by Carlos

As soon as the weather turns sunny and snow softens we all get a little more daring, trying stuff we normally would shy away from on a cold and bomb proof New England day. The crew set out to our stellar mini park to freshen up the bag o’ tricks. We decided on back tails (backside tailslide ) to push our comfort level. This trick, on approach, is as blind as it gets. A good exercise on trust and getting your timing dialed. After a few tries we started getting the feel of it and ignoring some unfounded fears and the best part was it blew the doors open to backside approaches to rails and boxes.

Big props go to the best parks crew I know, Sugarbush Parks. These cats build some of the most progressive parks I have seen and hire some of the best people. Holden (our park  guy) held it together and is my vote for the coolest 17 year old ripper. Style for days and the ninja moves. Gold and Blue keeping it real!

How many times have you rolled by the terrain park and been tempted to try but not sure where to start? Or discover you are one of 3 girls in a sea of dudes riding through and not giving you the time/space to work through a new trick? It can feel like an intimidating place beyond those orange fences.

Shred it Girl in collaboration with Geeks of Shred invite you  to come learn to ride park or grow your bag of tricks with our  All-Girls Park Day. Glam Jam is a unique event for all ability levels. “Intro to Park” and “Intermediate Park” clinics will go down through out the day with all the tools you need to succeed . Whether its your first box ever or getting your 180 on the Geeks will be there to help you through it. Fun doesn’t end there, show off what you just  learned in a fun and judgment free rail jam and win big.

Forget your tunes because DJ JSTJR will hook up the beats.  www.facebook.com/Jstjr .

Come join us at Granite Gorge in Keene NH March 10^th  //  Registration at 10:00 A.M.  // Clinics and Rail Jam 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

$20 Rail Jam and Clinics

$10 Rail Jam only

 Come join us for a good time!

SIA 2013: This is for us

At some point this year it was decided at Geeks HQ that we had to make the shredders pilgrimage to the biggest snowboard trade show in the USA, the annual SIA snow show.  Once we committed to that decision we were filled with expectations of what it would be like to meet and interact with some of the most influential people in our space. We were pleasantly surprised at the warm welcome from most everyone we met. The biggest testament to this  was attending the 2013 Transworld Snowboarding Riders Poll Awards where we had an opportunity to mingle with the most progressive riders, team managers and brand founders.

After spending 3 days at the Denver Convention Center meeting people and checking out next year’s product we moved  the operation up to Winter Park Resort for 2 days of on-snow testing  where we had free reign to try all kinds of gear including decks, bindings, boots, and goggles.  As you would imagine we had a great time and are very grateful for the “off the charts” welcome we received.  Stay tuned for lots of product reviews and photos coming in the near future, in the mean time we just want to thank some of the people who went above and beyond to be awesome to us.

Andrew at SIA for helping us navigate the sheer size of the show

Winter Park Resort above and beyond service and a smile at every turn

Endeavor Snowboards  For allowing us to geek out on snowboarding in all its facets.

The Crew at Thirtytwo, especially Brandon Phillip. One of the hardest working crews out there making sure we got to try and learn about as many pairs of boots as we could.

The entire Yes crew: The pros and the people behind the brand were so friendly and positive to us.

Bjorn Leines & Celtek went above and beyond taking the time to explain tech, trends and just straight up chat it up. Bjorn stands 100% behind his brand and that is admirable in such a relevant name in our sport.

Justin Cafiero & Rome SDS These cats took us through the whole line and all the new weapons for 2013-14.

Matt at Aratik USA  Matt and his crew were great people to chat with about future projects and their current product (which we use). Undeniably positive energy.

Transworld Snowboarding  This crew allowed us to get up close and personal with the pro-riders at one of their biggest events of the year.

Nev Lapwood from Snowboard Addiction  One of the most approachable people you will ever meet.

