UKBouldering.com

snooooooooooooowboarding (Read 338165 times)

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1050 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
November 28, 2018, 11:39:44 am
Needs to snow a lot before 9 Jan. I'm due some powder.

got a trip booked?

I'm going back to Jasna in March

hongkongstuey

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1417
  • Karma: +46/-0
    • http://www.hongkongclimbing.com
#1051 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
November 28, 2018, 12:20:56 pm
Needs to snow a lot before 9 Jan. I'm due some powder.

Just booked myself a week in Furano (Japan) in Jan  :great: after almost 20-years in HK its about time i made it over there for a play...

SA Chris

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 29221
  • Karma: +630/-11
    • http://groups.msn.com/ChrisClix
#1052 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
November 28, 2018, 12:38:40 pm
yes! looks amazing. Your bro was tentative to join us, but  can't make timings work

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1053 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
December 14, 2018, 10:30:48 pm
Plattsy putting in the effort last March

steeper than it looks at the top

there's a reason this slope isn't covered in punters

this was our sixth day on - our legs were jelly - ace!

« Last Edit: December 14, 2018, 11:02:26 pm by lagerstarfish »

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1054 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
December 14, 2018, 11:22:50 pm
this is one of my big Coulda Shoulda Woulda descents

I didn't descend or ascend the route when I had the chance to learn it and then when conditions were right with good snow I wasn't properly prepared; so didn't do it

I did do other nearby stuff that made my season - especially North Face of Col du Plan in great condition - which basically should have been a green light for doing the Mallory - but really wanted the Mallory...

this guy's use of switch stance on the steeps is admirable - and holding the selfie stick




lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1055 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
December 17, 2018, 12:06:36 am
this evening I went to the indoor snow slope at Castleford with a mate

he was trying out his brand new Burton step on boots and bindings - we set his angles the same as what he used before with normal bindings and he just rode as normal. He really liked the set up. he was riding well for a man on a new set up who hasn't been on a board for a few years.

Interestingly, I was using a set of Flow Pro 11 bindings and was quicker in and out than he was.

I like the back of the Flow bindings because there is less junk behind the heel to drag in the snow when banked over and for this reason I think I'm going to try some sort of hybrid rear entry binding - either the Pathron XT or GT bindings or the Flow NX2 type things depending what I can get for my budget on ebay.

SA Chris

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 29221
  • Karma: +630/-11
    • http://groups.msn.com/ChrisClix
#1056 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
December 17, 2018, 09:20:15 am

got a trip booked?


Portes du Soleil / Grand Massif / Praz de Lys - 9-14 jan. Kind of a default, but best option for maximising riding in a short timespace.

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1057 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 08, 2019, 10:33:03 pm
I'd been deliberately not watching that because of the thinking/talking about people dying

However, it seemed to be more about "pro" riders, which distanced the whole thing from my experience

The interesting thing for me was the brief mention of the difference between "extreme" and "freeride".

In the early and mid 90s I was very reluctant to accept the label of "extreme" for anything I did - I was embarrassed when people wanted me to talk about "extreme " descents. The steepest things I did were in good condition and so didn't feel hard - certainly compared to what climbing hard involves. The most difficult things I did were when I ended up committed to things that were in poor condition - times where I ended up putting crampons on to climb out or hanging off a screw or ice axe whilst taking my board off to work out some kind of escape. Oh, and glacier travel in general - crumbs, I had some close calls doing that stuff. Those epics were all the essential work required for the reward of getting big descents on good snow.

I'm not sure how I would have coped with pressure to perform for filming and sponsorship like the stuff in TWENTY

related to TWENTY,  Xavier De Le Rue has an interesting channel on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7FNrty1fPrhzXTFDGNgJxg/videos

*edit*
arse, didn't mean to sound like such a "look at me" -  HVS in the rain is a good way to measure 90s extreme snowboarding
« Last Edit: February 08, 2019, 10:42:30 pm by lagerstarfish »

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1058 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 10, 2019, 10:56:08 am
Just realised that http://www.steepscotland.info has photos I can link!



