Welcome to my void

This is not an empty void. It's a clamourous and offensively loud void. It radiates of all things snowboarding. Truth may not have brought you to this void, but it is all that can escape it; and the fact is that, when everything else sucks, snowboarding still rules. This is the truth through the eyes of a militant snowboardista.

Skin To Win - Applying new knowledge in the Gulf of Slides

2010-02-26 00:02:24

On the weekend of February 20th, I was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire to do the AIARE Level 2 avalanche course. It wasn't that long ago – December to be exact – that I had done the level 1 and I was keen on becoming an even bigger snow geek. This time, as I understood, we would be spending a bit more time in the field looking at snow grains, making weather observations, and just generally playing in the snow. I was also hopeful that this time I'd have the opportunity to do a little backcountry snowboarding while I was at it.

In preparation for the possibility of touring in the backcountry around Tuckerman Ravine, I had to set up my newly acquired Prior AMF splitboard. The board had been sitting in my garage since I received it the day after I returned from Colorado. I hadn't yet secured any bindings for it and a splitboard is pretty much useless without them. Fortunately my new Ride Betas arrived on Wednesday which allowed me to set them up before I was scheduled to leave for North Conway NH on Thursday.

The course was to be administered by Eastern Mountain Sports, and the course provider was Marc Chauvin of Chauvin Guides.

Note: The difference between the course administrator and provider is somewhat political but essentially amounts to EMS taking care of the paperwork while Marc Chauvin doing all the actual work.

The class size was much smaller than it had been on the level 1 course, although still large – five strong including the instructor – for a group planning on touring in the backcountry. The class consisted of two skiers, Malcolm and Ben, and three snowboarders: Mark, Kathy, and myself. It didn't take long for the gentle ribbing of the skier vs. snowboarder rivalry to begin.

The first day was basically a review of the level 1 material, so we spent it all in class getting a refresher on the decision making framework and making jokes about skiers and snowboarders at every opportunity. Marc Chauvin pulled out a good one about snowboarders, and what they had in common with vacuum cleaners: they both have attachments for dirtbags (sometimes humour is a means of holding a mirror up to the face of society... don't fret knuckle draggers, this wouldn't be the last word).

Over the next three days, we proceeded to geek out on snow with discussions about vapor pressure, metamorphism, temperature gradients and other nerdy sounding things. Marc was very good, however, at not letting us lose sight of the fact that all these things amounted to a very minor data point in a much more global decision framework for safe travel through the backcountry.

The big test for our newly acquired knowledge came on the fourth day of the course: tour day. The plan was to seek out the best riding conditions with the least danger of avalanche. Although there isn't much snow right now in Pinkham Notch, orographic lift has been contributing some precipitation at higher elevation. Combine that with strong north-west winds and you're likely to find wind-loading on south-east aspects. The plan therefore, was to head up the Gulf of Slides trail which, being on the second ridge east, would not be dangerously loaded but could still provide good snow for riding. With a plan set, it was time to take my brand new splitboard on its inaugural run.

Splitboad in skinning mode and bent touring pole

Gah! Somehow my snowboard split in two and my pole is bent! As an aside, what's similar between getting a B.J. from a man and skiing? In both cases, when you look down you realise you're gay... ZING!

The first leg of the trip involved skinning up the Gulf of Slides ski trail which was also a learning experience for me as I was figuring out the exact mechanics involved in skinning. It took me about an hour to get it dialed, however, these new skills came at the expense of my touring poles which got pretty mangled (it probably didn't help that I forgot the baskets in Ottawa).

It took a little more than three hours to make it up the Gulf of Slides trail to the South Snow Fields. This is where we had to decide on the next leg of our tour. We proceeded to make some weather observations to provide some data to make an educated plan. We finally agreed that skinning up the snow fields, then riding down gully #3 back to the ski trail would be the best plan. The alternative involved boot packing up the gully itself, putting us right in the barrel of the gun, so to speak, as this would likely be where the most unstable snow would be found. Besides, the gully is very steep limiting the chances of being able to boot pack up it with snowboard boots and no crampons; the odds of making it to the ridge via the snow fields were much higher. Even though we all had ice axes, these can be a double edged sword: they can get into as much trouble as they can get you out of.

We got to the ridge above gully #3 right around 1PM and, as we had anticipated before heading out that morning, the skies cleared up a little bit to give us a great view of the surrounding terrain. This gave me an appreciation for how far we had traveled because the AMC visitor center in Pinkham Notch was a long way away. No sooner had the sun broken through the clouds, however, did they roll back in thus compromising our visibility. We hastily re-assembled our snowboards so we could drop in before we lost too much visibility.

We had chosen gully #3 for our descent because we had anticipated that, due to it being more sheltered than gully #2, it would have been less wind scoured and have more snow in it. We already knew that the riding conditions in gully #2 were decent by talking to people who had ridden it the day before, so gully #3 should have been really good. However, for some reason that we couldn't figure out, gully #3 was heavily wind scoured; not much powder to be found. That's not to say that the ride down wasn't fun, we just weren't getting the face shots we were expecting. This may be a good example of one of the key lessons that I learned on this course: not all bad decisions lead to bad outcomes, and not all good decisions lead to good outcomes.

