Cousin of Beagle Posted April 5, 2011 Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 Spring showers? Nope. Big huge dumpage. Dry too. 9:45 Rock Star parking. 10:00 Liftie says Eagle & Lions Chairs are being dug out. Eagle ETA 10:30. Lions ETA noon, which was revised to 2:00 or 3:00! Apparently they fired most of the staff, so they were short of workers. Raven Chair closed. Rod (on Prior 178) & I walk over to the bunny slope (Easyrider Chair) and do a couple of runs. Then Eagle opens at 10:30. It was the only chair open, so there were lots of people waiting. Jasey-Jay, McIvor, Trumpeter, etc. All had a ton of snow. About two feet of dry fresh. Cartwheeling was common. When you fell, it took a couple of minutes to dig yourself out. Carving Scooby joined us on his Tanker 200 cm. Lunch at 1:00. Lions Chair opened at 2:15. Again, there were a hundred people lined up. Everyone did Upper Bowen and Bowen Face for their first runs. I did 5 or 6 more runs on Moons. Visibility was good. Light was flat. Faceshots and cartwheeling in two feet of dry (for Cypress) freshies. Weapon of the day: Dynastar 3800 - 163 cm. There were lots of people asking about my board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cousin of Beagle Posted April 5, 2011 Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 Raven Ridge chair was open with a ton of virgin freshies from yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 Crew: Couz, Rod, BlueB Toys: 4WD (hey, where was your 3800?), Tanker 2m, Banana, SG Cult. Very variable visibillity - from 0 to clearing up in the afternoon, with a mix of everything in the mean time. Few people... Couz got anoyed by 4wd and lack of vis and packed in early. Rod and me played at Raven side for a while (tracked out quickly, but deap). Coyote was the best run. Later we switched over to Lions and tried various things. Got separated in fog, Rod had enough and packed... I proceeded doing silly things, getting stuck at the flats, cartwheeling on choppy steeps, yet found some really good stashes. Big trees to the right of Moons were definitelly the best stuff of the day - ok vis and somehow not tracked up. One run, I managed to sneak up into the closed upper park, to the left of Midway, into virgin super deap stuff. Mistake! As it has ups ad downs, and the snow started going heavy already, I got stuck more then once - had to "swim" out of one hole. By 2pm, it cleared up almost completely. People figoured out about Moons and chopped it, so I called it a day, too. Cult is definitelly a hoot in trees and good quality deep/steep snow. However, when it gets flatter and wetter, a bit less... Tomorrow, mix of snow and sun. Thursday sunny, cold morning. Should be a stellar carving day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xy9ine Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 banged off some laps when the sun came out yesterday (~3pm). hoping for some groomed, but dammit if it didn't snow again earlier. tracked out & mixed soft / compact bumpiness foiled carving initiatives. had fun on the 156sl regardless; damn quick edge to edge, and the nose seems to accommodate the soft / bumps well despite the square profile. will try to get up thurs afternoon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xy9ine Posted April 8, 2011 Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 got in a quick rip this aft @4. gorgeous bluebird day w/ soft spring conditions. getting a bit bumped up, but fun regardless. on the gs174. staring to get the hang of this thing. again, surprised how forgiving & versatile it is; works just fine through the sploodgy bumps, and made some nice deep trenches in the smoother stuff. amazed i'm still riding snowboards this time of year; should be back on bikes by now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarvingScooby Posted April 8, 2011 Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 got in a quick rip this aft @4. gorgeous bluebird day w/ soft spring conditions. getting a bit bumped up, but fun regardless. on the gs174. staring to get the hang of this thing. again, surprised how forgiving & versatile it is; works just fine through the sploodgy bumps, and made some nice deep trenches in the smoother stuff. amazed i'm still riding snowboards this time of year; should be back on bikes by now... We left a couple deep trenches on JJA :o RT(53) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 Blue skies, cold morning, very warm later. Crowd somewhat bigger then on normal work days, but nothing too serious... Crew: Rod, Couz, Scoob, Garry, BlueB Toys: Banana, 4WD, WCRM 177 & 173w, Head Xennon skis, Vampire, Skwal, Kesler BXn We had awsome snow on JJA in the morning, compact, yet grippy. Rainbow had some imperfections and crumbles. Later it softened, but