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When asked, if you had a job title, what would it be? he  had to stop and think it through for a moment. If I were to put a title on  myself as a job, I'd say pro snowboarder, life-time traveler.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of interviewing legendary  shredder Romain de Marchi from his new home in far-off western Canada near  Vancouver. With kids in tow, tumbling around in and out of the Skype video frame,  Romain talked candidly about life as a father, how that's affected his  snowboarding and risk taking, as well as other controversial subject matter like  the Natasha Richardson tragic death and his bitter divorce with his old sponsor, Burton.

We also spoke about his new dedication to smaller  up-and-coming brands like his new sponsors Shred and Slytech Action Sports Protection with whom he recently signed (yes, having 2 little  tykes running around now, he straps on back protection wherever he goes to ride). And then of course, we covered that hot new  startup brand YES Snowboards you will want to hear about what he has to say about his new partners and why bigger is not always necessarily better.

His answers are not quite what you would expect from the rather  notorious party animal we have read about in the past. His contemplative nature  and deep insights paint a picture that is more Obi Wan Kenobi than a young reckless Anakin Skywalker.

I'm looking forward to share the insider look into  Romain, the pro snowboarder and life-time traveller's life and will let you know when and where it can be found in its entirety!

Later,
Stephan

Stephan  is a  writer for Slytech Action Sports Protection(http://SlytechProtection.com) and Shred Optics (http://ShredOptics.com). Besides an interest in winter sports, he spends most of his time in Maui, Hawaii where many athletes, including Romain, regularly come through to scratch their tropical itch. Follow his tweets on all things Shred and Slytech at http://twitter.com/ShredOptics and http://twitter.com/SlytechProtect respectively.







Published On: 5/27/2009
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Call me crazy but I find LIFE to be one giant opportunity for adventure after another.. We can either park ourselves on the couch or we can get up and chase an adventure.. I feel saddened for all of those people that choose the couch..  Me, I'd choose adventure everytime..
 
So in the sense of another adventure I enrolled in flying lessons..   That's right people the fairy is taking flying lessons so that soon she can be flying the big blue sky in a helicopter.. At the moment I'm in the "learning the machine process".. I can't wait to get up in the air!!!  My instructor is pretty cool and very patient.. He's very serious about his job which is good cuz lets face it I'm hyper and if he lets me have my way I'd be all over the place.. Hopefully he's got a strong heart cuz I'm sure I'm going to give him many "moments of near death experiences" once I've got control of the heli!
 
Woohoo!!! I can flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!! (okay so not yet but soon lol)
 


Published On: 3/19/2009
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Stupid thing: Good to have a job
By: konk


Man, I'm just so stoked to actually have a job right now and be paying my bills!  I have friends that are out of work and hating life and the fact that I have a 9-5 M-F office job just tickles me to death.  Hopefully this will be my year to kick it in Canadia (yeah I said it) with Kendra and Mike- c'mon Mikey, you know you wanna kick it with old man KONK

Published On: 10/14/2008
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You Can Fix the Xbox 360 Red Light Easy!


Click here: Xbox 360 Red Light Fix


Although it might seem unbearable, it is actually not that difficult to learn how to fix a broken Xbox 360.

In fact, it is feasible to repair yours right at home without any  technical
know how or use of special equipment. Most individuals shouldn't have any problems at all when fixing their Xbox 360, 99% of them time and depending on what the problem is, you should be able to fix it within an hour to 2 hours.

When it comes to fixing your console, you'll find within this article, exactly what you should do and where you should go to get started on repairing your broken Xbox 360, I won't necessarily be able to describe the entire process in this article, but I can recommend a great place to start.

Because the Xbox 360 contains such a large amount of processing power in such a small space it is quite prone to overheating.Just play one for a few of hours non-stop and it is likely that the console will become
exceedingly hot.

Of course this heat is not at all good for the delicate components inside, and the
lack of an efficient cooling system only adds to the issue.

Extreme amounts of heat can cause damage to the processor, memory, hard drive
and basically anything else inside! 

The funny thing is, why the every so notorious "3 Rings of Death" occur, is because the Xbox 360 heats up so much that it melts lead free based soldering around the GPU processor, leading to 3 flashing lights on the outside of the console and an entire system shutdown.

Because of the poor design of the Xbox 360, you can now better understand how to repair a broken Xbox 360, because you now understand why most problems due eventually happen from overheating.

Before you jump in knee deep and start taking your Xbox 360 apart, you're going to first have to identify the main fault and what you need to do to repair it properly.

One of the best moves you can make for yourself is to get a repair manual, not just any repair manual, but Xbox 360 red Lights repair manual, but that's just my opinion, however, whatever repair manual you choose, you'll get the instructions, video tutorials and step by step guidance you need to get the job done correctly the first time, you can be sure of that!

Another thing you can do, is find a few reviews on the different, there are lots of Xbox 360 repair guides available, but not all of them are good, so finding a review or two, you'll get a better idea of what guide will work best for you and your particular Xbox 360 error code.

Please visit the Xbox 360 Repair Guide Review to Fix the 3 Red Light Error Now


Published On: 10/9/2008
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The twin ninja babies are here! We love Mexico. Kale..



Congrats Tadashi and Yuko on the cutest twin ninja babies I've ever seen. Can't wait to meet them.

Its a fact, we love mexico. I remember. not too clearly but I do remember celebrating Halloween dressed as what we "drunk Canadian teens" thought mexicans looked like for something like 3 years in a row. 



The photo above of Dev and Kale was taken somewhere around 98. I think we dressed up as mexicans for like 3 halloweens in a row... It only took us roughly a decade to finally come out with a goggle dedicated to the special little place in the world that blessed us with fish taco's, salsa, guacamole and terrible hangovers. Better late than never. Mexico, this ones for you!



Kale news: Kale has devised a new method of remembering all the super important things he has to do on a daily basis.


Friday, August 22, 2008

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, can I please have your attention...





Our office is located in East Vancouver. For those who don't know East Van has a bit of a bad rep. Everyday I show up for work there's something weird going on. Here's just a taste of what I witnessed Today.



Actually this isn't that weird, its my collection of old skate shoes. If I actually still skated there'd be way more up there.



This was in the way of the first place I was gonna park, no biggie but then I



Roll up to the next spot and See Mic Mac invited a buddy to live next to him on our street.



Steve scored the only decent parking spot left on our street snuggled in tightly to some old mattresses.



When we told Dave about the old mattresses he rushed right out and tried to 3 flip them.



As I capture the moment our good buddy Birdie strolls by. Just a warning if you run into Birdie in our hood or at the Bourbon on any given Thursday night... He's more of an outdoor, keep a good distance, don't actually talk to him, just take a photo while you're driving by and hope he doesn't throw anything at you type bud. We tight though..

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

 

Dev "the boss man" gets another TWS cover!

Here's the cover of the September issue of Transworld Snowboarding.



Dev was the only one out of the crew to hit this death gap. When "the crew" includes Jussi Oksanen and Andrea's Wiig it really puts into perspective how insane the gap is. Dev truly is the King of modern day back country riding. It's gotta be the goggles.. Look out for his part in Double Decade. He'll blow your mind... Again!

Zeddy called me to say: Hey did you know Todays international sex day!

Update from J man's Portuguese vacation:

Only J Man would meet sand ninjas on his first day in Portugal. I was skeptical too till he sent me this photo to back up the story.



The sand Ninjas were kind enough to take J Man in as one of their own and share their Choco Crack with him.



While enjoying the new exciting Portuguese treat J Man saw what seemed to be a familiar character dancing in the distance.



Thinking it was Zeddy stuck in a dance trance, he ran up to greet his good buddy.



As he got closer he realized it wasn't Zeddy at all. It was actually a young gentlemen by the name of Alvaro. The two conversed on the beach the rest of the day and have now become inseparable. Alvaro, pictured above in the stripes has since invited J man to join his Portuguese folk dance crew. 



They'll be touring Portugal for the rest of the month.

Friday, August 15, 2008

 

One down, a bunch to go...



! made! Through my first week back to work from vacation that is and wow, what a doozy it was. Not sure if its just me but I never feel rested or relaxed after time off. I actually usually feel like I need another vacation. I must be doing something wrong. 



See the shades Tman's sporting in the photo above. They're the Mont Royal white stripes, we're all sold out of em. Leave a comment below if you think we should do another run. If you need them right away I did see one pair in the display case at Boardroom on west forth yesterday after lunch. Good luck.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

 

Dave loves animals, butter and Jager.



Above, Dave Bestwick enjoying some quality time with friends after a long day of slanging goggles and shades.

e-mail to blog:

FW: Is China ready for English Speaking Tourists





Published On: 8/27/2008
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The Superman Mythos

by Thyroros

The term superman first entered into modern usage through the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. This late nineteenth-century German philosopher was vehemently anti-Christian and never tired of condemning the faith as weak, absurd, even detrimental to human development. While Hitler admired him, and the Nazis are said to have made use of some of his ideas, Nietzsche did not actually share their racist and anti-Semitic views. (1) Thus it is not entirely incongruous that two young Jewish men from Cleveland, Ohio would have adopted the term for their own use. While many assume Superman is merely a work of science fiction, I do not believe this to be the case. I too grew up amid all the movies (the first film starring Christopher Reeve came out the year after I was born), cartoons, and TV shows, believing the Man of Steel to be nothing more than a slightly stale and out-dated comic book hero. However, after watching various episodes of Smallville, a very different interpretation of the American icon began to impress itself upon me.

As nonsensical or offensive as some people might think this to be, the tale of Superman represents an allegory of another well-known supernatural, extra-terrestrial being: Satan.

Before delving into some of the more specific correlations, and often glaring similarities, between these two legendary immortals, there is an important point which needs to be made regarding the nature of angels. Angels are extra-dimensional and other-worldly travellers who make infrequent appearances throughout the Bible and other related texts. They usually do not have wings, and they almost always appear just like men. The Seraphim and Cherubim are the only two celestial orders consistently described in the Bible which bear wings. While most angeaologies consider both orders to be angels, the highest orders in fact, neither the Old nor New Testaments refer to them as such. But this is really just a semantic argument that needn't be fully addressed here. Anyway, the English word angel is derived from the Greek angelos which simply means messenger, as does the Hebrew mal'ach, which is used in the Torah, the prophets, and other Hebrew writings. (2) These terms can be used to indicate human or divine beings. Many times the humans with whom angels communicate are not even aware of it until the supernatural visitors perform some act obviously beyond the capability of mere mortals. After closely examining all the Biblical references, I was forced to conclude that there is no overwhelming distinction between angels and what modern mythology refers to as aliens. Both are extra-terrestrial, and both seem to exhibit powers and/or technology beyond what might traditionally be considered human. Now, Satan, if standard Christian doctrine is correct, is a fallen angel, while Kal-El, or Superman, is a stranded, immigrant alien.