JF from NOW This wildcat’s legendary status was the last thing on his mind. He went above and beyond to take us through the line and everywhere we saw him he would come up to chat. Funny as hell too! 

Blue Montgomery and Shaun Tedore at Capita  When you get a chance to chat with the founder and lead designer of a  brand of the stature of Capita you are never sure what to expect but these guys took so much of their time to guide us through their line and just talk snowboarding. Amazing people

]]> http://geeksofshred.com/2013/02/22/geeks-hit-sia/feed/ 0 Geeks Hit SIA geeksofshred Geeks of Shred at SIA Snow Show 2013 Snow Sports Industries of America 2013 On Snow Demo SIA 2013 Winter Park from the parking lot to the hill Endeavor Snowboards Booth SIA 2013 ThrityTwo Boots booth YES. Snowboards booth SIA 2013 Bjorn Leines showing of Celtek Gloves Justin Cafiero at Rome SDS booth SIA 2013 Matt Piercey and the Aratik Crew with Nev Lampwood from Snowboard Addiction Transworld Snowboarding Hondo Eric Jackson, Helen Schettini, Kazu and Jake Blauvelt and girlfriend Matt Piercey and the Aratik Crew with Nev Lampwood from Snowboard Addiction with the Geeks of Shred SIA 2013 JF Pelchat uo front and center showing the tech. DCP also hanging around Kazu Capita Team Manager Blue Montgomerry http://geeksofshred.com/2013/01/19/endeavor-board-of-directors-review/ http://geeksofshred.com/2013/01/19/endeavor-board-of-directors-review/#comments Sat, 19 Jan 2013 04:15:33 +0000 Geeks of Shred! http://geeksofshred.com/?p=1183 Read more]]>

Endeavor Snowboards is a Canadian company that has caught our interest over the past few years. Their attention to detail and focus on pushing the envelope in both board design and aesthetics drew us in.  The founders are deeply seated in snowboarding’s roots.  We’d never seen one in person but everything we’d heard about the brand and seen online resonated with us. When we finally had the opportunity to test one, we chose the Board of Directors.  The B.O.D. is Endeavor’s flagship deck, which, as we understand it, is the board the company’s founders designed for themselves to ride.  With a 158 for Carlos and a 155 for Hanna we set out to see what heavy hitters like Max Jenke and Scott Serfas shred on.  Who liked it more?  Read on to find out.

Carlos’ Experience: The Endeavor BOD is a freeride monster. It can handle anything you throw at it in a natural environment. I enjoyed this board and it would be my weapon of choice to ride fresh snow. Its no surprise that the higher ups at Endeavor favor this deck specially with all the natural terrain BC has to offer.  My personal riding style tends to want a loose buttery feel, so at times, I felt I was not able change direction when I wanted to…specifically on ice. It was also a bit less forgiving with my mistakes. I attribute this to the board’s torsional stiffness.

Hanna’s Experience: Love it! This is the most stable alternative camber deck I’ve ridden so far.  It took me a day to get used to it but once I did I felt rewarded with a platform I could charge on anywhere on the mountain in any snow conditions. I found myself riding fast…like ditching my friends fast, all the time.  Big ollies over rollers and cat tracks were rewarded with the security of a stable landing every time.  I also liked that the board’s rocker profile let it ride totally neutral and flat based but the shape and stiffness let me dial in as much or little edge angle as I wanted without the board hooking up on me.  This certainly wasn’t an ideal butter or jib board for me; setting up for park features I would prefer something softer (read forgiving) but I loved it everywhere else. The B.O.D. will take everything you throw at it and ask for more.

Flex: Mid-Stiff. Longitudinally it feels pretty mid stiff but early rise rocker soften up the nose and tail. Torsionally stiff.

Pop: We both agreed that once you find the sweet spot it will shoot you to the moon every time. Awesome.

Stability: Another area we both agreed on.  The board is super stable on takeoffs, landings, chundery stuff and running flat based. Very happy going fast with no chatter.

