train36

The Forces are suppose to be good for everything and I like them for the park and cruising around but definitely not a freeride binding. I don't find them stiff at all , front to back they are solid and responsive but the lateral flex is pretty soft, which is good for rails . The flex pattern on them is somewhat different but I like them a lot. I don't like capstraps so I I don't know if the one on the forces works well or not, I ride it over my toes. Other bindings to check out would be the Rome 390's which I have also heard good things about but haven't had the chance to try out.

I have them on four different boards, 3 pairs of forces and one pair of Force DLx . I have been riding them for a couple of years and have not had any problems with them and like them a lot. The forces are good all mountain and I have the Force DLx on my freeride setup.

It happened to me at Bromley , snapped my highback in half. I now always put down my highback when getting on the lift.

I'll be there in February , anyone know a place to get discount tickets to Vail at. The place is real expensive, 92$ a day! , thats crazy. I could do almost two days at Brighton for that much. But I never been to Colorado and got a free place to stay l, so it evens out.

I was up there last night and it was pretty good, I like the setups in both parks alot. I fell pretty hard on the flat box , I got a little unbalanced going onto it and slipped out, it was pretty funny. Smacked my head pretty good on the box and then the ground, luckily I had the helmet on. Black Bear has a good flow to it , and I like the flat down box at the beginning.

Yep they have a mini pipe at the top of terrain run that was cut today, they also have a butter box, flat down box , rainbow box and a mailbox set up sideways on top of some snow. They cut the pipe and were grooming all morning, its a real cool feature. You can only get maybe two hits but its fun and a nice change of pace. The regular pipe is pretty much filled with snow and I could see them cutting that soon as well, Sidewinder has a ton of snow on it.

The parks were in good shape today, come around was nice and so was lower sidewinder. I was really only hitting the box on lower sidewinder and hit the cylinder type thing at the bottom once that got open. I also got to take a run through terrain run before I left and was very impressed. The mini pipe was nice and the boxes setup on it were also fun, small but fun. Conditions were great all over the mountain and it was another good morning session. Its nice having terrain run open because you can hit almost any run and get to it some how, at the end of a good run its nice having a mini pipe and a few jibs to play around on.

I was at Blue also yesterday ,great conditions. I got there around 7:15 am ,got a ticket and was on my way up around 730. It felt great riding a high speed quad and some long trails since i spend most of my time up at Bear Creek. I was really impressed with the park, everything was setup nice and the park crew was fixing everything all day. The up flat down box was real fun and I was mostly hitting that.

Really nice photos ,the first one is one the background on my computer. I like JF/BB a lot , every time I go there I always have fun. The snow quality and the grooming are what really stick out there, conditions always seem to be good. I usually spend most of my time at JF and haven't been to BB in a while. I like JF better b/c they have some challenging runs on the east and still have a decent park. I usually venture up there one or two weekends a season and stay with a friend who works there.

Be there around 4

I just got back but from BC a little bit ago, definitely good conditions for opening day. I didn't even take a lap through the park though , I try to stay away from it till I least get a day or two on snow. It looked like they had some fun features out though, I can't wait to try that step down box. I was mostly on the other side just messing around, the lift on that side did go down for around 15-20 minutes and it sucked waiting there. I will be up there again tomorrow probably around 4.

Lol, thats great. I seen an ad for it but thats the first video I seen. I don't really care about Deer Valley or Taos b/c I have no interest in going there. Why the hell would you want to ride at Deer Valley with there 300 inches or take a 20 minute drive and hit Snowbird and Brighton which average 5oo inches, have better terrain, and usually get closer to 600 inches. It would be nice to ride Alta and see what all the hype is about. Mad River does look like it has some good terrain and I wouldn't mind hitting that up.

I'm in

January issue , page 79. The offer is VALID : Opening - 12/21 , 1/2 - 1/18 , 1/22 - 2/15 , 2/25 - 3/30 and 3/31 - 4/20.

No, you just bring the clipping form the magazine to the Mansfield guest service desk.

