NateW

I thought they were cheap, actually. :) When I found out they were coming, I was expecting to pay a lot more for them. Mine just arrived, I'm looking forward to trying them out this weekend.

I didn't even realize you could do a stoppie on a snowboard. What are you using for brakes? (Besides your face, I mean.)

I learned to snowboard on that hill, it was one of the first places around here to allow (and, equally importantly, to rent) snowboards. I mostly ride at Stevens Pass now, which is a bit further north and higher up... The roads to both locations have been closed quite a bit lately due to avalanche concerns, and are still closed at the moment, so regardless of how the area operators feel about avalanche danger, the Department of Transportation isn't letting anyone up there. Snoqualmie hopes to re-open tomorrow (that slide happened at one of their four base areas, the other three are probably still OK) but Stevens plans to be closed until Friday. And it's raining in both areas as I write this. :(

Did they ever give any clues as to why they want nothing to do with alpine? The mass-market snowboard industry seems to be largely about branding and reputation... are they just averse to anything that might change the perception of their brand in any way? Or do they see alpine as a competitive threat, trying to steal their existing customers? Is it just binding manufacturers, or did you get that cold shoulder from other manufacturers as well? Bindings might be a special case since it's not something that could be easily adapted to fit both markets (boots too). Whereas apparel and accessories could serve both markets with little or no changes.

Stomp and wiggle... same here.

I must confess that I sometimes give extra preference to runs that are directly under the chairlift...

2% seems very optimistic to me. I'd guess more like 0.02%. :(

I was kinda hoping that the standard TD3 would have this... that and access to the center disk mounting bolts are the only improvements I could think of from TD2s.

I think of can't/lift as something I adjust for comfort. *I* control what my body does / where it bends / where I position myself... and I tweak the bindings and/or boots to make my lower legs more comfortable when I do what I do. By the same token, if I need to shift my CG forward or backward, I do that without adjusting the bindings to see if I'm on the right track (just by adjusting my body during a run or three), and then I move the bindings if that's what it takes to get my weight in the right place with my body in a comfortable position. YMMV, but that's my approach.

I spend about 9 runs out of 10 in the terrain parks. I love hitting jumps, carving is just the most fun way to get from one jump to the next. Since the rest of the park people just go straight from feature to feature, the parks generally don't get moguled out as quickly as the rest of the hill. So for me it's win-win.

Reach forward with your trailing hand. It worked wonders for me.

I don't think it's a given that your CG shifts aft on heelside turns. But that's not why I'm posting. I'm posting because I wanted to share this link, to information about the new Mervin board I mentioned up above. http://gnu.com/index.php/2008/12/mervin-announces-the-gnu-park-pickle "Require more leverage?" I dunno about that. I'd have started that sentence with, "because your knees don't bend forward..."

The Nitro Diablo (already mentioned) and Aggression Tarquin were like that. Both were circa 1992 IIRC. My first custom board was built this way too, right before I found out it wasn't needed with even moderate alpine stance angles (45/30 at the time). :) Mervin / Lib re-introduced the same idea this year too. I still think it makes sense for typical softboot stances.

Paypal sent!

Email sent. Consider the Donek sold. :)

6" now. And raining. :(

How about a Teflon base? I have some hydrophobic non-stick pans...

Stevens Pass claims a whopping 7" base. I think all of it fell today. :(

Sounds like a good pick. I was just about to write in and suggest something with a sidecut in the 10m range to complement the 13 (ish) of your WCR 181. Keeping the same width will also help you feel right at home on it.

Same here. When conditions are powder or deep soft slush, I ride a board that has the bindings set back a couple inches. (I think I'm going to move them back a little further this season.) All of my others have the stance centered.

Todd, have you looked into using this for 'adaptive' programs for handicapped folks? It's a really interesting idea. I've never had a go at a sit-ski (and I'm hoping I never need to...) but my intuition says this could be a really good fit. I still think that a conventional sit-ski would be better for aggressive riders, but it seems like the turn-by-leaning mechanism would work really well for entry-level folks, or people who need lots of assistance. Especially if some springs were added to help it self-center.

Every time we've had any snow fall here in Washington State this "season," we've had rain wash it away pretty quickly. "Season" in quotes because it still feels like September out here.

So, I'm guessing that there's an issue with this thing not wanting to lay flat? In other words, if you relax your angles it wants to tilt all the way to one side or the other? Have you tried moving the pivot points on the center piece up a few inches, so they're positioned up around the rider's ankles?

Sure, but where is your center of mass? I don't think foot placement matters anywhere near as much as where your navel is. And I don't think it moves around much.

Well, if we're going to be sharing favorites... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjAkIBfw1Vo ...that stuffs helps me step it up a notch.