bhh1128 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 <table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>1/1/2009</td></tr><tr><td>Temp</td><td>27F upon arrival, 22F by the end</td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>great under the night lights</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions</td><td>all scraped up from a busy day - icy</td></tr><tr><td>Hardbooters</td><td>just me</td></tr></table> I arrived around 4:45 pm, and I actually had to drive around the lot for a while to find a spot. There was a line for the beginner lift, and I took one run over there - not bad aside from the crowd. The far north side of milkrun was nice. Crossroads along the lift towers was a bit shaky as it has been for the last few days. It looks like my practice runs yesterday trying to square my upper body to the board better on heelsides paid off, because I managed a few solid runs today. After a while I was either getting tired or conditions were deteriorating, because it started to feel very icy, and my left hip is banged up from the resulting falls. Keeping my upper body square to the nose on heelsides and keeping my arms up a bit more for balance really seemed to work. Thanks for the feedback Bob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 <table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>1/2/2008 </td></tr><tr><td>Temp</td><td>10-15F</td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>blue bird skys</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions</td><td>decent. fast and firm</td></tr><tr><td>Hardbooters</td><td>4 (erik, bobd, greg, steve)</td></tr> <tr><td>Jealous</td><td>ME! </td></tr></table> Morning rode softboots. :( snow looked decent. bob said on the chair it was hero snow. information i did not need to know. riding in softboots is rather boring. felt like i was castrated. toeside carves were okay but having hard time with heelsides. while riding behind the pack i noticed people on the chair turning heads around for erik and greg. Homebrew Lift Plates For Softies saw this while looking into lift/cant plates for softboots. someone mounted softboots to a donek blade. check out the last picture. half tempted to make one but also half lazy. lazyness always wins. Huge Crowd who needs a lift ticket when you're already on the run? the line to the lift tickets was extremely long. despite the large turnout the runs didn't seem too crowded. looked like the magic carpet was super busy. the lift at teachers pet was longer then anything i've seen. no way would i stand in line for that run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhaskins Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Bob: went to Spirit this morning. Cold, cold wind, surface was concrete. I skidded sideways for half a city block once. I could not initiate turns, my shin hurt terribly. Gave up and went to skis and advil. Saw one hardbooter - I was jealous as the surface was perfect to use hard boots. I have a new set of liners on order, DalBello Golds. Should have them in time for next weekend. How are the Deeluxe 325's? Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebionicman Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 I had a good time today. Thanks guys for the pointers! I must of been getting a little better because I was a little more sore than normal. After the talk of the BTS and the stiffness of the hardboots I am going to crank down the front foot. That is my partially paralyzed ankle and the one I have all my problems with. Hopefully that will help things out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 How are the Deeluxe 325's? Rick i put my liners in your boots and my feet fit. when i walked around the boot felt super soft. the shell feels soft too. more so than my suzukas which i've become accustomed. the yellow/blue BTS springs you've installed have put the boots into walk-mode. i can't ride in walk-mode in both boots -- i need a stiff boot. i didn't want to mess around with your setup with installing red springs. anyways, as an experiment you might consider putting the original forward lean mech on your front boot and put it in neutral position. leave the BTS on the rear. just see if it gives you better leverage. for anyone riding BTS in both boots, HTF can you ride like that? i'm curious about the front boot... did adding the BTS to the front really enhance the ride? i'm wearing some blaxx right now from Bob D's Hardbooter Emporium. they fit, seem stiff. i didn't even mold the liners. we'll see how it goes. might feel completely different on a board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powell1.8 Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 I ride with the BTS both front and back. I have red upper springs and blue lower springs. To put it bluntly, I'm not sure I can even tell they're there anymore, if ever. The reds are really stiff. I get more flex out of the boot shell than the spring itself. I do get some rear movement with the blues, but I think I only get this when I realy need it. Like during heelside chatter. Now that I have less spongy liners, I'm thinking of putting in the blue upper springs in to see how much difference I can feel. My boots definately don't feel like they are in walk mode though. You also can't forget the bling factor. It's huge, especially when your pants creep up and ride on top of the springs. With only one side installed you are losing out on half the bling factor. To each their own, but would you where a cent pendant instead of a dallor pendant or a one finger ring instead of a three finger ring. Think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhaskins Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yeah, ya got me, I put it on both sides for the bling. I weigh about 155 to 160, so you have a few pounds on me. The springs put me in a good position without a lot of flex. For you it would be too flexy. As far as I am concerned, you can change out the spings all you want, if I start using these boots again, I will re-do my setup. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhh1128 Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 for anyone riding BTS in both boots, HTF can you ride like that? i'm curious about the front boot... did adding the BTS to the front really enhance the ride? When I put the boots on inside when they're warm, they feel way too soft. On the snow however, I don't notice any difference on the front foot with the BTS (blue springs top and bottom) compared to the stock 5-position mechanism. The rear foot doesn't even feel that much different - it just seems to absorb some shock and reduce ankle pain from rough falls. Of course I have the old LeMans boots, so the shell itself has plenty of flex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Was out this morning with my son and the D-Team so I was rockin' the softies today. Snow was incredible but the wind really sucked. Almost blew us up Milkrun as we were coming down. Visibility was horrible. Worst flat light contitions I have ever encountered. Two HB out didn't know either of them both on teachers pet. The one guy was on an Asym Air with angles at about 30/15. Looked uncomfortable. Bobble - I think that I may have a pair of Reactor shells 4 buckle around somewhere. 27-27.5 range. Let me know if you want me to start digging. If conditions are ok and we dont get freezing rain tonight I should be up in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Was out this morning with my son and the D-Team so I was rockin' the softies today. Snow was incredible but the wind really sucked. Almost blew us up Milkrun as we were coming down. Visibility was horrible. Worst flat light contitions I have ever encountered. Two HB out didn't know either of them both on teachers pet. The one guy was on an Asym Air with angles at about 30/15. Looked uncomfortable.Bobble - I think that I may have a pair of Reactor shells 4 buckle around somewhere. 27-27.5 range. Let me know if you want me to start digging. If conditions are ok and we dont get freezing rain tonight I should be up in the morning. Oh yeh, it sucked today. Claire and I did two warms up runs and our two ski challenge runs then went inside. The snow was excellent (if you could see it) BobD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 <table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>1/3/2008 </td></tr><tr><td>Temp</td><td>20F</td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>flat light</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions</td><td>ask trent... </td></tr><tr><td>Hardbooters</td><td>2 (me, trent)</td></tr></table> Morning at Welch went to welch. started off hardboots. after an hour or so i had some problems with boots and switched to softboots. i think the liner was the problem. flat light was bad. trent thought there was ice under the snow. i couldn't tell. i wasn't carving well. went to the back bowl. if you go there, get there early. the place is a skier magnet. before it opened there was a line. the back bowl worked to our advantage. many skiers were over there so other runs weren't so congested. Back Bowel Review only season pass holders are allowed entry. the lift ticket reads "Back Bowl Ok". the entrance to the back bowl is roped off. a couple of employees were checking lift tickets. they repeatedly warned us about the runs because of our boards. i thought they weren't going to let us onto the run but they did. i overheard one of the guys say to the other "what are those boards?". they handed out trail maps. we didn't take one till later... in retrospect the names of the runs are laughable. clearly imaginative. up on top its relatively flat. the distance from the top of the lift to where the runs begin is long... maybe slightly less the distance from the other chair to dikes run. when you get onto the steeper runs they are EXTREMELY narrow. on all runs its about a 3-4 foot drop into the trees if you go off the trail. the pitches are steep. maybe like the top half of chicken. lots of twisting and skidding to get down. on the map that follows i drew in red lines. above the red lines its really flat or mild like everywhere else at welch. welch could've saved money if they built the top lift closer to where the run begins. below the lines is where i thought the steeps began. here's the breakdown: Lucas Loop Lucas is relatively mild. it could be a green or blue. could carve some but flat light sucked. there were caches of snow here and there. Carters Cliff Carters is not really a cliff. it is steep but short. a couple of skid turns and you're at the bottom of the chair lift. maybe 1/3 dan's dive? trent actually thinks its carveable. my opinion is yes its carveable but only if you're an immortal. too narrow and has high volume of skiers/snowboarders coming down it. Lauren's Ledge when i first approached it was like being on top of