illiterateabc
03-16-2009, 09:48 PM
This past Saturday, I headed up to Squaw Valley with 5 of my friends. Beautiful sunny day with okay snow conditions. It got really windy and icy around 4 o'clock, but I skiboarded on the Spruce 120s from 9 AM to 6 PM. I brought my bullets up with me, but they ended up locked to a pole at base camp all day! Here's my review of the 120's. For reference, I'm 5'8" 125 lbs.
While waiting for friends to rent their equipment, I took East Broadway, the beginner green slope, around 10 quick times to get a feel for the boards. I immediately felt the increased difficulty in skating them due to the length (and perhaps edge bevel), as well as the much flexier nature of the boards compared to the bullets. I would say it took me about 2 short runs to start enjoying these boards, and then they felt natural. I was linking tight carves in gorilla stance with ease, turning lift-takers heads.
After the 10 green runs, I went up to Emigrant, an intermediate run that starts at a peak. It was so windy up there, I felt like I was going to get my 125 lb. butt blown off the mountain! Coming down this first blue run of the day was kinda treacherous; at one point, there's a steep that goes directly into cross-traffic, so I had to slowly make my way down, riding my edges. I never felt out of control, which was a testament to the superb stability of these boards.
After having met up with my friends and going down some green runs (teaching them how to link turns on long planks :P), three of my friends and I decided to tackle the 3.2 mile Mountain Run. Oh my god, here was where the fun began. Even though I had to constantly wait for my friends, I opened up and bombed this run, section by section, and I really felt how much smoother the ride was compared to this exact same run on my bullets last month. I did notice the drop in edge hold especially in late-day ice; the bullets would've bit so hard into this stuff, whereas I slipped a lot more on the flexy 120's.
I was able to go down the Mountain Run twice more that day (although it would've easily been three times that amount had I skiboarded alone), and the second and third times, I really just let 'er rip. I noticed by the end of the day, I felt a little more fatigued at the calves due probably to the extra length, but it was hardly noticeable due to my enormous HIGH I was on. I woke up the next morning not sore at all.
I'm going back to Squaw as well as Sugarbowl this weekend, and I plan on taking both pairs of boards, locking one at a time at base camp, and doing the Mountain Run all day switching off between the pairs. Maybe I'll even time my runs to see which I can get to be faster. By the way, I consider this to be science. :)
Conclusions: I am never giving up my Bullets for Spring and So Cal mountain conditions and for their short, maneuverable, sporty feel. However, I believe I will get much more use from the 120's simply because they make bombing down runs at speed so darn stable and easy. Still, I really miss how responsive the shorties feel...makes me wonder if I should try out the ALPs or Revolts....UGG. I will never be satisfied. :D
On to the Dalbello Krypton Rampages:
This will be short. They are amazing pieces of performance footwear that gave me no slop, hot spots, or soreness ALL DAY. As I've read on these forums, "I could sleep in my boots!" The three-piece design really IS all that it's cracked up to be. Also, they're very very warm granted you don't crush your feet with the latches. Get ski socks!
PS. I think I prefer tree-lined runs a la Kirkwood, Northstar, or Mt. Rose compared to riding the wide-open bowls in Squaw. I feel like I will get lost or fall off a steep at Squaw, and I just like the feeling of whizzing past trees. So far for now, I think I like bombing down Blues at stupid speeds without too much effort compared to working my ass off zig-zagging across blacks.
PSS. THANK YOU JEFF SPRINGER for these magnificent boards, and THANK YOU Greco for selling them.
While waiting for friends to rent their equipment, I took East Broadway, the beginner green slope, around 10 quick times to get a feel for the boards. I immediately felt the increased difficulty in skating them due to the length (and perhaps edge bevel), as well as the much flexier nature of the boards compared to the bullets. I would say it took me about 2 short runs to start enjoying these boards, and then they felt natural. I was linking tight carves in gorilla stance with ease, turning lift-takers heads.
After the 10 green runs, I went up to Emigrant, an intermediate run that starts at a peak. It was so windy up there, I felt like I was going to get my 125 lb. butt blown off the mountain! Coming down this first blue run of the day was kinda treacherous; at one point, there's a steep that goes directly into cross-traffic, so I had to slowly make my way down, riding my edges. I never felt out of control, which was a testament to the superb stability of these boards.
After having met up with my friends and going down some green runs (teaching them how to link turns on long planks :P), three of my friends and I decided to tackle the 3.2 mile Mountain Run. Oh my god, here was where the fun began. Even though I had to constantly wait for my friends, I opened up and bombed this run, section by section, and I really felt how much smoother the ride was compared to this exact same run on my bullets last month. I did notice the drop in edge hold especially in late-day ice; the bullets would've bit so hard into this stuff, whereas I slipped a lot more on the flexy 120's.
I was able to go down the Mountain Run twice more that day (although it would've easily been three times that amount had I skiboarded alone), and the second and third times, I really just let 'er rip. I noticed by the end of the day, I felt a little more fatigued at the calves due probably to the extra length, but it was hardly noticeable due to my enormous HIGH I was on. I woke up the next morning not sore at all.
I'm going back to Squaw as well as Sugarbowl this weekend, and I plan on taking both pairs of boards, locking one at a time at base camp, and doing the Mountain Run all day switching off between the pairs. Maybe I'll even time my runs to see which I can get to be faster. By the way, I consider this to be science. :)
Conclusions: I am never giving up my Bullets for Spring and So Cal mountain conditions and for their short, maneuverable, sporty feel. However, I believe I will get much more use from the 120's simply because they make bombing down runs at speed so darn stable and easy. Still, I really miss how responsive the shorties feel...makes me wonder if I should try out the ALPs or Revolts....UGG. I will never be satisfied. :D
On to the Dalbello Krypton Rampages:
This will be short. They are amazing pieces of performance footwear that gave me no slop, hot spots, or soreness ALL DAY. As I've read on these forums, "I could sleep in my boots!" The three-piece design really IS all that it's cracked up to be. Also, they're very very warm granted you don't crush your feet with the latches. Get ski socks!
PS. I think I prefer tree-lined runs a la Kirkwood, Northstar, or Mt. Rose compared to riding the wide-open bowls in Squaw. I feel like I will get lost or fall off a steep at Squaw, and I just like the feeling of whizzing past trees. So far for now, I think I like bombing down Blues at stupid speeds without too much effort compared to working my ass off zig-zagging across blacks.
PSS. THANK YOU JEFF SPRINGER for these magnificent boards, and THANK YOU Greco for selling them.