Downhill and SuperG

[LeeW]

Heard some words from Bill Loftus we used to have downhill races in the late 80s. It was mutually agreed they called it quits with common agreement it was way too dangerous. Anyone know about this or can verify this?

How often do we have a "normal" GS competition and SuperG? No, not parallel GS. For strange reasons, I find normal GS racing more fun beating the clock.

[NMU Alpine Boarder]

I know that USCSA sanctions Giant Slalom races against the clock. PGS is not even offered. I also think that USASA has GS against the clock. I can't say wether PGS or GS is better, because this is going to be my first season racing, but I feel thet I would probably like PGS, because you can see what you need to do to win.

[sfleck]

just so ya know, its gonna be PGS at nationals this year for USCSA. Its more fun that way anyhow. Maybe not for your legs, but the head to head parts pretty cool.

Steve Fleck

[NMU Alpine Boarder]

Thanks Steve. I didn't know that nationals would be PGS. All I really know about that is that I get to run before the skiers here in the Mid-West and am using the same course/gates as the 2 plankers. Heck, since I am one of only a few boarders racing here in the Mid-West, who knows, maybe I will get to Sugarloaf in March :D

[Guest Randy S.]

NMU,

Racing GS on skier gates isn't too bad, unless its a tight course. I recommend wearing protection on your shins, hips and arms. Ski racing shin guards are good, a few companies make padded undershorts that pad your hips. Dainese makes a protective jacket that will cover your whole arm and shoulder area. You can get it from Blue Tomato If you can't afford the Dainese thing, you can do what I've done. I got a forearm ski guard (hard to come by these days, but you'll find a used one if you look hard). Plus a padded top from BeyondX, Spyder or Sic Sessions. If all else, fails, duct tape a soccer shin guard to your forearm and/or wear lacrosse forearm/elbow guards.

GS isn't too bad because you don't really need to take the gates head-on to carve a good turn. You should be able to clip the gate with your hip and still maintain a good line. If they make you race a full-on Skier SL though, its a different story. At the FWRA finals last season, we raced on a skier slalom. Luckily they used the lighter weight gates, but it still hurts. In order to maintain a decent line, you need to hit the gates full-on. A full face helmet is helpful, plus all the protection I mentioned above. You hit the gate with your forearm to knock it down. You'll hear it click as you hit it, and again as it hits your board. It shouldn't bounce back up until you've passed it. Don't rely on hitting it with your shin. The force of hitting the gate that low down will toss you off your edgem momentarily and really mess you up. You need to reach with your forearm to hit it first.

At Far West it was kind of funny. The skiers in Portland hadn't seen many boarders race their courses. In the pacesetter race they were apparently laughing at the two of us from Tahoe because they expected us to side-slip the entire course. They were stunned when we smashed every gate really hard and even beat a couple of skier times (tough to do in a couse with a flat section where they could skate). Of the 50-60 gates, I probably took 2-3 in spots where I didn't have padding. That hurts.

Like you, I'd love to find a SG and a DH. We have one SG this season that should be fun. I need some reasons to get my new 210 out on the hill.

[sfleck]

yes, I also have fallen victim to those damn skier gates. After taking one too many gates to the face I finally bought a full-face this year. Shinguards are good, and for slalom, I found one of those really old slalom tops at a ski sale for like ten bucks. The best thing about the old ones is that they have hard plastic padding on the forearm, which most of the new ones don't. Only problem was the spectacular 80's color scheme. I wore it as a joke a couple times, but now have resorted to cutting off the sleeve to wear on my leading arm under my jacket. Also might want to look into some padded gloves that come up past the wrist, cause nothing hurts more than crashing a slalom gate right on the wrist. (except maybe a face shot). Trust me, after training with skiers, on their courses, using snowboard gates will feel like a treat.

-Steve

[Guest Pre School Rider]

I pulled this up to kind of give an idea of what one of the Old Big Guns was like.I had this board long enough to actually get used to it and it's speed capability,but I don't think I ever Really got it up to where it could have gone ultimately.I was always scared that I'd hook an edge and tear my legs off at the knees! I also had some scary moments when I hit a skier at a good clip,and on a few jumps where the board 'parasailed' due to surface-effect lift. Of course,I'd buy it back in a heartbeat,but it's a wall-mount now. "[ Justin,back a few years,I had Andy Coghlan's old Safari 205cm DH board,and it was designed for going way far stupid fast,easily doing over 60 mph and still turning.Features that made this board awesome were simple,but rather hard to find,and likely hard to duplicate.It's sidecut was centered around the back foot,and was roughly about 22m.The camber was unique,being arched slightly under the front foot,then having a 'flat spot' of less arch between the bindings,and finally having a distinct bow just behind the rear binding for added thrust late in a turn or base-flat pump.The base was also beveled about 2 degrees for about a third of the nose's length,as well as beveled for about 20 cm along the tail.This bevel allowed the board to ride "loose" at high speeds while being ridden fairly base-flat,but still let one tune the edges to be sharp,so that once the board was tipped up onto edge,it would track well.The bad thing in the board's design was the overly soft nose,which I suppose was to help absorb bumps and deal with soft snow.The nose fluttered at high speeds,forming an air pocket just ahead of the front foot,and was also fairly disconcerting in that you weren't sure it'd 'flutter' the way you intended to turn.However,the long running surface,combined with a strong tail,and benign handling(albeit benign like a Caddy on the interstate)meant that you could just truck through stuff that would normally toss you on your can,and truck pretty darn fast,too. Take what you will from this info,but suffice it to say,longer works,as does having the board 'detuned' at tip/tail to allow some 'slidiness' at speed. My choice of boards,from what's out there now would likely be a Sims Burner 197cm,or a Donek of similar length,to go "stupid Fast" again. Hmm,maybe I can talk Nick P. into letting me have the ol' Thunderbroom back for a few days!? ]"