Once out of the gully, we rode back to Pinkham Notch via the Gulf of Slides Ski Trail. I think everyone in the group, skier and snowboarder alike, felt that this was a successful tour. In spite of the rivalry that had developed between the two groups, there definitely was a good degree of camaraderie throughout; all ribbing was done in good humour. After all, it doesn't matter whether you ski or snowboard, you're likely to encounter good and bad riders in either case: it's not the shoes it's the dancer. The important thing is to choose your companions wisely, and not predicate that decision by what they put under their feet.

I learned a lot in this class; I now feel as though I know more about snow than any sane person should ever need to. I strongly recommend this course to anyone interested in traveling through the backcountry. Not only will this knowledge help keep you safe, but it will also help you understand how to find the good snow – even though we failed in this case, like I said, not all good decisions lead to good outcomes – that is, after all, what we're really after when we enter the backcountry anyway.

2009/10 Burton Supermodel - Shred Labs Board Test (by Dana)

2010-02-19 22:06:55

The Burton Supermodel is one of those boards that everyone has heard about, its been around for a long time. However, I'm not certain a whole lot of people have actually ridden it... I decided to take her for a ride and see how she felt (wow, apparently I'm just as dirty as I am polite...)

Location: Mont Cascades, Cantley, Quebec, Canada
Snow Conditions: We hadn't received much in the form of precipitation since some freezing rain a week or so before the test. The slopes were hard packed with some loose groomer snow on the surface.
Rider: Dana
- Height: 5' 10"
- Weight: 175 lbs
- Boot Size: 10.5 (US)
Setup:
- 2009/10 Burton Supermodel, 159
- 2009/10 Burton Cartel EST bindings (M): 19 degrees front, -9 degrees back, 27 inches wide.
- 2008/09 Burton SLX Boot

First Impression

My first impression of the Supermodel was red. This board is very... red. Decently lightweight, graphics were pretty flashy, looks like you are riding on a lava board or something. The Supermodel looks like your average traditional snowboard.

Construction

The Supermodel is pressed in Canada (near Cowansville Quebec), which is a huge eco-bonus for us Canadians, the board won't be travelling very far from the factory to under my feet.

Tech

Dual Zone EGD: The wood grain is positioned along the toe and heel side edges, perpendicular to the rest of the wood core, this adds strength and gives superior edge hold.
Pro-Tip: The thickness of the tip and tail of the snowboard is tapered which is supposed to ofer a better swing weight and more playful flex in the tip and tail. I didn't really notice the more playful flex, but the swing weight was pretty good.

Cost: At 559.95USD, the Supermodel is a fair priced solid, all around freeride board.

The Ride

Beginner/Intermediate Turns: Turns were pretty easy to initiate with this board. The stiffer flex made the board rather stable, however a little harder to manoeuver than your standard freestyle deck. This board would be ideal for a heavier beginner who is looking for a solid all around freeride board that should last a long while.

Advanced Slider Turns: Being a traditional cambered board, I found the Supermodel to deliver a lot more performance in short radius turns than any rocker board. The Supermodel is also quite snappy, which makes the quick edge transfers really easy and fast.

Carving: Carving was pretty natural on the Supermodel. This board was pretty much built for freeriding and carving. Getting on edge was really easy, and keeping the board on the edge was effortless. Throwing some hard carves was no challenge on the Supermodel, euro-style carves were pretty awesome!

Switch: Riding switch didn't feel unnatural at all; many freeride boards feel kind of weird when going backwards, but not the Supermodel. The twin flex probably came into play to help keep the feel consistent from regular to switch. However, I wouldn't mistake this board for a true-twin board.

Park: The Supermodel isn't really your jib slayer, its pretty stiff and pressing on boxes wasn't really it's strong suit at all. However, having a stiffer flex means bigger jumps are smoother! I also found the spin weight of the board to be really good, probably attributable to the pro-tip shape. When I tried to spin 5s on the jump, I found myself over rotating and getting 7s around. This really surprised me, and made me really happy! However, I did notice that I was catching my edges on the landings, pretty much at the same spot each time, a downside of having a stiffer cambered board.

Overall

The Supermodel is a great traditional cambered freeride board. I would feel confident throwing some turns on any terrain, especially steeps. Although Marc's speed test didn't go so well due to punter ski patrollers being in the way, I'm pretty sure the board would feel great at high speeds. This isn't your park slayer board, however spinning on bigger jumps would probably be pretty dang fun, especially cause you can pick up some solid pace without any sketchyness like those squirrely freestyle noodles. I found this board to be a refreshing ride, making me really enjoy the traditional cambered board once again, the high performance is quite addictive, and I love euro-carves!

