BlueB
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Posts posted by BlueB
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but seriously Head skis kick ass. I'm really not a big fan of Atomics. Volkl and Head are consistantly my favorites when I demo skis.
They do, indeed! My wife's C140s are supposed to be higher intermediate skis, but they are so versatile that I'm crazy about them. Slow speed, hi speed, short turn, long turn, bumps,ice, fresh, they do it all. Carve like demons too. On vearious ski tests Hed's Monster line took highest honours in AM categories for few years in a row.
Interesting that you mentioned Volkl... Good part of Head and Volkl skis are OEM by Elan - another brand that I woul prefer to Atomic, anytime. (Nothing wrong with Athomic, though.)
As for Head's Intelligence system, I think that it was started by K2, and then sold to Head who perfected it. At least, inteligence is supposed to be in the head, right? :D
Boris
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Well... all the plastic parts are still intact! It is the base plate, 10mm thick solid aluminum, that failed. Now go figure?
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No idea what are they... no logo on them. They came with Cocoon board and didn't look much used. I rode them about 15 days max.
I rode them with less shim plates than on the photo.
Boris
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Yesterday I noticed that screws on the heel piece kept getting lose (my best bindings on race board). This morning befor the ride I decided to check and dissembled the heel piece. To my shock, the binding was about to fail - the 10mm thick solid aluminum plate cracked, and the sliding tread plate (in which the screw tightens in) was pulling through! Lucky that I checked, I guess...
Now how, and why it happened - no clue. Few small jumps I trew yesterday wouldn't do it, and I'm not exactly a King-Kong rider to bust the bindings just by carving hard. The only thing I can think of is my knee's little "arqument" with bamboo pole about 2 months ago. I remember the binding releasing at the impact, maybe it wasnt just the knee that hit the pole?
So, instead of the Generics, I rode Hooger today, with my "not-so-good" Emery Quatro bindings... Nice and reasuring part is that the STEEL base of Emerys' will probably never fail!
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I've got a "Canadian" LTD All-Around 163 board, which was made in China, back in 2003 or 2002. It is actually a very good board (for a twintip al-mountain board) - wood core, good lamination, fast base. Carves quite well and can be used with plates...
Also, I had some fly rod prototypes (my own brand) manufactured in China. Super cosmetics, outstanding action, but consistency of quality control wasn't there... Maybe I didn't do enouqh development/prototyping with them.
Boris
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I'll help you out on pic posting, bro! Just email them to me...
I'd help you to get rid of that Proton too, if you ever wanted to part with it ;) Gosh, that thing does look like a sword of some kind, with 18cm (or narrower?) waist and all metalic... And it moves with the speed of a katana, too.
George rides reg, and me goofy, so I didn't try his toy, but I was drolling all over it...
Back to topic - I never had my boards stollen, and I do not lock them at Cypress. But then, they are not as atractive as the katana-Oxy.
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I rode on real spring slush today, which turned really bumpy after lunch.
Got 3 boards out there, just to compare the performance: Cocoon 158, Generics 170 and Hooger Booger 168.
Cocoon is narrow (19.3 waist) and somewhat soft, and turny with about 11m (but progressive) scr. Flexes nicely over everything and its fun in the bumps. Can stall due to flex/narrownes and abrupt nose curve.
Generics is 19.7 at the waist, stiff and 12.2m scr. Way faster than other 2 boards and powers trough anything. Ok on less steep bumps, terible on steep ones. Floats ok as it has decent nose. Doesn't stall. Sometimes washes out in very soft stuff - too stif I guess.
And the winner is: Hooger Booger!
20.8 waist, 11.2 scr, soft flex, quite a bit of taper and cool pointy nose. Not too stiff torsionaly, either. Not quite as fast as Generics, but floatier. Flexes nicely over everything. Doesn't stall (good nose). Good on bumps, ok on steep ones. Carves trough slush without wash out! It just requires a bit surfier technique (but that's generally good in slush). It's even fun to catch some air on it - forgiving enough on landing. One draw-back: do not overload the nose on this one, even balanced stance is required! Doesn't like mah speeds, either.
