Dear Buck Hill Diary III

[Speedzilla]

Greg, what camera are you shooting with?

[powell1.8]

Sony Alpha 100. If you are still interested in any of the pics, just let me know.

[Bubba]

anyone have a small snowboard, around 140-ish? and womens size 9 boots?

friend's daughter is looking to buy a snowboard.

just want to deal locally.

Bobble,

My friend has a Burton Dominant (looks like the 140ish range) in his garage that is not being used. I will give him a call and see if he wants to part ways with it. The House might be worth checking into also.

Kenton

[Joe D.]

Very nice Greg. Check out #59. Looks like Doug is teaching Trent how to Hover.

[BobD]

Very nice Greg. Check out #59. Looks like Doug is teaching Trent how to Hover.

Interesting similarity in technique. Trent looks like a mirror image of Doug hover boarding.

BobD

[thebionicman]

Heading to Buck Saturday morning.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>2/6/09 </td></tr><tr><td>Temp </td><td>mid 30's </td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>partly cloudy</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions </td><td>looked soft at snowmass</td></tr></table>

She's Just That Not Into You

ms. bobble and i arrived in aspen. the flight to denver was epic Jerry Springer. moira and i ended up sitting one row apart. i got to sit next to this couple that defies description. they were in their mid 50's. i couldn't tell if they were married or just hooked up on craig's list. it looked like they were going to mexico (in a low impala!).

when everyone was boarding plane the woman calls capital one and starts in on the operator, "I PAID MY BILL AND I'M ON VACATION! MY CARD BETTER NOT BE DENIED!". the pair constantly argued back and forth during the flight. at one point they were arguing about apple versus cran-apple juice. the guy couldn't stop pestering his female companion. he'd try to get close and she'd be damn near yelling for him to stop, that she wished he sat in a different seat, etc. i was wishing i could sleep. we had got up at 3AM to catch the flight.

right when were on approach he's practically trying to get it on. he was leaning over to her, "gimme a kiss...". she kept saying "NO!". he moved closer and says "i'm just trying to get you primed up! heh! heh!". her response was a resounding NO!

anyways, tom was on the same flight but was fortunate enough to sit far and away.

Snowmass

we met up with trent in snowmass.

weather is really warm. the snow that i saw on some run looked a soft. went to the bomber house. got lost in the dark (neither of us can read a road map). finally found it. place is really swank but far away from the runs.

tomorrow is buttermilk.

[bhh1128]

Heading to Buck Saturday morning.

see you there.

[thebionicman]

Date 2/7/2009

Temp 28F ~ 32F

Visibility cloudy to start then blue bird skies

Conditions everywhere was great

Hardbooters Myself and Ben

It was really nice out today. Great edge hold, decided to work with the 9.5 m sidecut. My rear knee got quite a work out!

[Bubba]

In a nutshell, it was crowded. Human slalom day. Far lift by the bar I came screaming down to get over that flat spot and there is a fine young thing on a board riding straight, next thing I know she cuts across the run in my path. I have never put the brakes on so hard. Potential for alot of blood was there. Snow conditions were great but got a little bumpy by the end of the day. Rode up with Joe once and saw an unidentified hardbooter there as well. Off to Montana tomorrow morning!!!!!!!!!!!

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>2/7/09 </td></tr><tr><td>Temp </td><td>mid 30's </td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>partly cloudy</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions </td><td>good</td></tr></table>

went the entire day without lunch. i was really tired around 1pm then got my second wind. time for the hot tub. even though i had my camera i didn't take it out. sorry, no pictures... too much fun to ride.

Highlights

• awesome conditions, excellent visibility.
  
• riding down tiehack and javelin. a phncking blast! try to imagine dan's dive but wider and slightly steeper, some short really steep pitches and an flat or two. overall its steep. you can't help but drag your uphill forearm in the snow! its long, you need to take breaks getting down the mountain. going back up the tiehack chair is so long that everytime i got to the top my front foot fell asleep.
  
• rode with mike b down savio. i was matching mike turn for turn, just a half cycle away. it was late in the afternoon and the snow was really good.
  
• trent demo'd 4 boards; schtubby, metal doneks, and a coiler. i didn't... maybe later this week.
  

Low Lights

i was on the tiehack chair by myself and somehow an elastic band inside the hem of my jacket got snagged. when i tried to get off the chair, the band pulled the chair back into me so i was sitting back on it. i was "SH!T! SH!T!!". i thought my camelback was caught. i struggled and jumped off the chair from about 2-3 feet. my jacket got pulled up and the strap broke. the chair behind me thought i was stuck. i was pissed. i can laugh now.

[Scuff]

In the spirit of trying new things, I registered myself for Friday's USASA boardercross event at Hyland. It was my first SBX race and while I was nervous about being injured (or injuring someone else), received much positive support from others.

