David Glynn

Photos would be most helpful! But I will make a couple of comments just in case they apply to your situation. One very common reason for losing a heelside is getting the hips into the hill beyond the angle of the board. In other words you are no longer stacked over your edge. If this is the case try squaring your hips and shoulders up with the direction of the board's travel. This should pull your hips over the edge. And yes you can still drag a hip doing this but you may need to increase your edge angle. Another frequent cause for losing a heelside is not enough pressure on the front of the board. If the front of the board's edge fails to engage then there is nothing for the rest of the edge to follow, resulting in a skid. With your low angles this is less of a possibility. However as stance angles increase so do the chances of this being the issue. The average size of boot ridden in a 60 degree stance will put the rider about 4 to 5 inches further back on the board when on heelside compared to toeside, hence the need to be a little more on the front foot when initiating a heelside turn. Initiate up front then settle into the center ( both feet weighted equally) P.S. I grew up surrounded by cornfields.

Thermo Flex liners are the ones I used. I didn't like the stock liners that much and I got a great fit with the thermo flex. Your shell size still needs to be correct. I use the Dalebelo Krypton ( the redesigned flexon) now with the thermo flex liners. I use them for carving and skiing. IMO a great boot for both! Typical day for me is to carve in the morning and ski in the afternoon all in the same boot.

I don't see anything wrong with it then. It looks good and relaxed, in the flow so to speak.

Bobby, It's hard to tell with only one image. Things look good but is your back foot breaking loose??

I got hit hard from behind once and there were a total of 4 people on the run. Two were stationary, I was the third ( going around them) and the fourth was a snowboarder straightlining. I was out cold for five min., got carried off the hill, spent a week in bed and then 6 months of whiplash. Moral of the story ---- happens. Always watch your back!! I'm with those who don't like crowded slopes.I am amazed at those who carve through crowded slopes Not of their skills but of the chances they take. I still ride and ride aggressively, but when the crowds show up I usually switch over to skiing and hit the bumps. I worry more about hitting someone than I worry about being hit. Sure wouldn't want to hurt anyone. T-Ride is not crowded 80% oft he time.

Skalpel, The more you get a board up on edge the tighter it will turn. And the more you can decamber the board the tighter it will turn.The decambering of the board is the more important of the two but the two go hand and hand, in other words the higher the edge angle the more you can decamber the board. Decambering a board creates an arc in the board that will allow even a board without any sidecut to turn.The sidecut built into the board dictates the normal turn shape that of course can be changed through rider input. To get the board up on edge to it's maximum you need to get the board as far away from you as practical for the given situation. To decamber the board I prefer a narrower stance and if you really want to decamber the board to it's utmost squeezing the knees together will work wonders (and even this has many variables i.e. boot type, stance, etc.). Though it is considered bad technique it does work. I usually won't use that technique in my normal riding but will, when the need arises. But remember the best tool for decambering the board is edge pressure. My favorite board over the years was a 197 burner with a 19 meeter side cut and quite stiff. If you got that board up on edge and decambered it, it would turn tightly. My board of choice now is a Coiler pure race 181 with a 15 meeter side cut and a 7.1 stiffness rating on Bruce's scale. It is stiff and I only weigh 165. Again put that board up high on edge and decamber it and it will turn tight!

So sorry to hear this! I had a brand new pair of race skies stolen out of the rack here in T-ride over the holidays. They were gone for two days and finally were spotted by mountain security ( I had filled a report with them and the police) They actually spotted my poles with him which was the give away because one shaft is red the other black. Any way I got my stuff back though they were somewhat trashed. The same week security busted a couple of kids stealing snowboards.They were out of towners but lived nearby. Check in Glenwood also. Good luck. Will be on the look out down here.........you never know.