Boris
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Hey George!
Yap, I'll be there. If with my Mrs, I probably will not make it at 9:00. If alone, I'll be there for the first chair ;)
I rode today too, from 10:00 to about 14:30. Funny snow in the morning - frozen + death cookies on top of Eagle, and already slushy at the lover elevations. Later on it all turned into slush and soft bumps. Big crowd, too. There's a rummor they might reopen on next weekend, again.
I saw few people on interesting rides today. One guy on a monoski, other one on a teleboard, and 2 unknown harbooters, but on freeride boards. And then the winner: a guy riding soft boots on a long asym board, goofy stance on regular asym !?! I talked to him, he knew the board was for other foot and plates (he's got them at home), but he's used to it as is and likes the shape... Ah, well, to everyone their own fun.
One of the 2 hardooters was a real a..hole - kept bombing past the long lift line right to the staple-rails, and even pushing trough people in there. Probably dure to his giant stature and ugly face, no one complained, until I got my lifty and patrol budies to bust him. I hate when someone is puting bad light on hard booters - already too few of us...
See you there.
Boris
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I still ride this thing - love it. Very noodly, but carves at low speeds and makes a decent AM board. Also cool pointy nose and graphics. Very good for teaching newbies, too.
On the pic, the tail, somehow, looks way more upturned than it actually is...
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:D :D :D
Apologies - easy to mix up with the same 4 letters!
Boris
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Another weekend to play! Just heard it on the radio - confirmed from Cypress site:
"Latest News from Cypress Mountain...
THE DOWNHILL & CROSS COUNTRY AREAS ARE OPEN TODAY FROM 9AM TO 4PM. We have received 45 cm of fresh snow in the past couple of days and due to unprecedented April snow and ski conditions, we will be open for downhill skiing and riding on the EAGLE EXPRESS HIGH SPEED QUAD CHAIR next weekend April 22nd & 23rd. Cypress Mountain has already surpassed our record for the longest Winter Season and we still have metres of snow with excellent coverage on all the trails on Black Mountain. The downhill area will open Saturday April 22nd and Sunday April 23rd from 9:00am to 4:00pm with discounted tickets in effect: Adult $23.36, Youth $21.50, Senior $12.15 and Child $10.28. Downhill rentals will be available in the Rental Centre. As a special BONUS, all Cypress Mountain 2005/06 Winter Season Passes will be valid! Please Note: No lessons or Ski School Programs will be offered. THE RENTAL PORTION OF THE ALP PROGRAM WILL NOT BE VALID."
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Hey George!
Well done on recruiting another member for our "club"!
Any good backcountry adventures recently? Gosh, I'm starting to understand your hunger for it, after Sunday's power... You might even talk me into it (in few years) ;)
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About 2 weeks ago we had really frozen, super fast, corduroy in the morning. Somehow, I got inspired to lay few carves on my skis (nothing special - Head C140, 163cm, 6.8cm waist, 14m scr). As my excitement grew, I was laying them lower and lower, eventually doing full EC - outer leg fully extended, inner leg squatted, bum and hands (no poles) on the side on snow, and not even bothering to stand up between the turns, but just pull-pushing into next one. A total blast (just so much more physically demanding than board, that I wouldn’t choose it as my regular G-fix).
Few times I blasted by a group doing their Level 1 ski instructor thing, without paying too much attention to their exercise.
Next week, a fellow kid’s camp instructor, who was in that group, told me that they saw me laying it over and most of attendants loved the style. BUT, the chief examiner told them that anyone caught skiing “like that” will not pass their exam !?! Apparently not a popular, or common, style.
Now, go figure? I can not...
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What can I say - an EPIC day! What a way to close the season.
I had only one group of kids to teach for one hour - the rest I was free to do my thing.
It dumped about 15cm over night and carried on snowing right trough the day. I would say well over a foot during the day. In the morning, there were so few people that on steeper runs snow accumulated quicker than being tracked - fresh all the time!
