Carving story - the online interview

[Guest The Snowboard Journalist]

Q#4: WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THE IDEA THAT CARVERS ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?

[jason_watkins]

Q1: because it's fun. duh.

Q2: no. you might be limited jibbin or in the pipe', but besides that, you can definately put together a hardboot setup that will do well off piste, or put together a softboot setup that will carve.

Q3: have good terrain and grooming. groom a lane or 5 on a steeper slope too, for the advanced folks. skiiers should like that too.

Q4: not really... it might be in or out of fashion, but I doubt it's going away. .. particularly as the snowboard generations get older and look for something fun to do that doesn't involve getting 60 feet of air.

[Jack M]

JF, great idea, thanks.

Why ride alpine? I think when you boil it down to the basic pleasure, carving corduroy in hardboots tickles many of the same spots as riding powder in softboots. Both are exhilirating right down to the core.

Whether you're surfing the pow or slicing down a groomer, at that moment, you're doing exactly what you dream of doing every other day of the year. What happens on a powder day? The parks and pipes are deserted. Friends trample friends to get to get first tracks. People ride for the sheer sensation of riding itself. The mountain comes alive and invites you to enjoy all she has to offer.

For an alpine snowboarder, it's the same thing everyday we wake up to fresh cord and blue sky. No alarm clock needed, we bolt out of bed and bee-line for first chair. At the top, the sight of an empty, unspoiled run in front of us and a growing crowd behind us fills us with that same sense of urgency and excitement as first run on a powder day. The term "first tracks" applies any day we can dig our trenches in the slopes, and then admire them on the chair ride back up.

It is that same connection with the mountain, and the ability to harness its forces, that keeps us booting up, latching in, and carving down, day after day. I pity those who will never know it.

[Art]

Q1: Ever since I Saw a guy 10 years ago at Whistler I have been interested in Alpine boards. In the 10 plus years I have been on an Alpine board it has been a constant attempt at improvement. I am not now or will I be as good as I want to. This is not a bad thing, I am just always looking for the perfect turn and never finding it gives me an excuse to keep doing it. Evenifit feels close to perfect I will always tyr to improve. On top of that there is the G factor. I was never able to turn so easily as on an Alpine deck.

Q2: The only limiting factor for me is me. The equipment can do alot more than I can. I am now of the age that I like keeping my board on the snow.

Q3: Perhaps trying to attract more events, Better grooming, Awareness that there is more to snowboarding than baggy pants and the F-word. We had a "Race to the Cup" event at our local hill last year and it allowed many of the managers to see part of what alpine is about. Some of them were interested in trying hard boots.

Q4: It would appear that alpine is growing. There are some coaches and teams in the northwest with some amazing young talent (not that it is all about racing, it's not). BOL member numbers seem to be increasing since there are alot of new names about including the ladies of BOL. Many members talk about getting their kids into alpine gear. I have noticed at least one other carver on the hill in the last few years when I go up (somebody I have never met). Hell there is even some Television exposure on occasion.

[hangten247]

1) Why Carve?......

It's the G-Forces. I like driving a sports car or a motorcycle on a twisty road, as well as flying private aircraft in steeper banks, climbs, or dives than you would find as a passenger iin a commercial airliner. Its the same for the carve. I was (still am) a technically proficient skiier, and had wanted to try snowboarding as something to do instead of skiing. I liked ski racing down tight twisty race courses, and was not into freestyle skiing either. Of course freesyle snowboarding was what was in the spotlight years ago (and still is) versus carving/racing other then the Burton US open at the time. Blending my technical proficiency from skiing with the new(er) sport of smowboarding lent itself to a more prominent feeliing of the "Carve" sensation. Some people go to the amusement parks and ride roller coasters for the high speed twisty adrenaline rush. . I carve my snowboard instead. I can control the carving sensation better on a snowboard, 9direction, speed, etc). You cant do that in an amusement park, and its also had to do it (legally) in a sports car, motorcycle, or in an airplane.

2) Do I feel limited?.....

