Heard it in the lift line - 2018/2019

[lordmetroland]

9 hours ago, FrankNBeans said:

Yesterday, one of the guys on the chair with me couldn't/wouldn't/didn't stop spraying about how rad Big Bear is and how rad he is. After that, I saw him side-slip everything and speed check everything. I had such high hopes.

Check your OS for updates. The use of "rad" [gnar / pow] should automatically trip the you-can-tune-out-now-cos-everything-that-follows-is-obviously-complete-madeup-bulls*** switch in your consciousness. 

[jja]

 

2 hours ago, lordmetroland said:

The use of "rad"

What about "totally tubular"?

---

Heard: Does that ride like a snowboard?

Said: It is a snowboard.

Heard: But does it RIDE like a snowboard?

Said: It IS a snowboard...

...then we discussed it more. He seemed to be confused mostly by the higher binding angles.

[daveo]

4 hours ago, jja said:

 

What about "totally tubular"?

 

I usually zone out when I hear someone say, "hey duuuuuuu..."

I think they're saying "duuuuuuuuuuuuuude", but I've turned off before they finish.

[Colozeus]

On 3/17/2019 at 8:13 PM, Corey said:

 

"I followed you from the top. The rest was beautiful but that finish was amazing!" 

 

That's what she said!

[BlueB]

Liftie: You move so smooth on that thing (3800, hard boots, duck stance), it's intriguing! 

[daveo]

1 hour ago, FrankNBeans said:

Other person on chair: 'A carve board on a powder day?'

Me: 'Yeah. I don't f**k around.'

Awkward silence the rest of the lift.

Another week+ of inane questions for the season.

Yeah I've had something similar when I was on a powder specific board with hardboots.

Guy is like "wow a race board on a powder day!"

So many things ran through my head, most of which were rude, by the time I thought of something appropriate to say it was too late so didn't say anything, which was also rude. 

[BlueB]

It's silly, not only general public, but also people who are supposed to know the things... I spent last 4 days with 30 of the best instructors in the country, riding the 3800 with H/boots in duck stance. The question I was getting often was: "Can you bend that 'thing'?", ignoring the pow shape that's very common nowadays and fat width. The other one was: "limited ankle flex", just looking at the boots, but not at the action - my new boots are absolute noodles and I ride them in walk mode. Our head tech guy actually observed they flexed more then his softies. Last, but not least, I've got a comment on (official) image of snowboarding / snowboard teaching...

[Comapedrosa]

Conversation behind me in the lift line at Squaw:

Dude 1: “what’s that thing?”

Dude 2: “oh man, that’s a monoski. Have you seen how much he has tilted his bindings”

Dude 3: “if it’s to do that, you might as well use actual real skis!”

I thought that was a hopeless situation and simply moved on.

From the dude who actually used a monoski (once).

 

[philw]

On 4/13/2019 at 5:41 AM, daveo said:

Yeah I've had something similar when I was on a powder specific board with hardboots.

Guy is like "wow a race board on a powder day!"

So many things ran through my head, most of which were rude, by the time I thought of something appropriate to say it was too late so didn't say anything, which was also rude. 

Pretty much every time I meet someone I've not ridden before I get that - they see the boots, not the board, which in my case is like you mentioned a "powder specific board", usually more dedicated power than whatever they're on.

[daveo]

2 minutes ago, philw said:

Pretty much every time I meet someone I've not ridden before I get that - they see the boots, not the board, which in my case is like you mentioned a "powder specific board", usually more dedicated power than whatever they're on.

Exactly! 

[Aracan]

On 4/17/2019 at 9:10 AM, Comapedrosa said:

Dude 3: “if it’s to do that, you might as well use actual real skis!”

Whenever I hear someone say that "hardbooting is like skiing", I automatically assume they are clueless about either one (and yes, I skied for decades).

[Corey]

6 hours ago, FrankNBeans said:

Guy at the top of the lift: "Where are you out of?"

I can translate this one: "Where do you live?" Meant in a friendly way. 

Seems to be quite regional. 

[Beckmann AG]

On 4/13/2019 at 9:59 AM, BlueB said:

It's silly, not only general public, but also people who are supposed to know the things... I spent last 4 days with 30 of the best instructors in the country, riding the 3800 with H/boots in duck stance. The question I was getting often was: "Can you bend that 'thing'?", ignoring the pow shape that's very common nowadays and fat width. The other one was: "limited ankle flex", just looking at the boots, but not at the action - my new boots are absolute noodles and I ride them in walk mode. Our head tech guy actually observed they flexed more then his softies. Last, but not least, I've got a comment on (official) image of snowboarding / snowboard teaching...

