newcarver Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Need something along the lines of a modern version of 'Hard Attack'. All mountain assault by hardbooters. Hardboots can do a lot more than just carve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Need something along the lines of a modern version of 'Hard Attack'. All mountain assault by hardbooters. Hardboots can do a lot more than just carve.Now this has potential! Kind of like this red bull race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pokkis Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 This ice skating on bumby surface? Never heard about it before and never seen it before, and hope to see it never in future :nono: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xy9ine Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Hardboots can do a lot more than just carve. exactly. i see the new breed of wider, decambered multi radius boards & softer binding interfaces as high performance hard charging all mountain gear. as rob says, we need to see a bit more interdisciplinary crossover, and perhaps, an injection of youth - the fact that most of us are old bastards does little to inspire a younger demographic. i'd love to see some racer kids mix it up and redefine & evolve the image. all-mountain freecarving. where it's at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex1230 Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 I mean who's gotten laid because they can euro carve? :D guilty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Really. I'd say just the opposite. The average soft-booter looks horrible to me, whereas most alpine riders are above-average skill-wise to start with and look great in comparison. I'm with Neil on this one. Just due to the much larger numbers, an average sofbooter mostly slides sideways and kicks the tail to make a turn. Average hardbooter rails the turns. As far as the fashion goes, the tastes are hard to argue about. However, baggy pants hanging below the hips expose the bum. Needles to say, it looks like really bad idea - snow gets in, or at the best, you get cold sacroiliac joint... If that's the price of looking "normal" - no thanks. Boots, why cover them with fabric? 0 function, just the problems - ripps, gets wet... exactly. i see the new breed of wider, decambered multi radius boards & softer binding interfaces as high performance hard charging all mountain gear. as rob says, we need to see a bit more interdisciplinary crossover, and perhaps, an injection of youth - the fact that most of us are old bastards does little to inspire a younger demographic. i'd love to see some racer kids mix it up and redefine & evolve the image. all-mountain freecarving. where it's at. Right on. We do not need to stick to the groomers only! I know at least 2 local riders that shine in all conditions. You are pretty versatile too. I'm trying to be too. i've been juggling babies; opportunities to desert them for a full day are scarce. hopefully i can make something happen this year. I hear you, I'm a dad too. Don't take me to hard - I was really just ribbing you a bit. I'm really looking forward to Luka getting big and fast enough that we can go to SES together. Few more years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Is your point that a FB page would be different than BOL because "your" friends and "my" friends would see it and get more exposure?I totally agree with this, and that's why I started a FB page. However, up until the SES I didn't have a lot to put up there. Now I have some content and would love to put some pics and videos there so people, and their friends, can see them. Not specifically... my point is that I used to run forums for softie snowboarding people, and blogs too. But over the last couple of years the emphasis has switched completely from that over the FB, even though FB is (like this sport) dominated by old people. So these are kids, but their "social media" use is FB and it's working really well. For cat/ heli, well the background's different and the demographic hugely so, but it works brilliantly. Went heli-boarding? Want to show your photos to your mates... FB does that, and acts as a huge marketing tool. A bit of video, a thousand people watch it... that's free advertising, and the audience is pre-selected as they're your mates so they may well go. Needless to say, I think that's driving numbers in the right direction. Plus the customers generally pay for the images... you win both ways. Bomber has FB - I can't find it when I search, what do I look for? So I guess my suggestion is that it's worth digging into FB, and I think that there's enough creativity in the people here to provide some content, and the power is immense. ---- I think everyone I know who doesn't snowboard (including skiers), would say fashionable snowboarding looks lame. Skiing and big mountain snowboarding on the other hand, everyone gets. It's just the marketing which tricks us into thinking that people sliding down rails on snowboards isn't stupid and boring. They've managed to market the snowboarding equivalent of the snow plough turn! Riding a snowboard fast looks pretty much the same on hard or soft gear, and it usually gets a very positive reaction from those who see it. It's inherently sexy, like race cars. So I guess I'm thinking that it's hard to mass-market something which you need a lot of skill to do. The industry's reacted by trying to make beginner stuff "cool", with boy-band marketing and lots of fashion industry smarts (check the magazines). So they chose not to fight it, but to exploit it. Athletes can always ski, so they've covered both