Objections may arise as angels are said to dwell in heaven while aliens inhabit the supposedly innumerable worlds located in the vast reaches of space. But again, the only difference between the concepts of heaven and space lie in the minds of people who refuse to acknowledge the simple facts. Both exist above and outside the earth, and both are impossible to visit for the majority of living human beings on this planet. Even now, after thirty-some years of manned space-flight, it still requires the pinnacle of human technology, and the availability of monumental resources, to even consider such undertakings. We haven't been to the moon in over thirty years according to official sources. Moreover, space remains extremely dangerous. It is a notoriously hostile environment; the slightest mistake or malfunction can bring about instantaneous death for even the most well-trained astronaut. So, heavenly realms and intergalactic space, not that different, right? Okay then, hopefully that matter is settled, and we can move on to Krypton.

As most of us know, Kal-El's homeworld, Krypton, was completely obliterated due to a nuclear reaction at its core, which resulted in the infant Kryptonian's emergency flight to earth. Now, some theorize that the asteroid belt in our solar system was created when a large, terrestrial planet located between Mars and Jupiter (often referred to as Astera/Astara) exploded some time in the past. (3) It's possible that this same cataclysm was also responsible for the destruction of the Red Planet's atmosphere and its civilization. Satan may also be connected with Mars and Astera, depending on one's interpretation of certain Old Testament books such as Ezekiel. Ezekiel states in chapter 28, verse 14 that the former anointed cherub, Satan, "walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire". It's not a very far stretch of the imagination to connect "the stones of fire" with planets. Please examine the following verses for more details:

Ezekiel 28:15-17 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground (Hebrew 'eretz is also often translated as land or earth), I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

So Satan may have ruled a physical civilization spanning Mars, Astara, and perhaps several moons as well. But he rebelled against his God and King, and was cast to the earth along with a third of the Heavenly Host (See Revelation 12:4).

The aforementioned information thus allows us to have a much clearer understanding of the scenario presented in Smallville 1961. While I don't disagree with Chloe about the possibility of genetic memory being stored in the DNA, I don't accept that this was necessarily true in Clark’s case. I believe it to be more likely that Jor-El and Kal-El are one person, not father and son. Here's how it works:

I. Jor-El is Satan. II. The father who exiled Jor-El/Satan to earth is actually the Father, as in Yahweh, the God of the Bible. III. Jor-El/Satan returns to space to continue the "War in Heaven" (See Revelation 12:7).. IV. In order to eventually assume the role of Anti-Christ, Satan devises a seemingly foolproof plan. Just as Yahweh/God limited himself in power when He assumed the form of Jesus/the Christ, Satan formulates a a similar device. He clones himself and denies this clone access to certain segments of his memory and powers. This way he will more easily deceive humans into believing that he is a righteous savior rather than evil incarnate. But he makes messages and recordings beforehand which will remind him of certain things at planned intervals. This will enable him to develop in the most ideal way in order to fit the role of the Christ more perfectly. V. Satan and his angels are defeated in the heavenly realms, Mars and Astera/Krypton is destroyed as a result. Satan transfers his consciousness/spirit from Jor-El to the infant clone, Kal-El and rockets off toward earth.

As additional support for this concept, let us explore the meanings of the principal character's names belonging to the Superman mythos:

Clark - Old English - Clergyman or learned man (4)

Kent - Welsh - Bright white, white or bright (5). Another interesting possible derivation of this name is from the Biblical Kenites (first mentioned in Genesis 15:19 as enemies of Israel), who may have been descended from Cain (for in Hebrew Cain is more accurately transliterated as Qayin, and Kenites as Qayini. Adding an "i" to the end of a name in Hebrew indicates the people or descendants of that personage. Israel/Israeli, Qayin/Qayini. See the pattern?) (6)

Kal-El - Can be translated as destruction or completion of God in Hebrew (or possibly 'all that is God/totality of God'). (7) El is the Hebrew word for God.*

Jor-El - J is actually pronounced Y (the letter Yod) in Hebrew. Possible translations are: Yare'-el - fear of God, Yarah-El - God teaches, taught of God, Yeru-El - God is a foundation, Yeri-El - founded of God; God will see. (8)

Krypton/Kryptonite - From the Greek words krypto - To hide; kryptos - hidden unseen, secret; krypte - hidden place (9)

Lex - Latin for law (Just in case 'Lex' is actually short for Alexander, Alexander is Greek for leader of men, alex (leader) + ander (men).10

Luthor (Luther) - Teutonic- famous warrior/ famous in war

Old German - Warring ones

German - warrior/famous people?. Martin Luther was a Catholic monk and theologian turned Protestant reformer (1483-1546). (11)

*If one is inclined to doubt that Kal-El and Jor-El may actually be Hebrew names, allow me to you remind you that both Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the original creators of Superman, were Jewish. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's highly unlikely they would give their characters Hebrew-sounding names by pure chance. (12)

There are just a few more items of interest which may possibly be connections between Kal-El and the Red Dragon/Satan. Since Superman derives his powers from the sun, that would make him a kind of 'sun god'. Satan has sometimes been compared with the sun gods of ancient mythology such as the Egyptian Ra, the Greek/Roman Apollo and the Persian Mithra. The 'infinity serpent' burned onto Clark's chest in the second season finale of Smallville is another fascinating correlation, as Satan is often recognized as being or controlling the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Genesis chapter 3), and one of his titles in Revelation (12:9) is that "that old serpent". Finally, it would be quite simple to draw a pentagram inside the five-pointed shield emblazoned on Superman's costume. Pentagrams are used in ceremonial magic and Satanism the world over. Not that such a detail is conclusive, but I just thought I'd include it for the sake of being thorough.

So what does all of this mean? The reader, of course, is free to draw his or her own conclusions But here's what I believe; Superman comics, movies, and TV shows (and everything else in between) are Satanic Propaganda. Superman is the Anti-Christ/Satan and Lex Luthor, representing Christianity, is desperately trying to defend the earth against him. As the story is told from Satan's perspective, Lex is falsely demonized and portrayed as an insane criminal. In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche from Thus Spake Zarathustra, "God is dead. I teach you the superman." This is the lie that the father of lies is eager for us all to swallow down between mouthfuls of French fries and jelly-filled breakfast pastries.

- Thyroros, December 2, 2003, Redlands, CA.

Endnotes:

1. See Friedrich Nietzsche's Biography.com
2. Information gathered by using the King James Bible (1611 Authorized Version) and The Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. James Strong, L.L.D., S.T.D. Fully Revised and Corrected by John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson. Grand Rapids Michigan. Zondervan. 2001
3. Click here for the standard line on the Asteroid Belt formation. Go here for more information on the possible link between Mars, Astara, and Satan, maybe even Venus?
4. Name definition for Clark (Any standard name/baby-name book should provide this information.)
5. Name meanings & Name origins (Any standard name/baby-name book should provide this information.)
6. See footnote 2. Most Biblical scholars don't make the connection between Cain and the Kenites. This is probably due to the long-held view that the Flood of Noah/The Great Deluge (as related in Genesis chapters 6-8) was worldwide and no one survived except Noah and his family. However, a gr owing number dispute that the Flood was regional rather than global (which is possible based on certain interpretations of the passages in Genesis), and therefore, Cain's progeny could have survived.
7. From the Strong's Concordance Hebrew Dictionary (contained within the same volume), Reference numbers 3605-3607, 3615-3617
8. From the Strong's Concordance Hebrew Dictionary (contained within the same volume), Reference numbers 3372, 3384, 3385, 3400. Incidentally, yerah is the Hebrew word for moon, ref. 3391.
9. From the Strong's Concordance Greek Dictionary (contained within the same volume), Reference numbers 2926-2928 10. (Any competent Latin-English and Greek-English dictionaries can be used to find these definitions. Also standard name/baby-name book should provide this information.) Here's a couple of websites just in case you want them. For Alexander. For Lex & another for Lex. Just for fun, here's website containing excerpts of Plutarch's Alexander the Great (who was not a good guy) bio.
11. "Luthor/Luther" name meaning.
12. "Jews are the true comic book heroes", article from the Chicago Sun Times and here's a History of Superman article from Superman.com.ar in case your interested.

End the words of Thyroros.

This article can be found at: http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/comics.php?topic=articles/superman-satan



Published On: 4/29/2008
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Published On: 4/22/2008
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1.        164 Flow Solitude WX with NXT FX's (07/0). 
Conditions: Crunchy icy man made snow mixed with natural snow, brisk but slightly overcast with hints of sunshine.
Stance: 22 wide 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: 06/07 Vans Fargo Boas size 11 with 100 plus days on them.
One word description: Fun
This board is straight up fun, you can haul on it and rail a carve like no other.  The carbon fiber X's that make up the Whiskey X construction allow for ultimate pop in the tail, yet provide lots of stability under foot.  This board held an edge like no other and was amazing.  Seriously blew my mind.  Also super light.  The bindings were phenomenal, my boots are shot and kind of loose but the bindings compensated like no other.  You get awesome stability in these, the ease of Flows as usual, and the ability to drive.  If anything I found edge initiation easier on these bindings than my 390's, and have to say probably one of the best bindings I've been on so far.
 

2.       Atomic Rapture 157 (07/08) with Rome 390's (06 - 07)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: End of the day sunshine going down, pushed snow, icy, windy, temps dropping.
One word description: Mediocre
The new shape of this board makes it semi overlap the Alibi in my opinion.  Also the introduction of the Nomex in the core has severely reduced its weight, but made the flex almost unpredictable, as it is a softer material.  Edge to edge this board is fast and butterable, but knowing that nomex honeycomb is crap I'd be afraid this board would blow apart.  Had decent pop, but this board is far from what the rapture of yore was, the Axum and pivot would be better choices since they are on the same chassis.
 

3.       163 Salomon Burner with SPX 45's (07/08)
Stance 22 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Flat light, mid morning, sun was starting to peak through the clouds.  Rollers and push mounds galore.
One word description: Springy
This board for being a super free ride board was kind of sad, I felt it was way to soft.  The best way to describe it is springy.  At high speeds I could feel some vibrations under foot, but the ERA tech in it definitely distributes pressure outwards towards the edge.  The edge hold was ok but its sidewall is poop in my opinion.
 

4.       157 Lib tech Jaime Lynn (07/08) with Rome 390's
Stance 22 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: End of the day flat light in spots, shadows, sun setting, windy, icy, harder push mounds, lumpy snow.
One word description: Old school
So since everyone claims I'm on crack with my interpretation of this board I took it out again.  I'll say it again this board is relatively soft and butterable.  Its ok edge to edge and you can noticeably tell the difference between the sidewall to the cap.  All in all it’s like riding a board from 10 years ago.  I wasn't overly impressed hence why you don't see my recommendations of this board all that much.  It’s got decent pop but nothing spectacular.  I think the JL name sells it more than the ride.
 

5.       161 K2 Believer with Formula bindings (07/08)
Stance: 22 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
conditions: Early morning, firm but softening up, with corduroy still available
One word description: Interesting
First thing you notice with this board is the rubber style top sheet with about 1038484848 different sayings on it.  After that you'll realize this board is built to be a BC POW killer for lighter weight guys.  Weighing in at 170ish lbs.  I'm more the average person that will ride it.  Edge to edge it was great but seemed washy in the heel.  After talking with the rep we realized he set me a bit heel heavy.  So to be fair I did take it out again in a different size.  But for a 161 I could have annihilated it in the pipe with this thing.  Very poppy has a great sweet spot.
 