Discouraging, perhaps; but don't take it to heart.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160113-are-your-opinions-really-your-own

[Beckmann AG]

5 hours ago, Aracan said:

Whenever I hear someone say that "hardbooting is like skiing", I automatically assume they are clueless about either one (and yes, I skied for decades).

Over time, you may discover that it is, in fact the same.

How you address the respective platforms may be different, but they respond in like manner to like input.

To your point though, most have no idea what they're looking at, so erroneous conclusions are a given.

 

[Aracan]

After 2+ decades of each one, I am not holding my breath for suddenly discovering they are the same. Of course they are the same, since in both cases one has to navigate compound steel-edged planks to which one is connected via plastic boots, and that on a frozen-water surface.

Unfortunately, I have no idea if softbooting is also the same as skiing, since I have never tried it. This would be the interesting part: Is hardbooting more like skiing than softbooting? Or, even more extremely, are the similarities between hardbooting and skiing greater than those between hardbooting and softbooting?

[Gabe T]

It could be argued that carving on an alpine snowboard setup has a lot more similarities to skiing than it does with a conventional duck stance setup on a soft boot board.   

As I became a more proficient skier I began to notice this more and more.

[Jack M]

On 4/17/2019 at 6:52 AM, philw said:

Pretty much every time I meet someone I've not ridden before

Must... resist...

1 hour ago, Aracan said:

After 2+ decades of each one, I am not holding my breath for suddenly discovering they are the same. Of course they are the same, since in both cases one has to navigate compound steel-edged planks to which one is connected via plastic boots, and that on a frozen-water surface.

Unfortunately, I have no idea if softbooting is also the same as skiing, since I have never tried it. This would be the interesting part: Is hardbooting more like skiing than softbooting? Or, even more extremely, are the similarities between hardbooting and skiing greater than those between hardbooting and softbooting?

I think the point is that carving a snowboard and carving skis is very similar, nearly the same.  Case in point, Ester Ledecka.  Her snowboard training helped her skiing and vice versa.  I think Ryan Knapton could jump on a pair of skis and carve right away, even if he had never skied before.  I skied since age 3 and stopped when I started snowboarding at 13.  I didn't ski again until I had kids and had to ski with them.  At that time I found I was better at skiing than I was at 13, and I could instantly carve the new shaped skis, which didn't exist when I was 13.  I don't think I'm special in this regard.  That said, I still don't like skiing, and I don't do it anymore.  It just feels weird and unnatural to me, and I am constantly worried about crossing my tips or doing my ACL.  I'm sure I could practice it until these feelings went away, but I'm just not inspired to.  There is no carve feeling like the one you get with two feet manipulating one edge.

[Dan]

The perennial "Is that board fast?"

Yeah, like anything with a waxed PTEX base, when you point it downhill, it accelerates rapidly. I'm not quite sure what people mean when they talk about some boards being "faster" than others. 

[Neil Gendzwill]

19 hours ago, Dan said:

The perennial "Is that board fast?"

Yeah, like anything with a waxed PTEX base, when you point it downhill, it accelerates rapidly. I'm not quite sure what people mean when they talk about some boards being "faster" than others. 

Usually they are clueless. But clearly, some boards are faster than others. I often pass people gliding on the flats, which I attribute to having a decent waxing job. But it might also be the length and width of the surface. If I could be arsed to structure the base it would be even faster. 

On edge and turning, most of our boards are more stable and will ride a clean edge at higher radii and speed than most recreational snowboards. They are damp, stiff and comfortable at speeds that would or should frighten most soft-booters. 

So when someone asks me if my board is fast, I just say yes. 

[Beckmann AG]

21 hours ago, Aracan said:

Unfortunately, I have no idea if softbooting is also the same as skiing, since I have never tried it. This would be the interesting part: Is hardbooting more like skiing than softbooting? Or, even more extremely, are the similarities between hardbooting and skiing greater than those between hardbooting and softbooting?

If you put aside the manifold sub-genres, and go back to the origins of riding natural terrain without contrivance, you'll find that manner of softbooting (E.g., https://youtu.be/5IoTeuWOQb8?t=87 )

remarkably similar to alpine skiing on similar terrain, in the era prior to plastic boots.

