Gleb Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 ...was somewhat successful. I was lucky enough to have my car tonight so me and a few friends took off for wachussett for some night skiing. I was defintly not the worst on the bunny slope :) since i was planning on spending most of the night on the bunny hill, i didnt bother buying a ticket. (saved $26) My boots were a lil tight so i was a little bit uncomfortable. I'm getitng my boots stretched out again this weekend. I was able to get heel side turns ok but not toe side. No instructors on duty there at the time so i was on my own. I went on one full run using my friend's ski pass and got my a$$ kicked. my left cheek is a bit sore and my right shoulder popped out or something for a second. Even though it was a bit rough for the first day, this is something i'm defintly not giving up:) Btw, we're going pretty much every monday for anyone thats interested. Can't beat the $8 discount with the passport card (total would be $18 for 6 hours of riding) Does anyone have any tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirror70 Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 I don't know if he still teaches there, but if you're looking for a lesson at Wachusett, Steve Fleck is the guy you want to request. He's a BOL poster, USASA medal winner, and has great stories about how he got that bump on his head after running into the old drunk guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted December 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 I don't know if he still teaches there, but if you're looking for a lesson at Wachusett, Steve Fleck is the guy you want to request. He's a BOL poster, USASA medal winner, and has great stories about how he got that bump on his head after running into the old drunk guy. No one mentioned steve but i contacted Jermey already. Also, i heard about tom i think. None of them were there at the moment. They said they aren't going full time teaching for another week. I honestly can't wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterC Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Toeside Then this repeat.... What are your shoulders doing? Leading the turn or counter rotating? There's nothing like a good toeside....You've got to take the "leap" & go for it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfleck Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Gleb, starting in a couple weeks I will be up there most nights working, and probably days during the vacation weeks. shoot me an email and we can try and meet up. I could possibly do next Monday, but I'll know more later in the week. Finals week can be a little crazy! Steve Fleck sfleck05@hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted December 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 ToesideThen this repeat.... What are your shoulders doing? Leading the turn or counter rotating? There's nothing like a good toeside....You've got to take the "leap" & go for it... ya ive looked over those and now i'm ready to apply it all. For toeside, its so much harder to lead the turn. Also, for the heel side, after i turn, i tend to go completly around and ride backwards. That doesnt happen to often, though. I'm just going to play around with the cant angles because that seemed to make a big difference when I changed it around. Steve, I'll defintly hit you up on that. Ya i have finals coming up aswell. Defintly shouldn't even have gone riding the other day but it was defintly worth it. I'm too cool for school:cool: (not really, its freshmen year and its all ez) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest astan100 Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Did you manage the "fly into the trees because you carved too hard" thing. I remember when I did that because I over-angulated. :) I just made it out for my first 2 runs of the season this weekend at Stratton and I'm getting it down..sorta. I took 2 runs on the board last year on softies and 1 run on my hardboots. So this made my 2nd and 3rd days on hardboots. It's already getting awesome! Stick in there. My boots hurt too. I wish I was closer to massachutes (or you had a mountain worth driving 4 hours to see ;) ) and I would totally ride with you so we could look bad together. -Allen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 ToesideThen this repeat.... ugghh... no. You really should take a lesson. A lesson will save you at least a week's worth of flailing about on your own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 ugghh... no. You really should take a lesson. A lesson will save you at least a week's worth of flailing about on your own. Couldn't agree more... I only wish I had a lesson sooner after I started hardbooting. I wound up having to unlearn a lot of bad habits that I developed on my own! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 ugghh... no. Yeah, what is that anyway? I concur with the lesson suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Yeah, what is that anyway? It's the "throw your arms around and skid" school of alpine snowboarding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjl Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Yeah, what is that anyway? Rotation skid turns, I think. I had to relearn how to make skid turns, especially heelside skid turns, when I made the switch to hardboots. I agree with lessons, though. I can't believe how much I progressed after one lesson from a good teacher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 I know what the videos show, I just don't know why anyone would turn this way (poor understanding of ankle usage maybe?). It is very easy to do, but doen't help you progress to a higher level of riding. Imagine yourself trying to ride the moguls or steeps while using gross body movements such as rotation in order to make your turns. Upper body rotation engages the edge toward the front of your board while disengaging the edge toward the rear, causing a skidded turn. The same thing can be achieved using your ankles. With that in mind, why use all of that extra motion? Why not stay neutral and just use your ankles? It is much more efficient and effective and will allow you to progress to a higher level without having to unlearn anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 The one thing about this thread that has me enthused is the fact that there are at least two new carvers posting here. We need new blood in the pack. Welcome guys. Have fun. If you come to Tahoe for spring break, look up the tahoecarvers crew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCrobar Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 There are a lot of ways to come down a hill, try em' all and see what works best for you. I agree, get a lesson ... but be aware of your options. Here are the two most common options. http://club-ski.web.cern.ch/club-ski/snowboard/tutor/frswiss.