Demo-lition

Sunday's demo day had a huge turnout. The line for paperwork could have easily been confused for the line for some hot band's autograph signing, perhaps Ween. For good reason, too. This was easily the biggest demo day Meadows has hosted. About 10 snowboard companies were on hand (and as many ski brands) with boards and bindings and wait times for all but the hottest boards (GNU Impossible, Never Summer Cobra) were minuscule.

I put the screws to five new boards. Many of them were similar in the all-mountain freestyle category, but all had their pros and cons (that pun will hit you in a second here). I got on the following boards, in chronological order - all 2013 models - Lib Tech's C3 Jamie Lynn (back to camber-dominant, banana-submissive), Salomon's Man Board (camber profile, radial sidecut, how old school), Ride's Berserker (Jake Blauvelt's narrow, directional destroyer), Burton's Con Artist (152cm micro pow shredder) and Never Summer's Proto CT (twin, all-mountain freestyle, rocker-camber). Full write-ups forthwith. 

Burton Mountain Festival Coming to Meadows

There's nothing better than riding pow. Since I'm not going to Alaska or the Alps any time soon, I'll have to settle for riding other peoples' snowboards at the Burton Mountain Festival this weekend at Mt. Hood Meadows.

Aside from the snowboard demos, they're throwing a big ol' party with music and dancing and games of chance or at least a 4-star TTR event that can qualify you for the qualifying rounds of the US Open. A mini-park will be set up for those shred-kins too young for the main even, but whose overbearing parents insist they work on their double cork before nap time. And judging by the list of sponsors, you'll be tripping over caffeinated beverages and hair care product samples all day long. But at least you'll be out there and on some free gear. That's fun, right?

My Gear This Year 2012: Pants in Review

They keep your ass dry. Directly - you can sit down in snow and stay dry - and indirectly - they connect to your jacket in such a way as to keep snow out of that seam. They are pants. 'Pant suit' is a fun phrase to say, but I don't know what a pant suit is. Here is my stable of leg coverings for the year.

Homeschool, DC and Burton Ronin (L to R).

Far left is the 2012 Homeschool Snowboarding Line Up pant in Night (black). I got these at the beginning of the year in exchange for a review and haven't worn them on snow yet. They are 10,000mm water resistant and a booming 30,000gm breathable. Cocona fabric, ladies and gentlemen. My first impression is that the fabric feels supple, not cardboard stiff like some other highly waterproof gear. They have a reasonable four pockets and an accessory holster on the right leg. Basically it's a place to put your hat and/or gloves when you take them off, so you don't set them down and lose them. One possible negative is that they took the whole asymmetrical pockets thing a step too far as they have just one back pocket, one cargo pocket (and the holster) and one hip pocket zips on the side and the other on the top. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Homeschool kit performs, this stuff could really be the future. Keep an eye out for more reviews as I ride with these.

In the middle of the rack is the DC Baker pant. The bananas. They are last year's model (2011) and samples. They run 15k on both stats. (they call it Exotex, I don't know why) The fabric is flexible if a little thin. Given that, they feel a little drafty on snow. Also, semi-translucent and a light enough color that they were instantly and irrecoverably dirty. Six pockets is borderline too many. They have a nice bungee cord in the cargo pockets that you pull up to keep your cuffs from dragging as you walk. This is a nice feature because they are baggy. They are also the only pants I have that are Large instead of Medium. A good pant. The water resistance and breathability are both on-point. Cold on a windy day, though. 

