Dave*

The Jan 05 th update. Once again the fog is in , ranging from a 4/10 to a 7/10 on the fogometer depending on the section of hill. Very windy prob average of 40 k with what felt like gusting up to 60k while on chair. Temp felt like around zero celcius Approx 5-8 cms of coarse granular ( just like table sugar ) snow or frozen rain on top of a 10 cms thick frozen crust from the other day, If you were arboreal or semi arboreal a good morning to be had with lots of "freshies" on the "sugar" snow, just had to be carefull not to break thru the crust and skip the wind blown patches, wind was going hard enough to fill in tracks after 2 laps in sections BTW. Did a few laps with a jibber kid who was talking it up on the chair, surprised the hell out of him with ability to poke around in the tight trees on HBs and a 171 directional ( I didnt tell him my 71 ATV is a shortish board for me ) , kids nowadays dont they know age and treachery wille trounce youth and exuberance every time. Not a single pisted run hit today due to the visibility issues. Monoskier Count=1 ( this guy is on hill as often as me) BlueB count=0 Police with M16 at port arms=1 ( just before lions gate bridge at 1315hrs today, some sort of WTF must have been going on)

Jan 02 2008 report Zero to plus 1 c, about 10-15cms of wet cypress cement, visibility =10-20 feet due to heavy fog about a 9/10 on the fogometer, while riding lift unable to see lift ahead of you, I was getting vertigo on the chair. Lots of fun in the steeper trees, a real pain once out as couldnt see where going or which way up so lots of low speed flopovers. Crowds not an issue today. Rode till 1200 hrs at which time I had enough. Tree count= lots Everything else count= 0 ( couldnt see to count)

Dec 31 report Minus 3-4c ish, no new, cloud cover. Some serious hero corduroy on the patches that got buffed, it was finally firm enough to hammer into at 100% with out fear of reprisals from the snow. The only problem is they forgot to buff up rainbow. Off piste remains soft pack in the trees with the odd little pocket of untouched ( was on the 77 wcr so that wasnt my primary concern) Favorite lap of the day, sunrise chair, hook around light pole, over the roller jump, left thru trees just before going over top of bowen, straight down to top of midway chair(still closed) for the money shot, (? lower bowen beside midway ?) buffed to perfection and not a track on it other than mine pretty much all morning, did I mentioned the cord has firmed up and butter smooth. Atrocious lift lines by 1200hrs, cant wait till the silly season be gone, so quitting time, legs burned out anyways. Riding tomorrow early, expecting minimal people on hill tilll at least 1300, may their heads all hurt, HB count =1 (me) Jibbers trying to throw down eurocarve count=1 ( asian kid showing promise) Serious inquiries RE HBs =1 Cypress snowboard Instructors Kitted for HB=2 Geoffry good to go now Boris

Dec 29 report minus 3c ish, about 5 cms fresh off piste, a fair bit of soft pack powderoy, Early am was high cloud cover, mid morning the low lying clouds arrived creating some foggy sections top third of laps, by 1145 the crowds arrived as well as snow and a drop in altitude of the fog, so pin pulled on the day. Dave* will be happy when the silly season is over. Bumped into Boyd , new hardbooter sporting some new used burton freecarve gear, says he rides cypress a fair bit and bought some Dynastars off some guy last year ( ?Boris?) , The HB ranks are growing at Cypress. Finally broke out the 2008 prior 177 WCR spoon tail ( non titanal) , fun deck , rides like a very high strung 4x4 with the spoon tail and 11 ish meter cut and whatever Chris did to the shape over previous generations, tons of grip , quite forgiving to my mistakes, lots of "pop" out of turns , off piste quite capable with the spoon tail although the few pockets of foot deep stuff I hit were torpedoed thru with my fat carcass on top, Monoskier count=1 HB count = 2 ( including myself) "whats it like on the 'speed board?' " count=4 80s Onepiece Count=7

