Buck Hill Diary IV

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>11/27/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>25F this Morning</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td>N/A</td></tr></table>

Snow Guns

early this morning i saw this. the web camera was swinging alot. guess i wasn't the only one getting all thrusty.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2690/4139345624_1b49f7806d_o.jpg


Late Start

it's been 383 days since they started the season with the snow guns. schedule is sliding to the right a bit.

<table border=1><caption ALIGN="top">Buck Hill Opening/Closing Dates</caption><tr><th width=100>Season</th><th width=100>Snow Guns</th><th width=100>Open</th><th width=100>Close</th></tr><tr><td>2009/10</td><td>11/27/09</td><td>TBD</td><td>???</td></tr><tr><td>2008/09</td><td>11/8/08</td><td>11/12/08</td><td>3/21/09</td></tr><tr><td>2007/08</td><td>???</td><td>11/28/07</td><td>3/28/08</td></tr><tr><td>2006/07</td><td>???</td><td>???</td><td>3/27/07</td></tr></table>

day time temps are going to be warm up until Dec 3rd. wouldn't be suprised if they tried to open one run on dec 4th. don't know what "Pass Perks Night" is all about but its scheduled for dec 5th.

think about this -- we were already on plates last nov 22 & 23!!! (http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=13481&p=214186) wasn't the best but it was a good start.

it was laughable! (http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=13481&p=214366)

[Speedzilla]

Cold weather is on the way! TWC has single digits in the 10 day forecast.

[Gerg]

Wait a day or so, they'll change it.:mad:

[brucelore]

This is going to be my breakthrough year but I want to start out on the right foot, meaning.....I know everyone has a different angle that they like their feet and I think mine are not forward enough. What are the angles of your bindings? Bruce wants to know :confused:

[BobD]

An interesting thing to bear in mind. When you start out, it's a bit scary to get locked into those carves. Having a lower angle on the rear foot, allows you to skid out when you feel out of control. At the same time, a higher angle makes carving easier. At some point you have to make the commitment.
Personally, I don't like lowest angles without boot out, but like my 60/67.5 on most boards.

BobD

[powell1.8]

I am so screwed. I can't remember exactly what my favorite setup is.

I'm thinking something like 57 rear and 60 front. I think I would lower these if I could without bootout. I think I have a wider board in the works though.

I ride with a relativly wide stance at 20.5 inches.

I also cant my front foot out just a bit (thanks to TD2's). This goes against the norm, but it worked wonders for the knee pain I would develope half way through a day of riding. I can't even tell the cant is there, but my knee can.

[bobble]

@ bruce... +1 what bob says. align your boots so that there is no overhang. when i first started i believe i was 55 front. i would keep about a 3-4 degree difference between front and rear. i always felt riding with parallel angles felt weird. it took me awhile to increase my angles.

last season i was riding at 63f/60r. i had 3 degree lift, almost 0 cant front, 5.8 lift, 1.6 inward cant. my stance is 19.7 inches. i log my setups in an excel file to keep track of what worked and what doesn't. its a work in progress.

personally, i'm hoping that with cateks + stepins i can alleviate scalloped heel turns and leg pain. i'll definitely be bringing out the tools on the slope.

@ greg... maybe you can tell by the wear pattern on the topsheet what your set up was?

[Scuff]

Bruce:
+2 for what the Bob's said.
Remember that your goal is to achieve that balance between A naturally balanced defensive athletic stance, without loosing your vertical range of motion, or adding toe/heel drag.

Riding F2 Ti Raceplates: ~56° Front 54° Rear. (but my GS board is also >21cm wide..) Angles are required to be a bit higher on my SL board. 21.5" stance width - (which, coincidentally, seems about the same distance from my kneecap to my ankle.) No canting or lift.
This year added custom insoles which has really kept my feet level and "planted" to the board.

Powell: yeah dude.. I *Though* I had memorized my stance from last season.. HA!! First turns were flippin hilarious! Luckily I also keep a log of previous stances... though mine look less like excel, and more like notebook of cave-drawings..

Bobble - New Buck Hill Brochure arrived in my mailbox last night - has
your sweeeet cord-shredding action photo!

[bobble]

Bobble - New Buck Hill Brochure arrived in my mailbox last night - has
your sweeeet cord-shredding action photo!

the photo is right above the responsibility code. that alone cracks me up! :biggthump

sending it off to welch!

[thebionicman]

Weather is finally looking like its going in the right direction. Noticed this was up on the Buck site:

http://www.buckhill.com/winter/carvingcup.shtml

Hopefully this is before opening weekend. I would like to try this out this year.

[oldkey]

...my son Patrick rides 48 degress rear and 56 degrees front. Board is 19.5, 180 cm for GS. Same everything for SL - board is a 163. No cant in front - 3 degrees rear in same direction as binding angle....though considering moving cant over 1 or 2 degrees to flatten out boot.

[oldkey]

Weather is finally looking like its going in the right direction. Noticed this was up on the Buck site:

http://www.buckhill.com/winter/carvingcup.shtml

Hopefully this is before opening weekend. I would like to try this out this year.

We need to get a Buck Hill video on that site.....Bobble and others have taken footage in past years. Good luck everyone - wish the Race to the Cup Riders could be in two places at once....but Steamboat calls.

[Speedzilla]

Bruce:

Bobble - New Buck Hill Brochure arrived in my mailbox last night - has
your sweeeet cord-shredding action photo!


Hmmm, how'd that happen? Must be a mistake. ;)

[Speedzilla]

Weather is finally looking like its going in the right direction. Noticed this was up on the Buck site:

http://www.buckhill.com/winter/carvingcup.shtml

Hopefully this is before opening weekend. I would like to try this out this year.


Nothing official yet, but let's just say.... make sure your boards are tuned before this weekend.

[Scuff]

We need to get a Buck Hill video on that site
Ben shot some great video last year.

Jessie has a new board and has been threatening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jseMLy7SrcU)to show up and win the Women's division. :)

[MUD]

This is going to be my breakthrough year but I want to start out on the right foot, meaning.....I know everyone has a different angle that they like their feet and I think mine are not forward enough. What are the angles of your bindings? Bruce wants to know :confused:

Bruce, I have rather wide boards.
I ride 57 front, 54 rear, with about 20" stance. no cants.

[brucelore]

Buck hill guns are shooting white stuff, maybe Buck will be open for the weekend?

[Speedzilla]

Buck hill guns are shooting white stuff, maybe Buck will be open for the weekend?

That is the plan.

[BobD]

Dave, do you know what the traffic is on the tower cam ? Is that what's slowing the web down locally ?

BobD

[Speedzilla]

Dave, do you know what the traffic is on the tower cam ? Is that what's slowing the web down locally ?

BobD

The cam has been getting hit pretty hard, but the main site is not on the same server as the cam.

[bobble]

went and got my pass. there was already a line at 12pm albeit short.

bringing the softboots and my rred toboggan.

going to try and get there really early... maybe 8:30am.

there's going to be hell to pay tomorrow.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4158957858/" title="buckpass by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/4158957858_66d2356a64_o.jpg" width="400" height="248" alt="buckpass" /></a>

[Gerg]

Be sure to get your ticket from the Ski School, don't even attempt to go near the ticket office. It will be jammed with people getting their pictures.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/5/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>20F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sunny, partly cloudy</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>decent for first day</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td>me & rick in softboots, bobd in skis</td></tr></table>

Morning

pulled into the parking lot around 8:30am. there was already a line that curled around to the parking lot. walked to the ski school and got my pass. hat tip to gerg, thanks!!! bobble feel like VIP!!! when i left at about 10:15am there was still a line.

had softboots. i suck with softboots.


Top of Buck

crossroads and milkrun were open. for opening day the snow looked really good. i don't remember opening day ever having sun!!! snow guns were going and i forgot how cold your face gets when you get hit with that stuff. should've brought a gator. crystal lake had ice on top. wasn't like that yesterday. a good sign :biggthump

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4160760636/" title="Top of Buck by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2729/4160760636_b5c0b577bb_b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Top of Buck" /></a>


Crossroads

crossroads was groomed. over to skiers right they were setting up some fun boxes. its carveable but there was such a large turnout that it would've been dangerous. don't need to be injured on first day. i was going fairly slow to get to the bottom and always looking uphill on toe-side. on one occasion i had to stop mid-run to let the super-ultra-maxi-mega-super-funkie-speedy skiers get to the bottom so that the could be last in line again. jeebus, what's the rush??

had one ski patroller riding on my six. i slowed way down to let him pass and i yelled at him, "HEY!!! DON"T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!!!" (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4158957924_dac9f47265_o.jpg). see footnote [1].

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4160762036/" title="Crossroads, 12/5/09 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/4160762036_4ed2ef0144_b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Crossroads, 12/5/09" /></a>


Milkrun

milkrun wasn't groomed. it was hard in some areas near the towers. i didn't like the feel of it. there was a frost on the surface so it felt slow turning through it like i was scraping a windshield. other parts were nice and soft over by the trees. lots of rollers.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4160762852/" title="Milkrun, 12/5/09 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2639/4160762852_5a7eaabd8e_b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Milkrun, 12/5/09" /></a>


Ballroom

ballroom wasn't open (at least when i was there from 9 to 10am) but it looked like it was ready. the rope tow wasn't running.

after about an hour the lift line was getting long. very crowded. lot of budding in lines going on. i was talking to rick when a teen snowboarder ran into a young girl on skis. she looked young... maybe 9-10 years old. hit her really hard and she was crying. i think she hit her head hard. fortunately she had a helmet. ski patrol came over. i left after that.

overall, great to be out! i'm thinking about hardboots tomorrow and being extremely patient.


Footnotes

[1] okay, i admit it, i'm a pathological liar. i didn't yell at the ski patroller but you'd think they would know better.
[2] my camera sucks. batteries ran out within minutes. i wish i had pictures of how full the runs got.

[thebionicman]

Thanks for the opening day update. Most likely I will be out tomorrow morning. How did the snow depth look? Thinking about busting out the new Coiler tomorrow.

[bobble]

Thanks for the opening day update. Most likely I will be out tomorrow morning. How did the snow depth look? Thinking about busting out the new Coiler tomorrow.

snow depth is adequate however i'd be more concerned about crowds on the slope and especially in the lift line.

with the crowds i'll probably be sketching alot of turns and stopping. maybe last an hour.

[Scuff]

i'll probably be sketching alot of turns and stopping. maybe last an hour.

Thanks for preview pics! Snow looks great.
Will try to make it out tomorrow by 8:25am for an hour of some tight radius turns.

[rhaskins]

Bobble: after you left I ran into old-whats-her-name in the parking lot - skis, purple outfit. She was leaving muttering something about damn kids or something.

I stuck it out til noon on skis, but by then the slow was chunked up and in serious need of a groom.

Rick

[thebionicman]

That was a good time today. Great to be back on the hill and seeing everyone. Started on my Prior 4WD then busted out the Coiler. WOW this board is awesome. I can't say enough good things about it.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/6/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>20F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sunny, partly cloudy</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td>7 (me, joe d, scuff, rhaskins, bionicman, mark s, wild bill)</td></tr></table>

Morning

nice to see the hardbooter brethren waiting for the lift to start. good turnout. what was the lift-ops manager saying?

i had my camera in my pocket but was i having too much of a great time so i forgot to take it out. conditions were excellent for carving on Day 2. sunny skies! crossroad was muy excellente. milkrun was better than yesterday. ballroom looked open. felt great.

it was a little strange to ride hardboots but it started to come back. had a little heelside chatter. after talking to joe i started to exaggerate my weighting/unweighting and trying to get the board higher on edge. seemed to help but my thighs were burning out.

yes, indeed, erik was looking good on the coiler! okay, you can stop dry-humping it now.

it got a little crowded but not nearly as bad as early yesterday morning.

bobble go sleep good.

I Like Cows

only serious complaint is the ski jammers showed up. one would think that if your group is going to congregate at the bottom of the run like a herd of cows that the group must stand clear of the downhill traffic heading into the life line. why do they insist on standing in the way?

one them said to me "looking good!".

okay... all is forgiven.

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[Scuff]

Rode at Buck Hill with the Sunday Morning gang.
Great conditions for Day #2. Big Props to Chris the Snowman. :D
My SL board settings from last season did NOT compute - lots of stance
fiddling was required, and it still doesn't feel right.

On the way home made a slight detour to Hyland Hills.
Hyland was packed with beginners, and snow was hard/icy &
inconsistent compared to the smooth and harmonious Chords at Buck.
Would have required some mad ninja carving skills to avoid both the people AND the ice chunks, so I just focused on the latter.

Made turns from 1-2pm, then evangelized alpine a bit from 2-3:30.
Have successfully converted another to alpine. Coach Jesse has a 173 F2,
and is looking for some good used boots in sz 26.

:lurk: Other Mad Ninja Skillz
<embed id=VideoPlayback src=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-664493411424324244&hl=en&fs=true style=width:400px;height:326px allowFullScreen=true allowScriptAccess=always type=application/x-shockwave-flash> </embed>

[bobble]

:lurk: Other Mad Ninja Skillz
<embed id=VideoPlayback src=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-664493411424324244&hl=en&fs=true style=width:400px;height:326px allowFullScreen=true allowScriptAccess=always type=application/x-shockwave-flash> </embed>

hyland? that's quite the detour. you don't know when to quit.

saw "ninja assassin". talk about some sick ninja skills! lots of decapitations and in flow-mo. unfortunately the movie is too dark. would be a good rental when you change the brightness level.

muscles are a little sore this morning. time to do the "algorithm march" and stretch.

[BobD]

Took Claire for her Lakeville North team practice this afternoon. Got a few hours in myself. As before the the snow was excellent. . All the high school teams were out doing drills on crossroads/milkrun, but it wasn't too bad at first. I got in nearly an hour on a board, before it got too crowded for comfort, and I switched to skis.

BobD

[Joe D.]

I rode last night. Lots of pylons but they were standing around in little clumps for instruction. Plenty of room to carve. Snow was excellent.

[Speedzilla]

Don't forget....

Carving Cup on Sunday!

[BobD]

Don't forget....

Carving Cup on Sunday!

Decisions, decisions. skis/board. I'm not fit enough to do both again :confused:

BobD

[MUD]

Don't forget....

Carving Cup on Sunday!

If we get enough snow, I'll be doing this.:eplus2:

<object width="425" height="344">


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[thebionicman]

If we get enough snow, I'll be doing this.:eplus2:

<object width="425" height="344">


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I would take that over the carving cup. So DIY studs or premade? I have a lot of fun on my mountain bike on my DIY studded tires.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/8/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>18F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>night lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>lots of blowing snow</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td>1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

i had low expectations but it was great hero snow! i stayed mainly on crossroads. there was a couple inches of loose top snow. it was almost like flour. very light, didn't pack, and very quiet riding through it. edges held nicely. the wind was blowing hard and snow was still coming down. by the time i rode back up the chair i had a hard time recognizing my tracks. somewhere near the middle towards the towers the snow was forming small piles. it was fun riding surfy turns through it.

milkrun seemed to have more snow and more traffic. i stayed off of it.

when i got there it was busy up until 7:30pm then the lift line was short. i ran into a problem with lining up the receiver pins so i left after around 8-ish.

still a little sore from this weekend.

[MUD]

I would take that over the carving cup. So DIY studs or premade? I have a lot of fun on my mountain bike on my DIY studded tires.

Pre-made. They are expensive but last for years. DIY just can't hold up to the power of the bikes, you lose spikes every ride.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/10/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>4F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>night lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td>2 (me, joe d)</td></tr></table>

Evening

coldest day of the season so far. i think it was 4F.

lot of mounds on crossroads. big one near the top where people were jumping. then there were other irregularities (hint!). i would cut over to milkrun after the second tower.

milkrun was fun, fun and fun! we had a blast. hero snow!

it was like very much like this...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4175844536/" title="slot-cars by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/4175844536_4c8026806a_o.jpg" width="512" height="384" alt="slot-cars" /></a>

top of milkrun they are blowing the snow guns. a mound was forming at the top. they had a course set up.

not all the runs are open yet.

left after 8pm. my toes were frozen.

