method9455

I know burton binding plates drive me FUCKING CRAZY trying to get my stance right on non-burton boards. I avoid burton boards and bindings for that reason. I ultimately ended up with missions on a jeremy jones and its fine, but I'll take my Alphas on my Altered Gen any day the conditions are good. Rome makes sick sick sick boards, their bindings are good but the ratchets SUCK. Little known fact - Ride ratchets fit on rome bindings. If you can buy the ride ratchets from a ride warranty box at a shop and put them on your romes, you just made the sickest bindings ever (I have 390s with ride team ratchets, good stuff) the normal rome ones jam a lot.

It makes a lot of sense with modern composities. Lets talk about why boards are cambered and why you would want an anti cambered one. A "normal" camber board, when laid on a flat hard surface touches about 5" from either tip, and the middle is arced. There is usually 1cm or so of space between the ground and the middle of the board. Once you stand on it, it loads up and flattens out. The Bannana, Hellbent, Pontoon, Lib tech board (whats its name?) are the opposite, when you lay them on the floor the middle touches and the ends are up in the air (obviously one would drop but you get the point). When you carve into a turn on a board, the board loads up and bends with the middle about 2-4 inches below the normal sheer line. (More/less - you get the point). The force of this bend loads up the board like a spring, as you come out the turn you feel the tail push back. This how turns are initiated gradually, the more force you put the smaller the radius of the edge, the tighter the turn. The less you push the less the camber reverses, the more gradual the turn. It is also where some of the "pop" comes from. If you you think about it your normal/flat load on the board has the tail already loaded up a bit. Then when you push more you gain extra load in the tail and it springs you up. Most springs are f=kx^2, meaning that for every bit you deform the board, you square the force you get back from it. Snowboards have a much more complicated relationship than that - but the point is that a small deflection causes a lot of loading, and it increases very quickly. The difference between 1 inch of bend and 2 inches, is not the same as the difference between 2 and 3. So having that camber preloads up the tail so you get into those higher loadings with less deflection area - sooner. So it feels like you have more pop and more power out of turns than the same laminate schedule for a non-cambered board. HOWEVER - if you change the laminate schedule (make up of the board) the camber is irrelevant. Compare a wood core biaxial fiberglass board like the Dominant to a triaxial fiberglass with carbon/kevlar like the Altered Genetics and you have 2 totally different boards even though they have the same camber. So camber is just one part of it, and it used to be more important but now that they are fine tuning laminate schedules, it isn't as necessary to create the high pop high loading boards. There is also a push for softer boards. Look at the noodles of the Ride Kink, Burton Dominant, K2 WWW, etc - they are selling very well. A reverse camber board would be even easier to butter, even easier to press, even easier to do a bunch of fun quick turns with. It can initiate turns very easily. When you put a normal camber board on its edge, the camber is shooting the board 2-5 degrees in the opposite direction of how you want the board to bend. With a reverse camber board when it is on its edge, it is already initiating the turn 2-5 degrees more than you point the board - thats a 5-10 degree difference, and considering you only turn the board about 30 degrees off the fall line, thats about a 30% difference in board movement for the rider. Will it replace regular camber? Probably not - it has a lot of disadvantages for power boards. But for quick turning easy to butter/press/jib with, I think it will be the shit. Pair it up with brass edges and a 4x4 pattern (less inserts = better flex) and I would buy it for a fun park board.

Theres no reason for them to get Planet Snow - the jiblab is perfectly competent. Their rails last year where some of the sickest ever even without Shaun and Julian, and their setups where good WHEN THEY GOT THE SNOW. It is not the jiblab's fault that they don't get the snow, those guys are some of the best park builders around - I would say superior to the JFBB guys without ParkLogic - except the JFBB guys get way more snow to play with. 500k will help, I'm at JFBB this year for my pass but if they improve for a year I would consider going back since the drive is so much shorter. FOr now count me as one of the creek kids at JFBB.

I thought you got a DVD at the end of the year with all them?

Actually the fact that it is a 50 acre ski hill makes it worse. Have you ever noticed the more petty a person's job is the more they freak out over little things? When I worked at a McDonalds our manager used to freak out all the time, now I work at a bigger corporation and the guy above me handles millions of dollars a year and he is really chill - less insecurity. People get this inferiority complex and insecurity and get all cliquey and go nuts - its like a bunch of 13 year old girls.

Eh, I found the crowd to be chiller at JFBB than Mountain Creek but thats kind of like comparing Newark to Somalia. Its funny to compare the vibe of all the kids around here who are so "hardcore" and "badass" and shit, but actually aren't that good, and then you go up to Tremblant or something, everyone is really nice, no one brags, and they're not that loud, and they kill it. So I just laugh at those kids now, even if they're better than me, there are thousands of guys better than them with half the noise that I actually respect.

