Pretty sweet vid... if everything could be in high-speed...
Hispeed camera snowboard contest by David Coiffier
Hispeed camera snowboard contest from David Coiffier on Vimeo.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Chinese Riders
I was browsing some snowboard videos and I found some clips of a Chinese rider. And you know I have to give them a shout out!
Here's a clip below from the recent Burton Asian Open. It's the first run of the women's half-pipe, the second rider is Xu Chen. And before she does her run the commentators are commenting on how uniform the Chinese team looks in their sweats, since snowboarding isn't really known as a "team" sport, most people are trying to be more individualistic. But I am totally not surprised.
I'll put some more clips when I find them.
Here's a clip below from the recent Burton Asian Open. It's the first run of the women's half-pipe, the second rider is Xu Chen. And before she does her run the commentators are commenting on how uniform the Chinese team looks in their sweats, since snowboarding isn't really known as a "team" sport, most people are trying to be more individualistic. But I am totally not surprised.
I'll put some more clips when I find them.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
New England Resorts
The riding/skiing season is winding down and this year I have done a lot of riding mostly because if you didn't already know I was a snowboard instructor at a local resort.
I did a lot of research this year on which resorts would be fun to go to and I found Google maps to be a great peek at the different resorts. You can always get stats from the respective websites but you can't really get an accurate picture. I've compiled some images from Google maps with different resorts I went to or wanted to go to. All images are screen shots taken at the same zoom (when the key of google maps indicated 2000 ft, this shows up on some of the larger resorts )
Good source for snow reports and mountain stats:
onthesnow.com
Masschusetts:
Nashoba Valley - Ah where I worked and where I'd like to call the ultimate beginners hill. Honestly, if you're just learning why go 2 hours away up north.
Wachusetts - Pretty decent mountain for MA. Only an hour from me and it has 2 high speed lifts. Unfortunately, it gets crowded pretty easily. I didn't buy a park pass, but there were a ton of features jammed in the terrain park.
Ragged Mountain - Mellow place. Great deals! I got a lift ticket there for $12 online at liftopia.com and quite often you can get a lift ticket for $24. They only have one good lift and there's no separate lift for the park, so the main lift gets pretty crowded.
Mount Sunapee - Decent size for being less than 2 hours away. Pretty good deals on Mondays ($40). I went twice this year and had a great time. Second time I was there, I spent most of my time in the park (see previous entry) and I was pretty content except when I hurt myself. They have a pretty stacked park that's separate from the main lift so it wouldn't be so crowded. There's a variety of features for all skill levels, but most are for intermediate and advanced.
Gunstock - Looks really tiny compared to Sunapee's area but I just think it's more condensed. I went in January and conditions were very hard packed, so I'd want to go again when conditions are better. Also their park wasn't complete when I went and they had features more for intermediate to advanced at the time.
Crotched Mountain - Thought about going here but a bit too small and would rather drive a little more north to Sunapee or Ragged.
Waterville - Wanted to check out there park but never got around to do it. Well, there's always next season.
Loon - On the list for next season.
Cannon - On the list for next season.
Sugarloaf - On the list for next season.
Okemo
Killington
Mount Snow
I did a lot of research this year on which resorts would be fun to go to and I found Google maps to be a great peek at the different resorts. You can always get stats from the respective websites but you can't really get an accurate picture. I've compiled some images from Google maps with different resorts I went to or wanted to go to. All images are screen shots taken at the same zoom (when the key of google maps indicated 2000 ft, this shows up on some of the larger resorts )
Good source for snow reports and mountain stats:
onthesnow.com
Masschusetts:
Wachusetts - Pretty decent mountain for MA. Only an hour from me and it has 2 high speed lifts. Unfortunately, it gets crowded pretty easily. I didn't buy a park pass, but there were a ton of features jammed in the terrain park.
New Hampshire:
Ragged Mountain - Mellow place. Great deals! I got a lift ticket there for $12 online at liftopia.com and quite often you can get a lift ticket for $24. They only have one good lift and there's no separate lift for the park, so the main lift gets pretty crowded.
Mount Sunapee - Decent size for being less than 2 hours away. Pretty good deals on Mondays ($40). I went twice this year and had a great time. Second time I was there, I spent most of my time in the park (see previous entry) and I was pretty content except when I hurt myself. They have a pretty stacked park that's separate from the main lift so it wouldn't be so crowded. There's a variety of features for all skill levels, but most are for intermediate and advanced.
Gunstock - Looks really tiny compared to Sunapee's area but I just think it's more condensed. I went in January and conditions were very hard packed, so I'd want to go again when conditions are better. Also their park wasn't complete when I went and they had features more for intermediate to advanced at the time.
Waterville - Wanted to check out there park but never got around to do it. Well, there's always next season.