Now, the funny part was that I wanted to take my Hooger (pretty decent as an AM board), but then I realised that it was still set for the guy I had been teaching a while ago. Not wanting to waste time resetting, I just grabbed my Generics and went with it. On the stiff side for my weight, it felt like surfing on ironing board or closet door ;) It has quite a good nose shape, and it is stable at speed, so it was a real blast, so long as I rode on my rear foot and surfed the turns rather than trying to carve them. I had to keep it on steep and going really fast to stay afloat, but that’s where the fun was! Every now and again I would centralise the weight or try to load the nose (”bad” carving habits :D ) and the thing would submarine, launching me into forward flip, to the amusement of the people on the chair lift. On one run, my friend Lani wanted to do the trees, and I was stupid enough to get talked into it - totally scary, board that wants to turn big, with no speed to surf the turns or stay afloat, to stiff to wiggle it around... Well, that was it - I do not like tree riding anyhow - back to open steep runs and speed, speed, speed.
By the afternoon, more people arrived to the mountain and I had my ski lesson with kids. After that, It was all bumped / chopped, but I still stayed right until closing time. And then, on the last run, the wind came up, snow stopped and sun came out! Good buy call to all the hard-core skiers/boarders who came to the mountain on the Easter Day, perfect end to a perfect day and one of the best seasons remembered at Cypress...
It is a bit hearth breaking to see the mountain closed with 4.5 metres of snow left, but hey - sailing and fly-fishing are calling! I’ll probably do another day at Whistler later on, and then I’ll really hang my boards for the season...
........................................
Some thoughts:
- A race board is perfectly rideable in fresh. Hard work and no room for mistake, but super fast and lots of fun.
- I never was a powder junkie, but I might become one after few more days like today. Highly addictive stuff.
- I’m probably going to look for a powder board or an AM board a bit wider and stiffer than Hooger...
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I loved testing the little Cocoon Lotus 158. It's scr is longer than typical slalom board, and flex is on AM side. Waist is 19.3cm, like modern race boards. These specs make her very versatile. Review is here:
http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=10795
And you can have it, if you wanted it bad enough ;)
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Crazy Creek, softer plate bindings, with your choice of either Nidecker Extreme 156, or Cocoon Lotus 158. Prices below for a set.
See them here:
http://www.blueb.biz/boards.htm
Nideckecker is an old beater SL board, 18cm waist, 9m scr, 50% camber left, decent base, but very little edge left. USD 90.00 + shipping
Cocoon has only 5 hours ridding on it. 19.3cm waist, 11m progressive scr, lots of camber and pop. Carbon composite. Base lightly textured. USD 170.00 + shipping. Performs very well on groom, fresh, slush and mogulls. Havn't tried it on ice yet, but it's bigger sister, 164, had great edge hold on ice...
Both will be soft enogh as learning and intermediate boards for your 180lb (I'm 165).
Regards,
Boris
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I never had a nose slip, so A is not so important.
Most people ride with more weight on front foot, therefore B is important and C less.
Then, the tail is most notorius for skids, so sharper D is better.
Boris
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And I would do a house call, too :D , but I'm not a doctor...
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My Mrs was pleased with me when I sold it to you ;) but she doesn't know about sister board - the little Cocoon 158 :D
I rode it other day - super fun. Better (softer) for my weight.
Boris
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Guilty as charged
Hey Curtis, did you get to ride that Cocoon yet?
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As the rain died, I went to the mountin for some wet cement slashing.
