Late Season Powder

It's hard going when you're at work and friends are sending you photos of awesome powder! Check out these bluebird shots from the Jason and crew at Snowmotions - photos taken by Steve Dowle from the World Snowboard Guide!

There's a small chance that I still may be able to make a late season trip out to Switzerland and ride with these guys. It's slim, but there non the less. Jason reckons there's gonna be snow 'till June :) So if anyone out there fancies some late season pow, you should check out the snowmotions site... they've got last minute deals on a 5* chalet in Arosa, and some last minute availability at their Lodge in Churwalden, Lenzerheide, between 28 March - April 18.

If you're interested, you can read about my trip a couple of seasons ago, 2007.

Cuts And Bruises

Yesterday morning was another skate session, four of us, it was good.

We started at five bridges. No kick-flip yet, but, I did nail four or five smooth frontside boardslides; stoked! They were nice, I'm definitely getting them now... I just need to get one or two on film.

We spent some time trying to skate the mini-ramp there. After we all agreed that it sucked, we decided to head to the skate park at Silksworth, sk8 city, or something; I just call it Silksworth. Anyhow, as none of the others had been before, I was waxing lyrical about the small bowl - it's loads better than this sucky mini-ramp.

It was a fairly short session, but good non the less, with all agreeing that the bowl is good. I've been out on my skateboard a few times lately, but this was the first time I've been near a transition that I can ride. Cue a few cuts and bruises.

For the first time, I was trying to get over the spine by tail-stalling on the coping. There were some errors. Add that to a hang-up on the coping and a few slams on the rail back at bridges, one of which had me landing on the rail, and I'm a little banged up. Nothing major, just paying the cost. I guess I should get used to it.

Friday Night Skate

After a spot of the all too familiar d.i.y, last night, I went for an hour's skate. It was perfect.

The park was empty, all mine, clear night, and there must have been someone with a brush prior, as the surface was nicely swept. No one around, plug in the iPod, and skate.

I'm looking forward to getting better. With just a few features, it's still possible to put together a sequence that flows. It feels good. And the reason that I say I'm looking forward to getting better is that some variety would be better still. Right now I'm ollie'ing onto the box, dropping/ollie'ing off, with some momentum, one push and line up to the first rail, boardslide, and if I make it, try a (tiny) front board on the next rail.

With more moves at my disposal I could use more of the park and get a better run by landing more tricks. The ollie is still a little inconsistent, but when it comes back, I'm gonna try adding the manual to my line. I used to be close to getting this. [oh my, I can't believe that was June 2006!]

So the front boardslide is coming along. When I go for the rail with a bit of speed, which is now becoming more comfortable, I'm starting to lock into a good position, where I'm looking over my left shoulder, like I would on a snowboard. Up until last night I'd just been keeping my back facing forwards, looking over my right shoulder, and hoping that I'd drop off switch. Now, I'm hitting the rail how I want to, and I've been close to landing a few half-decent attempts. It's coming. Tripod = some film, so I can show how it's going.

And the kick-flip is so close.

Skating Is All...

Wow, it's been quiet around here. To be honest, the only thing I've done standing sideways over the last couple of weeks is some skating. I did a couple of short, evening sessions last week, and I think I'll head out a little later tonight.

The last time I was at the skate park there was a small crew there; 4 good skaters and one of the guys had a nice bag of camera gear, video and still. I took some photos too. It was fairly late so I was literally in the dark, but seems as though they had a couple of remote flash guns, I had some chance of getting an image.

Here are some photos. The first two are mostly too dark, but the timing was ok. I included the second two to show how the lighting might have worked, and me fumbling with a slower shutter speed :)

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Oh, I bought some wax from the local skateboard shop too, because the rails get kinda sticky. I was using regular snowboard wax before, that worked just fine, but I've spent that waxing snowboards. The front-board is progressing.

I'd definitely like to buy some basic camera gear. A tripod for sure. I'm skating by myself at the moment, and with a tripod I could at least video some stuff. A better flash too. I'm gonna check if the d60 has a remote control... I wonder what it would be like trying to take a photo of myself? That probably wouldn't work out too well - although Mike Basich does a good enough job :)

Part of reason for these pages being dead lately is that I've had some laptop trouble. I'm sure my electronics are cursed. Last week the hard-disk became corrupt and I had to spend some time recovering the data and then wiping the whole lot. I nearly lost some important data - all my wsg photos from Morzine.

Up until now I've been backing my stuff up once a month - to a usb drive. The hard disk went a couple of days before the end of the month, which sucked. Still, I shouldn't have left all those photos and words to chance.