[$trider]

I heard they were at Buck this weekend. It will probably take one of your nice carving runs, but there should be some really good carvers (mostly skiers) there and should be fun to watch.

[powell1.8]

My first day out. I didn't last very long, but it felt good.

The snow was great. The grooming was a little off, but it was better than I expected. Olympic dreams was flawless, but really hard.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/11/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>11F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>night lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>not sure</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td>1</td></tr></table>

Evening



The snow was great. The grooming was a little off, but it was better than I expected. Olympic dreams was flawless, but really hard.

greg, wish i was out this morning. maybe next friday.

not sure what to make of today's evening conditions. crossroads still has the bumps/rollers and lot of kids to worry about. probably only quarter of the run is usable for carving and its near the bottom half.

milkrun was irregular and bumpy. it looked good from the chair but it was deceiving. i didn't like it. the bottom half had snowguns aimed low so the snow was slow and deep.

i saw a sign that says the backside, the long trail behind milkrun is now a terrain park??? crap.

i left after a half hour. my heart wasn't in it i guess.

not sure what to make of tomorrow. suppose to be Subaru Master of Your Domain event. might get busy.

[thebionicman]

I stuck around till 1. The conditions were pretty good. Catek binding fail, but I have that remedied. Should be out tomorrow taking a buddy for his first time.

[bobble]

I stuck around till 1. The conditions were pretty good. Catek binding fail, but I have that remedied. Should be out tomorrow taking a buddy for his first time.

what broke?

[thebionicman]

Nothing broke exactly. Either the main bolt loosened up or one of the set screws. I took both sets apart last night, put a shorter main bolt in and lowered the set screws, I am running flat so I don't need the bindings way up in the air. Put it all back together with the medium loctite so hopefully things will hold together.

I'll test it out today, oh and I ran a little lower angles yesterday. It took a run to get used to it but I really liked it. Down to 48/42 (good to have small feet on wide boards).

[trent]

the carving cup is going to suck!! i don't think i'm going to go. no rain + no dirt = lame! they should move the date to mid november to guarantee conditions we're used to and love for this event. maybe the cheaters on kesslers would be able to make it too. ;)

-trent

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/12/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>11F early morning, got up to 20F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun from 9 till 10am, went flat</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>decent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 8 (me, joe d, ben, erik, mark s, bob d, rufus, and jessie off teaching someone)</td></tr></table>

Morning

from 9am till about 10:15 am there was sun. the snow was perfect on crossroads. milkrun was good too but down the very bottom of it there was some snow that wasn't groomed.

terrain park equipment is finally off crossroads. the rollers from last night were smaller than last night. now there's more room and its more goodly to carve around the them. still, had to compete for hill space. must learn NOT to look behind me.

surprised that the southside terrain park is not completely open yet. there was something going on over there. they had a burton tent and rope tow turned on so there were some boarders over there.

at 10:15, the clouds rolled in and it was flat light. it was virtually impossible to see the rollers. not much fun.

i left at 12pm. most everyone else left sooner. it was cloudy and sure as sh!t when i got home the sun was out.


Inside the Chalet

anyone go inside the chalet? i went inside to adjust my bindings. there was this old guy with a keyboard and trombone. he was playing a couple christmas songs. it was more like he pushed the play button on the keyboard then played along with his trombone. then some younger guy walked on stage wearing a black leather jacket and started singing. the singer tried to impress the audience with some paper magic trick. wasn't quite sure what to make of it. weird.


Evening

went back out to try out my donek 180 with td3s. the snow was definitely softer than this afternoon. again, had to compete for hill space.

going from 9m sidecut to 12 is interesting. the elan p.o.s. is good for carving tight turns but doesn't hold well at fast speeds. the donek was just the opposite - hard to gauge the turn radius but incredibly damp. my head/eyes were looking towards where i wanted to go; i.e. carve away from a roller, but the board would take its sweet time in completing the turn. fell down a few times because i was trying to lean over to try to make the board turn sharper.

lift line was intolerable. some dumbass in his 20's was on a snowboard and managed to hop his way to the front of the lift line with both boots strapped. surprised the lifties didn't tell him to take his rear boot out. an empty chair went through because he was so too cool for school. i left after an hour.


Tail Guard

made this in the fall. not sure how to mount this on the tail of the board? the hershey kisses are rough, sharp, and ruinous to ptex.

my make-shift foundry is in the background.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4180285230/" title="melt2 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2642/4180285230_02cdb81c29_o.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="melt2" /></a>

[powell1.8]

it was cloudy and sure as sh!t when i got home the sun was out.


Typical.

[thebionicman]

Bobble that stomp pad looks great. One of the pyramids did save the corner of my board when that kid road over the tip.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/13/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>12F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun from 9 till 2pm, went flat</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr></table>

Morning

snow was awesome, and sun too! huge turnout for hardbooters:

ben h
bill g
bob l (me)
bob d
dave h
erik
greg p
jessie k
joe d
kent s
mark s
pat h
rick
steve
trent j

don't know the details of the Carve Cup other than joe d won, trent came in 3rd. it would've been too cold to video. too bad they can't bring out those carve buoys more often.

after the carve cup, the snow on milkrun was excellent... lots of cord left. i was getting a beat down from crossroads so when i went over to milkrun it was night and day difference. it felt like catching a 2nd wind. too good to leave.

bill, steve, trent and myself were the only HBs there at around 1pm. sometime after 1pm, the chair lift was temporarily shut down. people were going into the chalet. my frickn' toes were cold. the lift was down for about 1/2 hour. when it did resume the lines were stupidly long. the clouds had rolled in and there was no sunlight. no joy.

trent and i hung out till about 2:15pm. left when it got crowded with ski lessons.

[BobD]

12/15/09 Tues

They blew a lot of snow last night and there are icey rollers everywhere. A lot of ruts and bumps in the grooming. Would be a good evening to give it a miss.

BobD

[powell1.8]

I was out tues morning and the grooming was definately off. Amazingly I was not that bothered by it. I hate to say it, but metal does make a huge difference. I don't think I would have lasted more than a few runs without it. The transition from crud to groom to ice is almost seemless.

As far as rollers go, I think I still have a little park monkey in me. The rollers are a blast, for me. I hope they keep some of them for a while.

Now if I can just figure out how to tighted up this 14m scr board I'll be in heaven.

[trent]

I think I still have a little park monkey in me.

more like gorilla! we've seen the air you get, and it aint from no little monkey. :eek:

-trent

[trent]

even popping out of bindings on landing. twice! didn't stop him.

[BobD]

even popping out of bindings on landing. twice! didn't stop him.

Awesome

Grooming was much better today, and should be very good by the weekend.

[d3dan2001]

I will be in the Citys working that week and want to carve a bit. hope to see other hardbooters. How long are the runs at Buck Hill?

[BobD]

I will be in the Citys working that week and want to carve a bit. hope to see other hardbooters. How long are the runs at Buck Hill?

about 12/14 turns on a big board, and 20 on a slalom board.

Doesn't look like there's any events scheduled that weekend. Most carvers come out on Sunday mornings, though there might be a few on Saturday.

BobD

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/16/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>9F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>night lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>decent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2 (me, bruce)</td></tr></table>

Evening

last night was fast snow. it was decent for carving but i wish i was on a shorter board. i didn't like the rollers near the lift towers at the top. i had to go skiers right to get around them -- they were really hard packed. nastar was going on so i stayed away from milkrun.

still surprised they haven't open up all of the south terrain park. i took the terrain park on the backside down to my car. glad i went slow. hard to see the grind box until your almost on top of it.

i give the liftie an A-.

[rhaskins]

For those of you stuck in a cube all day -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OefPeWPZ5pc

Spirt Mtn, shot with my new VIO POV. Great Camera.

The groom was exceptional, the day was perfect except for a little chilly. Oh, yeah, sorry about using skis.

Rick

[d3dan2001]

I hope to see you guys at Buck in Jan 2010

[d3dan2001]

[quote=d3dan2001;272865]I hope to see you guys at Buck in Jan 2010. I only have one board but I love it. Its a 170 GS Nidecker with TD.

[powell1.8]

I'm planning on riding Buck Friday morning. Company would be great!

[BobD]

Thurs 17 dec

Buck at it best. Sun, packed powder, and launching off the rollers (launching off the rollers, is a relative term with Greg around).

Bob

[d3dan2001]

Im still in VA this week so I can't ride Buck but hope to see you guys when I get there January 30 & 31th. I rode today at Massanutten, VA its close to Carlottesville, VA it was not good for carving but still had fun. tomarrow I will ride at Wintergreen, VA it looks much better but was closed today.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/18/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>about 20F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun with some clouds</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 4 (me, greg, rufus... saw bobd on skis but i'm betting he broke out the board)</td></tr></table>

Morning

great snow, decent temp, blue skies! greg, rufus and i were having fun.

snow was great crossroads and milkrun. had fun going down milkrun and doing toesides off the knoll then quickly switch to heelside. i could do that all day! ventured over to the video hill or whatever its called. snow was great for casual carving.

todays conditions brought out the relics. saw a couple skiers with hart skis that looked like they were easily 25 years old if not older. some olin marks too. rode the lift with one guy. he said "man, you really get low! ... those alpine boards were really popular in the 90's!". cripes!

chair lift was frequently stopping.


Sketchy Santa

sketchy santa (http://www.sketchysantas.com/) was in a ski patrol outfit. he stood there where the two lift lines meet. "THREE TO FOUR ON A CHAIR! THREE TO FOUR ON A CHAIR!" he bellowed. saw him telling a group of kids to stop bombing the run.

didn't know santa was a control freak.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4195406431/" title="sketchysanta by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2645/4195406431_0300d461cd_o.jpg" width="240" height="225" alt="sketchysanta" /></a>


Russian Constructivism

there were two skiers in their teens dressed up in soviet military wool coats and officer hats that had some sort of CCCP medallion in the middle. i rode up with them. tried talking to them but they weren't talkative. i asked where they were from. after a really uncomfortable long pause i turned to look at one of them and he said "russia". they said nothing to each other the whole ride up. when i first saw them i thought it was a couple of weird kids who went to ragstock but after riding the chair i think they were foreign exchange students. there were riding some really old rossi skis. even their ski poles looked old.

i love soviet propaganda posters. something artistically cool about them. i always thought that speedzillas MES shirt design (http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=223493&postcount=1) had elements of russian constructivism.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4195383959/" title="soviet_propaganda by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/4195383959_bac5fe5bb7.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="soviet_propaganda" /></a>

caption reads "SMACK HEAD OF DOWNHILL OPPRESSOR FROM BEHIND!"


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4196140700/" title="doc-brezhnev-poster by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4196140700_483ab9e447_o.jpg" width="234" height="349" alt="doc-brezhnev-poster" /></a>

caption reads "VODKA!"


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4195384041/" title="soviet3 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2677/4195384041_1ed33cfb4b_o.jpg" width="500" height="379" alt="soviet3" /></a>

caption"Bong? What is Bong? I No Throw This Bong"


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4195384013/" title="lenin by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2750/4195384013_6ac9e24c6a_o.jpg" width="500" height="351" alt="lenin" /></a>

caption "Welch! Beat Down Enemy Capitalist Trenchers! Educate!"

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/19/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>22F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>flat</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>decent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me, rick on skis)</td></tr></table>

Morning

early morning the flat light was bad. the snow and sky were the exact same color of gray. it took me 4 runs to be comfortable. snow was softer than yesterday. the trenches were wide at the apex of the turn.

buddy warner race had lots of kids. ski jammers showed up at about 9:45 am. grant me the serenity to accept things i cannot change... i almost left but stuck it out. it seemed that visibility was slowly improving with each run. rick and i ventured over to Warners Way (aka video hill). stayed there for awhile.

went back to crossroads around 11 am. the herd had thinned. more sunlight filtered thru the clouds. at one one i could see all the lines in the snow. did a couple more runs. wish i had more energy but left at 12pm. front calf hurts.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/20/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>20F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>flat to sunny then to flat</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>1-2 inches of new snow on cord</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 3 (me, ben, doug)</td></tr></table>

Morning

there was light flurries this morning. before i left home i told ms. bobble "i'll be home probably in an hour". i had low expectations for today. three hours later and i'm home taking vitamin I (ibuprofen). my front calf hurts.

there was about 1-2 inch of new snow. good day to learn to keep hands off the snow or get blasted with snow to the face. buck groomed last night. you couldn't tell until you used your edges -- sounded like ripping corrugated cardboard (my favorite!).

first run the light was really bad. it got progressively better until finally there was sun. it stayed that way till about noon, then it suddenly turned to crap. i only took two runs after doug and ben left. you guys left at the right time.

crossroads and milkrun were available but not olympic dreams and warners way. the crowd wasn't too bad -- not nearly as bad as yesterday. there were a few runs where we had to carve around the moving pylons.

it was interesting to see doug's X5 lunch tray. it was the first i'd seen it. that thing is weird looking. whenever we were at the top, couldn't help but notice the people staring at his board too.


Poor Choice of Words


oh yeah. saw some sweet, sweet ski carvers today too. that guy that was ripping at the last mes was there. then i saw a kid on twin tips, dressed like he should be in the park or pipe, ripping some wicked turns on chair 9. i think his butt was hitting the snow. if he's anything like that in the park, he's someone to watch!

ok, lets review. sweet... guy... ripping... kid... ripping... butt? jeebus! WTF IS GOING ON AT AFTON? there was a telemarker at buck. had fluorescent blue jacket.

on ben's last run, i saw this kid watching him go under the chair. the kid flipped around to watch him go. i wonder.

we need groupies.

[Scuff]

For what it's worth, the regional USASA races at Welch this weekend went really smooth. Today's riders included (Joe, Myself, Jess) and 15 G-team speedy hardbooters between the ages of 7 and 18. Bunch more racers on softies.

Welch report:
Morning ski race training on Baki, and on the large main run nearest the lodge.
Jessie and I rode a bit today after the comp. The light was flat - the trails were not. Conditions on the race hill - "Dan's Dive" were great, but a lot of places where the conditions were overly crunchy.
Can't wait to get out to Buck again soon.

[BobD]

Christmas Eve ?

BobD

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/21/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>22F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>night lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>hero</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

left work early, got to buck around 5pm. there were no races. milkrun was wide open. lots of kids but i think most were in the terrain parks. no waiting in the lift line.

snow was hero. no one was bombing the runs. it was like a sunday morning.

unfortnately i left early. i've had problems with my front calf lately it was botherming me on sunday. i get this dull ache that hurts right at the cuff when i initiate heelsides. i thought it might be the intec cable but its behind the area where it aches. i left after an hour.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/24/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>31F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>flat, some light snow</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>alot of new snow, groomed this morning</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 5 (me, greg, dave, erik, trent, bobd on skis)</td></tr></table>

Morning

it had dumped about 6-8 inches on my driveway. the snow plow hadn't come through on my street. snow was above the floor of my car.

i was looking forward to riding on fresh powder... to experience that cool feeling of floating down the hill. when i got to buck, the groomers were already out and grooming. just as well... i wouldn't have lasted if the fresh snow was pushed into piles from skiers and snowboarders. be cool if they let people take a few runs on freshies and then run the groomers when it sucked.

buck wasn't too crowded. all lifts were going. visibility was bad but it didn't matter much.

crossroads - the groom didn't help much. edges sunk deep. made nice big turns. after awhile crossroads sucked on a carve board. seriously. i can't emphasize that enough.

milkrun - early on it had a slight carveable groom especially near the lift towers. it looked like everyone was carving on it like it was a typical day. i think we spent most of our time there. towards the end i was finding ice under the snow and the bottom got rough. at the end my knees were starting to hurt from absorbing the bumps.

ballroom - not sure what to think about that run, only did it once. i know erik wasn't a fan. maybe if the visibilty was better?

warners - always great for nice leisure carving.

overall, it wasn't the best conditions but it was fun to get out and ride.

the liftie granted trent political asylum.

at the top a ski patroller said "monoboard" to me. man, what do you say to that?

hope the lift tower brakes are in good shape, you guys were making me nervous. can't imagine jumping off a chair with board attached.

couldn't find a better video.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r78g9mG2ugg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r78g9mG2ugg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[BobD]

destructive chairlift testing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8rXiN_Oys4

BobD

[bobble]

destructive chairlift testing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8rXiN_Oys4

BobD

:eek:

cracked me up when the crew start to run.

