Day Two;Donek Plate on Diablo 210

[Steve Prokopiw]

Wow what a difference good light makes! Being able to see made a huge difference to the level of confidence I had while riding the Donek Plate on my 210.Had a blast on it at Silver Mountain today.Sunny and two days after a dump, so not very firm, but decent carving snow by our standards.

I had a blast.Oh yeah I already said that...It helped me to go over 1 foot high rollers that groomers left after only making one or two passes on Paymaster.The board and plate ate up this inconsistent snow with these rediculously sized grooming seams.Catching air is a little weird with a twenty(!)pound package strapped to your feet but doable on the right pitch.We got some good vid today launching on the strangely groomed 1ft rollers.

The height of the plate was less of an issue today,but still an issue.The thing is,the performance came very close to surpassing the board without it in some places I did not expect.After talking to him,I know that Sean will continue to improve on an already great design.Lower stack height would be nice,but for now the performance to price ratio of the Donek Plate can't be beat.

[Steve Prokopiw]

Day 3 was a wash since I found out once and for all that I feel even more inadequate on a plate when low light and bad grooming(horrible to the point of being more dangerous than without grooming) conspire to spank me through lack of balance and depth perception.The plate seemed to accentuate these symptoms;though one would think a plate would help and probably does help racers zoom over imperfections in flat light. But to me, the lack of proprioception (board feel and steering through my feet and lower legs) and the additional height are the cons of pros/cons of 'recreational plate use'.

Day 4;back to good light and slightly better grooming.Had enough use of the Donek Plate by this time to have grown the stones to link carves all the way down 'Upper Steep and Deep' even with questionable grooming that was pretty wavy and narrow.According to ski patrol that slope is around 40 degree pitch.It's probably a little less,but is considerably steeper than my favorite run which is claimed to be 33 to 35 degrees.The plate will keep you locked into carves harder than without a plate.In fact,it takes some effort to 'remove' the board from a turn on steeps,heel turns especially.I also had the confidence to try circle carves later on,but found out that it takes far more speed to complete a circle on my board with a plate mounted.The rapid decrease in speed toward the end of the circle is such that the plate just tips me over;that is unless I go stupidly fast upon entry:0 I still want to try circling more cleanly when I buy a plate,because it will be a huge circle with a good amount of exit speed,which should look pretty cool on vid:).

I have to say it was really fun getting reaquainted with the Diablo sans plate.The plate gave me a new appreciation for what I had already, but also made me rethink what is possible for performance in other ways.The level of connection I felt to my board after the plate was removed was better than ever.I could see that part of the equation making the plate a great training tool in addition to it's undeniable performance enhancement.

Thanks to Sean for letting me demo the plate for a week.I learned that I most definitely want one;but that I will have it mounted to a board that it stays on as another 'special use' board in the quiver.The Donek is very user friendly to start with however;not quite as snappy and light feeling as the Bomber Matilda,but felt easy to ride from the beginning.The plate isn't for all terrain and to me feels specialized to the point that it will occupy a place in the quiver of 'special use' rather than everyday.But that could change as the technology evolves.It's still very early in the game.