Another Supermodel

After my lengthy battle to sort out my Option freeplus snowboard, I arrived in Moscow with only my old and battered Burton Air 161, a board far too small for the conditions I anticipated in Kamchatka, especially given the gear I would be carrying.

Fortunately I was able to sort this out in between my sightseeing during my short 2 day stop in Moscow. Marko, an old friend of mine and my host from my first visit to Moscow in 1993, was able to hook me up with some of his former colleagues and he kindly took me off to the KAHT at the Moscow Alps to pick a new board.

They had a fantastic selection, especially given the time of year. It is far better than anything I have seen on the net over the last 6 weeks. I was able to get a Burton Supermodel for a bargain price, and picked up a few extra bits and pieces along the way.

Thanks Marko and Kaht!

Snowboards: Looking into other options

I have finally heard back from the Swiss distributor of Option Snowboards. He offered me a 20% discount on the 08/09 models that will become available September. I don't think they have taken much time to understand why I have complained. I still have boarding to do this winter. A board a discounted board in September is of no use to me know, and a 20% discount on beginning of season prices isn't really worth waiting for in my opinion when I am able to pick up some fantastic discounts at this time of year on current year models. I am not a firm believer that newer is better. I think a lot more innovation is going into custom ski making than snowboards these days which have kinda plateaued. I would be quite happy to ride a two season old Option Freeplus. I loved that board. Well, I loved its ride characteristic. My after sales service experience has been appalling and I have waited three months to learn that it wont be covered. I have come to terms with that. I am just really irritated that it has taken three months, three months where my life has only been about riding, and I have had to ride my old board.

I wasn't surprised to learn that others have had similar experiences in the past. I found this comment from someone else while I was looking into when Option moved from a one year to a two year limited warrantee (the reason my board wasn't covered despite only having about 20 days riding in it):

Customer Service:
Getting Option to warranty their boards is like getting the Pope to sell his soul to the devil. Option Customer Service is argumentative and blames all delaminations on rock damage even if there is no sign of abuse. My boards were in perfect shape (except for the delamination)You might get option to repair your board (not replace) but they will charge you for it even if you are within the warranty period. Paying over $400 for a high end board should merit a company standing behind its higher end products. Option does not stand behind their products at all.

So, I am now looking into new boards, something with some decent pop, but is stiff enough not to chatter at the end of the day when I am flying home down icy groomers, and something that is big enough for champagne powder whem I am carrying my backpack with avalanche gear and my camera on my back. I guess we can't have it all. I have ridden Burton's Malolo earlier this season and although I enjoyed it when I took it off-piste, there is no way that I can mess around and ride switch when you return to the groomers. I am also doing quite a bit of travel so I want one stick that does it all, from park to big mountain. I am not too keen to carry around a quiver with me wherever I go. (i got wacked £230 in excess baggage on my Air India flight from London to Delhi in early February because snowboards aren't skis and the rules only specify an allowance for skis and surfboards! That's another story.)

If there is anyone out there that has any great advice, feel free to drop me a line. I am currently looking at the Rome Anthem, Burton Supermodel, Burton Custom, and a few Ride boards. I have also heard that Elan make great boards, and many other manufacturers actually outsource their manufacturing of boards to Elan in Slovenia. I don't really know their range though so if there e is anyone that wants to share their wisdom, please let me know.

I like the idea of designing my own board and stumbled on a number of sites. The first was when I was looking into Elan boards, and the other I came upon while doing some research. I also met a few custom designers at Freestyle.ch in Zurich last September and have found a wealth of information here. Take a look at it, its really interesting.

I am not sure that I have the time, the facilities and tools, and the technical know-how, but the idea of manufacturing my own board is appealing. I take my hats off to all these guys who do. Take a look at the gallery pictures and read up how it is done. If I find myself settling in one place for long enough, with time enough to spare, I might try my hand.

A 100 day season - its a fulltime job

This trip to Kamchatka should crown what has been the best season of my life so far. I had planned on getting 100 days on my board and the season started well with plenty of snow in Europe. From mid December through to late January I went through a 32 day period where I spent all but four days on my board. By the time the Burton European Open rolled into Laax in late January, my body was aching and rather than riding the mountain hard, I found myself happily sitting in Cafe No Name watching the likes of Kevin Pearce and Shaun White, rather than riding the mountain myself. Some of the enjoyment was lost in my boarding and I soon came to terms with focusing on having as much fun as possible, rather than notching up days and after my knee started to hurt, I took a two week break in early Feb. By the time I reached Gulmarg in Kashmir on 12 February, I had about 45 days under my belt.

I had planned on spending 6 weeks of boarding in the Pir Pingal range in the foothills of the Himalayas but Spring arrived about 2 weeks earlier than I had anticipated and I made an unscheduled trip to Kerala in Southern India for what I thought would be a little sunshine. With only about 65 days on my board, I can comfortably conclude that Winter 07/08 is going to fall short of a 100 day season... but there is no doubt that I have had more fun than ever before.

To add to this positive message, I am today also the proud holder of a Russian Visa. This has been stressing me out somewhat and with changes to the Visa regulations in October 2007 now stipulating that Visa's can only be issued to citizen's or residents of the country in which you apply, I was rather concerned that as an Irish citizen, with Swiss residency, currently in New Zealand, I was going to struggle. The rules allow for some discretion and fortunately for me, my basic Russian clearly curried favour with the embassy staff and I now hold my visa. Spaseeba.

I also got an email from Nikolay of Vertikaly Mir today. "Since your group arrive one day early, I would like to inform you that you can have heliskiing day even on 26th which are normally the day of your arrival. If the weather is good, i recommend you to join the other group for this day, if you want. Like this you have more chance for skiing." Brilliant, I potentially have one more day of powder before I call curtains on the best season yet!

What is more, I got an email from the guys at Option Snowboards on Friday and it looks like they are finally doing something about my Option Freeplus 165 which started delaminating after 20 days of riding. Admittedly I think that there has been a breakdown in communication between the shop at which I bought my board and the Swiss distributor for Option because the people at Option in Canada have always been super helpful. Lets see if Casoar in Vevey, Switzerland come through on this one.

My mind is already on next season, on Gulmarg, on Jason's invitation to Japan, on Richard and Nicole's invitation to Whistler and the promise I made in Casa Veglia to Dave that I would enter next year's BEO slopestyle in Laax. My mind even toys with the idea of cutting short a European summer and heading to Chile or back to New Zealand for more. I think I am getting ahead of myself. For the time being let me focus on getting everything out of the snowcapped volcanoes of Kamchatka. It promises to be better than Krasnaya Polyana and even if it only equals Gulmarg, I will have nothing to complain about. My first possible day back on my board is only 15 days away and counting....