Well Boris after typing about five responses on this thread and deleting each one over the past few weeks I am finally going to break down and hit submit as this one is kind of funny .... yesterday AM about 0900 I get on the sunrise chair via the singles line with three snowboard instructors, I did not let on to my past with the Cypress snow school or the fact that I knew you, I did however ask if they had any one teaching or capable of teaching in hardboots. The first answer I got was "No" from one of the guy twinkies The follow up to that from the blond girl instructor was get this ( a direct quote no less ) " what are hardboots?" to which I responded by sticking my right foot in the air and shaking my head. That response I would consider an embarresment to Cypress snowschool and I hate to say but to CASI as well. I am glad I quit when I did. I'm sorry that I cant remember their names for you, if you get to talking with any of these guys I was wearing my natural glass tiger striped Dainese helmet, not the usual orange one. Work an overtime or two, buy your pass, keep all your riding time to yourself, hell you/we can "session" all the HB converts for free, it beats the hell out of shovelling snow off the top of a parkade on a powder day.......That is me playing devils advocate. Dave* at work at 0300hrs and in a bit of a grinch like mood

The Monday report (dec 24th) Woke up early , hit the lot by 0820hrs to a mix of mainly sunny with a few clouds, minus 3 warming to about minus 1 at 1200hrs. No wind. Man did I ever miscalc on the snow report, expected nice soft powderoy, got some very firm frozen cord with lots of little death cookie crumble and the odd death cookie on the groomers, (in retrospect it made sense wet snow meet minus temps=freeze) the old black 4x4 either needs a little TLC on the edges ( most likely) or Dave* has forgotten how to kick it "east coast" style, the first few laps were used to reacclimatize to the firm stuff, was starting to get the ice legs back by quitting time, but I tell you the high speed wipe out and resultant slide on the frozen cord was moderately unpleasant ( my left elbow is a bit unhappy with me), off piste was a bit crusty on the untouched, the frozen up sludge of yesterday a bit noxious but doable. Very few people in early morning, by 0930 a noticeable influx of people, 1030 even more and so on. By the time I decided to quit at noonish the ticket shack had the biggest line up I have ever seen and the parking lots were a gong show (even the C-bowl ones) I have to work 1900 to 0715 tonight so tenuous as to riding tomorrow after witnessing the midday gong show. HB count = 1 (me) although Joey the lifty said he spotted three others Hummer count = 2 ( the car, get your minds out of the gutter) hitchhiking lifties given ride count =2 ( gotta build up the karma points) Merry frickin Ho Ho Dave* the Xmas Grinch who is about to make the big bucks tonight!!!! gotta love the superstats.!

The Sunday report from Dave* Minus 2 c, approx 15cm new, snowing at 1-2cms per hour, winds 20-40 k while on chair. Visibility much better today. Not much sense in talking about anything else Raven Chair opened first time today with a good weeks worth of fresh snow piled on the cut runs. I managed to be in the first wave of people to nail it , saaaaaweeeeeeeet almost bottomless and the first 3 laps I got did not cross anothers tracks. Lots of rollers , watch out for the drainage ditches, although they make for good booters ( lots of rubber boned kids doing back flips, most not landed however) The chair is a slow speed , non detach quad, need to time it but guesstimate about ten minutes chair time, the cut laps are a steepish blue/light black consistency, if they decide to groom to cord should be very entertaining indeed. Legs ran out of gas early, a bit of lunch, then 4 laps of sunrise chair down thru moons, even more sweet pooter to be had. HBs spotted =1 (me) Monoskiers spotted=1 BlueBs spotted=1 (in soft boots n twinkie suit) Tibor, good to hear you are also still at it, I have no plans for Bigwhite at this time, possible Silverstar daytrips in early January. Dave*

The Saturday Report. an interesting day, primary lifts shut till 1100ish due to high winds, was able to get to parking lot by 1130 hrs ( apparently the term SPODE can apply to car drivers, if you have all seasons stay the &^% off the road, end rant), props to the yokohama geolandar I/Ts they make me smile each time I drive up the C-bowl road. Temp about zero celcius, heavy fog with a realistic 10-20 foot visibility out in the open, however approx 20-30cms of fresh windpack powder ( okay Cypress cement, its good once you get used to it and packs into nice base) Very few people on hill, zero lift lines which was amazing for a xmas holiday saturday, even fewer people in the trees, a few other guys lines spotted in moons, many left for tomorrow, took a few pokes just off top panorama then aim left to top of half pipe I was the only one to tap that, even more stash left for tomorrow although its tiiight in there, tomorrow the 162 Option North Shore is going up. Didnt spot any of the ussual suspects, although I know Boris n the boys are not very arboreal and dont like to hang in these areas. Quit at 1445 hrs due to soaking wet and getting chilled. HB count =1 ( me ) Monoski count =1 Dave*

