It's a Madd Madd Madd Madd world

[Guest Mark Jeangerard]

Good Gravy I'm Stoked!

(I've just looked at this to see if I could edit it for length, but it's too long to read through all the way. You'll have to take it for what it is. :-) )

All recently published considerations aside... I own a new Madd one eighty. I have to say something about it here because it is singularly the best carver I've ridden.

Technically, I have no idea what it is. It says "Madd 180 #5 The Stimulator" on it. I'm riding with a 70/67 stance in the middle mounting positions. (Just over 19 inches I believe - board is on the mountain, I'm at home.) 3 degree plates front and back, 3 steps more forward lean on my rear boot. After seeing what a lot of people are riding at SES I would have to think I have my boots setup on the stiffish side. I will start relaxing them next week to see how I like it. I'm 5'10" and weigh 187lbs.

So you know what I'm comparing to, my quiver is now:

161 Donek Pow

181 Supermodel

164 UP

168 FP

172 FP

172 Proton

180 Madd

185 Prior WCR

I ride everything but the Donek in plates and hards. I also demo heavily and know what I like. I will not be comparing to what I've demoed at the SESs because in all but the rarest cases I've loved every board I've ridden in at least one way or another. Let it be known that I've never ridden a Coiler... Next year for sure.

Now lemme tell ya about this thing:

I first rode it at Highlands on Thursday. (SES 2005) I have to admit, I was a bit over-terrained that day. We got no steeps at Santa Fe, you see... Rode a Donek Freecarve 179 and the big yellow 210. The 179 was sooooo smooth and luh-uhved the speed. The 210 was a trip. Off the main lift by the demo tent there simply wasn't enough pitch to make it effective for me. At my home mountain it would be next to useless. But when I did find the occasional drop... talk about edge hold! :-)

So, I was taking my TDs off the 210 and Shaggy walked up and asked, "Have you tried the Madd?" Why no, I haven't. I remembered reading some stuff here, I think I remembered it was positive. I nabbed the 180 and went up the hill.

The first thing I noticed was the read. The feedback from the board is incredible. It was as if I could tell how much edge angle I had in one degree increments from 0 all the way to 80. Not only that but, more importantly, the board was telling me what I needed to do to change it. Anticipation and responsiveness were at an all time high for me. I have a tendancy to rush the first phase of my turns, and ride a tad static. I know there is no magic board, but the Madd is helping my riding through it's personality. I have better communication with the board than ever before. By comparison, the Prior feels like there is nothing between 30* hellside and 30* toeside. It's kind of an all or nothing ride for me. The Madd just rolled smoothly to any angle I chose. I also felt incredibly stable. The Madd 180 rides like a 190 - carves like a 170.

Friday I rode the 170 at Buttermilk. At first I was over pressuring the board. Too much front to rear, too much roll. Once I smoothed out my riding the thing started working insanely well. Just drop the knees, and off ot goes. Very quick and snappy. It will replace my 68fp as my traffic board, for sure.

Late Friday and early Saturday I road one of the Madd BX protos that was detuned and had less camber. Soft boots/flat stance. You know how some boards can get twitchy when you're bombing straight down hills, especially in chop? Not this sucker. Not only did it glide through the chop, but it was dead solid. I started to ease into turns, as one will, when not sure of what the board might do. It wasn't long before I realized that I could make any turn I wanted with ultra bold confidence because the thing didn't seem to care about chop. Not in any way, whatsoever. In trees and pow the rear seemed a tiny bit grabby and the nose had a tendancy to dive. Nothing major - a slight adjustment in riding style sorted it effectively to the point that it was a gas to ride. But on more hard packed conditions the thing was a super hero. Very impressive. On pack it carved like a carver. I was matching other carvers in plates/hards turn for turn up to my boot-out limit. I don't ride BX so the BX probably won't be a board for me at this time. My 181 is still my choice in steeps, trees, and pow. (OK, we do have steeps at Santa Fe. But they are not groomed and are mostly shortish and covered with trees.)

So.... Monday. My first day home on a mountain and trails I know with the Madd 180. I was a little worried that I had a good snow day at Highlands and that I wouldn't be as impressed with the board. Conditions were medium pack. I headed up Open Slope, a 30-45* flat, wide, roller trail. Perfect for warm up. The glide down the catwalk was so quick that I sat up top for a minute or two wondering if I really wanted to point that thing down the hill. I had a morning lesson and Open Slope was chopped a bit by the time I got there. Looking at it, knowing the trail from much experience, I knew it would be a strenuous ride on my other boards. The little bit of extra speed the Madd was providing had me concerned. I thought of the confidence and motion I had seen at SES and dropped in. Wow... Chop? What chop? As long as I had the board on edge it felt like a straight ahead groomer. Of course that's true of any board, but the ease with which the Madd 180 rode was a cut above the rest. I quickly gained confidence and ripped a few more runs. I headed up Muerte, a 45-50* hill that's flat and wide and has a tendancy to give me problems on all but the best snow days. Turn after turn, smooth edge transfers, accurate weighting... I was playing! For the first time on Muerte I was making different sized turns, different shapes, making turns across the hill, and generally pointing the thing dowhill whenever the mood struck.

