I’ve used Mountain Drop Offs for a number of years – no complaints at all

https://www.mountaindropoffs.com/%5B/url%5D

I tried the Gutr and didn’t really get on with it – not just for aesthetic reasons.

I’ve tried the Halo bands which are great but most of the time whether it’s for running, cycling (under the helmet) or splitboard touring I use a Buff Headband – there’s a lot less material and they don’t get whiffy!

Clicky

Best wishes indeed to Mark & Co – always had top notch service from them and viewed them as an ‘LBS’ even though I live 200+ miles away.

Bought 2 bikes from them in the past couple of years, pretty much on the strength of their customer service, so will be sad to see an independant shop go … :cry:

I found the Altura braces a bit short and had to extend them with another piece of velcro in order avoid the ‘self wedgie’ when bending over! :oops:

I can definitely recommend splitboarding – I love it! :lol:

Would it be possible to keep (vaguely) up with someone on skis on the flats/ups?

Absolutely … change-over with a splitboard is perhaps marginally slower than skis as you have to fit your board back together, but with practice this is minimal. It’s certainly much faster than snowshoes!!

How is the technology now, I seem to remember the early boards being a bit of a faff and quite flexy?

The past 5 years have seen some real progression in splitboarding in terms of technology and also choice.
You’re right, the first splitboard(s) I tried tended to be really soft – especially in the nose. They were ok in powder, but there was little in the way of ‘performance’ in mixed conditions as the board can’t be torsionally flexed. This has all changed though and many of the modern splitboards ride similar to a quality board.

Bindings have also progressed – From having to bolt normal bindings to a Voile plate over pucks – which placed your feet a couple of centimeters above the board, to dedicated splitboard bindings from the likes of Spark R&D and Karakorum.

Whilst these bindings have made improvements on the ‘interface’ with the board, there is perhaps some way to go in terms of matching top end bindings but improvements are being made each year (mainly in terms of stiffness).

Her: “Can we have another baby?”

Me: “Only if I get to go to Slovakia again.”

Her: “Deal. You get your trousers off, I’ll get the mask and the Astroglide..”

Probably the funniest posting I’ve read on STW for some time! :lol:

Well done GrahamS!

Rode cliff side of Mam Tor looking towards Winnats pass, guess that’s frontside?

It is in my head as I always think of ‘Coldside’ as the backside

Touched a few rocks on the way down but thats the risk you take

So pretty much ‘Scottish’ conditions at the moment? :lol:
Might have to dig out an old board for a giggle if we get a bit more snow!

MAM TOR yesterday ….. bit fookin tufty.

Good effort! Did you ride off the front side or the backside of Mam Tor?

However on my 179 (!) splitboard

Wow … that must have a helluva turning circle! And that’s a big jump up from a 155 Evil Twin.

Do you mind me asking what make / model that is?

Thanks for the hints dude

You’re very welcome. Good luck with the progression and have a great holiday! 8)

it cocks up the carve at the end of the turn and ruins the pop/flip into the next turn

I think two of the most common ‘habits’ than inhibit a riders progression are: 1) leaning into the slope and bending at the waist on a toe-side and 2) looking down the slope on a heel-side, rather than across towards the desired direction of travel resulting in a stalled/skidded turn rather than a carved turn.

As many have said: sort out your stance; look where you want to go (whilst also keeping an eye open for other slope users); use flexion & extension to weight and un-weight the board and drive it round using each of the ‘four corners’. This prevents counter-rotation and stops you kicking the tail round that so often results in poor technique and can leave riders struggling when riding off-piste and in powder.

Don’t dismiss a forward stance because it old fashioned – the amount of pressure you can apply with this stance is phenomenal in comparison to duck.

I think alot of this depends on the style and age of your board – most modern boards of the twin-tip, or directional twin-tip design are designed to be ridden with 4 distinct pressure points.

