Dave*

Perhaps the question should be " Hill with the most hardbooters per acre of ski hill" If that is the case Whistler is bottom rung, Cypress is doing pretty well for a west coast hill ( largely due to BlueB who should really be working as an army recruiter LOL) Now Cypress literally goes off the charts when the Canadian National Team comes to train in the spring time. Would like to see the HBer/acre ratio east vs west.

"Where are you Dave? " 1) two weekends ago, the biggest 3D archery shoot of the year for the province at the agrifair in abbotsford, only rolls around once a year , so had to hit it, did not bad placed in the top 30 out of about 150 in my equipment division, some good shooters from the hinterlands of BC I tell you. 1st/2nd and 3rd was determined by a 7 person shoot off, those seven guys shot perfect rounds to get to that point. 2) New Job, 400 projects, timelines on all, and everbody wants a chunk of me. What the hell was I thinking? 3) The Flu, Dave* has had the worst flu/pneumonia of his life since about 1990 for the past six days. Boys if you see somebody sniffling or looking not healthy make the sign of the cross/devil horns/poke em in the eye with a sharp stick ,, do whatever but keep your distance,, this flu bug is a killer, Still not 100% yet but feeling a bit better yest and today. Hoping to ride over the weekend. Other matters , an old co worker of mine wants to get on the HBs, will be setting him up on the loaner stuff next few weeks to try it out. Decent soft booter so should be along the same learning curve as Cousin of Beagle. Thats The news from the world of Dave*

Ola Boys Sorry for skipping last tuesday night,, a bit late getting out of work and website said rain, The Todays conditions Around minus 3, snowing heavily on arrival with 1 cm fresh on top of a frozen up cord. By Quitting time at noonish about 10-12 cms more accum and quickly tapering off. Off piste kind of wacky the odd nice patch of fresh on top of a 15 cm thick frozen crust, , Very few people on the mountain today.

I spent 9 seasons of 100 plus days at whistler up to a few years back. Board theft was rampant at the top out side lodge, even worse in the village if not locked. Things got so bad they installed video surveillance out side the roundhouse and rendevous. The little square "ski keys" C5 described are awsome but not much good with out a rack designed for them. I have one but lost the keys. Something that goes in my pocket even before basic tools is a perma-coiled combo cable lock with about 5-6 mm cable, a bit much for the average wire cutters/leatherman tool. Most thieves will take the path of least resistance and snag the unlocked board. If they really wanted it , a screwdriver four bolts , leave the binder and the board is gone. That is one nice thing about allen keys, not many people have them. I simply do not leave my board unattended with out a lock, period. There is/was another thing I bought a few of on close out a few years back, made by kryptonite If I remember correct, basically a 8-10 mm precoiled cable combo lock, came with a collet screw that went thru a ball that you could screw into a spare insert hole, run cable thru the ball and that couldnt be unscrewed secondary to cable covering the collet screw , worked great just a bit bulky for pocket carry. Use those as bicycle wheel locks now. Vehicle storage, up at whistler or at cypress if they can see it, odds are you will come back minus a window and a board or two. I lock my boards in truck canopy to each other to make a pain in the butt to move, cover with a blanket and then run a black curtain over the truck canopies back window , so you can not see in, not the best but it makes me feel better. Having said all that my hat is off and good karma points to the unkown person who returned my helmet and goggles to lost and found at cypress when I drove away and left helmet and gogs in the parking lot. Note to self , how the hell do you lose a fluorescent orange helmet?