I used to a few years back, (as in 10 or 12 yers back) but not now. I have no inclination to ride a park, pipe, or parking lot on a jib board, so I do not see the more specific carving gear as limiting. It would be limiting to me to use freestyle gear and try to apply it to carving technique. You wouldn't ask a die hard slalom water skier if he feels limited by his ski if he had no inclination to wakeboard would you?

3) What could ski areas do?......

As many above have stated, maybe have some carve zones/carving hills and more grooming for the for more experienced riders, as well as instructors and rental equipment on hand to cater to apsiring carving riders. I don't like segregation any more than the next person, but for the carving population, it makes things a bit safer in this case.

Lots of times I don't feel safe just because of crowds, as well as less experienced, or just plain ignorant wintersports enthusiasts who are unaware of the "skiiers" responsibility code, ("skiiers" used as a blanket term for EVERYONE on the mountain in this context, not just people who have two sticks on their legs instead of one), or they just lack common sense at all. I wouild probably feel safer flying down the same trail at the same time among a sea of experienced carvers, whom I have never even met before or spoken to, because they have the same "perception" and "awareness" that I do of the trail. I ski and I snowboard. I know that once I started snowboarding I "look" at the trail from a whole new persepective, because my means of getting down the mountain is different than if I had two separate legs and ski poles to propel me like skiiers do. Most skiiers I know don't understand where I need to stop or start on a trail, becusse gravity is more important to me than them when getting started on my next run. You have to know how to pick a line better than a skiier if you are going to carve.

4) Are we an endangered species?... I think that right now it is quite the opposite. Small segment of the wintersports industry? Yes. Yes, true, we don't have the numbers out there on the slopes compared to freestyle boarders or skiiers in general, but the sport has progressed with technology, and has matured a bit and found a following. Small niche carving companies like Bomber, Catek, Donek, Coiler, and Prior have found their legs, thanks to outstanding quality product, and also in conjunction with the explosion of the internet. Worldwide commerce at your finger tips, as well as advice, fellowship, and comeraderie from all over the globe sharing their passion for the carve. IMO traditional "destination" retail shopping at fixed store locations is dead, and this sport has found its way to cater to its followers through the internet without skipping a beat, as it was the ignored bastard child of wintersports retail for such a long time anyways.

If anything, if it wasnt for snowboarding, wintersports in general would be an endangered species. There weren't alot of new skiiers being introduced to the mountains in the last 10 years or so, it has been the snowboarders who have been buying the hardgoods and lift tickets. And many of those snowboarders had NEVER skiied before or come from a skiing family. I even knew skiiers (besides myself) who were not allowed to snowboard by their parents! Now the sport of skiing has borrowed the concept of sidecut and turning radius to pump life into their own dying sport, while we have been thriving all along. True, we don't get the press that freestyle snowboarding gets, but we love to (or at least I love to) educate (and some times play with the minds of) folks whose first glance at an alpine setup (and consequentially 20 questions) happened to be when they were in line with me or when they rode the chair with me.

[Mike T]

Q1: Because it's totally fun! Taking carving to the extreme gives me a bigger rush than getting air in the park. And on a good run, I get to experience that rush over and over again all the way from top to bottom.

Q2: Sure there are times when I feel limited by my stance and equipment - but no more so than when I am riding in soft boots. I can ride powder, trees, and even the terrain park in either set-up.

Q3: Grooming is obviously key for carving. Many resorts don't do a very good job. Having groomed runs with various pitches is a huge plus, especially wide ones. Regrooming mid-day would be huge! (It *is* done in some places but not many)

Q4: I think alpine snowboarding is on the rise as we speak. Over the past couple of seasons, I've noticed a distinct change in the way people at the resorts react to me when I'm on my alpine gear. Three years ago there was some curiosity about it but mostly snickering. Now, a lot of people I talk to are genuinely interested in trying it out. A lot of adults... but even kids too. Even the lifties and the ski check monitors have been asking me where they can find alpine gear. "Expression Sessions" gatherings, large and small, are popping up all over the place. People are getting their friends, signifigant others, even their kids into it. I'm not talking about a large movement or anything, but from what I've seen, our little corner of the snowboarding universe *is* alive, well, and growing!