[powell1.8]

So what your saying is that there is no way in hell of riding this scenario out.


Point taken!



Jump, Tuck, Roll, and kiss the ground if you make it.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/25/2009 Christmas Day</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>33F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>craptacular</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>wet snow over groom</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td>0</td></tr></table>

Noon

anyone who thought about going and didn't, good call. i didn't last long, less than an hour. here's what you didn't miss.

started out on hardboots. it was slow getting to the chairlift. i didn't quite make it so i had to hike it. did two runs. visibility really was bad. big snow flakes were landing on my goggles and obscuring my vision. i had to wipe them as i slowly got down the hill. snow was super soft and wet. when i turned it sprayed snowballs.

i switched to softboots. i think i made 5 more runs. i haven't waxed my freecarve board in awhile. it was super slow! the new snow felt cool while making the edge transitions -- it was like i was on a balance board. when i got to the knee at the bottom of the run i stopped turning and tried to make it into the lift. i could barely make it into the corral.

weather conditions quickly changed from big snow to sleet (when i got home it stopped snowing/sleeting). it hurt my face. every run i had to wipe my goggles as i was moving. it was windy way up on top, at the bottom is was calm. my goggles were wet like a sponge and dripping inside. jacket/pants were soaked. the snow under the lift towers had oil spots.

on my last run i was going between the towers. i suddenly decelerated and lurched forward. it felt like snow was clinging underneath the board and slowing me down. i decided i had enough. i tried making it to the office but i didn't have enough speed to even make get past the electronic scoreboard. saw some guys coming down the backside trying to make it to the lift. they stopped right where i was and had to hike it.

hoping for better conditions tomorrow.

[trent]

destructive chairlift testing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8rXiN_Oys4

BobD

:eek::eek::eek: holy crap that's scary! thanks for posting the link.

-trent

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/26/2009 </td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>22F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>partly cloudy, some sun. at around 11:30am it turned flat</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>fast cord</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td>1</td></tr></table>

Morning

snow was very fast and firm. good stuff. it felt great to be out! started out with my short board. after 3 runs my i was already getting tired and the front leg was starting to hurt. didn't want to burn out so quickly so i switched to my donek. more gooder. front leg stopped bothering me. i think it had something to do with my binding setup.

milkrun - had buddy warners race. cord looked thin near the lift towers.

crossroads - great in the early morning. one of my early runs at the very top i pushed out alot of snow on a toe-side carve. the trench looked rather intimidating. you could fit your arm in it. i didn't see any ski tracks over it. on one run i accidently jammed my arm in one of my trenches. arm and shoulder throbbed for a long while. around 10am the middle of the run was chopped up and all aggregate. 11am it was rough holding an edge. lost it a couple times. got a little crowded with people cutting over from olympic dreams and milkrun. around 11:30am, sun disappeared.

warners way - there was cord but it was thin. did a couple runs. felt good. there were some slow skiers in the way.

rail yard - i was looking at the structure near the fence. kids were going up it then dropping down. not sure what you call it -- a quarter pipe? a wall? hip? i thought i would venture in and try to toe-side carve off of it. what i didn't realize was that there was no way of getting in that area without going over two banks of jumps. at the top, the snow was sketchy at best. in between jumps it was really crappy and chunky. maybe if i was on softboots. when i got to the first jumps, i stopped and release my binding and walked off. fortunately there were no kids around to witness my walk of shame.


Scary Sh!t

met this snowboarder. he rides weekend mornings. he carves, then switches, carves, etc. said he sees us and started asking questions. we were talking on the chair. i told him that i'm paranoid of people sneaking up from behind and that i've had my fair share of collisions. he told me that his brother stopped snowboarding after a nasty collision a couple years ago. he was with his brother heading fast down the run (i think milkrun?). the guy slowed down but his brother kept going. another snowboarder was going down the backside. both collided at the bottom. his brothers knee went into the kids chest. at first they thought the kid got the wind knocked out of him but it turned out that he had a torn aorta! i'm surprised the kid lived. he said his brother was sued for $1 Million. the kid was at such a young age that he needs (or needed) future grafts to his aorta.

a run or two later i almost had a collision with a buddy warner racer. i was trying to avoid skiers coming in from olympic. turned away from them and saw this little kid coming from the opposite direction. at the last second i managed to get away from him.

[thebionicman]

Probably be out tomorrow morning for the usual Sunday ride.

[powell1.8]

i haven't waxed my freecarve board in awhile. it was super slow!

If you didn't have to skate all the way down you were doing better than some on X mas eve. I had never seen someone have to push all the way down a run. It was video worthy.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/27/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>14F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>fast and firm</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 5 (me, erik, tom, ben, bill)</td></tr></table>

Morning

snow was fast and fun. would've been a good day for metal.

milkrun: there were two courses set up that were eventually taken down. the run had ruts but cord in between. i didn't do much there (leg pain) but everyone else did.

crossroads: the snow didn't get as trashed like yesterday. ski racers had already laid tracks early in the morning but the snow held... at least for a while. there was one run where me, erik, tom, and ben were carving it up. we're all tightly spaced. must've looked impressive from the chair. if not impressive, then it was definitely loud. if not impressive or loud, then must've looked stupid.

had an itch on my stomach so i blew out a toe-side edge and slid for about 20 ft to scratch it.

on the lift i was telling tom about yesterday's trench and how people were avoiding one in particular. it was big and ugly scar around the first mounds. that very run at the bottom some skier told him he was scared of our trenches.

got a crowded around 11 am and we waited for white space. last two runs i was robbed.

didn't go anywhere else.


Calf Pain

after my second run, my calf was bothering me. the pain runs along the outside of my leg and feels like the muscle is tender. on heelside turns it felt like the cuff of the boot was pressing the sore lump against the bone. it hurt so i'd ease off the turn. went in to relax the muscles. went back out. it was marginally better. i sketched alot and occasionally would carve. went in for a second break. started dicking around with the BTS. it looked like i had tightened the BTS to the point where the boot was locked in position. whoops! i loosened up the BTS. it felt significantly better and heel-side edges felt smoother too... at the end i was able to carve the crap out of the hill. :eplus2:

i'll have to experiment some more.


Professional Snowboarders

ben and i were at the top waiting for a window. a snowboarder was standing next to us and started asking questions. he asked if we were professional snowboarders because of our boards and how fast we were going. :biggthump

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>12/28/2009</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>22F with a nasty windchill</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>fast and firm</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2 (me, erik)</td></tr></table>

Morning

today was one of those days you wish you could repeat over and over. we had a blast! felt euphoric when i left.

conditions were optimal; excellent grooming, cold temps, and blue bird skies. the wind was harsh. i went to the ticket office and bought a gator.

the only real negative was it got a little crowded with inexperienced skiers and snowboarders. occasionally groupies would stop at the top and watch erik and i (yes, indeed! rockstar status!). probably stopped at the top when i gave them my evil-goggle look.

milkrun: like yesterday, there were two courses set up that were eventually taken down. the ruts were intimidating at the top but the middle and bottom were mild. we did a couple runs. i tried going toe-side carve on the knoll. first time i blew a toe-side and spun down the hill on my stomach. i was laughing -- had to look ridiculous from the chair. later attempts i realized the cord was too thin.

saw some guy doing ski ballet. i haven't seen that in years!

crossroads: spent most of the day on crossroads. on skiers right, race teams had set up a course. i was half tempted into a limbo under the orange ribbon - would've been cool to pull off. i refrained. erik started on a nitro hardboot set up and ditched it after the first run. 9 am, top to bottom the run was excellent. every turn was solid and grippy. our trenches had great symmetry - couldn't tell who made the trench. 10 am, started to get choppy but edges held. all you could see were our trenches. started to realize that we need a steeper faster hill - it was getting way too easy. 10:30 am, got crowded with people. had to wait for white space. 11:30 am, crowds were cutting across the run to do lunch. snow in the middle was chopped like fine sugar. my rope tow guard functioned as a snow scoop and it slowed me down considerably when i touched the fine snow. started to blow out edges. rode high and tried to stop "petting the dog".

warners: serviceable. we did a couple runs there.

olympic: closed off. two courses were set up and the ruts were deep.

[BobD]

I didn't get on a board til 12.30. I guess you guys had worn it out by then. It was granular over icy patches. Still carvable, but not as good.

BobD

[thebionicman]

It was good!!! Bob and I had fun comparing runs. We did have a few runs were there was a lot of simitry (sp?) between our carves. Second to last run I crashed pretty good, rung my bell. Still have a little bit of a headache.

One run with the old Nitro was enough for me. The metal is so much better.:1luvu:

[Scuff]

Ya think the snow will still be good by 6PM tonight?
Going to give it a try.

6-8pm.. was Crunchy.. not bad - just really firm.

[BobD]

Tues 29th Dec

Still a little granular, but much better. Another day or so, and it will back to perfect packed powder.

BobD

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/1/2010 New Years Day</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>5F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>firm cord</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 5 me, trent, ben, kent, scuff, bill (softies), bobd (skis)</td></tr></table>

Morning

2010 had a rough start. headed down to the chair. found out that the lift was broken and that it would take about a half hour. something about fixing wheels at the top. they said they were trying to open the CTEC but didn't see any movement of the chair. felt sorry for people who paid for their lift ticket and traveled 42.08 miles to be here. trent and i headed over to teachers pet chair. took one run. i decided i would walk up the backside of milkrun. trent wasn't into the project. by the time i reached the top, chris had fixed the chair and was heading down.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4234575790/" title="Chris fixes the lift by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2742/4234575790_bb9313e69a_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Chris fixes the lift" /></a>


a view from the top of crossroads just before i headed down. the snow was firm.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4233802913/" title="View from top of Crossroads by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2726/4233802913_5641c13480_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="View from top of Crossroads" /></a>


got to the bottom and they were removing the service platform. the chair opened around 9:30am

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4233800119/" title="Removing the service chair by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4233800119_5c2fb68b66_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Removing the service chair" /></a>


morning was pretty much dead. not many people. there were a few skiers out but the run was pretty much ours.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4234577916/" title="ben h. by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2769/4234577916_b8f2b0bb92_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="ben h. " /></a>


i was really cold. had to go in and warm up my toes. i was tired from last night and lack of sleep. others went in as well.


New Years Resolution

must focus on initiating heel-sides earlier. wish i could figure out why sometimes i get wave lines. i was making a simple long heel-side at the bottom and i could feel the board stutter. looked behind and the lines were slightly wavy.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/2/2010 - International Moira Day :1luvu:</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>-16F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>firm snow, maybe slow.</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 3 (me, bobd, brent)</td></tr></table>

Morning

the temp this morning was -16F per the buck web site. not sure if i believe it... maybe -10F. not much wind. precip was really low. snow was sticky but firm. excellent carving conditions. almost didn't go out.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4238421086/" title="Crossroads by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4238421086_f4e3ea0810_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Crossroads" /></a>

place was practically dead yet they had all lifts going. left at 10am for reasons i'll explain later.


Noon

came back and the place was definitely dead. got a little warmer, about -5F. saw another hardbooter. first thought it was JJ Fluff. guy had great style. thought for sure it was him but he was riding a donek. bobd showed up. later met the other hardbooter... brent. he was wondering when the next MES was going to be held. (trent, that's a hint)

rode for about 1-1/2 hours on crossroads and milkrun. snow was great as always. toes were frozen. had to leave.

saw a extremely low flying Delta passenger jet come over the top of the run. hard to gauge the altitude but it was definitely low. if i was a passenger i'd think we were landing in crystal lake.


Calf Pain

this morning after about 3 runs i started to have calf problems. heel-sides were hard on my front leg. whenever i'd go into a heel-side my muscle along the outside of the calf felt sore and knotted. it felt like it was close to the bone. the pressure of the boot cuff during the turn made the pain intolerable. i went in a couple runs later to relax my leg. went back out. tried to analyze my weighting of edges. realized i had some problems with a straight heel-side edge going slow at the bottom. i could feel the board make wavy lines (sounded like "chuff-chuff-chuff-chuff"). the pain wasn't diminishing. went home in frustration.

tried to locate the pain and determine where in the boot it was occuring. only way i could repeat the pain was to cross my calf across the other knee. frickin hurt! marked the spot with a bandage (highlighted in red). correlated it to the boot. seemed to be high, near the top buckles. it didn't make sense.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4238419452/" title="leg pain by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2727/4238419452_fa0f5f8b0c_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="leg pain" /></a>

out of deperation i decided to remove the front BTS and see if that helped. took some ibuprofen as well. went back at noon. heels-sides felt tighter. definitely less pain but that could be the ibuprofen. the cuff of the boot seemed to cradle my leg better. maybe the bts was too loose or too much lateral movement? dunno.

least i could get out and carve. tomorrow, try again... at welch. ;)

[BobD]

Found out what was wrong today Bob. The cuff adjustment on my boot had broken, so the cuff was tilting side to side.

BTW I hit Bob L when he was down. Couldn't change edges (see above), and slid right into him. First time I have run into anyone. Not something I plan to make a habit of - it was scary. Luckily no one was hurt.

BobD

[Scuff]

Jess and I will be out to Buck tomorrow am.
just applied some dominator "bullet"
extreme cold temp wax and curious how it will perform.

[Scuff]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/3/2010 </td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>-12F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun with a touch of smog to the North</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>groomed snow.</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 5 (me, bobd, Jesse R., Joe, Bill)</td></tr></table>

Great day of riding!

First time for wearing a face mask, and it really paid-off..
Sun was out, but so was the cold - good thing there was no wind-chill.
Snow conditions were groomed and held really well. As the snow warmed up, my "Bullet" wax became more and more sticky.
Ski Challenge and a handful of beginners were about the only ones out, so
the run was decorated with oodles of carve-marks. by 1pm..

[BobD]

Just a reminder, Buck is all racing tomorrow. All the runs will have, or will have had, slalom race, or practice courses on them.

BobD

[Mr. T]

Will the ski racing horde continue on sunday?

[Gerg]

D-Team will be racing all day Sunday on Warner's Way, Redtail Ridge & Milk Run, and Ski Challenge is in at 5:30.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/9/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>-6F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>???</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2 (me, erik)</td></tr></table>

Morning

late start for my morning. after seeing bobd's post i was reluctant to head out. kept checking the tower cam. despite the race course set up on milkrun it looked vacant. pulled into the parking lot and it was about 3/4 full. out on the run, the crowd wasn't bad but you had to be careful near the bottom with pedestrians. maybe the cold temps kept everyone away.

the snow was already chewed up by the time i got there. my carve lines in the snow were inconsistent. some chattering. some ice here and there ... especially near towers 5 and 6.

i didn't like the traffic spilling onto crossroads from olympic. i know erik wasn't a big fan. saw him fall on his sword in order to avoid a kid that was not in control. nice heel-side.

it was cold enough that after about a half hour my toes were getting cold. i stuck it out but didn't stay long.


Binding Set Up

tried something... narrowed my stance a notch and tried adjusting toe/heel block positions. i've got bad eyes but it looked like my rear boot heel was farther from the edge than the toe. could be the heel lift and the sidecut. tried to compensate by moving the toe/heel position. did some carpet boarding at home (conditions sucked). out on the run i had to make more adjustments.

not sure what to make of the narrow stance. need fresh cord to be sure. i almost felt like i was too forward on the board. the effect was most pronounced when i almost went over the nose on heel-side. frickn hurt!

i noticed when i got home was i had a lot of snow that somehow got inside the boot. obviously it gets in there when i wipe out on heel-side. maybe the cuff is bending outward near the arch and acting as a scoop? the cant screw looked tight.



