utahcarver

Rob: Historically speaking, what you are asking for is a boot that can do it all. The elusive Holy Grail Boot: It can play in powder and surf big mountain conditions while at the same time holding up to the demands and pressures of carving early morning cord. Unless a manufacturer steps up and makes such a legendary boot, anyone who is looking for this boot is going to be asking for the 'custom curse'. Personally, the BTS went a long way to accomplishing something like this for my riding style. I put them on some older Raichle 123's (3 buckle) with yellow springs and TD2's. Assuming that TDSidewinders give the lateral flex needed to get the 'surfy' feel I like, I may have found the best combo of boot and binding for myself when I can afford the Sidewinders later this year. My setup is still very limiting when it compares to softboot and soft bindings as an interface. If the focus of any hybrid boot becomes the ankle and the boot construction is based upon the ability of this point of any boot to flex and provide support, that'd be the place to start to develop any hybrid-bred boot that could do it all. Mark

Would this make Bryan (oldsnowboards.com) the equivalent of Norm Abrams in the snowboarding world? :) Mark

I'm trying to figure out how to 'splain to the missus why I need ball bindings now. I like seeing this kind of stuff. People on their toes, thinking, doing, in spite of all of the downward spiral crap that we usually see in the world. I just had a great day on the hill, discovery, recovery, and some wild times. To come home to see that someone else is thinking and doing, cool. OK, the beer(s) is starting to take effect now and my hands feel like two balloons. Headed to the family room for the Stupor Bowl and my Jimmy Dean Sausage dip, wings, pizza, beer, beer, 7-layer bean dip, roasted chicken, rib-eye steaks, dutch oven potatoes, pot-stickers, egg rolls, fried rice, and oh, beer. Go Saints! Mark B double E double RUN Beerrun, Beerrun!

OK, I'm going to be dating myself here but, I think this concept has served me well for well over 30 years. In the old Skateboarder magazine Curtis Hesselgrave had a few columns in which he discussed (what would now be called skateboard tech) being able and ready to skateboard. Specifically, he wrote about keeping your weight 'underside'. Meaning, to only tighten and constrict those muscles necessary for skating. Otherwise, the skater was to keep his/her body loose and flexible by not tightening the muscles unnecessarily. By doing this, the body weight was perceived more as being underneath an upheld arm or hand and would give more freedom of movement if the body were upset by an obstacle. In another column, Hesselgrave spoke of fasting (going without food) before a skate session. Apparently, from his exposure to the martial arts, he had learned that putting food in the body has a tendency to raise the center of gravity of the human body. He identified the CG as 2 inches below the belly button. Which is where I have a tattoo of the internationally-recognised symbol of CG (a circle with alternating 45 degree pie-shapes in either black or yellow). Anyhooo, I've always tried to skate while fasting. When I do, I notice a more pronounced flow and sharpness to the session. When I have applied this same concept to snowboard sessions, I've almost had the same experience. When I fast, I'm quick into the turn, my eyes are bright and sharp, my reflex times are the quickest. When I pound down a breakfast burrito from town on the way up to the hill, I'm lethargic and not on my A game. By mid-day, I'm seeking a blanket and a nap. OTOH, when I fast, I'm good and sharp in the morning and shaking like a leaf (cold, spent, bleary-eyed) in the afternoon. So, I've learned to keep hydrated with water only, keep a gel-stick or some kind of carbohydrate in my gut by 10am. My guess is that the cold temperatures affect performance MORE than in a warm skateboarding session in the summer months. I also stay away from the alcohol until I'm back at the lodge and have removed my feet tourniquets. For me, alcohol on the hill results in a pounding headache. This could be related to something else like blood pressure, altitude, or lack of hydration. I leave the suds to apres-carving when I can get some pizza and sit by a fireplace. Mark

Everything but, there are no strings attached! Mark

Surfing at age 14, skating at age 15, Wintersticking at age 18 (circa winter 1977). Mark