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 you guys...those vids are exaggerated on purpose. thats pretty obvious. I dont think trying to emulate "EC" guys is the best way to start out, though. that is highly specialized riding and not for beginners to emulate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjl Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 I know what the videos show, I just don't know why anyone would turn this way (poor understanding of ankle usage maybe?). It is very easy to do, but doen't help you progress to a higher level of riding. Well, when I made the switch to hardboots, it was really hard to get rid of counterrotation and also the fact that the ankles were so unresponsive. I had not seen these demo movies, but I definitely independently spent some time on my own going down easy blues making turns like these just to hammer rotation (or, lack of counterrotation) into my subconscious as much as possible. I found it useful as a beginner drill at least. (I think you'd find most self-taught softboot snowboarders like myself will tend to counterrotate, poitning downhill towards the toe edge when skidding to a stop heelside, instead of aligning with the bindings or with the nose). I'll take your word for it, though - you've given me all sorts of good advice in passing in the past. I'm still waiting for my knee to get better and snow to fall so I can go out and work on ankle... dorsiflexion I think you called it on the heelsides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 kjl - your difficulty making the switch underscores my lament of the demise of 3 strap bindings. Going from 2-strap softies to 3-strap softies isn't a big deal. Going from 3-strap softies to hardboots is an epiphany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjl Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Jack, me too. I had a friend with old 3-strap bindings when I was first learning and they seemed like so obviously the Right Thing for toeside response that I looked for them in stores for 7 years to no avail. Instead I went and got hardboots, so I guess it's not all bad. It was really puzzling to me that some bindings (say, my Burton Custom Freestyles) had locking highbacks but no third strap (or even a vestigal 3rd-strap mount/hole from an old mold or something). What was the point? I am surprised the Catek Freerides don't have a 3rd strap option... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Colon Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Gleb, Congratulations on your first day! After my first day out on carving board, I went out and bought a helmet. (Just to be on the safe side) Wachusett is not to far from me, and this Monday looks free. This is my second season, so I know what your going through. Maybe Steve will trade pointers for beer. E-mail me so we can touch base. Mr. Colon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 I vote for lessons for sure! We had a great teacher... fist thing we learned was how to fall and to protect things like wrists... A good teacher knows how to get the job done. Maybe even pain free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow|3oarder Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 i had my first day on plates during thanksgiving at stratton. It was initially very frustrating, because only blues were open and I kept picking up speed. ~tb gave me some tips. By the end of the day i was doing well and even overtaking some speeding skiers. I also sustained my first hardboot injury...a sprained thumb....ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jutta Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 If you can get a good instructor - absolutely, go for it!! The problem, though, is that not every resort will have instructors on hardboots. And with the softbooters, even if you specifically request a hardboot lesson you still might end up with a guy who will tell you every time you're struggling that "this would be a lot easier on a soft setup. You really might want to switch." (personal experience, unfortunately...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted December 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 wow, thanks for the response guys:o I think i'm getting one of my friends from ottowa into hard booting. I showed him all the potential it has over his softie set up and he so wants to try it. Ya lessons are a no brainer for me, and from what i have heard, the instructors at wachussett are pretty good. My only prob is that a private lesson would cost $60, and most likely, they wont offer regular lessons. As for the injuries, my wrist hurt a bit in the morn but i'm pretty good otherwise. I did a carve unintentionally and my room mate fell down laughing. He said all he saw was a mass of snow travel across the slope. A guy named Jeremy at wachussett said he can have me eurocarving within 2 weeks, I just probably don't have the money to cover his rates. Gotta love being broke in college. I defintly gotta hook up with some of you local guys. I'm going next monday night because I don't have finals on tuesday. Email me if anyone else is going to be there. I have a question. What lift angle should be a good to start? I can't seem to get it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted December 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 My friend from Canada is officially interested in getting into alpine. He said he likes cruising more than the park so i showed him the EC videos and he was in awe. Those videos are what made me make my final decision on whether or not to get an alpine board. He said he is going to try to buy a set up at the ski shop near his house over break, but if not, he'll buy from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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