the snow fashion and sports market. I don't think the kiddie market is ever coming to hardboots/ race boards. I'd look at that as a funnel to send people your way.. the problem is how to get them to come to riding, rather than skiing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraph Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Bomber has FB - I can't find it when I search, what do I look for? http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6761002583 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.oldsnowboards.com Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Alex's thread on a carving magazine has brought up something that I have been thinking about for a long time. http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=25886 Here's the crowd that was at the bottom of the 1/2 pipe at XGames for the men's finals. Ridiculous to see some spolied red haired kid in skinny jeans that's barely old enough to drink. How can we get this kind of crowd for ANY hard boot event? Heck, I'd even take 1/2 these people for ONE race. Let's brainstorm and think how we can make our sport look sooooooo cool that everyone has to see it, do it, etc. Especially people of "our" age, that are tired of just watching the sport and not being able to actually participate (25 foot walls in the half pipe, 200 ft jumps in big air, etc). Carving is a sport for so many people, I just think they don't know about it. One idea I have been thinking about is sponsors to bring some advertising $$ to the sport. If we can get just one or two companies to put some cool photos (like the ones you guys take!!) on their ads of a race, a "perfect" carve, etc we could get some media coverage and get it out there. This was my point in this post. Bring on the ideas smart people! :) Sorry , I have no interest in this. Alpine is unique and should not change to be popular. Pure carving. Pass on the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.oldsnowboards.com Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 guilty you funny guy!! I guess I now have a good enough reason to EC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Really. I'd say just the opposite. The average soft-booter looks horrible to me, whereas most alpine riders are above-average skill-wise to start with and look great in comparison. +1. Average softbooters look like complete idiots anywhere outside of the park. It is no wonder skiing is cool again. Strangers come up to me every day I ride to ask questions and pay compliments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGogoussier Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 In the original post Michelle asked: "How can we get this kind of crowd for ANY hard boot event?" I ask: Why should we hope it be otherwise ? I see only advantages in practicing a relatively confidential sport away from media hype and public attention. At race events I have access to the best athletes in their sports: Olympians, World Cup professionals, World champions. I can watch them perform their art very up close; even get to ride along with some of them. The rest of the time when I meet and join recreational carvers I am almost sure that they will be fine, adrenalin addicted people that I can relate with. On top of that I DO appreciate the attention I get at times from being unconventional (nobody EVER asked me about my hockey skates nor my soccer shin pads...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 It's true the hill can only support so many of us. At Nakiska this year we only had around a dozen people each day but we pretty effectively chewed up the runs we had. Thank god for skidders! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgassizSkidder Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 In the original post Michelle asked: "How can we get this kind of crowd for ANY hard boot event?"I ask: Why should we hope it be otherwise ? . I kind of agree. My example is rock climbing. Our area saw an increase in climbing gyms and over a very short period of time that led to a large increase of crowds of people that would go to the local crags and just hang out. Many, many of them not having a clue about safety or proper use of equipment. It went from seeing stoked people that had taken lessons and saved their pennies for gear to every fool and his dog showing up and asking why the rock face did not have bolts; many of them saved from death by more experienced climbers taking the time to check their knots and anchors. I would love to have had easier access to boots than buying 3 pairs and then buying one more on faith, but it has certainly made me pay more attention to the technical aspect of the sport, and I suck LOL. As for local guys like Prior, Chris offered go riding with me anytime I was back in Whistler when I bought my bindings from him, even though I told him I was a complete newbie and he had never seen me ride. That is all the encouragement I need to improve. I don't know if a fancy tent would have done more for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Is BX cool? Does it have mass appeal? Do they regularly show it in Transworld and other mags? I have no idea because here in Maine we have Seth Wescott so we are inundated with it. If the answer is "not really" then I don't see how carving could ever get there. I get the impression BX doesn't have much traction due to the dearth of BX boards on the market. Burton doesn't even make one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powdahbonz Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 lets see who has the huevos to enter, care of Kendo, an alpine "chinese downhill". Jack