Butters/Presses: despite the stiffness early rise lets you lock into smaller presses and hold them easily, but butters take a bit more work.  Scooped nose and tail do make the board catch- free, but neither of us felt that butters are the B.O.D.’s strong suit.

Float: when we got the board into some soft snow, and even into deep snow with a crust, the B.O.D. showed just how awesome it is. It floated well and was super responsive in the woods.  In good snow we both loved the board.

Their Description: The flagship of the Endeavor Line for 10 years straight. The B.O.D. stands for the Board Of Directors; this board is the pride and joy of the people behind the scenes at Endeavor. The B.O.D. has changed identities over the years, first as an aggressive freestyle board, then as a directional all mountain board and now as a zero camber, tech laden twin, but one thing remains the same, it still stands as the pinnacle of performance and design.

Carlos Recommends the B.O.D. for: the intermediate -advanced rider who is looking to venture into natural terrain and get comfortable with more air time and steep and deep lines.  It does a pretty good job on park features but its not a jib-stick  and requires a little more input to nail freestyle oriented maneuvers.

Hanna Recommends the B.O.D. for: The intermediate-advanced rider that wants a stable reverse camber deck that can charge anywhere on the mountain.  Great for a rider that likes to go fast, pop off anything in sight and who isn’t overly focused on jibbing. Its great deck for a dynamic rider that can take advantage of the board’s strengths. I think the B.O.D. is a solid choice for the all mountain freestyle rider who wants to charge on a twin.

Final Thoughts:   When we started researching Endeavor we both found that their website offered good tech videos giving clear explanation of board designs that made sense to us while also highlighting the artists who they feature on each model.  When the boards first arrived at Geeks HQ we were stoked to see they lived up to expectations.  The finish quality is absolutely stunning and the graphics pop in a big way.  We were impressed with the attention to detail and how well they’ve held up to our abuse product testing. We would like to acknowledge and thank our friends at Loon Mountain for their support during this review.  Big thank you to Max and Jason at Endeavor for the support and providing us with the decks. To buy online visit Endeavor.com.

We use the Aratik USA rail trainer for a lot of our indoor training sessions. Need some ideas for what you can do with it?  Check out the video Carlos shot with his new camera.

Sugarbush Resort is the home mountain for all of us at Geeks of Shred.  Our parks team riders pretty much killed it down at Killington’s Rails 2 Riches event last week. Check out the footage from the folks over at Yobeat. Congrats to the SB team. Keep killing it.

Results:

Rider Men: 1st Riley Nickerson (SB)  2nd Luke Haddock (SB)  3rd Yale Cousino (SB) 5th Jeff DeForge (SB)

Rider Women 1st Lily Calabrese (SB). Bonus points for winning the whole thing after a trip to the hospital for 14 stitches after a bail in qualifiers.

Testers: Hanna Haidar, Carlos Romero and guest tester Steve Maxwell.

Its no secret that we have developed an affinity for Union bindings here at Geeks of Shred. Last year we tested and reviewed the Atlas and Force bindings and liked them both enough to switch to them as our daily drivers. We’ve been getting a lot of “which is the best for me?” questions so we decided to do a comparison test of 3 of Union’s best sellers. The 3 of us rode the Atlas, the Force and the Contact Pros on the same day, in the same conditions at Killington Resort. To keep things fair we each used 1 board for all 3 bindings to eliminate variables.

While we get to ride a lot of different equipment throughout the season, none of us had run this type of back to back bindings-only comparison. We found it very eye opening to see just how much a binding change can effect your riding. We hope this gives you a little more clarity when you’re trying to decide which binding is right for you. The good thing is there isn’t a bad binding in the bunch but we did have our favorites.
p.s. Full disclosure: we bought these binders w/our own hard earned dollars.