a water tower and you don't see the edge. once i found the edge i sketched to get down. no big deal. i think there was an large ice rock or something in the middle of the run. 4-Score 4-Score is identical to Laurens. at the very start of 4-Score its a little more than twice the length of trent's 185. midway the width increases to about 3 times the board length. need to look out for the merge with Lauren's. Adam's Abyss Adam's is a double black. i guess they had to add a bend in the trail in order to qualify as double black. not much different than Lauren's. Great Scott Great Scott could've been a bunny run. there's some snow caches over there. maybe it'll be a terrain park? The Great Gorge Great Gorge is flat to the chair. i think they list it as a black because there's no runout on the bottom of ANY run. i didn't see a gorge. we left and came back later. i was riding my softies. the runs had lots of ice showing in the middle. the sides of the runs were piles of shaved ice. it was fun on my softboots riding the piles. Conclusion its not a place where you can carve without sketching. trails are narrow so bring a short board. sharpen your edges!!! if you go off trail you are phncked!!! lots of trees and stumps!!! my biggest concern was people skiing/snowboarding uphill from me. LOTS of ski patrollers back there. saw more patrollers back there than anyplace at welch. i'm curious to know what skiers think. overall, needs more chainsaw. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trent Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 yeah, the light was probably the worst i've ever been in today. i couldn't see any definition in the snow anywhere. snow conditions were just ok, not great. there was some ice underneath that would cause some chatter on hard carves. combined with the awful light, made for tentative riding. back bowl: it's super narrow! the runs are more like chutes - or 1/4 chutes! did i mention it was narrow. great place to work on your sideslipping / skidding. so of course that got really icy in a hurry. but "carters cliff" or whatever is totally carveable (if you could see, and it wasn't icy). everyone at the chair would be in awe of you coming down that face! of course it'd be short-lived as they'd see you flailing your arms and skidding down the rest of the runs over there. :) oh, and the merging of the trails is a serious hazard! holy crap are there going to be some major wrecks over there. i doubt the ski patrol are going to be happy having to work that area. not only are out-of-control people going to collide, but since the trail is so narrow, they're also going to hit some trees too. +1 on the chainsaw action though. if they could make some of those runs (a lot) wider, it'd be pretty cool. but i'm guessing they wanted them narrow and steep to make it a challenge. -trent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powell1.8 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Now that they have all these new runs, have you heard if they will have that side open during the week? Seems silly to build all that just for the weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathias in MN Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Welch was a carvers paradise tonight, even without lookout chairlift running.... seriously id take the glaze over most conditions just how the drizzle froze over suit, also, pete your a freak of nature!! hope you made it home ok, thanks for the intermission break hulios in the school yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathias in MN Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Great posts from you welch carvers, but did i mention <pushing the envelope> by american headcharge is what it is a nice mellow pushing carves out synphany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trent Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 i could learn something from santa. i was a little doubtful about conditions this morning since i was at afton last night, getting soaked in the rain. and we now have a thin coating of ice / snow around here. but.... there's not a cloud in the sky, and it's below zero, so the crowds should be light. driving down the hill to afton i notice a ton of cars already at 8:45 and see a race course set up. luckily it's college racing so that means less crowds than a ussa race. so far, so good. then i notice the snow. first, i can actually see it today! woo-hoo! and it's groomed! double woo-hoo! park and start to bundle up. face mask? check. mittens? check. boots? check. boards? check. helmet???? um, helmet??? search car. found my 5 year olds helmet. yes, it's pink and has fairies on it. and yes, i'd wear it if it fit! (have you seen my mittens?). ok, should i ride without a helmet? probably not, but i'm here, so i start to consider it. oh wait..... i have no goggles either! they're attached to my helmet! argh!!! no way i could ride in this cold sans goggles too. so an hour of driving just to see the hill, smell the cold air. excellent. hope y'all had better conditions than i did. -trent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Don't worry Trent, I did the same thing the other night. Thought about riding with a neck gaiter over my head, but to drive home and get my helmet. Luckily for me, it's only a twenty minute round trip, but still a pain. BobD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 <table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>1/4/2009 </td></tr><tr><td>Temp</td><td>0F, really cold wind on top</td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>blue bird sky</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions </td><td>firm cord </td></tr><tr><td>Hardbooters </td><td>5 (greg, bruce, ben, joe, erik) and they all brought helmets!