Alpine Snowboarders!

[snocarver]

The East Coast Expression Session is coming back to Sugarloaf from March 6th to the 12th. The ECES is a non-competitive rally type event for alpine snowboarders. Check out www.eces.us for more details.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by snocarver

I make that face when I dance at weddings...

[trailertrash]

a similiar event going on now in aspen:

http://www.alpinecarving.com/ses06/

[trailertrash]

link to recent article:
http://www.denverpost.com/extremes/ci_3530015

Carving paths out of shadow

By Jason Blevins
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

Aspen - As their soaring, soft-booted siblings basked in the world's fawning glow in Italy last week, the microscopic yet fervent brigade of hard-booted alpine-carving snowboarders held their annual international rally in the Roaring Fork Valley.

The weeklong World Carving Session drew more than 150 European and American carvers - those rigid-booted snowboarders who leave deep grooves in groomed snow but never leave the ground. It was a celebration of the G-forced turn, whereas the dwindling legion's distant cousins - pipe-skidding snowboarders with their wide stance and cushy boots - extol airborne maneuvers.

The high-flying antics of the decidedly younger snowboarders are stealing all the attention and glory, while the hard-boot boarders are forced to watch the two best American carvers battle each other in court for the single alpine boarding spot on the American Olympic team.

"They are two different sports, really," says Fin Doyle, owner of Bomber Industries in Silverthorne, one of the world's few designers of alpine snowboard bindings. "It's like being a road rider and getting upset with all the attention on mountain biking. It's not really a fight. We just do what we do: carve."

Those are not casual carves. Alpine boarders get their boards on a steep angle that lays their entire bodies on the snow. An expert carver linking graceful turns with extended arms on the snow is a unique dance that no skier or soft-booted rider can imitate. Their tools leave telltale, knife-like slices in the snow.

"We have destroyed entire mountains," Doyle says proudly.

Still, it's hard for alpine carvers not to envy the glory heaped upon their powder-plundering, pipe-pruning peers. Both sports grew from a hazy adolescence in the early 1980s. Europeans had their alpine-carving sticks, which they wove through gates like ski racers, and Americans had their softer, skate-inspired boards they skidded off the groomed trails and in primitive halfpipes.

Eventually the punkish rebels on the American snowboards dominated. Alpine snowboarding is so hidden in the shadows, it is next to impossible to find a shop that provides its unique equipment. By 1999, the year after alpine snowboarding made its Olympic debut next to freeriders in the pipe, the sport was nearly forgotten.

Then the dawn of the digital age breathed new life into alpine boarding. The Internet united the scattered community of religious trench carvers, giving companionship to solo hard-booters tracing lonely arcs on their home hills. It provided a virtual store in which to trade and buy gear.

Today, the sport is drawing new riders from all disciplines. Soft-booted boarders are venturing over to check out the thrill of the full-body carve.

"All snow athletes should learn all skills, not just focus on one," says Sean Martin, president and owner of Donek Snowboards in Watkins, one of the only American alpine snowboard companies.

"If you are going to ride pipe, the best thing to do is learn how to carve your edge," Martin says. "You can maintain so much more speed and even squeeze more jumps out of the pipe."

Even skiers are gathering around the funky alpine boards, drawn by the sport's full-edged turn, a traditional ski turn that is losing ground to the sideway sliding commonly used with the now-ubiquitous fat skis.

Lisa Hideg, a doctor from Spokane, Wash., is a recent convert. The lifelong skier tried the rigid-booted board for the first time last week at Buttermilk ski area, and she was easily swayed.

"I tried the soft-booted thing once and that is nothing like surfing or skiing," she said, tightening her wrist guards for another thrilling slide down the bunny slope. "This is really surfing."

Learn more -- Check out www.alpinecarving.com, www.donek.com and www.bomberonline.com for more information on alpine snowboarding.
[/url]

[Big Game]

Originally Posted by some chick from trailertrash's article

"I tried the soft-booted thing once and that is nothing like surfing or skiing," she said, tightening her wrist guards for another thrilling slide down the bunny slope. "This is really surfing."

