Comments for EarnYourTurns

Comment on Nachtspektakl at Squaw Valley, Feb. 4 by Dostie

Dostie — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:40:22 +0000

Just returned from the first NachtSpektakl at Squaw Valley – organized and hosted by cousin JD at Alpenglow Sports and Dynafit. Mucho thanks to Jeff for putting it together, and muchas gratias to Squaw for allowing the first uphill skinning event at Squaw.

It was a simple course, but even as simple as the route was, getting almost 50 people to move as a cohesive group is all but impossible. That didn’t prevent it being a fun event and I look forward to more of the same.

Comment on Too much snow? Not with a Honda! by Ben Kadas

Ben Kadas — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:05:00 +0000

Dostie, we used to live on Ski Slope, in possibly the worst house ever built, it’s the one on the left about 1/4 mile from the top of the hill, has a dozen mini roofs covering sixty something steps leading to the front door. Worse yet, there’s a steep driveway that we could rarely use in the winter, so we’d park down on the street and hike it. One of favorite post snow dump romps was to drive up to the roads around the resort and blast through the huge snow drifts at speed, such fun! Yeah, fangerous, but then when you’re young…

Comment on Preview: G3 Enzo by sawyer

sawyer — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:37:12 +0000

It’s good that they shored up the cables, I guess only time will tell whether the higher number of parts compared to the Targas will be the death knell for durability.

Comment on TR: Crater Lake Circumnavigation by sfhef

sfhef — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:22:44 +0000

Great trip report, and epic pics…

Comment on Preview: The Dozer™ – New BCA Shovel by Valdez Telehead

Valdez Telehead — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:16:02 +0000

Knee pads are also a big help in fast digging. Folks have a tendency to stand and dig to avoid getting on their knees. I wear them all the time and it makes dropping to the ground and doing hasty pits easier.

My regular shovel works pretty good and has proven durability having passed the “shake” test. The shake test is what you do in the store when shopping for a shovel. You assemble the shovel, then grab it by the shaft and shake it. The shovel with the least play and wiggle is the one that should be at the top of your choices. Some avalanche shovels are so bad they could be hung as wind chimes. Bigger is better. I find shovels that barely cram into the newer specialized pack slots too small. For instance my older BD shovel will not fit in the Avalung, but their new smaller shovels do. I cram it in the main compartment. The handle fits in the outer pocket or on the shovel.

My current shovel is 10″ X 12.5″ and it also has nearly 2″ of depth at its deepest giving it good carrying capacity.

I have never used an “army shovel” design which is what BCA is repeating with modern metals and such. Certainly would help excavate the buried properly according to Craig’s excellent article on that topic.

Comment on TR: Crater Lake Circumnavigation by Brent Heffner

Brent Heffner — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:25:10 +0000

Remember when snowboarding was just getting started? Back in the day, before terrain parks. My friends and I would watch them from the lift. They would build a kicker and ride down, go off the jump and then hike back up to do it again. All day.
The word ‘jib’ is/was used by skateboarders and then snowboarders. A jib is a trick. The winner of a terrain park/half pipe competition is/was known as the ‘jibmaster’. While I have been known to hang out in the terrain park, this was not the reason for my username.
The snowboarders who were hiking up to hit that jump again and again, weren’t really riding the resort. In our oppinion, they weren’t taking snowboarding very seriously. They were simply having fun.
So – my friends and I started to call our outdoor sports (mt. biking, skiing, kayaking, rock climbing) jibbing.
We weren’t at work, we were having fun.

——————————–

So one day-about 15 years ago, my buddy calls me up and asks if I had done any jibbing on my weekend. I told him that I had gone skiing, kayaking and mt. biking. He says, “Damn dude! You’re always jibbing. You’re like the…jib…master!

And it stuck.

——————————–

Too this day, the word ‘jib’ in all it’s forms is stuck in our vocabulary. It can be used as a verb, noun or adjective.
If you’re not at work, you are jibbing.
If you’re changing the oil in your car – you are jibbing on your vehicle.
You can also jib to the store.
All the people at the resort/backcountry are considered jibbers.

It can also be used in the derogatory sense. Like when everyone used to bash on the poor knuckle-draggers.
If you’re stuck in traffic – “Damn all these jibbers!”
Someone cuts you off – “$#@! jibber!”
In a busy mall/resort – “Look at all these jibbers!”

Does that help?!
Get your jib on!

Comment on TR: Crater Lake Circumnavigation by 22Chris

22Chris — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:44:13 +0000

This must be some super new skool Jibbing you speak of.

Comment on First Look: Rottefella’s NTN Freedom by whitedirt

whitedirt — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:35:25 +0000

I like the idea of eliminating snow build up and can see that in the shorter frame length. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the durability of the parts. After these issues have been resolved it might be the best Tele binding ever. I love them, but am tired of breaking them. After 20 plus years in the sport, it is hard to find a durable Tele binding that is not a side cable or heel throw platform.

Thank you for the information.

Comment on First Look: Rottefella’s NTN Freedom by Dostie

Dostie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:25:36 +0000

As for durability I’m simply not going to say just yet. My experience on the Freedom is limited to approximately 1200 vertical feet of turns on hard snow. It has fewer parts and the elements that I believe contributed to failures with the Freeride binding are missing (binding frame). Theoretically this will prevent many of the forces caused by stresses between parts to be eliminated but only time will tell.

As for the snow buildup issues it appears Rottefella has dealt with this. There is a part under the foot which will chop the snow that tends to be packed underfoot, thus preventing buildup. By eliminating the frame, the ‘walls’ that tended to hold the snow in are gone, allowing snow to break up and fall off the ski. Theoretically.

More on that after I can to do a more thorough review over time.

Comment on First Look: Rottefella’s NTN Freedom by whitedirt

whitedirt — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:02:59 +0000

I have been on the NTN’s for 4 years. In that time, besides breaking the TX-Pro Boots, I have broken 2 sets of the toe plates (the shiney chrome piece on the front) where there is a 90 degree bend. The 90 degree bend basically split.

The Freedom binding looks great but, also looks like it is even more delicate than the recent NTN. Has anyone broken them and do you think the Freedom version is going to be durable based on how light they are?

I have spoke to others who have broke the front throw more than once.

Lastly, snow accumulates under the plate. Any resolution to this issue?