SIA Day 4 - Keeping it Real in Keystone

2010-02-07 10:27:18

On day four of the SIA tradeshow, we decided to skip out on the commercial aspects of snowboading and focus on what's really important: the snow, the mountains, and the fun. Brian and Steve of the Sierra crew volunteered to provide us with rides in two senses of the word: a means to get to the mountain, and boards to get us down the mountain (we didn't bring our own snowboards to Denver). We then set our bearing west in the direction of Keystone for a day of riding on Sunday.

We had spent the night in Westminster on Saturday so that Brian and Steve wouldn't have to commute back to Denver on Sunday to come pick us up from the hotel. This also gave us the opportunity to set up our loaner boards before heading up to Keystone. I was going to ride a 154 Custom V-Rocker, Dana was to ride a 157 Sierra Crew. Once we were all geared up, we piled into Brian's truck and started our journey to Keystone.

The drive through Loveland Pass was less congested, but probably also more scenic. I bet the road can be pretty gnarly during a storm though.

The drive to Keystone from Westminster is approximately 116 km if going through Loveland Pass. Yahoo! Maps estimates the trip to take 1 hour and 28 minutes. We were fortunate that Zoe and Joel had gone to Keystone the day before and provided us with information to avoid the most traffic (i.e. By going through the pass rather than following the I-70 through the Eisenhower tunnel). The actual time of the trip was approximately the length of Zombieland which we watched on the drive up.

Once we got to Keystone, we met up with Zoe, Joel, and J.R. Since Keystone was new to Dana and I, we were keen on seeing what the mountain had to offer. Steve mentioned that the A-51 terrain park is always among the top-ten in the world. The features in this park are way bigger than anything we have at Mont Cascades, however, the jumps are really well shaped and didn't look scary in the least (it's amazing what can be done with enough snow), and Dana was keen on hitting the 40-50-60 foot jump line.

We rode groomers and the small park for most of the late morning until Zoe and Joel decided to call it a day an head back to Denver. Only Steve, Brian, Dana, and myself remained. That's when Dana decided to “nut up, or shut up” and hit the bigger jump lines. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of his plan, so I didn't see his “method to superman” which resulted in a broken Sierra Crew. Apparently the park kids that Dana polled to find out how much speed he needed to clear the jump don't carry as much momentum as he does because he wound up casing in the flats after going about 120 feet or so. Fortunately the only thing broken was the Sierra Crew (sorry Bru).

The X-Games meant that the crowds at Keystone were sparse, however, it also meant lots of traffic on I-70.

Even though the snowboard Dana was riding was damaged, he was still able ride out the rest of the day. Although the profile of the snowboard was no longer cambered, more like spooned, we made a few more runs before finally calling it a day when the clouds moved in and the light got really flat (it was after 3PM anyway, and most of Keystone would be closing shortly after). However, since this was also the last day of the Winter X-Games, we knew the drive back to Denver would be much more difficult than the drive up.

The drive back to Denver was made even more difficult by the fact that Dana started showing signs of suffering from Altitude Sickness. Our home mountain reaches only slightly more than 1,000 feet of elevation so being at nearly 12,000 feet, especially when not used to it, can have an adverse effect on your system. We hadn't really given this much thought, so we hadn't come up with any plans for acclimatisation to the high elevation. Even though the effects of altitude on the human body are only significant at, or above, 10,000 feet, it's always a good idea to ensure you're prepared for significant changes in altitude. The most important thing you can do is to stay hydrated, which is what Dana failed to do on Sunday. Hydration is also the only real remedy, short of drugs whose routine use are discouraged, for those suffering from Altitude sickness.

It took nearly four hours of fighting with X-Games traffic but we finally made it back to Denver. However, in spite of this involved commute, and the altitude sickness, the trip was totally worth it. Especially when contrasted with our previous three days in Denver where the focus was on the commercial and consumption side of snowboarding. It's essential to not forget the important part: the fun. Something we hoped would continue over the next two days during the SIA freeride/demo fest at Winter Park.

2009/10 Burton T6 - Shred Labs Board Test

2010-02-07 08:59:40

Burton was at my home mountain recently to allow people to demo this year's gear. While they were there, Adam let us take some boards out to do some tests. One of the boards that we tested was the 2009/10 Burton T6. I've never actually ridden the T6, although a few years ago one was offered to me as a loaner when I found pressure cracks on my APO Family 58. My APO lasted the weekend, however, (and incidentally the rest of the season) so I didn't get an opportunity to try out the T6 until now so I was looking forward to seeing what it was all about.

Location: Mont Cascades, Cantley, Quebec, Canada
Snow Conditions: We hadn't received much in the form of precipitation since some freezing rain a week or so before the test. The slopes were hard packed with some loose groomer snow on the surface.
Rider: Marc
- Height: 5' 10"
- Weight: 135 lbs
- Boot Size: 9.5 (US)
Setup:
- 2009/10 Burton T6, 162
- 2009/10 Burton Cartel EST bindings (M): 19 degrees front, -19 degrees back, 27 inches wide.
- 2009/10 Burton Ion Boot