As a wakeboarder my 2 cents: Water needs to be at least 8 feet deep to cushion the falls, I don't think I've ever sunk more than my height but you don't want people touching the bottom - the pond is probably deep enough. Generally when I go its 2 or 3 guys wakeboarding, we go for about 4 hours, and we alternate. Its really hard to go for more than 15 minutes in a row. So the pricing would have to take into account that you go about 15 minutes on the water, 15 minutes off. Maybe do it by laps? Buy a pass with say 20 laps on it and you can do 5 laps, wait around for a while, do 5 laps, etc because I find wakeboarding takes a lot more out of you than snowboarding. Cable tow wakeboarding is very different from regular wakeboarding. Basically because there is no wake since there is no boat. It is GREAT for jibbing though. There is real potential here for BC to be world class in that respect, the jibs in the wakeboarding world now are a joke. Throw some guys who have experience in the snowboarding world at it, and some interesting stuff can be made. I don't really understand how guys get air without a wake, apparently that part becomes more like kiteboarding. It will probably be the cheapest way for people to go wakeboarding in the area. I own a boat, boards, etc and the gas alone comes out to a lot more than $25 an hour. Much less if you had to rent stuff or find a place with a boat. It would be an interesting activity that a lot of people would travel for. Plus - I find wakeboarding to be closer to snowboarding than skateboarding is. Also, a wakeboarding pond can be open earlier and later in the year than a water park. I generally go from like 7-10am before the ocean gets rough, and start in may and end in october. We throw on wetsuits and you are only in the water for about 2 minutes before you get up so it doesn't matter if the ocean is 55 - not the same as a water park.

It should help with crowds a bit. BUT - The issue was never lack of acreage it was lack of snow. Creek normally opens South first, that means it will be more likely to get snow down for the park as base first, and then extra on top for features which is a good thing, but it doesn't change that to get the park going you need to have Vernon concurrently. I also wonder what will happen late season when they normally close down everything but Vernon? Are they still going to be running the lifts at south? That worries me. I do think it will be nice to steal the fan guns from the race team for the park, but in the end it is about how much snow they make and when they make it, not how much the trail map says should be park. How many acres where dedicated to park on the map last year? What percent of that was open by mid January? I think about 0 because I remember hiking Sayonara's 4 features on my last day before my ripped spleen and I was pissed. That was AFTER I had been to JFBB and hit 25+ features. If Creek is serious about this, they need more snow. And as a sidenote - look at what happened to Mount Snow's "BIGGEST PARK IN THE EAST" - last year. They never opened it because of weather. Big on paper doesn't mean open in real life. I have left Mountain Creek as a passholder but I would rather not, I'm driving an extra half hour each way to get to JFBB - but come January I will be shouting louder than anyone that I told you so when JFBB (and others) has more stuff open than "The Biggest Park in the East".

Ah yea google et all screw up times for long highway drives because they assume you drive at the posted speed limit. Which in most cases is not true, and in mine always isn't. Doug - thanks for the tip on getting to Blue. Next winter I'll get back to you on details for that because the other way was extremely long.

Exactly. Fuck mountain creek. As a season pass holder for 4 years, I left them this season and moved my pass to JFBB. The drive is much longer, the mountain much smaller, I have to drive between two different mountains, there are no high speed lifts, the vert is tiny - but it is still LIGHT YEARS better than mountain creek. I agree with the concept - Vernon has been an overcrowded mess for a while. But that is not because the park (is supposed to be) there. The lack of snowmaking is the problem. If zero G and eagle don't open until february then horizon is going to be clogged up! But now the super pipe is on vernon and not south, so is there going to be NO park at vernon but if you want to ride pipe you have to stay there? Realize it is at least 20 minute trip from vernon to south, you go up the gondola, ride to granite, go up the (slow) quad, and then take sojourn all the way over, and then take the quad up and now you got to south. In the other direction the sojourn double takes 12 minutes (i've timed it) so its about 15 if you go down quick from the top of granite. Not exactly accessible. Are they including bear peak in this? Finally all of that brings us to papasteezes point - SNOWMAKING IS THE PROBLEM. The trail map featured enough acreage for park for the last 5 years, in fact they have eliminated a bunch from the map because nothing happened (flying fox? wtf?). The problem is that when the park guys bring out these gorgeous jibs and then making the perfect setups, the trail next to them is grass. I have no problem with the park guys, they're awesome - but they need more fucking snow. They have jibs that are world class, they make jumps that are perfect, ramps to rails that are examples for everyone, and they're doing it on literally 6" base. The first rain storm and rocks start poking through. So this is a bunch of crap until they upgrade the snowmaking system or increase their budget (I think its more of the later than the former, how many nights where the guns NOT running when they could have been). I'll go up when its all open next year to check it out, but I'm going to keep a careful eye on WHEN it gets all open. Getting all of this open late in feb doesn't count to me as open for the whole season, december and january are half of the season but creek always has little in the way of parks for those months. edit---- it says that bear peak will be the advanced part (which has the fan guns) so there is hope, but LITTLE AT THAT. best quote from the article:

Additionally (having worked at a shop) I'll say you have a good setup for a beginner you didn't go out and over-buy on expensive stuff but things like the bindings (I ride Betas but I was originally going to grab Deltas and I've been riding for about 6 years now) will last you forever. As for season pass vs not season pass - I would recommend getting one. If you are serious about learning how to ride expect to take 5-6 days before you can reasonably expect to get a good degree of control. At that point with an adult ticket you are $300+ into the hole. A season pass is not much more. The pass encourages you to go up after work for two hours, or that saturday morning before a family function that you otherwise wouldn't spend $50 on a ticket, or the day it rains and there is no reason to go up and spend the money - except you already did so why not? If you pick up a season pass and don't eat the mountain, and own your own equipment, this sport isn't terribly expensive. If you try to buy tickets and go in any type of rhthymn, you will spend boat loads. For me, I went 11 or so full days last year by the 2nd week of January (when my season ended due to an injury in a different sport) and I live east of you (i think) so its doable. to get up there quite a bit. The year before I got 35 days doing an hour drive. My impressions on the places to go: Mountain Creek - avoid at all costs unless someone hands you a free season pass (I had a free one last year and still only went once) or you love the park (which you won't yet). Even at that the park is starting to suck. It is crowded on the lifts and the trails, the snowmaking sucks, and there isn't much in the way of beginner terrain (the whole mountain isn't steep but its so crowdy and icy, it isn't a good place to learn). Also there isn't much in the way of advanced terrain once you get better. There is no lodge really on the main side of the mountain, it is spread out in such a way that getting around for novices SUCKS. Crowds are akin to port authority bus terminal, or the new york marathon. Dodging traffic is a skill you will be required to learn, and lift lines easily get to 30 minutes on the weekends. Camelback - Despite the hating - that is largely on the park scene. I find the trails to be a bit narrower but it 'feels' bigger than all the other PA mountains to me. The snow is generally ok, the management makes a lot of bad decisions but those largely won't effect you becuase generally its closing advanced terrain people want open, too often. I wouldn't root against it if you are learning. Crowds are less than mountain creek but not insignificant on the weekends. I'd say lift lines on the high speed get to be 5 minutes sometimes, but generally the hidden lifts never have lines. Shawnee - Ultimate place to learn. Every trail is basically easy, the setup is easy to navigate, snow is pretty good, crowds aren't too bad but at times can get intense on the easy trails. Never really lift lines. Blue - Excellent mountain for someone of your ability, easy trails on either sides of the mountain that are still very fun, and have a consistant pitch. A lot of easy terrain is just a little steep then turns into a parking lot, and repeats that cycle. If you fall on the flat part it is hard to get up as a boarder at first. Paradise is evenly steep pretty much the whole way, and is a great trail. I'm not sure of lift lines since the new lift was added, but they where not much of a problem when I've been there before. Crowding on the trails isn't too bad but I've always gone on weekdays so I'm not sure (unlike the others). This is the furthest mountain from jersey. If youa re on 80 I'm not sure the best way to get there, I'm at the intersection of 80 and 287, so I take 287 north to Creek, or south to 78 and then take that to Blue but obviously you aren't going to go east -> south -> west to get there. It is probably the furthest for you which is why I say cross it off. JFBB - This is where I moved my season pass to. Not sure if I would recommend it for you, the terrain at BB is lots of fun but mostly park (and gets crowded on the weekends). JF has better terrain but most of it is a bit more difficult. You might want to try camelback and shawnee for a year or two and then move over. I think once you get to the intermediate/advanced stage JFBB is the place to be.

Where in Jersey are you? There is no way jfbb is 45 minutes further than shawnee. It takes me about an hour and ten minutes from Parsippany NJ to JFBB, it takes about 45-50 minutes for Shawnee.