6.       157 K2 Believer (07/08) with Rome 390's
Stance 22 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo boas
Conditions:  Sunny bluebird day, soft snow, 2 inches of fresh.
One word description: gnar
After figuring out that the ride on the 161 had skewed my view of this board I brought my gripper grips to kill on it.  First things first the edge to edge was perfect.  I was getting a bit burly popping FS 1's off rollers and landing on edge.  What I noticed with me was that at my weight I would land more on my nose coming down and go right into a carve from pushing in the nose.  Not a bad thing, just this board is a bit softer in the nose/tail than what I'd like.  Popping was great and you can really rail a carve on it.  Switch is easy and the side cut isn't crazy aggressive.  I hit a natural QP and this thing did have boostability like I thought.  Definitely a board that you can ride anywhere.
 

7.       162 K2 Podium (07/08) with Rome 390's
Stance 22 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas
Conditions: Sunny, slightly choppy, soft slushy snow, kind of windy and cold
One word description: Fast
This board does have a 1mm taper and a 3/4ths set back but the sidecut is set back so you ride it centered even though you have a longer nose.  This board is for charging and laying carves, wicked fun I have to say.  No chatter in it and there's an amazing sweet spot in the tail for popping, its right where the Carbon Kevlar fibers overlap the torsion forks which creates for boost city.  It reminded me a lot of popping on the jibpan which has to be one of the best boards for loading up the tail and popping I've ever been on in my life.  It’s definitely the free ride elite board of the K2 line up.
 

8.       162 K2 Eldorado (07/08) with Rome 390's
Stance 22 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas
Conditions: Sunny, bluebird, windy, firmer push piles and rollers.
One word Description: Busted
This board has an easier to initiate sweet spot in the tail than the podium, but its not as good as absorbing the impact of dropping on ice.  I felt a few of my impacts on this board, even though it’s got that integrated topsheet with the riser/ dampening.  The nose did get the chattery butterfly effect at speeds.  Edge to edge it was great and held well as long as I wasn't pointing it.  I'd say its just a hair past midstiff.
 

9.       165 Unity Pride Wide (07/08) with Rome 390's
Stance 22 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas
Conditions: Early morning sunshine, bluebird, and beautiful.
One word description: Slug
I can ride a big wide board with no problems.  This thing was a slug, slow edge-to-edge initiations, sluggish flex, and just all around it was like a slug that just keeps trudging along.  Pop was mediocre; flex was a bit more than the eldorado but still nothing to rave about.  All in all it didn't ride really damp and I felt a lot of vibrations.  I think the construction of this mixed with the Carbon fiber wrap just made this board the lame.
 

10.   155 Flow Era with NXT AT's (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas
Conditions: Very early morning, sun just peaking the mountain, bluebird, fresh corduroy with rollers
One Word Description: Slayer
Flow has to be doing something right, this board was amazing.  It had the right amount of mid flex for a park stick, but a lighter weight.  It puts my Hatchet to shame, and makes me question my TR.  Load the tail up and pop, yet roll into the landing easily.  Switch was amazing on this, perfectly fine, control was great, and flex was brilliant.  Bindings are ok, not as great as the NXT FX's but these are noticeably softer and jibbier.  Once again I will state that I felt I initiated flows on edge a lot quicker than traditional straps.  Buttering with this board is amazing and throwing every variation of butter and spin to butter and butter to spin was easy.  Flow has a great 350-dollar park slayer here that easily competes with others in that category.
 

11.   156 Flow quantum with NXT AT's (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 11
Conditions: Early morning, sun peaked the mountain, bluebird, semi fresh corduroy with rollers
One word descriptions: Stiff
this is a more torsionally stiff board than the Era.  It has the brass edge and definitely is a pipe board as this is Scotty Lago's pro model.  I could get it on nose to butter fairly easy, but then the torsional rigidity would kick in and kill that.   Edge to edge it was a bit more muscled and popping off rollers required some effort.  This board is built for transitions not for flat land tricks.  The bindings were ok again but I think stiffer ones would have helped me a bit more on this.
 

12.   157 Salomon Sanchez with XLT relay's (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots Vans Fargo boas size 11
Conditions: Mid day, blue skies, brisk, slightly icy rollers
One word description: Butterworth
This board is definitely the jib stick they make it out to be.  Very spongy and just flexed like no other.  Pop was ok but for it being so soft I would flex the tail/nose out a bit more than I'd like so it didn't give me the pop I wanted.  Edge to edge its like any other jibstick so it doesn't super excel at it.  The Relay XLt's are different at this point I'm not saying whether I like them or hate them.  It’s just different and allows for different flex than I'm used to.  I could really get into butters.  So for now I'm going to say the jury is still out on this one.
 

13.   169 Never summer titan (07/08) with Rome 390's
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 11
conditions: Overcast, blustery, slightly icy, with trace amounts of snow
One word description: Burly
I have a bit of a vendetta against this board and needed some revenge.  I had the 160 of it most of last winter which I thought was an amazing board, but the 169 and I had some unfinished business to take care of.  First off this is truly one of the only boards I've ever had to stay on guard at all times with.  If you don't ride it like you mean to, it will own you.  Its fast and you can haul; the side cut makes turn initiation insane on it.  This board just cuts through the crap and charges like a bull in a china shop.  You don't butter with this board (unless you're me) and if you're popping its just so you avoid some gaper that made a sudden turn.  I love this board and can't stress how great it’s become since I first rode the 169 in WA about 2.5 years ago.  Plus come on its built in America and has a 3-year warranty.
 

14.   162 Libtech Skunk Ape MTX (07/08) Rome 390's
Stance 22 18 negative 15 Goofy
boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Icy, choppy, overcast, just plain nasty
One Word Description: Plank
So everyone’s been hyping this up I figured I'd go hop on it and see how great it is.  Really its nothing special, the Dark series and TRS are way better in my opinion.  Its sluggish edge to edge and kind of chattery.  It didn't hold well on edge either and that’s saying something since it has MTX which as everyone knows I'm not a fan of but it does have its uses like the conditions I was in.  Buttering wasn't happening on this stick.  I'd have to say it wasn't that great of a ride, I was kind of turned off in general by it.
 

15.   161 Ride Concept UL with Alpha bindings (07/08
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Early morning icy corduroy, bit overcast with sun peaking through
One word description: Light
The top sheet on this board is insanely light, like no other.  I give them credit for that for sure the board was light.  But right off the bat those evil barrel roll ratchets and I had a shi*t fit.  So after even more adjusting I got it dialed in, or so I thought.  This board does have good pop but then again with 7 pieces of carbon fiber in the tail I'd hope so.  I could pop on it and the side cut was great for turn initiation, but as always happens with me, squirrelly on edge.  It seems to be something with me and rides.  Also the way the boards constructed it seemed to get a bit to squirrelly at speeds and do the death flutter.  Switch was easy to initiate and buttering was effortless even for having carbon array 7 in it.  The bindings though, were crap flex wise.  I guess after all these years I'm a plastic guy still.  The new slime cap or whatever they're calling it does grip really well and that’s a good concept I give them credit for that.  But when unstrapping yet again I had to do the Chewbacca yell and pull as hard as I could to get the damn things off. 
 

16.   158 K2 Zeppelin with Formula bindings (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Bluebird sky's and super sunny, soft snow
One Word: Softer
Anyone that’s rode the Zeppelin in years past knows it for being a hard charging freeride beast.  Now they've added Nomex, one of the gayest things on earth for any board to the core between the bindings.  It gave it too much torsional give while being more stable in the nose/tail.  This board does have a great sweet spot for popping on the tail and the longer torsion forks in the nose allow for a better nollie rate.  Other than the gay nomex in the core the boards really sweet and the bindings are fun on it but need more padding.  Great edge control on this board and super stable.
 

17.   158 Never Summer Heritage with K2 Autolocks (07/08)
Stance 22 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Push mounds and ice mixed with slush and blue sky’s
One word: charge
This is definitely one of the funnest boards in the NS line up and matched with the Auto's it was even more fun.  I was just charging the fall line with this board and popping off rollers.  Great edge-to-edge and burlier than the NS SL, which is basically its little brother now.  The flex on this board is grand for all mountain freeride, not so wondrous in the freestyle side of things but that’s what makes this board great.  See a pile of chud run it over, see a gaper in the way run it over, see a small furry woodland creature run it over.  This board just straight up kills it.
 

18.   158 Rome Graft with Rome 390's (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots Vans Fargo boas size 11
Conditions: Sunny, slushy, bluebird Loveland days
One Word: Popmaster
This board is very light and poppy when mixed with the new 390's.  First as a huge fan of the 390's I have to say how much better these bindings rode because of the strap, although with them being lightened up they did feel a bit more flexi.  Anyways the Graft has awesome pop in the nose/tail mixed with a great side cut.  While the side cut is great I wouldn't exactly rail a carve on it as its not as smooth as other boards in the line up.  Torsionally this thing is soft as hell, which makes boning out a butter a lot easier, but man load the tail up and pop to the moon for sure.  I definitely wouldn't put this in the all mountain freestyle category more the freestyle category for sure.  But you can ride switch on this thing fine and just pop fs and bs 180's like nothing coming down a trail.
 

19.   158 Rome Mod with Rome 390's (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Bluebird slushy and sunny preseason
One word: Over hyped
This board for being a 550 "high end" park board really didn't wow me. For a board that is supposedly going to offer insane amounts of pop it wasn't happening, and at speeds it wasn't stable.  It was almost like riding a broke down Rome headroom really.  Edge to edge it was fine but nothing-spectacular if anything a bit more hooky.  Butters were easy and the blunted nose/tail makes grab tweak ability super easy but like I said its nothing that wowed me.  The flex is definitely softer than a high-end park board should be; the k2 Jibpan is definitely stiffer as is the new alibi/rapture from Atomic.
 

20.   165 Venture Westland with Flux Streams (07/08)
Stance 22 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 11
Conditions: Sun going down, icy, cold, blue skies
One Word: HUGE
The bindings weren't an exact match to this board so it didn't do it justice, but I needed a binding and it was the end of the demo days so this was a quick fix.  I hate Flux cap straps and every time I use them they prove why they're just so f*cking horrid.  The flex on this binding was too soft for this board but I made due.  Venture has a great thing going with being hand built in Silverton CO, and being all about renewable resources.  This board had ptex top sheet, sidewall, and the base of course.  It was a bit on the stiff side but it hauled like no other and the side cut was great.  Through the end of the day chop it just charged like no other and was really great and stable.  Downside was the 4 x 4 inserts god that stuff is so horrid for stance options but whatever.  I wouldn't recommend this to many people but it was a fun ride for me and compares to the NS titan.
 

21.   155 K2 Darkstar with Formula bindings (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Mid day sunshine, some ice, few push mounds
One Word: Blastacular
They narrowed this board up which changed the flex slightly and it being more of a twin this year compared to last.  This board is very butterable and poppy.  Quick edge to edge but not as all mountain freestyle as before definitely more of a freestyle kind of ride.  Had insane pop and was great for throwing spins coming down the mountain.  Switch was a breeze.  My biggest gripe though has to be the lack of padding on the K2 bindings I just feel I'm going to bruise my heels in these things because of the lack of dampening.  If you're a smaller guy though this boards flex is ideal for all mountain riding, me being slightly bigger not so much.
 