...or, learning how to fall. Lon: in the old Skateboarder Magazine from the mid-1970's (I'm really dating myself here) Curtis Hesselgrave wrote one or two columns on falling. Falling is a part of board sports, period. I took local Ki-Akido classes just to learn how to fall. Keeping weight underside, breathing exercises were all part of the drill. A few summer months in my youth spent learning how to fall has served me well for many years now. All of this still doesn't mean that you can stop your head from slamming the snow at speed. Your head is full of fat and meat, brains, and some limited common sense. Well, some of us have that. :) With the availability of affordable helmets, it is a tragedy that there are so many brain trauma injuries that end up in death. As an aside, I try and make sure that I have some redundancy in my snowboarding equipment. I take extra gloves, goggles, shell jacket, and helmet. I consider these things a part of my overall cost of being a snowboarder. I often take extra boots and boards when I'm the wagon-master. And I rotate the stock every so often to make sure it's not worn out. Especially, the helmets. In over 30-plus years of surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding, I've had my bell rung a few times and I know that a helmet, though not always a life-saver, is invaluable in saving myself from minor and major head dings. Carve safe, Mark

Jon: I've been riding my Tanker 200 with TD2's for several seasons now. I'm in your weight range and haven't had a problem with using them together on groomers or in powder. Tankers are great boards and I'm sure the 'new school' ideas applied to them make them even more playful in the powder. Good luck. Mark

Hey, get with the hardbooter.com guys and go ride with them. Will Garrow and Dave and Billy hang out at Park City; and I think Skully still rides at The Canyons. Snowbasin has some great steep groomers, too. Mark

I'm a person who has been all 3 of the drivers that Photodad describes. When I first moved to Utah, I couldn't drive faster than 15 mph in snowing conditions. Then within a year or two, I was like Jeff (blank) Gordon driving like I was winning Daytona everytime I drove in snow. Now, as an aging driver, I drive just below or around the speed limit in snowing conditions. Along the way, I've had a few laughs. Like the time (1978) I had a Utah Highway Patrolman pull me over and ask me to speed up so that I would actually show up on his radar gun as a moving vehicle (true story). I think I was a real dumb-a** back then. Or, this: The time I was coming back from Solitude (1982) and spun my Dad's Plymouth Satellite wagon several times and didn't hit anything thus, preserving the 3-way 12-inch woofers home-made speakers from Radio Shack in the back seats while blaring Ted Nugents 'Stranglehold'; at this point, I believed I was invincible and had the cajones to prove it. Although, my heart was in my throat the rest of the way home. Finally, last winter on the way to my local ski hill, I was driving just below the speed limit in a blinding snowstorm when I was passed by a Toyota T-100, on an outside double-yellow blind corner. The passenger gave me a one-finger salute as the vehicle passed me and I slowed knowing that something was coming up. Sure enough, the T-100 encountered oncoming traffic on the two-lane mountain road, and veered back into it's correct lane and continued on into the shallow river which winds its way along the road for most of the trip. Now, I get to get out and check on these folks. They're OK, as I yell, DUMB-A**! to them. So, I've had a chance to be all of them. It has taken over 30 years to do this and luckily, I'm still riding and driving. The best part is, I'm more calm and collected as a driver now. I try and let my aggressions come out on the hill when it is safe and uncrowded. Otherwise, I continue to ride and drive in control. Mark

I finally got on-snow this past week and it has been great to be sliding again. When I was packing my bag this morning, I couldn't find one of my Booster straps. Normally, the straps are threaded through my Raichle 123's top strap holders. Hmmmph, I wonder where it is? Oh well, no time to look because my ride is leaving and I've got to go NOW. When I got to the lodge at our ski area, I put on my boots and I noticed some foot pain in my right boot, the same one that was missing the Booster strap. I re-tightened the buckles on the boot and the pain seemed to subside. It was a very soft powder day and so I didn't have much more foot pain as I rode; no more than I had in the lodge. I just figured it (the pain) was due to being back on snow and getting my leg and foot muscles used to riding again. Fast forward to this afternoon in my basement: I take out my liners to let them dry overnight and when I take out my right liner, there in the sole of the boot is my missing Booster strap. I had been riding with the strap underneath my liner. I'm guessing this is NOT how Booster straps were designed to be used. The missing strap seems to have been the cause of my earlier foot pain. The buckle was sitting right where the arch of my foot would have been. My feet have high arches/insteps and it must have been enough to not have known that the strap was in my boot. I'm still shaking my head at my ineptness. How could I have ridden 3.5 hours and not figured out that my foot pain wasn't coming from out of shape foot muscles? I'm embarrassed and smirking at myself, too. Mark

To bb in PP: thanks for the great wishes and prayers and....I hope to be on snow soon enough. Pray for low pressure systems to come into the intermountain west soon. It seems that what the economy hasn't done to me this year, the natural weather pattern is finishing the job of adding to my lack of sliding time and time away from the din of making money and trying to make everything work in concert. Best to you and yours and all of the CC here, Mark Hope to ride with you in future times.