not into the soup. Push piles in the afternoon... I tried something new on the Vampire: "a big gass peddal". In other words, I reverted my lift disks, to 6* front toe lift and 3* rear heel lift. Never tried that one before, and I thought, what a hack, how bad it could be? While I had some reservstions, it turned out to be quite nice! Maybe a bit harder to weigh the nose on the heelside turn, but pretty relaxing and very strong toe sides. Then, switched to Skwal Easy Jungle... I wasn;t on the damn thing for 2-3 years, pretty much forgot how to ride it. Took me about 2 run to regain the confidence. I tried quite a few setups of the bindings. More in the Skwal thread. After stepping back onto Kessler BXn, I almost killed myself. Amazing that 2.5 hrs on Skwall affected my snowboard technique so much, to the point that I couldn't ride properly an entire run!? I think we are going to repeat the Cypress sunny experience, tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 Pretty much a carbon coppy of yesterday... Same crew, almost the same toys, except that instead of Skwal I brought the Highlander 167. I forgot how good the old board was! Struggled a bit with binding setup on Vampire?!? Last few runs, I got to try Gary's Head Xennon 7 skis. What an excellent recreational low-speed carver! They inittiate way easier (softer) then my Metrons and are much lighter, turn tighter and hold great (metal). However, they are too light/short/soft for chopped up black runs. Roy overheard some guys saying: "Look he skis the same way he snowboards!" :D On the way home, I scored a Freesurf woody swallowtail, NOS, that I've been chasing for couple of years. Life's good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 Went up with Luka, on skis. Day started warm and high overcast, but ended with densifying clouds and colder... Mushy snow, but less then yesterday. Not much crowd... Luka had a bit wishy-washy day... We saw at least 4 unknown hardbooters. Burner at the racks was presumably Robert's. One guy on BXish looking board was killing explosive slalom turns at lower Panorama. In the parking lot, we saw a guy removing his ski boots, unziping side leg zippers, then re-adjusting both of his PROSTETIC legs! Wow! If it doesn't rain (flood) tonight/tomorrow, by tomorrow evening freshies should be waist deap. Decent day on the outlook opn Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 Rod goes bananas - softbooters can do it too! . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarvingScooby Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 One siiick board ...or skii...;) RT(53) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Big crew: Scooby, Gary, Ben (softy), BlueB, Couz on softies with a bunch of softy friends (carvers). Scooby played mostly on Coiler PRM and few laps on WCRMw. Gary hopped from skis to 3800/plates late in the day, more later. I played with a bunch of old school boards... Conditions were tricky, very hard frozen surface under a 1/4" of loose grannular. Things softened up a bit in the afternoon, but not much. We were strugling for grip on anything steeper then blue. Few potential converts: One of our skier on-slope friends (killer carver) will definitelly try alpine next year. Also a random softy guy took tel numbers from Scoob and me, hoping for lessons next year. Gary had his 2nd day (1st on h/boots) ever on snowbaord and killed it! By the 2nd run he was linking the turns, By 4th rund we more or less sorted out upper boddy inclination into toe side, by the 6th run he was carving clean toe sides and close to carved heel side. This is a great example how transition to alpine is pretty easy for a decent skier. You are a machine bud, keep up good work! Video, as promissed: <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z9X-XStgzTA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I brought my Ballistic to ride and 2 old boards to take advantage of staf tune-up special at Cypress. Ballistic proved a bit dull edged for the task, yet I managed to do some egg-shell carving. The other 2 were Rossi Throttle 167 and Yonex carbon 161. Took them for a spin after the tune-up. Oh, boy, are we spoiled with modern technology! Both boards have potential, but are way stiff and "nervous" compared to what we ride nowadays. Also, the sweet spot is crazy small and stances narrow... Both boards needed to go faster and turn bigger then 10-11 side cuts would suggest, before they can perform with any kind of stabillity. Yonex was quite a surprise - tipped her on the edge, without much push, at the speed I'd use for the conditions on, say Prior WCRM 173, and she carried on straight. Then I started to push the envelope a bit, first with the speed, then with edge inclination and the board started to "sing". Eventually I was ECing the whole length of steep part of JJA at the speed I normaly don't do. This was most bizzare feeling, going way too fast on a very short and too stiff board, yet holding clean edge and getting up from lay-downs easilly. Board was quiet and had 0 torsion. Very, very surprised with performance of this 161cm of carbon goodness! I gotta get her out on good snow, sometimes... And few pics of Gary, 1st time alpine: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xy9ine Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 got up this aft. expected soggy, but it was snowing at the lodge. ~8" of fresh on a hard base. heavy at the bottom, but pretty decent pow up top. minimal bodies meant lots of fresh tracks to be had everywhere. surprisingly, the big kessler rocked in this stuff; loving this thing. fun couple of hours; definately a bonus this time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Hey, while race Kesslers can handle that stuff, you probably shouldn't be riding them (especially the long ones), unless caught without another board. For more info, see "Bent or broken" ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xy9ine Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Hey, while race Kesslers can handle that stuff, you probably shouldn't be riding them (especially the long ones), unless caught without another board. For more info, see "Bent or broken" ;) you'd think i'd have learned my lesson, huh? i wasn't really anticipating that much snow when i went up, but was impressed with how well it worked regardless. a bit softer flex than my previous boards & the long nose decamber = great float though untracked & chopped up crap, even with a fairly centered weight distribution. no nose auguring tendencies at all. surprising, really. super fun & versatile (ie, short to huge radius turns) in these conditions. stoked. granted, if i had bought something like this new (which wouldn't happen any time soon), i'd be more hesitant about using it thustly. something to be said about buying used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 Sunny skies, absolute hero (on softer side, though) snow in the morning, after hefty snowfall yesterday. Bigger crowd then usual, mostly due to a big junior ski race. JJA closed for the race, but could be circumnavigated via Lower Fork (old name). Rainbow wasn't all that good - only one groomer pass... Raven stayed closed. Tony and me started early, while Roy was late and missed the good snow of the morning. Gary played on the Easy Rider all day, doing great on hard boots. Toys: 4WD, Vampire, Rad-Air Honet, SG Cult, Volant SL, 3800, WCRM nad WCRMw... Just as I liked Aggression FR steel, I absolutely loved the SL! What a great board! However, I probably wasn't riding the factory spec - it came to me with already decambered nose, from heavy riding. It worked great though, super initiation and hold, as well as navigating irregularities. When I wasn't carrefull enough, it had even too much initiation - no pressure on the nose required what so ever. By the end of the day, the board was "redesigned" even further: Nose decamber increased, with a bit of abrupt transition right under front binding, and tail got a newly acquired decamber too ;) These suckers are super sweet, but they just can't last... I'll try to post pics in "Bent/Broken" thread. Hornet I disliked after the Volant, so I didn't spend too much time on it. Vamp was good as usual - I had to move bindings a bit back and increase the stance, for the conditions. While I was doing that a crazy ski women ran over my tail, at a spot where it was almost imposible to get hit :( More in the "Lift Line" thread. The Cult got hit mid switch-carve, by a runaway ski!?**&@**! What these people have against me? We had bunch of good comments and genuine interest, too. One potential client for the next year... No significant snow tonight, I guess the groom will be even better tomorrow. More ski races. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cousin of Beagle Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 Friday morning was bluebird with soft cord. As the day went on, the temperature dropped and the snow got firmer. When we left at 4:30, it was lightly snowing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 Variety of conditions today... From hight overcast/warm, to hail storm, to dense fog, to sunny... Very nice hardish packed yet grippy snow, mid-morning... Not much crowd. Roy, Luka and me worked on our ski skills. Last day of Cypress for Luka, this season... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarvingScooby Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Crew: Perry aka xy9ine - Kessler Black 174, Pierre as him self - Virus Scalpel 173, me - Prior WCRM173 Arived 15 min before 10, found out chairs was up running since 9AM (confirm by "Hooplah") for the 3 day race. Good thing this time the race tracks move to Ashley Mc Ivor former Cascade instead blocking 3/4 of JJA former PGS. Visibility in the morning was unpleasant and not cosistent and stay that way till around 1PM when suddenly the sun decided to show up all the way. Snow condition was perfect extreme carving at JJA and it hold till around 11.30. Tried Rainbow - cruds gravel size boll and icy patch, Humpty Dumpty - chops & icy. Crazy Raven was next best condition after amazingly nice firm Windjammer. About 1PM head back to Rainbow and that was the best snow ever for that day. Snow turn softer with firm layer under but still fast. Reduced F Cant "Toe" to 45; R Cant "Heel" to 60. With the minor adjustment: heel side became easier to lay low for extreme carving but still have difficulties on toe side. Next play Tuesday April 19, 2011. RT(57) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xy9ine Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 yeah, it was looking pretty fun once the sun came out & softened things up a bit. still got a few happy-making turns beforehand regardless. the board was great - surprisingly damp & grippy on the frozen hardpack. stable, yet quick edge to edge. when i'm on (in these more demanding conditions), it's fantastic, just really need to commit & be confident of it's capabilities. should be a great tool to grow the skills with. tossed on the skinny sticks had a great afternoon w/ the kid. his first time on the fast quads, and the soft & forgiving conditions were perfect for him. making decent progress & doing full runs of colins & panorama w/ minimal assistance. looking forward to next season & having him on the snow w/ more frequency (and when he'll be a bit bigger / stronger). have to admit, the skis were kinda fun too. can't believe this is the last week! i'm not ready to pack the boards away yet! having too much fun this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Not over, until the fat lady sings! May Sundays = Whistler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 Funny weather... High overcast, then hail storm, then few cm of pow, then sun... Morning conditions were hard packed with 1/4" wet layer on top. Very mixed later on. Scooby and me started early, to be joined later by Randy, our hard charging ski and softboot friend. AgasizSkidder also came for few runs on his new 4WD179. Gorgeous board! No crowds worth speaking off... Best runs JJA and Panorama. Rainbow got pretty choppy/bumpy after the precipitation... I enjoyed the Volant SL a bit more today and carried on with the "redesign", today decambering the tail mostly. It still rides good, though. Later I switched to Maverick with FrankenPlate and flip-flopped between alpine and monoski modes. Monoski was pain in the butt at first, but clicked in and felt nice later on... Amazing how sensitive it is to the setup. I could easilly feel one binding set about 2mm further forward then the other one! Scooby took some footage, here are few clipped shots, video later... More pics in "Plan-B Plate" thread. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cousin of Beagle Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 11:15 Rock Star parking. 11:30 New 2011/ 12 pass. 12:30 Burger #1 This was a test burger. I wanted to make sure the sauces were perfect before moving onto additional burgers. I had ketchup, one slice of cheese, and barbecue sauce. The patty had a lot of non-meat meal in it. I suspect it was about 50% filler. Still, the burger was quite satisfying, reminiscent of the free burgers from the late 90s. Juicy. 2:00 Burger #2 Application of the ketchup was overzealous the last session, so I deleted it, and went for the patty barbecue dip. Also had one slice of cheese. This time the patty had a slightly chewy texture from the processed plant material embedded in it. Yumz. 2:15 Burger #3 This was probably the best burger. The patty was dipped in the barbecue sauce, just like the previous burgers. But the patty was surrounded by two slices of cheese. The extra cheesiness gave the burger a little extra glue for a more cohesive taste. Scrumptious. Overall, it was a nice day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xy9ine Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 superb burger action review. alas, I missed out coming up later. great spring conditions; not too warm / sloppy & firmed up as it clouded over. used both the sl & gs; both fabulous & super fun. growing to love these things. hoping to get up over the long weekend one last time. cous - is that an atv or 4wd? how do you like it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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