From: sbirdwell@pbs.org
Newsgroups: rec.skiing
Subject: Re: SNOWBOARDING SURVEY (and info for faq)
Date: 4 Nov 92 17:31:31 EST
Organization: PBS:Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, VA

In article <1992Oct29.194853.17925@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>, Gen.M.Kanai@dartmouth.edu (Gen M. Kanai) writes:
> Hi everyone.  I'm the guy who asked for info from the snowboarders on
> rec.skiing so we could network and see what people were doing and using
> all over the world.
> 
> When TransWorld Snowboarding said that our sport was primarily enjoyed
> by males 18-25, they were not kidding!  13 people answered, all were
> male, and most were in that age range.  We had one PSIA certified
> instructor and people from Finland, Colorado, Michigan, Germany and
> Italy.
> 
> 
> I asked 10 basic questions and here's what happened:
> 1. who you are (sex/age/etc)
> 2. what kind of riding do you do/like (pipe/free/race)
> 3. what you ride (stance/brands/sizes/hard/soft/etc.)
> 4. why you ride/like it
> 5. where you live/conditions you ride in
> 6. what you might buy in the future
> 7. what is your favorite/least favorite inset hole pattern
> 8. if you still ski
> 9. crazy trivia that would be funny about you or an experience you've
> had
> 10. best comeback for the perpetual comment, "How is that snowboard
> thing?"
> 
> For Question 1, we had the upper end being 30 years old and I think the
> youngest was 19.  Mark Wallace has taught beginners from ages 12-58!  
> 
> Question 2:  This was really all over.  People loved powder,
> freestyling, moguls, and carving.  There were some pipe people, but the
> most popular type of riding was freestyle.  My personal favorite is
> packed powder where skiers have to break through the crust each time
> they move foward and we can just sail on top.  
> 
> Question 3: I was surprised at how many people had more than 1 board. 
> The people who did have more than 1 had 3 or more!  Those people
> usually had the spectrum of types of boards and boots.  Most of the 1
> board owners used soft boots.  Drew Eckhardt and I both own the 1992
> Burton AsymAir, and we love it.  He tells me, "Ever since I grew into
> size elevens, I've been wearing the *Soft Boots From Hell.*  This means
> Sorrel bladders in somesortasurplusboot with R/C foam rubber padding in
> strategic places held together with Duck Brand duct tape."  I
> fortuanately do not have feet his size and fit into regular soft boots.
>  Jens Owen, who is our resident PSIA Instructor, rides a Nitro Diablo
> 186!!  But he isn't all that happy with it.  
> 
> Maybe it's just me, but I think that Goofy-footers outnumber Regulars. 
> An uncanny number of people at my school are goofy and 6 people from my
> data are goofy when only 2 are regular and the rest did not say.
> 
> Question 4: I'll just put some quotes in concerning why these people
> snowboard.  
> "It feels great when you ride down the hill in the morning and the
> powder snow blows into your face. - Or am I wrong?" No way!
> "Ski's couldn't give anything new to my winter and it is so fun."
> "A lot more fun than skiing. I used to skateboard when young.
> "The adrenaline rush from a high speed run in the trees, or down a
> narrow colouir is definately better than a few hits of weed, and if
> you've got a season's pass, it costs less too."
> "Fresh powder (I've had it waist deep) gives you a certain weightless
> feeling..."
> "Tight slalom turns under the lifts turn some bettys' heads in  your
> direction, along with jealous skiers' yodels..."
> "I started boarding about 6-7 years ago  and just quit skiing ever
> since.  Much more fun.  It is a better feeling than skiis.  I like the
> flowing aspect as it is kind of like surfing if you do it correctly."
> "It just seems like there is more freedom associated with boarding than
> with skiing."
> "Stupid question, (no surf in Pittsburgh)."
> "NOTHING compares to floating through deep powder on a snowboard."
> "Speed and jumps are my drug."
> 
> SO, people love this sport for all sorts of different reasons, but this
> next quote is pretty good...
> "Because the feeling you get from snowboarding is just better, and more
> special..."  
> Jake Burton from 'Scream of Conciousness'.
> 
> Question 5:  People live all over the US and also in Scandinavia and
> Germany.  
> Brian Hayashi who lives in So. Cal. does anything from, "bulletproof to
> powder, but favor deep spring mush."  
> Jens Owen says, "I live in Ft Collins, Colorado and teach snowboarding
> in Steamboat Colorado.  The conditions range from packed powder to mega
> powder."  
> Sascha Linn actually finds places to board in Southeastern Michigan,
> and hopes to go somewhere with more than 1000' of vertical.  Let us all
> take a moment to pray for him and the UMich club.  (just kidding!)   
> Kevin Jones bluntly tells us that the boarding in the midwest "sucks"
> and that he goes out West.  
> Everyone should be jealous of Drew Eckhardt, who is at UC Boulder:
> "Boulder Colorado.  Every snow condition known to man. I've done
> glaciers, sand dunes, fresh powder, hard pack (That's "packed powder"
> for you Easterners), powder of varying weights, hard pack, crust,
> slush, granular, melt water pond..."  Shaddup Drew!  Let me wipe the
> drool off my keyboard and continue.  
