carving on eurosport

[nils]

my avatar picture is on a 158cm blast...impossible to link turns, but great fun on the frontside ! ( grip not as good as on a wide Swoard thu..)
N.

[Matt]

Quite right, no linked turns.
But has anyone tried EC with blast?
Jakob

YES!!! I Tried last year, As I still didn't see me in action, I can't tell you it is EC but I think it is approaching.

BTW, I think the material has an influence on the ability to do EC but technique and relaxed and smooth riding style has also a great influence!

I agree, I don't have a broad board (not yet!) but I have flexible and rather soft boots that enable me to make a good Push-Pull, which helps also.

Last year I met a group of french peolple in the Chinaillon (Hello!! ) check here to see:
http://www.swoard.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=2
They have a very large amount of alpine narrow board and trust me, they ride very hard and very low!!!

So I deeply think that the perfect equipment (Board, boots, bindings) don't make by itself a good EC guy!!

[frunobulax]

Hi Matt,
can you tell me something about the Blast? Because a friend of mine (ca. 180cm/80 kg) asked me today whether he should buy one (a 167 GS) or not. He will not do EC now or this season and still has to learn a few things about technique but I'd say he is a medium experienced old school carver and not afraid of high speeds. He is now riding a 158 F2 Speedster GTS which he claims is too soft and boring for him.
So, what I want to know is: Is the Blast only for experts and racers or would you recommend it for someone like him? I heard some good things about the Blast but I'm afraid he's gonna beat me up if I give him the wrong advice and if you tell me it's o.k. I can say I asked some real experts on the internet

Only alternative would be Speedster RS or Silberpfeil which I both would not recommend for him.

[Matt]

Hi Fruno

Look, I started Alpine snowboarding 3 seasons ago, (as my girlfriend is snowboarding), before I was sking... I did the two first seasons with a very old asymetrical Logical (HOT) and started with ski boots.

I quickly prefered snowboarding and tried to carve. I bought Raichle 121, (softies) and finally last year bought to a friend an old but not used Blast 162 (1994 ).
Last season to start with, the board was quite tough to ride, I had a hard time trying to make it carve or even skid! But after a lot of energy and sweat and patience from my girlfriend... I could finally make some laid down turn and at the end of the season I was happy!

So what I can tell you is this board is really stiff, not so forgiving, a bit narrow (not compared to V****... ) but once you manage it, it's a great board.
I am not too keen on riding very fast but more on carving and you can really do nice turns! It is very strong as last year I rode into a stone wall and just made a small hit on the nose!!

If your friend is bored on his F2, I can't tell you he won't be on a BLAST as I never tried any other board... But I like my old BLAST!!

I think you can recommand him a BLAST.

Finally, I read somewhere on the FORUM that the last BLAST (2004) was much more fun to ride, almost like a SWOARD, but narrower!

Bye Bye

Anyway, Alpine snowboarding is a BLAST!!!

[pokkis]

Good options can be also last years Oxygen, they are very solid have reasonable width 19.5 cm and radius 13 m plus are if available quite cheap. Other good one is Völkl which are great boards with nice price tag, unforunately i dont have them here so i can not measure dimensions

[frunobulax]

Thx to both pokkis and Matt.
I also found the thread where is said that the Blasts are less stiff since last season so I'll tell him go for a 2004 or 2005 board.
And it seems to be a little bit broader (19.8cm) than the Speedster, surely broader than the SP.
Oxygens have got quite a bad reputation around here, no idea why.
Can't buy Völkl because due to unknown reasons Völkl was always the enemy when we were ten-year-olds and still skiing. Crazy type of prejudice, I know.

BTW, how many boards have U got, pokkis? You don't get puzzled in the morning when choosing between them or do you ride them all at once?

[skywalker]

Hi,

I got a Nidecker Proto for a friend a few weeks ago. Wanted a board for him that allowes and forces and advanced riding technique. And so idn't want him to buy a 17cm Raceboard. We will be on the slopes in 2 weeks, so I'm curious, how it will work. But for all I've heard, this seems to be one of the best stock boars for carving...

[pokkis]

Anyway last years Oxy/Atomic is clearly most ugly board ever made but board looks to be working very fine, my wife has 168.
Völkl is great piece of woodware too and has lots of good feedback, but unfortunately very rare here.
My boards are listed there, plus we have allmost same ammount boards (158-168 cm area) for my wife