Next Time In The Lift Line

do the long lift lines got you down? then try this:

<param name="movie" value="http://www.soundboard.com/sb/playerskins/singleTrackPlayer3.swf?trackURL=http://www.soundboard.com/mediafiles/MzMwNjEzODcxMzMwNjg1_bFPEN0wxp50.mp3&vol=70&txtColor=0xffffff&action=start&title=Ash - Boomstick&photo=http://www.soundboard.com/memberphoto/932119762932280.jpg" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed wmode="transparent" src="http://www.soundboard.com/sb/playerskins/singleTrackPlayer3.swf?&txtColor=0xffffff&trackURL=http://www.soundboard.com/mediafiles/MzMwNjEzODcxMzMwNjg1_bFPEN0wxp50.mp3&vol=70&action=start&title=Ash - Boomstick&photo=http://www.soundboard.com/memberphoto/932119762932280.jpg" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="296" height="50"></embed></object><a href="http://www.soundboard.com/" ><img src="http://www.soundboard.com/1x1.gif" border="0" alt="soundboard.com" /></a>

:eplus2:

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/10/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>6F but warmed up to about 20F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>well... okay early</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 7 (me, erik, ben, joe, bobd, bill, bruce)</td></tr></table>

Morning

parking lot was 3/4 full pulling in. went directly to the ski school to get my lift ticket. the line at the main ticket office extended outside and was long.

9 AM: decent cord at the start. lots of little kids getting ready to race. after 2-3 runs, joe talks me into going to olympic. no one was on it and the rope tow was turned on. i did 1-1/2 turns up the rope tow. the rope kept slipping through my gloves. gave up and took the couch back up. stayed on crossroads. ben shows up with a new toy. metal is the new black.

10 AM: crossroads was a fricking blast, [1] . there were some really gifted people standing in the middle of the run doing absolutely nothing. [2]

Fox-9 showed up with a camera crew to do a segment on the races. producer came over to us in the lift line and asked started asking questions about "your raceboards". joe and erik gave the guy an explanation about the boards. he asked if they could record a few clips of just us out on olympic for a news segment. "Oh hell yes!". we signed waivers. so four of us were out on Olympic while Fox-9 videotaped us from the bottom. just did two runs. [3]

bob d shows up. bruce takes off to work on his bindings.

11 AM: challenging to hold an edge on some parts. joe was riding behind me. he said that whenever he saw me go into ice he'd change his line. [4]

crossroads was getting choked with people. couple times i just gave up when i looked uphill. i don't trust people behind me. was watching erik from the chair. he was carving away. saw this little kid on skis coming down fast behind erik. the kid wasn't turning whatsover. little kid overtook him on heel-side. erik skidded out to avoid the kid who just kept on going.

left at 11:45 AM.


Afternoon

back out at 3 pm. ben borrowed me a spare 3 cant disk so that i could experiment. going from 6 to 3 degrees on rear binding made me feel like my stance was too wide but once i started turning it felt okay.

from the chair the conditions looked horrible. on crossroads there were long vertical channels in the snow. when i went through them it wasn't completely bad. the trenches were fairly deep near the chair. on skiers left i found out the hard way that it was very icy i wasn't wearing kneepads. i fell toe-side and wacked the kneecaps everytime the board chattered.

warners sucked. icy and rutted.

milrun... i was intimidated by the lack of light in the afternoon. i did one run near the chair but it was icy.

left after 45 minutes.


Footnotes

1. actually, the run didn't hold up as well. i blame the skiers.
2. not completely true. while it might have appeared that the people accomplished nothing, the reality was they were really pissing us off.
3. yeah... okay, i lied. none of that really happened. no Fox-9. nothing to see here.
4. i thought the whole purpose of metal was better ice handling?

[trent]

Fox-9 showed up with a camera crew to do a segment on the races. producer came over to us in the lift line and asked started asking questions about "your raceboards". joe and erik gave the guy an explanation about the boards. he asked if they could record a few clips of just us out on olympic for a news segment. "Oh hell yes!". we signed waivers. so four of us were out on Olympic while Fox-9 videotaped us from the bottom. just did two runs. [3]

lol! :lol:



bob d shows up. bruce takes off to work on his bindings.


were these 2 events related? "oh crap, bob d's here. i better check my bindings." ;)

[BobD]

lol! :lol:



were these 2 events related? "oh crap, bob d's here. i better check my bindings." ;)

"Oh BobD, that reminds me, I must check to see if there's a screw loose in my bindings".

Makes sense to me

BobD

[BobD]

Jan 11

Wild Bill was out this morning. Conditions were very good. Coming back at 5.00 with Claire for race practice, it was boiler plate in the scraped of patches.

BobD

[BobD]

Jan 12

Conditions were good, but it's still a bit icy underneath.

Rufus was the only other HBer out this morning.

The good news is that the boxes have gone from Pete's peeve :biggthump

Should relieve some of the congestion, especially on days when half the area has race courses set up.


BobD

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/14/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>30F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>soft, loose snow on top, some areas of ice</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

snow was soft, some areas where there was ice.

beer league was out. i hate getting out on the run and seeing skiers one turn away from hitting me.

only out for an hour. nothing too remarkable.

will be out in friday morning... if the lighting isn't too bad.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/14/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>27F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>gray sky</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>decent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Morning

flat light. one of the regulars said that thursday there was fog at the top and impossible to see. i was surprised at how quick i got acclimated to the bad light. my first run blowed monkey chunks - couldn't carve - got a touch of vertigo. second run was okay. after that i was fine for the rest of the two hours i was there. the flat light didn't bother me and i was carving. i had one run where the clouds started to lighten and i could see shadows. my best run.

i was surprised at the turnout today. it was busy with adults. i had to wait for whitespace on a couple runs. i didn't see any school buses. don't know why so many people were out.

milkrun and crossroads... snow was decent.

last night i went down the backside over near teachers pet. just like bobd posted, the rails/boxes were gone. today i thought i'd make a leisure run down the backside. went down the chute, went around the corner, made two carves and then came to a stop when i saw the boxes were back again. damn!


Binding Setup

just trying something new.

last sunday i tried running 3 degree cant plates for front and rear. so last night i tried it again. it didn't feel right.

today i went out and tried to focus on the sensations in my feet and calves. after a couple runs i realized that my stance felt wide. i moved my front binding back a notch to about 48 cm (18.9"). originally i was at 50 cm (19.7 inches) but i was using a 6 degree heel lift. went back out. the shorter stance felt more natural but it slightly throws me off. need more time to evaluate it.

might try 6 degree front and 3 degree rear.

[BobD]

Then this afternoon, there was racing on Werner's, Crossroads, Olympic, and Milk run. This left about 2/3 the width of Crossroads as the only decent run.

BobD

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/16/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>32F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 4 (me, karl, joe, and some kid)</td></tr></table>

Morning

sun! some inexplicably warm weather... it was about 32F. usually at this time its in the teens or lower.

anyways, i got there at 8:50 am and the lot was filling up. went to the ticket office. the line went out the door! i literally jogged in my boots to the ski school to get my ticket.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4279857338/" title="DSC00491 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4279857338_860c64af22_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00491" /></a>

its hard to see in the above photo but the line went behind the ski rack. i've seen worse.

snow was excellent. joe and karl showed up in matching F2's.

there was gates set up for some race. some kid showed up in hardboots for the race. place was crowded. had to wait. joe did his circuit on the olympic. i was too lazy and i didn't want to overheat in this warm weather. skiers left of the main chairlift was not too crowded. warners had poles set up.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4279857830/" title="DSC00492 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4279857830_45797fb760_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00492" /></a>

i took that photo shortly after joe and karl left. it was typical for most of the day... people all over the place. they removed the gates and milkrun was decent despite the race ruts. a couple runs later had problems with snow buildup. the fin-tecs weren't engaging. went inside to play with the bindings. came back out after tweeking my bindings and did a couple more runs. i was hitting the ice underneath.

hated to leave but was hungry and severely dehydrated. left at 12:30pm.


No Reverse?

i was next in the lift line. saw the liftie run out and get something that dropped... maybe it was a pole. there was some commotion going on but i wasn't paying close attention. saw him run back to the lift controls. someone on the chairlift started screaming "STOP THE LIFT!!!! STOP THE LIFT!!!!". the liftie hits the estop. way up ahead beyond the rope fence, there was a small child dangling below the chair. if i had to guess, maybe 8 feet off the ground. another passenger was holding him (not sure how). the liftie got beneath the child and extended his hands and could almost touch the kids skis. don't know what he was trying to do. a couple people ran over to assist. a ski patroller literally ran up through the lift line. the person on the chair lowered the kid down to the people below. the child was probably 4-6 years old and was part of a ski lesson.


Binding Setup

rode 3 deg front/rear with 48 cm (18.9"). felt good. heel-sides were tighter. on one run the nose of the board either dug in or went into a small pit, i lurched forward, the boots felt like they were collapsing. i didn't have that with a wider stance.

went into the chalet after i had problems with the step-ins and snow buildup, i changed out the front disk to 6 degrees and moved the binding one notch forward to 50 cm (19.7 inches). took it out for a few runs. on toe-side, my knees felt bunched together and it didn't feel good. prolly could've used outward cant on the rear binding. toe-side also seemed to take more effort too. heel-side was strange. it took less effort and i felt like i was riding slightly in the backseat of the board. didn't like it too much.

[BobD]

i was next in the lift line. saw the liftie run out and get something that dropped... maybe it was a pole. there was some commotion going on but i wasn't paying close attention. saw him run back to the lift controls. someone on the chairlift started screaming "STOP THE LIFT!!!! STOP THE LIFT!!!!". the liftie hits the estop. way up ahead beyond the rope fence, there was a small child dangling below the chair. if i had to guess, maybe 8 feet off the ground. another passenger was holding him (not sure how). the liftie got beneath the child and extended his hands and could almost touch the kids skis. don't know what he was trying to do. a couple people ran over to assist. a ski patroller literally ran up through the lift line. the person on the chair lowered the kid down to the people below. the child was probably 4-6 years old and was part of a ski lesson.



Holy crap, but it was a busy day.

BobD

[thebionicman]

There was a lot of riders out today. The place was mobbed for the first hour, then it let up a little bit. Lots of racing going on.

Lights on, lights off, lights on, lights off. It seemed the sun really wasn't sure if it wanted to come out today. The snow was pretty good, it got pretty choppy later on but that just forced me to pay more attention to what I was doing.

[Scuff]

There was a lot of riders out today.

Eight riders in total - We were all evenly spaced, so could sit back and take in a show during every chairlift ride.
Snow was good, but I got so nervous with the masses that I switched pretty quickly to my short board. Good thing - Shortly thereafter I witnessed three on-hill collisions.

Went back to Buck at 7:00pm for my first tubing experience.
At ~8:45pm, the tube trails were deemed "too fast" after one young rider passed up and over the end breaker. There was a 15 minute course hold while the snow cat went out and "chewed-up" the run-out area with it's tank treads.
The high PSI tubes were stiff and mis-shapen but seemed to work best for me in gaining speed.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/18/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>32F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>night</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>rock hard with some light stuff</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

if you stayed home, congratulate yourself on making the right decision.

got out there about 7:15 or so. there were alot skiers raining down. there was one group of skiers warming up for a race then there was a large group of skiers in blue spyder jackets that must have been training to be instructors. oh yes, it sucked indeed.

i was shut down on every run. i'd get going when the run was clear, get midway and i'd hear people gaining on me or passing me by.

on one run i hit some ice and slid on my stomach. i looked uphill and there was this old guy coming in my direction. he was probably two towers away. plenty of distance to change lines. he kept coming straight at me. i waited to see what he'd do. at the last second he turned away.

is it too much to ask that they deviate their line way in advance when someone has fallen down?

enough ranting.

anyways, the snow wasn't great. it was rock hard. the flats at the bottom were like a washboard. went over to warners and it was hard snow with some ruts. i went over to teachers pet just to at least get away from the skiers. snow was even worse over there.

i left after a half hour.

makes me really appreciate how much fun i had yesterday.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/19/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>21F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>night</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>could hold an edge</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

this evening was good. contrast to yesterday i was able to hold an edge. a few icy spots but avoidable.

not as many racers this evening. they didn't come racing down behind me... as much.

the hill was covered in a fog or mist. don't understand weather -- why didn't it snow?

[bobble]

this weather is a pisser! :mad:

had to go out and get some coffee. swung by the hill at 8 am. its groomed snowcone.

hate to be the guy stuck out on a day like this for 7-8 hours.

slight drizzle, flat light, snowcone, etc.

i dunno... what to do?

[lonbordin]

get wet?

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/124/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>32F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>craptaculor</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>grape squishy</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Late Morning

got there about 10:30. slight drizzle. by the time i left it seemed to have stopped.

snow on crossroads was carveable but not great. there were areas where the snow was extremely soft, or firm bumpy. fell down a few times on one spot of the run near where the pitch changes. the snow wouldn't hold up. i left some serious trenches where i fell!

didn't bother with milkrun. there was a race course and they took it down when i got there. the ruts were deep! they looked like moguls from the chair. seemed like a lot of dark snow on that side.

was only there for an 1-1/4 hours. despite crappy conditions, it was good to get out at least once this weekend.


Goggle-Less

visibility was a big problem. the drizzle was beeding up on my goggles. difficult to see so i took the goggles off. much easier to see the terrain. first time i've rode sans goggles. better yet, its great to see out of two eyes.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4300550475/" title="sadie_sharpener by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4300550475_9994af14ee_o.jpg" width="478" height="229" alt="sadie_sharpener" /></a>

thanks dr. davis!

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/25/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>18F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>uncarveable</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

the snow looked promising from the chalet.

guessed wrong:

1. crossroads, hard ice underneath snow. very fast. the top snow was bumpy. could not hold an edge.
2. skiers right was rutted. at some point in the day there was a course. it took up about a 1/4 of the run. some skiers were training on it.
3. warners way. abso-effin-lutely uncarveable. yet another race course was set up. ruts everywhere.
4. crowded with racers.

a total of 5 runs this evening.

the good news is that mister C set up the snow guns all along the lift towers.

[Speedzilla]

the good news is that mister C set up the snow guns all along the lift towers.

They are just about ready to throw the switch and fire up the snow makers. A couple days of man made snow should make for some nice carving by the weekend.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/29/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>0F early morning, not sure when i left, maybe 5F </td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sunny</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2.5 (me, wild bill, and bobd on skis)</td></tr></table>

Morning

conditions were excellent (much better then wednesday at afton, sorry). not too crowded but then kids started clotting up the lift line around noon.

couldn't have asked for much better snow.

had the boot gloves on. i think they helped. i folded the material inside itself at the front of the boot to keep it away from the bale. the only part of my foot that was cold was my big toe. the rest was fine.

anyone know if tomorrow has races?


Rossi World Cup

after riding my donek for an hour, i took a ride on rossi world cup. 185? 16m scr?

took a couple runs to feel to get used to it. trent warned me that the board wasn't very lively and that i'd have to work it to make it turn. yeah, it did feel a little different but not a whole lot. turning was definitely wider.

bobd was telling me that you can push the board. on the following run after he said that, i tried pushing it on a heel-side and wound up slamming down on my back and bouncing my head off the snow. i think i lost an edge on a small roller. the headache i received forced me to anticipate the turns over rollers.

towards the end it was fun it was just like riding a 12m scr.

[Gerg]

anyone know if tomorrow has races?

Saturday AM Ski Challenge (9:30 to 11 or so, Milk Run)
Ski Jammers (9:30 to 3:30)-not racers, but will be on the hill

Doesn't look like anyone is scheduled to be on Olympic Dreams all day.

[powell1.8]

I wish I could have made it. Turns out I had to go into work early.:mad:

[powell1.8]

Ski Jammers (9:30 to 3:30)-not racers, but will be on the hill

Ski Jammers are the best!