Unhappy yesterday? Yup tweaked back pushing old lady's car out of snow the day before. Took a few tree runs , kind of hairy, enough coverage but a ten cm "soft crust" with 6 cms on top , break thru that and you would be eating tree bark. Just wasnt feeling the hardpack/corduroy love either. Today loaded up on Ibuprofen , feeling much better. Cypress road not that bad but the effin morons with summer tires trying to get up hazardous, I witnessed 1 full 360 to stop, 1 90 degree tail whip to recovery , and 1 sweet straight into the ditch maneuver. snow level about 300 vert feet above works yard. On hill windy, fogometer reading of 4/10, snowing heavily, with 12-14 cms accum, and another 6-10 by quitting time at 1300, temp about minus 2-3 c. 3 laps on PGS with powder on groom 4 laps over on Raven 1-2-3-1, all rocks covered nicely. After that things went arboreal, punched a bunch of tracks into the panorama trees from trumpeter on to southwards. I am 99% sure I have been the first one into most of my lines this season, enough on top of the "crust" for good tree'in, things are still quite tight as the snow pack hasnt worked its way up the trees to create more space. Dont fall over as its currently settled powder with no firm base underneath, Definitly do not get caught in a flat spot, took over 10 minutes to go 100 feet skiers right of the half pipe. That was some hard flippin work. Also watch out for the little mini clifflets , , ussually they are rideable steep sections, right now just vertical rocky patches 10- 30 feet in height. Did not see any of the usual suspects, did not make it over to Lions side, Things to virginally good on Eagle side. Dave*

World wide hardbooter census 14687 ( obtained using the patented Dave* SWAG** method ) . Percentage of HBers 0.0132 of a percentage point locally. Local Vancouver Hbers , about 10 that I know, maybe about 5 more that come out once in a while. Local Whistler HBers , about 5-6 that I know, maybe about 5 more that come out once in a while. This means I know 0.11574% of the worlds hardbooter population ** scientific wild a## guess

Hell I dint even notice myself on there yesterday at work, I guess my brain was to busy counting the money from the superstat and the stat holidays. Just woke up and have the decision, snowboard or overtime,,, and website is late with 0600 hrs snow report. aaaaggggghhhhhh!!!

I love my Dainesse Raptors, great quality, light weight and they look cool, They do fit a little large, I fit a medium dainesse, Troy Lee/Bell/661 I wear a large. Not enough ventilation for mtn biking but perfect for boarding, if it gets cold a few pieces of open cell filter foam works perfect in the venting holes. I like the fit of the Troy Lee's but find them a bit pricy. Have never tryed on the Burton. Have used in the past - Bell Rythm pro,, should mention this one I am pretty sure kept me out of the ICU , - 2 sixSixOnes, a polycarb shell and a Fiberglass shell, these I use on the mtn bike , better ventilation. removeable inner liners These were all good bang for the buck, not near as nice as the Dainesse for quality or fit on my head.

The Last Night Report. Got up there around 1700 hrs just as it stopped snowing, the usual cold with about 15cms accum from the day. Good firm smooth underbase with the usual hummocks of soft pack mashed potatoes on top. Tip er up on edge and plow on thru. The Todays Report. Cold, about minus 10c, mix of sun and cloud, that 15 cms of new from yesterday got mulched into some seriously nice hero cord ( okay a couple little soft patches near the edge) , the left hip of my pants is pretty much burned thru now, minimal people, no new terrain open, off piste still sketchy. Rode with Rod the soft booter for the morning, he is a bit harder to recognize, new helmet color. He is digging his new Bananna Tech/Magnetrac Libtech board, didnt look overly stable at speed though. Dave*

Yup, riding tomorrow, badly out of shape and get bored with limited terrain so plan is 0900 hrs to 1230-1300 ish Dave*

The Dec 15 2008 update Bluebird Skies, no natural new snow, about minus 8 c Eagle Chair with Panorama and PGS open, they had snow making going great guns, made for some very wacky sections of decent groom to dust on groom to icy sections with a nasty rust color to them ( methinks some water purging going on) , to a 6 foot mound of snow leading into the entrance of Panorama corner. The snowmaking crews must be happy with this cold weather. Lions chair had Collins buffed up nicely ( only "open" run) , no snowmaking over there so consistent groom. Lots of kids poaching the rainbow/upper bowen powder but they must have left some huge chunks of Ptex behind on the under layer of rocks. Very few people on hill, tried out the new "hollywood" parking by the new lodge, super convenient access to either side now and getting back to truck. Some of the usual suspects ,, Pierre playing hooky from work with the swoard and Tony on his jibber gear again. 179 4x4 today, might try busting an old beater factory prime out for tomorrow. Dave*