So, I've signed up with backblaze, for online backups. I'd like to say how good it is, but right now the initial backup is still running... it's taking ages, probably gonna end up being 2 - 3 weeks, and that's only about 75gb. Wireless, but still slow.

Absinthe's Ready Soundtrack

There're some great songs on this soundtrack:

• "Waggoner's Lad" by Bert Jansch
  USA:
  UK:
• "Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself)" by Oingo Boingo
  USA:
• "Space Oddity" by David Bowie
  USA:
  UK:
• "Bad Kids" by The Black Lips
  USA:
  UK:
• "L.E.S. Artistes" by Santogold
  USA:
  UK:
• "Back in the Summer of 72'" by The Sun
  USA:
  UK:
• "Sleeping Lessons" by The Shins
  USA:
  UK:
• "Strange Times" by the Black Keys
  USA:
  UK:
• "Look Back and Laugh" by Minor Threat
  USA:
  UK:
• "Fa Fa Fa" by Datarock
  USA:
  UK:
• "Cattle Call" by Eddy Arnold
  USA:
  UK:
• "Love's an Enigma" by Simple Kid
  USA:
  UK:
• "Wimps" by Goons of Doom
  USA:
  UK:
• "Staring at the Sun" by Simple Kid
  USA:
  UK:
• "Six Barrel Shotgun" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
  USA:
  UK:
• "Ambush" by Figurines
  USA:
  UK:
• "Hey Ya!" by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
  USA:
  UK:

I'm starting to really like the Amazon mp3 store. Their coverage isn't as good as iTunes yet, but you can sample most of the ready soundtrack here:

Skating And Other Stuff...

I went for a skate this morning with Dave, the first of the year. I'm hoping to make Sunday mornings a regular thing. It's nice to get out, plus, if I skated more than a handful of times each year I might progress past the just-beyond-noob sticking point that I'm currently at.

I'm most interested in riding some rails, frontside and backside, because the balance and body position is so similar to a snowboard. I can feel it helping. I'd also normally say something like wanting to get some air on a skateboard, like a spine transfer or something out of the coping, but I always say that, and it's too far off. For now, I'll just leave it as it's fun skating...

It's also an opportunity to practice with my new camera. I'm not intending or trying to be a good photographer or anything like that; I just want to be able to take some half decent shots when snowboarding. You know, like picking good settings on the camera and maybe being a little creative. I'd be happy with that.

To date, since buying the D60, I've been full auto, a point and clicker. Today I played around with the burst mode, shutter-priority and manual focus. Elementary, I'm sure, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

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Feel free to critique :)

Snowboarding? Well, there's a Quiksilver sponsored event on next Friday, 27th, at Cas'. No doubt they'll put out a decent park. A good kicker? Good jibs and rails for sure. I'm tempted to go, but also thinking about planning a week away at the end of March/beginning of April, which would require all available funds...

On that note, the destination could potentially be Mayrhofen; either that or Lenzerheide with snowmotions. We'll see.

686 Tool Belt Review

It's a belt, there's not much to say, right?

That's fair enough, but here are a few points:

Tools.
Most of the 686 tool belts come with two tools: a #2 phillips and a flathead. I have seen one with just a single phillips, for skateboarding, but all the snowboarding belts have both.

Is it useful? Definitely. I've been caught out twice on the hill, one time I had my tool belt on, the other I was wishing I did, as my right binding had come loose. Most of time someone in the group has a tool, or there are the tools near lift stations - but the tool belt prevents you from ever being stuck, you get the screw drivers for free.

The buckles are also designed with an integral bottle opener, sick!

Comfort.
The buckle and loop on the tool belt are both finished well: smooth with rounded edges. You're less likely to notice this with all your snowboarding gear on, but if you wear the belt off the hill, you'll find the belt comfortable. No pointy bits of metal sticking into the skin.

Style.
There are loads of different styles available, for both men and women; just check out the 686 website, and hope you can find the one you like best in a shop. The belts come in different sizes, so make sure you get the right one. The straps are all 100%, full grain, waterproof leather. They feel good, take on a natural, worn look, and don't get ruined by all the snow.

Summary.
They're comfortable, stylish, useful and they hold you pants up. They make sense!

Burton Custom Smalls Snowboard Review (and Some More)

The Custom has been marketed as "the snowboard that does everything and some more". The Custom gets so many good reviews, it sounds like a legend and Burton keep bringing out new versions with improvements every year. After reading about the Custom I was expecting good things!