was telling me that Sugarloaf is having a banked slalom in March hosted by Seth. I'd love to see hardbooters descend on an event like this and toast the casual straight liners who think they can handle the speeds. I "appreciate" the skill that the Travis Rice's bring to big air and Jeremy Jones brings to big mountain spline riding. The Tomato bugs me like Tiger Woods bugs me. I want to see him de-throned. Personally, I like "niche" but I would like to see more of our sport enhanced at different mountains. The only way to truly grow is to recruit and convert others. Kudos to Dingbat and Joerg for going to the efforts-I wish I was able to be at the Beast with those of you there:biggthump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted March 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 lets see who has the huevos to enter, care of Kendo, an alpine "chinese downhill". Jack was telling me that Sugarloaf is having a banked slalom in March hosted by Seth. I'd love to see hardbooters descend on an event like this and toast the casual straight liners who think they can handle the speeds. There was a short lived one of these at Keystone years ago. I'm sure for liability reasons it only happened once, although someone may know better than me about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 lets see who has the huevos to enter, care of Kendo, an alpine "chinese downhill". Jack was telling me that Sugarloaf is having a banked slalom in March hosted by Seth. I'd love to see hardbooters descend on an event like this and toast the casual straight liners who think they can handle the speeds. I'm registered. Seth himself is competing as well. It's going to be awkward when I beat him! ;) :D Should be a fun test of the Boiler Plate. Although it's not chinese-downhill style. It's one at a time, against the clock. And no jumps. http://www.sugarloaf.com/Events/Calendar/Banked_Slalom.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateW Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 If the banks are high enough, there won't be any advantage to riding alpine gear. That's the whole reason for having banks - it makes the softboot setups competitive. Someone needs to bribe the course crew to keep the banks small. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoltan Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Whoever brought up Facebook I think has the right answer. If you want exposure to the younger generation, Facebook is the one of the most effective, and one of the least expensive ways to do it. There needs to be a central profile or two, maybe the one for Bomber and a general alpine one, and everyone here with Facebook needs to "like" it. Bomber might even want to run a 5% off discount if you "like" both profiles. Additionally, the Facebook link needs to go on the cards we hand out. Then, the pages need to have top line content. Not just videos of people goofing around, or some average rider cruising. There needs to be content on there which arrests people as soon as they see it; awe inspiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xolufus Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 What Zoltan stated is dead on. As much as I can't stand Facebook it is an absolute requirement at this time for establishing and expanding exposure...as long as the page/pages are done well and content is monitored and kept both professional + creative...the result can be quite surprising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 If the banks are high enough, there won't be any advantage to riding alpine gear. That's the whole reason for having banks - it makes the softboot setups competitive. Someone needs to bribe the course crew to keep the banks small. :) Perhaps, but there will definitely be an advantage to riding a Boiler Plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Whoever brought up Facebook I think has the right answer. If you want exposure to the younger generation, Facebook is the one of the most effective, and one of the least expensive ways to do it. There needs to be a central profile or two, maybe the one for Bomber and a general alpine one, and everyone here with Facebook needs to "like" it. Bomber might even want to run a 5% off discount if you "like" both profiles. Additionally, the Facebook link needs to go on the cards we hand out. Then, the pages need to have top line content. Not just videos of people goofing around, or some average rider cruising. There needs to be content on there which arrests people as soon as they see it; awe inspiring. Totally agreed. Unfortunately I don't have time to do this, and, there already is a half-started page there: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alpine-snowboarding/108208885873727 I think whoever does put together (or takes over) "the" facebook page needs to be someone with a vested interest in the long term growth of alpine (read: they make money from it). A simple participant would probably lose interest over time and let it go stale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted March 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 We have a FB page for Bomber, and I'm hoping to be able to start updating it weekly with content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 an interesting thought: with all the custom board makers producing high-quality stuff at prices that are affordable by their customers, are we ever likely to see the return of 'commodity' alpine boards from major manufacturers? are Völkl the only ones left? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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