It was a pretty big turnout. Lots and lots of junior riders. 6 riders in the Mens 40-49 age group, three of us in open class. The largest age group was the 12-14 year old boys which had twelve riders, and it was impressive watching them navigate the somewhat narrow course six at a time!

The course layout on the North-most run had two rollers, then bank right, bank left, a set of four 1 foot step-down jumps, a bank right, and a table top before the finish line. The step-downs were very challenging, and riding across them at speed tripped-up a lot of riders (even during the course inspection.)

In mens open class heat 1, I had a weak pull at the start. The weld broke on the starting gate and my right hand pulled back about 8 inches. Not sure if it was broken before or after I pulled on it. We all fell on the 4th step-down, and I scrambled to make it across in 2nd place. Got 1st in Heat #2 with a really solid run, then crashed hard in heat 3 which put me in 2nd place overall.

Fun times. I was very thankful to have my full-face helmet, spine protector, and shin guards.... but next time I'm also wearing elbow pads.

Will not be making it out to Buck today.

Been home with the Flu all weekend.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>2/8/09 </td></tr><tr><td>Temp </td><td>mid 30's </td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>varied... was flat with sun occasionally poking through, then it went sunny,</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions </td><td>some hard pack, some soft</td></tr></table>

at snowmass...

bought TD3s with Fin-Tecs.

rode solo to figure out the bindings. my first couple runs sucked. i felt way off. i wasn't sure what was going on. i thought it was my stance width and adjusted it at the bottom of a run. went in at 11 am to take a break and look at the the setup. sure enough, in my haste i didn't set the front cant disk properly. i had 1.36 inward cant with 2.67 toe lift. i meant to have 3 lift, 0 cant. went back out again, it was better but i still didn't feel right.

the release cable hurts when i really get aggressive. feels like a rock in my boot. i asked Fin and he said to move the cable and/or remold the liner. i don't think remolding the liner will do much for the cable but right now my big toe toenail is hurting alot.

there were a lot of people out on skis and snowboards. i had to pull off to the side to let others come though.

spoke to trent, said that there were runs where the snow was soft. if you got too aggressive you'd bury the nose. on one run more than once i felt like i was going to go over the nose so i could relate.

[bobble]

In mens open class heat 1, I had a weak pull at the start. The weld broke on the starting gate and my right hand pulled back about 8 inches. Not sure if it was broken before or after I pulled on it.

SABOTAGE!

[thebionicman]

Date 2/8/09

Temp 20-30s

Visibility blue bird skys!

Conditions firm cord everywhere, but Olympic Dreams was spectacular!

Hardbooters Joe and myself.

First off I couldn't believe that Joe and I were the only ones out today. Bobd was spotted on skis.

The first run produced a couple of strange turns from Joe and myself. Notice the untouched cord between the inside of the turn and the outside of the turn.

Thanks Joe for the pointers today!

[bobble]

erik, are those scallop turns on toe-side or heel?

i had the same problem with heel side when i got my boots. not sure what happened. maybe i disturbed the setup when i pulled the bindings. my boots also didn't tighten all the way down on my cuffs.

what i noticed was i felt more pressure on my rear cuff than forward cuff. in effect i was twisting the board during the turn. i'd start the turn and i'd be trying to get forward but i could feel something was off. i'd get this chop-chop-chop during the apex. i started to focus on the sensations in my boots during heelside and i realized i was twisting the board.

in order to get more pressure on my forward cuff i increased the toe-lift to about 4 degrees. i had about 6 degrees heel lift. i tried canting too. at first i tried 0 cant then tweaked it to about 1-2 degrees. felt much goodlyer. i keep an excel spreadsheet and record the binding setup. now with my TD3s, i can't get the same amount of lift and cant on rear... i hope i can adapt.

really pay attention to your pressure on your cuffs during the turn. if you find yourself in the rear seat and can't get forward then increase the heal lift to get forward. if you're already at 6 heel lift, add some toe.

if you're riding upright try to keep your hand off the snow too.

[BobD]

It's a good week to be away from MN. Rain today and maybe tomorrow. I heard that Buck are hoping to blow snow Wednesday night if it gets cold enough.

[Scuff]

Sometimes you have to adapt your riding to meet the conditions.

I know hardpack doesn't always hold my weight if I apply heavy force to the

edge at the apex or late into the turn.

To avoid those scalloped turns, try to:

- Initiate the turn by pressuring your toes or heels - not the boot cuff.

- Initiate the turn quickly and early - applying the majority of the edge pressure before reaching the apex.

- Stay weighted 50/50 on both front and rear feet. Keeping your upper body more in line with hips and toes will help.

- I say this a lot, but it's truly a core value where many riders (including myself)

often fall short. "Look UP and where you are going." Your body will follow where your head is pointed.