> Petri Numinen, who boards in Tampere Finland has 2-3 areas within 100
> km of him.  He's also got a sweet Avalanche Damian Dagger.
> 
> Question 6:  People are all psyched to get more gear and boards, but
> here are some ideas: 
> Alex Hasl , who rides in the Alps of Germany, wants a new Sims AsimAce
> 165.  Lets all pitch in and...NOT!  (Just Kidding, Alex.)
> Mark Wallace just wants, "More stuff!"
> Jens wants, "The stiffest, fastest GS board I can find and possibly an
> asymetric freestyle board."
> Sascha is getting himself some Airwalk boots and a Patagonia shell.   I
> say North Face, but that's my IMHO.
> Drew says, "I've got my eye on an Agression Stealth GS for those hard
> packed days..."  Thats a *hot* board, Drew!
> Gen, (that's me), wants money so he can ride a Hot Logical 165, but
> better luck next year, Gen.
> 
> Question 7:  People never really understood this question about
> inserts, so I'll skip it.  Basically I wanted to know if people liked
> the old Burton/Nitro pattern, the SportSystem pattern, or liked
> drilling their own.  I dream of a day when all inserts are the same,
> but that day is far off it seems.  Companies should also be reminded to
> keep uninserted boards for those who don't like them.  We should be
> given a choice of inserts or drilling.  Just my IMHO.  Sascha Linn was
> quite vehement about Burton's new pattern, "Least favorite - Burton 3D
> because, they lock you into their products with this pattern.  If it
> becomes standard, I might change my mind...But for now, I really look
> down on Burton for this move.  Especially their ads '2,073,600
> possibilities!!!'  BULLSHIT!!  Most  of those are unusable for any
> normal human being."  I agree and was quite bitter at first because
> they screwed me, but I'll deal.
> 
> Question 8: Of the 14 of us, only 2 still ski.  
> Ihonen Hannele had a funny story: "I used to ski since I was about 4
> yrs (in Finland you learn to ski usually before you learn to speak so
> you can't say you don't really want to). I started 
> snowboarding in Vail and the next day I sold my skis- got tons of money
> and bought a board. I spent hundreds of dollars on snowboarding since,
> I have spent three seasons doing nothing else and now I live in
> Helsinki and you can't snowboard here."  Augh!  Hell on Earth!  Ihonen,
> we feel for you!  
> Mark Wallace still skis about 1/3 of the time he is out on snow.
> Jens, our resident instructor, has some interesting words on skiing vs.
> snowboarding, "I gave up skiing for 2-3 years, but have come back. 
> Major reason for returning to skis: The Challenge--Snowboarding has
> become much easier than skiing for me.  Crossover Skills--Working as an
> instructor, I can get ample  and excellent instruction on skiing.  I
> try to bring the expertise from my ski instructor peers into the
> snowboard side."  I think that Jens has some great info here and we
> should all realize that some of our enthusiasm in snowboarding might
> stem from its newness as a sport, IMHO (of course).
> 
> Question 9:
> Jens also had the best story, which I'll let him tell: 
> 	      "The funniest thing I've ever seen at a ski area was at Winter
> Park.
>         The chair would rise up about 20' and go over peoples heads
> before
>         turning around the bull wheel to return down the hill.  The guy
> in
>         the chair ahead of us had his bib straps hanging loose.  The
> straps 
>         got caught in the chair as he unloaded.  The chair then
> preceeded to
>         lift him 10' off the ground with him hanging under it.  The
> look on 
>         his face was one of agony because he was hanging by his pants
> which 
>         where giving him a wedgy and racking him at the same time.  The
> lift 
>         operator noticed what had happened and shut the lift down.  He
> was 
>         then stuck up there, whimpering.  His girl friend and about 20 
>         tourist couldn't help but laugh.  Then the tourists started
>         taking pictures.  The lift operator had to start and stop the
> lift
>         3 times, each time causing him to be jerked around by the his
> pants.
>         After about 5 minutes he was finally free.  Luckily, he was
> uninjured,
>         at least as far as he would admit."   
> OUCH!  Lesson: never leave bib straps loose!
> Eric Apgar tells us that, "last season I got up to Squaw right after a
> big snow - 5 ft of powder and immediately tried to go down a hill that
> was not steep enough... not fun."  Doesn't sound like it at all, Eric.
> Sascha begins with, "Well, there were those twins in Sault Ste.
> Marie....."
> Mark tells us some "Trivia:  In the early days back when the resorts
> couldn't decide whether or not to allow boarding I was at Monarch CO
> and after checking with the resort office I went up on the hill.  The
> patrol tracked me around the mountain for about a 1/2 hour and finally
> escorted me off the mountain after they'd gotten someone to make a
> decision.  The next year they opened up to boarders."
> I'm sure that this is only a small cross section of the stories that
> must be out there.
> 
> No one had a great comeback for Question 10, so I'll leave that alone.
> 
> If anyone wants more specific info, or wants to add their data to this
> survey, which will be updated every so often, e-mail at
> gen.kanai@dartmouth.edu
> 
> thanks in advance, 
> PEACE & POWDER GO HAND IN HAND
Newsgroups: rec.skiing