joecarve

I met Doug forever ago in Tahoe…he saw my alpine-gear-in-freeride-configuration and asked, "Why are you riding with your binding angles so low?" Um. I don't know. Carving? What's that? I took a lesson from him the following season - I couldn't believe how low he was riding…both forearms on the snow on every turn. And made it look effortless. What a super nice guy and really committed to helping other people. Without his help I probably would have swapped back to softboots without a clue of what I had. Now carving is easily the best skill I have (though nowhere near his level). Thanks, Doug.

(way late, but I thought I'd chime in here after recently getting pointed to this thread) I cannot ride EC, nor am I really trying to, but there are bits of it I use which are really helpful. I'm generally trying to get as low as possible without touching the snow to avoid the shoulder wrenching potential. On toeside, I'm always trying to pull my back shoulder back by rotating my shoulders (clockwise if you were above me, looking down, for regular footed) - ie, aligning my shoulders and hips to a neutral position...and a little bit beyond, so that my forward shoulder is slightly leading the turn. It seems to lock in my toeside a little better. No idea why, but it works. Go with it. I think there's basic some EC setup going on there, though without the intent to lay my chest on the snow. My heelside is definitely non-EC, but there are times when I use some EC-esque movement for, of all things, safety (!) on a toe-to-heelside transition. Say I'm at the bottom of my toeside turn and I'm running out of room (trees getting real big real fast, impending collision with straightliner, whatever) so I need to make a tight turn very quickly. I stay compressed, pull up my knees as for a cross-under turn and, without any other change of my waist, rotate my upper body as fast as I can past the nose of the board (counter-clockwise). I can't explain why, but this really drives the outside of my forward boot toward the snow (downhill), the board switches and angulates very fast, and I'm cranking around to heelside. Honestly, it's like I don't even think about what the rest of my body is doing...whip those shoulders around and it's autopilot from there. BTW, I'm looking ahead on that, so I'm rotating my head in the same direction..standard deal of rotate-the-head-and-the-shoulders follow. I've even gotten a little bit of air under the nose, thought it wouldn't hold, but it hooked right up with no skidding. The really enlightening part for me is that there's no pinching of the hip - ie, shoving my forward hip downhill - which I previously needed to get a heelside to stick. Go with it, Part II. BTW, I never understood the EC toe-to-heel transition worked like this even though I've spent many hours stepping through the videos. I didn't get it until Dr. Zone's brother showed me the movement while standing in my garage - no gear involved. Next time on the snow it worked like a charm. Also, I think a key part of this transition is being rotated back as I describe above at the end of toeside...gives you more momentum to whip around. I liken it to throwing a discus in a flat plane. It's definitely one of the eye-opening moments I've had in this sport.

My standard run is a short blue adjacent to a chair. I like it because it's wide and on the opposite side of where most of the straightliners ride down. It's also where a resort photographer sits in the afternoon firing off images of easy-cruising families. Is it self-indulgent that I see him stand up and track me through every turn, knowing it's the most interesting thing he's shot all day? No, I get his card and check my form on his online comp sheet. :) (Hmm, I should be lower than that...)

sold...

Ridden maybe four times, stored in comfy wax since. Basically new. $350 + shipping joe...

Apologies if this has already made the rounds, but I had to post this...downhill skate on a public road...riding starts about 2:15. Notice they're handing the (pro) camera back and forth... http://vimeo.com/1654340 joe...

I've read the advice of "dive into your turns" a bunch of times over the years, but it wasn't until this season that it really clicked. Here's what works for me on toeside: First, learn how to make aggressive cross-under turns; then try the following: - Get into a hard heelside turn, allowing yourself to get really compressed at the bottom of the turn; you should be directly across the fall line at the next step. - Begin a quick transition to toeside, rotating your shoulders to align with your feet. I tend to ride heelsides facing forward (or slightly ahead), so I've got a fair amount of untwisting going on here to get to toeside. I'm also weighting forward on my front foot a bit to set the toeside rail. - As your body crosses over the board, extend both arms, palms down, arms parallel to the snow. I liken this position to a little kid about to dive off a diving board - they tend to crouch down, point their hands toward the water (down below the diving board, at the water), and roll forward and down, extending their legs as they leave the board. Same thing here - you're basically pointing your hands toward the snow directly in front of you. Look at the snow right across the board, a couple feet away. - Once the toeside rail digs in, push hard and fast, extending your legs. This is where you're really doing the "superman" move, but launching yourself downhill, instead of up, up into sky. - Then wait for the board to come around, pulling up your knees for the transition back to heelside. Reaching far enough, you can obviously get your hands on the snow and fully lay it out, though I'm actually trying to stay just short of that so I don't drag off speed. It gives me more of a "hanging from your feet" sensation with the board uphill, which I really love.

Absolutely the best thing I was taught to get my heelsides to work was sticking my hip into the turn. Everything above applies, of course, but I couldn't get it at all until I learned to go hip first. Same motion as bumping a car door closed when you've got your hands full...shove that hip into the turn.

Lisa and I will be there with tswei Saturday through Wednesday AM. joe...

"Nice" brand softboots and Switch bindings. Bindings have metal center plates, 4x4 and Burton 3D compatible. Boots are (men's) 8 1/2 (mondo 26.5). Mounting hardware included. About 25 days on both, but unused for several years (since my wife converted to hardboots). Great condition. $75 plus shipping (CA).

Any other softie step-in options other than the Flows? (It's for a friend, I swear!) joe...

Making a toeside arc around three teenagers parked in the middle of the run: "Nice bindings!"

I like FibreFlex decks - thin and snappy, though not super stiff...I've got a pair of 'em: - Pintail 38 with Randall RII 150's and 75a Avalons - Cutaway 42 with Seismic 157's and 78a Flashbacks joe...

Looking for riders in the Lake Tahoe area? Also check the forum on tahoecarvers.com

I'm thinking about going to a full face model when replacing my current helmet...looks like at least ChrisH wears one - anyone else? The extra face protection is an obvious plus, though I'm a little concerned about catching the front of it and wrenching my neck in a toeside fall. Any thoughts one way or 'nother? joe...