Eatmore Bars, ( molasses and peanuts ) survives pocket carry very well they taste good, great emergency snack for when going in for lunch is not and option. Personally I find all the energy bars taste like crap. A bagel with something in the middle survives pocket carry fairly well. Beware the orange perhaps one of the messiest foods to crash upon. Dave*

Mr Roboteye, the 177 wcr is "just" a stocker 19.5 waist non titanal with the spoon tail, got her in Oct this year as a tight traffic icy condition carver, the 11ish meter cut should be perfect for cypress weekends and hell with the roundish tail even a bit of minimal powder boonie bashing.. Dave*

The Tuesday report ( from this am ) Was up first thing to minus 2 c, low overcast, and very flat light, with approx 5-8cm accum from O/N , snowing lightly at about 1 cm per 3 hrs, mild to mod wind while on lift at approx 15-30 kmh by the seat of the pantsometer. 71 atv weapon of choice. The powderoy from yesterday firmed up into hero cord, the groomers buffed up some new patches of butter smooth goodness, only prob was seeing where the hell going, wasnt bad after a lap or two , trenches put some contrast down, The off piste was also very good with the couple cms of windpack powder on top of soft pack, the base in the trees just keeps getting better each day, my favorite secret stash was untouched , some uncovered blowdown still showing, another 30-40cms should have it all covered. Lets hope the temps stay below zero up there, and the Cypress management pulls their collective thumbs from aft orofices and opens that new chair, that looks to open some very tasty terrain. Riding solo today, got to work on pacing myself, legs burned out by 1230, lots of pristine cord and powder untouched, the hill was very deserted today. HB count = 1 ( me ) Just finished assembling my new virgin 08 177 wcr with suspension kit and TD2s for saturday morninig useage No updates for a couple days, have to make a living weds/thurs/fri Dave*

The Monday Report. Minus 2 celcius, mix of sun and cloud, approx 10-15cms new windpack powder off piste. Crowds= non existant, sunrise n eagle running, oh yeah the bunny chair too. Off piste was stellar, getting enough coverage for some limited boony bashing. On piste was soft pack "powderoy" , looks like cord, smells like cord, lets you leave horrendous trenches at full crank however not quite 100% trustworthy to hold without breaking or allowing the nose to bury in , left some nice heelside to body imprint to toeside fakie pancake landings aka the patented flying starfish. Was very nice(and safe) for 85% aggression carving though. Got my buddy "The Chinch" aka Los Chinchinero or MeteroMan up on the HBs for the first time, he took to it better than I did the first time, Started on SB 125s on an option c165 goofy foot with about 45 and 40 angles and a 19ish stance ( mid sized dude). His take on first timing the HBs from a capable soft booter. -initial apprehension about the angles but no crashing( used to +15f,-10 rear) -he prefered the walk mode for a bit of extra flex -some difficulty bringing board around on steeps and off piste, likely from rear foot "jibber sweep" from soft booting. To his credit he came down the steep ****e on the second lap with out whining -He was getting some decent carves in by 1100hrs and "feeling it" -foot pain from non thermo loaner boots had day end by 12ish -meteroboy who is all about looking good for the ladies was hooked when watching the chair lift people watching me laying it down. -probably should have started him on a wider round tail with lower angles then work the angles up There was a few other Hbers out today, 50-60yr old fellow pimping some classic Burton freecarve, and an asian guy on some old SB121s/Catek/freeride set up, didnt get to talk to either though. Not having much luck with the camera, two sets of batteries froze up on me. Dave*