[BobD]

Ski Jammers are the best!

I think Bob L is of the opinion ....

Most skiers develop an equilibrium with their environment. You skijammers do not. You move to a ski area and you multiply, until every run is consumed. Then you move on to another ski area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Na9-jV_OJI

BobD

[d3dan2001]

I'[m here now and will
ride tomorrow Jan 30th and maybe the 31st:lol:. anyone game????
Its better to be a skidder that a squirter I guess. I hope this skidder **** ends soon it is not what I live for. trenches baby



<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

[bobble]

I think Bob L is of the opinion ....

Most skiers develop an equilibrium with their environment. You skijammers do not. You move to a ski area and you multiply, until every run is consumed. Then you move on to another ski area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Na9-jV_OJI

BobD

ahhh yes... i was rooting for agent smith. phnk neo and morpheous.

if the skijammers could pull to the side of the run for their tech talks and let the public go about enjoying the hill, then it could be win-win.

the last thing i want to hear behind me as i start a run is "OKAY, LETS GO HAVE SOME FUN!". scares me everytime.

[bobble]

I'[m here now and will
ride tomorrow Jan 30th and maybe the 31st:lol:. anyone game????
Its better to be a skidder that a squirter I guess. I hope this skidder **** ends soon it is not what I live for. trenches baby


i'll be there saturday and sunday. usually sundays are the best -- early in the morning.

[d3dan2001]

thanks man I will be looking for the trenches. Bob what time does Buck open?

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/30/2010 International Bob Day </td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>5F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 4 (me, joe, bobd, d3dan2001)</td></tr></table>

Morning

snow was excellent. from 8:45 till 1:30pm (no break) i had serious perma-grin. it felt absolutely great!

my plan was to ride a rossi world cup (15m scr) then change boards to my 12 m scr once the ski jammers showed up. i never did. i was having too much fun on it to even consider changing. i was cranking the board! it felt solid! joe was riding his f2 slalom board, never broke out the kessler.

after the ski jammers showed up it wasn't so bad. i think they were on warners or elsewhere. eventually they started to show up on crossroads and milkrun. there were times where we'd need to wait out the masses but the snow was worth it.

at the end of the day i started to get sloppy. i had to force myself to leave.

run down...

olympic: was off limits. there were three courses set up on that run.

milkrun: first couple runs i took were on milkrun. the cord was really good. later they set up for ski challenge. after it was over, milkrun was still in good shape - the ruts weren't too bad. you could carve through them with no problem. there was still cord to be had.

newcomer dan was doing surfy heel-sides off the knoll. i'm always envious of heel-sides off a wave. i couldn't quite pull off sharp toe-side off the knoll... the location of the race fence was too close for me to pull it off. next best thing was jumping out of the knoll. on one jump i accidentally crossed through a snake of ski jammers. whoops! my bad. felt frickn cool to jump heel-side and land in a toe-side carve!

crossroads: in the early morning, cord was muy excellente. bobd brought out his world cup to partake in the festivities.

later on i started messing up. on one run i blew a toe-side at the bottom quarter, landed on my stomach and slid as far as i could go. i didn't even try to slow myself down. i was tired.

warners: earlier there was some course set up but i think it was for the ski jammers. there were some minor ruts, some icy sports but not too bad.

[Scuff]

Seldom do I miss the Sunday mornng carve fest, but my spine has beentwingy after taking a ker-plop at the MES.
Catch ya all another day!
Karl

[trent]

scuff, sorry the back is hurting. luckily dave's got a picture of you hurting it; i've got it on video too, i'll work on getting that posted soon. if you can't ride, you might as well see why. ;)

heal fast.

-trent

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>1/31/2010</td> </tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>5F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun with some clouds</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 5 (me, joe, bobd, steve, wild bill)</td></tr></table>

Morning

snow was excellent. the early temp was about 5F. i think there was a -15F windchill. warmed up a little. didn't wear the boot gloves and regretted it. after an hour i had to go into the chalet to warm up my toes. caught up with rhaskins.

more skiers than yesterday. at times it got a little crowded. i had 1-2 wasted runs.

i didn't last long. i felt the effects of yesterday. whenever i fell down i just wanted to stay down. it felt good just laying there.

the rundown...

olympic: did two runs. it seemed okay but there was something about the grooming that i didn't like... i don't know what it was.

milkrun: awesome before they set up the gates. after the races finished, it was still carveable. i jumped out of the knoll a few times.

monkey sprinkles: icy. didn't like rocks, empty bottles of Tanqueray, and the trailer homes. a chairlift would've helped.

crossroads: excellent. good runs in the beginning. felt great. towards the end i was falling down alot. the snow was good but i was really tired.


What Does It Take To Get Banned At Buck

ms. bobble was on her facebook (i just lurk). saw some guy, Austin Bruno Egghead (2/3rd correct), was commenting on buck hills wall post about being banned from buck and "i'll never go to that shthole". his FB picture showed the top of a chairlift from the rail yard. ms. bobble figured out Bruno is at least 20 years old based on him being member of eastview '08.

the rail yard is Thunderdome... two men enter, one man leaves.

he must've been really naughty. he used bad words!

[BobD]

The staff at Buck are almost too customer oriented and nice. I get the impression, you would really have to do something outrageous.

What a great few days it's been :)

BobD

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/3/2010</td> </tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>18F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>evening</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>very good</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

snow was very good. it was like hard pack with lumpy flour on top. the hard pack was soft enough to hold an edge. the only icy spot i encountered was at the very top where there a snow mound. i imagine the conditions must have been excellent in the morning.

the racers didn't come out onto crossroads as much as previous evenings. milkrun was trashed.

don't know if it was the lighting but it seemed like the runs were more uniform - not as many rolls. even the knoll near the bottom on milkrun looked shallow or lost some snow.

its been a long time since i really enjoyed boarding in the evening.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/4/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>22F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>decent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

i had to scrape the ice off the windshield when leaving work. i had low expectations for this evening.

the snow was soft and very carve-able!!! no icy spots whatsoever. very quiet. no scraping noises.

it was sleeting. my goggles were hard to see out. had to wipe them frequently. for a short while it turned to snow. despite the sleet i was having fun. snow was too good to leave.

only had two close calls. ironically it happened after the races. from 8:30pm on i had the run to myself. i let my guard down. on one run i was midway down crossroads. this racer appeared just as i was set the heel-side edge. he was within 10 ft and uphill of me. i was going fast and put on the brakes. he barely got downhill of me but not far enough to NOT hear me "HEY $%^@er!!!". i was pissed. jeebus!!! the hill is wide and barren and he had to buzz me!?! second run, another one appeared on my six... i was going fast and just happened to glance uphill on toe-side and there was this skier uphill from me bearing down. i veered off again and waved my arms to pass me.

ski patrol complimented me. another racer said he sees me sunday mornings and complimented me "you are really good on that thing".

left at closing. again i had to scrape the windshield.

[Call me jack]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/4/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>22F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>decent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

i had to scrape the ice off the windshield when leaving work. i had low expectations for this evening.

the snow was soft and very carve-able!!! no icy spots whatsoever. very quiet. no scraping noises.

it was sleeting. my goggles were hard to see out. had to wipe them frequently. for a short while it turned to snow. despite the sleet i was having fun. snow was too good to leave.


i saw a couple guys on asyms at afton, tonight. they looked like they were hooking up really well.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/5/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>32F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>super soft</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me)</td></tr></table>

Evening

there was about 2-3 inches of new snow. it was all tracked out but fortunately no push piles. extremely slow. all i did was lean into the turns. it took me awhile to get used to the slow-ness. had a few decent runs. felt surfy.

the lower part of the run had alot of snow. mostly rode flat towards the bottom.

it would've been good for softboots.

[d3dan2001]

Hey I just wanted to thank you guys for all the good input. I have been carving for ah about 30yrs now. I haven't had any input on how I was riding I usually ride with people riding soft boots. It has been the old response " wow what kind of board is that" for the most part. Bob had offered things like keep your shoulders square to the hill and aligned with your boots. then I saw BobD carving down Buck and Bob said yea that’s the other Bob and he is real technical .A short time after I met BobD my head was almost in meltdown mode :freak3:with all the info that he offered me about what I was doing and what I needed to do to get lower in my carves. Thanks guys I will have stuff to work on until I die.

[powell1.8]

it would've been good for softboots.

It sure was. I was out in the morning getting my soft boot setup dialed in before I head west. The fresh snow was just a quinkydink.

It was really wet. I asked the lifty to please dry my chair, but he didn't seem to enthusiastic about it. He did however show me where the chair warmer ON buttons are. I had to promise not to tell anyone to get it out of him. He said something about if everyone knew about them it might overload the system. To bad for you suckers, I promised.:ices_ange

Softboots were weird at first, but as it came back to me I was having a blast. I was kind of hoping the conditions would have been a bit firmer to really get a good comparison to my other gear, but I'm not complaining. I scored a new pair of stiff softboots and wanted to see how well I could carve the cord, but no such luck. Although carving the soft stuff was probably the best comparison to western conditions I could have asked for.

[BobD]

I went back for an hour this afternoon (on a board) when I saw the sun was out. :biggthump

BobD

[bobble]

Hey I just wanted to thank you guys for all the good input. I have been carving for ah about 30yrs now. I haven't had any input on how I was riding I usually ride with people riding soft boots. It has been the old response " wow what kind of board is that" for the most part. Bob had offered things like keep your shoulders square to the hill and aligned with your boots. then I saw BobD carving down Buck and Bob said yea that’s the other Bob and he is real technical .A short time after I met BobD my head was almost in meltdown mode :freak3:with all the info that he offered me about what I was doing and what I needed to do to get lower in my carves. Thanks guys I will have stuff to work on until I die.


hey dan, it was great to meet you.

sorry for the mental overload. its alot to take in all at once. there's excellent info in the Technical Articles (http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/tech_articles.cfm) page.

next time you're up maybe we could hit afton.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/6/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>32F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>semi soft</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2 (me, erik)</td></tr></table>

Morning

flat light. first runs were tough to see especially at the bottom. fortunately the lighting got better.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4336320852/" title="buck by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4336320852_a1dfececa1_o.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="buck" /></a>

snow was decent for carving. erik and i were carving it up.

a skier at the top complimented my jumps off the knoll. i'd head down on heel-side, launch and land toe-side. should've been there greg.

erik was heel-siding turn off the knoll. fun stuff.

after erik left i hung out for about 45 minutes. i checked my cell phone and saw i had a voice mail from trent. i called him back from top of Buck Mountain. trent and joe were riding over at tyack (sp?). it was overcast and cloudy but the snow was phenomenal! its not too late to fly out there.


Discovery Channel Human Body: Ultimate Machine

saw this series last year on the discovery channel. the shows were extremely well done. unfortunatly the clips are just trailers. i wish full episodes were available off the web. if it airs again, its well worth watching.

my favorite episode is about super human strength. this guy is pinned under a large slab of rock and is about to go over a cliff. he ends up throwing the rock off his chest and over his shoulders. in the full episode they show how his brain fires all of his muscle fibers in one split second to throw the rock. weight lifters can't conciously control this ability and that nature probably intended lack of concious control for our best interest. if i remember right he blows out all his muscules in his arms, shoulders and chest. he needed surgery afterward.

superhuman strength (http://www.yourdiscovery.com/video/human-body-strength-superhuman/)

the other one i liked was about sight. very appropriate to our sport.

sign and reaction (http://www.yourdiscovery.com/video/human-body-sight-reaction/)

[Scuff]

USASA races at Hyland on Sat went really well.
Set a speedy SL and a GS that we all wanted to
just keep riding all night. Snow was soft but grippy.
More like snow in the Rockies than midwest.

Might be doing some team training at Buck some evening soon.
P.M. me If interested in running some gates.

Will be out sun am.
Might do softies for a change of pace.
Unless someone can convince me otherwise.

Bobble: I LOLed at your teletubby.
Word!

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/7/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>15~20F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sun early, turned gray around 12:30pm</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 5 (me, bobd, ben, wild bill & karl in softies )</td></tr></table>

Morning

great morning! started out with sun. finished with overcast and cloudy.

snow was very firm. felt fantastic. erik, too bad you couldn't have come out today -- better than yesterday.

only drag was the crowds. it was unusually crowded for a sunday morning. saw that there was a half pipe competition and blizzard ski school was training kids. so there were times where we'd have to be patient. got alot of "what is that?" at the top and bottom. one couple stopped me to ask about the board.

a race course was set up on milkrun. when they took it down the run was a little more rutted than usual. you could carve through some of it but there were a couple spots where it was too much (at least for me).


The Invention Of Lying

ms. bobble and i rented "The Invention of Lying". i had no idea what it was about. extremely funny movie. if only!

<object width="853" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Oc79ho-PzeE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Oc79ho-PzeE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="853" height="505"></embed></object>

having said that, going to SES is overrated. i've convinced myself that i would rather spend my time at a 300 ft hill being the carviest fish in a small pond than riding at aspen. riding those high speed lifts up those gorgeous runs watching 150 hardbooter brethren carve down is a drag. man, it takes forever to carve down those sweet wide groomed runs! my thighs would be burning! yeah, no thanks.

[trent]

having said that, going to SES is overrated. i've convinced myself that i would rather spend my time at a 300 ft hill being the carviest fish in a small pond than riding at aspen. riding those high speed lifts up those gorgeous runs watching 150 hardbooter brethren carve down is a drag. man, it takes forever to carve down those sweet wide groomed runs! my thighs would be burning! yeah, no thanks.

i'll let everyone know that's why you're not here this year. oh, and joe is thinking that 1st tracks at aspen isn't worth it. silly boy.

[bobble]

i'll let everyone know that's why you're not here this year. oh, and joe is thinking that 1st tracks at aspen isn't worth it. silly boy.

trent - you are seriously killing me. :(

joe - seriously???? wtf is wrong with you! how often in your life will you see hardbooters perched like vultures on the walls of the COPPER BOWL!!!! and then to see each hardbooter drop in and make sweet carves through the bowl one-by-one like Noah's Arc!!! :1luvu:

It is truly a sight to BEHOLD!

get up early and get your ass up there!

[Mr. T]

:lol:

What he said!!!!

And its also really fun to hear all the instructors and skiers that woke up early for first tracks bitch and moan because copper bowl is completely destroyed by your ginormous gouges.

Not to mention, you need to say hi to Elle for me.

:ices_ange

[BobD]

Looks like trent and Joe are having fun in the video of WCS :biggthump

BobD

[Speedzilla]

Looks like trent and Joe are having fun in the video of WCS :biggthump

BobD

Oh yeah, well I'm having fun at my desk doing work and dealing with a-holes, so beat that. :eplus2:

[Joe D.]

Copper Bowl was a blast! Thanks for the suggestion. Elle says hello to all the hardbooters from MN.

[bobble]

Copper Bowl was a blast! Thanks for the suggestion. Elle says hello to all the hardbooters from MN.

welcome back. bet you have some interesting stories to share on the chairlift. looking forward to hearing it all.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/09/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>22FF</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>piles of snow. too dangerous for carving.</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me) </td></tr></table>

Evening

snow was deep and in piles. looked like we got alot of new snow.

overheard skiers comment on how the snow was so great.

super slow. soft. bumpy. had to fight the snow to swing board. fell down the second run and realized i was in deep sh!t.

left after 2 runs.

wish i brought the softboots.

maybe tomorrow.

[BobD]

Wednesday

Hero snow :biggthump

BobD

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/10/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>12F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>not great</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me) </td></tr></table>


Wednesday

Hero snow :biggthump

BobD

wish i was out this morning. i doubt anyone would've noticed i was gone.


Evening


at the top, the snow was firm and fast. some parts there was nothing but hard pack.
in the middle it was okay but bumpy. i stayed away from the lift towers because of the racers. skiers right was really soft. the nose dug in.
bottom pitch transition -- too ragged. i just rode flat. getting to the lift line was not fun.