George , since you asked..... was actually waiting for Boris to start the annual 2008/2009 Cypress thread. The sneak preview from Cypress. They opened the bunny chair yesterday ( I skipped that ) Today the bunny chair and the Eagle chair with Panorama and Fork/PGS rideable. Firm packed powder on the runs, off piste a bit too sparse to venture off, I wlll stay to groomers untill another 50-60 cms comes down Good visibility, temp felt like about minus 5 c, snow guns at full rip top of PGS Lots of speed cops on Panorama but they were behaving today. Pain in the a## was lift ticket checkers in the lift lines ,, Riding was sure rusty, but apparently I can still turn left and right. 5 minute lift lines by 1300 hrs, trails moderately crowded, was expecting worse considering how little terrain there was. A few little patches of scraped down to pebbles in high traffic areas. A few of the usual suspects, Boris n Roy on the HBs, Tony friend of mine on the softies , he is waiting for his F2s to mount up to a 4x4, will be his first year HB ing. Practiced a few donuts and drift turns in the empty lot on the way home just for fun. Got home to some nasty emails from the archery crew, giving me hell for skipping 3D shoot out in the valley, that would have been frosty, just couldnt figure a way to squeeze both in. Am eyeballing the old black 185 FP for tomorrow if no new comes down, should firm up nice with this cold weather. Dave*

He made the local vancouver global 13 news, they actually showed his entire gold medal run. They gave mention to JJA and the girls ( Kimiko I think) medal placings as well. Dave*

As a west coaster Prior is almost on my back door step so I have a lot of Priors. Something to complement the 181 WCR, depends on what you want to do. Freecarve/All MTN - 171 ATV , they run soft in stock form, get beefed up for 200+ , width would be nice for the foot size, you now have mixed and powder days covered, and a 10ish SCR is for sure turnier than the 181's. Mine euro carves like a demon. -179 ATV/FWD, again the extra width nice , 11ish SCR is a great compromise, I find this to be a great deck for everything except powder over 15cms, the fact that I own two should say something, one with titanal construction would be heaven. Carving 177 WCR- I have a normal construction and an 09 proto titanal, I find the 11.9 SCR perfect for my local area which tends to be a bit crowded. the 177 WCR's spoon tail makes it much more versatile off piste than a traditional square tail. I buy my carvers based not on lenght but the desired SCR and flex pattern . 177 Titanal Fatjack ( Prior)- this one is a " two off" , I ended up with one that came out not quite right for Pokkis I believe. Love this board. Basically a titanal 177 WCR that got widened out to around 23cm waist, Chris left the stock core thickness with the width so she came out nice and stiff , nice for us 200+ pounders and the width lets me back off on the angles with a touch of underhang. Carves exceedingly well on all conditions, and the width makes it a competent All Mtn deck. Once again the 11.9 SCR of the 177 WCR makes a nice small mtn crowded carver. Titanal makes for a very forgiving board to ride. I would be very intersted in trying out the Coiler "Schtubbie" series myself to see what all the hype is about, that non existant nose concerns me a bit for west coast riding.

Have shipped boards with greyhound with no problems, * of note there is a greyhound depot in Whistler right at the pedestrian entrance to the parkade at Creekside* Never have shipped a board with Canada post, but other items have all been no problem, I think there might be more size limitations with canada post ( but dont quote me on that) * In whistler there is a post office down by the IGA in main village, not sure about creekside*

