Best time for spring carving days now!

Post by **starikashka** » Tuesday 7 April 2009, 21:57

Ye...my countrymates...i.e. russians are awful some times

worse than guys visiting StPetersburgh to get drunk

But it`s life, tourism can give a value for an national economy so we need to be patient to each other

Or make a "revenge" visits

BTW - have you ever visited Elbrus area? You can ride on the 3500-4500 altitude in summer...but there is awful infrastructure...

Post by **pokkis** » Tuesday 7 April 2009, 22:05

Most probs i had there was just ammount of folks, too crowded for proper carving. It just hapens to be public holiday time. Nothing else.
No Elbrus for me, thanks, too far away, i have seen films and read stories but i target Niseko for powder trip.
I was looking to go for Kirovsk but decided to forget that.

Post by **Felix** » Wednesday 8 April 2009, 1:52

Those pics do suck....

I decided to go mountainbiking instead of boarding, cause with the thermometer (in the shadow) on my veranda reaching 28° degrees today, and about 15° in the sun at 2000m (our mountains in the east of austria don't go up higher) is not worth it anymore.

Even the more with still around 4m of snow at 1500m, avalanches are getting quite big....

Will go raxskiiing on Sat/Sun but for boarding it's no fun anymore......
Waiting for colder temps. Hochkar is still open till 03.Mai and still got loads of snow.

Also the Schneebergbahn will open up soon. So it's not all bad here in the east.....

Post by **Schneewurm** » Wednesday 8 April 2009, 9:10

More from Davos:

Picture-1: I didn't ride it this day, but slope no. 2, down from Weissfluhgipfel at Davos Parsenn was also affordable to ride. This slope was reserved by World-Carving-Session of Pureboarding exclusive the last Years for 2 runs of "fogy-carving"! I prefered slope no. 22 Obersäss-Schifer its marked as red, it seems more to be a black one slope!

Picture-2: A realy nice and I think similar to Zinal slope, is no. 13 (Davos-Parsenn - Weissfluhjoch down to Wolfgang). Keep in mind, this slope, presenting 190 meter of high, will not be prepared every day. You can watch status, just before You arrive by car or train to Davos at station "Wolfgang", right side uphill. Following to the photo are additional 120 meters on a steeper and narrower part in forest area to ride - most time bumpy at afternoon! Access to cable-car Davos-Parsenn for redo it, is done by every 15 minutes on the busstop at "Wolfgang" or by railway one time every hour.
There was another steep section of about 90 meters of high right on the top of Weissfluhjoch, joining to slope no. 11. Usable for all posers, because it's under the chairlift. So about 400 m of high from more then 1000 meters downhill, can be used to carve like lazy. For to take this foto I had to wait some minutes to get some skiers to the picture, for to show You better the dimension.

Picture-3: For all riders who can handle steeper lifts (like ours 4 or 5 Years old boys and girls on skis use it as a standard uphill movement) they like also to ride on slope no. 1 at Davos-Jakobshorn. The upper part has a nice mogul slope, following by best and wide carving slopes. Watch out multiple warnings!

- - - - -
Keep in mind, the alps have now excellent snow conditions for easter-days. Slopes are everywhere on top conditions, because of plenty of snow and a full freezing at night and no higher temperature then 20° in the valley on days. Nearly all downhills down to valleys bottom are also well prepared!
Most Resorts have still a lot of accomodation capacity for easter (exept a handfull resort like e.g. Engelberg. A women told me on Monday Engelberg is booked out)

- Don't miss to ride such nice slopes ! -

Post by **starikashka** » Wednesday 8 April 2009, 16:29

pokkis wrote: No Elbrus for me, thanks, too far away, i have seen films and read stories but i target Niseko for powder trip.
I was looking to go for Kirovsk but decided to forget that.

To get a nice powder runs you have to go Novosibirsk regio - there is Sheregesh ski resort

it`s even far than Elbrus

You remember Alexander from StPetersburgh, he was in Zinal this year, he can tell you about this place

Right idea about Kirovsk - it still need some improvements

and it really crowded in holidays...and the city sucks - lucky me knowing this by pictures and friends stories

Post by **Schneewurm** » Monday 13 April 2009, 10:44

Easter special for the Dutch carver section.

Some weeks ago I was asked by a Dutch rider for advices where to go snowboarding during Easter time.

So I did my own check, to see if one of my advice was affordable and I was going carving on easter-days.

Well, it depends what the goal is, for to go carving. Some people like more crowded slopes, like You can find it at Sölden now, see webcam-shot / picture 1, others like to carve on nearly free slopes.