[MozzMann]

Q#1: WHY CARVE?

I carve because I love it basically , it's that simple.

Ask the same question of a Motorcyclist riding on a twisty mountain road, you'll most likely get a similar answer.

I'ts the purist form of expression and transference of unergy from the rider to the board that flows from within as you glide into turn after turn with style and grace that some Jibber's could never understand, leaving near perfect curved arcs cut into the slope behind you.

I have had injuries to my ankles riding off road Motor cycles and while I still ride All mountain setup with SI Soft Boot I much prefer the directness and control I get with Hard and Carve setup. You ask " Why I carve " , well it's like the Jeep Slogun,

"If you have to ask, then you wouldn't understand"

Q#2: DO YOU FEEL LIMITED BY YOUR EQUIPMENT OR STANCE?

No I don't feel limited because I haven't reached the end of the tuning and setup curve.

To me a Hard Boards setups ie Freecarve GS-Race etc are the F1 of Snowboarding. There is a lot of ajustability in the current equipment available and you have to know your snow conditions and like F1 Pit crew vary your stance width and angles, Heel and toe lift to maximise your performance for the given conditions.

This is the best way I know of maximising your input to get the best out of what Nature and gravity have given us to enjoy and use.

I now regularly ride my all mountain board with the hardboot setup and I constantly have a chuckle when I see rider's having a yard sale on an ice patch after I've simply cut straight across it.

There is an infinate amount of ajustability in modern equipment in terms of width of stance , angles of stange stiffness of boots

Q#3: WHAT COULD SKI AREAS DO TO MAKE THE CARVING EXPERIENCE BETTER?

Not having the same variety or resort areas as my Carving counterparts in the US and Europe, I'd have to say that Some slope areas could be set aside for speed skiing and Carvers and mutual respect developed like the terrain park areas here.

Placing restricted area signs on some runs could possibly work but I doubt it.

Q#4: WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THE IDEA THAT CARVERS ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?

Oh geez thats a bit strong, I know that carver's only make a small portion of the snow sport scene but isn't that what people said about Snowboarding in the early days.

And now we see so many areas where crossover's in technology have occured in snow sports. Like carve SKi's having similar shape to all mountain and GS Boards.

Advances in hardboots. and now with companies like Flow and Tierney producing skate boards I'd say it will quite possible bring more riders to the Carve scene as well as snowboarding in general.

I'm trying to do my damndest to raise the Profile of carving in Australia mainly because it's is nearly unheard of , maybe I'll start a craze down here.

I'm trying to get a local resort on side for this season coming.

Q#5: WHAT'S THE WORST THING ABOUT BEING A CARVER?

Probably the fact it is very hard to find carve specific gear that is available in Australia.

Given this and if I get enough interest through the Ozcarve Web Site, I'll seriously consider importing for local rider's.

Mozz

Maurie King, Snowy Mountains, Australia.

[Guest The Snowboard Journalist]

Q#5: WHAT'S THE WORST THING ABOUT BEING A CARVER?

[Slow Eddie]

Originally posted by The Snowboard Journalist

Q#5: WHAT'S THE WORST THING ABOUT BEING A CARVER?

Limited choice of equipment in comparison to the rest of the snowsports industry. Don't get me wrong, what we have available is clearly the cream of the crop - most companies who still produce alpine products know that the consumer base is very quality-oriented - but a larger choice of equipment would go a long way towards making the sport accessible to more folks than the people who know the 5 shops between JFK and PWM that consistently stock alpine gear.

[CarvCanada]

What's bad about being a hardbooter?

Hard to find equipment in shops.

[MozzMann]

I edited this into my previous Post

:)

Mozz

[bobdea]

lack of boots, three brands currently

that is the biggest issue at the moment in my eyes

what happens if Head drops their SB boots or even worse Deeluxe does we are screwed a market with no competion is not good

[Mike T]

Q5: I guess every great sport must have a downside. For me, the worst thing is the fact that I don't really like any of the boots on the market. I like the way the Raichle SB / Deeluxe LeMans feels, but but the construction is cheap, some of the parts tend to fail easily and I've even cracked a couple of shells. The Heads on the other hand are well constructed but I really don't like the way they feel on the snow. I haven't tried UPZ yet but from what I know they are stiffer than I would like.