Older style racing or GS boards are very much carve-monsters and may well benefit from a ‘forward stance’

I was wondering if there was any handling or performance gains to be had with more evenly balanced angles between each foot

Once you’ve worked out what your ‘biomechanical’ angle is, (i.e the ‘natural angle \/ that forms when you assume an ‘action’ or ‘ready’ cowboy stance) then how you transfer this to the board can involve a bit of trial and error.

As mentioned earlier, having the greater angle on the leading foot is to do with your field of view.

Unfortunately for many progressing riders, if this angle is too agrressive then it can result in the hips & upper body twisting into to fall line which then means they ‘break’ at the waist and lean over towards the slope on a heel-to-toe side turn.

A more neutral stance, keeping the upper body ‘stacked’ & alligned with the board and looking over your shoulder in the direction you want to go may help improve your toe-side turns.

Worth considering having a lesson or getting someone to film you and then tweak your stance accordingly.

Other than comfort, is there any performance / control benefit to making my stance more balanced?

Do you mean balanced as in the same angles +/- on each binding or balanced as in having a centred stance?

One of the main reasons for having a higher angle on your leading foot is so that it ‘opens’ your body up for visibility in the primary direction of travel.

+1 for Neil McNab’s ‘Go Snowboard’ book!

The DVD’s is worth the cover price alone as it features the lovely Jenny Jones! :D

+12 -9 with a fairly wide stance.

It’s all down to biomechanics though innit? I will tweak my setup though by +/- 3 degrees as the season progresses and muscles adapt (or injury requires it)

Think the general rules (as mentioned above) is that the total angle shouldn’t exceed 30 degrees and when you bend you knees (keeping a straight back ie. without ‘breaking’ at the waist), your kneecaps should ‘track’ roughly inline over your ‘second’ toe.

This should help reduce the risk of knee injuries and facilitate edge-to-edge transfer and allow torsional twisting of the board.

The exception is hardboot carving when +ve angles are used for both bindings

few mentions of split boards…

what the deal with touring on them? everyting I have read about them is about using them to skin up stuff; can you use them for longer flat stuff, and for undulating ups and downs without going back to ‘board mode’?

Splitboard technology has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years, so there’s much less of a drop in performance when comparing a splitboard to a normal board.

Anywhere a ‘ski tourer’ can go a ‘splitboarder’ can go. They are absolutely fine on long flat stuff, undulating terrain and the odd down! (although I did have a ski lesson last season so I could improve my snowplough & turning technique a bit).

Just checked out passes at Chamonix

£250 WTF

I may be out

Isn’t that for 6 day Mont Blanc Unlimited? That includes Aiguille du midi Courmayeur & Verbier, so it does actually represent pretty good value if you intend to make the most of it I reckon. Alternatively just buy a day pass or 1/2 day for or the Chamonix area you want to go to.

Compared to some North America resorts, the Chamonix MB Unlimited is quite reasonable

*is disappointed this thread title was not in reference to boarding schools*

hahaha! yeah – same here – I thought this was going to be a thread about ‘fagging’

If cruising the groomers/staying in bounds/on piste then no backpack required I reckon – they are awkward & cumbersome when riding the lifts and if heavy they can alter your COG and therefore impact technique – especially when learning.

If off-piste/backcountry, then yes, carry a backpack with shovel, probe, water, food & layers etc

terrible situation ratswithwings.

Fingers crossed for a positive outcome!

Wow GrahamS … I’ve not seen a uPVC gingham pink table cloth for years! Respect! 8)

Nothing wrong with having a drop of red whilst buffing up your base, but ‘igrf’ is right I think (unless is the light/glare/refelction from the table cloth) – those rails look a tad peely-wally & dry.

+1 for an iron without holes. The Dakine wax iron is recommended (as is there wax tune kit.

Also find it useful to have a ski/board tuning stand/vice as it means you can scrape the base and tune the edges without the skis or board wondering about.

I’m thinking of taking redundancy and spending the money on an 11 week ski instructor course in New Zealand

Do it! You know it makes sense. :D

I was made redundant a few years ago and did a NONSTOP course in Canada – absolutely loved it. Life is too short to miss out on an opportunity like this!

you can buy a forerunner strap kit from amazon that the 500 will clip onto, so it’ll stop dropping the signal.

