# New from New Jersey



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

Day 2 in the books!

Totally rocked the heck out of the heel side garland / falling leaf lol.

A big improvement over my fall fest of day 1 last week.


----------



## Kalo (Aug 13, 2009)

*Welcome*

Welcome to the sport/addiction. I'm from Jersey myself and its always nice to welcome somebody from my dirty state.


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

Thanks! An addiction it surely is. Sure isn't cheap though  I hope I don't have to end up going to Snowboarders Anonymous lol.


----------



## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

FireStarter451 said:


> Thanks! An addiction it surely is. Sure isn't cheap though  I hope I don't have to end up going to Snowboarders Anonymous lol.


12 steps wont work on Snowboarding!! Only cure is death! :welcome: (...or never ending POW!!!)


----------



## rgrwilco (Oct 15, 2007)

Jersey as well. Welcome!


----------



## Kalo (Aug 13, 2009)

Yeah its expensive. Just remember to take good care of your gear and pray to the vengeful snow gods daily. Sacrifices of Wax, blood and skiers is always a bonus.


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

I'm definitely gonna take care of my equipment so it can last as long as possible.

Just ordered a Jones Mountain Twin and hope it lasts a decade! Perhaps not the best choice for a beginner, but I'm hoping (rather deciding) that this board will be the one. It definitely fits what will be my riding style (which I know from rollerblading - I like to cruise and jump over normal terrain [not on rails or in halfpipes], sometimes go a little fast but not super fast).

I'm looking at Burton Mission bindings, and yet undecided on boots since I want to order those at a store and all the nearby REIs don't seem to have much in stock based on their website. 

Whatever I get I will treat it like it's made of gold!


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

Planning Day 3!


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

FireStarter451 said:


> and yet undecided on boots since I want to order those at a store and all the nearby REIs don't seem to have much in stock based on their website.
> 
> Whatever I get I will treat it like it's made of gold!


rei only does beginner and mid level gear...go to a core shop with an experience snowboard boot fitter

read the boot faq sticky...boots are the most important
and Chomps is right...give me Death or give me Pow

oh ya welcome...you gots lots of good years left


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

REI didn't work out since they had nothing available in stores. I went to a place in New Jersey called Ski Barn. Tried on a few boots, and the best fitting were DC and Salomon. Ultimately the Salomon Savage boots were the best combination of tight (to allow for this "packing out") and comfortable. The guy at the store was very patient, helpful, and informative on what makes a good choice for boots (which I had read on the boot forum sticky, thanks!). 

Went with Union Force bindings. I like how they're made of aluminium. Got those from dogfunk.com.

Can't wait to get my gear! Hope all the snow doesn't melt by then (went with free shipping on the board and the bindings lol)


----------



## kev711 (Feb 7, 2013)

For gear check out whiskeymilitia.com, eBay and wait for end of season sales. All gear goes 50% off or better.
I ride at least once a week(Sundays but mainly Mondays). I live in ct but my main spots are mt.snow in vt, mountain creek, camelback and big boulder. Give me a shout when u go out riding...I'm always looking for cool people to ride with


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

oh man, another fun day snowboarding! :yahoo:

I ALMOST have linked turns down. I have a hard time attempting to link turns if I feel I'm going "too" fast. For the most part I would chicken out and do some heelside braking to slow down to an almost stop. Sometimes, after slowing down, I would go for the linked turn. Sometimes I would just punk out and do a falling leaf (this is starting to get real lame). I'm also not 100% comfortable toeside, which makes it difficult to link to a turn that will require me to go toeside. I noticed I punk out more often when I'm about to go toeside and turn to the right. Slowly enough I can somewhat do both types of toeside turns, but going toeside while turning left was a little more comfortable... which I think means I'm more of a goofy rider than regular. Right?

I'm almost snowboarding... I'm so close I can taste it! 

lots of falls, lots of fun!


----------



## Bart (Apr 10, 2011)

*if ur looking for tips for learning on your own...*

try 
www.snowprofessor.com

good, easy video instruction....not bs. 

I found it helpful a few years ago when my friends' "tips" weren't working out. They'll even get u started on some park stuff!

enjoy!


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

yeah I found snowprofessor videos on youtube and they were very helpful. In fact, they were a lot more helpful than the lesson I got yesterday. I keep watching their videos after I go since after learning something new the old videos take on a little more meaning, so I watch them again.

Oh, and the-day-after report: not too sore, but I could probably use a chiropractic adjustment lol.


