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joecarve

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Posts posted by joecarve

  1. kinda OT: pumping a skateboard

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    I'm trying to get this pumping thing dialed...I'm at the point where I'm travelling farther on flats with (attempted) pumping after several really hard kicks, but I can't quite propel it enough to maintain speed. After reading Dan Gesmer's article, it sounds an awful lot like crossunder turns on snow, but at a faster rate. However, since I tend to ride angles on a skateboard very similar to that on snow decks (~60 F and R), I'm wondering if that's holding me back a bit. BTW, I'm riding a FibreFlex Pintail 38, Randal 150s with yellow Stims, and 75a Avalons. Also, I'm riding with my front toes right at the back bolts of the front truck, rear heel forward of the front bolts on the rear truck.

    Can you still pump efficiently on this setup with high angles?

    joe...

    PS. Yeah, I know, search on NCDSA, but I thought it would be good to have a discussion of skate technique here, geared toward the alpine crowd.

  4. Burton Step in questions

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Originally posted by paappraiser

    Ok thanks.

    Im pushing maximum on the raceplates to start. (190-200lbs)

    What about these guys

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3669918306&category=21248

    :)

    Don't do it. I had those...sometimes they snapped right in, sometimes they misfired...I was bending down half the time anyway. The covers on the heel blocks liked to pop free as well. Oh, and the toeblock on one binding cracked (I'm not an aggressive rider, 175lb in gear).

    Buy some used TD's instead...

    joe...

  10. What's that thing?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Softbooter sitting down, ratcheting his binding closed, as I'm clipping in (standing): "Have you ever tried snowboarding?"

    I also had a discussion with a skier at Buttermilk who described (with humor) having to avoid all the trenches people we laying down... :D

  11. Soft setup on an alpine board?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    The route my wife took was the following:

    - Keep bumping up the angles in softboots until she was at 45F/40R on an older Burton SuperModel 162

    - Swap to hardboots on a Nidecker 150 Rave (fairly flexy carving deck with ~8m sidecut) with angles at 50F/45R

    - 6 days on the Nidecker, then on to a Burton UltraPrime 164, angles slowly bumped to find her comfort level, which is 60F/60R.

    - 4 riding days later and she's saying things like, "I really want to try a Donek". :D

    The step over from the high-angled softies to hardboots on the Nidecker was pretty seamless...dropping down to that nice turny board was definitely the way to go.

    Get her a carving lesson as soon as she's comfy with the hardboots.

    joe...

  12. heelside turns

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Brad -

    I know what those feel like...used hammer my front hip all the time falling on heelside.

    Do a search for "heelside'...there's plenty of discussion on this in the last couple months. You're probably doing one or more of the following:

    - You're not bending as deep in the knees as you think you are. Really, those hard hits mean you're falling a long way, from a tall standing position.

    - You're looking downhill, across the board, on heelside - look into the turn. Exaggerate this if it helps. You want to get those shoulders square to the nose and keep them there...if you're looking across the board when you fall, your shoulders are likely "opened up", in line with the board, instead of square to the nose.

    - You're not angulating enough at the waist. Reach as hard as you can for rail, at a point in between your boots.

    - Less likely than the above, but possible: You're riding too much on your back foot at the beginning of the turn. Try to stay centered between your bindings all the way through the turn.

    (Edit: Looks like Jack and I were typing simultaneously. Nevertheless, my claim is to not worry about shifting your weight back at the end of the turn....work on this after you're already turning nicely on heelside. If you stay centered for the time being, that's one less thing to try to keep in your head.

    Also, his reference to driving the hand down across the nose accomplishes the same thing as reaching for the rail. I actually now ride like this, but as a novice, the rail-reach made more sense to me somehow)

    joe...

  13. OT: Everything Clear - License Plates

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Originally posted by C5 Golfer

    And if I could figure out how to do it I want to get one that would say “Her Engagement Ring” on my Corvette!

    :D

    How about FIFTH C, a reference to C5 as well as a claim that there's more than the so-called "four C's" in the diamond business. :D Or maybe: C5 RING

    Someone who probably works in tech support somewhere slipped the following past the California DMV (I see it in traffic every once in a while) : RTFM OK. Which stands for "Read the f*ing manual, ok?!"

    joe...

  14. lift line comments

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Two of us on plates yesterday...got this from a liftie right before the chair picked us up:

    "Oh, you've got those....cool things..."

    I'm also hearing "downhill board" used a lot, though my response to that is, "Actually, it's an across the downhill board"... :D

    joe...

