Ski and snowboard info
 

I'm calling for help finding good ski forums - specifically technical information to handle maintenance, performance of gear, etc.

ED: Focused this thread a bit...

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not to hijack, but a while back i was reading in some magazine about this sweet ski school in either vermont/maine where it's like $400 for a weekend that includes lodging and snowboard lessons 1on1, like some special deal on certain weekends... I always wanted to learn how to snowboard, does anyone off hand know of what school/lodge I might be talking about? Or is this a needle in hay stack kinda thing?

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not to hijack, but a while back i was reading in some magazine about this sweet ski school in either vermont/maine where it's like $400 for a weekend that includes lodging and snowboard lessons 1on1, like some special deal on certain weekends... I always wanted to learn how to snowboard, does anyone off hand know of what school/lodge I might be talking about? Or is this a needle in hay stack kinda thing?

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Don't spend that much on first time lessons IMO. Go to someplace on a random day and get group lessons. You might get 2-3 other people w/ you, but the time I went it was still 1 on 1. They all teach you the same stuff the first time and you will end up spending most of the day on your knees or your butt. I love snowboarding, and my 2nd time was a breeze, but the first time for everyone is that you fall a lot and lessons don't help out all that much.

It's really something that takes your brain to just figure out, unlike skiing which lessons help out immensely.

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Best ski forum by far, IMO. At least it was when I lived in ski towns and had a reason to read them. You'll find everything you need here.

http://forums.epicski.com/

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not to hijack, but a while back i was reading in some magazine about this sweet ski school in either vermont/maine where it's like $400 for a weekend that includes lodging and snowboard lessons 1on1, like some special deal on certain weekends... I always wanted to learn how to snowboard, does anyone off hand know of what school/lodge I might be talking about? Or is this a needle in hay stack kinda thing?

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Don't spend that much on first time lessons IMO. Go to someplace on a random day and get group lessons. You might get 2-3 other people w/ you, but the time I went it was still 1 on 1. They all teach you the same stuff the first time and you will end up spending most of the day on your knees or your butt. I love snowboarding, and my 2nd time was a breeze, but the first time for everyone is that you fall a lot and lessons don't help out all that much.

It's really something that takes your brain to just figure out, unlike skiing which lessons help out immensely.

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Agree with this post. You need to get the muscle coordination down first before lessons will help you. Snowboarding is a lot less technical than skiing at the beginner level...and you won't likely get unlearnable bad habits in snowboarding by figuring out the coordination before lessons.

But yea, that does sound like a good deal - no clue what type of place would offer such a steal.

James

Re: Ski and snowboard info
 

Tognar isn't a forum it's a retailer but they have excellent information on ski gear maintenance.

And as previously mentioned, epic ski is a pretty good forum.

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Best ski forum by far, IMO. At least it was when I lived in ski towns and had a reason to read them. You'll find everything you need here.

http://forums.epicski.com/

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I hear alot of bad things about epicski and occasionally get IM'ed thread titles from the forum like "Most agressive looking goggles?"

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

Is what my friend swears by and it has alot of great back country trip reports. You can get alot of good info if you can tolerate the harsh unmoderated vulgar posters.

Here is a great example of a trip report:
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=81197

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I raced FIS (reasonably high level of international racing) for 2 years and learned most of everything you need to know about basic ski handling and maintenance, pretty much everything up to remounting bindings and base grinds (anything beyond that you're probably gonna want to go into a shop for anyways). If you have any specific questions I should be able to answer them. Be sure to mention your regular conditions and what you want in ski performance, I could tell you about $6/gram wax if you wanted [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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azk,

this is what google documents/notepad was created for store information you want to access later. When I read a review about a favourable set of knives, I save the information for purchases later.

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great point...what do you do when you are in bed reading a magazine, or at the airport..i've entertained the idea of just ripping out the pages that interest me...

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great point...what do you do when you are in bed reading a magazine, or at the airport..i've entertained the idea of just ripping out the pages that interest me...

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Magazines, newspapers take too much space to archive. Usually the points you want are short, just rip out the sections (articles/pictures) you want.

When I'm traveling whether its to the store down the street or in the airport, I always carry a stylo and papier. Don't rely on your memory for all the ideas, thoughts you want to reference later.

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Most ski areas offer a never-skied-before (or never-snowboarded-before) package for around $55-70. This includes lesson, lift ticket, and equipment rental. You won't do any better than this (it's a great deal generally fwiw). It's way cheaper than getting these things separately (which would run at least $125-175 generally).

The catch is that your lift ticket will only be valid on the beginner lifts, but if you've never skied before you would only want to ride these anyway.

It will be a small-group lesson generally (maybe 3-4 students and the instructor). This will be fine -- at this level having a private lesson is a waste.