By the same token, hardbooting resembles skiing 'post plastic'. For the most part stilted, jerky and awkward.  

->With the obvious exception of those athletes who happen to naturally mesh harmoniously with the limitations of plastic geometry, or those able to mechanically resolve the obstacles inherent to excess leverage.

(If you compare telemark skiing in the era of the Merrill Supercomp to what followed, you'll see similar tendencies of movement).

The sensation of a carved turn, I.e., a 'positive' and elastic change of direction, is available, to greater or lesser extent, on many platforms.   How you stand on that platform will have a bearing on how you perceive the action, but the interpretation doesn't change the nature of the action itself.

 

20 hours ago, Dan said:

I'm not quite sure what people mean when they talk about some boards being "faster" than others. 

Probably operating at the level of simple perception, in conjunction with their own experience. 

If the observer is accustomed to riding the typical snowboard, (which can't be too fast by nature of design), they'll wonder how something obviously different will perform.

For instance, a Moto Gp bike goes fast, and looks fast at rest.

A Harley-Davidson looks loud and slow, and generally performs to that level.

 

[b0ardski]

1 hour ago, Beckmann AG said:

By the same token, hardbooting resembles skiing 'post plastic'. For the most part stilted, jerky and awkward.  

->With the obvious exception of those athletes who happen to naturally mesh harmoniously with the limitations of plastic geometry, or those able to mechanically resolve the obstacles inherent to excess leverage.

(If you compare telemark skiing in the era of the Merrill Supercomp to what followed, you'll see similar tendencies of movement).

The sensation of a carved turn, I.e., a 'positive' and elastic change of direction, is available, to greater or lesser extent, on many platforms.   How you stand on that platform will have a bearing on how you perceive the action, but the interpretation doesn't change the nature of the action itself.

 

I guess being skier when snowboards happened I already meshed with plastic, used supercomps to ski on a snowboard (always consider them the same sport) thru the late 80s, they were a far better board boot than anything made at the time including alpine mountaineering (kolflac, raichle etcl) that spawned hardboots. I used the original plastic tele, scarpa teminators also for a bit, big change from the leather, before buying nodica SBH (modified TR9 A.T. boot). then on to my 1st "ground up" hardboot, UPS asyms.

I'd put the leather/plastic merrels up against any stiff modern softboot

Regardless of boots, nobody stands perpendicular to their skis but you can on a board, not that I'd ever want to.

Edited April 19, 2019 by b0ardski

[Jack M]

1 hour ago, Beckmann AG said:

If you put aside the manifold sub-genres, and go back to the origins of riding natural terrain without contrivance, you'll find that manner of softbooting (E.g., https://youtu.be/5IoTeuWOQb8?t=87 )

Why is he swimming?

 

And, apropos of nothing other than the thread title - the US Alpine Speed Championships were at Sugarloaf a few weeks ago, many high level ski racers in attendance.  I was sitting under the chairlift watching @trailertrash carving, when a racer on the lift said "dope turns!" 

[Dan]

5 hours ago, Neil Gendzwill said:

Usually they are clueless. But clearly, some boards are faster than others. I often pass people gliding on the flats, which I attribute to having a decent waxing job. But it might also be the length and width of the surface. If I could be arsed to structure the base it would be even faster. 

On edge and turning, most of our boards are more stable and will ride a clean edge at higher radii and speed than most recreational snowboards. They are damp, stiff and comfortable at speeds that would or should frighten most soft-booters. 

So when someone asks me if my board is fast, I just say yes. 

Ha, true dat. I will also say that if a carver describes a board as being "fast", I think I know what it means. It's when a civilian uses that language that I'm uncertain what they have in mind. I guess when asked, I could say "Yes, I wax it."

[jburk]

I always just reply “faster than me”.  I tend to run out of talent before I run out of board. 

[SunSurfer]

8 hours ago, Beckmann AG said:

For instance, a Moto Gp bike goes fast, and looks fast at rest.

A Harley-Davidson looks loud and slow, and generally performs to that level.

Some of that is power to weight ratio, as well as optimising the rest of the design to take advantage of the P-to-W ratio.

Where I come from the Harley Davidsons are mostly ridden by nutritionally accomplished people. 

Whereas Valentino Rossi and his machine are both a litttle leaner.