Loon - On the list for next season.
Cannon - On the list for next season.Maine:
Sunday River - A more spread out resort. On the day I went, not all the trails were groomed very well. One had golf ball size ice which made it an unpleasant trail. Overall, big and lots of options, just spend the day exploring the trails.Sugarloaf - On the list for next season.Vermont: Significantly bigger than NH and MA resorts. Never got to go to any but def need to make a trip next year.
Stowe - Almost went this year.
Okemo
Killington
Mount SnowWednesday, March 11, 2009
Getting Air
So been riding on my new snowboard and it’s pretty awesome. My knees don’t feel as tweaked afterwards which I might attribute to the fact that the board is a little lighter than my old one.
So in the last few days I’ve been working on going of jumps. On Saturday, I attended a park clinic at Nashoba but I think it’s just an excuse for the older folks to get to try some of the park features without the yun’s to judge them. I did learn a few new things but nothing that I couldn’t have gotten off the terrain park safety website. After the clinic, I hit the jump with a little more courage since the landing was really soft due to the warm weather. By the end of the day, I finally did my first grab (indy)! I def worked up my confidence and I wasn’t scared to pop off the lip as hard as I can.
Sunday, brought another warm day, so more soft landings. The bigger jump was open and I knew I had to hit it. The jump had only been open on Friday night for the big air comp so it still maintained most of its shape. It was about a 15’/20’ step down. I was so scared going off of it but by the 4/5 time it was smoother, I still haven’t fully gotten comfortable getting a solid pop off of it but after this kicker, the smaller jumps seem like nothing. It was a great rush getting air and feeling so relieved when landing it, I didn’t really care I wasn’t doing tricks. By the end of the night I got a couple solid landings on it and called it night.
Monday, it snowed again and snow was continuing the entire day, so my friend and I took a hike up to Sunapee. We spend 75% of the time in the park and I had a great time until my last run (more about that later). They had 3 small sized jumps in the park so I just cruised it and worked on more grabs. I went on some of the boxes and the smaller rails but I still psych myself out and fall more than I want to. But I was really feeling the jumps and I got better at my indy and got a couple melon grabs in, still need to work on getting some spins in (next season). It was snowing all day so even if I fell the landing was soft and giving. The only time my fall was not so giving was on my last run. I’d been cruising the park several times so by now got pretty comfortable with the jumps. On my last run though I landed the second jump and was carrying a good amount of speed so I just went straight into the third jump which I usually checked my speed and prepared myself a little for. But I just decided to go for it, but something went wrong and my nose was lower than it should have been and then my mind just freaked and I just crashed my landing. My upper right half of my torso took in most of the fall, it was a good thing I had my helmet on, I really think I would have gotten a concussion. Anyway, I laid there for a second but I was ok to get up but as soon as I got up and turned on my heelside I felt a pop in my ribs and a pain and I just collapsed. Then I was hurting too much to get up on my own so I laid there until ski patrol came.
My diagnosis is I got a contusion in my ribs. How I got this I’m going to blame my phone that was in my pocket. I think the phone was between my ribs and arm in the fall so enough to push my ribs in a bit. Luckily, nothing is broken and all internal organs look in good shape. Moral of the story careful what you put your pockets when you’re riding/skiing. For now I’m prob going to take it easy, I still want to ride again before the season ends but who knows.
Little guide to grabs:
So in the last few days I’ve been working on going of jumps. On Saturday, I attended a park clinic at Nashoba but I think it’s just an excuse for the older folks to get to try some of the park features without the yun’s to judge them. I did learn a few new things but nothing that I couldn’t have gotten off the terrain park safety website. After the clinic, I hit the jump with a little more courage since the landing was really soft due to the warm weather. By the end of the day, I finally did my first grab (indy)! I def worked up my confidence and I wasn’t scared to pop off the lip as hard as I can.
Sunday, brought another warm day, so more soft landings. The bigger jump was open and I knew I had to hit it. The jump had only been open on Friday night for the big air comp so it still maintained most of its shape. It was about a 15’/20’ step down. I was so scared going off of it but by the 4/5 time it was smoother, I still haven’t fully gotten comfortable getting a solid pop off of it but after this kicker, the smaller jumps seem like nothing. It was a great rush getting air and feeling so relieved when landing it, I didn’t really care I wasn’t doing tricks. By the end of the night I got a couple solid landings on it and called it night.