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Xanta,

What routine maintenance should I be performing after each trip or several days? I'll be skiing powder in the Rockies for most of my trips.

Also, how long have you been skiing? Any ski books you'd recommend to learn about technique?

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Xanta,

What routine maintenance should I be performing after each trip or several days? I'll be skiing powder in the Rockies for most of my trips.

Also, how long have you been skiing? Any ski books you'd recommend to learn about technique?

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re: maintenance, you need to do nothing after "a few days" unless you hit rocks or trees or otherwise damage your skis. I mainly ski in the East where getting your edges sharpened is much more important than out west, but I still only do it maybe every 10 days or so. and I wax maybe every 20 or so.

if you are racing the answer changes.

re: books, I can't really imagine learning technique from a book, but maybe that's just not how I learn.

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Xanta,

What routine maintenance should I be performing after each trip or several days? I'll be skiing powder in the Rockies for most of my trips.

Also, how long have you been skiing? Any ski books you'd recommend to learn about technique?

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Maulik,

I'm a little confused about your posts in this thread. If you're relatively inexperienced, I wouldn't worry too much about ongoing maintenance to your skis. You should likely get a tune up from your ski shop at the beginning of the season, including waxing, sharpening, etc. But I wouldn't worry about constant upkeep unless you are racing or skiing rough terrain like back bowls. I doubt this extra time and energy will make much of a difference if you are new to the sport.

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your first post has changed rather dramatically.

If you have good skis, maintenance you should do is waxing your bases and sharpening your edges. These are both relatively easy to do with tools you can get for pretty cheap, and you can google for info on how. If you are just a beginner though and have crappy gear or are renting then obviously don't worry about it too much -- take them in to be tuned once a year or whatever.

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Xanta,

What routine maintenance should I be performing after each trip or several days? I'll be skiing powder in the Rockies for most of my trips.

Also, how long have you been skiing? Any ski books you'd recommend to learn about technique?

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Maulik, I've been skiing since I was 2, so I guess 17 years now. I competed most when I was 16-17 and spent >100 days on snow each of those years, it was pretty nuts (I wasn't even that good [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]).

Routine ski maintenance when skiing in powder is next to nothing since powder skiing neither really dries out your bases much or requires any edging, so it's very low wear on your skiis. If you do hit a rock and take a chunk out of your base though, this is a problem you're gonna want to give to an experienced technician as filling in base with P-Tex (just a hydrocarbon compound) is very difficult to do well, I still struggle with anything more than a small job. Basically if you mess up your bases bad, take them into a shop. If you're going to be storing your skiis for a long period of time, say over the summer, putting a layer of cheap wax on is a good idea as it prevents the bases from drying out (you'll notice they look white and kinda flaky instead of dark black and smooth).

One thing I will mention is that for transportation, etc, get a ski strap. Basically when you're moving your skiis around, you transport them bases together kinda locked in at the bindings. Ski-donks will often have the skiis 'scissor' on each other, making an X shape, which is awful for the edges and makes you look like a tool. A simple strap costs like a buck and makes sure this wont happen. I carry a ton whenever I'm transporting my stuff.

http://www.faststrap.com/images/SkiStrap2_Silho.jpg

As for technique it's hard for me to recommend a book since racing technique differs GREATLY from free-skiing technique, especially in powder. One thing that I can say for sure is that what will help you 100x more than any book is a lesson with an instructor and just experience. Learn by doing, with experience your confidence will go up and your ability will improve. I coached racers for 2 years and spent most of my time just hacking around, getting them to try different things and push their boundaries; drills and technique played a smaller role.

Hope this helps

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I could write up a basic guide to tuning (sharpening edges and waxing bases) if anyone's interested. Tuning is kinda irrelevant in powder skiing, just take them into the shop once or twice a year and you'll be find. In the east where hard snow and ice is more prevelant, if you ski a lot and are reasonably good, tuning every 10 ski days or so can make a noticeable difference in your performance and is a good idea.

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lol reading xanta's topic is making me remember all these things from my ski racing days that i forgot :P

also imo, a book to learn how to ski would be pretty iffy go with an instructor imo. However theres lots of awesome drills though to improve certain things that you are doing wrong.

and yeah ski straps are essential

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re: books working on technique

During my motorcycle class I was highly recommended to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcy...1655213-2183065
Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well by David L. Hough. This book reinforced theory, habits and techniques for all level riders. If there's a book for us riders, there should be one for skiers.

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I got really good at skiing when I was a little kid. However, when I got older I tried to snowboard. I have no real natural front and back foot so I just feel super uncomfortable skateboarding/surfing/snowboarding. All other activities are fine, just I dont have a "front foot" at the ready.

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I have no real natural front and back foot so I just feel super uncomfortable skateboarding/surfing/snowboarding.