While I personally am not a racer, I have two sets of BTS and love them, they have transformed my riding for the better, I was a walk mode rider for a number of years, tried the RAB but could not get the boot cuff vertical enough with that system. Now for the pertinent info to the original question, the Canadian national team spent some time training at Cypress this spring. I scrutinized their gear quite closely. About 75 % were on Deeluxe/Raichle boots with about a 70/30 split of that being RAB/5 position lock. About 20 % on either Head or UPZ About 5 % ( 2-3 guys ) were on ski boots , I think I seen two sets of the Dalbello "flexons" None of the Canadian team were using BTS that I could see. Perhaps its a sponsorship/money issue? Did not get a chance to talk with any of them, did get to talk with Fawcett a few times but the BTS topic never came up. Of note he was much less "snooty" than the racers. Other observations - most were on Kesslers with Hangl Plates - most were running the F2 bindings or F2 bail towers directly to the Hangl. All numbers given were determined using the S.W.A.G* ( scientific wild a## guess) method Dave*

Ola Joey, Glad to see you got gear for the year, definitley take Boris up on the Mtn staff lessons. You know my routine , I am more than happy to drag you around the hill and give you my two cents, I have a sneaking suspicion if you can tele you will be up to speed in no time flat, I personally think the idea of heels flooping all over a bit terrifying. Just found out I had three weeks of vacation owing to me that has to be taken before Xmas so I will be putting in a three week straight stretch of riding at that time, that means every one must pray to ULLR , Dave* needs lots of snow early. Keep an eyeball open for the tigerstripes ( orange and black or the tan and black ) Should be a fair size pack of HBers this year at Cypress Boris Roy Ruwi Pierre ? Geoff the instructor kid? Tony ( new guy, in process of boot fitting some UPZ for barney Rubble feet) George Joey Dave* Doug if he decides to come and visit Have we forgotten anybody?? Mr Roboteye, are you going to get off the big mountain fixation and join us at Cypress a few times?

I live right in Vancouver , my plan is to get the hell out of town for the duration of the Olympics/ParaOlympics. This based on current knowlege of how Vancouver functions at the best of times, its a bit of a gong show, forget the traffic/security/extra people etc crammed into this place as well as the recomendations from Brother who was in Calgary during the 88 Olympics. Not to mention my snowboard season will be shot at my two preferred local places to go , Cypress/Whistler, Yup you can color me Mr "anti olympics" Now as to the cost overruns and extra taxes we will pay for the next 40 years for this.......... that is another story:angryfire

Boris, Phase 1 get the size 12 soft boots, cut the sole off, use remaining boot as camoflage over the top of your hardboots, go with intec heels on your deeluxe so they cant see the toe bails, Phase 2 get custom 4wd 179 with twin tip ( ie round , up turn tail) for the ultimate in camoflage carving gear for stealth hardboot teaching, Phase 3 Pay for your pass, ride what you want all the time, set the example to the people and mess with those boneheads at Cypress ski School who dont have the ability to teach or do what we do....

I have one of the 23cm 177 "Fatjacks" that was possibly originally built for Pokkis, ( it came out a wee bit stiff and had a slight cosmetic bleb , so I ended up with it),,, apparently I end up with all Priors decks that come out a "bit to stiff".... sometimes it pays to be chunky LOL My Fatjack does surprisingly well considering its got essentially a low profile WCR nose and radius, it floats well enough , but with the stiffness and low profile nose doesnt come up as easy as some of my other more FR oriented decks, just have to pay that extra bit of attention compared to my stiffened ATV, floats better than my 179 4wds ( one quad glass one standard), If it had a nose profile like the ATV my Fatjack could have killed my entire quiver its that good, Pokkis's 187 looks like it went with more of a 4wd rounded nose, mine ended up looking kind of kesslerish/squarenosed with the extra width just stuck between the WCR nose radius. ( I double checked against the profiles of my 08 WCRs and its identical) Will be curious to see how the Pokkis 187 works with the taper ,

Its funny how personal taste and riding styles can influence like/hate of a board. BlueB and I ride the same hill same conditions both in HBs, he loves the 4807. I have two a 168 and a 178 and just am not a fan, can ride them okay but I have much preferred weapons to go to first. Now the Dupraz, I quite liked, it may have even been the same one Skategoat was on as I had demoed it about a week prior. I posted my review of it on the Cypress threads last spring, it should be known I could fold the nose if I wanted , but have a sneaking suspicion I am of the clydesdale class( 240) compared to Sgoat. For me its a no brainer with the D1 in ++ flex. Am still trying to decide between modded Prior Spearhead vs the Dupraz to purchase for this year. Dave*