I blew a heelside turn just here - where the red line is on AM


lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1059 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 10, 2019, 08:46:16 pm
There was a snowboarding scene in Aviemore at the time; based around a shop in the town, but they all seemed to be skateboarding type people. I had met them a few of them briefly and had lifts off them, but they seemed to be into doing jumps and tricks that I was never going to be able to do. Snowboarding wasn't my thing by the look of it. They spent a lot of time talking about equipment.

Thinking about this highlights my attitude to equipment and gear in general. I had worked in an outdoor shop, Basecamp in Ilkley, later to become Backcountry. I was mocked (in a nice way) for the way that I wore everything out. I would grind walking boots, climbing shoes and waterproofs until they were falling apart. I found myself dumbstruck at the sight of rich people buying the latest gear when they already owned perfectly usable stuff.

I was approaching the mountains with a snowboard with no real plan. I had a vague notion that looking at climbing grades was a way of doing things on a board. That didn't work - Scottish grade 2 or 3 isn't much fun on a snowboard and there is a huge variation around what a grade 1 is.

I slowly learned that there is a joy to be had from doing smooth moves on soft snow that was similar to the pleasure of doing well practised moves on Grit.

I started to look for good snow.


lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1060 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 10, 2019, 08:58:08 pm
I did a load of soloing with my board on my back so that I could board down

After a few mess ups it became clear that trying to solo even quite easy routes with a board on my back was not much fun compared to just sliding down for the sake of descending

However, I put a lot of hours into linking climbs with snowboard descents.

SA Chris

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 29221
  • Karma: +630/-11
    • http://groups.msn.com/ChrisClix
#1061 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 12, 2019, 10:09:48 am
Just realised that http://www.steepscotland.info has photos I can link!

My ski mate Scott Muir's (no not him, another one) brainchild. Great person to ski with, encyclopedic knowledge of what will be in good nick when anywhere in Scotland.

galpinos

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 2114
  • Karma: +85/-1
#1062 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 12, 2019, 10:48:16 am
Scott Muir's (no not him, another one) brainchild.

There are two Scott Muirs? I assumed it was the same guy. Mind       blown......

SA Chris

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 29221
  • Karma: +630/-11
    • http://groups.msn.com/ChrisClix
#1063 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 12, 2019, 12:03:18 pm
Nope - one active winter climber, dry tooling bolter, former climbing wall owner / builder.

Other - keen ski tourer, triathlete, runner.

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1064 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 15, 2019, 11:40:43 pm
seems topical - ETHICS/STYLE

'90 '91 '92 I didn't bump into another snowboarder whilst walking around the hills and sliding down interesting slopes. I knew that steep skiing and ski touring were things that people did, but wasn't in contact with that scene. I met skiers occasionally, but they were only doing steady touring stuff. I was trying to work out what I wanted to do and why.

I knew that using the climbing grades for slopes that I was doing wasn't going to work for me (too hard). Climbing styles were the obvious starting point. Doing descents top down without climbing them first seemed like the obvious option for good fun (on sight - as I saw it), but a few serious fuckups with conditions led me to think about this. In retrospect, my technique and equipment was pretty shit, but trying to slide down untested Scottish gullies was a really bad idea.

So, climbing things first didn't seem like cheating. With the meagre Scottish snow pack, this wasn't too hard.

Some problems occurred where cornices or steep entries were involved - was it OK to claim a descent from below the cornice? or should I only be doing things from the proper top?

Jacob's Ladder in Sneachda was my first style issue. I had plodded up from the bottom. There was a big cornice over the top. I did a couple of descents from below the cornice, but found myself wondering if I had really done the gully. So I tried dropping the head-wall.

I had no experience of jumps or drops and had somehow managed to think that I could just start the same gully descent but with a bit more speed.

Turns out that a few feet of free-fall provides a lot of speed.