I think I had a much better day than Boris, left early, laughed at the morons stuck with the all seasons as leaving the hill, had a nap, went to multidepartmantal Xmas party, rumours of free bar true, got digits, just rolled home now, early am start tenuous at best, hangover looming hard, free tequila and heinekins what the hell!!! Head will be hurtin in AM. Dave*

C5 Al, keep an eyeball open for the big orange helmet on monday or tuesday coming up, not making any guarantees but i might go up one of those days, odds much higher if no base at cypress. You know my routine, early AM, whistler side, up creekside. i am not lasting much past 1330 hrs on last trip, legs in terrible early season shape. Mr Roboteye,,, havnt seen too much of the "old" guys the past few years - DaleR ,, knee issues pretty much over to skiis - Tom T the curmedgeon, knee issues, 50/50 ski/board - Ron the football guy still going , kiteboarding more than snow. - Art and the rest of the ontario crew mainly out in febuary. Dave*

Dec 08 2007 Woke up 0545hrs , eyeballed the Cypress report , seen only easy rider chair to go, said %^&* it I'm going to whistler. Hit the creekside parkade at 0810, was off the top of red chair by 0840 hrs Temp felt like about minus 8 celcius, bluebird skies, nice crispy cord, The 179 4x4 performed per usual, was dragging elbows in about 6 turns down the green chair off the first lap, (although some rust in my form) By the time I thought to take a picture the batteries in my camera were frozen up so sorry no pics. Peak chair opened today also, watch out for rocks off piste, the coverage is a bit thin, harmony open , but the Chair to nowhere behind harmony did not. I discovered that the "summer of Dave* " came back to bite me, 5 months of slacking left me running out of gas early, only lasted to 1330 hrs before the legs cried uncle and I had to stop before I hurt myself. Stopped by the prior shop on the way home, yapped with the Deaner , was very close to coming home with a 23 waist 177 cm titanal deck, had to exit quick before the mastercard melted down. There was also a cool looking kessler style nose with 21ish waist that caught my eye . All in all a successful first day of riding for the year. Will be flogging the easy rider at cypress tomorrow morning,, Dave*

I was one of the dreaded riding in walk mode people for years, tried the RAB set up but could not get the cuff vertical enough, locking in the 5 position lockout just never felt right, and could never get a set of burtons to last more than twenty days with out cracking so walk mode it was and never had a real problem....... Switched to the BTS 2/3rds of the way thru last season and cant believe I had been riding without, got the blue springs, took a half day or so to get them dialed in for my tastes but huge improvement in feel and ability to deal with less than perfect cord, ( off piste the yellows might be a bit better for me but the blues are good enough as an allaround that its not worth monkeying around). I like my boot cuff to sit at neutral ( think if in walk mode ) so bottom adjustor backed right off, top adjustor dialled in to about 1.5-2 turns of "preload" , this gives me a nice little "mush zone" at top dead center and something to push off as you go in deeper into the boots flex . With my set up I dont miss not having an unlockable walk mode. The BTS can chew the crap out of the inside of your pant cuff in not careful. I weigh aboot 220 lbs if anyone curious. Would probably like the reds if all I rode was groomers, may still upscale to red springs if my riding technique/aggression level improves over last year.. Dave*

Greetings J'Suisla', glad to see you remembered my helmet, that is some memory,,, impressive. Hope I wasnt stinking of to much booze from the night before when I met you, last years boardfest was a bit of a blurr. Hope you had a good time this trip out. Greetings SurfRat, will likely see you on Cypress, if you're on the softies just holler that its SurfRat from bomber, lets do some laps, I also love the trees btw. Boris are you going to get the thursday night sessions going again? Will see you up there sat AM if they open. Dave*