Key points for the ultimate powder board are powder type ( wet coastal vs dry interior powder) and terrain ( steep and tight trees vs wide open high altitude stuff) Being a coastal rider who loves trees I am willing to trade off a bit of floatation ( width and length) for maneurverablity, a well designed nose can make up for a lesser surface area ( Prior ATV, Burton Fish, Option Northshore). Being a certified board collecting junkie, I either own one, have demoed it , or am scheming a way to ride it. Two powder type decks that I demoed last season that stood out were the 178 Dupraz and the big Prior Spearhead. Both had a long gradual nose for good float with effective edge reduction for more maneuverablity, a 178 with the same edge length as a 160 round tail is more than quick enough for the tight stuff. I am seriously considering buying either the Dupraz or a custom Spearhead ( narrowed slightly, stiffened a lot). Both of these two are coming close to my ideal powder deck.

Ola Brad Dave* clocks in around 235 lb on average , about 5'11'' , Normal stance width at 22" plus or minus a 1/2 " depending on the deck, I think Chris might be widening the inserts on his WCRs a bit to accomodate the newer school alpine stances, if he hasnt I think it might be in the works. I wouldnt base a board purchase on only board length , more on the sidecut, effective edge and flex pattern. Priors 177 WCRs have proven to be a nice balance of stability to maneuverablility to me, getting into the longer WCRs on the "little" hill I have been relegated to the past two seasons just isnt practical, even when I was based out of whistler the 185 sqare tail WCRs were just to much except for a few hours in the morning, to cumbersome once the crowds showed up. The "spoon tail" WCRs have an effective edge of about 5-8 cms shorter than an equivalent length square tail, rideablity and forgiving nature of the spoon tail is a well made trade off IMHO. My fatjack and the 177quad glass WCR have been known to go boonie bashing in the trees on a semi regular basis. Dave*

I have a bare metal top sheet "fatjack" ( basically a 23 waisted 177wcr , quite stiff) that is a spectacular ride, the top sheet has faired well but I take nore than normal measures to preserve it, I was lucky enough to get one of Chris's very first 2009 ti boards built while he was still working out the flex patterns for the new construction, mine came out a wee bit stiff ( actually quite beastlike) , Chris thought it would suit me. Its a 177 wcr and very stiff , shape is literally identical to my 08 quad glass 177 wcr which is a very sweet ride itself. Havent ridden the 2009 titanal yet as got it just as season shutting down for me. As you can tell I am a big fan of the 177 spoon tail with an 11.9 sidecut. Have attached a few pics, forgot to do the base, camera at work now, sorry ( black with neon green Prior logo ) side walls are white, pics are shrunk to the 600x800 but you should be able to see the skin over glass over recessed titanal. Hope that helps Dave*

Prior 177 titanal Fatjack with carbon race plates.. I love this thing for my riding style , 9/10 on any form of hardpack from ice to chewed up cord, just the right SCR for a nice balance of stablity to maneurverablity, and a nice beefy flex for my chunky self. Cant put my finger on the titanal ride as to why it works so well , it just does even on a stiff deck, 8/10 for off piste/trees/bumps/sludge etc ( I prefer my stiffened ATV for this but only one board right?? ) 6/10 for powder ridng ( actually it could be a 8/10 with a little nose reprofile ) low profile WCR nose with a lot of stiffness overall made it a real handfull the first few times I hit around 30 cms in tight trees , had to adjust the riding style a bit and maintain the "A" game 100 % of the time, but it iwas no slouch in powder once I got used to it. The fatjack became one of my most ridden boards once I picked it up frrom the middle of last season. I call it the "fatjack of all trades". I have a sneaking suspicion some of the coiler AM boards could dethrone the Fatjack from my top ranked list I just havent had a chance to try them out , not a lot of Coiler action on the west coast. Not so sure I want to know what all that salt water would do to the edges and titanal. Dave*