The deep snow slowed me down without breaking any bones, but it was not a stylish descent.

I had a few similar experiences on other hills.

I still had it in my head that a top-down, on-sight descent was the best thing to aim for, but was quite content to go with nice turns on good snow no matter where it started.

So - I had sorted out that I didn't need to do a hard solo before the descent, I didn't need to do the whole thing from the top, and it was OK to check out the slope before going down it.  It was nice to feel this.

I had a few other big days that added to this -

the day I was going to solo routes on Lurchers Crag, but realised that the slopes to the south had the most amazing lines of drifted snow going right down to the bottom of the valley - perfect untouched soft snow for  hundreds of meters as long as you are happy to turn within the corridors available.

Also - the day I was headed off to do steep stuff in the Loch Avon basin, but found that Coire Raibeirt had amazing, untouched snow for a huge descent - I just kept lapping it until I could hardly walk.

In the light of modern bouldering styles, this stuff seems trivial - just have fun doing what you can without dying - but it felt like a big discovery to me.

The next issue was other hill users

I had a few moments where I was coming down a slope and walkers/climbers were coming up. We never fell out, but I knew I didn't want people on slopes that I was descending and am pretty sure they didn't want to be sprayed with snow from some idiot on a plank.

Creag Meagaidh was possibly my worst trip in terms of other hill users. Sorry  :oops:

I did Easy Gully a couple of times, having taken care to make sure that no-one else was on it..... on the way down, there was people on it; both times.

Even coming down from the North end of the crag and then the South end of the crag, there were people coming up the slopes I wanted to go down.

Nobody got upset about it, but I felt very strongly that I did not want to be going down things things that had people on - and I certainly didn't want to be annoying people.

Lessons learned

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1065 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 20, 2019, 12:14:27 am
GEAR

I could never see the point in buying new gear when I already had something that could do the job.

That first board was a Sims Blade 1710. Almost no sidecut, very little flex and the stance set well towards the tail.

It did have metal edges and a bullet hard base.

I doubt I could have carved much on it, even if I had known that carving turns was a thing.

The bindings were basic. No ratchet straps, just levered wire loops which hooked over a series of curved teeth. A hard landing would pop them undone. I still have the bindings (fixed to my original snowboard touring skis) - I'll take a picture of the fastening mechanism when I get a chance.

My boots were my plastic mountaineering boots. Turquoise Koflachs (picture to follow; of the boots, not necessarily being used for snowboarding). I already owned them and had plenty of experience climbing and walking in them and they fitted in my bindings. All bases covered as far as I was concerned; plus, they took clip on crampons (which I already had) - so I knew I could climb my way out of any poor conditions.

At the time, if you asked in any gear shop or read any magazines, the jury was out on whether hard boots or soft boots were the best. On the piste they had very clear cut roles - soft for jumps and tricks, hard for racing. For off piste and steep stuff, it was not very clear what was best - I just stuck with what I had, because it worked for me. I was using mountaineering boots in soft bindings.

I did a bit of experimenting with axes. I knew that technical ice axes had a reputation for being too grabby for slowing falls on snow slopes and my tests on a board confirmed this on the two icey/hardpacked slopes I tested them on. I already owned a pair of classic alpine head, short shaft steel axes and liked the way they worked. I tested them on steepish icy slopes and managed to slow myself after deliberately losing an edge and sliding on both my front and my back. I decided that one axe worked best for me, held in my right hand with a wrist sling (I ride regular) with the pick facing away from me and my left hand used on the head of the axe -  this way I could lean the pick into the slope on both heel and toeside turns. I practised these whenever I came across a suitable slope - it's not the sort of thing you can do on the lift served pistes, obviously. My practice led me to the decision that having the hammer, rather than the adze was the best way to go. The risk of hurting myself on an adze was all too obvious and I didn't expect to be cutting steps (interesting story about having to resort to cutting steps and handholds a few years later - remind me to get back to it).