Gavin and I did quite a bit of research into boards before we picked the Custom Smalls. In fact there were three of us on the case: myself, Gav and Arran (Gavin's brother). I am 5ft 1 and 47kg so I am on the petite side and need a board suitable for my size and build. After a bit of investigation we realised that there is not a great deal of choice for petite women; well, it's not easy to get hold of all the boards available. See the post on snowboards for petite women.

Arran then suggested that I consider a kids board, great idea. A kids board means that you can get a nice short length and as long as the weight range is ok I don't think it matters that it is labelled kids.

Background
I have purchased two boards since learning to snowboard and hired one. My favourite board by far has been the Youngblood, which strangely, was the hire board. I got the YB when my luggage went missing and I had to get a hire board for a few days. They say everything happens for a reason. Well, I was pretty disappointed to hear that all my snowboard gear was in the UK and I was in Laax, but ridding the youngblood made me realise what I was missing. I found the Forum board really fun to ride, it was a new lease of life. When my luggage finally arrived I reluctantly took it back...

When I took my Destiny out (my first board) it felt like I had bricks attached to my feet. I hadn't realised until then that I don't like heavy boards, they sap your energy. It's not always easy to know when you start out what you want and what you need. I think it was at this point that I started to get a feel for what I liked.

My destiny is very stiff, great for blasting around, but way too stiff and tiring for me to jib on. My Second purchase the Santa Cruz, is the complete opposite. The SC is good for jibbing around and in the park but horribly unstable at high speed; it really chatters. It's also the slowest board that I have ever been on, it makes shallow trails a nightmare. So after riding the youngblood I decided to look for a new board, one that was stable at high speed and fun to jib on. And so I bought my Custom Smalls, well actually Gavin bought me a Custom ;-).

What was it like?
The custom feels really light and poppy. It's got a nice flex and is easy to ride. I found it really fast and stable at speed, it didn't chatter like some boards that I have ridden. My destiny was a fast board but I think I've probably progressed more with the Custom. I could tear around and not get tired. I found the destiny hard to ride all day as you have to be quite aggressive; the custom is easier to ride and feels more responsive. I was always nervous going fast on my SC and felt like I was going to bale spontaniously. With the custom I just went for it! I don't know, maybe I was just in a good mood ;-) or maybe its natural progression. It felt good and gave me the confidence to relax aand have lots of fun.

The custom smalls is twin tip and has the option for a wide stance. Actually it has a super wide stance. I normally use the widest stance possible but when I measured that setting compared to my two other boards it was about two inches wider! I decided on the second widest setting. I haven't ridden the adult's custom so I can't really compare them, but from what I have read they sound pretty similar. There are a few top pros who ride it, Mads Jonsson, Heikki Sorsa, Mason Aguirre, so it can't be bad!

Powder
Despite that fact that it's short and light I managed fine in powder, in fact I got some of the best lines I think I have ever had. I felt like I was floating! I used my SC last year in Fernie and combined with my inexperience with the pow I spent most of the time sinking or rag dolling... I was a fully trained gymnast after two weeks. I think the fact that the nose on the smalls has a decent scoop helps slightly. The snow in Avoriaz was slightly different to Canada and probably no deeper than 30cm.

Base
If I had to find fault I would say that the base is not great, it's not the same as the adult's board, which perhaps contributes to the low cost, who knows? The glide of the board has always been an issue for me. I have never had a board that's had a good base, indusive to speeding across the flats. I did hope that my next board would have better tech... But now that I have thought about it, it's not that important. The time I spend on flats/shallows is few and far between. Even If I had a better base I still don't have the weight to glide well. So really it's not that high on my list of priorities.

Graphics
I must admit I am not especially bothered by board graphics, I see them more as a bonus rather than a necessity. I do like the graphics on the custom, they are bright and... I love bright colours... But, had the graphics been horrible I would have still bought the board!

Summary
All in all I am totally pleased with this board, I have ridden it in Powder, on the piste (groomed and choppy), in the park, and it ticks all of those boxes. I didn't think it was possible to get a board that was good to ride around and in the park, but I am pleased to say Burton have proved me wrong. Who said you can't have everything!

It's ideal for me, and at a fraction of the cost of an adult's board it meant that I had some change left over to buy a new jacket, perfect ;-)

Lib Tech Travis Rice Snowboard Review

The T.Rice is an awesome snowboard. I wanted a soft-flexing, freestyle board, that I would ride in the park and around the whole mountain. I was willing to compramise on out-right powder performance. The Lib Tech passed with ease.