</td></tr><tr><td>Disgruntled </td><td>ME!</td></tr></table> Morning you hardbooters are all ICEHOLES! softboot mode. snow felt very firm and fast. my heelsides were bad. i tried really pushing hard on the heelbacks and landed hard on my ass. not sure carving was on crossroads. you guys seemed okay from the chair. i think joe said it was not so much. ballroom looked very carvy... joe and greg, looking good! i went over to warners. a little slower but better carving, at least for me. Carve-Fu Training Secrets Revealed!!! there are ALOT of well written articles on carving. i strongly encourage people to read them when they are first starting out. i learned to norm on the run that is now the terrain park. warners might be a wee bit fast for the beginner. the whole idea is to learn how to effectively use the sidecut of the board rather than skidding the turn. one run that is very norm-able is the one adjacent to teachers pet that passes under the magic carpet. its very consistent. after you read the articles it can be a challenge to apply words to actual practice. we can try to explain it on the hill. anyways, when you hear me talking about the norm, now you know what i'm talking about. glad that erik knew what i was talking about. here's the Main Page. lots of good info! Norm (Part 1) Norm (Part 2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Bob: went to Spirit this morning; saw one hardbooter - I was jealous as the surface was perfect to use hard boots. Rick; Let me know the next time you're up at Spirit; our hardboot community is a bit thin this winter - would be fun to carve it up with some other folks. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhaskins Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 I should be up next Saturday after getting some new liners moulded. I had shin bang so bad on Friday. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powell1.8 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Oh, The NORM. I think the norm part deux is really where all the good practices of carving stem from. It sums up the basics very well. I think my biggest breakthrough was squaring my hips to the board and getting as low as my muscles could/can handle. It makes all the difference in the world as far getting the necessary edge preasure to really rail. That and reach downhill not uphill. I didn't need to read the norm though, I had BobD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebionicman Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 I had a great time today. Thanks Joe for the encouraging words. Ben it was nice meeting you. Warners way was definately the hotspot today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted January 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 <table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>1/5/2009 </td></tr><tr><td>Temp</td><td>20F</td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>evening lights</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions</td><td>jury is out </td></tr><tr><td>Hardbooters</td><td>1 (rufus)</td></tr><tr><td>Alpine Vicarious</td><td>me</td></tr></table> Evening crossroads - hard to say in softboots. seemed like the snow was soft but it was also choppy with ski tracks. some parts there'd be a couple inches of loose snow and then there'd be that gritty ice (the kind that sounds like you're scraping a windshield). i think if it were me i'd probably be losing my edges. the skiers were cruising over the top snow. while riding the chair i saw this kid carving backwards on skis. he was going faster and carving better then people going forward. it was amazing! this skier that was with me on lift turned to me and said "Did you see THAT?!?" warners - must've had training on the left side. some ruts. i took maybe 3 runs on it. i don't think it would've been carver-friendly. teachers pet - spent most of my time there. the snow was very soft and none too icy. worked on heelside carves. saw rufus over there with his kid. he's thinking about MES. his board was leaving paper thin lines that were very deep. kind of like slots in the snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 <table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>1/6/2009 </td></tr><tr><td>Temp </td><td>17F </td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>evening lights</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions </td><td>choppy </td></tr><tr><td>Hardbooters</td><td>0</td></tr></table> Evening this evening was similar to last night. snow on crossroads was choppy or irregular... the kind of snow if you drag your hand on a carve its going to catch. warners was same as yesterday... a little choppy. lots of skiers for racing. got very crowded at the lift. good enough reason to leave early and watch Fringe. so, you didn't miss much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Skied most of the day and did the pm ski challenge (sorry Bruce, saw you, but was too d*** cold to say Hi). Snow is great when groomed, a little icey underneath, but good icey not the glazed kind. BobD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.