NateW

Actually, this could be good news for all of you on the Coiler waiting list. With no trips to the mountains to distract him, Bruce might be cranking out boards faster than usual. Don't get well too soon, Bruce! :)

I always plan my runs based on where the jumps are. Some of the best carving seems to be in the terrain parks between the jumps, since everybody else heads straight from feature to feature it's usually uncrowded and well groomed most of the time. :) Virtually every binding breakage or (when I rode with toe levers) premature release has happened when undershooting or overshooting landings, so I figure that's the worst punishment for a boot or binding. I no longer trust anything but Intecs with Bombers or Cateks. If you land 'in the zone' that's no problem but mistakes happen. FWIW, my boots are Raichle 324s, locked in position 3. I might try the BTS but am really happy with this setup, the stiffness feels about right to me. I think soft boots are highly overrated.... Far as I'm concerned, the only drawback to riding hard boots is that it's a lot harder to grab the nose. Which means approximately nothing to me. And besides, tail grabs are correspondingly easier!

How different is one freestyle board from another? It could just be that I'm not into it enough to know what really sets them apart but as far as I can tell it's about the graphics as much as anything else. Freestyle/freeride people tend to be more one-size-fits-all. If I talk to a freeride/freestyle rider about custom boards their usual response is "huh. I wouldn't know what to ask for." There are people who like having a shorter board and longer board, or wider and narrower, but that's about it. Alpine people get passionate about having short boards, regular boards, long boards, super-long boards, boards with large and small sidecuts, different widths, square-tail vs. round tail, etc. My last three boards are almost the same length, but all different widths and different sidecuts, for different reasons. I'm sure the age/job demographic is a big factor too though.

It's certainly true that there will always be a weakest link (or least reliable link) in the system. That should be the rider's legs. There's no advantage to having something else fail first, but there are pretty big drawbacks to having something else fail first. A releasing system would be cool if it could be done reliably and without adding much extra weight, but that seems like a pipe dream (pardon the pun). I rode with dual leashes for a while a couple years ago, before I switched to Intec. I rode with dual leashes for a while this season while I was on a brand new set of heels. They survived the first few days, so I went back to one leash. It's interesting that all of the Intec failures I know of (mine, Joel Broadbent, one other whose name I forgot) happened on the first day of use. I still think it's a good system. I still think Intec is the best thing out there. And now I think it's worth the trouble to use two very strong leashes until any new piece of equipment has proven itself.

First board I rode was a rental, I think the brand was Snowtech or something like that. It had real edges (no turn fins) and a swallow tail. Emery bindings, I think. I liked it so I bought a K2 Gyrator after a day or three of renting those mystery boards, with Sims bindings(I broke a few baseplates along the way). It was very modern for its day, with a slightly upturned tail, radial (looking) sidecut, and snazzy 80s graphics. And no inserts. It rode OK but the camber went away pretty quickly. Gnu Hypercarve and Antigravity were the others I seriously considered riding in my Sorels, with their ski boot liners and heavy socks.

Does anyone have experience with safety wire? Would it be reasonable to use standard socket-head cap screws, drill them for safety wire, torque them down lightly, and safety-wire them so they don't loosen?

Any chance something hit the toe lever while you weren't riding?

Snowboards never throw you to the ground for a moment's inattention. Oh wait...

I've noticed that grade-school kids have a The strongest, most positive interest in my gear always comes from grade-school kids. I guess it's during the transition from grammar school to junior high that they learn that nonconformity is bad and must be stamped out. I always tell people to watch the Olympics, where half the racers will be riding gear like this. I'm working on a one-liner that will capture the essence of "BX is snowboard racing for softbooters" without being overly disrespectful... I wonder if the perception of soft boots would change if it were more clear that the banked turns are only there to help the softbooters keep up. :)

Also, could this make UPZ make a recall? I hope so... or better yet just issue a fix for the problem. TNuts to hold the toe pieces on, heavier-duty toe pieces, etc. It might be a solvable problem, that's why I asked for more information about what broke and how. But I am not holdin gmy breath for an answer. Instead I'll try 'em as ski boots and hope the snowboard issues are straightened out before the novelty of skiiing wears off.

My new snowboard spends every night alongside my old snowboards. On the other hand, my snowboard never gets itself waxed. Much as I like the results, that's a chore I can live without.