Now, let me add a few things to the equation here. Riding with Scott and Michelle on Saturday, in an effort to understand what Michelle and I were lacking we analyzed Scotts turns. After the two of us identified where he was putting his weight in the turn phases he put in an exceptionally high energy run down a decent pitch. I remember saying, "I want to ride like that!" I took off after him, riding more dynamically than I ever have and put in my best run of SES2005 on my Prior 185. That being said I am riding better than ever. Also, The predictability of the Madd has helped to no small degree. The feedback on the Madd 180 (as I mentioned earlier) is on a level I've never felt before. Because of this, I can more accurately monitor what it is that I'm doing and what I need to change. I am now feeding the dollar bill with purpose and authority. The base seems to help a lot as well. When I get freaked and start carving uphill more I tend to lose less speed in the carve, making initiation to the next turn more fluid, and making the next carve more efficient. I've also noticed that the Madd is more of a carver than the other boards I ride. I would make the distinction between carver and racer. The racers seem to want to stab at the corners more, making it hard for me to make a progressive turn entry. On the Madd I am making rounder turns with more grace than my other boards. (That being said, I can point the Proton down Muerte and pretty much hit any mark I want. But more 'stand uppy', if you know what I'm saying.)

To make an excessively long post a little shorter I will blip through to the end of the week. (My instinct is to give you a run by run, condition by condition report. hehehe.) The snow came a few inches a day Tuesday and Wednesday. The conditions got softer and the Madd kept telling me what I needed to know. I had a gassss... On Thursday we had 6 inches of fesh on top of a softish groomed base. They did not groom Muerte. It was 6" of fluff on top of plush. Powder, one might say. Normally, the 172FP is the only board I'll ride in powder. The 185WCR is way to gnarly. But I had to try the Madd with the 4 degree sidewall. (If that's right... 4*s/1*b?) Holy smokes! Same personality, different conditions. The board was phenominal in the pow. Ultra fun even though I did have to tone back just slighty compared to the FP. It had better float, for obvious reasons, but is a more agressive board. I would say it's more fun in the pow because it's more civilized.

Saturday were the hardest conditions since I got back. We live in the desert here and the temperature swings are huge. Baking in the day, freezing at night. That pow packed up in a hurry. Five Open Slopes and two Gayways later I love this board more than ever. Grooming was perfection. I rarely run Gayway from top to bottom due to thigh burn. Well, I must be doing something right because not only did I ride all the way down Gayway, one turn after the other, but also Open Slope which follows, and felt graceful and fulfilled the whole way.

I am making more turns in a row, with more style, more proper angulation, more flow, more fun, more upright, more speed.... For the first time I am riding the whole mountain without stopping, without chatter, without throwing myself into the ground. (When I do get to the ground it's because I'm ripping, not reaching. As it should be.) I AM STOKED! I am mad for Madd!

But wait... That's not all!

For whatever reason, the thing makes the coolest noise while I'm carving. SSSSHHHRRRRKKKKK!!!!!!!!!! I can't get enough. Maybe I'll ride one of my other boards one day. I'd better order another Madd now because I'm gonna put another 40 days on this one before spring.

As madd as I am, no two ways about it, I'm getting a 195 Donek 00 Stradley GS and 170 Madd, in that order, at my soonest possible convenience.

I like snowboards.

[bobdea]

sounds like I need to give the 180 a try

Though the 170 was not perfect for me I saw the potential of the board on the correct feet

[gdboytyler]

Originally posted by Mark Jeangerard

My first day home on a mountain and trails I know with the Madd 180… I headed up Open Slope, a 30-45* flat, wide, roller trail. .. I headed up Muerte, a 45-50* hill that's flat and wide and has a tendancy to give me problems on all but the best snow days. Turn after turn, smooth edge transfers, accurate weighting... I was playing!

Mark I really want to checkout your home mountain. That place must be BADASS.

I just happened to be reading an old article "Birthplace of the Extreme" in "Snow Country" magazine (Dec. 1996). Here's the article's take on measuring extreme:

“The steepest runs in America are typically between 30 and 40 degrees. White Heat at Sunday River is 38 deg in places, while Telluride’s Spiral Stairs can hit 45 degrees in spots. Even well known routes skied during the extreme competitions at Crested Butte, Squaw Valley and in Alaska only hit 50 degrees in brief sections. At 50 degrees , a skier standing straight up can reach and touch the slope without leaning.”

[Guest Mark Jeangerard]

OK, back every pitch estimate I made off by ten to fifteen degrees. I don't actually have the stats, I just made a 90* angle with my arms from the chair and guessed. By comparison I would guess the pitch in the avatar at your left to be 3 or 4*. The camera was tilted some and the slope, middle Midland is probably more like 10 or 12*.

http://www.skisantafe.com/

The trail pitches at Ajax are much steeper in places. Buttermilk too, up high. We do have stuff like the peak chute at Buttermilk, but in park it's short, out of park it's 1 to 4 hours walk back depending where you go.

That being said, Gayway, Open Slope, Midland, Upper Broadway, Muerte, and Parachute (when they groom it) are killer, killer carving runs. We also have the best grooming anywhere. It's desert and we frequently get not one flake of snow through January. The groomers really know their stuff. They can push an ice cream cone around for a month. Saturday there wasn't a single seam that you could feel on any of those runs and the consistancy or stiffeness was the same side to side, top to bottom. (Good cloud cover.) The owners of the area are both very accomplished racers and carvers. I know one of them grooms himself and has taught a few of the groomers what he wants. Unfortunately, he's broken his back more than once and doesn't carve any more. Parachute, the longest steep run we have, doesn't get groomed like it did when he carved a lot. Been bumps all year. Parachute, in my scaled back estimate is 30-35* for a quarter mile or so. Narrowish, it's a full blast on a carver.

If you make your way out here I do get passes as an employee, and I have all the boards listed above with extra bindings. I can get rental ski boots for free. Then you can guess at the pitch for yourself.

That goes for all y'all. (My tickets are limited to one a week.)