Wrapping up a few things in the shop then loading up the van and heading south to Boise to pick up a couple riders. Should be able to get some turns in the Boise foothills on Fri before hitting the road again for Tahoe. I promise to take lots of pictures and shoot lots of videos of the weekend (we’ll see if I keep my promise) and post it all here as soon as I get back. In the meantime here are a few shop pics of the new graphics, thanks BARONTiERifor the creative artwork!!!
The fun thing about recycling is you don’t always get a choice on what graphic your going to use. I’m running out of Dragons and Helicopters so it’s time to pull out the models. This should give the gawkers something to stare at.
Morning wood camber with a tapered side cut, I’ll ride it tonight for its maiden voyage.
The Thursday rides are getting better and better. The snow is piling up and the backcountry is smoothing out. Yesterday we had four skaters pounding out the boot and we were able to get 7 laps in. The glade was untracked when we arrived first thing in the morning but by noon there were 28 deep trenches down her. I feel just a tinsy bit bad for cutting up all that powder… well not really.
I still haven’t gotten my video editing software working but here’s a 1 mn clip that came out pretty good. Everyone’s on snowskates, even the filmer(me). One of the guys, Tim, has only been snowskating one other time.
I headed back to Tamarack on Sunday to meet up with the boise crew. Jeff had spread the word but was unsure how many would actually make the trek. I was blown away when I finally met up with the SIX of them, that’s kind of a record. It took some driving around to find a place to park and even longer to actually get the snowmobiles started, well to get one of them started. Somehow it was decided that I would get the first ride up with two snowskates, the 152 and 158. It was a short trip up to the mid mountain lodge. The snowmobiles had been busy and much of the terrain was tracked up. There were still lots of turns to be had though on the sides of the runs. The sled dropped me off and returned to shuttle more riders. At the lodge there were a handful of guys with snowmobiles trying to get a plan together to build a jump somewhere. Standing amoungst them with the pow skates was a bit awkward. A couple asked a few questions but none seemed too interested. I grabbed the 158, which I had just set up the night before, and headed up the side of the run for some turns. The 158 is the biggest powderskate on the market and I had only ridden that size one time last year.
The powder was deep and light so in all actuality you probably could have ridden a kayak down the mountain and had fun. I hike three different lines trying to find the best place for all of us to session. The snow was amazing and by the time the others arrived on TWO sleds with more powskates, I was confident that the day would be epic. I had planned on giving a big explanation and a bunch of tips on powderskating but in the end I just handed them the skates and pointed up. I don’t think anyone even fell the first run or the second for that matter. I tried to take some pics but usually was just hooting and hollering every time the blew past. We spent the day making laps and it was perfect. Towards the end of the day I ran into a couple of the guys who were on the jump-building expedition. I asked if they got any good turns in and the guy replied that no, they had spent the day trying to find a spot to build on and it just hadn’t panned out, too bad, there was lots of good powderskating turns to be had.
See what I mean, I’m not very good at getting action shots.
Jeff had brought his Lib 48 and it floated as long as you kept the nose up.
Spending the holidays in Mc Call, Idaho. Yesterday I hiked Tamarack ski hill. Tamarack went bankrupt about two years ago. It was on path to becoming the next vail, (that’s what they thought anyways). It has a huge village that is almost completed. It won’t be finished anytime soon though as all construction was halted when the bankrupcy was filed. I hiked up about 1600 ft to the upper lodge which is also not finished. It looks done from a distace but when you get right up to it, things resemble a ghost town. It felt like being in some sort of sci fi flick where you are the only person left after some catastrophe. The quads were all there and the snow was sick but no people. The snow was really amazing, deep, light and fluffy. I was on the 125 cause down low it was 1″ of dust on this nasty crust and I wanted something I could control in case it sucked all the way to the top. At about a quarter of the way up though it got really good. The 125 got me throught the deep stuff as long as I kept my speed up. On some of the steeper rollers it was absolutely amazing. Looks like I’ll be going back on Sunday with a few Boise guys and some sleds to hit the area again. I’ll have the big boards this time and the camera too for verification. Anyways happy holidays, here’s a Xmas pic of the 36″ top deck and 45″ sub.
So the last three days delivered around 20” inches of snow to the resort. Last night it got kinda warm so the conditions were light snow under a heavy layer of wet stuff. Headed up first thing in the morning to catch the opening of the triple chair into south bowls. The chair had been closed during the entire storm so all the terrain around it would be untracked. I grabbed the 125 FPS first thinking that the snow had consolidated and I wouldn’t be sinking that much. At first on the steep stuff it seemed like the right choice but about half way down the south bowl where its not as steep and the temps were a bit warmer I had to straight line it just to get out. Back to the lodge for a board change. The 152 has a fat tail that will float pretty much everything but it does take a lot more leverage to carve on groomers. When I do take it out for resort riding its usually after big dumps where I won’t be spending much time on groomers. That’s where the 151 has a big advantage, it can handle groomers and hardpack easily, really easily so riding between stashes is easy and fun. Yesterday’s snow was heavy though and a real work out and the area we were riding was perfect for the 152 and riding was a breeze. Cole had his 151 and on the upper steeper section he was killing it but on the lower section where the snow was much heavier it was a bit harder. Not as tricky as the 125 but still you had to keep your weight forward to keep the tail from sinking. If the tail sank you slowed down and stopped, which meant possibly falling off your board and getting snow all over the grip and basically just wearing you out. Getting back up onto your board in deep powder takes some effort so you wanted to avoid that at all costs. You’ll notice the snow build up on the grip in the pic. Yea, heavy high moisture content snow sticks to it.