The brown bibs on the end are Burton Ronins that I bought off one of those deal-a-day sites in spring 2008. I think that's when they stopped making the Ronin line. Anyway, 20k x 20k, but started to lose their resistance to the wetness last year. The spray-in Nikwax isn't reviving it either. I love me some bibs, though, and quality bibs are harder and harder to find. So good in pow. Maybe this is the year someone finally buys me a ninja suit for Christmas (merino wool, black, size medium, please). Anyway, this is the baggiest of the three. At medium it's almost as big as the DC large. The bibs, which are removable, keep it up. It's got six pockets and snap up cuffs. One cool feature is that it has venting on the inner and outer leg. All the other pants only have venting on the inner leg. All are mesh backed (none have insulation, either). The other bummer about these is that the right leg ripped when I tried to pull them out of a buckled binding. I had to Shoe Goo them back together. They were good while they lasted, but the writing's on the wall.

Pants, with the possible exception of gloves, are the outerwear piece that wears out fastest. Don't get caught with your pants down, always make sure you have a backup if you can. Nobody likes a soggy butt and your first defense against that uncomfortable ride home is some quality pow trousers.

Check the other "My Gear This Year 2012" gear review pages: Jackets and Boards.

Ask for a B-Movie and That's What You Get

Old habits die hard. I've gotten into this habit where I feel it's acceptable to drive three hours to see a snowboard video. Even when I have no one to help with gas money. That's how badly I want to see some new snow footage. That's how badly I miss winter. Burton provided my fix this time. They promised a free video in Seattle and I was powerless to resist the siren song of the highway.

Even closer to the Space Needle this time.

Not just Seattle, but the IMAX theater at the Seattle Center. Who hosts a free, check that, two free showings at an IMAX theater? Burton, that's who. Rumor has it a bunch of pros were at local core shop Snowboard Connection signing autographs before the show. My exit off the highway was shut down, so instead of driving right there, I drove around in a big circle for half an hour and showed up after everyone left. They were also out of the free tickets for the show. Who makes a premier free and then tells you that you need tickets? Yup, Burton. Time to show up at the venue and see if I can scam my way in.

When I got to the venue, the line was small and no one had extra tickets. Then again the first screening just started and it was 45 minutes 'til the next. Just enough time for me to find something else to fail at. This time I chose eating chowder. The first spoonful burnt my tongue, so did the second one mere seconds later. It tasted so good, though. By the time I was done with the bowl, a couple guys showed up with stacks of tickets to give away. No scamming necessary. (Turns out the theater was only half full in the end anyway, so much for the sellout.) Time for the show.

I hate to spoil it for you, but the new Burton movie is about dolphins.

They evolved from humans, you know...

On the way into the theater, free swag bags for everyone! Seriously, who does that!? You guessed it. My mellow bag had a shirt, bar of wax, some stickers and a lift ticket to Stevens Pass (everyone got these). Others had sweatshirts, hats and Golden Tickets that turned out to be good for a free board (3), a set of luggage (1) or a season's pass to Stevens Pass (1). Wow. I only saw one person walk out of the early show with a board, but still that's a ton of free shit. Pretty decadent, that's for sure. Wait, there was a movie, too! Let me tell you about that.

The first thing they show is the giant B feature. Can you believe that? They have this one huge feature that would be shocking to build up and then blow people away with at the end, but no, they blow it up first thing. And no one even hits it yet, they just show it off for the intro. Then at the end they try to build it up a little and I'm sitting in the audience thinking, "What, that big 'B' you showed first thing in the intro!?" Please. Here's how you do it. Show everything but the 'B' in the intro. Give a little build up, then hit the credits. Then re-build at the end and give 'em the payoff. How hard is that? Seriously.