Oh yeah, and then there's the fact that once I started hardbooting I became even more obsessed with snowboarding than I was before :D

[jason_watkins]

Q5: Boots. Cottage industry seems to be really advancing the state of the art in boards and bindings... but snowboard hardboots aren't doing so hot. Compared to current technology in alpine or AT boots, hardboots are heavy, awkward, and in some componants, fragile.

[Fleaman]

Q#5: WHAT'S THE WORST THING ABOUT BEING A CARVER?

Choosing which girl(s) you will sleep with tonight!:D

[Baka Dasai]

Thanks for doing this research! One general comment I'd make is that your questions seem to confuse carving with riding hard boots and an alpine board. The biggest group of carvers I see are using skis. The second biggest are soft-boot snowboarders. Hard-boot snowboarders are a minority even in the carving world.

Q#1: WHY CARVE?

If you're on a groomed slope, and you need to turn, carving is the most fun way of doing it. The G-forces, the intensity, the ability to cut through ice, the weightlessness of the moments between switching edges - all those things.

It's pretty obvious, and it's catching on in big numbers. The last decade has seen new equipment that really lends itself to carving - skis with smaller sidecut radius's and snowboarding soft boots that are much stiffer.

Q#2: DO YOU FEEL LIMITED BY YOUR EQUIPMENT OR STANCE?

Yes I do, but not as much as if I was in soft boots. That's a function of where I ride - if I was in the backcountry riding powder, or if I was in the pipe/park, then I'd choose different equipment. But like the vast majority of snowboarders I spend nearly all my time riding down groomed resort runs, and the limitations of my equipment in these conditions are far less than the limitations of soft boots/freeride boards in those conditions.

Q#3: WHAT COULD SKI AREAS DO TO MAKE THE CARVING EXPERIENCE BETTER?

Not much. Good grooming, better education about the skiers responsibility code...?

Q#4: WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THE IDEA THAT CARVERS ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?

If you include soft-boot carving and ski-carving, the number of carvers is growing every year. Carving numbers have never gone down, they have only ever risen.

If you limit the question to hard-boot snowboarders I'd say that all the old riders who were likely to give up riding hard boots have already done so, and the numbers have now stabilised and even started to rebound. The overall growth in carving (ie, including soft boots and skis) will also create quite a bit of momentum for hard-boot snowboarding. The future is bright.

Q#5: WHAT'S THE WORST THING ABOUT BEING A CARVER?

The worst things about carving are still better than the best things about being a skidder!

If you're talking about hard-booting, the equipment choices are limited, particularly with boots. And the prices are high, due to the small market.

The other negative is that carving across the slope puts you in danger of people bombing the fall line. Most people on the hill are unable to process the fact that I might be riding 90 degrees to the fall line at a higher speed than they are going straight down the fall line.

[slopetool]

Why Carve? I knew over time and in the long run that if I was to get into jumping and riding the pipe I would be in traction by the time I was 30. Edge Control is the #1 reason. There is a sense of style and finesse to riding alpine that is hard to find in skiing. The flow of initiating turns, one after another, is very pure. The effort involved compared to other methods of riding or skiing make me wonder, "is this cheating, kind of?" The G-forces are amazing and the control at higher speeds makes one ask, "what if I had a longer board?" When the conditions favor it, there is no better way to get down the mountain with the amount of effort it takes.

Limited by Stance? Definitely. but overall, its worth it. Personally, I try to lower the binding angles and widen the stance as much as needed for the overall stability for riding the whole mountain. We aren't in a World Cup race, you know?

Ski Areas could work on teaching the new groomers to smooth out those ridges made by each pass by with the tractor.

