Rome Snowboard Design Syndicate

So we got some more natural snow on Friday…  If you live on the East Coast you really need to pack the car head up to ME, Northern VT, or Northern NH…  Down south may have had a heck of an ice storm, but fortunately we mostly got more snow.  We are in full on winter up here and you really should take care of yourself and come make some turns; you’ll feel a lot better about the world.

So Friday I hopped on a Notch 1985.  I had ridden one of the early protos, but hadn’t been on one in a couple seasons.

Holding an early Notch 1985 proto a couple of February's ago; six riders didn't cross a track...a good day...I still remember George doing a crazy blind drop into a river bed...I think Ron took this picture?

Friday was one of those storms everybody was jonesin’ for, so the parking lot was pretty full by 8 am, and  it got played out pretty fast.    Nonetheless, it was a good opportunity to make some turns on the 1985, to see if I would prefer it as my full-time powder deck.  I loved the ability to ride fakie.  Now, I can’t tell you I was doing huge airs in pow and needing to put down the landing gear switch, but it really was more about coming to a stop in a tight area and deciding that I feel more comfortable taking the option to my left (I’m goofy).   For example, I would never take on a water bar fakie on my tapered Notch, which I did Friday.  It really shows how this board evolved from the Design and much of why I rode the Design before we had the Notch in the line.

I had to give back the 1985 Notch that day, and so I rode my own tapered Notch (158cm) the rest of the weekend.  I was riding it with my Targa’s.  (The Green/Brown one’s look pretty tight on it, lame, I know…)

Ready to Drop - 12/14/08

I had to start the day riding groomers or use groomers to get to “where I was going”.  I will say that for my riding style the tapered Notch is very satisfying at railing on groomers.  I tend to have a lot of fore and aft movement on my board;  driving into the nose to start a turn and powering off the tail coming out.  I really felt more confident initiating turns at speed on my own Notch (on groomers).  Honestly, I really was blown away how well the board coped with groomers; if you ride a bunch of pow and can only afford one board, do not hesitate to buy this as your one board.  Obviously, the board rides pow awesome so I won’t spend too much time on that.

So for myself, riding in VT on lift serviced stuff, I think I prefer the tapered Notch.  I think the same would be true if I was doing frontside and backside stuff out west.

If I was out building kickers or in general riding in more of true backcountry experience (hiking, using snowmobiles, cats, heli, skinning, etc.)  I would choose the Notch 1985.

I hope this helps you understand some of the differences between the two boards and why different people might choose the different models and why both exist.

I would finish my "hot lap" coming down at the foot of this rocks. This line is just over a knoll from the main gully...sometimes a little extra work gets you to a slightly hidden untracked line.

PS-  I did a POV video of riding this gully but I had the camera on the “compact” setting, so it kind of looked crappy on YouTube.  I’m not really a fan of POV stuff so I guess it was karma.

Happy Black Friday Americans!  Happy Friday to non-Americans! My mom went to the drug store to buy a TV at 7 am today.  Now, you could get stuck on the fact that she was buying a TV at a drug store or get stuck on the fact she was doing it at 7 am…but there is something quintessentially  American about that; you can almost hear the star spangled banner in the background.

Winter’s happening all over the place, so make sure you give winter gear for Christmas.    I mean who couldn’t use a pair of socks or a sweater?

Monday we had yet some more fresh snow in Vermont.  So I caught up and made some turns with Will. Will is one of the writers behind VTDeathrider.com along with Capt. Al.   I kind of surprised him and made him do a little interview about what gear he was rockin’.

So first, give Will some credit for being the first victim and being kind of on the spot.

After the tape stopped rolling, Will also pointed out that he has a wider foot and that he has struggled for a good boot fit in the past.  The updated Libertine have worked really well for him thanks to the last and the heat moldable liners.  His Graft is a little more the setup for banging laps on the “stock run”, but we were riding wet heavy snow Monday.   (Look for a Deathrider post about the “Stock run” )

So yet another fun day here in VT…four days on snow…four days riding fresh.

I have to say we’ve been blessed with good opening days up here the past few years.

We had 8-10″ in the last 24 hours.  It was a little windy so the main open trail was a little firm and will do well with the groomer on it a few more times.  They also had the rope dropped on a couple runs that they were blowing snow on.  The first few runs were pretty fun as the snowmaking rollers offered some good opportunities to launch and slash.

