Serge Vitelli himself, the god of the frontside laid turn in the nineties
, was riding 24cm wide boards with hard boots. He loved to retrieve on the snow the same feeling as the one given by the "bottom-turn" on a wave (he was also a famous surfer).
He did stop riding with alpine snowboards in 1994-1995 because he didn't like the trend to ultra narrow boards and stiff boots. For him it was "not esthetical" (his own words). The skier position with the body facing the board nose didn't interest him. He named these snowboards "skiboards" because the riders had no more a position across the board.
He said: "If a position makes you use the lateral stiffness of the boots, it's no more snowboarding. You have to control the turn with the toes and heels. But everyone does what he wants. I conceive alpine snowboarding with not too extreme stuff and positions that allow making frontside turns in a steep slope without looking like a "gay"."
This is Serge Vitelli's opinion given in a French magazine (SNOWSURF, number 13, November 1994) that I found deep in one of my cupboards yesterday!
It's very interesting and even a premonition about the big decrease of alpine snowboarding in the end of the nineties! Our provocative
Manifesto (written in 2002) goes surprisingly in the same sense. It's a pity that this incredible rider and many others did left alpine snowboarding because of the narrow boards trend. Swoard brand appeared too late!
When I will have time, I will probably traduce more parts of this interview in English...
WokkingMax wrote:Cause I think different people have different preferences, and, as for me, higher angles are the way to go and resulted in a great advantage of riding
Yes, people have different preferences and everyone here (I included) respect this.
We are ONE family. The choice of:
- the board width
- the boots stiffness
- and above all the bindings angle (with and without canting)
lead inevitably to different styles and techniques (Swoard-EC style, slalom-race style, etc.).
Serge Vitelli had already understood that with:
- low bindings angle: the control of the turn is done with the toes and the heels. The boots should be not too stiff so that the rider can bend the ankles and knees.
- high bindings angle: the lateral stiffness of the boots is used. The boots are stiff. It's efficient in the slaloms. The rider is facing the board nose and the balance is different from the one at surfing.
That's very important. When I see people testing our wide boards with a setup for narrow boards, I realize that there are still many things to explain.
For sure the test will be bad and the rider will complain on the board, instead of thinking about his setup and his technique. Changing the setup, especially taking softer boots, is sometimes not enough. The rider needs of course to change his technique and to adapt: the control of the board is different. But the pleasure is then so great... We could make a long list of the advantages.
Patrice Fivat