Snow Report 2005/6 - The End of a New Beginning
I took a day off work on Friday to head up to Blue Mountain for my 19th riding day of the season. I've been hoping to make 20 days this season, but with the warm weather we've been having since March break, the hills have deteriorated rather rapidly. So unless we get a sudden cold spell with a lot of snow, I think that's it for my 2005/6 riding season.
Last season, I started to run out of things to do on my board. I've hit a certain point with my riding skills that improvements were coming very very slowly. But this season, I've done so many new and different things on my boards that it's like starting all over again. It's been quite a fun season; no regrets about ending it one day short of my targeted 20 days.
Freeriding across North America and getting my CASI Level 1
My Salomon 450-152 is my first snowboard and I've been riding it for somewhere between 4 to 5 years (I can't remember how long I've been riding). It's starting to show its age with parts of the leading and trailing edges of the top sheet starting to de-laminate. But man is this board fast. Rarely is there a boarder or skier that can keep up to me on flat areas with this board.
Coupled with Burton P1-MD bindings and my Burton Ion boots, this board is very responsive and perfect for freeriding. It's a bit short for me now (I could use another inch or so of length) but I have no intention of getting another freeride board until this one falls apart.
This year, the Salomon has spent a lot of time with me on buses and on planes. It travelled with me to Tremblant in Quebec where PDiddy and I got stuck on a bus for 16 hours sitting out a a ridiculous snowstorm and a broken down bus, arriving just as the Tremblant staff decided to go on strike. It travelled with me to Jay Peak in Vermont where I turned a novice rider into a black diamond rider in one weekend. And then it travelled with me to Whistler-Blackcomb in British Columbia where I discovered what it feels like to be riding on a real mountain. While at Whistler-Blackcomb, I also had three new riding experiences: sitting in a big huge snow covered, I understood what a caged animal must feel like when let out into the wild; jumping off Whistler Bowl I learnt what a real black diamond run is and why snowboards really weren't designed for that sort of craziness; and sitting in a cloud on Blackcomb I experienced true vertigo where you didn't know which way was up or down. I also learnt at Whistler-Blackcomb that regardless of where I'm travelling to, I should ALWAYS sharpen my edges before travelling.
The Salomon also saw me through my CASI Level 1 program, making me a fully qualified snowboard instructor. Now, if I really wanted to I could quit my day job and teach snowboarding full time. Except there's no snow right now. And let me tell you, there's a big difference between being taught by a qualified instructor vs. being taught by a friend. Newbies, save yourself the hassle and go take a lesson; it'll save you a lot of frustration.
Taking the plunge and becoming an alpine rider
Uncle Howie has been working on getting me to become an alpine rider for a while. Last year he lent me his board and I got to try it a few times. This year, I decided to take the plunge and get my own set of alpine gear.
The good folks at yyzcanuck.com set me up with a set of beginner freecarving equipment: a Donek Pilot 157 race board equipped with F2 Race Titanium bindings and Raichle SB 413 boots (Raichle is now Deeluxe). Riding an alpine board is COMPLETELY different from riding a freeride/freestyle snowboard. The stance, control, timing... everything is different. I felt like a total beginner on this alpine board, spending most of my season on the green hills trying not to fall. But even when I did fall, I was still cooler than everyone since I'm now an alpine rider!
It's going to take me a few more seasons to get decent with an alpine board, after which I'll probably need to upgrade to a longer board (perhaps a Coiler). But I got a taste of what real carving can be like on Jays Peak. Practicing on a green run after popping a bottle of Mountain Dew (I LOVE THAT STUFF), I experienced the hairiest edge transition I've ever done on a snowboard. While holding a toe-side carve, I did a quick flex/extend to unload the board for the edge transition (as per Uncle Howie's lessons). Instead of just gradually transitioning from one edge to another, the board actually jumped off the ground and landed on the other edge. Without any sliding, the board cut right into the snow and whipped me into my next turn. Freaky fun!
Investing in a freestyle board and taking my first jump
There's not much left for me to do in Ontario on a freeride board, so I knew that if I was going to spend time teaching I needed to find someway to entertain myself that didn't require me to drag around my Donek and my Salomon every time I headed up to teach. I tried teaching on the Donek, and that didn't work too well. So I started to think about getting a softer freestyle board that would allow me to muck about in the park when I got bored of teaching. I've been avoiding parks for my entire riding career 'cause, quite frankly, I'm getting old and a bit risk adverse.
NP got a new Burton Custom for his birthday this year from his wife, so he was now stuck with an extra board that he didn't know what to do with. His K2 Juju 156 was exactly what I was looking for so he let me have it. I still owe him some money for the board but I think I'll just pay for it using my board tuning services. Combining it with my old Burton Mission bindings (repaired with a new latch), this was exactly what I was looking for.
Switching between the K2 and the Salomon, I finally realised what a big difference a soft setup vs. a hard setup makes. While the Salomon with the P1-MDs responds immediately on command (and also makes you fall immediately if you screw up), the K2 with the Missions is much slower and more forgiving. It's so soft that while riding down Avalanche at Beaver Valley (which is reputed to be the steepest slope in Ontario.... Pshaw!), I could feel the board flex and collapse under my weight. I needed to consciously straighten the board to pull it out of a turn, lest the board keep slipping under my load. This setup is definitely not built for speed. Definitely not for carving either: the Missions won't hold me up for a nice pencil line toe-side carve.
But this board is great for doing stupid things like riding moguls and jumping. After spending a really frustrating evening at Horseshoe Valley trying to teach AG and R how to ride (teaching in powder sucks), I played around in the moguls and was amazed how much easier it was to ride this board on moguls compared to the Salomon. And at Beaver Valley, I did my first jump and discovered that I really like jumping (sounds like: crunch crunch crunch swoosh thunk crunch crunch). The K2 is so forgiving!
So what's going to happen next year
Who knows? Maybe I'll spend more time teaching. Maybe I'll perfect my carving. Maybe I'll learn how to ride a half pipe. But with so many options, figuring how to fit it all in is going to be a big challenge. After all, I only have two feet that I can use to strap on to a board!
Seu Jorge