I was also looking for crowded slopes, so I choose a midsize resort with about 40 km of slopes, offering the skipass for a day at half price. Riding at half price I think, does animate people to come in mass for skiing. (Midsize skiaereas are about 30 km to 70 km of slopes, the bigger ones, like Sölden are on 150 km up to more, like e.g. Davos with 300 km.)

In addition to this, I choose a resort, which was easy for all Dutch riders to find. They can just follow the river "uphill", starting at Rotterdam and leaving this long river only for about 2 km for to step in, in the gondola. If they don't use a ship for travel for to go carving, they must leave the highway for about only 3-4 km by car, on an dutch-compatible all flat area, with never climbing over a sea level of 500 m.
For people flying privat airplanes, next airfield, called "the springboard to the alps", is right next to the lower station of gondola, so you can walk e.g. from your Cessna to the Gondola.
For to feel comfy, people have all the day during carving on steeper slopes the sight to this river to Rotterdam, see picture 2 and 3, showing the same slope/access to the slope.

Post by **Schneewurm** » Monday 13 April 2009, 10:49

continued:
Sometimes some carving slopes have also been a kind of crowded, but sometimes good ones have been nearliy like free, as You can see on the first two photos, same slope from the morning 9.10 a.m., and the afternoon at 2 p.m.
Offpiste in slush was at some risk of avalanche, but also verry nice to ride, see picture 3. In the center you can find two skiers. The marked tracks are from me. I rode a longer board ( >180cm ) with a nose-lift of only 2.7 cm, but without this funny multiradial-shape from the brand with an V on leading edge. Watch out the possibility of variation from the radius of this board, produced at the same factory like Swoard.

Post by **Schneewurm** » Monday 13 April 2009, 10:51

last part:
After some hot rides, I had to cool down on the snow-bar for the next rides on some steeper slopes (see photo 1).
There on the bar, behind me the easter-bunny was smiling from the wall. But in front of me, I was in a nice talk with the "bunny of the bar" (behind the baar), a nice Dutch women, her name was Greetje Stroomer.

Beside that, I saw also some other hardbooters on slope like on F2, Kessler and Oxygen. And as it seems, the slopes there are compatible or usefull to carve with this well known EXTREMECARVER's.

Post by **Arnaud** » Saturday 18 April 2009, 17:49

Alagna (IT)
2700 m
17th April 2009, 15h30 in the afternoon

Only one track

Post by **Schneewurm** » Thursday 23 April 2009, 21:39

Yes Arnaud, Friday was a great day. We had only about +30/35 of fresh snow, but it was a good day to ride. On the south there was much more (about +50-80 cm) of fresh snow and once again the same amount of the beginning of this week!

Tell me more about Alagna, I thought they are closed!

Beside that, last Monday afternoon (I was on the road) I was again on slope - hmm - no, most time off slope for slush riding and I enjoid a nice mogul-hill. Nearly 400 m of high, moguls only, what funny rides!

After step in the Poma 12 person gondola at 1 p.m. I felt like lonly on the upper stages! (see picture 1, beside a 4000 persons/hour chairlift in contrast what people like to do there)
But as a good thing my warmup / first run starts on a black slope with lazycarving (nothing else, to bee lazy during the carve) on a too dirt snow/slope. (picture 2/3) They shouldn't mark this slope as black, better as brown!

At the end of the day a man with a wide board with black base and a logo like a Q was suspendet on the Poma (Grenoble) 4-seat chairlift over my head. He was beside a rider with a F2 raceboard, the only one more hardbooter I saw on the resort. A resort where I had to search by a fieldglass others people on slopes.

Post by **István** » Friday 24 April 2009, 9:31

I like the last pic the most. It reminds me of the great carving days I had this season. This pic is a metaphore, only carvers understand what it really means. For the rest it is only a picture of an empty, ruined slope. Cheers

Post by **kurtsk8** » Sunday 26 April 2009, 18:03

Yesterday I went in Colere (1600-2200 m) Val di Scalve (Bergamo)

Post by **kurtsk8** » Sunday 26 April 2009, 18:06

...more

Post by **Schneewurm** » Monday 14 September 2009, 14:43

A short look-up of last wintertime:

As we know it all, there are people, they are intending, teaching, promoting and boarding the Carving with snowboards on a pure way (Picture 1), based on turns with drift- and chatter-components. (track on Picture 2)

As an authentic carver, it like almost to glide (like on this thread above - Mon Apr 13, 2009 10:49) very low over a white surface of snow, on a much more smoother way! (Picture 3)

Screenshots from:

about 1'53", where you can hear instead of the singing birds beside the slope, a motorcycle in the movie! (compare pictures - slope and Chalets)

Post by **zajda** » Tuesday 22 September 2009, 14:20

winter 08-09