First Ride On The New Board

Headed up to Sunapee yesterday to try out the new board and bindings. OMG! What a huge difference! The new board is an Arbor Push and I picked up a pair of Salomon eLite bindings on sale at REI. Sweet! Absolutely perfect conditions - sunny, warm (40-ish), perfect snow and no lift lines. Only complaint is that today I sound like Cartman, "Ow! My ass!" due to moron skier who rode up the chair with me and then turned right in front of me as we got off. Clueless.

My initial impression came on the first chair ride up the mountain - it's significantly lighter. My left leg wasn't getting that "huge piece of gear hanging off my foot" sensation. Second impression, a fresh coat of wax makes a board VERY slippery (duh). Now I know why I had a bit of trouble keeping up with Frank and The Columbian on some of the flat traverses in Tahoe. I was slightly worried about doing tight turns with the board since it's 5cm longer than my old one. After I slid a few feet further than I expected off the chair (due to the new wax), I had a narrow trail to take ride to connect up to the runs I wanted to do. The board handled great. Hit one of the wider trails and pointed it straight down the mountain - way smoother than my other board at speed. Nice! My turns seemed better, the board tracked better and even on the steeps, held a great edge. No, I did not go into the terrain park. I am starting to think about building a small jump in the park near my house to work on getting some air and landings. I had a blast the few times I inadvertently went flying off a few small bumps. Would love to get better at it. Another foot expected in NH today. Hmmmm....throw the Treo in my pocket and head up again later in the week? Tempted.