Anyway, that aside, what's worth mentioning? Keegan Valaika breaks himself off heavily in the opener. In between sessions of torturing himself, he tortures some urban features. Nicolas Müller is one of my favorite riders and his part is my favorite in the movie. Nicolas in backcountry powder. How can you go wrong. Just push record. He seems like one of those guys who makes filming easy. Vintage stuff. The 'fun with friends in pow' part leading into his was, well, fun too. We get a taste of Shaun White in his not-so-secret-anymore backcountry Silverton, CO halfpipe. It's amazing pipe riding with more corks than jumps, if you know what I'm getting at. When he falls and they make a big deal out of it I think back to Keegan Valaika's part and how much harder he fell and how they didn't make a deal out of it. He was probably working on his Olympic run, so if you want to see that in advance, check it out. Jeremy Jones had a pretty good part. I've always like his riding and he's got some new tricks. He's perfected the one-foot 360 shove-it(?) and does a few of them in tricky situations. I loved his 'Propery of MDP' had, too. Then, guess what ends the video? Yup, the giant session on the 'B'. It was interesting to see all of the things they could do simultaneously. Some circus shenanigans, for sure. I'll say it was the best conglomeration of park features in a single place. Why couldn't they have just kept the secret?

I ain't Blotto, left to right: Spencer O'brien, Mikey Rencz,
Mikkel Bang, Danny Davis, Kevin Pearce, Mason Aguirre.

In the end it was worth my time. The problem is, I had to think about whether that was actually the case. When you have a name like The B Movie, you're setting yourself up to be second best and in my mind, that happened. It just wasn't as good as it could have been. Another gripe that just occurred to me. During the multiple rider segments, they just didn't title any riders. Especially at the end, when 40 or 50 different riders are hitting the B, I had no idea who was riding. That's the sort of thing I could have missed during a premier atmosphere, though.

Overall, plenty of top-tier riders, but a B-tier movie. Make no mistake, it made me want to get out there on my own board. If it comes near you on tour for free, it's worth the price of admission. It's just not one to buy. Save your money for Absinthe or a lift ticket.

Board Exam: 2009 Burton Supermodel X

While I was at the Baker Banked Slalom, I got a chance to demo some boards. The first one was this pretty little thing from Burton. I had it set up with Burton Triad EST Bindings. This was my first real try with the EST system. I took a lap on my friend's board with it once, but it wasn't set up for me, so it wasn't exactly a fair shake. This time I had the stance width and angles dialed in, so everything was comfy. Without turning this into a binding review, the system was good, but not amazing. I thought the straps were the best part. They seem to have gotten that part just right. I'd like to try it baseless or with the thinner Shredbeds. Preferably in powder.

Moving on to the board, my demo was a 164. Combine that length with a 10mm taper and that's a whole lotta board. Nevertheless my first impression with the thing dangling from my left foot on the lift was that it was quite light. Then I remembered what the rep said, " The 'X' means more stiff, more damp and more expensive." The price I can't change ($700), but I'll put the rest to the test. The runs at Baker that day were groomed and anywhere from soft to icy depending on the light. I was hoping for powder, which I think this board would excel at, but it wasn't happening in bounds that day.

Lightweight hanging from my foot, lighter weight wallet and a lightweight on the mountain

The Supermodel X is nothing if not stiff. All the way around, it's the stiffest board I've ever ridden. Not that I've ridden that many boards to this point, but still. This lends to a responsive board, quick edge to edge, but not the most comfortable or forgiving on off-center landings. For all that stiffness, you might expect a lot of pop, but it was average at best.

Stability at speed is where this board shines. It tore through chop and bumps without hesitation. When it came time to turn, though, the edges weren't what I hoped for. Burton's edge technology is the pressure distribution edge. I gotta say, I didn't notice any benefit over a regular edge. It got into the turn quickly, but couldn't hold on. Granted, this was hardpack and ice, but the same conditions with Mervin's Magne-Traction or Never Summer's Vario Power Grip were far more manageable. Something to keep in mind.

In the end, I'll admit I rode the wrong size board. I would have like to ride the 156 in those conditions. Keep that in mind when I say this board just wasn't for me. I'm not sure where this board is supposed to fit in when Burton already has the Malolo and Fish that are tapered powder sticks. This board is less tapered and stiffer. It would probably do well in pow, but not as good as the other two. Maybe it's made for speedy, straight-line racing. Until I figure out where I would want to ride this 700-dollar board, I'm staying away. For all the gory details check out Burton's website.