Today Craig tested out the KBG Monoski, designed by Kevin Bramble, whose name you might recognize from the XGames and Paralympics. After years of being disappointed by the upkeep and (lack of) durability of various monoskis on the market, Bramble designed and began manufacturing his own beefed-up model of monoski.
As you can see, the frame sits Craig up a little higher and straighter. He found it easier to load onto the chairlifts, and thought the shock was the smoothest part of the ride. Craig's complete review of the Bramble has been placed on our sister blog: http://accessanythingreviews.blogspot.com.
There were definitely some pros and cons of the rig over his Revolution (see end of blog); but its beefy model can't be beat. There are over a dozen models now on the market, so this test driving process will stretch to next season at least.
Despite not fitting into someone else bucket quite right (like using someone else's ski boot) and not having his powder ski, Craig bombed the slopes like normal.
We took a Thunderhad lap down Vagabond to get the feel of the this new machine; then met up with Bruce and Pam Reommich for some upper mountain fun. This Bramble lives at the Reommich's house during the offyear between visits of its owner Kevin Simpson from Scotland. A HUGE shout out to Kev for letting Craig test it out!
Once up top we took a look at 3 and 1 Oclocks; both had a slight amount of powder on them, enough to grab your boards a bit and still feel like fresh. The sides were softer, but the groomers with several inches of fresh were the nicest; a little heavy in the trees. The report was 5" at 5am, which was about right.
Next we tested out 1230 trees and where there was more snow, conditions were actually a little worse- the skiers struggled through a thick top layer while my board just sailed on through if I leaned back enough. The short little straight ski that was on the Bramble didn't do Craig any good through there at all, he needed quite a bit of pushing from his friends to get into those trees.
We look like we've got some more snow on the horizon though our days are dwindling... sad to say we'll be counting down the very last week of the season starting tomorrow... so it's now or never!
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Note the different frame of the ProComp Revolution. Craig's has about 2million vertical feet logged into it, so he's shopping for a new one.
Today was no foolin', another deep, epic day in the 'Boat. I had resigned myself to sitting this week out, but after two days of watching Craig come home with that poo-eating grin, I decided I had better make a few turns in this "triple threat" storm myself.
Where Monday and Tuesday were cold, (infamous local Y-Von even told me she was actually SORE from shivering yesterday) today wasn't so bitter once you got off the peak; about 15-25 degrees warmer by the reports.
However you know what that means. The powder was dense. I of course, having missed the cream of yesterday, and riding on a fat board,didn't notice. While they struggled on skis in the Three O'Clock trees, I bombed down Twilight laughing all the way. They also hit the bumps on Lights Out, while I cruised past to Moonlight Trees. I know that's cliche, but yea "it was in the trees today." But it seemed that you had to pick the right treeline with a very steep pitch that hadn't been touched since about noon yesterday to get the full throttle of today's accumulation in your face.
So we continued on in search. I think next to Twilight, my favorite run today was Cyclone, but honestly even Rudy's at 8:38 with 4-5" on a glasslike groomer was scrumptious. Next we headed to Pony, where many had been. But again, if you knew where to look, it was there.
Now I know some of you are now thinking of cherry blossoms, golfing, cycling and camping... but we're still eating it up like frosty white cupcakes here in the hills. Our base is a ridiculous 110+'' and the storms show no signs of relenting soon. We'll be back up tomorrow for more.
See you In The Deep!
WOW! What a time to be a local! After a kind blessing of white stuff last week I kind of figured we were all through. And then it started dumping on Sunday and it hasn’t stopped since. Yesterday was one of those days where you firmly realize WHY you live in Steamboat. An epic day by all accounts. First tracks on Three O’Clock, a couple or rare Pony Express runs, and my yearly pilgrimage to ski Vertigo, the trail that took my ski legs and replaced them with a sit ski, on the anniversary of my accident (I missed by two days but I was close) were all on the agenda yesterday and I’d say we got a lot done!
And then we get to today, March 31st, 2009. That’s right folks, it’s the last day of March and the mountain is in mid January form. Today started out a little later than normal as I boarded Christie Express around 9am. Not thinking there would be much new snow, I lolly gagged my way over to Thunderhead via the lower lift line (I SWEAR I didn’t duck a rope J). By the time I reached the top, I realized just how wrong I was. Another foot of fresh was waiting for me on Rudy’s and I chomped up as many face shots as I could on my way to Storm Peak. After my usual warm up (Side Burn to Sunset to Moonlight Trees) I visited all the favorites that I missed on Monday (including both 12:30 and 1:30 trees. Then I met my BBF Keith for a personal Steamboat Ambassador tour (mango jacket and all) of the mountain. By the time we got through with Flying Z, Vertigo, Cyclone, Storm Peak Meadow, Hurricane, West Side, and Keith’s ridge, it was already Noon, so I tipped my Ambassador BIG and bombed my usual top to bottom route of Storm Peak meadow to Hurricane Meadow to Rainbow to Vagabond to Lower Concentration to Rough Rider to Beeline and home.
Hopefully I saved enough appetite for tomorrow’s wintery mountain menu as it looks like mother nature will be serving up the same All You Can Eat Buffet that she did the last two days.
See you Tomorrow, In The Deep…..
Steamboat TV18's and NRC Broadcasting's Eli Campbell injured his knee early this season and has been unable to ski since the start of the year. We ran into Eli and his lady Erin at Creekside one day, and discussed the idea of monoskiing... it gave him something to look forward to... when the doc would clear him for some strapped-in safe snow sliding! That day was finally yesterday, March 29, coincidentally one day after the anniversary of Craig's ski accident.
Eli's a great snow athlete- one look at his Facebook pictures and you can see he has a thirst for adventure in the woods. So with even more powder coming at us this week, we think we've timed this perfectly! Hopefully Eli will take this lesson to the next step and make some turns.
101 Fitting
Fitting the monoski bucket, foot cage, and outriggers to a beginner stance is primary; you should have an expert help line this out for you. Once you've mastered the basics, you can adapt to a more intermediate stance.
101 Control
Even more so than able-bodied skiing, when monoskiing you must start out slow to control the rig. It's a heavy piece of equipment that can hurt someone; so control of the device is of the utmost importance.
Push forward and backwards, lift up, pivot, and get an overall feel for your balance in the bucket and on the outriggers. Then on a flat surface practice getting up some momentum and stopping yourself. Monoski stops are made by pressing down with your arms and shoulders and pivoting one way or the other, as if the outrigger is doing the job, but it's your body is setting the turn in motion. Once you've mastered stopping the rig on a flat surface, move up the bunny slope to begin working on turning.
Eli did great at the base; he took to the rig right away, and was able to find his balance quickly. As a ski racer and athlete, Eli wasn't learning to ski, he was learning to adapt his existing (excellent) skiing skills to this particular equipment. The concepts are mostly the same, so he had a head start; but even his success far succeeded anyone's expectations!
101 Turning
Turning the rig is similar to turning when standing skiing; your head/eyes and thumbs should direct your turns. If you're overturning, you're looking into the next turn too late. [Overturning on a monoski will cause "wash out," where the ski turns back uphill and the bucket slides
out beneath you.] Prevent this by staying ahead of the turn by always looking to the next side once your turn has begun.
Now you're monoskiing!
Eli made some great turns, first twice down Headwall and then Craig took him to Swinger, and as he picked up momentum he seemed to pick it up, by the wide part of the trail, he was bombing away, turning less, and really getting the hang of it!
Thanks for being such a good sport, and thanks to TV18 for putting together the video of yesterday, we can't wait to see it!