22.   157 Nitro Team Art Attack with Raiden Phantom Bindings (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Past midday, sun slightly setting, push mounds and slush
One Word: Frightening
With the new profiling of Nitro in there cores I'm a bit scared to ride their boards.  This thing just felt brittle if you will and I was almost afraid I'd snap it.  Flexwise its rather soft and not super poppy but decent.  The board and the bindings didn't wow me all too much, more so the bindings.  I felt that they were just knock offs of other companies I'd been riding.  Plus after all these years they still utilize that gay ass cable in the heel straps which actually weighs them down and flops them open so you step on them all the time.  The edge to edge was ok and switch was fine, at speeds there was death flutter in the nose and I got the wump chunk bang of death in the nose.  Popping 180's on this thing was a breeze because of its lack of weight, but as mentioned that reprofiled core scares me.
 

23.   162 Gnu Billy Goat Temple Cummins series with 06/07 Rome 390's (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: 15 plus inches of pow
One Word: Smooth
This board is a pow freeride killing beast much like I'd expect since Temple designed this.  Edge to edge it was awesome, popping on rollers it was great, and thigh deep pow was awesome.  This board was smooth and damp, felt like riding a never summer.  Turn initation was a breeze and this thing had great float in pow but I wish I had set it back a lot more. 
 

24.   156 Lib Tech Skate Banana with Rome 390's 06/07 (07/08)
Stance: 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 11
Conditions: Choppy mid day pow
One word: Buttery
I've ridden the SB before and absolutely hated it but it was the first gen.  This one was obviously different and rode so.  It was decent in the pow for being a 156.  This board was noticeably more banana techy (is that a word) compared to the other one and was fun in the choppy mogul pow I was hitting.  Biggest downside was the gay ass MTX grabbed and pulled me to the ground.  Edge to edge other than the constant grabbing was fine and it was butterable, the float was amazing.  All in all I was far happier with this version than the one I previously rode
 

25.   161 Dark Series w/ MTX with Rome 390 bindings 06/07 (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 11
Conditions: Real choppy mid day pow
One word: Killer
In this day and age there's so many boards claiming to be the quiver of one.  This is one that sticks out to me as one.  It’s fun, lively, and great for anything.  It did great hoping fences, slaying mogul pow, and dipping in the trees.  I just hate MTX other than that it was fine.  It handled small drops great, switch great, and the flex was awesome.
 

26.   158 Nitro Wiig with Raiden Phantom Ettalla (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Sunny some gray clouds negative 15 degrees F
One Word: Popomatic
Ok so it was ungodly cold that morning but I still braved Keystone for this demo and since my old ride rep Josh took over for Jeff the former Nitro rep I went out to support him cause he's a good guy and actually dials my shi*t in.  I'm going to give the bindings credit they were more dialed in than the last ones I took, super cushy, great response, and a true 0 on forward lean.  The board had pop like no other and a great side cut to it.  I was boosting over obstacles left and right, buttering it fine, and able to lay out a hard carve like no other with it.  The base was fast and this board was smooth, the precambered cores are awesome for the pop that they give to their boards. But once again still sketchy on durability in the long run for me.
 

27.   148 K2 Mix with K2 Formula bindings (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
conditions: Frigid ass cold
One word: Stable
Ok so I've ridden like all the k2 line at this point, this board was there for me to ride so I snagged it.  Yes its a chicks board I'm starting a new trend on the hill narrow stances baggy pants and chicks boards.  Actually for a little 148 it was stable under foot with good pop and a nice side cut this would be for a beginer advanced female rider.  Switch it was fine, it actually carved surprisingly well even though it was tiny as hell.  I did do some nice ollies on it and had a blast with it.  For something built for someone about 40lbs under my weight this thing was great.

 

28.   155 Rossignol Decoy with HC 3000 (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Slightly warmer but still frigid ass cold
One word: Surprising
So I've been known to hate on rossi for some time, frankly most of their shi*t is wacked out.  Case in point these bindings were absolutely f*cking horrid piles of shi*t.  No real support, highbacks flexed too much on turn initiations, not enough give when pressing it was so weird it was just like being restricted when I wanted to ride park, but not enough support when freeriding.  Anyways the board surprised me a bit with how stable it actually was for being a 155.  Had a great shape, good side cut and was awesome just cruising, buttering, popping.  A bit on the stiffer side but still not so bad it was a plank, it is after all a higher end freestyle board but it was surprising.
 

29.   155 Rossignol Alias with Flow M9 (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 Negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas Size 11
Conditions: sunny bluebird day about 30 degrees great conditions
One Word: Fun
 
I can't describe in words how much fun this board was.  For something in the 350 dollar price point this board slayed.  Straight up fun, it was poppy, lively, stable under foot, great side cut.  It reminded me of riding a Hatchet which is awesome as everyone knows that was one of my favorite boards for the longest time.  This board just handled it all well and at that pricepoint I would recommend it.  The bindings were a bit softer than I'd have liked but then again its supposed to be that way its a mid level binding.  It did everything I wanted it to do even for having some technical issues I went over with the rep on.  Flow makes a solid product.
 

30.   159 Infinite with Flow Teams (07/08)
Stance 22.5 I think it was something like maybe 9 degrees on the front negative 12 on the rear
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Sunny, crisp, good day for a board test not too crowded
One Word: Oakley
 
So my rep who I will say is a great guy set me up wrong and I realized it by the point I was on the lift so anyways its time to ride.  This is Risto Matilla's exact set up but man those Team bindings hated me.  They're very anatomically correct so much so that a Vans boot is a squeeze in these.  I won't lie there was no way in hell a Vans boot fits in there properly.  Even with the wacked out angles the bindings were supportive although made of magnesium and having worked on one too many ski buckles over the years I know how magnesium breaks so I'd be a bit skeptical of that plus the 500 dollar price tag.  Granted if nothing ever went wrong you'd own this binding for the rest of your life.  Now the board was interesting to ride in meaning that it was light and poppy, had great stability under foot yet the nose was still playful for butters.  Switch was a breeze on this and pressing wasn't a problem, the pop was decent not anything substantial, I'd consider this more of a down graded solitude personally.
 

31.   158 Nitro Misfit with Raiden Phantoms (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Sunny, end of the day skies, little gray bird going on, some shadows
One Word: Slug
 
So my rep recommended this to me otherwise I'd probably have ignored it and for good reason.  This thing is a slug it was heavier than the other 2 nitro's I'd been on the last 2 days.  There was pop in the tail and nose but man it felt like a plank to initiate it, but when it did it was good.  The side cut was the poo weiner for sure, I just couldn't initiate a turn like I should with this and it was such a slug to get into a carve.  It seriously sucked the donkey weiner.  But obviously every company has a board that sucks donkey balls but man this took the cake for the day.  The bindings I have to admit are growing on me the ratchets are solid the straps are solid, decent dampening but man I swear the original Nitro rep didn't have my shi*t dialed for me like my new rep because these are growing on me except that damn cable that holds the heel strap in.
 

32.   Ride Society 157 with Ride Delta (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions Sunny, end of the day skies, gray clouds, more shadows
One word: Chattery
 
So the rep didn't believe me that this thing was chattery and most people dont' on here as well.  But that board just doesn't dampen like a lot of other boards I've rode, pop was ok, but the chattering made the edge wash out and that sucked donkey balls.  Side cut was ok for turn initiation but man it just wouldn't hold and was kind hooky if I popped a 180 with it.  For a board with this much CF in it, it sure didn't pop well or stabilize good.  The bindings were crap.  First off too rigid so they didn't flex well with the board at all, the straps were mediocre, and for some reason when initiating toes and heels it felt like something was blocking the flex of my foot in the heels, it was just pure shi*t I couldn't stand it.  Seriously ride might make some good products for some people but man they need to dial in their shi*t on the boards.
 

33.   Bataleon 155 Riot with their last years bindings
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Sunny blue skies some clouds early morning
One Word: Popmeister
 
So its been a while since I hopped on a TBT board.  It took me a minute to get used to this puppy again.  The Riot replaced the Hero which I used to own and it has a stiffer nose.  This thing was poppy and fun and the tbt wasn't as pronounced as my Hero thats for sure.  I was railing carves with this and popping over small children left and right and ripping the corduroy.  It was light and agile and far more stable than my hero.  The bindings on the other hand were a pile of Suck seriously.  No dampening not a real good heel hold.  But then again this was an SP binding with a Bataleon graphic on it and it was a pile of poo.  Next year no bindings from them the year after that bindings again but they're designing them from the ground up.
 
 

34.   Bataleon 157 Jam with K2 Formulas (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
Conditions: Sunny Blue skies early morning
One word: Killer
 
The tbt was a bit different on this one so turn itiation was a bit different.  Although it was a super fun board and with having a better binding I think I rode better.  Edge to edge on these boards is a f*cking riot can't go wrong with them you just get on it and go.  Switch was a breeze on this board and buttering was fun.  Flexwise I'd say it was similar to the riot actually just a bit more playful in the nose/tail, I could pop on this puppy with no problems and it was fast thats for sure.
 

35.   Bataleon Goliath 157 with K2 formulas (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 Goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 11
condtions: Mid early morning blue skies again
One word: Stellar
 
So the TBT was more pronounced on this and made turn initiation more agile I felt.  This board is more freeride geared and straight up stellar underfoot, no chatter, but still playful when need be.  I didn't have to be on top of it as much as I thought I was going to be.  Charging was a breeze with this and I managed to offend some jack ass instructor with it and carving was amazing.  I'd say it was stable as could be.
 

36.   Bataleon undisputed 168 with k2 formulas (07/08)
Stance 22.5 18 negative 15 goofy
Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 11
Conditions: After lunch blue skies hunger pains, leg cramps
One Word: Burlinator
 
This board is burly straight up burly.  It is like a never summer titan with tbt.  The tbt is so unique on this board with how its set back and defined.   There was no buttering, no playing around, no switch it was charge and go and that was it.  If something got in my way I rode over it or gaped it.  This was fast and meant for someone that isn't f*cking around you charge with it and thats it, not for the rudy poo candy ass weekend warriors.  This board was fun but I swear its from the future sent back to destroy me.

 

37. 158 K2 Jibpan (07/08) with Rome 390 bindings

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas first day size 11’s all days after size 10’s

Conditions: Knee deep powder, wind blown, sunny bluebird, heavy pow

One Word: Love

You know the more I ride this board the more I have come to regret my choices on not buying this at the beginning of the season. I can’t stress how much fun this board is, load the tail and pop, hit a jib and press it, ride a run and ollie a gaper. Seriously I find this thing amazing. I took it out the Windows gate at Breck and was hitting pillow lines and a open pow field. While its size wasn’t the best for pow that tail sunk like a champ and nose popped up. I did find it a bit soft in the middle where the under layer is Nomex Honeycomb but that’s to be expected given the nature of the board. It did fine off small 5 to 10 foot drops, and was awesome at hitting mini poppers in the trees. Edge to edge it was grand. I will note that riding a smaller boot that wasn’t packed out changed my edge to edge and power transmission greatly. 

