Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Svanstein

Here we go. So on January 17th we headed to Svanstein since there has been alot of talk about the resort this winter. I'm going to cut it short.
There are 2 t-bars but still alot of terrain to be ridden. If it snows alot they leave some slopes as they are so you get to ride pow on the slopes too. In some areas they have been cutting down alot of trees for BC riding which is awesome. You might have to walk back to the lift 10 mins or so but it's worth it. The staff all around the mountain were really outgoing and friendly and just ask the lifties and you will get good directions towards the good pow spots.
The terrain is kinda steep, but nothing too crazy.
As it got dark we had some lunch and hit the park. The park wasn't too much fun. Alot of small features and some of the takeoffs were abit sketchy. Then again they started working on the park abit more around a week later so I think we'll be going back to check out the park later this season.
I forgot to set my bindings back on the board and was too lazy to do anything about it later so the riding isn't the best and during the day I crashed quite alot. So this clip is far from good in my opinion but shows abit of Svansteins potential.


 
Vide-Oh! goes Svanstein from Vide-Oh! on Vimeo.

Monday, January 26, 2015

What board(s) do I ride?


So at the moment I got 2 boards.
The one on the left is a Lib Tech Travis Rive Pro model with Union Contact Pro bindings. This is a great all around board that for me works in almost any terrain. I mostly use it on big jumps, in the halfpipe, groomers and for off-piste riding. It's not really an off-piste board but to me it almost feels like it. It's got rocker between the inserts and camber from inserts to ti ad tail. I would say that the rocker part is kinda soft but the rest of the board is still kinda stiff so it doesn't feel like a complete noodle. A Noodle board would be Nitro Team Gullwing which feels like riding a board with a broken core trough the middle. Might be good for jibbing but whatever.
All in all I'm having a hard time finding anything negative to say about this board. It's my weapon of choice because of how well it works anywhere and in any conditions. Retails at around 559€

The board on the right is an old (2013) Ride Kink with Union Flite bindings. I got it in December because it was really cheap since it's an old model. If I got my facts right it's basically just the looks that have changed since then.
This board really surprised me. It's one of Rides cheapest and softest boards.
I've never owned a jib/rail board before but since I've started to enjoy that part of riding more and more I decided to give it a try.
It's true that it is a soft board but it's still easy to stay in control on nose and tail presses. It's a flat profile between contact points, but the contact points are raised up abit to make it less catchy.
Because it's flat in the middle I feel like it stays stable even when you push your weight onto the tail on nose. To confuse you even more I would say it's stiffer than you'd think but really soft when you want it to be. I just love it on jibs and rails and it holds up surprisingly well on carving turns.
It floats in powder better than you'd think but you will enjoy your pow alot more on some other board.
If you ride alot of rails in the park and hit up to medium sized jumps I would say this is the perfect board. I have to say that I am riding it in a wide size (abit stiffer), but if you look at the weight limits and get the right board this review should hold up.
Not a great board for a beginner in my opinion since the flat profile doesn't make turns for beginners any easier. So if you want a great board for the park this is alot of board for your money. Retails at 389€

I don't want to talk too much about the bindings since I feel is an area that alot of people feel differently about.
Union Contact Pro (to the left). It's true what they say about this binding on unions website. With less contact to the board you really feel alot more of the boards true flex. I really like this binding, it's abit more pricy. But at the same time might be the most comfortable binding I've ridden so far. Fit's like a glove. Retails at around 239€

Union Flite (to the right). If you are looking for a binding at a cheaper price range this is a great choice. I think union has one cheaper one but the Flight has a more quality feel to it. The footbed is completely flat and give a really stable feel. The only problem I have with this binding is that even if it is the same size as the Contact Pros it's abit more narrow, enough for my new boots not to fit the binding properly. This binding retails at only 149€. At this price range I would say it's a good binding.

I've been shopping at www.myboard.fi lately. Great outlet and good prices.
Get an extra 5% off with the the code LEVI at check out.

I hope you found this helpful.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Most insane week ever & Vide-Oh! s3ep1

Last week was the most sucky week of my entire life so far. It felt like whetever could go wrong, actually went wrong.
It all started a week ago on Monday. Made myself a breakfast smoothie in the blender. Detaching the jug from the machine the frikin bottom came off and the smoothie was all over the kitchen. Basically ment skipping breakfast and cleaning the kitchen. Coming to work it was -32 outside. I had already felt sick the day before but at his point I felt like I was about to suffocate because of the cold air combined with already irritated lungs and throat. Went to the doc and got sent home for 5 days.

On Tuesday I was boiling some water for tea. This ended up with me somehow managing to push over the water cooker and getting around 1 liter of boiling water on my thigh. 2nd degree burns.... I'm really killing it. I guess I should feel lucky. 15cm higher up and it would have been a whole other story, and something I don't even that I don't want to think about.

So basically Tuesday to Friday was about taking care of my burns and my flu.

On Saturday I didn't feel sick anymore so we headed over to Svanstein ski resort in Sweden together with Kaarle and Ulla. This was a really fun day with alot of rolling around in the offpiste. Not the best riding on our part but I got some nice footage I will put up later. However it was still a super fun day (pictures below). But on a week like this fun comes at a price.... My new Adidas boots broke, one of the laces came off. Since it's a quicklace system I couldn't fix it. I've been in contact with the retailer who is basically trying to get me to fix them myself somehow which to me seems kinda strange. I guess I will have to try.

Sunday, last day of the week, what could go wrong?
The weather is great, riding feels good. And they finished the halfpipe at Levi. Riding the pipe and the front slope jumps enjoying just throwing down tricks that are easy to us. On the last jump I throw down a fs3 landing it clean but then a few meters later catching my heel edge on something. It wasn't a hard fall but I completely messed up my thumb. I had it x-ray'd and the good thing is that it wasn't fractured or injured. Still really swollen and hurt alot so it still ruined riding for me.

Today it's Monday and I feel like it can't get worse, just uphill from here. That had to be all the bad luck that you usually get in several months. Now work for a few days and then 2 days off. Really hyped on riding right now so let's hope my luck turns.

The pow clips from Svanstein should be up soon and at the same time I will put up a short review about the resort and what we taught about it. This week I will try to get Ulla's video part filmed.

Here are a few pictures from Levi and the rest from Svanstein. I've been trying to learn how to get good pics on the DSLR, still a total amateur but I feel like it's getting better. And if you are wondering, I do NOT edit the pictures in any way. I'm too lazy for that.
Levi sunset/sunrise

Ulla -27

Our deck!

Kaarle most likely on Instagram (@kaarle)


Svanstein, Sweden



Kaarle & Ulla stretching

Kaarle gave up on stretching

Ulla doing what she does best! :D

All I need! (almost)



Here is the first Vide-Oh! Episode of the year. I've gotten some good feedback on this one and I hope you like it.



Vide-Oh! s3ep1 from Vide-Oh! on Vimeo.