I bought one of these for my Edge 500, however it proved to be less accurate on the wrist than it was in a back packet – probably becuase of ‘arm swing’ which Garmin state the Edge 500 doesn’t take into account as it’s just designed for cycling.

So I’m in the same situation as stuartie_c and looking at the forerunner 10 or 110 as I’m only really interested in logging the run rather than any ‘real time stats’

BTW, has anyone looked at the tax arrangements of UK companies trading in the US?

Well Diageo’s tax affairs are certainly worthy of note!

If I’m honest, it’s not really the behaviour of Amazon, Starbucks & Google et al that surprising – it’s the fact that the the UK public didn’t realise that most multi-national companies structure their tax affairs in favour of shareholders that’s most suprising …

I’m a balding bloke in my forties so fashion isn’t exactly high on my priorities! :roll:

Comes down to personal preference I reckon – I can definitely see the advantages of ‘over’ gloves/mittens if you have narrow(ish) sleeves on your jacket and you frequently ride/bail in deep powder.

However in my own experience with ‘over gloves’ I always ended up with more snow in the gauntlet/cuff, forming chunks of ice which would invariable make their way into the glove part (when removing the glove etc) and melt thus making it harder to dry – leading to ‘funky glove’ syndrome. Plus I never got on with the extra bulk & fasteners & tassles etc.

Bit like mountain bike gloves I guess – some people like the gel padded variety and some people like the low profile seamless ones.

Vive le difference! :D

I HATE when kids in ski school insist on having the gloves tucked under the sleeve like that

lol … I know exactly what you mean michealmcc. I think winter sports/hobbies bring out the OCD in many people and there’s nothing worse than a fiddler & faffer when everyone else is ready to roll!

… bit like Rafa Nadal constantly picking at his wedgie, rubbing his nose, sniffing his fingers and putting his hair behind his ears! :lol:

I reckon the ‘gloves under the sleeves’ thing only works if you have low profile gloves and suitable sleeves in your jacket. Watching people trying to do it with a gauntlet/powder cuff style of glove is like watching someone trying to cram a sleeping bag into a stuff sack! :?

Digby wears a combination of Howies merino base layers, Arc’teryx jackets, TNF & Sweet Protection trousers, Dakine & Arc’teryx gloves. (worn under the sleeve cuffs).

Used to really like Westbeach stuff, but I’m a bit clumsy so they don’t tend to last very long. Once had a pair of Westbeach trousers that ripped open at the crotch – realised this when it was about minus 20 and when i picked up speed on the board, I could feel ‘Stephen & the twins’ shrinking! :oops:

screw driver and lifting method is a bit risky tbh.

+1

As there’s a great chance of slipping and scratching the uppers even with a screwdriver tip covered with electrical tape – plus I don’t think it’s necessarily any quicker than dropping the lowers

Do it! You won’t regret it I’m sure!

But it’s a long way to go for less than 2 weeks I reckon – especially if flying to the west coast. I definitely recommend BC, but whilst Lake Louise is stunningly beautiful, as others have said it is often icy and the snowfall isn’t as high as other resorts.

Another advantage of staying longer is you have more chance of getting some ‘Legendary Powder’

– Yes it can be properly chilly – take extra layers
– The locals are often incredibly polite – as others have said the lift line experience is totally different to Europe
– Mountain restaurants aren’t as prolific (the mountains aren’t as high as the European alps, weather is often ‘locked in’ with low visibility and the majority of resorts/run are below the tree line
– Riding in the trees is fantastic – you can still find ‘freshies’ in the trees days after a storm – and you can still ride in flat light
– Apres Ski isn’t the same as Europe, but then that’s not a problem for many people. Most resorts are situated some distance from the local towns & majority of accommodation which means that Apres Ski in the likes of BC tends to be a few beers & nachos when the last lift has closed … there’s no silly face painting and dancing around to Euro-Disco in your ski boots until the early hours! :lol:

everything inbounds is avalanche controlled. becvasue there’s so much, it doesn’t get massively tracked out, but find a virgin powder field is quite rare

I did the ‘Fresh Tracks’ breakfast thing in Whistler a few years ago and was lucky enough that it had dumped overnight.