Some of us ventured to another area for one run as well, unfortunately the natural snow was arguably too light as the conditions over there would be best described as dust on granite (as opposed to dust on crust).

So I’ll try and get back to the original goal of my posts…

So my shred today was an Anthem 59 with Shift Bindings.  I liked the Anthem today because on the firm snow it had the control and power to rail confidently.  The directional nose was a nice advantage in the fluffy.  Paul updated the shape on the Anthem reflecting what people like in the Agent while maintaining the responsiveness that the Anthem is famous for; that new shape helped make buttering and lauching off of rollers a blast.

I’ve been riding the new Unibody bindings on my groomer set-ups since last year.  I really like the feel of them; I would argue that they have a nice “skate-y” feel to them.

Pictures…

Looking down the Nose

Midway Shack

This is the first song that came on my Shuffle today as i was riding…

Sunday Update…

Well I had fun Saturday, but I really had fun Sunday.  There was no question the wind was blowing both days, so you look around and say “where did the 14-18″ that they advertised go?” (storm total)

Well, I found it all…in one spot.

I can’t claim I found it first…but there was plenty for three laps.

Sunday song…

Hey everybody, what’s up?  Figured I’d get on the horse and blog again.

We all had a good time at the FOR NCW premiere here in Waterbury.  We all have our stories to tell about it but Cavan & EVH have already done a good job so I won’t beat it to death. (I will say, as someone who lives in Waterbury, that it’s just how we roll.  Jeff and Ben this morning both acknowledged, “if I knew it was going to be like that, I would’ve stayed longer”   Well, now you know.)

So, I have a big idea for my next blog but it’s been a crazy ten days so I decided to throw something quick together in the meantime.

The Marshall Boot

My Marshalls, aww...

I spent last winter rockin’ the Marshall Boot.  A bunch of people in the office rock the Libertine, but I decided I want to be me…no, honestly I was really into some of the new features Ian had worked on with this model.  So I’m going to quickly run through some of the more interesting stuff (to me at least).

Expand Toe Zone

I’ll start at the toe…this year we added the Expand Toe Zone.  A really simple idea, this Neoprene at the toe helps make the “out of the box fit” really nice.  Normally liners are shorter than the volume of the shell; ETZ allows the toe to break into that extra space.  The ETZ gives your toes access to that room straight away.

Min. Rubber Outsole

The outsole is pretty cool.  Have you ever seen YakTrax?  I’ve never used those things but that’s what the sole reminds me of.  The only rubber used is in the “high” spots and it really hikes nicely.  The rest of the sole is a bunch of EVA which just sheds the pounds.  It also has a nice air bag under the heel.

CF4 Liner

The CF4 liner is heat moldable like most of our liners.  It also has the “Quadzone” lining.  The key element of the Quadzone is the varying usage of directional fibers in the heel.  The other cool new feature of the Marshall liner is the Anklelock AMT.  The Anklelock is a cork “flow” material that accentuates the J-Bars.  It really is the ultimate in personalized/custom heel hold.    All this, along with the internal harness, helps keep your heel locked in place and makes this boot the ultimate in board control/feel.

In/Out Lace

A nice homage to Clockwork…the In/Out lace system is a great way to adjust your boot through the day.  Some of us folk will put our boots on at the house and drive to the mountain.  One thing I found the In/Out allowed me to do was lace the outer shell nice and tight and leave the inner cuff lose when I drove. Just that made working the clutch so much easier.  Also you can use it to adjust the cuff through out the day.  So once at the mountain I would hang out in line up with the inner cuff loose.  Once the lift started turning I’d give it a yank and away I went.  So the most outwardly apparent new feature is really handy.

Standard Issue

A few things are also worth mentioning that come on just about all Rome boots…

The 3D laminated tongue is a huge Rome feature.  The tongue is really at the heart of the Progressive Flex story of the boot.  It also ensures a nice smooth consistent fit.

I am also a huge believer in Jointed Cuffs.  Jointed Cuffs help prevent your boot from distorting in the binding.  They also are a part of the flex story in Rome boots.