News to me. You don't need hardboots to carve. I've been carving with soft boots and a free ride board for over 3 years. My buddy who taught me how to carve has been doing it for 10 on the same.

I just taught my brother to carve a few weeks ago -- and he rides a crappy Burton. He couldn't believe it. He had no idea of the world of which we soft-boot carvers inhabit. He now understands why I make those weekly daytrips from Southern Connecticut to Vermont. Carve the slopes and because we're soft, we can also go into any woods (well at least some years when there is actual snow)

Some of you soft-boot boarders probably have no idea of what a carve is. Don't be embarrassed, I would not either if not for my buddy. So this is what you do, find a nice green circle with plenty of room. Get going to about 8 mph. Now, put your board on your heel-side edge. Show the P-Tex to the sky. You should notice this strange sensation that the board has a mind of its own and wants to make a freighteningly tight turn. Well, it kind of does. But don't worry, you can get inside its mind. Just put more weight forward than you need, and you be carving and really tight turn. To turn make a toe-side turn, just lean back, unweight a bit, and you'll come out of the carve. Now, get it up on the toe-side edge and lean forward, to allow the edges to really slice through the snow.

The other error this article makes is that carvers never leave the ground. BAH! If you are ripping up some super tight turns, super aggressively, there comes times when you pop off the ground without even trying. This is magic time.

[trailertrash]

Originally Posted by Big Game

News to me. You don't need hardboots to carve. I've been carving with soft boots and a free ride board for over 3 years. My buddy who taught me how to carve has been doing it for 10 on the same.

cool, good for you, have you tried a hardboot set up though? i think you would find the sensation you speak of below even more addicting. id be courios to know what your riding, your height/weight, board length and binding angles? ironically i want to get a soft boot set up i can carve on. the free ride board i have now is just too short.

Originally Posted by Big Game

Carve the slopes and because we're soft, we can also go into any woods (well at least some years when there is actual snow)

ah, hardbooters have been known to venture in the trees too. with all mtn alpine boards and lower angles it is done more than you think. (agreed on the lack of snow though)

Originally Posted by Big Game

Some of you soft-boot boarders probably have no idea of what a carve is. Don't be embarrassed, I would not either if not for my buddy. So this is what you do, find a nice green circle with plenty of room. Get going to about 8 mph. Now, put your board on your heel-side edge. Show the P-Tex to the sky. You should notice this strange sensation that the board has a mind of its own and wants to make a freighteningly tight turn. Well, it kind of does. But don't worry, you can get inside its mind. Just put more weight forward than you need, and you be carving and really tight turn. To turn make a toe-side turn, just lean back, unweight a bit, and you'll come out of the carve. Now, get it up on the toe-side edge and lean forward, to allow the edges to really slice through the snow.

you are right on here, most people no matter what they are riding on don't know how to carve. "hey! that device your sliding down the hill on has a sidecut for a reason!" you could yell that all day at any resort.

Originally Posted by Big Game

The other error this article makes is that carvers never leave the ground. BAH! If you are ripping up some super tight turns, super aggressively, there comes times when you pop off the ground without even trying. This is magic time.

you are right on again! not sure exactly what she meant there. carvers aren't known for the big airs that softbooters are but we do leave the ground. see all the hbooters in the olympic sbx?

[Mark D]

i know how to crave on a soft boot. i ride a 157 +9 in the front and -9 in the back. and its a ride exile.

[trailertrash]

This event is back on this year. This year it is at Stowe the week of March 3rd.

See the site www.eces.us for more details. Raffle on Thursday night, prizes include (Alpine) boards and bindings. Stowe has thrown in a stay for a raffle prize as well.

John

[tcharron]

Originally Posted by Greg

I make that face when I dance at weddings...

I'm guessing your body is in a similar position as well? >

[wintersyndrome]

Ive been carving in soft boots since 1993...love deep "knees scrapin" turns
+25 in front 0 in back and i ride trees and all that fun stuff...dont like "terrain parks" though
...not your average boarder i suppose