I had my leash break for the first time and just happened to be right in front of the patrol. Please remember to always check you equipment and leash for edge cuts and loose knots, a snow laden powder skate weighs a lot and can bust a simple cord! Only use webbing dog leashes or the hard core coil leashes. We don’t want run away skates period. Trust me even if it just goes into the trees you will either loose it or at a minimum have a HUGE hike down the hill.
I told Cole I had a couple of boards coming in from Florida Powder Skates. I was thinking about keeping the new 151 for myself. He pretty much just payed me before I had a chance to say no. The new 151 is a cross between the 152 and 125. It has the dims of the 125 but the length and insert locations of the 152 and as an added bonus an early rise nose. this translates into a sub that can float the deep stuff but still carve ice.
Most of the mountain is still closed, just not enough snow. This means all you need to do is hike a few yards and you get untracked goodness.
Cole loves his new board, he was going on and on about how the thing rips and we had only been riding an hour or so. It just didn’t take anytime to get her dialed in. When he was catching his breath I borrowed it for a rip. Yep it works!!!
We were just hiking this little patch next to the groomer track above where the cat track came in. No one bothered to hike the 40 yards up the hill so we had it all to our selves. Groomers can be fun too.
A quiver doesn’t need to be really big to cover the bases.
After hitting this patch we had to navigate some really hard icy areas that had been over skied. Cole had no problem on the 151 and passed me right by. Sure on tight narrow icy crap he slid out a bit but overall the board killed it. Good job Adam!!!
Working on refining my sub with some subtle shape and flex differences. Will be nice to ride the mountain on both set ups and compare how they handle. Same basic dimensions 0n this sub as the “spatula”.
Well, the mountain opens on Fri. I’ve hiked a couple of days and its been really fun. I’m off to shape a 36″ top deck this morning and mount it to another sub I’ve built with a less spatula shaped nose and better flex. Adam is sending me a 151, 152, and 158 today, should see those next week, get them built up and into the hands of some locals. Trucks will be ready first of next week. All of this leads to hopefully a fully functional Shop page on the site where you can purchase stuff. The grip continues to work great but I must admit it really hasn’t seen a true test, Snoqualmie !###%% snow. Look for a real update on the sub and grip after riding the mountain Friday.
Yesterday was a surprise all around. We got2″of snow in the valley and ?? at the mountain. So with the sun poking out I loaded up the “spatula” and raced up there. To date, the snowfall has been in tiny increments but Friday night delivered around 6″ to the mountain. This 6″ was a drop in the bucket compared to what they need to open. They do make snow at Schweitzer but only on the beginner hill. They build up huge piles in front of the machines then spread them out and repeat. I parked by some condos and walked to the run. The snow was pretty light and fairly deep. Rounding the corner and seeing the run my thought was, “dang, should have brought the powderboard.” Well I’m glad I didn’t cause this was a perfect time to test the “spatula”. At first glance it appeared that they had flattened out the mounds and that the fresh snow had fallen on top of the groomed run, sweet!! I hopped on and started down the slope. Being the bunny hill its not exactly steep but it has a consistent fall line that goes for a couple of hundred yards. Snowmaking snow is really gloomy and crusty until they spread it out so if you rode directly under the gun then it was weird but on the sides it was light. My first run was ok but not great, I was able to keep speed but not cut hard. When riding on the groomer’s track (not the blade just the bumpy track) the board turned fast and easy and felt really stable. But off the track it was hard to bury the tail. Could be the core was a bit stiff, something I felt from the start or more likely the inserts were too far back which kept the sub from bending where it should. Well, luckily I do have two rear trucksettings although they are only an inch apart and might not make any difference seeing the adjustment is so minor. I pulled the pin and moved the rear truck towards the front hole, then hiked back up for a second try. Wow, what a difference an inch made, night and day and all of a sudden the nose was popping out and the powder wasn’t a struggle. Powder might be too nice of a word for crusty wet man made snow but it was untracked that’s for sure. The boardrode really well, super fun on the groom and very lively off piste. Now this isn’t the proof I need to start building these, on the contrary this thing has only proven itself to insure another trip to the mountain, but I’m stoked for sure.
Now for the really BIG NEWS the grip kicked ass!!!!! No snow build up, no icy spots, didn’t deteriorate under my tread, looked the same when I left as it did when I started. Completely blew me away and puts my mind at ease.