 

38. 155 Unity Origin (07/08) with Rome 390’s

Stance 22.75 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

Conditions: Slightly sunny into overcast and snowy, very cold

One Word: Washy

Everyone raves to me how great Unity’s boards are.   Honestly they don’t ride any better than a lot of the crap boards I’ve been on. The construction is just poop. Anyways this board was just washy at speeds, had decent pop but nothing to rave about. My problem is that I could feel every inconsistency in the snow, there wasn’t any dampening or so it seemed. Buttering it felt like there was a dead spot as if I’d hit a peak and that was it, couldn’t push it further. In the pipe it didn’t suck up a tranny as well as I’d have liked either. The side cut wasn’t as bad as the other Unity I rode (see above reference) but when laying into a carve it would spring out and start to wash out, to the point I had to stay on top of it.

 

39. 160 K2 After Black with Rome Targa’s (homemade bastardized version) and K2 Formulas (07/08)

     Stance: 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

      Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

   Conditions: Freezing cold, knee deep pow, blue bird sunny days, with higher winds

    One Word: Stable

           I’m going to note on this board that the Targa’s are the bastardized version I made off the            first year 390 chasis. So the toe straps aren’t the same as this years targas. I’ll note that the heel ratchet is amazing with its quick in and out compared to my old 390’s and I’m totally happy with building this binding. Highback sits higher and has a more rigid flex so it allows for better power transmission. The formulas I’m so stoked on buying. I find depending on how I ratchet them down is how they flex. I crank them, stiffer, moderate pressure more jibby. With my new boots all previous complaints about dampening are gone, actually this binding rides so much better in my new boots. The ratchets are so quick to release and easy to use the strap just feels so solid, adjustability was a bit of a bitch, I find it almost similar to adjusting a flow binding but whatever its dialed in 100% now. The board is light and poppy for being a wider stick. The side cut allows for great eurocarve ability while still being fun for riding pipe and jumps. The boards flex is very rail friendly, but yet still smooth enough for tranny’s in any sized pipe. The tail on this has a wicked sweet spot that you have to be careful to not over load as you will end up over shooting a jump. In pow this board has great float but the tail doesn’t sink that well, then again it’s a true twin park board, it was nimble in the trees and just a blast for hitting poppers and boosting. Switch is very easy on this board and just super fun in general. All in all it is a very solid ride that I was super stoked to be on.

 

40. Rome Anthem 158 (06/07) with 390’s

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 11

Conditions: Cold sunny day, wind packed, slightly crowded

One Word: Poppy

I took out this board a couple months back so I’d have a clearer perception of the differences between last years and this years. This board rides very similar to the Never summer SL but with a bit better pop in the tail/nose. Switch was fun and edging was ok even though the edges were pretty damn haggard on this board. I could really rail a good carve on this and it was stable. The pop was great and it was fun. All in all I really did like riding this.

 

41. Rome Anthem 159 (07/08) with K2 Formula’s

Stance 22.75 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

Conditons: Sunny, overcast, cold, warm, slushy, icey

One Word: Soft

This board was really soft to me even for being in the 159 size. At speeds it was very chattery and through a carve it just wouldn’t hold the way I wanted. I was really struggling and muscling it into deep carves. Switch it was fine and still very butterable. All in all this ride just wasn’t as much fun as I’d have liked, way to soft for what I wanted and very hooky. In the pipe the edge hold was so sub par after coming off riding that 160 afterblack. I just couldn’t understand why at times it would get hooky when initiating carves. Rome makes some awesome products but this was not one I can say I was in love with. 

 

42. 161 Never Summer Premier F1 (08/09) with K2 Formula’s

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

Conditions: Soft snow, very sunny, light wind, blue bird skies, waist deep pow

One Word: Unique

I’d like to note that my board is the first off the production line so this is not initially the real production model. At first this board started out really stiff, but about after the first hour when I broke in the fiberglass and core it was flexing like how a premier should. The new F1 is a stiffer tail, with a bit more torsional give between the binding inserts and a softer nose forward of the contact point. You notice right away the stiffer tail which allows you to push it through a hard carve, while still having the added playability of the torsional give between the feet. I do need to detune my edges a bit as for some reason compared to my SL and Legacy they’re thicker and noticeably sharper. The board did seem a bit hooky, but I’ll get another couple days on this to add to the review. Anyways in pow this does what its intended for, the tail sinks, nose floats. One of the more noticeable features on this is the weight is drastically reduced. There’s substantial pop which makes this fun for hitting little poppers. I wasn’t too happy with it off park jumps or in the half pipe, but then again I wouldn’t ride this board for that. Off rollers though it was fun. 

 

43. 162 K2 0 with K2 Auto Evers (08/09)

Stance 22 with 18 negative 15 Goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Small amount of gray bird, sun poking through, fresh corduroy

One Word: Absorber

So the 0 is K2’s answer to all the environmentally green things coming out and the fact that people have pixie sticks for legs and need light weight boards. This board does have light weight, but it isn’t the lightest I’ve ever ridden either. The side cut on this allows for great carves, while still being very stable under foot, and having great edge hold. The flex on this thing is definitely not rail friendly, park friendly, tree riding friendly, or people friendly. Flexed very similar to a NS titan with it just being very hard to bend. The harshmellow padding under the bindings and in the binding is awesome, for absorbing chatter. I felt next to no vibrations while riding this. The pop in the tail has to be man handled to get it to actuate. The new Auto Evers are stiffer than the old Auto’s but way more responsive. The cable on mine was so new it needed to break in so getting in and out was a bit of a pain. The heel strap is very cush and holds you in super well. The weight of this binding has been drastically reduces as unnecessary parts were eliminated and put into a better capacity for user use.

 

44. 159 K2 Turbo Dream with K2 Auto Evers (08/09)

Stance: 22 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditons: Slightly windy, bit overcast, and 6 inches of windblown powder

One Word: Rocks

So the Turbo Dream has the all mountain rocker. This rocker makes it far more versatile for going any where on the mountain. The board is meant to be ridden centered, so if you ride in the backseat or with a forward stance you’ll be falling over. When initiating into a Tail press or butter it takes very minimal effort to achieve this, but over all press ability on this board is so good.  In the pow this board does exactly what its intended to do and sinks right in and goes for it. Riding this board on hardpack is no different than a regular board. I was still laying hard carves and just charging as fast as I could with this board. Popping on it off rollers was very easy, if anything the Rocker allows for better pop as the board actually flexes more to initiate the tail. Just so everyone knows with K2’s rocker on the Gyrator and Turbo Dream you ride it bigger than you normally would.

 

45. 152 K2 WWW LTD with K2 Auto Evers (08/09)

Stance 22 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Overcast, windy, cold, real crappy out

One Word: Retards

Let me sum this up, if you can not press a snowboard especially a jibstick then you are a retard. But this board is like training wheels for the retarded in how it allows you to get into the press position. Doing tail blocks was so easy I don’t even think I lifted my back foot off the ground it just went right into that position.  The big problem with this board was the bindings, they were way to stiff for it so they kind of overpowered it. By that I mean if I wasn’t careful this thing would just get retarded and buck me around. Popping on this board would be better if it was a hair stiffer but then again it’s a WWW and we all know how soft that is. Edge to edge it did what it needed to do but was still slightly squirrelly.

 

46. 153 K2 Jibpan with K2 Auto Evers (08/09)

Stance 20 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Overcast, windy, cold, pure crap

One Word: 90’s

Seriously I didn’t realize in the 155 and down sizes with k2 the reference stance drops from 22 to 20. My god it was weird riding something that small with that narrow of a stance. The new Jibpan is basically the Super weapon, with a 5 cm longer effective edge, some minor tweaks to its flex, and what not. This thing charged like a 158 that’s for sure, was butterable even with my gay ass narrow stance, and had pop like a jibpan should. I’ll definitely be getting on the 156 to see how that rides.

 

47. 158 Omatic Celebrity with Nidecker ACT Carbons (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Celsius CLS 8 Double Boa size 10.5

Conditions: Overcast, windy, cold

One Word: Stability

The Celebrity is Louie Vito’s pro model for next year, replacing the Wig Out. It has a similar flex pattern to the old wigs but a bit more jibby in the nose/tail. The pop on this beast is amazing and the edge to edge control is super stable while coupled with a great side cut for laying carves with. Buttering with this board is a breeze and switch is super stable. The bindings were a bit on the stiffer side but whatever its what I wanted and they locked me down and I was good to go. The boots my god now I don’t know where to begin with this. It felt like I was in a knee high ski race boot the cuff was so high on them, the heel hold was amazing, but the side to side play was just too much. The boot didn’t fit my foot shape and probably will only fit a D plus width of a foot.

 

48. DC PBJ 155 with Atomic Mojito’s (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 Goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

Conditions: Pure shi*t

One Word: Work

This board needs work, for being there jib stick I’d feel more secure dropping off a 30 footer than hitting a 30 foot double barrel. For some reason DC has the sidecuts and edge hold dialed in perfectly, but the flex patterns are so wacked out. It’s a bit of work to press and pop, but the ride is so damn stable and damp. It just needs a different core profile and a changed carbon array. The bindings from Atomic are solid except for the toe cap it needs some work, and the ratchets have minor issues which can be worked out. They have really great dampening in them and are super stable.

 

49. 158 DC MLF with Atomic Mojito’s (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

Conditions: Pure crapola

One Word: Plank

This board is supposedly there all mountain freestyle board, the only thing all mountain freestyle about it is the shape and that’s it. The flex on this thing is about the same as a NS heritage which made it a choir to butter. Its very stable and the side cut is great for carve initiation. The board rides pretty damp too, but for something in their all mountain freestyle line I wouldn’t call it a contender at all.

 

50. 157 Ellis Felix with Ellis Felix bindings (08/09)

Stance: I think 24ish inches with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

Conditions: Crapola again

One word: Jibgnar

Ellis is a relatively new snowboard company from So Cal that I had a chance to hang out with in Vegas for a day. The Felix is a total jibbers dream the stance has a max of 27 plus and its retardedly soft. The bindings coupled with this board are super soft so its just jib on jibber. The board had decent pop for being so damn soft, but you can feel every little bump in the snow. The bindings still need a bit of work, I had some issues with them that are going to be resolved in production. It’s a unibody binding so the flex is more uniform, the toe straps need some work to become more like a dual purpose strap, but the ratchets are quick in and quick out. The highbacks have great padding on them and are very plush.

 

51. 172 Smoking TK with Smokingtraction and Nidecker Carbon ACT 1’s (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Crap

One Word: Hauls

Jay from Smoking saw what Mervin was doing and created Smoking traction (called magnetraction on the board through the license he got from them) but  his is completely different. Its not as defined as any of the MTX boards I’ve seen, you have to eyeball it down the sidewall to properly see it. All my average gripes about MTX were gone with STX. I was able to lay down a hard euro carve no problem, it didn’t buckle under the pressure, it was very stable, and super smooth. The board needed a bit more dampening even for being a 172. It definitely hauled ass and was a fun ride for sure. Pop wasn’t super great, a little more in the tail would have made me a bit happier. Jay uses the same base as NS so I was stoked that it glided the same as all my NS boards. 

