Post
by nils » Saturday 24 January 2004, 11:52
Actually you point out the main problem people face!
We are all looking for a board that grips on soft snow, and also grips on very hard snow. Basically (it was explained here and various forums also) the harder the flex, the less comfortable and efficient it will be on hard snow. The reason why is simple> on very hard snow, the edge tends to bump on every little harder part, or ice parts, then it tends to get ejected out of the "rail". What you look for ideally in this situation is an edge that would act as a bumper, and make stick to the snow, whatever shape the snow has under it. The problem with very stiff boards in that situation (and it is also the case with very torsionnaly stiff tips) is that the "bumper" effect is very small, like that of a race car that would tend to jump on every small bumps on the road. On the opposite side, a softer flexed board with softer torsion on the tips will be able to stick to the hard snow, absorb much more bumps in the edge, and conduct the board all the way without risk of skidding.
The problem is on soft snow, like fresh groomed powder, the soft flexes tend to go too deep in the snow, because they oppose not enough resistance to the soft snow. Here the edge plays a smaller role, its more the longitunal stiffness that has one. A harder flex will be a good opposition to the soft snow, and be able to resist and conduct the turn with ease.
Thus the complexity! You want a board with a flex that is good on soft and hard snow ! With a great torsion resistance to be able to carve an edge.
We believe the solution is to separate the flex stiffness from the torsion stiffness, and make a board with a mid flex with high torsion resistance.
Thus the importance of a flex that is adapted to the weight/size range of each rider. Basically what we have with the Swoard is a board with the same feeling for the rider, be the rider 165cm or 195cm tall with huge weight variations. This way the way the edge bites the snow on lets say hard snow is the same on the 161 than on the 175.
The problem you encountered with the blast might be because the snow was really too soft, then no other board would have been able to carve low. Or that because of the very stiff tips of the board, there was no way for it to let go the nose above the snow surface, and the more you pressed, the deeper it dug into it.
The Hot blast is basically a race board meant to be used on hard snow with gates, it is not meant to carve low in soft snow!
Hope this helps, jacques already wrote something on the forum on the flexes but cannot find it!
N.