We are Endangered Species too. Because Bomber is here for us it gives us a false sense that there are more carvers. But when you get up to the mountain, there are really no more rippers than there were 10 years ago. Unless we all get together for events. And its tough for the newbie to find equipment without having some connections so they seem to just stay with the freeride board until something pops up at the pawn shop. Being an endangered species, gives us attention from others that we all love too. And the feeling of commrodaree is the greatest.

Hope to get some powder soon in the Pacific NW!

[Art]

Q5: Getting equipment can be a hassle. Since you cant find gear at the (most) local shops it can be an adventure. Thanks to Michelle and Fin and other online retail sites you can usually find what you need. However any newbies cant just walk into a store and pick up demo gear to try. Reatailers wont stock it because it moves to slow and it then becomes a bit of a vicious cycle when trying to get new riders involved. If not for this site my old Raichles would be rotting off of my feet by now. As Ed (sloopetool) stated above, it's not like you can go to the mountain on a given day and know there will be other carvers on the hill to ride with. I actually dont mind riding alone but that probably comes from being the only carver in a large group skiers. What I wanted from my experience on the hill has always been different from theirs.

Back to question 1: There is something in the fluidity of carving that keeps me coming back. All of the technical aspects of carving have always been appealing to me. The drive to be able to ride not just groomers but to be able to make great turns in low light and crud as well. Without trying to offend anybody but it is sort of like looking for the G spot. It can be different on any day with different conditions and I'll keep looking untill I find it. Oh crap, I hope I did'nt open a can of worms with that one.....:rolleyes:

[NateW]

Why carve?

There are so many reasons... the G-forces are a big part of the addiction, it just feels so cool to lean in and feel the Gs as you arc around; there's a smoothness and elegance to a carved turn that just feels great; you carry far more speed through a carved turn, skidded turns are all about slowing down but carved turns are all about carrying every possible bit of speed; there's a challenge aspect of it too, with skidded turns you can always put the brakes on but with carving each turn is a commitment, how you exit the turn depends a lot on how initiate and that feeling setup, commitment, and payoff just makes things extra fun - it's a lot like getting air in that regard. But the bottom line is, I cave because it's fun.

Do I feel limited? Only when I try to grab the nose - I just can't reach it anymore. But tail grabs feel even smoother so that's a fair trade.

I ride an all-mountain setup, it's got enough nose and tail lift that I never worry about getting hung up on anything, and I ride bumps and park jumps and halfpipe with it and I'm not going back to a soft setup.

Riding switch took some extra practice when I went to a narrower board, but I got accustomed to it and it's no big deal now. I kinda like the fact that when I do a 180 in the park there's no question what's going on. It's not "hey did that guy launch switch, or did he land switch?" instead it's "that guy was backwards."

I don't ride rails, so I have to admit that there could be a limitation there. I'll never know... I get hurt enough just falling on snow, so I have no plans to let big metal things get underneath me, unless I know for sure that even if I bail, I'll land in the snow on the other side of it.

A carve park would be nice. Mostly I just wish there were more groomed steeps to carve. Most of the groomed stuff in my area is too flat or crowded to ride fast, and the steep stuff is too moguled out for carving. I've got nothing against moguls, but when they do groom those slopes, it's even more fun.

Or they could let hardbooters use the ski-patrol express lane to the front of the lift line. There's only like three of us on the mountain, why not?

Endangered? I don't think we are endangered. We're going to be a small percentage of the total for the forseeable future, but we're not going away. And that's OK with me as long there's still people out there making the equiment I want to ride. I suspect our percentage will increase a little as the younger generations of boarders get older, richer (see below) and more interested ways to get the same adrenaline rush as the park with a little less risk of ending up in a wheelchair.

One day maybe a bunch of kids will wake up and think, "I like to go fast, I have no intention of ever doing a rodeo 540 rocket grab, maybe I should try some gear that's optimized for speed instead of aerials." Probably not, but it could happen.

Worst thing about carving? That's a toss-up.

If the coin lands heads, I'll bitch about the bindings. Most of them break too easily. There's a couple that are built strong enough (Bomber and Catek, for example) but they're approaching $300, because knees are worth it. Plus I don't have 100% confidence in either the toe-lever or step-in systems. We still have a ways to go when it comes to attaching the boots to the boards.

