Chuck

Jrobb, PknPk, 15 min. from Erie... not alot of vertical but fun, wide runs, lots of people on weekends. Go early avoid the crowds. Kissing Bridge, 1½ Hrs from Erie. Not as big as Holiday but good runs and grooming. When I race there they groom the hill after the skiers for us... real friendly place. Holiday Valley, 1¾ Hrs from Erie. Lots of hills to get away from crowds. Swain, 2½ Hrs from Erie. Awesome grooming and real carver friendly. Its a 4 Hr drive for me and I do it often... its that good. Cockaigne, ¾ Hr from Erie. Nice wide runs, some of the longest in the area. Smaller area and not as crowded. Bristol Mtn. At least as far as Swain, excellent terrain and grooming. Some very steep runs and also long. If you go into Ohio the hills get shorter. Not worth it, You could drive to KB or HV in the same time as going to hills around Cleveland. Hope this helps some and maybe I'll see you out some time. I ride a Madd W/ Cateks. Chuck P.S. Times are approx as I usually drive the SL.

Well... Its a better crapshoot than Cleveland in January so count me in. I have probably 3 other boarders and a skier I can probably get on a board so maybe 4 more. Will I really need a powder board? I don't know how to make those... Hmmm :rolleyes: :D

You guy's from Cleveland speak up... I haven't been to a big mountain in over 10 years, I get one go at it this year and I want it to be good. I was pretty jacked to see the groom in your pic's from last year. All that nice groom, thats what I want to be on. I myself don't really care for powder, its hard, and cold cord that I want! Chuck

Cuban, You mean Jan. right? I could do either week. They haven't posted the local race schedule yet so I would probably lose one or two races dates. Hopefully the Airport will be fogged in so I will have to take an extra week of vacation, right?

Dr D, Whats the Quota on Ohioans? And how much influence do you have on the " Selection Committee"?

NateW... For the images I posted I used Snocad2 ( http://www.grafsnowboards.com/index.php?url=snocad) Very easy to learn. I also use Cadkey, Rhino and Solidworks when I want to make cutting files for the CNC. There is another program similar to Snocad2, but you can read about that at the Graf snowboard site... Chuck

Looking good... The pointed nose looks similar to old wooden ski's. If you reduce the pixel count and maintain the original aspect ratio the conversion will look exactly like the original. If my original picture is 1152 x 922 thats about 1.25 to 1. If I want it 800 x XXX I would use 800/1.25 and that gives the height in pixels. Then convert your pic to 800 x 640. HTH

okay, since I infringed on your short and schtubby board. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Small footprint of the UPZ, solid heel and toe shelf for the bindings. It would be nice to have the hinge point beefed up and better adjustment for knock kneed to bull legged riders. A complete redesign to mimic the BTS or other spring systems. A system of tongue's to help balance the spring system, like Raichle. Seem's simple enough... Chuck -- --

Chubz... A program like paintshop will allow you to reduce the pixels to fit. Or email it to me and I'll post or send back. I likey those tails :lol: :lol:

Chubz... It has to be a *.jpg or a *.bmp file and then it has to be under 800 x 600 pixels. Shred... I wasn't expecting it to be stiffer, guess I'll just have to make a few of 'em... I think I'm going to need a testing crew! Chuck

Shred... Is the 161 a "soft" board? That has Titanal construction so it is softer right? At least softer than the Madd 170? Don't tease us, at least give us a hint! Chuck

How ya like these... Looks kinda familiar I only ride groomed slopes and only ride forward. When I saw Shred's PJ and the shape of the Infiltrator I thought to myself I really like that shape, I really need that. It will be the first board I make this summer.... All my boards have that small nose but I really can't wait to try the large sidecut. Sorry Shred... can we work somtin' out on da copyright infringement? :D

Rhino is pretty easy to learn, and very accurate. I downloaded the trial version this afternoon and threw this together. Wood core, tip and tail pieces, and green sidewalls like my Madd... Chuck

The problem with this for me, is that Bumpy said " shouldn't the carver be at the very least somewhat responsible for many of the collisions that take place ". We have a generally accepted rule regarding culpability. If you take this view you are minimizing the culpability of the uphill skier or boarder, and that is one "slippery slope"! I agree with Jack, there are rules in place that are pretty concise...

The Carving Snowboarder is not the anomaly on the slope. I race in a local race program that was developed by skiers. I ride with them several weeks during the season. They have pretty much similar lines to what a carving snowboarder has. In fact three of the boarders I race with also ski race because the newer ski's give them the motion and sensations of a carving on a board. After all the shaped ski's were developed to carve a TURN not straight line the runs. I believe the issue would be solved if people would just be more aware of the code and ski or board by it, and not think they are the only ones on the hill. Another thing, why should I be responsible for what someone else does? Shouldn't you be responsible for your own actions?