Met a guy from Ontario on Coiler AM with his local buddy on a softy. We rode together for the rest of the afternoon. He's sooo impressed with Vancouver already, that he would move here, if ther wasn't for the kids in high school. He'll be doing some heli powder boarding of Whistler in few days (on Coiler!). I would imagine, after the heli trip, he's mind would be set on relocating to Van. :D
Boris
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Got to ride the little beast again. Still not on good snow - wet choppy and rain compacted mostly. The entire mountain was open so I took it to all sorts of places, including cat tracks trough forest and bumpy black diamonds. I'm impressed! It is very quick edge to edge with nice pop, and since it is so short it is easy to jump turn or swing turn where needed. Does not submarine and stall in chop or deeper stuff like 164, I think due to softer flex. I could feel the nose flexing up, lifting me over the imperfections and slowing the board down at the same time. On open runs it still rails longer turns very nicely due to medium entry side cut, but whips trough slalom turns as it has tight tail sc. I was a bit worried about overloading the nose, especially because I rode with 20mm offset for slushy conditions. But as long as I kept my weight centred it zoomed right along with me... All in all, super versatile for a short narrow board. I would ride it all day long in steep moguls if I had the legs good enough ;)
Later on, I took out my Generics 170, just for immediate comparesment. Such a different ride - Generics is way faster (but it has better wax, on Lotus I just scraped off the storage wax) and it powers trough the stuff where little Cocoon relies on flex.
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About a week ago I went skiing with a buddy from work (technically my boss). Somehow, two of my boards sneaked into my car, too ;)
After few runs on skis, I jumped on my Generics and tried to lay my best carves. So, the man said “Wow, that looks like fun, I wont to try it!” Bingo! Out with Hooger (soft and nice for learning) and put him on. I was a bit worried, as he barely had few runs on soft boots before, but to my surprise, he made it down firs run without hurting himself much and was linking the turns (well not quite carved, but not quite skid either) on the next run. He was even looking into the turns and not trying to counter rotate (common mistake for skiers). Impressive for a first timer! As it turns out, besides being an expert snow skier, Paul is a very good water mono skier, too. So the result was really easy transition to alpine. He rode 57/57 angles, but kept asking me if it could be done close to 90/90 like Skwal – I suppose a habit from water ski. Next time I’ll stick him on my slalom Nidecker, so he can enjoy the 18cm waist and super steep angles…
Boris
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I will not bother voting on this one... In a functional marriage no one gives the ultimatums like this, or leaves wife for sport/passtime. Yet, the board wouldn't pose any ultimatums - it would just quietly wait for you in the closet ;)
Now a funny real story:
In my university days, one of my buddies was quite into booz (beer for breakfast, etc). He hooked up with a hot chick (she loved beers too, but not quite as much as him). Ower the few months they were together, she realised he was really drinking too much for her taste. So, one evening (while they were having some shooters), she told him to choose between her and alcohol. He grabed the bottle of brandy from the table and quietly walked out of the apartment...
WTT: Fly roods and snowboards for good bindings
in For Sale
Posted
Your chance to get some good summer-time toys!
I've busted my favorite bindings - need a new strong set for next season:
All Catek and Bomber models will be considered, maybe F2, Snowpro and Phioka. Only bail, no step-ins.
My goods:
- Fly rods, Blue B Cobalt, prototypes made to my spec and design. Mid level stuff made to hi-end spec. Quality hi-modulus graphite blanks, good hardware, outstanding and versatile handling. Medium-fast action. All models are 4 piece, and come with a sock. 6wt has a fighting but and titanium reel seat. 4 and 5wt have maple reel seats. Beautifull dark blue finishes.
I've got few 4wt 8', one 5wt 9' and one 6wt 10'6". All new.
- Entry level baitcasting rod and levelwind reel. Rod is graphite, heavier action, 9'. Reel is a copy of Abu-Garcia, but the spool is plastic. Right hand retreive. Good for salmon on big rivers. NIB.
Photo later on.
- Orbit levelwind baitcasting reel. Left hand retreive. Quality reel, 3bb, alu spool. NIB. I have a silver and a gold one - accidentaly won 2 on eBay... Stock photo.
And for those who still need some winter toys:
- Cocoon Lotus 158. Almost new board. Carbon composite, 11m progressive scr, 19.3 waist.
- Nidecker Extreme 156. Old beater. 9m scr, 18 waist.
See my other posts for plenty photos of these boards.
Tell me what you've got, and you might be able to pick and choose from my goodies.
Thanks,
Boris