If the coin lands tails, I'll bitch about the cost. Boots are around $400, and good bindings are almost $300.

Oh look, the coin landed right on the edge. What are the odds? :D

[~tb]

I think that this is a big one. . .

I agree with all the points on regrooming, but I think 2 large things need to happen.

3)

A) Inorder of skiiers and snowboarders to get along better on a hill, there needs to be mutual education on both sides about "Blindspot awareness." Ive seen too many carver skiier accidents where a skiier heading down the fall line runs into a carver coming across the hill on a heelside. The skiier says that the carver was taking up the entire run and got in his way. The Carver says that they never saw it comming because the skiier was "uphill with no rights" and in their blind spot.

B) If the mountain is large enough, Carving specific runs. Gated at the top like a terrain park. One person down every 20 seconds or so. I dont care if people are on an alpine board, a freestyle board, or skiis. If you are on there, you are carving (or trying to carve) turns, and respecting everyone else's line down hill. If you dont follow the rules of the run, your ticket is lifted. Sure its a pipe dream, but so were terrain parks several years back.

Question 5

Worst part of carving. . . that inevitable accident that appears to happen to one of us just about weekly, where we are carving our line, very clearly, with good rythm, and then wham-o, blindsided by someone bombing down the fall line. Then, after the collision, being blamed for the accident because we were going across the hill instead of straight down it.

Todd Brown

[Guest stoked]

gotta catch the bus didn't read the latest replies here's the rant I wrote at home to post it at the internet cafe here now anyway:

why carve?

why snowboarding?

I think it's great that snowboarding offers so many options so even if you are not into jumping and skateboardlike tricks you can have fun of the same intensity by freecarving!

On perfect snow, it's just as much fun as powder (Mark Fawcett) might explain it more clearly to the majority of snowboarders who is not into freestyle.

With regard to the rather absurd situation being that most snowboarders ride softboot equipment although they spend most of their time on groomed slopes.

So their equipment limits them to skidding and praying for powder whereas freecarvers can have fun all the time.

Yeah except for walking comfort but I am a rider to ride.

according to Sigi Grabner and others leading manufacturers destroyed the alpine market in Europe on purpose because softboot setups were cheaper in production.

alpine riding was declared uncool or at least was simply equaled with racing and manufacturers also backed that up by pulling their most popular alpine boards (freecarveboards for radical carving and allmountain/powder that were also beginner friendly and cheaper than raceboards) from the market.

surprisingly the demand for alpine equipment in Europe dropped then.

and with the big manufacturers backing out with regard to promotion and their range of alpine boards of course the average sports store would not have alpine equipment on the shelf anymore.

so-called customer service is promoting equipment for freestylers and heliboarders although the majority of riders doesn't fit that description.

as for resorts I am happy in any resort with groomed slopes and usually the slopes are alright whole season whereas great powder days can be rare.

and if everything's moguled with icy plates in between you find that one spot that allows for a single turn and it's a great day.

ah I kinda like it :)

[kjl]

Q#1: WHY CARVE?

I agree with PhilW: I carve because it's how the board was meant to work. Skiiers learn to snowplow as a crutch, then parallel skidded turns, then (sometimes, and only recently) how to carve. Snowboarders learn to sideslip, then crappy counterrotated skid turns, then (sometimes), how to carve.

Q#2: DO YOU FEEL LIMITED BY YOUR EQUIPMENT OR STANCE?

Sometimes, yes, when I need to make lots of quick, sloppy, counterrotated turns (say in moguls, trees, or crowds). The advanced angles and lateral stiffness cuts down a little on my twisting flexibility. But it's irrelevant - the equipment is chosen for its performance when doing what it was meant to do, not for its performance when walking back to the car or navigating the overcrowded lodge area.

Q#3: WHAT COULD SKI AREAS DO TO MAKE THE CARVING EXPERIENCE BETTER?

Ability level restricted slopes, as some people have mentioned, would be nice. Runs that are groomed 2 or 3 times a day would be nice.

