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Sugarloaf 2019-2020


trailertrash

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  • 4 weeks later...

Awesome Derek!  let me know.  I got 0 days in and the edges are extreme rusty. 
Planned to drop off couple boards at happy tune for the ding/gauges/battle scar from last season.

Sugarloaf is always humbling for me.  You never know what you going to get.  I will take what i was dealt with a smile 🙂
It's a great early season mountain to shake off the cobwebs and build some mental fortitude and tree trunk quad lol.. 

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12/15/2019 suppose to be first day but mother nature have other ideas:  power line down/mountain was close.  100+ miles wind gust(according to guest service).  Dropped off boards at Happy Tunes for much needed TLC.
12/16/2019  Fun fist day of the season.  Tried Atomic Backland with Drupi's DGSS/spring system/F2 binding.  Seems to hold up well with fast/firm snow for carving.  Lesson with Kirby.  Awesome rider!  Usually it take me a while to get back into grove of things but with great input from Kirby i seems to "acclimate" much faster this time.

Condition should get better and better 🙂

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I drove up sunday and got the wind for sure. A tree had also fallen and taken out the main power poles, so it was tough all around.. . Long drive up and back and ended up without much to show for it, but this weekend looks good again...

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12/17/2019

In the AM:  Took a few run with John; just the push i need to get out of my comfort zone.
Saw someone with lime color UPZ boots in the afternoon but we didn't have a chance to ride together.

Condition is getting better and better for sure.  
King's landing, Hay burner, Tote road, sluice all have edge to edge coverage:  Firm base with lose-ish pile of snow on top.
Couple more days of groom should hopefully be chalky with the new snow.  this weekend should be yummy; come out and play.
Bottom line:  Hard to get an edge in but not impossible; margin of error is tiny for me.
Bring your A game or get spank and I got spanked...
Got about 25k vertical feet in.  Pain oh the pain....

pic of snow fall by Snubber lift as of 10 mins ago.
It's not going to be snorkel depth but every bit should help. 

IMG_2805 (1).jpg

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Dec 18 2019
3" of the super fluffy stuff(low moisture).
Condition wise:  It's tricky for me.  Piles of snows on scratching hardpack/ice.  Weekend should be good when everything is groomed in properly.  Classic definition of variable surface.  Stay loose is the way to go.

Some rambling: 

From 8:45 to Noon hunting for untracked stuff.  lapping between tote/king/hay with sluice once in a while.
It's slim picking by 10AM...
~11 On HayBurner riding too close to the tree and caught an edge and went off roading.  Luckily wasn't hurt but what a mind job...
No wonder people stay away from edge lol....

From noon to 2pm:  drill drill drill....   Yes I am a big yellow belly chicken Broadwalk FTW lol...
went back to original boots to cut down on variable:  Deeluxe/Hello darkness my old friend.... the devil i know lol.
Lots of ski racer so gotta watch the 6.

Feel like i wrote this down every year:
body position: Bend knee, stay low, and loose.  Rotate shoulder/look where we going - control/smooth
dynamic weight/unweight in the context of edge pressure.  weight in when we initiate the turn when we exit the turn unweight and get ready for next turn. 

Don't just go along for the ride.
Stay in front of the board; always keep dynamic edge pressure on.  (bend it; keep the board de-camber)
When edge are not being dynamic pressure; we are not in the "safe zone."

Heel side turn; the snow jump up and touch my hand; feels good lol..
Oxess 163 bx is shorter and stiffer then 175 Donek Rev (which hopefully will be ready from Happy Tune).
It take much more work to bend it.

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Condition is getting better and better.  Hardpack but in a good way.  It will hold an edge and coverage is great.

carve date:  12/19/2019
Cold... very cold.  Air temp started out in the negative + wind chill and baby it is windy...
packed powder(what was advertise on the website) is a far "stretch".... Yes there are additional snow overnight but the wind make sure most of it are not on the trail.
Graduate from Broadwalk today! carve Broadwalk top to bottom in a manner that I am happy with it(relax and playful).
Took couple ride down to Tote road and feel pretty good.  Getting more muscle memory/timing back.

when we are in carve:  we are "safe".  Transition from one edge to other edge is when we are "vulnerable".
Speed up/smooth the edge transition is one piece of the missing puzzle.

Push/pull is helpful here.  When we exit a turn suck the knee toward the chest(pull) when we enter a turn  extend the leg back out(push).
This plus weighting/unweighting makes for powerful carve and stability.

12/20/2019:
Back on Donek Rev: waxed board are slippery.  1st day back on my primary deck feels funny.
Balmy single digit degree but with wind dying down.  A great day to ride.
Not quite hero snow just yet but not bad at all.
Working on timing, keeping trailing hand forward/visible, balance(very important when there are variable in surface condition).
Tote road headwall, Hayburner, Sluice i can semi-slavring my way down but not happy with it.

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Nice to meet you TVR and Mike!
First time i experienced lift line 😉   Sacrebleu had to shared chair with other lol.
Today working on dynamic speed control:
variable edge pressure based on condition.
On super steep:  turn it to 11 and help it's enough
On mellower trail:  stalling is a very distinct possibility if bleed too much speed.
We need some speed (not mach 5 but in a context where bicycle need some speed to be stable).

Give Atomic Backland another try as apple to apple comparison.
It's a tad too soft with DGSS.  Need stiffer spring.
Interesting observation:  when riding well; not much pressure point and no heel lift.
Compare to couple days ago:  it beat up my feet with tons of heel lift in the back foot.
Hmm.... need to think about it more.
 

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On 12/17/2019 at 9:16 PM, pow4ever said:

Saw someone with lime color UPZ boots in the afternoon but we didn't have a chance to ride together.

David- so glad me and my lime UPZs connected with you!  It has been great riding with you the last few days and Max had a blast riding with you too!  With only a few days on the board it is awesome to make connections.   And to think I had to push Max to get off his BX board and give the hard boots a try...  Then I couldn’t get him out of them!    I think I’ll have to be investing is some more set ups to keep the family happy 😜
 

And enough of doubting yourself!  You were ripping and it looks gooooooood 👍!  I’ll give myself a few years to get half as good!  

Edited by VTHops
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8 hours ago, VTHops said:

David- so glad me and my lime UPZs connected with you!  It has been great riding with you the last few days and Max had a blast riding with you too!  With only a few days on the board it is awesome to make connections.   And to think I had to push Max to get off his BX board and give the hard boots a try...  Then I couldn’t get him out of them!    I think I’ll have to be investing is some more set ups to keep the family happy 😜
 

And enough of doubting yourself!  You were ripping and it looks gooooooood 👍!  I’ll give myself a few years to get half as good!  

i thought those UPZ looked familiar lol...  ping @ktv  just letting you know the boots are in good "hand" or feet?
It's a pleasure riding with everyone.  Max is going to carve circle around both of us in no time 🤣
I see Kesseler in your future and that's going to be a blast.

You happen to caught me on a good day:  Just a self proclaim: "King of the Green"/BWK(Broadwalk King). 

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Best day so far!  Thanks to everyone for the positive vibe and sharing stoke!
Hay were burned, Gauge were narrowed, petition were comed?
Not at the level of smoothness i would like but i take what i can get.  in a way it's just more advance version of fallen leaf lol...
Don't think anything I am doing differently but the condition just got better.
The warm up/cool down cycle firm things up in a nice way.

keep boots loose-ish and micro adjust through out the day seems the ticket but not what I like to do.
Stay low; every year i thought i was low but there is always another "gear" of lowness.
Grab boot cuff exercise but trying to pushing down on the cuff with the palm of my hand.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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