1st Day Carving in over 2+ Years, on FC II 175

[queequeg]

So Yesterday was my first day carving (or snowboarding at all) in a very long time. Before I go off on my little tale, I'd like to make a note of what an awesome resource bomber online, hardbooter, and the carvers almanac are, had I not been boneing up on knowledge here, reading articles and being reminded of technical subtelties long-forgotten I wound not have made it through my (second) first day unscathed.

I started riding when I was 12 and moved to plates when I was about 15, I'm 31 now and saturday was the first day I've spent snowboarding in well over two years.

I AM PSYCHED.

I got my ass kicked, but I am psyched.

I was a bit over-ambitious in a number of ways:

--In retrospect, I went into the day having underestimated the amount of time that I had spent away from carving.

--The last time I rode, I was on the west coast, where big open mountains with wide trails are common, and although I had learned to ride on the East Coast in NH and VT, I had forgotten just how narrow the runs can get out here.

--I was on my brand new Donek FC II 175, which is a whole lot more board than the Kildy I was riding out west (I had been wanting a bigger board when I was in Oregon, so I bought a longer board, not thinking about how narrow the trails are here).

I drove up to the mountain knowing that the board was going to be a challenge, being substantially stiffer and longer than the kildy I was riding out west. When I arrived at the mountain (Mt. Sunapee, NH) I encountered a bit of bad luck: not only was I there on saturday, but there was a lake-skimming event so the mountain was extra crowded. The conditions were definitely less than ideal: medium-hard ice covered in a thin veneer of free-floating snow.

Initially, took the main chairs but found the trails way to narrow for reaquanting myself with the physics of riding, particularly on the longer board, in the icy snow, after so many years. It was (choice adjective) humbing. I ate it. Alot. Hard. Really hard.

I think I actually ate it harder than I had when I first started riding hard boots because I was less cautious than I should have been, assuming that I would be able to (more or less) pick up where I had left off. (laughs) I don't think so ... do not pass go, do not collect $200 and go directly to jail. Thankfully, I realized quickly that I'd better head out the wider and less populous slopes on the left hand side of the mountain, so when I got to the bottom, I headed for friendlier pastures.

Riding up the chair I discivered that friendlier pastures had been turned into a jib park, but the silver lining in this cloud was that "egg beater", the widest run on the mountain had escaped unscathed--and being somewhat of a trek from the nearest list, was also totally empty.

That was right around the time I discovered how amazing the Donek is.

The superlatives, and expletives that would be necessary to describe my total and utter amazement at my new donek's performance do not exist. Despite my piss-poor, unpracticed and sloppy technique, the FCII 175 ****ing RAILED on the ice. My technique was really not good, and I really had to concentate very hard on not assing out and not looking down at my feet or at the fall while cutting across the slope. I think I probably got about six or eight good runs in on this slope. I started out just riding the sidecut, making big lazy turns and just being happy that I wasn't blowing out and killing my knees, as well as giggling my brains out at the totally riddiculous edge hold my new board has. by the third run I had a decent cross under going and I was beginning to get my confidence back. A few runs later I was beginning to push the board around and had the start of a cautious cross through, and was beginning to tighten my radii and get the board a bit uphill. I managed one totally superlative run where I made not one mistake, railed (to my mind) insanely confident arcs grinning my ****ing face off, and finished the run off with a crowd-pleasing buttonhole at the bottom. That would be my last good run, as overconfidence got the better of me on a day better reserved for caution, and I nearly blew out my knee - lets just say the resty of the day was spent in utter humility.

I'm going to be asking for a lot of advice in the next week. I'm going to try and ride again next weekend. The weekend after that I'm gong to Timberline. I'm so psyched to be riding again.

cheerio!

[Jack M]

awesome, thanks for posting!

[Buell]

Hey queequeg,

Great story.

Post on the NW ride board when you are heading out to Oregon. There are quite a few hardbooters in the Portland area that might be at Timberline when you are there. If you have clear enough weather, you will love the Magic Mile for reaquinting yourself with carving.

[queequeg]

Hey queequeg,

Great story.

Post on the NW ride board when you are heading out to Oregon. There are quite a few hardbooters in the Portland area that might be at Timberline when you are there. If you have clear enough weather, you will love the Magic Mile for reaquinting yourself with carving.

Yeah, I am hoping that the magic mile will be open when I am there, that would be reall great. I've never snowboarded on timberline before, I spent most of my time at meadows when I lived back west. From what I understand, timberline is much more tame than meadows yes? I'll be driving up to Timberline on the 6th and I'll be riding there on the 6th, 7th and 8th, although I have a wedding to attend on the 7th so I'm not sure how much riding I will get in on the 7th.