 

52. 156 Smoking Super Park mid wide with Nidecker Carbon ACT 1’s (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: poo weiner

One word: Responsive

For a midwide it seemed kind of narrow, but the edge hold was superb with the STX, and the side cut was great for carving. This board was stable off drops, jumps, and rollers. It was decent to butter around but not anything I’d super rave about. Big thing with STX is to know that Jay doesn’t order it from Mervin, he has it built for him using his design which is a far mellower version of MTX, less defined at the tip and tail contact point, and more between the feet.  The pop on this board is great for boosting and felt fairly lively. At speeds there was minimal chatter so I wasn’t sketching out about that.

 

53. 156 Ellis Bot with Ellis Lithiums (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Fresh corduroy, sunny, perfect conditions

One Word: Hatchet

Rarely do I find a board that rides like my old Hatchet. This board did just that. Anyways I was out riding with one of Ellis’s sales guy so we were just doing warm up runs and seeing as he just got in from Sea level I had to take it easy on him. Right off the bat this thing was a pop o matic machine. Came close to landing a cab 5 flatland on this. Side cut was great for turn initiation and edged perfectly fine. Torsionally this board was perfect for what it is, a higher end park board. Switch was a breeze, and pressing was insane. Definitely a fun board. The bindings had a minor issues I was warned about but I didn’t notice it. The disk cover needs some work, but the straps and ratchets were really good.

 

54. 162 Smoking Mike Basich Pro with Ellis Lithiums (08/09)

Stance: 22 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

Conditions: Freshies with blue skies

One Word: Stiffmeister

Board is relatively stiff laterally, with a bit more torsional give. The STX grips really well at speeds. I ended up making speed runs with Jay the owner of Smoking and doing some pow laps on the backside of Keystone. This board was stable off the various drops I did with it, and maching through the pow lips was intense. Tree riding it was fun and nimble. The bindings actually complimented it pretty well too. The shape is a bit weird as its all blunted out and snow would pour over it onto the top sheet, which is no bueno for pow riding. Popping took a bit of effort with this board and it was a tad sluggish, but then again its Mikes pro model, so its his specs. As of this writing there’s only 2 of them in the world.

 

55. 155 Smoking MIP (minor in possession) with Ride Contrabands (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Overcast, windy, and poop weiner

One Word: Poppy

The board is absolutely sick, super light, and poppy. While being stable at speeds with minimal chatter. The bindings however suck donkey balls. The board was stable off small drops, great for popping, easy to jib, has a great shape for doing tweaked out grabs. The bindings took forever to set up and ended up having 3 people work on it before they got it done for me. The toe strap is a weak ass design at best, it grips right over the big toe and the side of the big toe. Its actuated by the heel strap which has too put way more torque on it to feel locked in, and even then I was still feeling play. The damn thing crippled my feet so bad its still hurting 5 days later. There was no cush to that heel strap and it just tweaked my foot bad. This binding needs serious work. The toe clip thing is cheap ass plastic and doesn’t do shi*t to hold you in tightly.

 

56. 153 Ellis Heist with Ellis Lithiums (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Some sun, tree powder, bit windy

One Word: Jibtasticulastic

This board is a jib stick took no effort to do weak tail blocks and presses. The pop on it was ok but nothing special, edge to edge it was fine but unstable. In the Pow Pow it sunk, but then again it’s a little 153. The weight of it is ridiculously low and its super soft. Put it in the pricepoint jib stick category.

 

57. 158 DC Devun Walsh Pro with Atomic Black Russians (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Overcast, windy, pure crap

One Word: Slaptacular

Normally I don’t perform slappy’s on boards but this one just called for it so it was slap, slappy, splaptastic. This one of the 3 DC boards I’ve ridden was the most fun. Great pop, just a hair stiff in the nose/tail, but with a f*cking amazing side cut, and edge hold. This board was stable yet playful, but it’s a lot like other boards on the market so would I buy it probably not. The bindings have changed a lot with that new highback, straps, base construction etc. etc. Ratchets need some minor tweaks but other than that it was a good binding very damp as well.

 

58. 164 Flow Solitude WX with NXT FX (08/09)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

Conditions: pure shi*t

One Word: BLAH

I loved this set at Loveland, but this time around it was no bueno. Probably because my rep didn’t set me up it was one of their in house guys. Anyways the board is a hair softer torsionally, but due to the fact my bindings were so f*ckered up and I wasn’t dialed in it sucked balls.   It felt like my heel was lifting in the binding, while the toe strap was just held wickedly down. I felt like I was slipping out on edge because of this sensation and it just wasn’t that much fun at all. Bindings had the heel slip issue, I think they put forward lean on it which is the lame. All in all not a happy camper on this one.

 

59. 155 Rome Agent with Rome Uniteds (08/09)

Stance: 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas size 10

Conditions: pure shi*t

One word: Limp

This board rode like a f*cking graft. This board is not the agent I was so disappointed with it. Way too much torsional and lateral give. This is the first board in a long time I heard the death rattle from the chatter and got scared. I felt everything in this board. The pop was good, and the side cut was nice except when I hard carved it and then it was topple over time. The uniteds suck balls big time. Too soft, toe caps suck, flex is wacked out. There was no rigidity from the binding and it would just fold over. Felt like riding a Burton mission from 2000.

 

60. 159 Ride Concept UL with K2 Formula’s (07/08)

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Northwave Decades size 10 (08/09)

Condtions: Golden

One Word: Mislabeled

Ok so everyone knows I’m not a ride fan boy, or even impressed, or even cares for them. Frankly this board is definitely mislabeled. It’s a 749.99 dollar park board and that’s where it excels. Would I take this board out as my all mountain freestyle board like they suggest, f*ck no. This board has a lot of torsional give that’s for sure and makes it a stable butter board similar to a Never Summer SL. Popping on this thing is decent if you actuate the sweet spot. This board straight up kills it in the pipe though, I can’t deny that at all. No matter what I threw at this board it just wanted to slay the pipe, probably the highest airs I’ve ever done in the pipe since I rode a Dragon back in 99. On jumps this thing could make you or break you, but the reduced weight of the Tek Style top sheet was nice. Problem with the top sheet is how much it frays, my god it frays like no other. The side cut on this thing is so so, I couldn’t carve as hard as I’d like because it would wash out just a bit, and edge hold could be dicey when on edge going over ice. Now the boots are the golden gem. I haven’t been a Northwave fan since my KJ’s lead to the foot problems I have now. But f*ck these’s boots were amazing, I have a calcium deposit on my right ankle bone that has been killing me all winter. I put these boots on after pulling hard for 3 minutes, but once in man the fit is perfect. I did get a pressure over my right foots pinky toe, but in all fairness that toe is so messed up I can’t fault the boot. These boots are cushy as hell, like ungodly cushy. The weight is way more than my fargo’s which I consider a heavy boot. The flex is stiff I think an 8 on their scale, but my god its supportive. Also the speed lacing is amazing with the pulley’s for eyelets but the handles are so small they hurt my hand when I give a hard tug. I used the stock insoles something I don’t do anymore and my god talk about comfort, this boot was designed for a flat footed rider. Just going to add now that I’ve started putting a bunch of days on this boot its packing out at an astronomical rate.

 

61. 156 Omatic Awesome with K2 Formulas/Rome 390’s

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo boas’ size 11 and 10

Conditions: Everything

One Word: Awesome

What better word to describe this board than what it is, Awesome. I’ve ridden this board over every condition and I love it, but alas I did break it. Full separation of the sidewall from the edge, starting at the back binding going to the tail. The pop on this board is amazing for how little carbon it has in it. The side cut is fun for pipe and park, all mountains not so much. Stability is only a concern when straight lining runs or its icy. In the pipe I think this is where the board is most at home and over park tables. The flex lends itself a lot for buttering though, but still stable on decent sized park features. One problem I did notice was at the contact points the sidewalls aren’t plush with the top sheet so it’s like a cap construction, I Panzer filed that away and then it rode fine.

 

62. 160 Salomon Sick Stick with Rome Targa’s

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Northwave Decades size 10

Conditions: Epic bluebird pow day

One word. Surfy

This board is a trip. From the get go it was face shots and pow slashers. This board is a giant surfboard whether you’re on edge or in a foot of fresh. I was doing such laid back slashers, boosting off huge rollers, riding all sorts of wondrous conditions. This board just dominated that mini rocker rises out of the pow like a sharks fin and the tail just sinks right in. Stable at speeds with minimal chatter. Downside is that metal sheet under the top sheet, mine was broken in 4 places, I also managed to pull out an insert that was so lovely to find. You can butter this board, pop 180’s like nothing, and generally just slay it all over.

 

63. 156 Drake Player with Drake Supersports

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Northwave Decades size 10

Conditions: Bluebird soft snow, some push mounds.

One word: Plank

This board for an “all mountain” board is a f*cking plank. Seriously whoever designed this should be kicked in the face. It was a slug edge to edge, the hold was mediocre at best, it wasn’t damp at all, and the flex was crap. It was so inconsistent with the pop it was crap. In the pipe it would start by charging the tranny but near the end just putteringering along as though it was geriatric. Off jumps it would pop good maybe half the time the other half it was poop. The bindings have been redone and the heel straps were very solid that’s for sure. I had to rock them cap because if I rocked them over the top there was only like a half cm between them and the overly large heel strap. Typical of Drakes I had to put on 2 degrees of forward lean because of how they fit with the boots, and yes Northwaves are made to mesh well with the drakes. Adjusting them was easy as pie and they’re a solid binding, but for this board I think it held back on the binding itself.

 

64. 155 Burton Fix with Burton Triads (08/09)

Stance: My guess is somewhere around 23.5 since the kid was an ass hat with 18 negative 15

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Grey bird lightly snowing with soft snow on the ground

One Word: Broken

This goes out to any and all reps that might read this. If someone says 22.5 inch wide stance, give them a 22.5 inch stance, do not argue with them for a half hour about their stance then set it up to what you ride. It is their stance, it is what they know they are right you aren’t. I know my body, I know what works for me, a gangster stance does not. Do I look like a snowmie, NO. Secondly do not argue about binding size with me, I’m a large, I have always been a large, I know what works for me. Don’t lie and say your bro bra guy that’s turning screws is a size 12 in a medium, I know you are full of shi*t. So anyways on to how this thing rode. The flex is pretty damn inconsistent with it it. I could butter it but at times it would be really soft, others stiffer. Pop was ok but not something I’d be like OMG wowza I’m all that is jibber. In the pipe this thing would get all squirrelly and it bucked me twice. Off booters it just didn’t feel stable at all. When tracking this board would pull either way at any given time. The sidecut was blah, I just couldn’t get a hard carve down on it. Now on to the bindings, what the hell is Burtons issue with not giving me a true 0 of forward lean. Look I understand that the vast majority of Burton users are Euro Trash that ride straight legged and need it, I’m not Euro Trash nor do I ride straight legged. I need a true 0. Secondly the straps on this thing were the gayest on earth, they just aren’t that great. The toe strap reminds me of something MFM shi*t out on his bindings and said nope not gangsta enough for me. It holds ok, but gives you no option for over the top. The heel strap isn’t that great and ultimately because of the binding and the crappiness of this strap it tweaked my leg in the pipe. Not happy with that at all, I’d have given this board at least a full day of riding had the reps not been real ass hats about it. f*ck the Colorado reps seriously. As far as this board goes its not the fix it’s the broken and should be fixed.

