Yard Sale

Nale Speedball 157

Sims Premium 167

Heard Friday at Mt. Rose: I wonder what would happen if you called up Donek or Coiler and said, "I'd like you to build me a cross country board."

Yup. Ten days on my Prior WCR-M 177 and I'm improving each day. But it didn't take me any time to "re-learn," as I was doing well the first run on the demo board. I think in a few years all higher end boards, including freeride boards, will be of metal construction. The comparison to radial tires is an apt one. (I remember the transition from bias ply motorcycle tires.)

Sooo... did you crash because the board broke, or did the board break because you crashed?

Sims Premium 167: 18cm waist, 11m sidecut, epoxy topsheet repair, green. Old marketing blurb: "These are competition carving machines for high-speed, smaller radius turns. For racers and serious carvers looking for smooth and stable performance to land them in the winners circle." $90 Nale Speedball 157: 18.5cm waist, 9m sidecut, very few rides since shop tune, one spun insert in front and one in back, orange and black tiger stripe. Old marketing blurb: "Not into chasing gates, but you love to carve? Looking for an alpine deck that's a bit on the forgiving side? Say hello to the Speedball. Lightweight and snappy. Elan's Advanced Low-Profile Cap Technology coupled with a torsionally optimized, lightweight wood Vert core combine to create a smooth riding alpine speedster with the perfect flex for alpine free carving." Free if you can pick it up in Reno or at Mt. Rose. All have good bases and edges, with minor lift line dings. $25 shipping per board within the 48 states.

Who said boot cant? I think that's it. My left was hurting something awful and I changed the sideways cant on my left Stratos Pro. It stopped hurting.

It's a few inches of muscle or tendon, not just a pressure point. Twelve hours later and the right leg still hurts. Never had an ankle injury, and it is with both legs. Not bow-legged or anything as far as I can tell. Joel, hope to ride with you at Rose.

I've got some horrible pain the muscles or tendons that go from the outside ankle bone up to the calf. It is either caused or made worse by getting up on the balls or toes of my feet and working this muscle. I'm trying to eliminate that bad habit, but the pain is still there. Is there some combination of lift and cant to cure this pain? I used to ride TD1s with various combos of 0 and 3 discs, now I've got TD2s, first with flat discs, now with 6-degree discs for toe and heel lift.

Mt. Rose yesterday, carrying my 4807 from the parking lot to the lift among a huge number of kids... This one kid about 10 years old, speaking/shouting like he just saw something incredible at a wrestling event or monster truck rally: "Dude, that is a tight snowboard!"

Traffic coming back from Tahoe Sunday evenings is horrendous. Well, maybe not now with the snow drought. If you can't live in Tahoe/Reno/Truckee, Sacto. is pretty good. Gets nasty hot there in the summer though.

Top of Northwest at Mt. Rose, a ski instructor gathers his group of skiers as a few of us alpine boarders step in and I massage my aching feet: Instructor: Now you see those guys with the skinny boards and the hard boots? Those are the good guys! Me: If I ride my wide board and soft boots, does that mean I'm a bad guy? No further comment from the instructor.

The Carver's Almanac has details on the TD1 at http://www.alpinecarving.com/binding_model.html#bomber I'm new at this this, and I've only ridden on TD1s and TD2s, so I can't offer comparisons to your bindings.

Got pics!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190079124862 2x complete plates each with Intec receiver, toe piece, toe bail, spring, and hardware (assembled) 8x plate screws 2x 0-degree base discs for 4-hole board 2x 3-degree base discs for 4-hole board 2x plastic topsheet protectors 8x long base screws 8x short base screws 2x short purple bumpers 2x 3-dot short purple bumpers 2x 3-dot tall purple bumpers 4x plastic bumper washers 2x metal bumper washers 4x rubber bumper washers 4x bumper screws 1x 2-piece leash

I fill it up after each use and leave it filled. I clean it before the season starts.

What do the three drilled divots represent on my Trench Digger toe bail blocks?

Any instructions or tips on installing the T-nuts? I rode one day last week with 3/4 of the screws in one heel.

Keep an eye on the Intec heel screws. They can come loose and fall out.

The high bidder is going to be pissed when he realizes the bindings don't work with his soft boots.

Said to me while sitting at the best possible place atop a trail. Same day that some little old ladies had some good things to say about carvers.

I've got the 164 LSD. No problem with all of the above. I concur, and I will add that it does this in soft boots or hard boots. It is very eager to carve, but you can still keep it off the edges and kick the tail around and skid. The only problem is I use it as an "in-between" board; I have a powder board, I have groom boards, and this is for the in-between days. Consequently, it doesn't see much use.

I got to ride another big board (custom wide Coiler PR 186) today, and I'll have to say length alone isn't what allowed me to ride so well last week on the Prior 187. This 186 was intimidating whereas the Prior 187 was confidence-inspiring.

I rode the metal WCR 187 Tuesday and I loved it, even though I'm not a racer, I'm not real aggressive, and didn't ride it particularly fast. What Joel described as lack of feedback, I call a cushy ride. In fact, Prior's catalog says it's for "advanced alpine riders," which I most certainly am not, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it.

I started carving last season and I've got a Donek Pilot 167. My toe sides are pretty nice but my heel sides are garbage. Today I demoed a Prior WCR-M (metal) 187 because the shorter metal board was taken. All of a sudden, and I mean from the very first turn, I can carve decent heelsides on the Prior. No skid, no chatter, just a clean carve. WTF? Is it all about the edge length? Am I riding 20cm too short of board? Is the WCR-M constructed with magical fairy dust? I just can't believe the difference it made in my heelsides. Not to mention its Cadillac cushy ride, light weight, and aggressive turning.