Thanks for all the input Alpinegirl: Thanks for the heads up one the three resorts, especially the phone #... Can anyone give viable reasons for using the stubs as opposed to the ski poles? Chuck

Chubz, If you can get it from Bruce it would probably be easier. Titanal is very close to the 7000 series Aluminum, and you can easily find that in the US. AMAG Rollings product is Phosphoric anodized and has a primer to help the laminating process. It also has a shelf life, not sure of the length tho... Sulphuric acid anodizing is the most common and there are definitely peeling issues with that process. If there is an anodizer in your area that does aircraft parts they might be able to help. ( Boeing and Mil standard in the US ) Getting the material is the easy part... getting someone to anodize and prime it is another story. Chuck

Pat: Hope you are feeling better... Damn. I don't mean to be flippant but do you have stories like that ridding a board and hitting the poles? I guess I am pretty lucky, when I hit them I usually hit them across my side or chest and they just knock me on my a$$. Thanks for the input and I hope you heal well. Timinor: Setting another course is an option as 3 of the 8 hills we race at set a course for snowboarders. I also believe that all the hills we race at set alpine courses for USASA. I have to get info from the hills themselves about the logistics of it tho... Getting the stubbies and the panels isn't really an issue as I will buy them myself, if there is no other option. I already have some. Thanks Chuck Keep it coming guy's... I really need your help to make this happen...

Hey... thanks for the input. I'll look up Jonah, we race at Bristol also. Its one of our longer races. You know Kissing Bridge? They groom and reset the courses for us, nice of them to do that. Thanks again, Chuck

Thanks Phil... Swain has the best groomers, and that head wall! How you know Swain? Good point about the panels and ski poles. We have probably 20 or so snowboarders at a popular race and about a dozen at a small race... this year. We cross 2 USASA districts, Northern Ohio and Western New York. Both have slowly brought the numbers of Alpine races down over the years. I was Thinking that maybe CMSC might attract some of those racers that wanted to do more races during the season. After all you don't get good unless you practice. I also think if the races were more snowboard oriented it would help to bring in better racers. Right now the program is kind of an afterthought and I would like to make it more serious, to attract more and better racers. As far as gates, a group of us have our own that we bought to set up for practice. If it meant we could set real panels I would buy them myself. Thanks again Chuck

I would like to get some input from the racers, coaches, and anyone else that has thought about or tried racing. I race in a local racing league that travels from Ohio to Western NY. I have also raced USASA series events. The local racing league is CMSC, they originally formed for ski racers and have had very good success bringing in ski racers for the last 30 or so years I guess. They started snowboard racing in '97 and three racers were at the first race. They even had BX races for a couple years. Here is were I need some help. Currently they use Ski racing poles and set a modified GS SKI racing course. In about a month or so the racing committee will having a meeting to look at changes for next year. I would like to approach them with the idea of using snowboard panels. They usually set the course at the end of the day and run us with the lower class ski racers. My thinking is that the snowboard gates would be less threatening to the beginning skiers, and if the race sets were somewhat more of a snowboard set the skiers would be running more across the fall line and better able to control their speed. The benefit to the snowboarders is more of a snowboard race with better lines and no more hitting those F****** poles. I have brought this up before to some of the ski racers in my club and they kind of roll their eyes and change the subject. Could you give me your views of the pro's and cons of using these two types of equipment for setting snowboard Courses. I especially welcome input from guy's like Phil, and Pat Moore, etc. I would really like to make this happen but I need real input from racers and coaches... One of the resorts that we race at will actually groom the hill and set a course for just the snowboarders so I think that that may even be a possibility. Thanks in Advance Chuck

Chubz.... Ya, it was me, I went to the local hill only to find the nice little groomed hill Ripped to SHREDS... with 6" dp arcs looking like Freddy just finished messin' with it. I went up to try my UPZ BTS I made. I was extremely jealous of Deeluxe/Raichle boot owners so I designed my own. I also rode with Cuban. I was a little intimidated as these two flew down the hill and left me in the dust... Probably a good thing tho as they couldn't see me ride. Heh Heh. PS... If you need the drawings let me know.

Actually... I prefer my woman like my boards.... Big on both ends and narrow in the middle. Chuck

Thanks RJ... Thanks for the reply RJ. I will have to try canting the bindings this season. I have also made some plastic pieces that go between the shell and liner. I read about that in a previous post. I believe that it would help to distribute the stress. If that also helps I think I will try to get higher cuffs on my next boots. Also, I am from Cleveland Oh., would love to link some turns with anyone in the area. I mostly ride west NY or Pa. Thanks again, chuck

Hi! Quick Question for all you equipment techies... I was wondering if the boot cuff height has an impact on shin bang. A low boot cuff with a stiff shell as opposed to a high boot cuff and stiff shell. And then my second question... which boots have the higher boot cuff. The reason I ask is, sometimes my shin on the rear leg will get sore after a long day. I use to ride Burton reactors but now ride the UPS boots. The Burtons had a higher boot cuff than the UPS boots. I have seen pics of my ridding and notice the rear leg is more flexed when I am lower. Thanks for the reply... Chuck