BlueB Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 Just to kill the summer blues... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colintkemp Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Boris, Welcome to the world of Regis Rolland. Grand Master of the Powder. Thanks for the hookup during this scorching summer. I don't know what length of swallowtail he's riding but, you can easily see from the footage that he is equally in control of his speed as he is nimble and quick in directional changes. Thanks to the mind of Dmitri Milovich, RR and others were, and are now able to 'surf' powder. I'm still hoping that one day some American board-maker will take up the cross and manufacture a true swallowtail. One with big broad shoulders and deep taper behind the leading foot, and true rocker. It's a niche market so I understand why one is not offered as stock now. But, if you want to experience what our surfing brothers experience, a Milovich-inspired design is what is going to take you there. The modern day incarnation of Winterstick is doing a great job of imitating what Dmitri dreamed of. But, the original design, flow, and feel cannot be duplicated unless someone steps up and makes a true swallowtail with rocker on a production scale. RR came close and superceded Dmitri in some aspects. Anyway, thanks for the summer stoke and a piece of snowboarding history. Dreaming of cooler temps, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted July 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 I actually know it was RR. The man responsible for the take of of snowboarding and swallie in Europe... I've got this beast dreamed and possibly made by himself. It's probably the stiffest board in my collection and the only one I can not make to hook up on hard pack... I still have to ride it in in decent depth pow. If it didn't work out, I've got a wall space dedicated for it. The one that he rode in that vid looks shorter and more of Winterstick shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Regis is da man, a close follower of DMilovich's greatness ( and both are nice chaps too).... Basically in apocalypse 1-2 he rides winterstick's models of the time: 83-85 swallowtail models, before switching in 85-86 ( sequel 3 ) to his own brand ( apocalypse snowboards turned into A snowboards a few years later then Apo nowadays) If you want to feel the ST riding power, get a modern stick such as the latest Apo model, a Undertaker 198 from rossignol, or better, a Pogo Shaman ( very smooth and surfing feeling board) or a Swellpanik Amok ( he just stopped making those but if there is demand i'm sure kafi will press a few): those are for power riders on big fast faces... :) sequel 4 due this winter i think btw :) Nils Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Hey Nils, what do you think of the wood-grained Highlander 186? I think I know where to get one... I still have to find something to beat my 4807 178 in pow. I know it's not a 100% real swallie, but somehow it sutes my riding style. Love that stiff tail and how it locks thru the turn. I really want to lay my hands on one of the bigger Apo freeriders - Apocalypse, Family or Source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Hey Nils, what do you think of the wood-grained Highlander 186? Make that Freesurf 186, rather... (Highlander was the carver) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 Hey Boris, I was in Salty Peaks (Salt Lake City, UT) a couple of weeks ago and I noticed in the snowboard section that was tucked away until winter, a selection of swallowtails including at least 2-3 Apo's. They looked just like the one you posted above. If anyone is interested in building their powder quiver over the summer, I'd contact Dennis at SP. The Winterstick swallows that were in stock there were priced at 600 USD. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 Hey BlueB the Freesurf ST is about 1996-1997, its a great pow board with a bit too much pintail: it is great in fast, straight, or few curves down the line on big open faces, but its not too versatile on piste due to the taper and stiff tail. I met a few italians from the local crew of Alagna ( one of the freeride meccas of the alps) that ride the freesurf in plates still ( others are on swellpanik)..you can barely keep up with them in terms of speed down the line. it is to be noticed that the Freesurf was designed by Olivier Piantoni and Sebastien Perret. After the bankrupt of Freesurf they founded Boheme, which today still produces a few ST that are very similar ( same kind of pintails), and a few years ago, Sebastien went away and is making handcrafted ST under the brand Phénix Snowboards..They have gained a big reputation over the last few years in France, especially the smaller models, and those with the full carbon topsheet. Links of the three best powder ST we have in France ( there used to be Miura but for the moment, its shaper Olivier Chaussende, has gone out of business but is likely to be back anytime) http://www.boheme.fr/GB/eng.html http://www.phenix-snowboards.com/ http://www.swellpanik.com/index_en.php :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 YouTube has a video of Dmitri Milovich riding pow on a Winterstick. I believe it's dated April 1976 and shows DM above Alta riding bootpacked accessible lines in Little Cottonwood Canyon. (type in Dmitri Milovich and hit search, I believe the video is called April's Footage) Nils: what I've always liked about the original Winterstick swallowtail design is the over-tapered/pin design. It allows almost anyone to ride tight trees in the deep stuff. That was the 165cm from the mid to late '70s. The 185cm swally takes a bit more nerve and experience to run at high speed through the trees. Thanks Boris, it's nice talk about this kind of stuff mid-summer. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 Yes, the Winterstick shape has to be the best pure powder shape there is today. A friend tried it on a deep day at La Grave and told me nothing comes as close in 'surfing the snow' feeling. However it lacks the small versatility one needs to go back home after the powder: for example in LaGrave, there is huge open faces but to reach the lift you need to go sideways in small paths that are usually very tracked in trees and those get icy at times with bumps: he told me he almost decided to get off the board and walk since going sideways and backside with a board that had so much taper was killing him. That shape does not work at all on piste or on icy..I think this is where we made progress with today's designs: be able to go faster in safer conditions, and be able to go in all terrain with also more power ( loosing some surfer feeling at the same time). As for the DM film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJYjF2zXEv8 this is an extract made for a commercial ( seems VHS?) of the original movie April's footage that has a totally different music ( two tracks, one porn '70's like, and the second track "experimentaljazzunderdrugsbutcool" kind. I have the full movie ( all shot in 16mm in slow motion ' its actually called " a slow motion study), and hopefully dimitrije will decide at once to release it for the masses with all the footage he has... I released a few seconds of it for informative purpose here: http://www.dailymotion.com/messire/video/xd8r7_aprilsfootage-sample_sport Dimitrije now rides Nitro Pow 198cm as well as a Swellpanik magistral 185. He redrills the boards insert and puts them way upfront in order to ride the nose like on april's footage :) He likes to ride " under the snow" ! Nils Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted August 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 Oh, my! That Boheme 182 is almost exactely what I would like to try in swallies. Maybe more taper then I would enjoy, though. Very similar in contour to the Freesurf I have seen. Doe's she hold the edge on hardpack? Maybe I'll still try to get that Freesurf... Dimitrije Milovich is a good. He knew way back then what snowboarding should be. He created the right tool for it. Unfortunately, the sport took the wrong turn somwhere along the way and we sit now with twin-tip monstrosity as the standard... Even watching his technique in slo-mo is impressive. All the elements are there - anticipation of the turn by slight rotation, counter-rotation when needed, transitions with cross-under, or push-pull if you wish... The best part, with that name/surname, he's origins got to be from my country of birth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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