In the awesome picture (of I believe Jaysey Jay) the riders next move will be to drive his hips forward projecting his center of mass into the turn extending and accelerating as he does, unleashing the boards energy as it crosses under with a retraction move followed by an extension and edge change with little weight/ pressure on the board then sinking onto a fully pressured heelside edge in a similar crouched position. It's this cross under aggressive pumping technique that is necessary to tighten up your turns when the runs narrow and steepen. Driving the hips forward is an acceleration move. The more you put into it the faster you will go. If less acceleration is desired drive the hip with less effort. I agree with D-sub put some energy into your riding and you will be well rerwarded. Great advice from William Blake! It's important to remember that all of our joints work together. There is a relationship to each joints movements to the others if we are to remain stacked over our boards. If the ankle moves so does the knee and the hip. If you bend at the hip without the appropriate corresponding flex of the knee and ankle you will be breaking at the hip. If you flex in the knee without the appropriate corresponding flex in the ankle and hip you will be in the back seat etc. Just tipping the board up on edge and going along for the ride is ok but it is very limiting in turn shape and speed control.

It's been dumping here in Telluride. The skiing and riding is about as good as it gets. Oh and by the way there is no substitute for pitch.

Pebu, Steamboat is a good sized mountain and is a lot of fun to ski or ride but steep and avi prone it is not. Lots of mid and low angle runs and glades. Their steepest runs may approach 35 degrees at best and there are only a SMALL handfull of those and they are quite short in length with smallish moguls to help anchor any sliding snow. My favorite part of the area is priest creek. Most of their black runs (I don't think they have any double blacks) are double blue at best in my opinion. If however you are desiring to go out of bounds at any ski area out west you should have all the avi gear, beacon ,shovel, probes, and know how to use them at a minimum. Educate yourself; attend an avi clinic if you ever see one offered, in the meantime read all you can on avalanches.When it is time to go O.B. you'll be ready; then make sure everyone else in your party is ready too. Oh and practice, practice, practice with your beacon. Here in Ophir Co. We just had a 50 " storm. Things are pretty slidey. We had several slides cross our road sat. night and more today when they did control work. The road is buried in places up to 15 feet deep and it will be at least another day before it is cleared. Steamboat is nowhere near the pitch of the terrain that we have here in the Ophir valley. In bounds at Steamboat there should be very little reason to worry.

Newcarver, missed you last week. Circumstances got in the way. Went to Steamboat over the weekend. I got back Sunday night to find the road home to Ophir closed by avalanches. It snowed about two feet sat. and another 8 to 10 " Sunday day and another 9"after the lifts closed. Skiing was epic today. Carving is on the back burner till it firms up. Will try to save some pow for you. Gold hill was still closed today unless they opened it for a little while late in the day. It should be epic again tomorrow if they open goldie. The Ophir road is still closed; walk or ski in and out only. They may bomb tomorrow, it could be quite a show if they do. Galen do you do a lot of biking in the summer?

Joel, I've got two reasons for riding in the ski boots. One is that I almost always split my day between carving and skiing. Two is that it's tough for me to afford to keep up on all the gear, i.e. I'd rather buy a new board, Three I can ride pretty well in the ski boots (Dalebello krypton pro with the soft tounge) Four I wouldn't be .................. Hey wait a minute thats too many reasons. Actually I would love to try some of the new boots but I haven't had the opportunity. Eric rant on I don't mind. They have never let Bushwacker bump up on purpose but those few days that it has .............well it had #1 written all over it!

What I meant was the four slowest. Three of those happened to also be the ones who fell down the most but it doesn't have to be that way. Sometimes it is just attitude. "Anchor" is just slang for the slowest in the group and usually it's slower by a wide margin making for an obvious split in the group . It's not meant to be disrespectful but more of a matter of fact - to the point comment. Sometimes the anchor can be the most fun and teachable person in the group but still holding all the others back. It's just the way it is. If there had been only one or perhaps two anchors in the group I would have been tempted to offer the refund to them instead of the other way around. But it would be a real tough thing to do because to cut the poorest rider in a beginner lesson could really reek havoc on someone's self esteem and confidence and permanently turn them off to the sport and who knows what else. I don't think I could have done it.