If board is going across the hill in a wide/fast/hard GS turn, but your head and

torso are square to the fall-line... you will have some disconnect in your steering.

- If those don't work, try going slower, making a bigger arc, take less

aggressive turns.. or apply lighter presssure at apex and turn exit.

[bobble]

Sometimes you have to adapt your riding to meet the conditions.

I know hardpack doesn't always hold my weight if I apply heavy force to the

edge at the apex or late into the turn.

To avoid those scalloped turns, try to:

- Initiate the turn by pressuring your toes or heels - not the boot cuff.

- Initiate the turn quickly and early - applying the majority of the edge pressure before reaching the apex.

- Stay weighted 50/50 on both front and rear feet. Keeping your upper body more in line with hips and toes will help.

- I say this a lot, but it's truly a core value where many riders (including myself)

often fall short. "Look UP and where you are going." Your body will follow where your head is pointed.

If board is going across the hill in a wide/fast/hard GS turn, but your head and

torso are square to the fall-line... you will have some disconnect in your steering.

- If those don't work, try going slower, making a bigger arc, take less

aggressive turns.. or apply lighter presssure at apex and turn exit.

having infinitely adjustable bindings can be a blessing and a curse.

wanna try some cateks?

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td>Date</td><td>2/9/09 </td></tr><tr><td>Temp </td><td>started around 10F then warmed up slightly</td></tr><tr><td>Visibility</td><td>flat and sunny</td></tr><tr><td>Conditions </td><td>?</td></tr></table>

bobd, that sucks about the rain. i hope there's decent snow soon.

First Tracks At Ajax

first tracks at Ajax. i admit, i had some jitters. the previous day on TD3s didn't go very well so i didn't know what to expect this morning. my toes hurt still like hell.

not sure how many hardbooters were there. if i had to guess, around 75. there were alot.

i think we did copper bowl. its a wide run where you can carve off a wall but uber-long. the light was flat but didn't seem to be too much of an issue. snow was really soft. couple times i had my knees in my chest. saw one collision.

later, we went to Ruthies Run. this run is blue run but it felt like black. you can pick up serious speed but its wide enough to run it out. on one run i did a superman. i had some difficulties with keep my hands off the snow -- bad habit but then others were dragging their entire bodies.

did some other runs but i don't know there names. tom took trent, two others (i'm bad with names) and myself through this run that had a lot of top snow and bumpy. i had lots of torso twisting fun to get down that one. i guess your not suppose to move your arms.

Buttermilk

went back to Buttermilk. trent and i stayed on Tiehack. the snow was packed down in the center of the run. some of the trenches i saw were deep enough to bury your arm! my best runs were at Buttermilk. i think it was because i was getting used to the new bindings and snow conditions were holding. the lighting varied, sometimes flat, sometimes sunny, some snowshowers -- all in the course of two hours. towards the end of the day my front thigh was burning and front toe was extremely painful. i didn't notice the fin-tec cable as much as yesterday.

day off tomorrow.

[thebionicman]

I guess my post didn't come off the way I was hoping. Those two pics are Joe's and my first run. His heal side, mine toe side. We didn't have anymore runs like that. We were just trying to figure out what the board was doing to give two lines through the snow while leaving the cord between.

[BobD]

I guess my post didn't come off the way I was hoping. Those two pics are Joe's and my first run. His heal side, mine toe side. We didn't have anymore runs like that. We were just trying to figure out what the board was doing to give two lines through the snow while leaving the cord between.

Looks to be very pronounced hand lines in the snow for both photos, suggesting a lot of weight on that hand, If the boards were inclined to near vertical, the sidecut would clear the snow. I think the nose came off the snow as the knoll sloped away, the board recambered, the nose took a new direction as it reengaged. By that time, you were riding a hand (turn straightens out during this period, both photos) and there was not enough pressure on the board to decamber it again until you started rising up out of the turn.

But who knows ?

BobD

[thebionicman]

Looks to be very pronounced hand lines in the snow for both photos, suggesting a lot of weight on that hand, If the boards were inclined to near vertical, the sidecut would clear the snow. I think the nose came off the snow as the knoll sloped away, the board recambered, the nose took a new direction as it reengaged. By that time, you were riding a hand (turn straightens out during this period, both photos) and there was not enough pressure on the board to decamber it again until you started rising up out of the turn.

But who knows ?

BobD

That makes sense. I never thought about the sidecut actually clearing the snow. We were both on 9.5 M sidecut boards.

It was a fun day!

[Joe D.]

We were both on hero snow as the temps warmed the day before at Welch and Buck. This may be partly responsible for the clumsy first turns on harder snow Sunday morning. I still can't imagine the physics and board contortion that would leave untouched cord between the tip and tail on the same turn. Maybe it's a prelude to hovering.

[bobble]

i like bobd's explanation. makes sense.