Q#4: WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THE IDEA THAT CARVERS ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?

I think the idea is false. Carving is the natural progression of snowboarding, unless you really do spend all of your time in the powder or in the terrain park. Most snowboarders I see and know never ride the terrain park. They ride groomed runs, or they ride the trees if there is fresh powder. Unfortunately, 90% of the time, there is no fresh powder, so really they are riding the groom. Every single one of these riders (and I think it is the vast majority of snowboarders) would be happier on a carving setup - they just don't know it yet.

As far as I can tell, the only things stopping people from getting the hard setup is lack of exposure, inertia, marketing, and hard to find gear.

I think exposure is rising, because there are more carvers riding than ever.

The inertia is weird - people have an instinctive negative reaction when I tell them they really should get a carving board ("It's too hard" - no, it's not; "it looks uncomfortable" - no, it's not; "but that board can't do tricks" - yeah, but neither can you (idiot); "but you can't ride it in the powder" - use the board you're using right now on the powder day). I think it's only a matter of time before these people, at least the ones who are genuinely passionate about riding and not just hanging out with their friends, switch to carving. People seem to go very far out of their way to improve their skiing/boarding experience.

The lifestyle marketing of snowboarding right now (the thuggish, baggy-pants wearing, slacker thing) is the extreme position of a pendulum that is sure to come back around. You look at most rider interviews and photos in most (non Snowboard Journal :) ) magazines and the guys don't look cool or rebellious anymore, at least to me, but they did 7-8 years ago when I started riding. Now, I am older and they are a a caracature of the rebellious riders of a decade or more ago, and they just look ridiculous, stupid, and conformist now. When the current lifestyle marketing goes away, they'll start pushing snowboard function over form, and I think we will see more hardboots.

Q#5: WHAT'S THE WORST THING ABOUT BEING A CARVER?

I feel like I move around on a slope in a way that most people don't expect, so I am constantly looking back uphill to make sure I don't get clobbered from behind.

[Allee]

Why carve?

I got into snowboarding in New Zealand at a time when the whole bad boy scene of snowboarding was at it's peak, and my skier friends refused to ride with me "if I wanted to do that". On about the second or third day out, I saw a carver on a blue run, with the run all to himself, just laying down perfect big-ass lines, and the entire hill had stopped to watch. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and I decided right there and then that was what I wanted to do. I still can't do it, but I'm having fun ... To me, it's just the purest expression of control, freedom and joy on the snow. Whether it's on a groomer inbounds at a hill, or heliboarding in deep powder with the nose floating, the carve is the most beautiful thing!

Do you feel limited by your equipment or stance?

Different strokes for different folks. If I wanted to learn to huck jumps in the park, I might. But I don't, so it never enters my head.

Getting hold of the equipment is the biggest limitation.

What could ski areas do to make the carving experience better?

Resorts have to cater to the majority, and they have to make money, that's why they exist. I choose where and when I ride with this in mind. In Western Canada I'm lucky that we have hills with great snow and amazing grooming, we don't have huge crowds, and I have favourite runs that I will go to that hill just to ride. The only thing I would like to see is some demo boards and hard bindings ... who knows how many skiers might take them for a spin if they could just jump off the skis, and straight on to an alpine board in ski boots? To my mind, a starter alpine board need not be any more expensive to make than a cheap freestyle stick, and if we could get one of the big boys (eg Intrawest) on board and ordering a run for all their rental shops, maybe we could make it happen ...

What do you say to the idea that carvers are an endangered species?

I'd say not. Less visible, maybe (certainly where I live) but not in any danger of dying out, from what I've seen. I love the passion, the enthusiasm, and the willingness to educate, share and pass on that I've experienced at Bomber, and on the hill. When you're a carver you get the sense that you're a part of something different and exciting. Sometimes, it's nice to be an individual in a world where we're encouraged to be the same.

What's the worst thing about being a carver?

I agree with Ken, it's the constant danger of being taken out by somebody who just doesn't expect you to come back across their line. It's not necessarily anyone's fault, we just have to learn to live with each other. You have to just pick your spot and pick your time.

