceived as mainstream. From a carving perspective, I'd say the growth in skiing in the pipe/park is a good thing; the guys who know how to carve outside the park on skis...those are our audience to convert to carving; as one race coach said to me in Japan, there is no line cleaner than a hardboot rider. The guys who see themselves as not wanting to ride a snowboard in the park...those are also our potential converts. As long as there is a good racing scene, skiers stick with racing style skiing. Ditto for the alpine boards, and some of that filters down to the rest of us who want to carve you carve you carve even when is icy. We also see new niches (well not so new anymore) like the EC guys appearing as well. I'd say any sort of bricks and mortar retail is precarious at the moment; with the net and online, all sports are getting hurt; we don't need thousands of manufacturers, just the good core ones. SG, Blackpearl, Apex, etc and others are all relatively new; in other parts of the world hardboots aren't as dead as USA (e.g. Japan). A few more type of boots would be good though.....