:confused:

[Call me jack]

USASA races at Hyland on Sat went really well.
Set a speedy SL and a GS that we all wanted to
just keep riding all night. Snow was soft but grippy.
More like snow in the Rockies than midwest.

Might be doing some team training at Buck some evening soon.
P.M. me If interested in running some gates.

Will be out sun am.
Might do softies for a change of pace.
Unless someone can convince me otherwise.

Bobble: I LOLed at your teletubby.
Word!

i'm interested! i'll send you a private message, too.

edit: i can't private message you, for some reason... email?

[Scuff]

Call_me_jack:
PM.. Email... I guess it's called the same thing here on Bomber.

Will be racing this weekend in Wisconsin, and next weekend at Giants ridge,
but will let you know if/when we set up a day for gates at Buck.

[Scuff]

Snow has been pretty phenomenal this week out at Hyland Hills.

Tonight both the main lot and overflow parking lot were full of vehicles,
but to my surprise, the hills were pretty vacant...

[Call me jack]

message sent, scuff

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/12/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>at noon there was sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2 (me, and some guy)</td></tr></table>

Nooner

early morning was foggy. hoar frost everywhere.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4352327632/" title="DSC00248 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4352327632_98546c5baf.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSC00248" /></a>

hard to get excited about hitting the hill when the light is crappy. the frost however was interesting to look at. sun came out at lunch time, i got all thrusty and took off for buck.

saw some trenches in the snow. thought maybe it was bobd. saw the person who made them but don't know who he was. had a dark jacket with light trim. beard. board looked like it had a white top sheet. never caught up to him. i think he did the early bird.

stuck to milkrun and crossroads. could not carve off the knoll -- almost stuck the nose in. after that learning experience i just jumped over it. ventured to olympic but there were ruts. warners was easy going.

overall, the snow was good. maybe a little slow.

there were a lot of kids on the run and in the lift line. found out they had the day off for teacher conferences. on one run i carved under the chair. heard a kid yell from the chair "DID YOU SEE THAT!!!".

after about an hour, i was already overheating and sweating. sad to think when 25F is too warm. swapped boards at 3pm and went into the chalet to rehydrate and take my helmet off. heard a kid inside say "THERE'S THAT BIG BOARD GUY!!".

went back out. i only took two runs on my elan. i don't know... it just felt like crap. i've become spoiled. i gave up and left.


Living Vicariously Through Others

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4352720202/" title="ears by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4352720202_2584d4ed99_o.jpg" width="313" height="300" alt="ears" /></a>

in the parking lot, i listened to a voice mail from trent. he said that he was "whoring himself for donek". sean martin was having people demo his boards and taking pictures. he also said the light wasn't so great.

tried calling him back. got the dial tone, then the line get picked up. i heard about half a minute of garbled sounds. i yelled into the phone. nothing. i heard someone talking but wasn't not trent.

i then heard trent in a louder voice, "...the guy in the backpack? ... that's bob... ." couldn't hear much afterwards.

called out multiple times. no response. i heard him talking then he stopped.

next i could hear was him carving - the noise on the phone would rhythmically get loud than diminish then get loud again. sat there in the parking lot and listened for about two minutes as he carving down to the bottom. i'm guessing buttermilk.

the sounded subsided. i called out again. nothing. i heard some talk but it was garbled. next heard some mechanical noises and whirring sound.

i hear trent's voice, "THANK YOUOOOO ...".

i hung up.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/13/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>at noon there was sun</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2 (me, joe) </td></tr></table>

Mid Morning

deja vu: early morning was foggy. hoar frost everywhere. sun poked through the clouds around 10 AM. got to buck at 10:30 AM. had to park way in the back.

snow was decent. where the hell was everyone? it was soft in some areas -- trenches were wide at the apex. there was a race going on milkrun when i got there but then they started to take down the gates. impeccable timing. snow was good despite the rutting. fun me had.

joe showed up around 11 AM. we were eating up the run. it was holding up rather well. on the chair, joe regaled me with stories of his journey to a mountain where carvers run free. i want to go to there. so should you. ask him to eurocarve on his longboard.

we had many people inquire about our boards. we rode the chair with this very spirited lady that was admiring our work. she was older, wore a black ski outfit with a leopard pattern gator. she could ski quite well for her age. anyhow, she had a lot of questions to ask; does rossi make boards, how come our bindings are so high, welch village, etc. another occasion i demonstrated the workings of the step-in binding to a snowboarder. a couple of young zumiez kids were asking too.

great day out!!!


In Constant Need Of Validation

after joe left ms. bobble showed up. we were going to the buckstone to get lunch. she was standing near the racing shack at the bottom of milkrun. i started my run. did 2-3 fun carves at the top. mid way down near a lift tower there was these people that were stopped and in my line on heel-side. changed my line to go below them, went toe-side, pointed the nose back towards the middle, heel-sided up the knoll and popped as high as i could. in retrospect, i don't think it was very high, maybe a foot but i went long. i landed toe-side and carved away towards ms. bobble.

i stopped in front of ms. bobble and was about to say something like "don't make me repeat that again" when i was interruped from behind.

"DUDE THAT WAS AN AWESOME JUMP!!!!"

i was taking my goggles off and turned to look behind, it was a couple on skis. they were probably in their early thirties. i said "hey thanks".

"oh, wait... you're not a dude..." said the male.

"... huh?" i replied. didn't understand what he meant.

"we thought you were a kid" said the female.

"awesome jump!!!" said the male and they ski'd off.

"thanks again", i replied.

i turn to ms. bobble, "DID YOU HEAR THAT!!!!"

"yes" said ms. bobble. i could just tell that her eyes were rolling behind her sun glasses.

man, i hope i can keep at this for a long time. yoda like be.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4354074009/" title="thug-for-life by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4354074009_770f699a3c_o.jpg" width="605" height="454" alt="thug-for-life" /></a>


aight! :biggthump

five high!

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/14/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>10F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>SUNNY</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 5 (me, joe, trent, jesse, kent) 6 if bobd broke out the board</td></tr></table>

Sundays Are The Best

snow was excellent. nice and firm. :1luvu: held up the entire time... 9 am till 2:30 pm. still good when we left. plenty of sun, blue skies. very windy up on top. got wind burned.

early in the morning, the lift line got big. i was surprised at the number of people that showed up.

joe and trent are still trying to adapt to the minnesota reality. after riding the longboards they switch to short boards to make the runs longer.

met another hardbooter, jesse, from g-team. said it was his fourth time on a hardboot setup. not too bad for starting out.

met this woman on the chairlift who just came back from aspen this week. she said she saw a bunch of hardbooters at buttermilk. she said it was amazing to see them go down the mountain.

the rundown:

milkrun - before the race course was set up, got some runs in. after they took down the course, there was cord left but there were ruts too. all the other skiers and snowboarders started piling on the run so we'd be on crossroads. on skiers right the snow had hard patches from the racers doing their warm-ups. did a couple more runs on milkrun but then they set up another course.

crossroads - sort of missing the rollers. excellent snow. lots of fun. whenever i'd look up to the chair, i'd see people twisting in their seats to watch us.

olympic- snow was excellent and the groom was consistent. most time i've spent this season. at times it got a little busy with the hey-i-want-some crowd. did the rope tow once and my front leg was on fire. eventually a course was set up.

warners - good. something to do.

it was great day to be out.


... AND I CAN TURN BETTER THAN YOU!!!

trent laid down the law in the lift line today as only he can!!!! :biggthump

h o l y c r a p !

not sure if the message was received. just loved how trent ended it. :eplus2:

buck needs to blast the "downhill has right of way" public service announcement at the Nastar chute where a certain group congregates. update the announcement to include a blurb about carving like don't ride close (can't think of anything that makes sense to a non-carver).

there's no right to being a complete a-hole.


Liquid Smoke

where have i seen this board (http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=287360&postcount=288) before?

[Speedzilla]

Liquid Smoke

where have i seen this board (http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=287360&postcount=288) before?


Wow, that is the most awesomest board ever. :biggthump

[BobD]

Having ridden Karl's Kessler board, i couldn't resist these

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350305908772&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

two layers of titinal, decambered tip and tail, and clothoid sidecut. made in Austria, by Kessler :1luvu:

It's gonna cost me a lot of honey do list items :(

BobD

[Scuff]

11 hardbooters at Tyrol Basin this weekend.
9 racers from MN. 2 from WI (and one was a patroller!)

Looking for a pair of Burton 3D discs (pref not cant discs) let me know if you have extras just collecting dust.

Sorry for my incessant off-topic posting..
I miss Buck...Considering a couple turns at Buck on Tuesday evening.

[BobD]

Bob D's honey here:1luvu: Before you all feel too sorry for him, let's talk about this honey do list that was negotiated at 6:15am (on a holiday), because he could not sleep thinking about these skis. (Funny how he snores when he's not sleeping:sleep:)

Honey Do List- completing our income tax forms...did I mention they are for 2009 AND 2008:smashfrea

I realize getting salt for our softener and touching up two 3x5 inch area on our bedroom wall would push him over the edge.

Wife swap anyone????:nono:

Do you think he'll remember to closed his desktop from now on:eplus2:

[Mr. T]

Oh, oh Bob!!!!!!! :freak3:


Mrs. Bob, I would also demand a pair of Palmer carving skis for yourself!! Taxes shmaxes! :biggthump

[BobD]

:freak3:

The real BobD

[Scuff]

Riding Buck tonight Tues 16th from 6pm to maybe 8pm to try out
some different angles. Maybe I'll see ya out there.

[rhaskins]

A little off-topic tho, but on snow none the less.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/84252162.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

Rick

[MUD]

A little off-topic tho, but on snow none the less.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/84252162.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

Rick

You should be posting that over here::eplus2:

http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/

Cool article. You'll see me back on my tele gear when I start teaching my girls to ski.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/16/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>28F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2 (me, karl) </td></tr></table>

Evening

great evening to be out!

two out of two hardbooters agree that the snow was great. no waiting to get on the run.


Red Star & Tribune


A little off-topic tho, but on snow none the less.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/84252162.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

Rick

that's cool rick. local boy makes good! congrats. didn't see any plugs for bomber tele bindings... you did tell the reporter about bomber teles, right?

this very evening two guys from the Associated Press were at the top of crossroads/milkrun (i think they walked up). i talked to them briefly (seemed kinda daft). they were doing a background story on Lindsey Vonn and were looking for kids to interview. they had a video camera and 35MM DLSR. they interviewed a small child on skis. started taking footage of the race on Milkrun.

should've told them to go over to olympic dreams. :smashfrea

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/17/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>25F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2 (me, bruce) </td></tr></table>

Evening

these things i witnessed:

a racer yelled at a snowboarder to "watch it" because the racer was uphill and didn't see the snowboarder.
lots of ski patrollers, at least a dozen. one said to me, "fun to watch you rip the hill".
a guy with a speed suit sporting a camel toe.


snow was great! should've been there.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/19/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>25F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sunny</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>decent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 3 (me, wild bill, ???) </td></tr></table>

Morning

felt good to be out. the alternative was to go into work and worry about not having any real work to do. its been a crappy week.

snow was faster than usual. the cord felt icy. the ruts tended to be wide. great to not have the race fence in the way.

fairly busy. had to wait a few times. there was a guy on an alpine board with softboots. i've seen him before on fridays. i don't know how he does it.

there was a low flying helicopter at buck. it hovered near the rail yard. its altitude was lower than the height of the water tower. you could throw a snowball and hit the heli. it headed west then came back and hovered over 35W then off to crystal lake. not sure what it was doing. looked like it was surveying the neighborhoods.

i think i'm headed to spirit this weekend.

[thebionicman]

Snow was great again today (second day in a row out there). Joe, Ben, Bill and myself were out. I haven't seen Buck this busy all season.

[MUD]

I haven't seen Buck this busy all season.

Everyone has Olympic dreams.....:1luvu:

[bobble]

Snow was great again today (second day in a row out there). Joe, Ben, Bill and myself were out. I haven't seen Buck this busy all season.

WOW!

did you guys have to wait much?

[BobD]

WOW!

did you guys have to wait much?

That was the line at 9.15 am

Smart people get tickets from the Ski School, although that was soon over run too.

BobD

[thebionicman]

Everyone has Olympic dreams.....:1luvu:

That what everyone was thinking, to bad the didn't have the rope tow open on Olympic Dreams.


WOW!

did you guys have to wait much?

I got there before the line, the lift lines had there moments.

[BobD]

That what everyone was thinking, to bad the didn't have the rope tow open on Olympic Dreams.


Ha, if they wanted the real Vonn experience, a few times up that rope tow would have given it to them. And proved that you don't have to ski out west to experience thigh burn :lol:

BobD

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/24/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>15F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>very firm</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me) </td></tr></table>

Evening

snow was very hard and really fast. i had no troubles carving from top to middle. pencil thin lines. there were patches of ice in the middle that i couldn't avoid. i'd have to slow down or lose an edge.

there was some strange grooming at the very bottom. it looked like the tiller was bouncing off the snow.

had no problems with the ski racers. they stopped at 8:15pm.

three kids were ahead of me in the chair lift line. they looked behind for the chair as it swung towards them. one says "HEY ITS THAT GUY! You can really shred on that thing! You're good".

indeed. i guess you could say i tony danza'd the hill (minus the donkee punching).

[thebionicman]

It was great earlier in the day. A little ice in the middle of the run. I wish the tow rope was going on Olympic, the condition there was great (glove burning cord). Bobd was looking great on the new ski's. I saw a couple of runs through the course, such a different sound of him cutting the course up.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/26/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>25F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>excellent</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 3 (me, greg, some guy over on teacher's pet) </td></tr></table>

Morning

great day to be out! sunny blue skies. hero snow was fun fun fun!!! felt like i was at the beach. in fact, i was sweating.

lift lines got crowded. don't you people work? did Nothing Community College cancel classes today?

first couple runs were great. i had my ipod shuffle on. first track was Devo, the Gates of Steel. next track was Led Zepplin's Kashmir. i was trying to hit the knoll in sync the music.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4390223287/" title="jump by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2751/4390223287_c561ac4da6.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="jump" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4390995310/" title="toes by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4390995310_c0f3ce8b15.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="toes" /></a>

i'd immediately land and go into a toe-side. the comfortable carver always rides away in style (photos were from a couple weeks ago courtesy of trent, but you get the point).

greg and i were killing it on milkrun and crossroads. had fun on olympic. got to a point where there were no challenges left except the terrain park.

bobd doing the ski thing. rode together for awhile. snow held up quite well. both saw an eagle in the sky. be cool to get some fish guts and lay them out somewhere and watch it swoop down.

i came close to knocking down a child. not much taller than my knee. the child was riding diagonally across the crossroads onto milkrun. i saw the her at the last second and was able to stop. she came out of nowhere. i toned it down after that.

saw another hardbooter over in teacher's pet.

towards the end i was extremely tired and dehydrated. last half hour i ended up carving straight-legged and really leaning out without breaking at the waist. i was surprised how the board really hooked into the snow. i leaned way over on a couple turns to the point where the snow came up and grazed my glove.

i had to force myself to leave. i wanted to stay but couldn't. left at 2pm.


Tele-Douches

did not see any tele-douches but i did see Duke Nukem on teles with perfectly quaffed and feathered hair (read: no helmet, no jacket).

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4390984354/" title="duke_3dl by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4390984354_5f8c3c7c8c.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="duke_3dl" /></a>

seen him a few times. not the most technical rider but his hair was so feathered in the back that i couldn't take it. jeebus! who feathers their hair anymore?!? i had a roommate in college who would spend at least an hour blow drying and feathering his hair before we'd head to the bars. he was a burly dude and could kick my ass into next week. ironically he had habits that could be best described as feminine.

i'd be interested in trying teles but i don't think my knees could handle it. maybe shaped skis. might be kinda funny to show up in skis and see the reaction of the morning regulars.


Overheard in the Lift Line

"...this is the best snow this season. just like colorado!"