Blue B, Well I taught my first snowboard lesson in hard boots today. I normally teach skiing or coach snowboard racing. Ski school was about to release me from groups ( no bump students) when my supervisor asked me to take out a group of 9 beginner snowboarders. I reminded him that I had no soft boot gear and he asked me if I could still do it. So I did but with one foot out being that the only board I had on the hill was a 181 gs. Well 4 students were set up duck, three were regular and two were goofy. One of the goofies and one of the regulars were set up facing the back of their boards.The shop must have been busy. I fixed the one but didn't have a tool to fix the other. There was no problem teaching this level in hard boots with one foot out. After a brief explanation on the difference of equipment no one ever brought it up again. Of course I could not demo things in motion but the static demos seemed to work. Plus It made it very easy to pick up the students when necessary. The big problem ,as usual ,with a group this size was the split. I took the 4 anchors and had to cut the others lose with some pointers for their riding and info on how to get a refund. I hooked up with one of them at the end of the day and we took a run together. He was having trouble on his toe sides and was able to get him going on that side. I rode with him with both feet in and impressed; and hopefully influenced him with a couple of deep toe side carves. He was stoked with the attention. The hard boots were never an issue. The board was of course, but not even it was much of an issue at that level. And it was of course an emergency fill in. With the right board I don't see how boots or stance, for that matter, should EVER be an issue. As a matter of fact I think it just opens the door to a broader exposure to snowboarding for the students. That freedom, and choice to be different, or to be new, is at the core of snowboarding. Maybe your supervisors should remind themselves of that. Seems like they need to remember that flexibility is a good thing also. What are we trying to tell our students? Don't be so stiff Relax be supple! My super Expressed his gratitude at the end of the day.

Face on Mars, I'm bitting my tounge but it's hard to do when I'm laughing. We must be neighbors if you live in Ophir. Maybe I'll be able to guess your identity if you won't reveal yourself but it shouldn't be too hard, being that there are less than 150 of us Ophiricans. Yeah milky was an awesome run before they started covering it with man made and grooming it, but you got to roll with the punches; and if the punch is grooming milky then I'll roll with my 181 coiler pure race. Speaking of grooming ,Buschwacker would be the best bump run in the country hands down if they wouldn't groom it. They leave us no choice but to dig trenches. But being a bump junky I wouldn't mind it if their winch cat broke down for a season or two. Looking at your quiver it seems that you are in need of a carving board so come on over and I'll set you up with something for a little while. Yeah Joel , how things have changed. When I'm teaching skiing I often tell my clients that if you want to call yourself a good skier you need to learn to be good in the bumps. I then explain how the groomed is the artificial slope and the bumps are the natural progression of the snowpack through skier traffic. If you can't ski the natural then your not good..........YET. As much as I love the bumps I must say I'm addicted to the groomed.Not to mention powder.

When I'm teaching a new skill that is speed related on a steeper pitch sometimes I'll not work on the skill from the top of a pitch but close enough to the bottom so that there is a safety net feeling with the pitch flattening. So for example if your few turns ,let's say, are 5 and then you slow down, wait till you are seven or eight turns from the bottom and then see if you can carry your speed through them out into the pitch change. When you are comfortable there start your faster carving a little higher etc. Soon you will realize that you can do the whole pitch at speed and still be in your comfort zone. It's just a matter of easing into it so that you can build confidence. With confidence comes relaxation.Relaxation opens the door to learning.

New Years day morning is usually pretty vacant on the hill especially if it hasn't snowed. With the cold weather it should be a great carving morning till almost noon. If it's a powder day people will get out early but don't last much past 11 or 12. At least thats the way it is here in Telluride.

What is your back foot set up? Are you riding flat? 3 degree? 6degree ? You mention that you might try a softer front boot set up. I would suggest a softer back boot adjustment rather than the front. Sometimes if the back boot is too stiff or you don't have enough forward lift on it your back leg will be blocked and not allow you to get forward over or onto the front foot. If you can't get onto that front foot you will probably have trouble locking onto your heelsides and if you are way back it will affect your toesides also. Pics and stance set up info would be helpfull for us to give feedback. Otherwise it's just a shot in the dark.