About our guest tester Steven Maxwell:
Union is very much a materials focused company and since we wanted a 3rd opinion we brought in our friend Steve Maxwell, another experienced instructor who also happens to be a composites specialist. He owns CCE Composites, a business that fabricates race car parts out of fiberglass and carbon, so he knows a little bit about flex patterns.

For a final opinion we stopped at Killington’s Darkside Snowboards: a legendary core shop that’s been at Killington for 23 years. We grilled shop guy and local shred Tyler Mills for his opinion on the 3 bindings and who he would match them up with.

Hanna: “Who do you match the Union Force up to, what rider?”
Tyler on the Force:  “Park rat.  It’s indestructable, basic and has a mellow flex. Its just awesome…the medium soft flex of it. Definitely a park rat.”

Tyler on Contact Pro: Little bit more aggressive park rat. Bigger jumps. Its lighter.

Carlos: “Are there any other places where you would take the Contact Pro?”

Tyler: “Everywhere. From the top of the hill to the bottom..and if there’s park or pipe involved, they’re on it.”

Tyler on the Atlas: “The Atlas is your more freeride and bigger mountain freestyle.  Its definitely stiffer.”

Carlos: “Tell me about the highbacks.”

Tyler on the Force: “Basic and if you adjust it right it stays out of your way laterally, but toe to heel it has the rigidity to be responsive. The fact that it doesn’t really wrap around your boot is nice.

Tyler on the Contact Pro: “Its a little bit more ergonomic. Definitely fits to the back of your boot where you get the lateral support as well.”

Tyler on the Atlas: “Similar to the contact pro but definitely stiffer. Its got that one rod that comes up the back and its got different flexes on either side.”

Final Words:

After each test we recorded our thoughts on a voice recorder before moving on to the next binding. We thought it would be interesting to share a few of the words and phrases that  came up for each binding…these stream of conscious thoughts might give you some insight into our on the spot impressions of each binding.

• Union Force:   #non-intrusive   #responsive   #out of the way   #park  #fun   #jib kid   #great price point  #indestructible   #simple  #not as damp
• Union Atlas:   #precise   #stiffer   #more on-edge  riding   #extremely responsive   #wants to carve
• Union Contact Pro:   #so fun   #park to everywhere   #balanced   #all mountain freestyle  #dampening  #stores and releases energy   #big spins   #pop   #Gigi Rüf

End Result:  As we explored how each of these binding worked for us we developed some strong feelings about them.  This ended up with the very unexpected result of Steve Maxwell buying Hanna’s Atlas bindings. Hanna then replaced his Atlas with a pair of Contact Pros, and Carlos switched from the Force to the Contact Pro as daily drivers. The only negative we could find with any of the bindings was minor flaking of the paint on some of the anodized metal parts of the bindings which all of us agreed was fairly inconsequential, especially for the price point.

Following Up: After two days on the Contact Pros I went to change my binding angles and was shocked to find that 6 of the 8 binding mounting washers were cracked in half! I’ve never seen anything like that in my life (and no I didn’t use power tools to mount the bindings).  Either I have developed super powers or got a bad batch of hardware.  I emailed a photo to Union and they responded quickly with a  detailed explanation of what when wrong with the batch of washers I received and offered to get new hardware to me ASAP. I appreciated the quick response and that they owned up to the problem.  It doesn’t change my opinion of the bindings (still love them) but I would recommend checking on your hardware after mounting to make sure everything’s cool.

Big Thank You to:

Steve Maxwell for bringing his “A  game” and giving us some schooling on how composites are built on a molecular level and how that translates to performance and durability.

Killington Resort for being outstanding hosts to our test.  Killington does a great job with early season conditions. We were all impressed with the conditions considering this test went down before Thanksgiving!

The crew at Darkside Snowboards especially Jimbo and Tyler for lending their insight and  their helpful disposition. They are a super knowledgable and welcoming crew…go check those guys out!

by: Aaron

With winter fast approaching, here are a few simple tips we use with students of all levels to improve their riding.  These are areas that we focus on both our snowboard lessons and new instructor training.  Enjoy. #winteriscoming!

