Bora20 Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Looks dead to me :) I know that the locals near me all like my board, too bad I am the only one around. Even the older freestyle crowd (35+) are all going back to skiing. They say it is just easier on them now and they like the hard boots. I have had a few soft booters want to try my gear out and if their feet fit, I would let them. Boris carving on the Cypress mainpage...funny that they thought he shouldn't teach in hard boots. Soft boot all-mountain riders would kill for that kind of style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Boris carving on the Cypress mainpage...funny that they thought he shouldn't teach in hard boots. Soft boot all-mountain riders would kill for that kind of style. He, he, from many pics they had, they made sure to chose the one where you can not see the boots or my face... Even the older freestyle crowd (35+) are all going back to skiing. They say it is just easier on them now and they like the hard boots. I have a pretty good ad on Vancouver Craigs List, targeting exactelly that type of rider, with killer pics of carving and freeriding... I only had 4-5 responces so far. One was from a guy who wanted a cheapo deal. Other one was a poorly maskaraded inquiry from Cypress themselves, making sure that I'm not trying to steal business from them :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 A couple of shots in your video show the sky as cobalt - almost black. I love the contrast with the snow when you're at high altitude with dry air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dano Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Wow, looks like such fun...totally in the ZONE! Great hop turns and method off the lip! Thank god I'm heading up to ride this friday or I would be in pain watching this! Thanks for posting. Hmmm.... can't seem to find any videos of anyone doing this on softies....even new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterGold Posted January 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 All those cool posts :o ... Thank you so much! GeoffV - actually I´m not that far away from the Hochkar! I live in Vienna. I have about one hour to the next mountain by car. The Hochkar is about 3 hours away. I have a few days there every season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilux Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Very inspirational vid and love the wide open runs :) Was in Austria skiing a while back and wish I had my board with me. Was still learning so didn't want to "waste" precious time on the mountain In hindsight probably would have been great to have that much space for practice though...wah wah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyFoot Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Re: Sultan Guy's age vs carving comment. I started riding in hard boots 15 yrs ago, turn 55 this year and still look forward to crankin' big deep carves every day I hit the slopes. I spent the last three days laying trenches at Mt Tremblant (near Montreal) to get the skiers' attention. On the flip side, my legs turn to jelly after a few hours so I quietly slip into my soft boots (or ski boots) over the noon hour and get back out on the snow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcaple Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Fantastic video, love the style and very inspirational !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sultan Guy Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 Re: Sultan Guy's age vs carving comment.I started riding in hard boots 15 yrs ago, turn 55 this year and still look forward to crankin' big deep carves every day I hit the slopes. I spent the last three days laying trenches at Mt Tremblant (near Montreal) to get the skiers' attention. On the flip side, my legs turn to jelly after a few hours so I quietly slip into my soft boots (or ski boots) over the noon hour and get back out on the snow! SWEET! I am only 47 so looks like a bunch more years for me of carving. :) I never skied or boarded before 40 so all this stuff is still pretty new. Summer hiking and lunges at the gym allow me to go 4 hours hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Brown Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 Great video and tunes! Thanks much for the grins!!! 55 and still craving the carve - now if my legs would just last longer :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philpjo Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 I was introduced to Alpine 3 years ago, at the age of 45, by a good friend of mine. I tried softbooting before and could never get the hang of it (my arms weren't long enough). I bought some used hardboot gear, off Bomber of course, for about $200 and was good to go. (Just got a brand new Coiler VSR for XMAS!!) My only lessons were from my buddy, which lasted all of 5 seconds; Lesson # 1. Point the board downhill Lesson #2. Speed is your friend I’ve never looked back. As mentioned above, I love the uniqueness of the sport. There hasn’t been one hill that I’ve been on that someone hasn’t asked “what kind of board is that?” or “how come you’re wearing ski boots with a snowboard?” or “Is that a racing board?” Alpine is not dead, maybe it’s just very well kept secret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJFluff Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 I think the one thing that could help to give the sport a real boost is if snowboard shops would start to carry the boards. I started riding a Burton M6 because others at my local ski hill were ripping on alpine boards and I could go to the local SB shop at see them on the shelves. The boards are out of site and out of mind. When I started riding hardboots alpine boards were sitting on the racks with the others. (Thanks Burton, Sims, Morrow, etc. We had 4 to 6 regular "hardbooters" on the hill learning from each other. Unlike some who like to explain what they are riding on, I am starting to get annoyed with the question. I also feel that the longer this trend continues the more the sport will lose momentum. I am 35 years old and one of the younger hardbooters around. More and more riders will reach "retirement" while fewer new riders join in. And with less and less riders showing the way at resorts, big and small, the exposure will continue to dwindle. And I will be doomed to answer the question, "Is that a ski or a snowboard" for the rest of my life. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 With less and less riders showing the way at resorts, big and small, the exposure will continue to dwindle. And I will be doomed to answer the question, "Is that a ski or a snowboard" for the rest of my life. :( I don't know ... maybe it's just an east coast thing, but I'm seeing more and more hardbooters every year, and it seems like I'm seeing better and better hardbooters every year—which is great exposure for our sport. Nonetheless: it's never going to be popular because it is a technical sport that requires dedication to learn and guts to master. I wouldn't have it any other way :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyFoot Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 I think the one thing that could help to give the sport a real boost is if snowboard shops would start to carry the boards. The boards are out of sight and out of mind. When I started riding hardboots alpine boards were sitting on the racks with the others. I also feel that the longer this trend continues the more the sport will lose momentum. I am 35 years old and one of the younger hardbooters around. More and more riders will reach "retirement" while fewer new riders join in. JJ, While I generally agree with your sentiment (that we need to have more riders on long boards to keep the sport going), I am not optimistic about seeing a resurgence of carving gear on store shelves. When I started looking for carving gear over a dozen years ago in Ottawa, a medium-sized Canadian city (that also happens to be the nation's capital), there was a handful of stores that carried boards, boots and plates. Today, there are exactly none. I suspect the much higher cost of race boards and the tiny volume of boards sold annually are the cause of their disappearance from retail stores. When someone asks me what I am riding, I patiently give them a short, enthusiastic reply and hope that they then ask me where they can get their own so I can direct them to cool sites like this and The Carvers Almanac ... and the closest on-line or real store resource for carving gear. All to say that I think that the biggest factor to growing our sport is for each of us to be the best ambassador of the sport that we possibly can (no matter how tedious and repetitive it is). In my case, it is a tad easier since I am a SB instructor at my local hill so people approach me more often to ask me what the hell I am piloting! Rock on! Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterGold Posted January 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 Thanks for all the positive feedback Alpine is here to stay :D ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
two_ravens Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 Wintergold, finally got to a fast enough connection to view it - love the video! :biggthump:biggthump:biggthump You're tearing it up in great style and having tons of fun - perfect! I kind of miss the raspberry suit, but blue & green work too! :p Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterGold Posted January 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 two_ravens - thanks for the kind words! Maybe the raspberry suit will make a return - at least for some pics :D ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.a Posted January 16, 2011 Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 Wintergold, please dont take this the wrong way, but I watched your vid and it looks like you are breaking at the waist and bending way too much forward. I ride similarly and have been trying to stop bending forward like that, but maybe thats ok? Could anyone help me out here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterGold Posted January 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 benttech - upper body position is a very personal thing and you will find all kinds of positions (EC anyone? ;)). If you want to learn something about your riding, just post a short video and we will help you. I don´t want this thread to turn into a technique discussion. This was not the intention of this thread. Keep improving ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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