So I slept in this AM and did not make it up to whistler as plannned. Instead took a run up to Cypress to get my pass sorted out before opening day. ( Glad that I did, those morons screwed it up for a second year in a row, thank the gods I kept reciept from my original purchase, sorted now) The monsoon in Vancouver was translating to snow on the Cypress road from first viewpoint switchback on. about 8-10cms at parking lot level and coming down heavy, see attached pic, sorry about quality it wasnt great light and in the middle of a snowstorm. Temp felt like about minus 1-2 celcius at lot level. Hit the empty parking lot to test the new pickups snow tires, the yokohama geolandar I/Ts almost work too good, had to really work to break loose to practice a few drift turns in 2wd, then a couple donuts, one or two Ebrake swap enders, then a couple 4 wheel "lockups" to stress test the ABS system. It think I am ready for winter now that I got that out of my system. Pickup is sure a different beast than the old VW GTi was in the snow. Might try for early wake up tomorrow and hit whistler, will give update on that if I go. Dave*

thanks Boris, Cash it shall be, Cypress will open soon so why not exchange $ for shiny trinkets up there, Might day trip to whistler tomorow if interested. Dave*

Boris, I'll take em off your hands, subliminal message " Sell them to Dave*" I need a spare board kit for my td 2s. Can either pick up next couple of days or up at cypress when it opens. You have my phone number still? I have some 7degree fixed burton canting plates if you are interested ( 3 hole and four hole) and want to do a little horsetrading. Dave*

Ola Boris, I will be at cypress this year also, A few new pieces of gear added to the "quiver" Drove up there a few days back for a look see and not a whole lot of snow present. Will be riding mainly Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues my new days off, plus a few extras here and there, keep eyeballs open for the orange brain bucket. Dave*

I have in my collection about 17 sets of Burton Plates , of that there are about 4 different generations of race plates, a few generations of carrier plates, some carbon fiber plates, some rental plates, and an old set of automats with the heel shoe horn slipper thing, Love the feel of race plates and the ease of set up, would love to see bomber make a bail retro fit kit for the plate, have fragged a few toe bails and sheared off a few M6s that hold bail block. About 4.5 sets of TD1 standards from pre spring bail to spring bailed, havent broken anything here, mine are all rubber gasket modded. 2 sets of TD 2s , no probs here like the ride with yellows, got a suspension kit just havent mounted and ridden yet. 1 set of Trident Sports Rattraps (last generation with the cables), bombproof stiiffer than a raceplate, softer than a TD2 yellow, bombproof, bonus for Canadian made. 1 set Voile split board plates, they work wouldnt get to rammy on them though. 1 broken set of Lacroix plates, I killed these off many years back, 1 or 2 sets of old emeries in a box somewhere. have never ridden, they came on some used boards I bought. Have never ridden but Cateks just look to finicky to set up. have had to implement a marking tape system , i sometimes forget which set of binders is set up for what boot ( 295/299/303 SB/AF 27/28m)

I have been dealing with Prior since 1999 and have around 10 prior decks Some bought used, a few as stockers, and two as custom builds. I have had no complaints as to the quality or service I have recieved over the years, it should be known however all my dealings have been in person. I will generally attempt to talk with Chris himself being the only active HBer in their shop that i know of,,, I think Dean has tried it but it didnt take. I know my old room mate who worked for Prior pretty much refused ( in a very opinionated fashion) even with me offering loaner gear. In my experience Chris has gone above and beyond for me , Some of the shop flunkies are a bit clueless as to the whole HB thing, and have seen at least one of the un named ( okay I know the name) sales guy try to impose his opinion on a potential customer ( now that is one thing I hate) , so there is at least one caveat. I will continue to deal with Chris who is canadian and local to me , and I will continue to refer people to him as I have done for years, Chris is also not averse to running a few laps with the unwashed public and tolerates the incessant questions on the chairlift quite well. My 0.02 cents ( 0.025 american ,,,,?) Dave*

I wear an size 11/11.5 nike runner and have an average width foot, I ride Raichle/deeluxe AF and SB series and use 28 mondo as my comfort boots when its cold, 27 mondo with a thin liner as my performance boots. I am guessing you might be looking at a 26 mondo boot. I highly reccomend you read up on the boot sizing in here on BOL before plunking cash on the wrong size to start, (learn from my mistakes) Of the Raichle deeluxe line up the AF series fits the wider feet a bit better with its asymetric fore foot but is on average 5mm longer than the same mondo size SB series boot. Good luck Dave

I have a friend with a yellow lab that is called "DeeOhGee" (D-O-G) About 65-70 pounds of tailwagging blubber Perhaps EllaBee for yours ( L A B)