Monday, it snowed again and snow was continuing the entire day, so my friend and I took a hike up to Sunapee. We spend 75% of the time in the park and I had a great time until my last run (more about that later). They had 3 small sized jumps in the park so I just cruised it and worked on more grabs. I went on some of the boxes and the smaller rails but I still psych myself out and fall more than I want to. But I was really feeling the jumps and I got better at my indy and got a couple melon grabs in, still need to work on getting some spins in (next season). It was snowing all day so even if I fell the landing was soft and giving. The only time my fall was not so giving was on my last run. I’d been cruising the park several times so by now got pretty comfortable with the jumps. On my last run though I landed the second jump and was carrying a good amount of speed so I just went straight into the third jump which I usually checked my speed and prepared myself a little for. But I just decided to go for it, but something went wrong and my nose was lower than it should have been and then my mind just freaked and I just crashed my landing. My upper right half of my torso took in most of the fall, it was a good thing I had my helmet on, I really think I would have gotten a concussion. Anyway, I laid there for a second but I was ok to get up but as soon as I got up and turned on my heelside I felt a pop in my ribs and a pain and I just collapsed. Then I was hurting too much to get up on my own so I laid there until ski patrol came.
My diagnosis is I got a contusion in my ribs. How I got this I’m going to blame my phone that was in my pocket. I think the phone was between my ribs and arm in the fall so enough to push my ribs in a bit. Luckily, nothing is broken and all internal organs look in good shape. Moral of the story careful what you put your pockets when you’re riding/skiing. For now I’m prob going to take it easy, I still want to ride again before the season ends but who knows.
Little guide to grabs:
Friday, February 27, 2009
Ragged Mountain
Yesterday, I went to Ragged Mountain cuz I found a sweet deal for lift tickets on liftopia for only $12. Over the last week it’s gotten over a foot of snow and most recently it snowed on Sunday so there was still some powder to be ripped through.
I found this one black diamond trail where pretty much no one was going on and they didn’t groom it so there was a lot of left over pow. It was awesome it took me a little bit to get used to riding in powder because it’s so different than hard packed. I had to shift my weight back to make sure my nose didn’t get buried in the snow which happened quite a bit initially. There were def a good number of spills but it was like landing on pillows. I had one straight on face plant that I just laughed at myself afterwards cuz if anyone was watching it would haven’t looked ridiculous. I’m sure I looked like a snowman afterwards and I had snow stuck in the crevasses between my goggles and helmet.
Such a good riding day :)
I found this one black diamond trail where pretty much no one was going on and they didn’t groom it so there was a lot of left over pow. It was awesome it took me a little bit to get used to riding in powder because it’s so different than hard packed. I had to shift my weight back to make sure my nose didn’t get buried in the snow which happened quite a bit initially. There were def a good number of spills but it was like landing on pillows. I had one straight on face plant that I just laughed at myself afterwards cuz if anyone was watching it would haven’t looked ridiculous. I’m sure I looked like a snowman afterwards and I had snow stuck in the crevasses between my goggles and helmet.
Such a good riding day :)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sunday River
Yesterday, I took a day trip to Sunday River for my b-day and it was a beautiful bluebird day.
Conditions could have been better but we found some good trails. Towards the end of the day it really became the ice coast except for the trails where they were making new snow.
There were a couple times where we accidentally got ourselves stuck in moguls (which i kept calling mongols), they def should put up larger warning signs. It was an adventure trying to make it through on my snowboard. It was a good thing the crests of the moguls were powdery, since I ate snow a few times.
Conditions could have been better but we found some good trails. Towards the end of the day it really became the ice coast except for the trails where they were making new snow.
There were a couple times where we accidentally got ourselves stuck in moguls (which i kept calling mongols), they def should put up larger warning signs. It was an adventure trying to make it through on my snowboard. It was a good thing the crests of the moguls were powdery, since I ate snow a few times.
Around Vortex trail
Bright and early 6 am on the ski bus
Who's that mystery person next to kt?
Oh yea that's me
Bball joke...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Snowboarding Stance
Another entry on snowboarding because that's all that I'm really doing these days. Recently, I've been tweeking my stance because at first my right knee (lead foot, cuz i'm goofy) had been aching a bit after longer days on the slope. So most recently, I lessened the angle on my lead food so it's +12 vs +18. Initially I had it at +15 at the beginning of the season, but thought I could go bigger, and I've been proven wrong about that. So far that angle seems to really help my knees out. I also widened my stance a little, before it was about 19" and now it's 20". There is a very noticeable affect, more so than I thought it would have, on my turns but I think I just have to get used to it. I went off a smallish jump yesterday, got a little more speed than expect but still held on the the land, so that might be attributed to the wider stance. I think I'll take the slightly wider stance and work on getting my turning comfort back up.
Current stance: goofy
width: 20"
angles (front/back): +12/-12
Current stance: goofy
width: 20"
angles (front/back): +12/-12
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Burton Demo's
Anyone in the area want to go try out some Burton boards when they come to Waterville Valley?
Date: 3/13-3/15
I would wanna go on 3/14, Saturday.
