My wife and I just got back last week from our second trip to Winterpark this year. This time it was our honeymoon we never got to have after Hurricane Ian. Well my step sons stayed with their dad for a week after Christmas at Winterpark when my wife and I came home. In that week, the 15 yr old learned 180s so when I just went back, I got an instructor and learned toe and heel edge frontside 180s, and learned how to clear a table top jump. The 15 yr old was running his mouth when he got back about how he was so much better than me now. He only learned toe edge front side 180s . Old man still has them. Oh ya. Last day there I was practicing and was riding down the mountain switch doing about 25 and caught an edge and face planted with my left chest area taking most of the impact. It still hurts to fully breathe in. But I still got them lol.
I wear butt/hip pads, knee pads and helmet. I think a thin spine/ chest protector may go in the quiver for next year.
See, the face plant at 25 mph would have had me in the ER with the kids taking pics to upload to social media. I think I would need to suit up like a motocross racer just to make it back to the hotel.
I was there and also skied the course . Could not believe how hard the snow was . I found out the hard way about trying to do a hockey stop
Would have been cool to see how fast you ended up going on a gps but I really think these men/woman are much like us in the sense that they get used to the speed on the track and their brain processes it in normal time. So, in Saalbach Austria Breezy Johnsons downhill time was less than a second slower than the men's gold medal winner. Impressive indeed! Von Allmen - 1:40.68 Johnson - 1:41.29
What are we riding? I'm on '23 Blizzard Rustler 10s. Really good at most everything, great at nothing until it gets deep. Just went to Atomic Pro liners. Incredible upgrade.
Love to ski. Heading to Tahoe (Heavenly and Kirkwood) and Whistler this year for the "Farewell to My Knees!" tour. Having bilateral TKR in September. I'm currently skiing on the Volkl Mantra 102, with Atomic Hawx 120 flex boots. I really like the setup all across the spectrum, even on the hardpack/ice. Prefer them over the Nordica Enforcer, which I really enjoyed, but which demanded a lot of input at anything less than ludicrous speed. We've had a really good snow year here in WV, and I've been spending a lot of time backcountry skiing. Not as intense as Alpine, but it's super fun to get way out in the wilderness areas with a blanket of snow.
I have a pretty big quiver - my daily driver is K2 mindbender 99ti - good edge grip, nice damping, good energy + pretty forgiving. The mantra 102 was a bit less playful but more stable. QST 106 for the deeper days - they are like autopilot but lack edge grip. Foam injected liners are life changing.
kastle DX85 are my daily drivers, Stockli montero ax for first thing in the morning. Eyeing up some Salomon QST 98 for a better daily driver.
Still skiing the old stuff. Blizzard Bramas for all mountain and Atomic redsters for when it's icy/hard. Just got back from Elk yesterday and set the no.1 time for 4 or 5 slopes ( I cheat and only look at the over 70 age group ). I'm going to check out a pair of Rosignol skis for the next set if they go on sale at the end of the season.
Foam liners are custom fit to your foot with a much stiffer material than stock liners - they provide an aggressive fit that does not pack out like stock liners. Mine are Sidas brand - above post mentioned atomic pro. They are a performance upgrade - they can be a solution to fit problems - I've got 200 days on mine with only slight micro adjust where stock liners are pretty shot after 50 days requiring going to tighter buckle positions A good boot fitter is key - shout-out to Alpine sports Ogden Utah
I used to ski a lot when I was younger and with flat feet many boots others loved made my feet hurt so much I'd have to stop for a while and take my boots off. Solved it by buying Koflach boots. Ended up working as an instructor at a couple different areas after I could keep my boots on all day long. I've rented a few times when taking my kids skiing with mixed results. You are correct, proper fitting is the key.
Yeah, man. That’s the stuff. The first season is a bit frustrating cuz you don’t get very far very fast and your process is really slow. But then you realize that nearly every time you go out… you ride powder.
I had my boots fitted, which entailed the formed footbed and then some extra added to prevent heel lift. A night and day difference in feel. As for uphill skiing, we mostly stick to relatively gentle climbs and descents. I attempted to get back on telemark skis, but my failing knees would not allow it. Hopefully with the new knees, I can get back to it. Shawn
I had a TKR at Xmas time 2021 (at age 50) and was back to all the things pretty quickly. Cycling within a couple months, a 3 night backpacking trip within 9 months, and all the skiing the 2022/23 season. Tele will be a bit rough, as the slowest thing to come back (for me) is the full depth range of motion. Work REALLY hard on that part of the PT
I got into snowboarding last year and have hit it hard this year. My first split showed up this week and I'm taking my avy 1 class this weekend. I fly all around and always looking for more people to get out with so let me know when you dive in! I'm based in the midwest-ish but live in my van and have a good group of people I mountain bike and snowboard with primarily in Salt Lake.