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i would consider having "no real natural front and back foot" a big advantage snowboarding and skateboarding.

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I, like Xanta, have a background in FIS racing so I'll try to come in and check on this thread from time to time. Through highschool I think I spent more time traveling to/competeing in races than I did in school in the winter months.

Maulik,

As far as books go, given you have a solid grasp of the fundamentals I would recommend The Athletic Skier by Warren Witherell. The book is a bit dated and comes from a racing point-of-view, but most of the information is still relevant to anyone who wants to further their progression as a skier. It really harps on getting a stance alignment from a good boot-fitter (which is something I recommend to everyone reading this thread). I haven't really seen any other books that I've thought are worth any time.

As far as maintenance goes, if you're just going out-west a few times in the year just get a pre-season tune-up. They'll set you a mild base texture, touch up your edges, and give you a general middle of the road wax job. Getting into tuning your own gear takes a fair ammount of reading on the subject, can cost a pretty penny (that's not to say it can't be done economically because it can, but if it weren't for connections I have my tuning kit would cost upwards of 5k; half of that in wax alone), and requires a space you don't mind [censored] up with p-tex/wax/metal shavings/etc. The sum of these thoughts is that its not really efficient for your now-and-again skier to set up a tuning shop in his basement. If anyone is still interested though, I am also willing to give my thoughts.

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I have no real natural front and back foot so I just feel super uncomfortable skateboarding/surfing/snowboarding.

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i would consider having "no real natural front and back foot" a big advantage snowboarding and skateboarding.

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Either way feels unnatural, but at the same time I can do okay either way. It just feels too weird. FWIW i am ambidextrous at pretty much everything since my dad is a lefty and I'm a righty, so he taught me everything his way, then I learned to do it my real way.

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Anyone here done Snowblades? They're like normal skis, just shorter:

http://www.curtissportconnection.com...owblades05.jpg

I've actually been using them instead of skis for the past 4-5 years, and love them. They're great for every type of terrain except really deep powder, but are still decent.

A pair is only like $100 to buy, I dunno about renting. I suggest you guys try them out for at least a day on your next ski trip, gives you more balance practice and is a nice change of pace.

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I'm going to try to improve my snowboarding this winter. The one time I've snowboarded before this I remember my toes being really sore and feeling cramped by the end of the day. Is this normal? Is it just conditioning? What can be done to avoid this?

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Imsakidd if that isn't a carefully constructed joke I think I'm going to die laughing.

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Imsa, I gues your stacks aren't the only things that are short! Zing! And I seriously hope you were kidding.

I just got this setup:

My Sticks

And I can't wait to use them. 188's 103mm at the waist with NAXO NX21 bindings. Its my first touring setup. All my previous back country experience has been hoofing it but its been oh so worth it:

MMM 14k Foot Beer

Do any of you have some tips, advice or stories to relay about BC skiing? I just started last season with 3 14er summits and ski descents and I'm looking forward to it actually snowing here, ugh.

PS. I have a probe, shovel and beacon

Edit: I don't know why my images aren't displaying, I guess I'll make them links.

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Imsakidd if that isn't a carefully constructed joke I think I'm going to die laughing.

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hahahaha

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Imsakidd if that isn't a carefully constructed joke I think I'm going to die laughing.

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It actually flew way over my head as I made the post. I'm slightly embarrassed as well as laughing my ass off right now. Someone xposted it in the MSNL bitch thread, rofl.

EDIT: obv not a joke

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I'm going to try to improve my snowboarding this winter. The one time I've snowboarded before this I remember my toes being really sore and feeling cramped by the end of the day. Is this normal? Is it just conditioning? What can be done to avoid this?

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The 2 times I snowboarded ended with my ass hurting a lot.

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I'm going to try to improve my snowboarding this winter. The one time I've snowboarded before this I remember my toes being really sore and feeling cramped by the end of the day. Is this normal? Is it just conditioning? What can be done to avoid this?

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It shouldn't have anything to do with conditioning. Most likely its just poorly fitting boots. Its both really important and really hard to get boots that fit well. I'm finally happy with my current boots, but it took me 5 different boots to be happy, and I was never forced to replace any other boots because of wear and tear. Also make sure you have absolutely no heel lift.

One tip for beginning snowboarders: when you get off the lift with one foot out, hang your foot over the board in the direction you will want to turn and use that foot as a brake.

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I'm going to try to improve my snowboarding this winter. The one time I've snowboarded before this I remember my toes being really sore and feeling cramped by the end of the day. Is this normal? Is it just conditioning? What can be done to avoid this?

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The 2 times I snowboarded ended with my ass hurting a lot.

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your ass will hurt after snowllerblading also. if you're not careful you might end up pregnent.