[powell1.8]

My brother is a tele guy, but he's not a tele-douche. Anyway, he tells me it is not really hard on his knees at all, although it totally looks like it would be. There is now a releasable tele binding that can function as a tele binding and also be locked down like an alpine binding. It has me interested, but I'm not sure I want to get sucked into more gear.

Great riding today, but it's to bad we can't somehow tilt the hill for a bit more pitch. Like bobble says the challenge just isn't there after a while.

I left after almost getting hit and hitting someone all in the same run.

[BobD]

My brother is a tele guy, but he's not a tele-douche. Anyway, he tells me it is not really hard on his knees at all, although it totally looks like it would be. There is now a releasable tele binding that can function as a tele binding and also be locked down like an alpine binding. It has me interested, but I'm not sure I want to get sucked into more gear.

Great riding today, but it's to bad we can't somehow tilt the hill for a bit more pitch. Like bobble says the challenge just isn't there after a while.

I left after almost getting hit and hitting someone all in the same run.


It's called a touring binding, and is more popular in Europe. It means you can hike up with a free heel, but can ski down like a real skier :eplus2: Some people are riding alpine boards in touring boots, so it might be a good option.

BobD

[powell1.8]

It's called a touring binding, and is more popular in Europe. It means you can hike up with a free heel, but can ski down like a real skier :eplus2: Some people are riding alpine boards in touring boots, so it might be a good option.

BobD

I'm refering to the Rottefella NTN binding. They seem like a mix of a tele binding and a AT binding. Rottefella is the only manufacturer as far as I can tell. Not many options for boots yet either. The locking heels are an add on option.

I hear you on the real skier thing. My bro switched to tele for fear of killing himself on his alpine setup. Too much confidence. Plus he thinks tele is more zen. I think California is getting to him. I do have to admit that on the mountain, and off the groomers, I think tele skiing is the way to go if you HAVE TO strap two planks to your feet.

Everyone knows that a freeride snowboard in powder is the only real zen way to go, that's just fact.:ices_ange

[trent]

thought y'all would like this. has me tempted.... but luckily i've got some new toys being delivered on monday. :biggthump should keep me occupied and away from getting into another expensive snow sport.

http://www.rei.com/class/2724/session/3379

http://www.rei.com/class/2725/session/3380

-trent

[powell1.8]

The event is scheduled for 3/20/10. It would be nice if the snow lasts that long.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/27/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>15F early, 30f later on</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sunny blue sky</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>very firm in the early morning, soft in the afternoon</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 3 (me, steve, bruce)</td></tr></table>

Muggles

noOOooOoo!!!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4393117262/" title="P2270034 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2783/4393117262_6e4474ebf4_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2270034" /></a>

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heard that some people had emailed buck and requested that there be moguls. having a hard time believing that. hardly anyone used went through them but little kids.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4392346291/" title="P2270036 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4392346291_3c6e095c33_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2270036" /></a>


yep, lots of use.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4393118624/" title="P2270037 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4393118624_baba72d031_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2270037" /></a>

i'm just complaining because the runs got crowded. wish they put moguls on olympic. somewhere off to skiers right.


Conditions

early morning the snow was fast and firm. i was surprised because i thought it would be softer. got 4 runs in on milkrun before they set up the gates. snow on crossroads was good. olympic was closed off for race training or something.

steve and bobd showed. place got busy. at about 10am you had to be patient and exercise caution. we had some skiers that got too close. bobd suggested we go to warners. it was okay but it too was a little busy. did a couple runs and then i decided to change boards. bobd changed to skis.

brought out my elan with 9m scr. it was difficult for me to ride it. not used to making slalom turns. i was riding it way too fast for it to turn. did get a couple carves on it but it felt like i was starting over. i rode it for less than an hour. when the races stopped i switched back to the other board. more goodly.

the snow definitely changed. it felt softer at noon and maybe a little slower.

i was exhausted when i left at 1:45pm. parking lot was a mess. they had cars parked all over. have not seen them park like this.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4393119464/" title="P2270038 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4393119464_fe0ee8ebf1_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2270038" /></a>


Total Ride Experience

as i got off the chairlift i saw a skier and a snowboarder along the wooden fence looking at me. the skier was an elderly man. the boarder was about 6ft, in his 20's and had a rossi mini. ever seen a rossi mini? its a super short snowboard that's 123 cm in length. (http://www.snowboardsusa.com/html/rossignol_mini_snowboards_0.html) it literally looks like a kids board but fat.

i saw the skier motion to my board and say "ever ride one of those?". i was just about to click in and start my run. the mini-boarder says "no... i think those boards take away from the total ride experience."

i stopped and quickly turned around to look at the miniboarder. i shot back "i disagree!". politely of course. i stood there and looked at both of them for a second. they were surprised that i was listening to their conversation i guess. the miniboarder started to say something about how he prefers softboots or some lame excuse. i stared at his board for a second, clicked in and took off.

i think i dissed miniboarder in front of his dad.

[lonbordin]

Think of the muggles as a challenge. It looks from your pictures with the right line you might be able to carve through the moguls.

BTW- Well done with the Buck Hill Diary, good stuff.

[BobD]

Think of the muggles as a challenge. It looks from your pictures with the right line you might be able to carve through the moguls.

BTW- Well done with the Buck Hill Diary, good stuff.

Bobble's had experience of trying to carve through moguls :freak3:

BobD

[powell1.8]

Moguls are easy you just have to go fast enough to clear three at a time. Then just drive the nose into the forth and pop off the top of it. Then repeat.

It a common misconception to stay lose in the bumps. I find being very rigid is much more effective. I think it helps with really getting a good pop. If you can strait leg it imediately after popping off the top, it will make egde changes that much faster.

Keep in mind that unless you are willing to do some sort of inveted air mid run you're pretty much wasting your time.

Remember speed is your friend. Look at a mogul run not as bumps on the run, but as a flat run with valleys cut into it. Just ride the the flat and skip the valleys.

[bobble]

Moguls are easy you just have to go fast enough to clear three at a time. Then just drive the nose into the forth and pop off the top of it. Then repeat.

It a common misconception to stay lose in the bumps. I find being very rigid is much more effective. I think it helps with really getting a good pop. If you can strait leg it imediately after popping off the top, it will make edge changes that much faster.

Keep in mind that unless you are willing to do some sort of inveted air mid run you're pretty much wasting your time.

Remember speed is your friend. Look at a mogul run not as bumps on the run, but as a flat run with valleys cut into it. Just ride the the flat and skip the valleys.

okay greg, you first!

this happened around 2006 at one of the our MES events. i was with trent. we were the only two that stayed late at night. they had moguls on jon-jon on skiers right and there were some people down below on the flat. i didn't intentionally try to go through the moguls. i was getting cocky. yes, i really am that stupid.

started the run. somewhere towards the bottom of jon-jon i thought i cleared the end of the mogul field. bzzzzt! WRONG!!!i came out of a heel side carve and saw that i was going to go through the moguls. talk about time slowing down. i hit one, bounced off the second, came out of the field landed and then caught a toe-side edge. i felt a burning sensation in my knee. trent helped me out of my gear. went home, iced it, bandaged it up, took the day off, saw a doctor. i had a hematoma. over time it kept growing. the hematoma would literally slosh around knee and when it did, it pulled the skin and that didn't feel so great.

day of the accident. knee was swollen. couldn't see my patella.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4394817106/" title="DSC00131 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4394817106_87368f7b0e_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00131" /></a>

a couple days later...
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4394817182/" title="DSC00142 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2677/4394817182_c118db1569_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00142" /></a>


see that ring on my knee? to this day that area is numb to the touch.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4394937694/" title="DSC00163 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4394937694_2b0e20f517_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00163" /></a>


more of my junk...
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4394183733/" title="DSC00157 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2776/4394183733_27d933c1b3_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00157" /></a>

twenty days later...
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4394817662/" title="DSC00235 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2760/4394817662_f9afc07a4d_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00235" /></a>


sad thing was i had a trip to Keystone planned about a month away from my accident. i went to two doctors to see if they would drain the knee. they wouldn't. i had a previous hip injury where they had to drain it so i didn't see what the big deal was. one said it was too late as the blood congeals over time so there wouldn't be any fluid to drain.

i did go to Keystone but i rode softies. my knee was as big as ever. i was really scared of being able to make it down the mountain. i wore knee pads and taped up my knee. i did land on my knee a few times in the powder (moment of zen) and it didn't hurt. later that day i realized i could feel something happening to the hematoma. my knee loosened up and i could feel the hematoma breaking up under the skin. felt great! i was able to ride fine after my first day. on that very trip i went into the bomber shop and got me some deeluxe suzukas. didn't ride alpine it was too soon for that.


@lonbordin... thanks!

[powell1.8]

The key is to clear three at a time. Then drive the nose.

All kidding aside that looks brutal. I can see why a mogul run right in the middle of the runs is a bit unnerving. I'm impressed with your tenacity to keep riding after an injury like that. That would be a deal breaker for many.

I was unaware of the healing properties of powder, but I'm really not too shocked. The stuff is amazing. A steep run, lots of powder, and a big board make can be a spiritual experience.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>2/28/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>15F early, 30f later on</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sunny blue sky</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>very firm in the early morning, soft in the afternoon</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 5 (me, bobd, bill, bruce and carol)</td></tr></table>

Morning

snow was fantastic on all the runs. at the start it was firm. it eventually warmed up and it softened. regardless the edges held nicely. there were no courses set up on milkrun (at 1pm they set one up).

and this is the guy we all have to thank for the snow.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4396005924/" title="P2280055 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2747/4396005924_e593f21183_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2280055" /></a>

bobd and i talked to chris at the top. he started to compliment us on carving by saying he was going to give us a rake to fill in the trenches. we gave him kudos on the snow and how well its holding up. he talked a bit about that. he said that they had sent samples of the water to SnowMax to be analyzed and that they don't really know what it is that makes the place hold up so well.

it got crowded pretty quick. we all went over to olympic and i think i had my best runs there. the snow was truly excellent.

saw carol coming out of the chalet. she had a carve board. she stayed over at teachers pet.

at around 11 am i switched over to my donek. going from the rossi to the donek was night and day. the donek had a gritty or raspy feel when carving. it also felt stiffer.

bill showed up at around noon. bruce did his nastar thing.

left at 1pm.


Moguls

a kid went through the moguls and was injured. not sure what happened. the kids father was with him. i suspect that the father thought it would be fun to take his son though the moguls. all we could see was the kid was laying angainst a mogul and not moving. in the photo you'll see the father in blue jacket standing next to a ski patroller hunched over his son. later on there were more ski patrollers that showed up to assist.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4395259481/" title="P2280059 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4395259481_925fb9a3ef_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2280059" /></a>


Betty Boadercross

saw this woman at the top of crossroads...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4395227335/" title="P2280045 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2715/4395227335_005d4109c8_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2280045" /></a>


as i started to click in, i looked down and said "great snow, isn't it?".

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4395226375/" title="P2280044 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4395226375_c7c2e7f266_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2280044" /></a>


she responded, "this snow kicks ass! hey you're that orange guy i always see here on sundays. you rock!". said my thanks and asked what her name was. she said "i'm betty boardercross". indeed. said "my name is bobble, nice to meet you, and have a good run" and i took off.

did a couple runs. i almost ran across betty. apparently she fell into one of my trenches. she was lying there and couldn't get up.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4395995220/" title="P2280046 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4395995220_097e45704e_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2280046" /></a>


i helped her up and asked if she was okay. she said some expletives and told me that she was training for the ski/boardercross and that she "kicked ass". she asked if i could do the terrain park on an alpine set up. told her no. she said since i had a camera, she demanded action shots as she jibs because she "kicked ass".

i was truly bored so i followed her into the terrain park. she attemped a rail.

hey, nice approach!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4395229087/" title="P2280048 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4395229087_c884076cf4_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2280048" /></a>



woooHOOooooo!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4395996960/" title="P2280049 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4395996960_3304802f48_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2280049" /></a>



oh no! her board caught an edge!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4395997884/" title="P2280051 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2804/4395997884_9ccde976dd_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2280051" /></a>

after that i took off. was not impressed.


The End

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4395998906/" title="P2280054 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4395998906_cc8fbc720b_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="P2280054" /></a>

[BobD]

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Speedzilla]

:biggthump:lol::biggthump:lol::biggthump

[powell1.8]

Now that's taking it to the next level. My family thinks I'm a bit crazy when I bust out laughing when I sit down at the computer.

[thebionicman]

Wow Bob that was great!!!

[lonbordin]

:biggthump :lol:

[trent]

holy effing crap bob! that there is hilarious!!! :lol::lol::lol:

-trent

[Scuff]

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[jolson]

:lol:

What was it you told me Bob?.........".....carve responsibly....?"

[BobD]

Spring corn is coming. Yesterday, the snow was still that creamy powder as it was on the weekend. Today, it had that slight granular quality, a bit like Welch snow in January.

BobD

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>3/2/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>30F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>hard</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 2 (me, trent) </td></tr></table>

Evening

crossroads was fast and hard. kept blowing edges. more people on the chair were watching me slide on my stomach than trent power carving the crap out of the run. later in the evening i got the hang of it.

discovered late that the snow near the chairlift had more hold.

we went over to warners as joke. really hard at the top.

there was a course set up. a skier told us that a group of them rented space on milkrun for $400. be cool if we had a large group and have a run to ourselves

trent???? care to say anything?



Carve Responsibily


:lol:

What was it you told me Bob?.........".....carve responsibly....?"

check out this video posted by johnasmo (http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=289305&postcount=68). wait till 5:27.

[trent]

discovered late that the snow near the chairlift had more hold.

we went over to warners as joke. really hard at the top.


i don't know what bobbles talking about; everywhere had more hold! it really looked like there were big patches of ice/boilerplate/whatever you want to call it, but it must've been my goggles. i was holding an edge just fine. bobble was having an off day. warners looked hard at the top, but it rode smooth.

oh wait.... i was on my new vsr metal. :1luvu::1luvu: i've demoed a lot of metal boards the past few years, but mostly in colorado were the snow has always been forgiving. tonight was an excellent test of metal. it really does make a huge difference. bobble talked me into getting on my glass donek for the last bit of the evening. i took 4 runs before buck closed. chattered out and fell on 3 of them.

if you're not on bruce's list, get on it!

[bobble]

yes, it was a good night for all those with metal boards to test their investment. me, not so much.

i was riding my donek. i remember how disenchanted i was riding a burton factory prime after riding a donek so i bought one. lately i was riding the rossi and it felt just right. switching back to the donek i feel alot of vibrations. i dunno. it definitely needs a tune-up.

anyways, more about last night...

the top of crossroads: parts were boilerplate until you got past the first lift tower. i had fell a couple times just on the first turn when toe-side edge gave out. i had to get past that part before carving. sometimes i was going to fast and i'd have to sketch to slow down.

from the first lift tower to the middle of the run: i did okay. skiers right had patches of hard snow and so i had a hard time holding a clean edge. fell down alot over there. i was going way too fast. i'd fall and slide. my turns were elongated. lots of chatter.

middle to last pitch transition: icy in spots. again, i discovered late the snow near the tower was decent. i was too afraid of going near the towers due to the racers. sure as sh!t on my last run i went near the towers and some racer buzzed me.

all the way to the bottom: i just pointed the nose to the bottom. i had fallen a few times where it just was a reset. it was rock hard on the flat.

trent was riding his vsr aggressively while i was getting frustrated. didn't see him fall at all but he did tell me he chattered once but it was short and quick (oh you poor baby!). i chattered alot and it friggin hurt. there were a few times where i was laying in the ice he'd do a flyby. the sound of the board was quiet compared to the loud shovel-like noise mine was generating. its like his coiler has a muffler

i had to chide him into switching boards. i needed to see if he could ride on the hard snow with the same aggressiveness. after all, misery loves company. finally he did at the end of the night. i was on the chair watching. it didn't appear to affect his aggressive riding but did see him blow out some turns which he hadn't done all night until he switched to his donek. the sound was definitely louder!

finally caught up to him on the last run. the look on his face ... cat swallowed the canary! he says "i am very happy with my purchase". he said his eyes were telling him that the snow sucked but he couldn't feel it in the board.

trent later says to me "i'm really impressed that you've been riding in these conditions". normally i would've lasted about an hour or less after falling down so much.

it was good to see him ride his glass board and that it wasn't just me that sucked.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>3/4/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>30F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>lights</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>crap</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 1 (me) </td></tr></table>

Evening

very icy. uneven. hard to hold an edge. there were parts in the middle of the run where i could hold an edge but i didn't like the feeling -- felt chunky.

chattered. photo of darkside of the moon.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4407220209/" title="DSC00268 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4407220209_25174a9903_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00268" /></a>

not much fun. i fell down every run. i had a nasty heel-side blowout. was going to fast, got rocked to back of the tail, right hand hit the ice chunks and i got pulled down flat on my back.


it wasn't very crowded. if only the snow was softer.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4407987958/" title="DSC00276 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2797/4407987958_6aeb0f669f_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00276" /></a>


i like this one. reminds me of the movie "Chronicles of Riddick". where the Lord Marshall would be in two places at once. cool movie.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4407220487/" title="DSC00274 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4407220487_ff47a442a1_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00274" /></a>


yeah, it was quiet. hope this weekend pans out.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4407988302/" title="DSC00279 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4407988302_b58a9ef1e3_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00279" /></a>

in summary. you didn't miss a thing. there were some trenches in the snow near the lift tower. was anyone out earlier?