More details
Date: 3/13-3/15
I would wanna go on 3/14, Saturday.
More details
Friday, February 6, 2009
Boarding it Up
Yesterday was my day off, so I took advantage of it and went to a decent size mountain in MA, Wachusetts. It's only an hour away, so it's not that big only 1000 ft from base to peak. I brought my gps with me so that I can measure my speed and my top speeds for my runs were (all in mph):
34
37.6
35.5
40.5
37.9
My goal was 40 mph so I'm glad I hit it :) If you wanted to measure your speed all you have to do is take your gps with you on the mountain, go to the trip summary part, reset the 'max speed' and go for your run. After your run you'll have your max speed. Pretty neat. I have tried this on another mountain and in more rural areas, the reading isn't as accurate and sometimes just doesn't work. But it's nice to say exactly how fast your going versus just saying you bombed down the trail.
I'm actually surpised my board is able to handle these speeds but maybe I haven't gone fast enough to really be pushing my ability and/or my boards capabilities. I'm looking into buying a new board but everyday I'm flip flopping. Originally, I kinda wanted a park board, but I have to be honest with myself, how much park will I really ride, maybe 20% of the time if that. Right now, I'm leaning towards a board with mange-traction (google it if you've never heard of it) which would be good for packed powder which is all we have on the east coast; a twin shape because I do want to be good at switch and one day master 180s and beyond, a fun kinda flexible board to pop and ollie with.
Today, I was eyeing the Roxy Ally, I def would like to get my hands on one and test it out. It surprised me that it has magne-traction but that's awesome. So far from what I've read it seems to handle a groomers and ice but it also has that added fun factor of flex. Anyone, have this board, or can give me some more details on it? Any would be appreciated.
34
37.6
35.5
40.5
37.9
My goal was 40 mph so I'm glad I hit it :) If you wanted to measure your speed all you have to do is take your gps with you on the mountain, go to the trip summary part, reset the 'max speed' and go for your run. After your run you'll have your max speed. Pretty neat. I have tried this on another mountain and in more rural areas, the reading isn't as accurate and sometimes just doesn't work. But it's nice to say exactly how fast your going versus just saying you bombed down the trail.
I'm actually surpised my board is able to handle these speeds but maybe I haven't gone fast enough to really be pushing my ability and/or my boards capabilities. I'm looking into buying a new board but everyday I'm flip flopping. Originally, I kinda wanted a park board, but I have to be honest with myself, how much park will I really ride, maybe 20% of the time if that. Right now, I'm leaning towards a board with mange-traction (google it if you've never heard of it) which would be good for packed powder which is all we have on the east coast; a twin shape because I do want to be good at switch and one day master 180s and beyond, a fun kinda flexible board to pop and ollie with.
Today, I was eyeing the Roxy Ally, I def would like to get my hands on one and test it out. It surprised me that it has magne-traction but that's awesome. So far from what I've read it seems to handle a groomers and ice but it also has that added fun factor of flex. Anyone, have this board, or can give me some more details on it? Any would be appreciated.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Are you ready?
For the digital conversion on Feb... whenever and now Obama wants to push it back 3 months because most people aren't prepare.
Well, I am almost ready, I got my $40 coupons today!!!
And I'm glad I signed up before the new year because now that coupon program has run out of money and people are on a waiting list to get the coupons and I've got two in my hand right now. I've got these things and they're [expletive] golden. I'm not giving them up for [expletive] nothing.
Ok well they're not that golden and I do need both since we have two tvs in my house. So I will be off to Circuit City for my converter boxes.
Well, I am almost ready, I got my $40 coupons today!!!
And I'm glad I signed up before the new year because now that coupon program has run out of money and people are on a waiting list to get the coupons and I've got two in my hand right now. I've got these things and they're [expletive] golden. I'm not giving them up for [expletive] nothing.
Ok well they're not that golden and I do need both since we have two tvs in my house. So I will be off to Circuit City for my converter boxes.
Friday, January 2, 2009
What are the odds?
This show 'Deal or No Deal' I've only seen it a couple times (max) but anyway pretty easy concept try to pick the case with a million dollars, but then you have to open other cases to see what amounts of money the other cases hold, and while you open the other cases the "banker" tempts you with money so that you opt out of the amount of money in the case that you picked.
Well, what if the case you had only had $.01, then the banker wouldn't give you a good deal at all. I mean what's not stopping him from completely screw you over and just give you 1 cent deal every time. This would probably not be good for ratings but picking the million dollar case is the same probability as picking the $.01.
Well, what if the case you had only had $.01, then the banker wouldn't give you a good deal at all. I mean what's not stopping him from completely screw you over and just give you 1 cent deal every time. This would probably not be good for ratings but picking the million dollar case is the same probability as picking the $.01.
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