  15. Your friend, the cross-under turn...

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    I think the usefulness of cross-under for pure safety is often lost in discussions about cross-through. I'm finally getting the cross-under thing dialed this year...wish I had done this a long time ago. It really makes a huge difference for me in speed control and avoidance of other riders. Also, when I'm trying to make nice round turns but run out of room, I can reel it in and keep moving, rather than scraping like mad in a speed check.

    All of the above is stating the obvious for many of you, but I'm starting to think cross-under skills should be learned very early...perhaps right after one is consistently unweighting with cross-over turns.

    joe...

  17. Learning To Carve. HELP!

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    It ain't about getting down the hill faster, it's about getting there better.

    After you take this lesson (serious echo in here), spend the next couple hours riding alone to work on what you just learned.

    My blind stab at advice: Since you're sliding more on toeside, I'm going to guess you're reaching for the snow with that uphill (back) hand. Don't do that. You want your uphill shoulder up, downhill shoulder down...

    Also, take notes with you to the hill...print out Jack's "norm" articles as a start, re-read them on the lift or at lunch. If you're swinging your upper body around a lot, the "norm" exercises will help a lot with quieting things down.

    joe...

  19. The next step… (beginner help)

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Originally posted by Jack Michaud

    So really drive that rear hand forward and down over the nose at the beginning of the heelside carve, and tuck your butt in over the board, not hanging off to the side.

    This is the thing that really made a difference for me on heelsides. As it was originally suggested to me (thanks Chris!), I try to put the palm of that trailing (toeside) hand on the snow on heelside. BTW, you should try making several turns where your intent is purely to ride it all the way around back uphill until you stall...so you're not thinking about the transition to the next turn, just railing that one turn and holding it. Make sure it's clear above you on the run beforehand, of course.

    A little cue I use for myself whenever I chatter on heelside is to immediately think, "Where am I looking?" Invariably it's not ahead of the board, and often looking downhill. And then I'll notice my back hand is in fact trailing, not pushed forward.

    On scrubbing speed by sliding, I used to really hammer my back knee with this, particularly on bumpy terrain. I'd lose the edge and try to maintain control by actually pushing harder with my back leg, putting it at full extension. Ow. If you're doing this as well, it's likely a leftover from years of tightening your turns by pushing the back of the board around...it was pretty automatic with me. If you can't reel it in by angulating deeper at the waist (hand push), squaring back to the nose, looking hard uphill, etc, just forget that turn, flick over to toeside, and move on. If you still need to speed check, try it on toeside after the transition.

    Also, I started out on the same deck you have now...that Alp will turn on a dime when you really rail it hard with correct body position, so just keep at it...

    joe...

  20. freecarving?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    my deck is a brush

    i strive for a line

    tracing the finest

    curve of a sine

    scraping in parks

    surely does pale

    to gracefully riding

    the downhill rail

    still others rush out

    in search of the fluff

    ignoring the joys

    of carvin' hard stuff

    so don't run me down!

    (you straight-lining dart)

    i'm chasing a passion

    pursuing an art

  24. Femmes & Enfants

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    My wife was already a snowboarder, so here's the steps I took to convert her:

    1) Bought her alpine gear

    2) Got a suckful fitting of the liners

    3) She hated it

    4) Back to softboots

    5) Worked on moving her angles up to 45F/40R on her freeride deck

    6) Found a decent bootfitter who knew how to properly cook TF liners; had him install HotTronics under the footbeds for those really cold days

    7) Back to hardboots at 50F/45R and an easy deck (she likes it! COOL!)

    8) Attend SES; feel the love.

    9) SeanC gives her a half-hour lesson; she's hooked.

    I recommend skipping steps 2 and 3. Pay special attention to step 9, which is otherwise stated as, "Find her the best carving instructor you can, then leave them alone!"

    joe...

    PS. Did I mention SeanC is The MAN?

  25. newbie board tuning

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    I used a cheap travel iron for a couple years, but after using a dedicated waxing iron (I've got a Swix std), I really like it. The upturned edges spread wax better and it's just easier to deal with. Wax a new board several times before scraping it down...a new base tends to really soak it up. I also still use cheap, non-fluoro wax and wax at most after every other day of riding...

    Loosen (or remove) your bindings before waxing, and don't retighten until the board has cooled down. Not doing so can lead to "binding suck", where the base will pucker in at the inserts. Not good.

    I found the following (ski) tuning article on Toko's site...actually has photos, unlike a lot of other online guides: http://www.tokous.com/pdf/alpine%20tech%20manual.pdf. Since I'm not a tuning god by any means, can someone else here review it and pass judgement?

    joe...

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