I am most comfortable hopping to switch directions. I'm regular, reverse the directions if you're goofy: Crouch Hop, and push against the toeside edge to get my body rotating to the left Keep the board off the ground for the first 90 degrees Pull in rear leg, extend front leg, touch the nose to the snow (on the heelside edge if possible) Slight pressure on the front of the board as I land and complete the 180 Shift weight to the tail (leading end) of the board as soon as it lands My upper body probably only turns about 90 degrees during the 'hop' portion. I start the hop twisted quite a bit left (I'm goofy) and end twisted quite a bit to the right, so that it feels more like picking up the board beneath me and turning it around, rather than rotating my whole body. It helps to dig an edge in a bit as I land, not necessarily carving but I need something to push on rotation-wise as I land, just as much as when I hopped, but in the other direction. Otherwise I tend to do another 180, like it or not, because my upper body is still rotating. I put very little pressure on the nose, just enough to make it touch down first. It just feels smoother and more predictable to land on the nose (could all be in my head though). In some ways it's easier to do 180s off bigger jumps, just because it takes less twisting motion. Bigger air = slower rotation = easier to stick the landing. But this is do-able on flat ground and it only takes a trivial bump in the snow to make it feel almost effortless. Get consistent with sliding 180s and riding switch first though.

I generally ride Snoqualmie Central (sometimes West or Alpental) every Wednesday and either Saturday or Sunday. Wednesdays I go with a friend or two, we meet at my place (near the Microsoft campus in Redmond on 156th) around 5pm. Weekends are less predictable. If you want to join up, let me know...

According to the court's web site, Bomber has filed a response. http://www.sftc.org/Scripts/Magic94/mgrqispi94.dll?APPNAME=IJS&PRGNAME=ROA&ARGUMENTS=-ACGC05443225 But unfortunately the document is not available via the web site. If anyone has a copy (electronic or otherwise), I'm sure I'm not the only one here who would like to read it.

Pull the bindings off. Put the screw into the insert with your fingers. Turn it LEFT until you hear a click, note where the click is, turn it a couple times to make sure the click is in the same place each time.... Turn it left until it clicks once more, then start turning right. Count the number of turns until the screw bottoms out in the insert. That's how many threads of engagement you have to work with. Pull the screw out. Put the binding on. Put the screw in. Turn left, find the click again. Turn right until the binding is snug, and count the turns. How many more turns until the screw bottoms out? Or is it already bottomed out? It's good to have at least a full turn before the screw bottoms out, just to be sure it doesn't get bottomed out when you re-tighten the screws. It's also good to have at least a couple of full turns of engagement before the bindings get tight on the board - the more the better, as long as you're not bottoming out.

Call me lazy (I won't argue) but the claims process just isn't worth the hassle. All of my boards have similar damage just from the lift line. Still totally sucks though, and I'd be pissed. But I'd ride it. As for repair, I'd put masking tape around the dinged area, mix up some epoxy, smear it on, smear it off, peel off the tape, wait 24 hours, and ride. Not saying this is best way... just the way I'd do it. :) Anyone have a better suggestion? Or know of some good thin epoxy that might get into the cracks a bit?

It would be nice to know more about the failure mode... Did the removable part break? (part still attached, part snapped off) Did the screws pull out? Did the sole of the boot break, thus letting go of the screws?

I have a Coiler with orange flames and one with blue flames and I can assure you that the blue flames are significantly faster.

"The injury means Gillings will be riding in hard boots at the Olympics, rather than the soft snowboarding boots she is used to." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2094-1974910,00.html A blessing in disguise? :)

Congrats to all of you! Which events?

Neener neener neener. But y'all shoulda seen Washington last year, that's a season that never was... http://hyak.net/cam0405/020105.html http://hyak.net/cam0405/031005.html

Shred, is Schoch on one of your boards? Gorgone's photo is awesome, she's just perfectly composed in that carve. If a hardbooter wins BX, will we get fewer questions in the lift line? :)

Seems to me that unless you're on ice, riding an edge means cutting a groove in the snow, which eats your speed. If I want to go fast, I keep the base flat and follow the fall line as much as possible. Carving is faster than skidding, but flat ptex is faster than pointy steel. Pumping bumps definitely works, as SicT2 described. No question. I've had no luck pumping carves on a snowboard, but that might just be me (I'm no good at it on a skateboard either if I stick to carved turns (picking up the front truck makes it easy though)).

How are those low noses when there's new snow around, or in moguls? Do you find them sufficient, or do you ride other boards in those conditions?

For carving, I get better results if Im (sorry no apostrophe, that key seems to be dead today?) centered on the effective edge. For soft or heavy snow, putting the bindings back an inch or two helps. I rode yesterday with my bindings back a little for just that reason, and that having my bindings back a little bit makes steep moguly stuff easier... I never thought about it much before but it seems I like to have my weight back a little bit when Im "putting the brakes on" with skidded turns. Its all relative to the effective edge though, as others have noted you never know where the manufacturer is going to put the inserts.