Suspension: Think about your legs like the suspension in a car. To keep the wheels on the road, or in this case the edge of the board on the snow, your legs need to work independently to spread pressure all the way across the boards edge as it rides up and over bumps, ruts, cat tracks, etc. This way you will be able to keep contact with the snow over the variable terrain you ride.

Front to Back: What part of your board do you ride in each part of your turn?  Think about your hip being over your front foot to start a turn. Then slowly shift your hips towards your back foot as you finish the turn. This will help to keep pressure on the boards edge where you need it in each phase of the turn.

Relax and Enjoy: Pick your head up and breathe. There is no reason to race down the hill every single run. A snowboard has the ability to be a very creative tool. A small drop here, a little log jib there, a little flatland press; you can find huge fun potential anywhere. Just make sure you are not messing up anyone’s day around you.

Lighten Up: Sometimes you just have to take it easy. Chatter is one of the worst feelings you can have on a snowboard. We all know it. It’s that washboard feeling that jars right up from your feet all the way to your teeth. The problem is that our first reaction is to press harder, and that’s just gonna make it worse. When you feel your board start to chatter try letting up on your edge pressure a little. One way to do this is to let the board rise up to you. This will have two benefits: it will stop the chatter and you’ll end up in a lower, more stable stance.”

The Eyes Have it: Look with your eyes by turning your head not your upper body. Keeping your shoulders, knees lined up or “stacked,” will allow you to move into and out of your turns much more efficiently. This will decrease stress on your muscles and joints. Less tired and sore equals more runs and more fun.”

Flex: The board felt soft nose to tail with a medium torsional flex. This was especially noticeable as I twisted the board into each turn. The snap was powerful and responsive.

Pop: It took a few tries to get used to but once I understood where it hinged (felt like it was underneath the binding) every time I ollied I got some pretty consistent pop. It felt fairly effortless and fun after that.

Stability: The predominantly icy conditions were great to test the boundaries of this board. It felt bite-free and stable when I pointed it downhill. I did experience a bit of chatter in the nose and tail when speeds increased.

Edge Hold: Trenches! Magnetraction was super grippy. When you put this deck on edge you can carve over an igloo. The best thing about it was that it still had enough torsional flex to allow you to disengage the carve when you wanted to.

Butters/Presses: Fun times. My favorite feature on this board was the ease of presses and butters. Right away it was easy to press on the nose and tail.  Butters were a delicate balance at first because of the magnetraction, but after a few tries it got a bit easier to slide the way I wanted to.

Float: The winter that never was definitely didn’t allow for much pow testing!

Who I’d recommend it to: To me this could be quiver killer. I would say this stick is best suited for the intermediate/advanced rider that wants to up their freestyle game. It felt like a park board  on steroids. Versatile and playful but responsive when needed.

Their Description: If your day consists of dropping chutes in the morning and slaying booters in the afternoon, the Aether Limited is your all mountain soulmate. From its sustainably harvested poplar core to its Snappy Sap™ Bio Resin, this board serves as a showcase of future-friendly technology. With magnetraction and multi-camber, you can float backside 180′s into pow, navigate through an ice storm and then make your way to the park to press some rails. Plus, with the addition of basalt Magma Fiber instead of fiberglass, the Aether Limited is even lighter and more durable than you can possibly imagine! The sintered base is scary fast and bombproof. With a mid-stiff flex and directional twin sidecut, the Aether Limited is ready to tackle the entire mountain. We’ve also teamed up with Michael Sieben to deliver some extra tasty art on this shred stick.