[BobD]

Soft booted for an hour lunchtime. Snow was soft, but carved nicely in soft boots. The sun was hot. I wore a thin shirt all morning.

BobD

[thebionicman]

I was out during the day yesterday. Some of the ruts were 4+ inches deep, it started out firm then softened up, quite nice.

I should be out tomorrow morning.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>3/6/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>36F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sunny</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>not too shabby</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 5 (me, erik, steve, karl, and john?) </td></tr></table>

Morning

first tracks... before some skier tried to erase them.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4410988985/" title="DSC00294 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4410988985_47ea3a773f_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00294" /></a>

yes, the snow was good but it did have hard some hard spots. i liked olympic better than crossroads. got somewhat crowded. at noon the top of the hill was slushy. before i left the edges were holding nicely whereas early morning i had to keep my speed in check. karl was riding hyland and couldn't get enough so he came to buck.

some pictures to slow down your browser. here's erik...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4410989485/" title="DSC00297 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4410989485_268132d834_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00297" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4411757764/" title="DSC00300 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4411757764_e9d1c4369c_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00300" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4411760962/" title="DSC00307 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/4411760962_d52c1a26d7_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00307" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4411761554/" title="DSC00308 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2747/4411761554_e483061471_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00308" /></a>

... and steve

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4411758974/" title="DSC00303 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/4411758974_aae714f46f_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00303" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4410992505/" title="DSC00304 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4410992505_3e0bd040e7_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00304" /></a>


Boardercross

boardercross day. i got up close to check it out. early morning there was no way could i go through that course on an alpine board. lots of bumps.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4411088729/" title="DSC00286 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4411088729_7103125a4d_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00286" /></a>

yet, someone did bring an alpine board to race. we met john. guess he rides at afton. just getting back into it after a long hiatus. apparently he rode the same course 10 years ago and blew out his knee towards the bottom. was watching john from the chair. on one run he was in 2nd place and was nearing the last roller when he caught an edge and went down. he quickly tried to get out of the way of the other boarders behind him. finished last in that heat.

pure frickn' mayhem. saw one adult boarder go down on inside of the 2nd clusterfnck. he was on his hands and knees trying to avoid the other racers. the hockey-helmet-muffin-top guy tried to avoid the guy but hit him in the head. the guy got up, wiped his chin and looked at his glove (looking for blood?) and rode back down albeit slow.

if Curling can be an olympic sport, then there needs Rollerball! i'm talking cannons, steel balls, spiked gloves, tripping, punching, death blows, and cycles. all the elements are in place! right now! greedy nation-state corporations running the planet, dystopian future (or present), chicks, wheels, what's not to like?

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kGwE-uDao7Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kGwE-uDao7Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

and i want the 1975 James Caan version not the lame-ass 2002 LL Cool J version.

[thebionicman]

That was fun today, the cord right away was nice and firm. I want to come back down for the mayham tomorrow but not sure if the weather is going to cooperate. Thanks for taking the pics!

[powell1.8]

The snow still looks nice and white, but the weather report for the next week or so could not suck more.

"And then, depression set in..." -John Winger

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>3/7/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>too warm</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>flat at first, got sunny, went flat, then sunny...</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>soft</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> 4 (me, erik, steve, karl) </td></tr></table>

Morning

from where i was sitting, it looked like you guys were railing! when the sun came out, it would've been a better day to take photos. erik, you looked like you were in your element.

after skiing, i did break out the board but only for 4-5 runs. snow was too soft and maybe dangerous for aggressive riding.


Skiing, that Fine Lusty Exercise

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4414879275/" title="how_to_ski_0 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4414879275_6ebe49df98_b.jpg" width="671" height="1024" alt="how_to_ski_0" /></a>

read here. (http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2009/02/12/heres-how-to-ski/)

The Eighties

when i was in high school, i was not a good skier. yeah, i'm dating myself. back then:


olin mark skis and hanson boots were the sh!t
ski ballet
grabbing ski poles and spinning down the run with your partner (female of course)
spread eagles and helicopters
downhill ski jackets had down in them
at buck, kids used to hit a jump from milkrun onto what is now called redtail ridge
hyland only had one chairlift
we were certain there would be a nuclear war with russia


i had problems keeping my legs together. that was the technique back then. i occasionally skid after high school. as recently as 2006, i went skiing with my wife's brother-n-law at keystone. i was frustrated. i was crossing my tips and fell down many times.


Guaranteed Learn To Carve

today, bob d. started me out on short skis. it felt strange at first as i was using a different set of muscles and the skis were extremely short. i had issues with the nose of the skis wobbling. i guess the nose wasn't engaging the snow. bobd told me to keep my shins engaged with the boot. that helped a little. it took me a couple runs to get used to skiing. i was doing hockey stops, snowplowing, etc. very important stuff. he then explained how to initiate the carved turns. didn't feel comfortable at first. i was fine with initiating the turn but had issues with what to do with other ski or as bob called it, the recruited ski.

switched to longer skis and went over to warners. the conditions were slushy at the top but decent from the flat on down. bob had me go through more drills. the skis stopped clapping. bob explained the nuances of carving on skis. i had a break-through on one run. i initiated the turn and could feel the sidecut do the work just like an alpine board. in my head i thought okay i can work with that. on a later run i got a little lower and making longer and faster carves. getting lower helped me overcome my fear of getting out of control. with each run i got a little more confident. towards the bottom i would try to make smaller carves. it was almost like being on a stepper like this one (http://www.brookstone.com/twisting-stepper-exercise-machines.html?bkeid=compare|mercent|googlebaseads| search&mr:trackingCode=6F0A04EF-B6CF-DE11-A84F-0019B9C2BEFD&mr:referralID=NA&GANTrackingID=brookstone_109446887).

from the chairlift bob pointed out my tracks. after all the failed attempts of trying to keep my legs together, my tracks were close together and in parallel. bob thought i needed to widen them up a bit.

did two runs on crossroads. was able to carve a couple turns but was not used to the speed.

fun day! i feel that i've learned alot in one session.

thanks bob for lending me your skis and teaching me how to carve on them. you're explanations of the subject matter and diagnosing areas of weakness were extremely helpful. i'll try again. maybe i'll get a pair of skis at the next ski swap... providing the funds are there.

[BobD]

You are welcome Bob. What amazed me, was that your legs were parallel while carving. That's the hard part normally.

BobD

[Wisconsin Lover]

Replying to Bobble's point about him seeing me laying there and getting thrashed by the hockey helmet guy during the boardercross race. I do have to say that Buck hill does have a very friendly Ski Patrol staff who is willing to lend out some free bandades and nice cold ice packs. Let's just say I don't look as pretty as I did before it happened. The whole reason I was down was because the guy who was in 3rd place clipped my board on the landing of the jump, lost my balance and went down into the berm. Well, that's boardercross for you.

I kind of blame myself for having a badly bruised cheekbone for not wearing my full face helmet because "it was too hot". I guess I will never second guess myself again.

All I want to know is if I looked like a tough guy getting up and brushing it off and still riding down the course???

[thebionicman]

I saw the Bob's for a couple of runs on Warners, the ski's looked like fun.

When I got there I ran into Steve right away. We made couple of runs and realized that compressed wet snow at 35 degree's is rock hard. Decided to go in for a coffee/hot cocoa, I was about to leave but Steve convinced me to wait it out. We went out after Karl rolled in and the conditions got much better. I think it also helped that a little bit of sun came, the flat light right away was horrible.

I felt pretty sorry for the dh bike guys. That course was horrible, ruts were over a foot deap. Hopefully they can do one earlier in the season.

It's a shame that the season is looking to be about over. I was having a riot today, I really do love my Coiler.

[Scuff]

Visibility - poor, poor, poor.
Snow - Snow was grippy and wet. Firmer than expected at 9:45am.
Grooming was consistent - anything less could have been dangerous.
Saw a Biker-cross guy try to jump the last tabletop and fell forward on his front tire, then chest>Neck>Face... "Scorpion-ed" Think the Ambulance may have been for him.. I didn't stick around to see how they managed to race 4 wide on bikes through the course.. wow..

Erik!! - Plz turn on your e-mail - I'm trying to message you brutha.

[bobble]

Replying to Bobble's point about him seeing me laying there and getting thrashed by the hockey helmet guy during the boardercross race. I do have to say that Buck hill does have a very friendly Ski Patrol staff who is willing to lend out some free bandades and nice cold ice packs. Let's just say I don't look as pretty as I did before it happened. The whole reason I was down was because the guy who was in 3rd place clipped my board on the landing of the jump, lost my balance and went down into the berm. Well, that's boardercross for you.

I kind of blame myself for having a badly bruised cheekbone for not wearing my full face helmet because "it was too hot". I guess I will never second guess myself again.

All I want to know is if I looked like a tough guy getting up and brushing it off and still riding down the course???

i saw you scramble to get out of the way. when he collided with you, i winced. i'm sure others on the chairlift did too. the guy was a big dude.

i don't recall exactly how he hit you. did he knee you in the face?

you brushed it off and kept going. you were the tough guy.

no way could i do boardercross.

[Wisconsin Lover]

I honestly couldn't tell you what he hit me with. I just caught a quick glimpse of someone coming at me, then wham-o! He appologized at the bottom and I think he was more shaken than I was. I was just pissed I didn't make it to the finals. I had the fastest board out there Saturday. But that's racing!

[thebionicman]

Erik!! - Plz turn on your e-mail - I'm trying to message you brutha.

It's on now, oops. Actually waxed the board last night so its all ready to go.

[Scuff]

'Sconsin Lover - I think I saw a SBX photo of you on the Buck Hill FB fanpage.. Rock-on.

[Wisconsin Lover]

You have good eyes, Scuff! I almost missed myself. Thanks for the tip and see you at Nationals!!!

[BobD]

If you are not on Face Book, you might have missed this...

"Buck Hill will be closed on Friday, March 12. We will open Saturday at 9am, as long as the weather cooperates. We'll be open this Saturday & Sunday from 9am to 6pm, then Monday thru Friday next week from 10am to 6pm each day. Next Saturday, March 20, we'll be open from 9am to 6pm, then we'll close for the season."

I looked at the hill today, and there's plenty of snow. I think I'll soft boot, or ski for a bit tomorrow.

BobD

[bobble]

If you are not on Face Book, you might have missed this...

"Buck Hill will be closed on Friday, March 12. We will open Saturday at 9am, as long as the weather cooperates. We'll be open this Saturday & Sunday from 9am to 6pm, then Monday thru Friday next week from 10am to 6pm each day. Next Saturday, March 20, we'll be open from 9am to 6pm, then we'll close for the season."

I looked at the hill today, and there's plenty of snow. I think I'll soft boot, or ski for a bit tomorrow.

BobD

i think i'll ride in softies too. i'll bring my hardboots just in case.

a friend wants to hit skateville so i'll be doing that too.

was listening to the weather report... sunday will be around 50-55F.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>3/13/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>warm</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>the brown snow helped</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>dirty snow cone</td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> erik - last man standing</td></tr></table>

Morning

snow was to be expected. soft, some dirt showing. at least it was groomed.

i rode softies. erik was riding in hardboots for several runs. he was auguring into the snow. i think he did better on milkrun.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4430263510/" title="DSC00313 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4430263510_637759fdb6_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00313" /></a>

kinda dark snow.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4430263934/" title="DSC00314 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4430263934_cecfb1fdce_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00314" /></a>

sweet heelside. the question is, did he pull it off?
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4430264438/" title="DSC00315 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2783/4430264438_ffc91a8618_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00315" /></a>


anyhow, crossroads was not fun fun to ride. the brown snow would slow you down.

milkrun was relatively decent. hardly any brown spots except for the moguls. too bad they didn't groom those out.

went over to warners and stayed there for the rest of the day. i was having problems with carving. toe-side was fine but my heel-sides completely sucked. i made a couple adjustments. it didn't get much better.

erik switch to softies. was watching erik from the chair. he was carving much better than i could. i thought oh sh!t!, i don't didn't bring enough excuses. much more aggressive than me.

bob d. showed up in softboots too. again, i was put to shame. couldn't transition to heel-side very well.

hit a couple soft spots. booted out and fell down. when i fell over the snow was hard on the clothing.

overall, it felt to good to get out.

some previous posts at this time of year:


3/13/2009 (http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=244517#post244517)
3/14/2008 (http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=189763#post189763)
3/13/2007 (http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=136529#post136529)

[thebionicman]

That was an interesting day. Firm, soft, firm, soft and so on. Softies were an interesting experience. I am glad I got a new set of boots, the new equipment really has gotten better. The only thing I would like is a better highback.

[bobble]

<table><th width="125"></th><tr><td><b>Date</b></td><td>3/14/2010</td></tr><tr><td><b>Temp</b></td><td>50F</td></tr><tr><td><b>Visibility</b></td><td>sunny</td></tr><tr><td><b>Conditions</b></td><td>soft </td></tr><tr><td><b>Hardbooters</b></td><td> --- </td></tr></table>


Morning

early this morning it was thick fog in my neighborhood. i eventually got out and it was partly cloudy. from the parking lot, the runs looked slightly brown and yellow. when i got to the lift they were running a groomer up and down crossroads.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4433050646/" title="DSC00318 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4433050646_9f75cf2df6_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00318" /></a>


the groomed snow was super soft!!! felt great -- like riding powder!!! i didn't engage the edges else i'd start to sink. no wucking fay would i want to ride hardboots. would've been a great day for skis. my skid marks are next to the tower.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4432277285/" title="DSC00320 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4432277285_72a3436f37_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00320" /></a>


after a bunch of runs, i went over to warners. it wasn't groomed but it had softened so it wasn't too bad. olympic must've been groomed last night because it looked fairly clean but not much cord. it was fine to ride. rode milkrun. it wasn't groomed but it was soft. it had dimples and bumps. slightly brown.

the mogul field had lots of dirt showing. i saw this rider going down the moguls and almost turn right into the dirt. at the last instant he pulled over onto the top of the mogul. oh man! that would've sucked.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35481914@N05/4433051236/" title="DSC00321 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/4433051236_14ddef46c0_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00321" /></a>


had a good time. glad i went.

as of today, i got 55 lift tickets from buck. i think overall when i coumt afton, spirt and welch, its about 62.

[Speedzilla]

Season over.

[Scuff]

Snowboard season is never over...
It's just temporarily on hold until we get more snow.

[MUD]

My season never even really started.....:(:(

[Speedzilla]

My season never even really started.....:(:(

Yep, me too.

I need to get out West in a few weeks to try and make up for it.