 

65. Libtech McKink 157 MTX and micro BTX? (08/09) with K2 Formula’s

Stance 22.5 with 18 Negative 15 Goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Sunny, blue skies, storm rolling in, medium to high winds at times

One Word: Stiffy

Ok I was a bit excited to take this out as I don’t know many people that have ridden it. But seriously what a f*cking let down. First off the base is really fast, but waxing it, the damn thing wouldn’t absorb the wax as I’d have liked. The MTX is less defined, and I think the BTX is minimal. I say that only because when I put a flat edge across it, there was some slight upturning at the edges, but not as much as a skate banana. Now on to why this board was such a let down. I figured it’d be a high end park board, oh how I was sadly mistaken let me tell you. This thing is f*cking stiff, and I’m not talking like a stiffer park board, no its stiff like a Riders Choice, NS Titan, K2 Podium. I don’t know how you’d jib on this thing, I had to man handle it into nose presses on bonks. Now on to riding pipe with this. What a slug in the pipe, sure I could push off the tail to gain speed, but dear god it wouldn’t boost or dampen when taking a tranny back in. Off jumps the swing weight is greatly reduced in the tips which was fun, but the boards heavy, and clunky to fling around, and once again not damp. Charging this board hauls the base is fast, but you feel everything underneath you, I wasn’t impressed. Going on edge the MTX would grip and then slip as usual, sure its less defined on this board but whatever. I also can’t get over the shape on the tip/tail on this bitch its kind of like a k2 www f*cked last years salomon prospect and then got jizzed on by a steak knife.

 

66. 158 Never Summer SL with Rocker (08/09) with k2 Formula’s and 1 day on Relay Pro’s

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas size 10

Conditions: Everything

One word: Funster

This board is the epitome of fun all mountain slayer. I’ve tried to hate it, I tried to dislike it, hell I even tried to break it. The new construction with the new side cut ( I call it Never Slip Grip) is amazing, you can pop to the moon, yet charge and not feel shaky. The big thing with the sidecut is its kinked, think a cross between a tri radial sidecut and the salomon equilizer. These kinks aren’t like MTX that it sticks out and is serrated it just creates two bends in the sidecut then kind of flattens out and lets you steer between the feet if need be. Unlike other companies rockered boards this one rides different. I only notice the rocker when I need it or when I ollie. I no longer have to preload my tails I can just slap it down and pop like a skateboard, if I do preload it then I just boost insanely high. Presses are a tad easier because the nose/tail is raised a bit so you just lean into it and go. With the rocker the center of the board sits a tad higher so buttering around on boxes and wallrides is easier. The big thing to note with this rocker is unlike the k2’s that I’ve been on where you have to stay centered, you can get nose/tail heavy and still ride comfortable and not go ass over tea kettle. When riding on flats because the nose is lifted you don’t get that drag that slows you down so you can charge through cat tracks, I haven’t gotten stuck on it yet. A downside to rocker is the duck walk, that takes a bit of time to get used to it. I did notice with this board it took me a good 3 days of riding to become fully adjusted to how it rides. You can carve on this board better than anything I’ve ever been on without any downsides. Those kinks just grip so much more. Flexwise this board has a different flex than the regular SL, its stiffer in the nose/tail because of the double carbon fiber x’s, but that also adds more pop, and better stability. In the dead center of the board there is a flex point, when you push it hard, you can feel it in butters, jibs, jumps. It’s a true center flex if you do a hand flex on it and look at the side you see it kink. This board is damp and stable, kills it in the pipe, dominates on jumps, and slays jibs. Now lets talk about those Relay’s. What a pile of shi*t, sorry but I like a rigid heel cup, I don’t like feeling like my ankle is unsupported when I go into a press. I had to exaggerate all movements to press it and by that point it was like oh shi*t rocker initiation time and it was crappy. I could ride them but I wasn’t happy at all, Don’t say they weren’t dialed in, they were set 100% to my boot. I will say the heel straps were phenomenal I really liked them, toe straps sucked, and the foot pad blew donkey dick. I felt like I had snow under my boot all day with them.

 

67. 156 Never Summer Revolver with Rocker (08/09) with K2 Formula’s

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas

Conditions: Everything

One Word: Parkgnar

Rarely do I think to myself well f*ck this board just reinvented snowboarding. Such was the case after day one on this behemoth. So I got up to Keystone on this beast, strapped in and blam I was like pop from my nose to my tail like it was nothing, then buttered it around, and threw a cab 3 like it was nothing. After that I laid into a hard carve and the edge gripped like my SL, but had a tad more chatter as this board is noticeably softer. After that it was game on to the bonk line. I was a tail tapping, nose stalling, wall jibbing machine. I got close to a butter 5 on the big butter wall ride Keystone has. Took this sucker into the pipe, that edge hold grips and just lets you float a lofty air like no other. The shape of the revolver is better for spins than the SL in my opinion. With the flat kicks on it I was doing nose butters like no other. On jibs I would just have to do subtle movements and be locked in to presses and what not. This board is stable to a point, but not as stable as my sl. Which was fine for the size of the jumps I was hitting. Switch is so much fun on this sidecut you just roll it around and blam off you go.

 

68. 155 Salomon Official with Rome Targa’s

Stance 22.5 with 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: Vans Fargo Boas

Conditions: Sunny with clouds about 32ish degrees into puking snow and 6 inches of wind deposited pow

One Word: Ungripable

The only reason I rode this board was to compare its Equilizer sidecut to the new sidecut on the Never Summers. First off let me say I was highly disappointed in this side cut. When I’d initiate a turn it would get hooky at the kinks in the straight edge, then get chattery in the tail. The board didn’t track too well either. Riding switch was a chore and a half with this board because that sidecut was sketch ball as hell. The flex was fun I liked that a lot and popping on jumps was great, but half pipe it wasn’t happening. On jibs the board was just how I imagined it’d be, its like a tweaked Prospect more than anything. But that sidecut is just sketchy as hell. The base is incredibly slow and I waxed it. When waxing it though, it didn’t want to absorb as I figured such a higher end base would. All in all not impressed with the sidecut on this board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 



Published On: 4/6/2008
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My Blog: yeah
By: death_god15


there is a god
his name is death
he walk among us
choseing his next
he writes their name with his blood
he laughs
knowing that their gonna die
he see's our names with his eyes
he dosent have a syth
just a book
 
 
he cry's knowing he has done wrong
its his burdon
he's the only one
the pain in his chest
where his heart should belong
he has wing's but likes to walk
we cant see him
he's just there
 
 
he is a god that cannot die
he writes his own name
hopeing that he should die
his life is a burdon
one that he cannot stand
he falls to his knees
and he wonders why
the gods hate him
as he begins to die.


Published On: 3/29/2008
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My Blog: Bored.
By: Queen.Horror


IF A MOVIE WAS MADE OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

So, here's how it works:

Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, etc).
Put it on shuffle.
Press play.
For every question type the song that's playing.
When you go to a new question press the next button.
Ready? GO!


Opening Credits:
Mmmbop - Hanson

Falling in Love:
Out to get you - bloodsimple

Fight Scene:
I predict a riot - Kaiser Cheifs

Breaking Up:
Skin and bones - Marianas Trench

Make-up:
Photograph - 12 stones

Secret Love:
Ex's and Oh's - atreyu

Life's Okay:
Headstrong - Trapt

Mental Breakdown:
Noma Numa Yei - Ozone

Driving:
daddys little defect - Sugarcult

Flashbacks:
Next contestant - Nickelback

Happy Dance:
fall into sleep - mudvayne

Regretting:
What I like about you - the ramones (I think Happy dance and this one are mixed up!)

Long Night Alone:
Reckless - papa roach

Final Battle:
When I'm gone - simple plan

Death Scene:
Kiss Kiss - Chris Brown

Ending Credits:
The great divide - Hanson (Begin with a hanson song, end with a hanson song!) 


Published On: 3/29/2008
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these are some of my favorite song lyrics.    
 
 
 

Through The Fire And The Flames

On a cold winter morning, in the time before the light
In flames of death's eternal reign we ride towards the fight
When the darkness has fallen down, and the times are tough all right
The sound of evil laughter falls around the world tonight

Fighting hard, fighting on for the steel, through the wastelands evermore
The scattered souls will feel the hell bodies wasted on the shores
On the blackest plains in hell's domain, we watch them as we go
In fire and pain, and once again we know

So now we fly ever free
We're free before the thunderstorm
On towards the wilderness our quest carries on
Far beyond the sundown, far beyond the moonlight
Deep inside our hearts and all our souls

[Chorus:]
So far away we wait for the day
For the light source so wasted and gone
We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days
Through the fire and the flames we carry on

As the red day is dawning
And the lightning cracks the sky
They'll raise their hands to the heavens above
With resentment in their eyes
Running back from the mid-morning light
There's a burning in my heart
We're banished from a time in a fallen land
To a life beyond the stars

In your darkest dreams see to believe
Our destiny is time
And endlessly we'll all be free tonight

And on the wings of a dream, so far beyond reality
All alone in desperation, now the time has gone
Lost inside you'll never find, lost within my own mind
Day after day this misery must go on

Now here we stand with their blood on our hands
We fought so hard now can we understand
I'll break the seal of this curse if I possibly can
For freedom of every man

if you do not like this song then dont post anythign means but if you like this song and like the lyrics you rock in my book



Published On: 3/22/2008
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Recently I have been trying to figure out why God put me on this forsaken planet. Reason being, a Police department came to me and offered me a job. Previously to this, I was going to start school in May to follow my long roots and become a Bicycle Guru. Sometimes you get so caught up in "life" that you forget what matters most to you and makes you happy.  
 
Last night I put in a movie called "Roam." It is a sequel to the movie "The Collective." It is a mountain biking film with Pros doing insane stunts and riding fast singletrack and even Ryan Leech on his Trials bike. The great thing about these movies is that they give me an adrenaline rush right there on the couch. And even though these riders are jumping HUGE road gaps and stunts, I still find a way to relax and fall asleep. I may be sick in the head, or I may just find comfort in acts of defying death and physics. I don't know.
 
Before I started to snooze, I was watching this wicked fast single track section and realized my love for mountain biking. I sometimes look at what I have invested in my arsenal of bicycles and think, "I could have like 2 motorcycles with all this." Sadly its true. But last night it dawned on me, as it does from time to time. I love riding motorcycles. They're so free, man and machine. But a bicycle takes it that much further. Many people Say, "its not about the Destination, but about the Journey." When you finish the journey and look back and think, I did that all myself. No engine, no gasoline, just me, my bike and a burrito or two. You go so much deeper on a mountain bike than on a motorcycle. Your breathing as it sets the pace. Heartrate pounding in your ears as you make your way up ascents that would scare sherpas. The Rush when you let go of the bars to trick as you fly over gorge's. The exhilaration when you crest a mountain to watch the sun settle into the horizon for its slumber. All this under your own power. You, two pedals, a chain, some gears, maybe suspension and a frame.  This is when the Spritual aspect comes into effect that puts it way ahead of throttle twisting. It's surreal when you look at the terrain you just tackled and you get an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment.
 