Conclusion:  Based on the camber profile I knew this board would feel comfortable but I did not expect it to feel as stable as it did. It was light and lively and once I trusted the magnetraction I felt comfortable. Popping over rollers and carving at high speed felt the best to me. Presses and butters took a little getting used to and it made it clear that Magnetraction is not for me. Riding switch felt just as comfortable as regular. The art on the Aether LTD edition is super cool and the product of artist Michael Sieben. The topsheet’s matte finish make it look very different from that of a  traditional deck.

Big thanks to Niche Northeast Rep Kayli Currier for allowing us to test  fresh out of the wrapper decks. Her knowledge of these boards and what they are designed to do helped me have a better time on them for sure.

Niche Snowboards launched out of Utah this past season and the brand has already turned a lot of heads.  Their goal of making environmentally friendlier snowboards has an obvious appeal but to be honest we didn’t know what to expect in terms of either finish or ride quality.  With recycled plastics, plant-based resins and soy-based inks the boards sounded great on paper.  Niche went ahead and provided us with a  KNEW 152 for a long term test and it exceeded expectations through everything we’ve thrown at it.

Flex: Niche calls it soft, but I would definitely call it at least a medium.  Flat camber offers a continuous flex along the length of the board. Stiffer torsional flex lets it hold an edge through whatever you ask of it.

Pop: Decent.  I liked how it popped off rollers more than how it ollied, but it still ollied decently.

Stability: Good, fairly stable at speed but still a park deck with a mellow sidecut. The Knew is certainly not a damp ride, you do feel what’s going on under your feet and the board transmits some bumps and chatter up to you.  The plus side is a solid feel of what’s going on underfoot when jibbing. The board handles it all pretty well though and I’ve had no problem cruising the the whole mountain on it including bump runs and steep terrain.

Edge Hold: VERY good.  This board can hold a much better edge than expected. no problem carving high edge angle turns even at higher speeds. I had no problem riding this board on very steep terrain.

Butters/Presses: Good.  The Knew presses fine but its not a noodle by any means.  Flat camber is nice, but still not the same as pressing a rockered deck. I would have preferred a slightly softer flex, hinge point, or early rise rocker for big presses.

Float: I got the opportunity to take it through the woods at Heavenly after a 24” dump of heavy snow.  The Knew performed well, especially for a 152. It obviously didn’t float as well as a rockered board, but held its own nonetheless especially if I kept some speed up.

Who I’d recommend it to: The all mountain freestyle rider who wants to make an environmentally conscious purchase.  The Knew gets a high recommendation from me.

For the Ladies: The Minx is the women’s version of the Knew.  Same shape and camber profile, but sized down and built with a softer flex.

Their Description: This thing seeks out handrails like the elderly in an ice storm. The poplar core and HempHop™ stringers made with Zelfo® provide plenty of pop while the flat camber and soft flex are perfect for pressing rails. Unlike the carbon used in conventional stringers, our HempHop™ made with Zelfo® is a renewable resource and requires minimal energy to be incorporated into a shredstick. The Knew’s extruded base is more durable than your neighbor’s monster truck and much easier to repair. Although its radial sidecut manhandles switch landings, the Knew’s future-friendly technology makes a minimal impact on the environment—and your wallet. If snow is little more than the white stuff you hit to 5-0 a ledge, the Knew is what you need.

Conclusion:  The Knew surprised me…in a good way.  Based on their description I expected a softer/noodly jib stick.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  The Knew holds up to all mountain on-edge riding just fine.  I’ve ridden it through a wide range of conditions and terrain and it hasn’t disappointed anywhere.  Honestly calling it a jib deck sells it short. This is a very capable all mountain ride that is much more versatile than its description.
Riding around the resort attracted a fair amount of attention and I have to say that its felt good riding a “greener” deck. Finish quality is very high, there is a lot of attention to detail in these boards.  The people at Niche have been very accessible online and at demos to answer questions.  They definitely deserve a serious look.

Big thanks to Niche Northeast Rep Kayli Currier for hooking us up with a fresh out of the wrapper deck and instructions to shred the hell out of it. Mission accomplished.