In the new Transworld Snowboarding Magazine they have a good deal on Stowe lift tickets. With the ad in the magazine you get three consecutive days of riding at Stowe for 90$. There are some blackout days during holiday periods , but there are plenty of days you can choose to use it. I have not been to Stowe yet but planned on getting there this year and will definitely take advantage of this. Any cheap places to stay near Stowe?

You can get a decent set up for a decent price. You say you are a size 10.5 which would means you should be okay on most boards, but I would recommend trying on boots first and make sure that is your size. If you wind up being an 11 you have have some toe drag issues on boards with small waist widths, but if you angle your bindings you should be okay. A quality first board would be a Atomic Hatchet , you can get a left over for around 200$ or a new one for around 300$ and it is a good board. I would get either the 153 or 156, probably the 153 if I was you. I ride the 156 in the park but it handles good outside the park. The flex is pretty soft but not too soft and comes with a factory 2.5 degree base bevel which will keep you from catching your edge as much while learning. I have been riding this board for a year and love it and will probably get a new one every couple of years as long as they keep making it. You can't beat the amount of tech you get in the board for the price point it is at. Other boards I would suggest : Rome Agent , K2 Jibpan and Never Summer SL. As for bindings I would get some Union Forces , well built bindings that have not let me down. I have a pair on each of my 3 setups and have had no problems at all. You can get a pair of leftovers for around 120$ I have also heard good things about Rome bindings, both Union and Rome bindings are highly adjustable and shouldn't have a problem with your boot fitting them. Good Luck and hope you enjoy it , I am just throwing some suggestions out there , I am sure you will get a lot of different opinions on equipment.

Thanks for all the replies. I will have to study the trail map a bit more and see all the stuff you pointed out. Looking forward to heading out west again, I did Utah a couple of years ago and am ready to try out Colorado. After that than maybe Jackson or somewhere in Montana.

OFFPEAK

I am also heading to Vail this year for a few days of riding towards the end of February. My buddies parents got a place out there shacking up there for a few nights. For those that have been there what part of the mountain should we start at first and where can we avoid crowds. Should we head right to blue sky basin and work our way forward , or hit the bowls up first? If there is fresh snow I am sure I probably want to be in the bowls or the blue sky basin right away. Any info on how to approach this resort would be helpful.

I got the new Absinthe film Optimistic and I liked it a lot. Mikey Leblanc was hitting street rails with a tobaggon with bindings screwed to it! It was a good mix of big mountain and park/street.

The Titan is going to be one hell of a stiff board with probably not much give to it at all. It is labeled as the stiffest in their lineup, it is probably a freeride beast. I got to see if NS is going to demo boards around here, I would like to check out the Heritage, Titan and T5 and see how they compare. I want the Summit as a powder board but hear it does quite well on groomers and in the trees, but ithe stance is really setback.

What shop do you work at? The only shop I know that carries or carried Never Summer was the G-SPot. Never Summer boards are great but I don't think they have a huge market around here. Most of their boards are geared toward the freeride side of things whereas most boards sold around here I would think to be mostly park and a few all mountain boards. They have some freestyle boards but they are pretty stiff as well. I have an Evo (their park board) and its probably the stiffest park board I have ever been on. The SL is suppose to be little softer but has an inch setback to it which isn't the twintip most people are looking at for the park. The best part about NS boards is that they are so durable , they come with a three year warranty. I am looking at buying A NS Summit as my powder board , waiting for a good deal. I did hear good things about the NS Revolver which is a midwide all mountain board which might be good for you, but with that kind of discount just get the flag. I have the Anthem and like it alot, you won't be disappointed.

Well guys sorry to start a controversy , it looks like I need to get me some tunning supplies. I am pretty sure I will be able to do it. I have always tuned my side edges myself and did my own waxing and repairs. I have bee looking at ski-racing.com and they seem to have some nice stuff including a base bevel guide with2 degrees and a nice side edge tool. They also have a nice pair of vices for snowboards and a good looking table. Looks like I am going to have put out a good amount of money but it will pay me back in the long run. Thanks for all the advice. One more question what grit diamond stone do I need general tuning ? , they have an abundance of different brands and grits on that site.

Okay, it looks I need to get some tools then. Any advice on workbenches and vices , also I need to get a base edge tool, any ideas? I found some online but most only go up to 2 degrees.