Joel, I don't know if STF is the same guy or not. I'm very ignorant about kiting so I've never been to that site. Shawn usually gives me a call when he comes to town and I haven't heard from him. I'll see Scottie Kennett Tomorrow and I'll ask him if Shawn's around. He wouldn't pop in without calling one of us.

Shawn is a ripping hard booter and kiter. Lives in the Saint Paul area.

Speedzilla Would you by any chance know Shawn Foy

Blue runs of interest to you may be: See For Ever, Look Out, Misty Maiden, Polar Queen, Sun Dance, Boomerang and others. Have you ever been here before?

Ditto to what Joel posted. I would add that Look Out is a great run also. There is almost something steep groomed every day. However the grooming the past couple of years has been pretty poor but they have new grooming equipment this year and maybe they will learn how to use it; I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Bushwacker was groomed ok two days ago but still a little soft but Look Out has been stellar. Milk Run is not ready yet , just bumps. Coonskin has been good. There is also a short, steep,and narrow little shot called Cat's Paw leaving the bottom of lift 9. If its groomed ( almost every day) and empty ( only in the morning ) it's a challenging little shot of maybe 15 turns. TIGHT! Went down it today on my 181 pure race Coiler and it was quite an effort to keep it on the trail!! Carver look me up when you are down this way. As Joel indicated watch your back on some of the trails. Telluride is not a crowded mountain overall but like Sun Valley has some good skiers that like to go fast , and some not so good skiers that like to go fast.

Joel, On the subject of someone poaching potential carving students from me I really don't care, I would just be happy to see someone new learning to carve. The ski school here could care less about potential carvers. I have yet to teach a carving lesson here through ski school. i tried to get a program started here and it feel on deaf ears. Besides the ski school poaches from it's own right here. For example I had an assigned private today and it was given to another instructor at the last moment because they had higher priority not because they had better teaching skills. That's the kind of **** tha sticks in my craw. I started teaching because I missed coaching freestyle skiing. Initially I had fun with it and had high hopes for getting more people into carving but as that hope was erased and I started to see the politics of the instructing scene the fun has started to wear off. I'm seriously thinking of turning my uniform in and saying good bye to the whole thing. Coaching seems so much more fun for me. I've only got a couple of kids but they want to be on the hill and nobody bothers me and I work through the club but I think I could do it outside of the club as well. One of the biggest problems I have with ski school is knowing how much they charge for a full day private (and how little of that goes to the instructor) and how many people that really want to learn are turned away because of the greed involved. Skiing and snowboarding have become too expensive and lessons are off the chart. $600 for a full day private. I couldn't afford that nor could I justify spending that in todays world. None of my friends can afford that either. So I say power to the under ground instructors especially those that do it for the love of the sport and enjoy turning people on to it. And I strongly believe that the public land issue is huge and I don't care what some lawyer says. Keep it cool Joel, keep it real and don't get caught.

Joel, This is a great thread. I don't have much time to answer in a compete way tonight so just a few thoughts. The companies do not own our knowledge. They do not own our love for the sport. They do not own someone else's desire to learn. They do not own our freedom of speech. They do ( for the most part) operate on public land, that's OUR land. And lawyers..................well don't get me started; at what point did they get to run the country. Joel I would just walk in a little faith and do things for the love of the sport and if people want to spread a little cash your way well good on you. We do this for the joy of the movement. They do it for the love of the money.It's great not to be a rock for a little while; let's all enjoy the motion while we can. I tell my kids that there are only two things in life that I have figured out: One is that we should enjoy our lives and two, that we should help others enjoy their's. Joel you have done more for this sport than any ski school ever has and I reckon that this is as good a time as any to say thanks for teaching me the motion. What a sensation! Merry Christmas everyone