Well well well the onslaught of the weekend has descended upon us, and it's a holiday weekend to boot, so needless to say, my boyfriend and I aren't riding today. We planned to go to BC since a lot of people's passes were blacked out for President's weekend, but sadly he's sick. Dead, he says. :( This gives me some time to post on here, so let's recap.
The Keystone On Snow demo was Feb 10-12, and we hit up the demo on Feb 11. A shop that we frequent here in Denvuhs and another shop that wants me to ride for them both didn't have girls on their teams or working in the shop, so they both asked me to go to the Demo and try all the girls boards. In a nutshell, these are the boards I rode and my thoughts on them:
[x] K2 Fling 146 with K2 Auto Agogo - Loved this board!! I rode this one for like 3 hours
[x] Technine... something 144 with Rome Madison - God this board sucked ass. It was a womens park board, it was super soft when I flexed it with my hand, but when I rode, it felt stiff... like the flex was in all the wrong places
[x] Bataleon Distortia 147 with Rome Madison - Liked it, not bad. Felt like sandpaper when I did a box though but the box was probably fucked up
[x] Rome LoFi 140 with Ride Bandita - Board was OK, bindings were OK
[x] Omatic Benetar 144 with Union something (womens bindings) - Loved the board, hated the bindings, the toe strap kept slipping even though it was cranked all the way
[x] Rome Detail 143 with Rome Madison - Fun to jib with, was okay outside the park
[x] NeverSummer Pandora 146 with Rome Madison - LOVED THIS BOARD!! If it were softer, I'd totally buy this thing
[x] Gnu B-Nice 145 with Rome Madison - Board was OK, it was my first time on a magne/banana board and sometimes when I turned, it felt like I was stuck in the turn haha
I know I rode some other stuff but I can't remember... oh dear. Hahahahaha. I had my camera with me the whole time too, but never took pics. Oh well. The Demos were really fun, I met some new friends and saw some old friends. We just messed around all day, trying to see how the boards rode and stuff and it was really a lot of fun. I'm bummed the demos are over, I wanted to try out a bunch more boards.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
K2 Duchess 144
This is my main board that I rode most of this winter thus far and I figured it was about time that I got around to reviewing it.
K2 Duchess. Mine has a purple base!
Mountain: Arapahoe Basin, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Copper, Keystone, etc.
Weather: A whole variety; from warm sunny days to cold, windy shitty days
Snow: Groomers to powder to ice
Bindings: At first, it was my first year Rome Madison and now I have K2 Auto Agogo
Boots: Once again, at first, it was Vans Tara Dakides from like 4 years ago, now it's 32 Lashed
I have rode this board everywhere by now, so I'll list each place I rode it in and describe how it was there.
Rails/boxes/log jibs: Love it, have had no problems thus far jibbing, but sometimes the rails or boxes would be sticky and my board would really stick onto it. The board is lightweight and pretty easy to spin on the boxes. I've never caught my edge on boxes but sometimes if I'm doing a noseslide or a frontside, and there's more weight on one edge, I can feel it scraping but that's probably my fault due to more weight on one edge. I never detuned my edges by the way. Like my Va Va Voom Rocker, if I came off a box or rail early while spinning, the Duchess also buttered right off it and onto the snow, however it was definitely easier with the VVV in that situation.
Jumps: LOVE IT HERE TOO. I used to always be sketched out going off jumps (being from the Midwest that has shitty jumps does that to you) so I didn't really start jumping until the last month of the 2007-2008 season. Now I feel confident going off jumps and this board is so stable on the landings, which definitely helps me to get more comfortable doing bigger jumps. I have spun off jumps with this board, and spinning is easy and effortless. The board doesn't feel heavy or like I have to really pull it around. It's just all around fun.
Groomers: This board has Harshmellow below the bindings, and it's supposed to absorb vibration and chatter. I ride the 144cm, and usually, those smaller boards chatter a lot when I go fast, but not this one. It's a very comfortable ride and doesn't chatter at all when I go quick. Carving is fun too, the board is quick edge to edge. It's also got a nice flex to it- not too soft and not too stiff. Pressing is possible, but it's not a noodle like the Va Va Voom. (Sidenote: Now that this board has been broken in, it's definitely softer than a brand new K2 Fling) The Duchess has good pop too, you can really pop off rollers. Not as poppy as the Capita Horrorscope though!
Powder: Like the K2 Catalog says, floating is effortless and it really is! I moved out here this year so I can ride more powder and real mountains, not a hill covered in shredded ice, haha. I used to be nervous that I'd sink but after riding powder for a day, I became relaxed and now I absolutely love it. It is pretty easy to float and turning feels soooooooo good. My boyfriend pointed out that I was doing "powder turns"... sweet! Only thing I don't like about this board is that the topsheet is cloth, so the snow sticks to it easily. As long as you keep going though, the snow just flies off but there's always a little sheet of snow stuck on the topsheet.
Trees: The Duchess turns quick edge to edge and it is pretty fun to take in the trees. I would trust it, haha. It's not bulky and sluggish in turning at all. Most of the time, there's powder in the trees, so I'm not gonna go into that again (I just wrote about how it performs in powder up there!).
Cliffs/cornices: Granted, I don't drop a lot of cliffs and find it more fun to drop them on powder days, but a cliff is a cliff. The first cliff I dropped was at Copper, and it was probably 12-15ft. It was definitely more than twice my height and I'm 5'2. It wasn't a powder day, just packed snow, and the Duchess did just fine. Some other cliffs I dropped were at Vail on a powder day, and ohhh my god, SO SO SO SO FUNNNNNN. This one cliff was a little bit bigger, 20-25ft, and once again, the Duchess did great. I continued to drop other smaller cliffs my boyfriend and I came upon while riding, and we bombed over a cornice. The board was really stable throughout the whole day and had no real issues and it was just an absolute blast. I just kinda wish that I got the Duchess in a 147 but the 144 suits me just fine.
Halfpipe: I suck ass in the halfpipe, I don't know why I'm even putting this down haha, but whatever. I rode Copper's halfpipe, the big ass one, and I can't air out of it but I can get up in the walls and turn. I guess the board's okay in the pipe, I really don't know what I should be looking for in a halfpipe board. I've heard that a halfpipe board should be stiff and long (mmm stiff and long), so I guess a K2 board that would rock in the pipe would be the Mix.
In all, I think that this board is an absolute blast all over the mountain. This board would be perfect for someone who does a little of everything. Even if someone is more into park than the rest of the mountain, this is still a great board. It's my trusty steed!
K2 Duchess. Mine has a purple base!
Mountain: Arapahoe Basin, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Copper, Keystone, etc.
Weather: A whole variety; from warm sunny days to cold, windy shitty days
Snow: Groomers to powder to ice
Bindings: At first, it was my first year Rome Madison and now I have K2 Auto Agogo
Boots: Once again, at first, it was Vans Tara Dakides from like 4 years ago, now it's 32 Lashed
I have rode this board everywhere by now, so I'll list each place I rode it in and describe how it was there.
Rails/boxes/log jibs: Love it, have had no problems thus far jibbing, but sometimes the rails or boxes would be sticky and my board would really stick onto it. The board is lightweight and pretty easy to spin on the boxes. I've never caught my edge on boxes but sometimes if I'm doing a noseslide or a frontside, and there's more weight on one edge, I can feel it scraping but that's probably my fault due to more weight on one edge. I never detuned my edges by the way. Like my Va Va Voom Rocker, if I came off a box or rail early while spinning, the Duchess also buttered right off it and onto the snow, however it was definitely easier with the VVV in that situation.
Jumps: LOVE IT HERE TOO. I used to always be sketched out going off jumps (being from the Midwest that has shitty jumps does that to you) so I didn't really start jumping until the last month of the 2007-2008 season. Now I feel confident going off jumps and this board is so stable on the landings, which definitely helps me to get more comfortable doing bigger jumps. I have spun off jumps with this board, and spinning is easy and effortless. The board doesn't feel heavy or like I have to really pull it around. It's just all around fun.
Groomers: This board has Harshmellow below the bindings, and it's supposed to absorb vibration and chatter. I ride the 144cm, and usually, those smaller boards chatter a lot when I go fast, but not this one. It's a very comfortable ride and doesn't chatter at all when I go quick. Carving is fun too, the board is quick edge to edge. It's also got a nice flex to it- not too soft and not too stiff. Pressing is possible, but it's not a noodle like the Va Va Voom. (Sidenote: Now that this board has been broken in, it's definitely softer than a brand new K2 Fling) The Duchess has good pop too, you can really pop off rollers. Not as poppy as the Capita Horrorscope though!
Powder: Like the K2 Catalog says, floating is effortless and it really is! I moved out here this year so I can ride more powder and real mountains, not a hill covered in shredded ice, haha. I used to be nervous that I'd sink but after riding powder for a day, I became relaxed and now I absolutely love it. It is pretty easy to float and turning feels soooooooo good. My boyfriend pointed out that I was doing "powder turns"... sweet! Only thing I don't like about this board is that the topsheet is cloth, so the snow sticks to it easily. As long as you keep going though, the snow just flies off but there's always a little sheet of snow stuck on the topsheet.
Trees: The Duchess turns quick edge to edge and it is pretty fun to take in the trees. I would trust it, haha. It's not bulky and sluggish in turning at all. Most of the time, there's powder in the trees, so I'm not gonna go into that again (I just wrote about how it performs in powder up there!).
Cliffs/cornices: Granted, I don't drop a lot of cliffs and find it more fun to drop them on powder days, but a cliff is a cliff. The first cliff I dropped was at Copper, and it was probably 12-15ft. It was definitely more than twice my height and I'm 5'2. It wasn't a powder day, just packed snow, and the Duchess did just fine. Some other cliffs I dropped were at Vail on a powder day, and ohhh my god, SO SO SO SO FUNNNNNN. This one cliff was a little bit bigger, 20-25ft, and once again, the Duchess did great. I continued to drop other smaller cliffs my boyfriend and I came upon while riding, and we bombed over a cornice. The board was really stable throughout the whole day and had no real issues and it was just an absolute blast. I just kinda wish that I got the Duchess in a 147 but the 144 suits me just fine.
Halfpipe: I suck ass in the halfpipe, I don't know why I'm even putting this down haha, but whatever. I rode Copper's halfpipe, the big ass one, and I can't air out of it but I can get up in the walls and turn. I guess the board's okay in the pipe, I really don't know what I should be looking for in a halfpipe board. I've heard that a halfpipe board should be stiff and long (mmm stiff and long), so I guess a K2 board that would rock in the pipe would be the Mix.
In all, I think that this board is an absolute blast all over the mountain. This board would be perfect for someone who does a little of everything. Even if someone is more into park than the rest of the mountain, this is still a great board. It's my trusty steed!
Rossignol Mini 121
I got to try out my boyfriend's Rossignol Mini 121cm and oh my god. Hahahahahahahaha. This board is so WEE! It definitely gets a lot of attention, mostly from people asking, "What the hell is that?"
The Mini next to my 144cm K2 Duchess. Mine's bigger. GIGGITY!
Mountain: Copper
Weather: Blue skies, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, warm
Snow: Groomed
Bindings: Ride BETA MVMNT, the ones with the gel mesh toe straps thingys
Boots: 32 Lashed womens size 7
I can't stop laughing at this damn board! It's so small and looks ridiculous! This board is pretty heavy for it's miniature size and is also really wide. You can notice the width in the above picture.
Park: This board is really fun in the park, and I liked jibbing with it. It's pretty lively and my boyfriend mentioned that he found it easier to frontside boardslide on the Mini than the Horrorscope. However, the board isn't very poppy but it does have some pop. It's also stiff as a brick and impossible to press. Pressing isn't happening.
I took this board off the jumps and I was surprised that it did pretty well in that area. Landing it wasn't a problem even though it was really small. While on the subject of it being small, you can totally do nose grabs and tail grabs at the same time!!!!!
Mountain: When riding around on the groomers on this board, the Mini was pretty stable. As for turning, oh my god. This board is sooo wide and stiff that it was sometimes hurting my thighs when turning hard. Either it's too wide or I have girly legs. My thunder thighs can't handle it!! My boyfriend, on the other hand, said that he loved it for everything, he didn't have problems cruising around on it and especially loved it in the park. He did say that it did hurt his thighs a little bit when he turned hard.
In my opinion, I'd say that this board would be ideal for someone who does straight up rails/boxes only, with the occasional small jump. This board would also be awesome for Ruby Hills Ral Yard, if that damn place ever opens this year!!!
The Mini next to my 144cm K2 Duchess. Mine's bigger. GIGGITY!Mountain: Copper
Weather: Blue skies, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, warm
Snow: Groomed
Bindings: Ride BETA MVMNT, the ones with the gel mesh toe straps thingys
Boots: 32 Lashed womens size 7
I can't stop laughing at this damn board! It's so small and looks ridiculous! This board is pretty heavy for it's miniature size and is also really wide. You can notice the width in the above picture.
Park: This board is really fun in the park, and I liked jibbing with it. It's pretty lively and my boyfriend mentioned that he found it easier to frontside boardslide on the Mini than the Horrorscope. However, the board isn't very poppy but it does have some pop. It's also stiff as a brick and impossible to press. Pressing isn't happening.
I took this board off the jumps and I was surprised that it did pretty well in that area. Landing it wasn't a problem even though it was really small. While on the subject of it being small, you can totally do nose grabs and tail grabs at the same time!!!!!
Mountain: When riding around on the groomers on this board, the Mini was pretty stable. As for turning, oh my god. This board is sooo wide and stiff that it was sometimes hurting my thighs when turning hard. Either it's too wide or I have girly legs. My thunder thighs can't handle it!! My boyfriend, on the other hand, said that he loved it for everything, he didn't have problems cruising around on it and especially loved it in the park. He did say that it did hurt his thighs a little bit when he turned hard.
In my opinion, I'd say that this board would be ideal for someone who does straight up rails/boxes only, with the occasional small jump. This board would also be awesome for Ruby Hills Ral Yard, if that damn place ever opens this year!!!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Winter Park
Today my bf and I decided to hit up Winter Park just to switch things up. We don't get free tickets at Winter Park even though their passes work at Copper and Steamboat too. We get free tickets at Copper, and tickets are $37 at WP and $30 at Steamboat. I think that's dumb, but whatever. We wanted to hit up Winter Park at least once this season.
BIG WASTE OF MONEY. First of all, that place is pretty flat. Second of all, the park sucks. Third of all, the park that looks decent is closed off. Apparently you needed a special pass to be able to access it. We were told that we needed to watch a 2 fucking hour video and then take a test. This made me think... okay... I'm deaf. These kind of videos (videos for tests, orientation videos, corny homemade educational videos, etc) are usually not captioned. (Sidenote: I don't know for sure if the Winter Park videos are, so please tell me if they are.)
How the hell does a deaf person get to obtain this fabled pass to get into the park? I thought of going to the guy on the snowmobile guarding the park's entrance like the black knight on Monty Python and the Holy Grail ("You shall not pass!") sans sword and armor, and asking him if I could be let through. Haha. I mean, I'm deaf, I'm not retarded. I know park etiquette, and I know how to scope out features and bullshit like that. I grew up riding park, and plus the rails and boxes in that park weren't that big, however the jumps were massive hahaha. I've hit bigger shit at Beaver Creek and didn't need a special pass. Alas, I didn't ask him, and I just stuck with riding the shitty parks.
We tried to ride around the mountain and explore it, but after riding on one long flat trail, we decided to just stay in the parks. The only features that were really fun were a rainbow rail and a skinny long flat-down box. The jumps were good too, but they were small. I think I'll stick with Copper.
OH YEAH. The ski lift died while we were on the chair. FUCKING SWEET. A ski patrol came down stopping at each chair to tell people what was up, and I told my boyfriend, "Oh oh I wanna see what he does when I tell him I'm deaf, so don't talk to him!!" Hahahaha. He came to our chair, and started shouting and talking really fast. My boyfriend and I were all like, "HUH?" and signed at him. He looked like he went, "Oh shit!!!!!!!!" and that was when I decided to talk to him haha. He turned out to be cool and was easy to lip read and tried to be as animated as possible. Chairlift generator went out, they have a backup generator and hope to be moving again soon. Sweet. I told him my boyfriend had to shit, and what should we do. He told him to "hold it in"... hahaha. And our knight in shining armor skiied off. The chairlift started moving again with a big cloud of diesel smoke billowing up from the top of the lift. We were stuck on it for probably a good half hour.
Needless to say, I don't think we will be coming back to Winter Park for a loooooooooooong time. We still need to hit up Steamboat this year, my boyfriend's brother owns an empty condo up there and we can totally bring our dogs there!
BIG WASTE OF MONEY. First of all, that place is pretty flat. Second of all, the park sucks. Third of all, the park that looks decent is closed off. Apparently you needed a special pass to be able to access it. We were told that we needed to watch a 2 fucking hour video and then take a test. This made me think... okay... I'm deaf. These kind of videos (videos for tests, orientation videos, corny homemade educational videos, etc) are usually not captioned. (Sidenote: I don't know for sure if the Winter Park videos are, so please tell me if they are.)
How the hell does a deaf person get to obtain this fabled pass to get into the park? I thought of going to the guy on the snowmobile guarding the park's entrance like the black knight on Monty Python and the Holy Grail ("You shall not pass!") sans sword and armor, and asking him if I could be let through. Haha. I mean, I'm deaf, I'm not retarded. I know park etiquette, and I know how to scope out features and bullshit like that. I grew up riding park, and plus the rails and boxes in that park weren't that big, however the jumps were massive hahaha. I've hit bigger shit at Beaver Creek and didn't need a special pass. Alas, I didn't ask him, and I just stuck with riding the shitty parks.
We tried to ride around the mountain and explore it, but after riding on one long flat trail, we decided to just stay in the parks. The only features that were really fun were a rainbow rail and a skinny long flat-down box. The jumps were good too, but they were small. I think I'll stick with Copper.
OH YEAH. The ski lift died while we were on the chair. FUCKING SWEET. A ski patrol came down stopping at each chair to tell people what was up, and I told my boyfriend, "Oh oh I wanna see what he does when I tell him I'm deaf, so don't talk to him!!" Hahahaha. He came to our chair, and started shouting and talking really fast. My boyfriend and I were all like, "HUH?" and signed at him. He looked like he went, "Oh shit!!!!!!!!" and that was when I decided to talk to him haha. He turned out to be cool and was easy to lip read and tried to be as animated as possible. Chairlift generator went out, they have a backup generator and hope to be moving again soon. Sweet. I told him my boyfriend had to shit, and what should we do. He told him to "hold it in"... hahaha. And our knight in shining armor skiied off. The chairlift started moving again with a big cloud of diesel smoke billowing up from the top of the lift. We were stuck on it for probably a good half hour.
Needless to say, I don't think we will be coming back to Winter Park for a loooooooooooong time. We still need to hit up Steamboat this year, my boyfriend's brother owns an empty condo up there and we can totally bring our dogs there!
Capita Horrorscope FK 148
I got the chance to try out Capita's Horrorscope FK 148 at Copper Mountain while my boyfriend rode his other new board, a Rossignol Mini... hahaha yeah, he bought another new board. It was a killer deal though, like $40 for a brand new Mini? I know, he's like an Asian tourist, always buying shit hahahaha.
Mountain: Copper
Weather: GLORIOUS! Sunny and warm!
Snow: Groomed
Bindings: Ride BETA MVMNT, the ones with the gel mesh toe straps thingys
Boots: 32 Lashed womens size 7
First thing I noticed was this board... WOW... STABLE. Kinda felt like the K2 Va Va Voom I rode. It actually felt kinda close to the VVV while riding on mellow runs but it was way softer and had a hell lot more pop while playing in the park. This thing has insane pop, holy god. I was ollieing over little skibys (ski babies; pronounced ski-bees) like they were little snow clumps.
I had no problems jibbing this board, even holding presses were no problem at all. Be careful though, haha, nosepress the shit out of it and it might pop off the box too much and surprise you. It seriously was so much fun to press on the rails and boxes, and even just cruising on the runs. Butter on one end and spin around on it down the run was effortless too.
This board was also great off jumps, I found it to be very stable and of course, really fun.
I think that the Horrorscope FK is a great all-around board. With this board, the whole mountain is the park!
Oh yeah, ladies, don't worry... my friend Shay wrote up a post about the 2010 Capita and apparently they're coming out with a womens version of the Horrorscope! They even have unicorns on them!! Check it out: http://www.shayboarder.com/2009/02/capita-snowboards-2009-2010.html
I just might get my hands on one.... we shall see we shall see!
Mountain: Copper
Weather: GLORIOUS! Sunny and warm!
Snow: Groomed
Bindings: Ride BETA MVMNT, the ones with the gel mesh toe straps thingys
Boots: 32 Lashed womens size 7
First thing I noticed was this board... WOW... STABLE. Kinda felt like the K2 Va Va Voom I rode. It actually felt kinda close to the VVV while riding on mellow runs but it was way softer and had a hell lot more pop while playing in the park. This thing has insane pop, holy god. I was ollieing over little skibys (ski babies; pronounced ski-bees) like they were little snow clumps.
I had no problems jibbing this board, even holding presses were no problem at all. Be careful though, haha, nosepress the shit out of it and it might pop off the box too much and surprise you. It seriously was so much fun to press on the rails and boxes, and even just cruising on the runs. Butter on one end and spin around on it down the run was effortless too.
This board was also great off jumps, I found it to be very stable and of course, really fun.
I think that the Horrorscope FK is a great all-around board. With this board, the whole mountain is the park!
Oh yeah, ladies, don't worry... my friend Shay wrote up a post about the 2010 Capita and apparently they're coming out with a womens version of the Horrorscope! They even have unicorns on them!! Check it out: http://www.shayboarder.com/2009/02/capita-snowboards-2009-2010.html
I just might get my hands on one.... we shall see we shall see!
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