In Scotland I mostly used the axe as an aid for climbing up slopes - and that was almost always using the shaft to get up snow slopes. After that first mistake on Aladdin's Mirror (before I started using an axe), I didn't lose an edge on firm snow or ice in anything near as serious a position. Thinking back, sliding out on a heel edge on 40 degree firm snow and skating downwards on my backside in shiny waterproof trousers towards a big cliff drop was really serious. I am still not sure how I managed to gently feather the edge back onto the snow without catching the edge and flipping myself forwards - I have, since then, done just that (flipped over) in less serious situations using  much better equipment.

I'm trying to keep this in chronological order, but in trying to explain my development, I'm sure I will overshoot some interesting epics. I may have to come back to stuff.

Actually, there are some monumental epics from that period that I'm not prepared to write about the interweb  - feel free to ask me about them in person though.

In between the mountain wanderings, there were always days on the Cairngorm pistes. At their best, Scottish ski resorts are just like tiny Alpine resorts, with better whisky and nicer people. At their worst they are muddy strips of windblown ice in between big rocks, with little rocks poking out of the good bits; and "windblown" is an understatement.

I loved those crappy days when the wind was not quite high enough to derail the drag lifts, but way too uncomfortable for normal people to stay out on the hill. Graupel blasting any exposed skin and actually scratching goggles. The obviously associated poor visibility made the prediction of ice and rock fields even harder, but every now and then you could find the ribbons where the wind blown snow had collected - these velvet smooth, almost invisible veins of snowboard-ready, crowd-free perfection where the reward for sticking out the weather. It doesn't take a lot of skill to turn in this sort of snow, but it does require a lot of reading the slope angle, aspect and colour withing limited range of vision; and when you stray out of the good stuff, you are either on the ice or near the rocks.

A fantastic training facility with just the right amount of reward for anyone willing to put themselves up against the rough for the sake of finding the smooth.

It worked for me. Being able to compensate for big changes of conditions without always being able to see it is something that has stuck with me and certainly led to a lot of confidence to tackle bigger hills later on.

Crumbs - not even past The Scottish Years yet...

« Last Edit: February 20, 2019, 12:39:38 am by lagerstarfish »

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1066 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
February 20, 2019, 12:38:56 am
back to the style/ethics thing

it was pretty obvious early on that, for me, significant side-slipping made a descent invalid

there isn't a climbing equivalent - possibly chipping, or over brushing, but with the temporary nature of snow instead of the relative permanence of the state of the rock

if you don't do turns down the thing, you haven't boarded it was how it felt

in later years there was another aspect to this; that side-slipping stuff ruins the snow for the next person, but I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to find this out in isolation
« Last Edit: February 20, 2019, 12:45:10 am by lagerstarfish »

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1067 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
March 16, 2019, 03:27:05 pm
I had another cracking week in Jasna last week - I saw chamois every day except one!



less snow than last year, but I got a lot of the bigger off piste descents done in reasonable condition - short walks and a willingness to do a few turns on steep hardpack in exposed positions really paid off - I didn't actually get the axe out, but was pleased I had it in my bag

It was nice to get Central and Meteorological couloirs in decent condition (L and R variations of the central line in this pic) - the later is a right "look at me!" start with stacks of punters staring at you outside the cable car station


I did this a couple of times


weather was generally interesting, meaning flat light much of the time, so action cam video efforts were lame - made worse by the fact that I hold my head in vastly different ways depending on the angle of the slope and type of turns I am doing - a bit of slough management here by way of example



phone photo of a skier following me down some nice snow

« Last Edit: March 16, 2019, 03:37:33 pm by lagerstarfish »

lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1068 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
March 16, 2019, 05:28:09 pm
the 1:25k map for Jasna/Low Tatras has been out of print for a while, but there is an excellent FREE online map of Slovakia which works well on a phone - worth printing off and laminating the relevant bits - good detail as you zoom in and the tracking function worked on my phone

https://www.freemap.sk/?map=14/48.945704/19.602766&layers=T

combine this with the freeride pdf , a lift pass and a small amount of common sense and you're on the snowboarding equivalent to the send train



lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1069 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
March 16, 2019, 08:20:38 pm
there are a few important lessons here about navigation and getting yourself out of the shit (and the shots at the end of floating down the Dru Rognon are a reminder of why it's worth learning)


lagerstarfish

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Weapon Of Mass
  • Posts: 8810
  • Karma: +812/-10
  • "There's no cure for being a c#nt"
#1070 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
March 21, 2019, 10:57:37 am
for anyone with fewer commitments than me, this might be of interest

you can buy a season pass for Jasna and other nearby resorts for next season for only 229 Euros if you buy it before the end of this season (excludes Xmas and NY week)

https://www.gopass.sk/EN/homepage/smart-season-pass?fbclid=IwAR0Q3gfwAYeoLiSYWNotcmIaVhGAQ61sCkoIwGTwny3zM4a90R6_ot8TQww

there's a part of my brain which keeps suggesting that I take the kids out of school for the winter and head over there....

SA Chris

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 29221
  • Karma: +630/-11
    • http://groups.msn.com/ChrisClix
#1071 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
March 26, 2019, 11:38:56 am
Anyone been to Gressoney la Trinite for a family ski trip? We were going to go to Les Gets next week as we know it so well, but had a good package deal to here come up. It will be kids first trip to the Alps, so they will be in morning lessons / childcare, and we will be able to get out and ski.

Concerns are learner zone looks tiny compared to Les Gets, and is there enough to keep two advanced intermediates adults entertained for a week if it's piste only skiing?

El Mocho

Online
  • ****
  • forum abuser
  • Posts: 629
  • Karma: +148/-1
#1072 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
March 26, 2019, 01:58:17 pm
We've been but not sure how much help I'll be - May was pretty confident on blacks and off piste by that point...

There is more easy skiing than the piste map shows - the blues were pretty chilled and ditto the reds, maybe the odd steeper bit which would earn them that grade but the rest of the runs were really chilled. We went at feb half term and it was the lack of easy runs on the map which encouraged us - we hoped it would keep the UK school holiday masses away, which it did, and combined with the decent easy access off piste stuff although we didn't have great snow. Not sure if you would be taking the kids on this stuff or if they are just in lessons.

We did mostly on piste stuff for the week, we were doing full days with May so not going the same speed/distance as we would without (although she was racing in the UK back then so not slow either) and we didn't get bored although when we were thinking of going back last year I was a little concerned that if we had poor snow again it could be a pain.

Italy so food on the hill cheap and if your kids happen to be blonde (or even if not) the local folk will love them/be super friendly.

I'd love to go again with good snow - loads of in resort off piste and plenty of small tours from resort as well. I've no idea how snow is looking in the Alps this year, due to recent puppies we are not getting away so I've been deliberately ignoring it all as much as possible.

SA Chris

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 29221
  • Karma: +630/-11
    • http://groups.msn.com/ChrisClix
#1073 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
March 26, 2019, 02:12:21 pm
Thanks Ben, ideal. Both kids have not really skied on snow much, Kyle had dry slope lessons when he was 4, but probably can't remember much, so will be from scratch for them. They will be in lessons all morning, and probably too knackered in afternoon for first few days, so probably book childcare for afternoons and opt out of that some days if they pick it up.

We will be outside of England holidays next week, so hopefully avoid the crowds. I'll get on the hair dye before we go!

Snow cover looks OK, there is a faint glimmer of home for some fresh next week if forecasts are to be believed.

SA Chris

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 29221
  • Karma: +630/-11
    • http://groups.msn.com/ChrisClix
#1074 Re: snooooooooooooowboarding
March 27, 2019, 12:35:44 pm
Booked! Kids in lessons / lunch / childcare 'til 2 pm so we have a bit of free time to get out there.

How gnarly is the off  piste as far as you could see, is it worth taking full avi gear? And worth paying a bit more for access to the Indren Gondola?

 

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal