I always rent but I live in Florida and don't want to schlep a bunch of gear on a plane, thru airports, etc. So I spent my money on good goggles, ski pants, ski jacket, gloves, socks, face mask, and some comfortable winter boots for walking around. Living in MN you prob have some of that stuff covered but I easily spent >$400 just on my jacket/pants/goggles.

And every year on the slopes I'm so glad I spent the money where I did. I have a nephew that's a pretty good snowboarder and lives in Boston. Every year he's freezing his ass off and has frozen feet and hands and I'm all warm and dry. IMO, spend a little more and get the gear/clothing that will make sure you're not miserable after a few hours. It's worth it imo.

agree with all this. $400 isn't even a lot for jacket/pants/goggles though. a nice jacket alone will be $400+ retail.

Agreed, it was just one of the mid-$200s North Face jackets. I got everything on sale. I have to buy the stuff when in Ft Collins visiting family, they just don't sell suitable stuff here in FL.

you can easily send $400+ on a jacket and have it be worth it. i made what i still contend to be one of the best purchases of my life via ebay. it was a northface summit series shell that cost $480. it looks today like i bought it yesterday and i got it in 2002. it's still just as waterproof (you can pour water on it and it just beads and slides off) and is just as wind resistant (not as good as arctryx or whatever that is with the rubber surrounding the zippers like glue but almost at that level).

it was the 2002 version of this i think: http://www.thenorthface.com/webapp/w...ariationId=2W6

anyways, if you are going to ski seriously, get something like that and layer under it. if not, don't bother :-).

wrt terrain, Jackson, Alta, and Squaw are all fairly close - I've been to each a couple times. Snowbird is a lot different than Alta though, despite it being basically the same ridge/mountain. no other MAJOR resorts have as much sick terrain, though parts of Alpine Meadows are very similar to Squaw (same ridge), and you will find bits and pieces of plenty of places that have SOME stuff like those place..

snow wise, I think it's Alta > Jackson > Squaw

Squaw is my favorite place to go in the spring

Alta, I have been 4 times, but I think I'm done with it. I can't deal with the high altitude anymore, especially combined with the fact that all the good terrain at Alta is either a hike or traverse away. it's not nearly as easily lift accessed as it is at Squaw or Jackson, which of course is part of the charm, but it's just not what I consider to be fun anymore. to much ****ing hiking

What do you guys think about Whistler/Blackcomb? I'm heading there for a week late February and am thinking about exercising/training for it since I want to board four or five days. Good idea to start now?

Do you really have to ask whether it's a good idea to start exercising?

my snowboard: bought from friend $60 solo
jacket: also from friend $30 crappy burton for spring skiing most likely
I assume these prices would be similar on craigslist
boots: meh K2 boots picked up for $90? idk.
bindings: LTD, around $70. I chose them mainly b/c the bottom back things was metal, not plastic.

seemed pretty comfortable. the only thing i spent money on since those initial purchases was a $100 on a jacket and $50 on a helmet. jackets: maybe i don't get cold as easily or something.

so i think you can manage on limited student budget if you buy used. i ski lake tahoe area, and mostly back country.

The lines suck on weekends, it (normally) doesn't get enough snow for my liking, a powder weekday at whistler is the greatest day in the world, the peak2peak gondola is a real mind **** for someone who has never been to Europe. You should start exercising.

What else do you want to know? Its huge, there is something for everyone, try to pick an area and stick with it otherwise you'll spend half your day on cat tracks.

Also re: rocker boards.

http://www.evo.com/rocker-guide-what...it-matter.aspx

Is a very good brief explanation.

As someone who boards primarily at whistler and does essentially no backcountry I'm not a huge fan although I def understand their appeal if you're constantly in pow.

Sweet. Thanks for the response.

I plan on boarding Monday to Friday so hopefully the lines are pretty reasonable. My friend says I have to do the Couloir Extreme, some double black diamond with 60 degree slope and rocks on either side. Not looking forward to that at all, but I did buy a helmet.

I just bought a cheapo rossignol board, its a few posts up (483) but it's a huge upgrade over my 13 year old 152cm twin tip. I won't be hittin the park at all, I plan on riding long ass blue squares the first day to get acquainted with the mountain.

I've been thinking about my training regimen. I'm not the gym type so I've been thinking about buying a balance board and exercising my core and legs mostly. Dare I peruse the H&F forum for advice?

Coulier extreme is probably the most famous expert run at whistler and will def make you **** yourself if you've only been in Ontario/Quebec. It isn't anywhere close to 60 though, I think its around 48.

Personally I think its overrated, I find the stuff off spanky's ladder to be much more fun.

I'm not really sure what to say about getting into shape. I don't think a balance board is going to do a huge amount for you but its better than nothing.

Ya, I've never really exercised and always gotten by on natural athleticism but snowboarding for 5 days is something that scares my body. I just want endurance more than anything.

Are you a skier or a boarder? I'm definitely not into super steep stuff and my friend says I just have to do it to say I did it. I'm much more of a cruiser that likes to make huge sweeping turns.

nobody is going to care. don't waste a run on it if you're not gonna enjoy it.

Just read the FAQs.

just to confirm (this was always hazy in my mind for some reason), pitch refers to the following:



i.e. 60degrees is way less steep than 45degrees and anything less than 45degrees = you slide right down?? and 90degrees = perfectly flat?

i thought that some stuff in heli-skiing territory was steeper than 45degrees but if 45=100% then that kinda implies <45degrees = impossible to ski?

is that the case? if not, am i just missing that the 100% thing is confined to "non-extreme" skiing?

this all seems crazy to me b/c i did goat last year and it HAD to be steeper than 45degrees implies. like i'd bet lots on that. so wtf is going on here lol?

EDIT: ok i searched for "goat stowe pitch" and got this:

so obv pitch is correct in my mspaint diagram above. i'm still totally lost as how 45degrees = 100% and it seems steep trails are closer to 100% than flat trails unless 36degrees could then be >100%.

EDIT2: Further thought: i remember dropping into stuff in utah that HAD to be like 15-20% pitch at the very beginning before flattening out and definitely the stuff i dream about doing at chugach has parts that are that steep at the top. further, if you watch any extreme skiing vids, they're doing stuff that looks like 5-10% pitch based on my diagram. so wtf is going on here w/ this whole pitch thing?

what is a "standard" east coast black? black? like 60 degrees (wildfire at killington?)? does that make stuff like devils fiddle at killington like 50 or 55 degrees?

i dunno this whole pitch concept never got drilled into my head obviously and now i'm curious...

Goat is challenging b/c of it's double fall lines - it's not only steep but it's steep in 2 different directions. and in some parts its narrow. and I don't think they make snow there so you often have exposed (insert hard object here). I bent a pole around a tree there once.

that's like the quintessential challenging terrain in the east. tight, double fall lines, rocks, uneven snow cover, etc. you have to be pretty technically proficient to ski it very well. to some degree trails like that are why so many Olympic skiers come out of the northeast (despite the comparative lack of snow and breadth of terrain) , that is a much tougher physical and technical grind than you get on a typical powder day at Vail or w/e, or it's very different than the pure steeps you get out west

dcfrths you have it backwards. 45 degrees is what you have drawn. 36 degrees is less steep.

the stuff that "HAD to be like 15-20% pitch" was not, unless you're referring to some cliff drop at the beginning and not something skiable. things look way steeper from above than they are.

I'm a boarder, honestly if you've only ever been in Ont/Quebec and already don't like the super steep stuff don't do CE, I came out west from exactly the same background as you. I'm not a huge fan of the super steep stuff either, I've done CE a couple of times but don't really enjoy it. I can't imagine doing it on my second or third day on a "real" mountain.

@dcfrths

higher number = more pitch

0 is perfectly flat, 90 is a straight drop, you measure the degree of slope from a perfectly flat run

people will always tend to overestimate how steep something is (hence someone claiming CE is 60).

A trick for measuring angle (if you're a skier) that I stole from another forum is:

"One quick way to see how steep a slope one thinks is really steep is to take one ski pole and stick it vertically in the snow. Take the other ski pole and make a right angle from the top of the first pole towards the steep slope. To be 100% grade or 45 degrees it would have to be touching the slope."

Thanks again. I've watched some videos of people going down CE and it just looks like a waste of time for me. Jumping every turn just doesn't appeal to me at all.

Just did my yearly shopping spree on Dogfunk and looking forward to replacing my Burton Malavita (which I didn't like at all) with Burton C60 EST bindings.

Will be doing much more snowboarding this year as my father just finished his cabin at one of the top ski resorts in Norway and since I don't have any commitments outside of grinding poker I will stay there the majority of the time since I can just grind there with my laptop and 3G internet.

Mostly looking forward to the backcountry trips tho!

Here's some pictures from one of last season trips:






Bad quality on the pictures as it's screenshots from a Contour HD helmet cam.

Will try and take a ton of pictures from the trips and maybe make something out of the material we film this year.

rckyu, thats looks nice man hope you have a good season. post lots of pics.

here's a pretty sick trailer for All.I.Can, new movie by Sherpas Cinema. (Title sponsor is Arc'teryx obv). Sick cinematography.

http://www.arcteryx.com/?EN

yes. i was referring to where i dropped in at the beginning where it was almost like freefalling so it'd be hard to believe it'd be only 45degrees.

also, re: the 15-20degree thing, that would really be what then? 70-75degrees?

so i got the angle backwards but it does go from 0 (flat) to 90(drop)?

ok this is starting to congele in my head lol. thanks guys. i like the making a right angle with your pole and seeing if it touches the slope test.

this is correct

Yep and I would guess thats completely unskiable for any amount of distance but I don't really know.

Honestly if your even 1.5 ski poles from the slope you're on a steep hill.



In other news, whistler is opening up Friday. It looks like it will be extremely limited lift access but I'm still making a weekend out of it.

Just ordered my new board set up (last board got stolen ). Ship the K2 slayblade 166cm wide board and cinch bindings. I'm 6'3 w/ a size 14 boot fwiw.



thanks Pokerstars bonus!!!