[skywalker]

Q#4:

No. I think, one really important thing at least in Europe are the guys trying to carve in softboots. About two years ago, I got a little bit angry, when a Softbooter came along telling me "I can carve with SBs". I thought: "You can't, you only think you could. In fact, proper carving needs HBs". Today I tell him: "Yes, that's great. Does it feel good? Multiply it with 10 and you get the feeling you have with HBs". These are our newbies, belive me. THEY are limited by material but know, that it's cool to carve. So the next step will be to convert ;)

Q#5:

Yes, every time I feel the danger of this uncommon way to act on a slope. More exactly I think, it's bad to be one of so few carvers. If there were 30% going down the hill like us, everybody would know how to act.

[Strider]

Q #1

Besides the obvious answer that it is fun, I also considered it important to the evolution of my riding. I have been an instructor for 15 years and it drives me crazy when I see kids who can barely make it to the kicker, but can drop a 720 like they are on a trampoline. I've always thought that to be a decent rider you better know how to carve. Its a great feeling on the groomers, helps control on the steeps and all-mountain riding, gets you used to high-speed edge changes for trees and racing, and most important to the freestylers you need to carve the walls to ride the pipe well.

Q#2

When I first started riding alpine gear I thought it did; however, it just takes some time to get used to the gear and the stance just as it would if you switched from a freeride board at 12-5 angles to a 9-9 duck stance on a freestyle board. As one of the previous posts pointed out most people carry more than 1 board in their quiver. I have my a 162 slalom board, a 172 GS board, and my 165 freeride board. I ride hardplates on all of them and the lowest angles are 38-27 on my freeride board. Once used to it, riding switch is no harder than when I used softies at 27-15. Also, just because the new instructors usually don't believe me when I tell them I can boost as big as they can on my gs I usually will run my full out race setup in the pipe for a weekend just to prove its the technique and not the equipment that limits a person's potential.

Q#3

Well, this one is tough. I love to ride all over and especially freeriding when I'm out west, but here in the midwest it gets boring so there tends to be a lot of park structures all over the hill. I ride at Tyrol Basin which is a great snowboarding hill. We do usually ask the general manager to keep one of the steeper, wider runs groomed without kickers so we can lay down some nice hard carves without running out of room to really crank some big turns. I think thats about all you can do.

Q#4

I definitely do not think its endangered. Since I started riding plates about 9 years ago I've seen the numbers steadily increase at our hill. It used to be a few of us "older"(I'm 33) guys who still had our old PJ's that would be the only ones out there. Over that time I've seen a lot of skiers switch to boarding because they loved the look of the carve, but didn't realize that boarding wa more than just jibbing. In the last 4 years I've seen a huge increase in interst in the younger board crowd. I've started to get carve request lessons, and I have 3 extra old gear beginner carve setups that I keep at the hill that get a lot of use. Every time I do a Carve clinic for the instructors more and more of them ask me about buying the equipment and learning to read gates. Also, a good indicator is our Monday night race league. We started out with 1 team that had about 5 snowboarders against the 12 skier teams. Now we have 2 full teams of ten and more people trying it all the time.

Q#5

Worst thing has to be the lack of easily obtained demo equipment. There are only 3 boot makers out there so you have to take your chances with fit unless you're lucky enough to have a shop nearby that carries them. Also, I've probably bought and sold about 8 boards over the last 3 years trying to find the one with the right feel, and just to see how everything out there does feel. With my freeride board I was able to go to a demo day at the local hill and try boards from 6 companies in one day. THe SES is the only place you can do something like that for race/carve boards.

I'm adding #6 which is the BEst thing about carving.

I think that the community of hardbooters is exceptional. I've never run into another hardbooter that wasn't happy to ride with you and help with technique, or showing you the mountain. Its also a great group to sell and buy things from as no one seems to be out to gouge you and it is the best way to try a lot of equipment. I just hope that more people realize it and give it a try.

And lastly....thanks for putting out a great magazine. I've loved every issue, especially the history behind all the boarding. I even bought my dad who's been hardbooting for 5 years now a subscription.