I've bought skate and snow stuff from them when I was in SLC from time to time and always in person. Premium prices for everything. If your situation is concerning buying online from them, as you indicated above, well, good luck with that. If the price change is still within your budget and you want the product, you might consider buying at a higher price and then telling the CC (carving community) about your experience with them. If not, cancel the order. Mark

"...Listen, strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you. I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd put me away." -Dennis to Arthur, in a simply charming scene elaborating on the finer points of becoming a king. Been laughing at this one since the late-70's. Mark √<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xd_zkMEgkI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xd_zkMEgkI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

...I was 20 years younger, independently wealthy, and could look good in fluorescent-colored uni-suits. Sick cross-unders. This video should be nominated as a primer instructional video for all north-American snowboard instructors and schools. Thanks for posting! Mark

Dave, if you are up to some e-mails I'm around in the evenings now. Still at the Likker Store and working for the State of Utah full-time now. I hope you are hale and healthy. It sounds like your invective has been scaled back and I'm glad your back with us. Mark contact via BOL email

You sir, are one of my heroes. 50 plus days on the hill in the face of raising a family and having all of the attendant responsibilities. I raise a cold IPA in your general direction. Good luck to you. Mark

Good to see you Dave! C'mon in and pull up a keyboard. I'm sure you've got some cool things to add to the mix here. Mark

I don't even want to know how you know this. Mark

Some of the responses to this thread are why I have a hard time directing new converts of hardbooting to BOL. There are so many qualified and varied opinions on almost any subject and topic that it makes it difficult to espouse hardbooting, freecarving and racing on a forum such as this because of the in-fighting about 'precious causes and products'. I know that this type of in-fighting goes on elsewhere in a myriad of other forums. But, why? It reminds me of when I get on the freeway near my town. There are those drivers who (seemingly) deem themselves 'police-wannabes' and drive in the fast-lane at the speed limit. Are they right? Yes they are. But at what cost? They use their aptitude and position as 'guardians of speed' to limit others as to what they might do on the freeway. Freeway? Seems like a terrible name to call something that can be policed by simpletons driving slow in the left-hand lane. It's not FREE if it is monitored by psuedo-police-types. Just like choosing a new boot over a set of new buckles to retrofit a viable boot purchase may seem to be furthering the future of racing and hardbooting, then what's next? Oh, you can only choose NEW products and technology to pursue hardbooting? BOL classifieds? Gone! Once you buy it new, you are stuck. As a GOOD community member, you should GIVE it away! There's no need for stinking classifieds! But wait.... What about the hardbooter.com videos espousing purchasing USED/PREVIOUSLY-OWNED boards? That's got to be the epitome of double-speak on BOL that I've witnessed in over 10 years. Please tell me I'm wrong on this. I'd love to hear a pablum-spewed response in public for everyone on this forum to see. I'm dismayed that someone cannot place a simple request on this forum without being called-out for not supporting BOL and it's vendors. Welcome to the real world. Not everyone who wears plastic boots while riding a snowboard only works part-time. Mark

I'm in for it, too. Mark

Jack, At least take one day and make the short jaunt over to Targhee. It'll make the trip worth it even more. JH has the new tram, too. Enjoy! Mark

sick, sick, that's some sick sick there, buooyyy! One-footed landers? WTF? Where's the Dew Tour when you need it most? As always, pimping the dawgs who can sell the most goods. Mark

Ed: The airbrush artwork of Rick Griffin (from 5 Summer Stories) brought back wonderful memories of being a young surf grom on the east coast many years ago. There are many among us here who are 'cosmic surfers' who have tasted saltwater tubes and foam, slid skreeching urethane wheels, and have had powder face shots and thrown cold smoke. I have often found myself reading surfing magazines in book stores and I haven't been on a surfboard in over 30 years. And although I ride snowboards and skateboards I have always tended to believe that I am a surfer first, and a skateboarder and a snowboarder second. This mentality may seem odd coming from a land-locked old fat guy but, to me it is simply paying obeisance to my roots: the natural rhythms of the oceans. Everything is derived from the sea and water systems of the earth. Once I discovered I could carve deep bottom turns on a race board using hardboots, I became useless to society. I am a bum. I am a carving bum. I cannot let it go. I do not need or want a 12-step program to stop my addiction. I want it to take me over and own me. Mark

The Flows arrived this afternoon and in great condition. Thanks for the smooth transaction and customer service. Come and visit us here in Utah soon. You'll be more than welcome. Mark