I managed three laps off the ‘Harmony Express’ chair before there were any other tracks but mine.

There’s good & bad points about Whistler/Blackcomb, but there is no denying that the amount of [Patrolled] terrain on offer is gargantuan*!

*I’ve always wanted to use that word in a sentence! :lol:

Congratulations to you and your good lady CFH! :-)

Why is snowboarding referred to as “riding”?

Because a ‘Boarder’ is the opposite of a ‘day-pupil’ and ‘Boarding’ is what one does before the aircraft taxis and takes off! :lol:

It’s riding innit!

Hope’s Bash ring fits RS7s with a 4 bolt spider fine!

I’m 33-34″ waist and have got a few pairs of Dakine shorts. All in Large and the fit is pretty much spot on. Most dakine shorts (inc the Boundary) have velcro waist adjusters for those ‘skinny’ days :-)

… I can’t bring myself to spend money on MTB coaching.

Do you mind me asking why DezB? … any particular reason why you make the distinction and are happy paying for one and not the other?

As an aside, I remember (from the old forum) reading about a now highly regarded MTB Coach from this forum heading out to Chamonix snowboarding with a group of mates a few years ago, being adamant that they wouldn’t have any snowboard lessons and they were looking forward to the ensuing ‘carnage’! … 8O

I reckon I’ve benefited hugely from MTB & Snowboard Instruction/Coaching … but I’m just interested in the [obviously very personal] distinctions that people make regarding both disciplines.

I get the feeling that a lot of boarders don’t/won’t do lessons (too cool for school?) and just try and pick it up as they go along.

Sadly I think you are right CFH … it’s an odd mentally that does seem particularly prevalent with the ‘one week per year on the snow in Europe with the lads’ brigade, which, when combined with a hangover, some ‘derring-do’ and a big dose of testosterone can often endanger themselves and others when they crank up the speed etc without having complete control over the board. :-(

I wonder if it’s the same mind-set that dismisses MTB coaching as overlooks ski/snowboard lessons as a fundamental building block of winter sports?

Ski & Snowboard lessons are a fantastic idea I reckon. Whether you are starting out (“what we remember best is what we learn first”); as a refresher; or for progression when your riding is stuck in a rut.

Snowboarding has matured I think – the days of the ‘punk-maverick-have-a-go-hero’ are long gone and now that snowboarding is permitted in pretty much every public resort, a bit of consideration for your fellow snow-sport enthusiasts goes a long way, so at the very least a skier should be able to snow-plough to a halt and a snowboarder should be able to stop on either toe or heel-side edge before they leave the bunny-slopes!

I’ve used a Ski/Snowboard boot dryer by ‘Thermic’ on my waterlogged 5:10 Impacts with great success. Originally purchased from Snow & Rock but doesn’t seem to be available anymore.

They dry with warm air (approx a couple of degrees above room) so don’t overheat/cook your footwear!

Guess something like the following would do just as well:

Boot Dryer

Apologies tricky, you’re correct and the Stinger is just for doubles. What crankset have you got? Is there anyway you can move the drive-side inboard a bit more or have you exhausted all of these options?

If you can’t tweak the chainline/interference with the backplate, then I’d be tempted to file the top guide. It can’t be any more of a bodge than my cable routing on my Blood!! :-)

Which year Blood have you got? I think the BB shell dropped from 83mm in the 2009 models to 73mm from 2010 onwards.

I’ve got the 83mm BB frame and have tried a E-Thirteen DRS and E-Thirteen Heim. Settled on a Blackspire Stinger.

I had to space the Stinger with some washers to prevent the chain dropping & jamming in the gap between the granny and the backplate which means there’s some chainrub on the backplate when I’m in the granny/smallest cog combination, but it’s pretty minimal.