The "BB all Park JF all free ride" idea has problems both ways. 1) Night riders need some trails at BB to keep them happy 2) Day riders wouldn't get any park at JF, they would need some to keep them happy If it were me: Same amount of park features at BB, primarily BB park, Freedom Park, and Merry Widow, with some border cross type stuff and the plaza. This leaves some room for free riding, as well as some bunny hill area. Still primarily park. Widen up Merry widow a little more. Of the four big trails 2 (Mitt-weg & dauf-whatever) are non park, and 2 (BB Park & Merry widow) are park. That seems relatively fair. Then you have 2/3 bunny areas, and freedom park out to the riders left. On the skiers right you have the bunny schuss area which is half park half not because it is border cross. In my book that leaves BB 50% park 50% not. At JF I would remove the easy/intro park from Janes Lane. That trail is too narrow and steep for an intro park. Plus intro features should primarily be hike-able. If you notice a lot of beginners sit, suck up the courage to hit something (which takes a WHILE) and tehn do it over and over. Thats why there where massive clogs on Janes Lane this year. If you put the easy/intro park up on Frosty - its out of the way and thats really all you need. What do you want to put in a begginer park anyway? A 10' double barrell flat rail, a 10' flat box, maybe a ride on battleship box/rail, and a 8 foot jump? That can fit in almost nothing - look as Mountrain Creek's vernon easy park, its barely the size of frosty and they had 3 rails, a jump, and a log topped mini quarter pipe this year, worked out perfectly. Keep ONE park as is, and the rest of the mountain is free ride. That leaves JF as 20% park 80% not. That would keep everyone happy. It opens up a fun trail (Janes Lane) again, but still keeps the beginner element. As for features themselves, I'm not going to comment because I stopped riding JFBB after I got hurt late January.

I really liked it, no extra shots of things that weren't landed, nothing that was ridiculously overspun for no reason, just tight riding by everyone in the video. The compression is probably googlevideo's fault, but great video otherwise. Doug - jumps always look bigger in person. Things that look TINY on video, in person seem way bigger. Which makes the jumps that look huge in videos - un freaking imaginable in real life. Thats why no one believed the 70 footer claim last year, because in the video it looked half the size of a 70 foot jump thats videoed in a comp, in person I'm sure it was big but a true 70 foot jump is monstrous.

I bought my pass today. I only got the Midweek, the price difference wasn't worth it. My break from school is December 15th - February 11th, aside from 2 trips, I should be up 3+ days a week at both JF and BB. After Feb 11th - probably not going to be at JFBB much unless I can schedule my classes with a day off spring semester. Anyone else know yet?

Yea seriously driving 90+ on my way to poaching the ski hill is more likely to be dangerous than actually hiking it. I'm not saying its safe, but really what about snowboarding is safe? I don't care how good you are, if you do hard trails, if you do the park, if you race, if you go out of bounds, even just on a green - you can get hurt. It is just what amount of risk are you ready to take? I'd consider it a hell of a lot safer than the people hiking up mountains like you see on TGR, and legally wise - its would end up being a fine I'm sure. Don't post your pictures/stories online where people can see them, and keep it to your friends, don't be stupid about where you park, and don't break anything on the hill, or hurt yourself and they will never know.

Compared to the alternatives, I would say hiking a closed ski hill is the safest of the things I would do on a weekend. As for the signs etc - its all liability. If you hurt yourself they can point to the sign and say hey HE WAS TRESPASSING. This is one of those "at your own risk" type things. And doesn't the appliachian trail cross Blue Mt? How can they say no trespassers?

Go at night when no ones there or go up the trail higher than they can see you from the base its not like there is someone on a sled going up and down all the trails making sure no one is on them. Yea it is trespassing and you risk getting a citation, but if you don't make it blatantly obvious it shouldn't be an issue.

Just started going to the gym again this week to start doing some light stuff as I work up to sailing season. The team put the boats in a week ago and is back to 6 day a week practice but for the moment I'm still just driving the coach boat around and doing shit like that. I think late next week I'm going to try and start sailing again and then I've got a race every weekend from then until end of October, and some weeks in between. So hopefully by next winter there won't be an further injuries preventing me from snowboarding, but at the moment I'm feeling pretty positive.

Its probably the same size as the market for mid april skiing down here - and I remember killington being open to mid may before.

I want to point out that it looks like JFBB and Mount Snow will close at the same time, even though Mount Snow is 1,000 feet higher and a 4 hour drive north of JFBB. I think that says something about Peak's ability to push a long season. If they pushed at Mount Snow as hard as they do at JFBB - they could be skiing in mid may.

that is a shit load of snow still, I'm amazed. To think I went out (to coach) the UD sailing team already and you guys are still skiing/riding. This is why my pass is to JFBB next year. Sidenote if you have a midweek pass does it cover the weekend now that they're closed during the week?

Actually if you are used to creek you might be happiest at Shawnee, their park was vastly superior than Camelback last year although I haven't been there this year, and it is the closest. None of them are all that far from NJ, JFBB being the farthest off 80 except for Sno, Blue is worth checking out too. If I were you'd I hit up Blue, Shawnee, and Camelback once each at least to compare them - I swithced to PA over Creek even though I live in middle of NJ this year - although Sno will be even more improved next year so might not be worth seeing this year.

Yea man try getting slush/warm temperature specific wax. With the right wax you can go nearly the same speed as midwinter on that kind of stuff - but with the wrong wax or no wax you aren't going anywhere. A course stone grind on the board helps too but if you don't even have slush wax you won't feel any differance there.