Riding is not just subject to us in the Northern hemisphere either. I have seen many films where riders are in 3rd world countries. The faces of the locals light up, as well as the riders, in a way of euphoria that words cannot describe. Bicycles are a Culture and Language of their own, spoken through out the world without saying a word. One day I will ride my way across the globe. Bringing inspiring smiles to children and adults alike in far away lands and my own town of residence. Then I will have a journey of my own to tell. This.........all this, is what makes me happy.


Published On: 3/14/2008
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[= ..Bands.. =]

Blink 182 (Pretty much my all time favorite band)
+44
Angels & Airwaves
The Used
Breaking Benjamin
Fuel
Paramore
Cobra Starship
As I Lay Dying
30 Seconds To Mars
A.F.I
The Academy Is...
The Rocket Summer
AC/DC
The All American Rejects
Ben Folds Five
Bad Astronaut
Avril Lavigne
Armor For Sleep
Idiot Pilot
Box Car RAcer
Cake
Boys Like Girls
Chiodos
Buckcherry
The Beatles
Papa Roach
Sum 41
Chronic Future
Hawthorne Heights
Coldplay
Death Cab For Cutie
Side Effect
Something Corporate 
New Found Glory
Coldplay
The Strokes
Eminem
Flyleaf
Linkin Park
Evanescence
Fall Out Boy
Juanes
Finch
The Fray
The Goo Goo Dolls
Lostprophets
Ludacris
Good Charlotte
H.I.M.
Hellogoodbye
John Mayer
Houston Calls
Iron and Wine
Kerli
Motion City Soundtrack
Lifehouse
Lilly Allen
50 Cent
Jimmy Eat World
Norah Jones
Vanessa Carlton
Mae
NoFX
Simple Plan
McFly
Michael Buble
Panic! At The Disco
Relient K
Switchfoot
My Chemical Romance
Plain White T's
Sublime
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Remedy Drive
Semisonic
Taking Back Sunday
Senses Fail
Three Days Grace
The Verve
Yellowcard
3 Doors Down









Published On: 3/11/2008
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Your train of thought is lost

and your vision is blurred

your heart is torn

and your life is burrned

 

Torn into pieces

forgotten by all

you lose your grip

and suddently fall

 

you scream out for help

you reach out in fear

but theres no one around

and no one to hear

 

Your all by yourself

and you feel so alone

your in your own world

but it feals so unknown

 

your to far gone

theres no turning back

the will to survive

your beginning to lack

 

Cuts and bruises

scrapes and scars

cover your life

like the night sky stars

 

As the fall ends

and you hit the ground

you open your hand

and look what you found

 

The small razor blade

is beginning to rust

the need to be gone

 is becomming a must

 

And with one last cut

you try to end your life

but the blade is too dull

so you cry in he night

 

It seemed that the blade

was your only friend

and then you realize

it betrayed you in the end

 

As you search for a way

to finally disappear

a gun you see

will bring death near

 

And as you touch the metal

to your head

and with the pull of the trigger

you fall and your dead

 

You decend into hell

and take a look around

and notice that this is no escape

burried beneath the ground

 

You look into the eyes

of all the cold souls

no friendly bodies

no hands to hold

 

It's all our fault

that you chose this path

and the devil's the one

who got the last laugh



Published On: 3/3/2008
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i am accually 14 so old creepy men dont mess with me cause ill kick you ass. Anyway my name is melanie and i love eskimos that sounds really wierd but yeah i am the kind of person who doesnt give a f*ck what anyone says or does because i am my own person the thing i hate the most is stupid girls that are like oh i love you and then the kinda just filp out the next day cause you gave their boyfriend a hug or some stupid shi*t like that. to get off that disturbing sub. i am a punk according to my friend who is chillin next to me and yeah i dont think so i am just melanie nuthin special.. but yeah i have brown and purple hair and i am 5"5' and i am skinny but not to the point my bones stick out and i look like death if you catch my drift n e way i g2g 

Published On: 3/1/2008
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My Blog: Runway trip
By: anne-flore



Day 1
We are sitting on that oldschool chairlift in White Water BC, it s bouncing.. the slope is still untracked.. The fog is going up and the sun starts appearing behind the evergreens. The snow builds up on the trees,, they are frozen.. everything is white and crutsy, humid, fresh tracks, pillows, cold and heartwarming. Runs in the trees all the way to the road and hitchhike back to the lift. Small resort, 2 lifts.
This is how poetic the trip started.. and the crew made it all become funky and adventurous!  Leanne Pelosi, Janna Meyen, Natasza Zureck and I are following Shandi Campos and Scott in the deepest of their mountains..

Day 2
Crazy way up the hill this morning, cross avi passes.. huge avalanches. Danger zone.
The sleds go down, shandy saves us all.. I m on the radio.. I m so important with my radio!! Next one! Sweet and mellow Pillow lines.
Nat let her sled go straight into a tree.. half of it just commits to suicide.. the sled seems fine.. upper bowl I spit my lungs in the death zone. Cant see shi*t.. scared as hell..
Adrenaline I love you, best drug ever. Scott shreds down that line I was way too scared to do on his noboard! That’s the coolest thing by the way!! No Boardng? Love it!
Janna rips it on her sled!! She jumps even! Randy (Shandy’s dog) runs faster then any of us on the sleds.. and hangs with us all day up there! Warm and sunny. Christy runs over that other dog. Bamboo or meetball should we call it? The dog goes under the track of the sleds and gets spit out the other end. The dog seems to be used to it..
We find sick cliffs and sweet pillow lines.. the snow is epic! On the ride down a huge avalanche had crossed our track back.. our only way out.. we had to dig our way through tons of heavy snow! Happy day.

Day 3
On the third day we found huge rocks pillows field! Messy day.. tired day.. Janna is having enough fun for all of us! Huge airs out of that one sick rock pillow.. me hungry, me grumpy when hungry.. me not friendly when grumpy! Sorry..

Day 4
Janna is a sledneck, she went TTT (to the top) on her sled high marking way better then any of the sled duds.. scott fs 360 on that natural hit in the middle of his line on a No Board! What?! All the girls are killing it! We all stomped our cliff lines first track! We are all done by noon and just have a good time. The dogs are here too, they are so cool.. they just run all the way up the tracks and hang out with us all day..
lunar eclips and famly dinner.. good times..

Day 5
Tired.. sketchy avalanche area, no roping for the first time, it s really like surfing on snow. WE are all quite tired, lucky that Natasza is hard working for us all, and she didn’t die on that first try. We watch and sit in the sun. move the sled to sun  little by little as the shadow gets us.. wett boots tired back to our hobbit houses. Me tired, me even stop talking when tired. Good night. The week end approaches and it’s time for us to rest before we keep on shooting.. That was an epic week and certainly the most productive in a long time.. check next year’s Runway movie to see the footage!

www.runwayfilms.com
www.annefloremarxer.com



Published On: 2/25/2008
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My Blog: poem
By: death_god15


this poem is called why ok
 
why do i fill i can do more
why do i fill i havent done enought
why do i think my dreams will never come true
why am i so complicated
why am i such a weirdo
why do i fill im so intrusting a person
why do i have all these filling
why do i want more in life
why do i make promises i cant keep
why do i have so many thoughts
why do i make things so hard
why was i born it makes no cents
why dose eveyday end the same
why cant i change fate
why is deatany so mean
why do i wake noing that nothing hase changed
why is the only question i can ask myself


Published On: 2/23/2008
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My Blog: poems
By: death_god15


the only happy day
 
the only happy day is a day i get to hear ur voice
a day where i know u will be their
a day where i know time will stop when i see u
a day when u say i love u
a day i cant get over couse u where their
a day when ur love saved my life
a day when u pulled me out of darkness
a day when i seen the light of ur smile
a day that has no night couse u are their
a day with u in my life
a day full of delight
a day with u tiffany is the only happy day of my life.


Published On: 2/22/2008
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A few blogs ago I ranted about saving a life. This year has gotten off to a rather bad start for me. Our body count now on the ambulance is 9 plus my grandma died recently for a total of 10. When is it going to stop?? Seeing all this death around makes you think about life. I have questioned human kind thoroughly. I have pondered why we do things the way we do if were just going to end up dead. I have thought, when will my time come when the reaper escorts me to purgatory. Then there's the obvious, where do you go after you die. My grandpa always said, "Heaven won't take me and Hell is afraid I'll take over." He thought he was going to live for ever, as do I. All this death has inspired me in getting another tattoo. I know exactly how it needs to look, its just a matter of drawing it, and getting my current one finished before hand.
 
 


Published On: 2/22/2008
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Second Survey Of '08
- - -
Secrets About Yourself
Be HONEST no matter what.

1. What Is your natural hair color?
Blonde

2. Where was your default pic taken?
Living room, I think

3. What's your middle name?
Elizabeth August

4. Your current relationship status?
Single, and tired of it.

5. Honestly, does your crush like you back?
I think so. Tony, do you like me back XD

6. What is your current mood?
 worried, but feeling less crappy

7.What color underwear are you wearing?
Blue and Green.

8.What makes you happy?
Friends and music

10. If you could go back in time, and change something what you would change?
Nothing

11. If you MUST be an animal for ONE day- what would you be?
A skunk, then I could have my privacy!

12. Ever had a near death experience?
Yes, many

13. Something you do a lot?
Talk

14. What's the name of the song stuck in your head right now?
Casimado - P!ATD

15. Who did you copy and paste this from?
Cant remember

16. Name someone with the same b-day as you?
LEE INGLEBY!

17. When was the last time you cried?
Today.

18. Have you ever sung in front of a large audience?
Yes

19. If you could have one super power what would it be?
Invisibility

20. What's the first thing you notice about the opposite/same sex?
Personality

21. What do you usually order from Starbucks?
Nothing

22. What's your biggest secret?
Like I'll tell you!

23. Fav color?
Green

24. When was the last time you lied?
I lied to my brother about 3 days ago, so yeah. 3 days ago

25. Do you still watch kiddy movies or shows?
Yup

27. What are you eating or drinking at the moment?
the inside of my mouth, I am eating.

28. Do you speak any other language?
French, and some spanish

29. What's your favorite smell?
Strawberries

30. If you could describe your life in one or two words what would it be?
Odd

31. When was the last time you gave/received a hug?
Today

32. Have you ever been kissed in the rain?
no

33. What are you thinking about right now?
Life

34. What should you be doing?
Work

35. What was the last thing that made you upset/angry?
Lots

37. Do you like working in the yard?
Yes

38. If you could have any name in the world, what would you want?
Marie

39. Do you act differently around your crush/boyfriend?
Not really

40. Name one song that reminds you of an ex?
Coming Home - City and Colour



Published On: 2/10/2008
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