My previous board was a Nitro T2 (review), which performed well in the role that I've stated above. However, after the board got banged up riding snowflex, and I suffered in the deep freshies provided by Fernie (trip diary), I decided that I'd opt for a slightly shorter, softer flexing freestyle board, with a view to add a powder stick to my collection.

I bought the 153cm, blunt T.Rice, with Banana Tech and Magne-Traction. After riding this Lib Tech for two weeks on a variety of conditions: park, rails, piste, some ice, soft snow and roughly 30cm pow, this is my review.

Jibbing & The Park.
The T.Rice is great for jibbing around the piste. It's certainly not as stiff as I'd feared; a lot of the magazine gear reviews seem to rate this board as a fairly stiff freestyle board. I don't think that's the case. The bend-the-board-by-hand-in-the-shop test was the first clue. But after riding it, I'd say it has a lovely freestyle flex. It's not as soft as something like a Kink, but it's closer to a DH than it is the T2. It butters well, almost easily but not quite, it's lively, producing nice ollies, and it's easy to move around.

It's got smooth pop. It's not the type of board that you need to put a lot into before you go anywhere, but it doesn't give it up freely either. It's springy. I say smooth because the board seems to respond well no matter how much you put into your ollie.

I ride rails and boxes, but I don't do big gaps/transfers on, so the rail lock that I'm sure is important to some people isn't that much of a factor to me. It doesn't feel much different to the other boards that I've hit rails on, but like I said, I don't really push it that much. No problems here.

Directional Twin & Stance
Before buying the T.Rice I kind of had it my head that I wouldn't compramise on a true twin setup. Obvisouly I did, as the T.Rice is a directional twin. Similar to the Rome Agent, I can't say I ever noticed a difference in riding switch, and I'd say I spend almost as much time riding switch as I do regular. The stance is centered so there are no problems there, and on that note, there are a lot of holes to choose from. Max stance on the 153 is 25", then 23.5", 22" and I guess 20.5" (I didn't bother measuring the narrowest, centered stance). It rides well in both directions and good stance options is a definite plus.

Banana Technology (BTX)
Compared with some of the other boards in the Lib Tech range, the amount of bend to the T.Rice banana is slight. Whilst it looks noticably different from a conventional camber, I can't say I ever noticed the difference when riding it. That statement does come with a few caveats:

• I thought the pressing the board/buttering felt nice. This could have been in part due to the banana tech
• Despite being relatively short I didn't have any problems with the nose diving into fresh stuff. This could have been helped by the reverse camber
• It was the only board I rode for the two week stretch, so there were no immediate/direct comparisons with a regular board

Magne-Traction (MTX)
I had one or two doubts about the serrated edge design; I guess I wasn't sure that I was going to like it. However, similar to the Banana Tech, I can't say that I noticed that much difference. For example, lining up for jumps, gliding in a straight line, and, I'm fairly sure, riding down regular pistes, felt quite normal.

It seems kinda strange to me that such a different design wouldn't feel any different? Well, I didn't notice one difference. Towards the end of the two weeks the slopes started to get a little icy. As I mentioned above, I didn't perform any kind of board comparison, but from memory, I'm confident in saying that the Magne-Traction helped with edge hold in the icy conditions. For example, it felt better than the T2. That was impressive.

On regular pistes, I didn't really feel it. I'd say the T.Rice has good edge hold, but not fantastic. Similar to the T2, but not better.

Powder
Like any 153cm board (for me), the Lib Tech isn't going to excel in freeride conditions. However, in the two weeks that this review is based on, I did have 3 or 4 powder days, so how did it perform?

First up, let's talk about the pow itself. It wasn't especially dry or especially deep. I'd say ranging between 20cm and 40cm. In these conditions the board did well. I was loving every turn and not digging in. Nothing like the problems I had in the deep Fernie snow with the T2. All's good.

Was it because the snow wasn't too deep. Am I a little better riding fresh than I was then? Does the nose profile have a better scoop? Does the slightly wider nose from a directional shape help? The Banana Tech? All of these little things contributed I'm sure. The board did well. I was still riding twin stance, 22.5". I didn't witness a huge dump of snow, but I sirfed the resort pow nicely.

If you're packing a beeper, shovel and probe, and hiking for fresh lines, you're probably not in the market for a short, twin tipped board...

Summary
I love this board. I'm sure I'd have been happy with a DH, which was probably what I would have bought, but I have no regrets. I would say that it's the overall board that impresses me, the flex, the pop, the ride and the feel, and not something specific like the Banana Tech or the Magne-Traction, although those features obviously contribute. I was attracted to the board in the shop because of how it felt in the hand - it seemed to ooze quality. It's exactly the same on the hill.