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

hi, Backcountry.com is legit place for equip...great return policy and knowledgeable sales chat folks and they have Gear Trade where they sell used and retrun's


----------



## kpla0388 (Dec 26, 2012)

I'm from south jersey but living out in socal for the time being. I grew up riding the poconos and the adirondacks.


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

kpla0388 said:


> I'm from south jersey but living out in socal for the time being. I grew up riding the poconos and the adirondacks.


I'll probably check those out next season. So far I've been riding the Catskills.


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

*free shipping is so slooooowwww*

OOOOOOOOOO MMMMMMMMMM GGGGGGGGGGaaaaaawwwwwwddddd!

I took the free shipping on my boots and bindings (I'm cheap and getting these was already a splurge)...

and they are taking F O U R E V U R to arrive!

The snow is going to have melted by the time I get them


----------



## kpla0388 (Dec 26, 2012)

FireStarter451 said:


> I'll probably check those out next season. So far I've been riding the Catskills.


Don't waste your time in the poconos. My home mountain is Gore, I worked there for 4 years, which biased or not is my #1 spot to ride on the east coast. They've expanded a ton over the years and there really isn't anywhere else like it so close a drive from where I grew up in south jersey. Otherwise definitely hit up whiteface, killington, or okemo, if you ever get a chance.


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

kpla0388 said:


> I'm from south jersey but living out in socal for the time being. I grew up riding the poconos and the adirondacks.





kpla0388 said:


> Don't waste your time in the poconos. My home mountain is Gore, I worked there for 4 years, which biased or not is my #1 spot to ride on the east coast. They've expanded a ton over the years and there really isn't anywhere else like it so close a drive from where I grew up in south jersey. Otherwise definitely hit up whiteface, killington, or okemo, if you ever get a chance.


So two votes for the Adironacks area. 

I see what you mean. I've checked out the stats on the region before (for hiking purposes) and I can see how it makes for great snowboarding. For me it will be hard to pass up on at least visiting the poconos once because I hate long drives and I'll want to explore ski areas in order from closest to farthest, unless some friends decide that they want to take a long road trip, in which case my personal preferences will take a backseat.

It's good to know that there's really good snowboarding in New York.


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

Just got my Salomon Savage Bonfire boots and they fit like a dream! :yahoo:


----------



## FireStarter451 (Feb 20, 2013)

*Day 4*

An odd night of snowboarding. 

I strapped into the board and immediately noticed that this board was very different from the one I had rented on Day 3, which I spent an entire day getting familiar with and rather enjoying (some Rossignol 158cm). 

The main difference with this board was that it didn't seem to want to turn when I applied the usual pressure on the front foot. I took that to mean that it was "stiffer" than the previous board, but even when I twisted the board with more force it didn't seem to make that much of a difference. It did work, but it took a long time to take effect, and I had to do a bit more leaning. In those attempts at getting it to turn if would wobble/waver a little bit and want to get stuck on the snow. I didn't end up falling on it 'cause I was a lot less ballsy than last time I was out. Overall it made me a lot more cautious and I didn't really have that much fun. The goal for the night was to link turns which I didn't really dare try until I was at the bottom of some green hill (the bunny hill was too shallow and felt worse somehow). I really noticed this when I tried to turn onto toeside, which just trying is enough to get hairs on the back of my neck standing, but on top of that the board not wanting to bend and start the turn just freaked me out!!! I haven't gotten a chance to ride my Jones Mountain Twin yet, but if it's anything like this I'm probably going to want to sell it.

This board also had a very noticeable setback, which made me stay away from regular even though I was riding it goofy (apparently my normal side) and with the long side back (as it was setback for regular riding). It was different enough that riding it switch was a little too weird, and with the issue mentioned above... it was territory I didn't want to get into.

Edges were also clinging to my gloves and jacket like crazy. That thing needed some kind of tune up/sharpening.

Sucky board, but still had a decent time and learned something. 

:question: I do have a question:
I measured my Jones (which has setback by default) I realized that with my planned 21 inch stance, I'll have 21 inches from nose to center of front binding, and 21 inches from tail to center of rear binding. This works out to a "twin" stance _if I set the front binding on the reference hole_, which makes my rear binding end up forward of that reference hole (since my stance is smaller than the reference stance of 23.xx"). Any potential issues with this? Should I be setting the rear binding on the reference hole? I realize it's only a 2" difference, but after last night I thought I should at least investigate.

Thanks for readin'!


----------