You’ll see different ‘cuts’ that create different flexes in our boots.  One mistake people make when thinking about boots is getting stuck in a “Freestyle” or “Freeride” mentality about them.  Some people like soft boots for pow riding, some people like soft boots for rails;  some people like stiff boots for launching big airs, some people like stiff boots for railing on groomers (kind of the essence of No Correct Way).
Fin
So I hope you enjoyed this little tour through the Marshalls.  Have a good weekend and don’t make an ass out of yourself at karaoke.

PS-A side note…Can’t believe a Google search could not come up with the classic Peter Line Div 23 ad (you know the one…the first one).  Wanted to have a link to it from where I say “beaten to death” up top.  If any one can find it on the web, post it in the comments.

Hey everybody…welcome to my addition to the Rome SDS blog world.  I’m gonna try and make some of my posts a place where you can get some insights on what products members of the Syndicate are using and why.  For the most part, I’ll try and focus on stuff we use on the hill.  It may be Rome stuff, but, like in this case, it may be something from another company that adds to our experience of being a rider.

Back down to business…

My array of iPods

Music is pretty important to all the employees at Rome.  Whether it’s Ron playin’ some Dylan, or Cavan needing to narrow down stuff for everybody’s part in NCW, all of us have a deep connection to our music and probably take ourselves a little too seriously as aficionados (myself included).

So this week I got my third iPod.  When iPods came out it was kind of like get this 40gig hard drive that you could fit in your pocket and take anywhere.  In reality, over the years I’ve found different iPods fit different uses.  Today I’ll run through all my iPods and why I have (and use) so many.

My 40 Gig click-wheel

The old stand-by

So not my first MP3 player, but my first foray into the Apple side of things.  Before I got this bugger, I really was against iPods.  My biggest problem with Apple is the lack of openness to the products; I still don’t think iTunes is as good as Realplayer used to be at managing music and playlists.  That said, that lack of openness is what makes Apple computers run well (albeit at a premium price).  I bought this refurbished from the guys at Small Dog in Waitsfield.  They have a bunch of riders who work there (even some who used to work at Alpine Options, our dealer up at Sugarbush). Pretty much it being “Recertified” and the price it was at made buying it a no-brainer at the time.

I have my full music collection on here.  Sully (our sales manager) and I have combined our CD collections onto a network drive at the office;  So I have over 9000 tracks on here.  I keep this at the office to give the day its soundtrack.  Sully and I need to have background music on all the time, and we probably annoy the piss out of everybody else on the first floor of the building (and I’m okay with that). We’re probably guilty of listening to Johnny Cash too much.

Since I only listen to music on this puppy, I don’t mind the old-school monochrome screen.
To keep it fresh, I wrote a smart playlist that eliminates any songs that I’ve listened to in the last three weeks.  That makes sure we don’t feel like we’re always listening to the same stuff.  I don’t have too many iPod shame moments with this playlist, but they certainly have happened.

Note the iPod sleeve from the 2007 line.  I love this sleeve.  It’s so simple in its design and doesn’t add any bulk.

My new 4 GB Nano.

My digi-cam is cheap so I stole this pic from Apple

I just bought this to keep in my car.  I bought it recertified from Apple for $99 (buying direct ensures that you get the full warranty).  In my old car I had a twelve disc changer but my new car’s stereo isn’t really conducive to being replaced by something aftermarket.  Without the changer, I was always feeling like I didn’t have the right music with me for my mood; also I hated having to always remember to grab my 40gig on my way out of the office.

I already owned a Monster FM transmitter for the car so I wanted to make sure what I got had the full iPod jack.  I probably won’t ride with this because I have my shuffle and I rock the Dragger’s Only, but this would be a good iPod if you were looking for one to connect to your Vagrant or Swagger jacket.  (if you didn’t know, those jackets will plug right into all iPods except the shuffle).

Obviously, Cover Flow is a pretty cool upgrade over my old model, but isn’t that important to me.  As a consumer, you always need to be asking yourself if you really need a certain feature of a product or is just an attempt to get you to spend more $$$ that you don’t need to part with.

Haven’t had this too long, but I’ve been listening to Eagles of Death Metal in the car this week.

My shuffle

This is one of the few products that I remember seeing come out and knowing I needed to buy it right away.  I guess people have that in their head right now about the iPhone, but at $79, or whatever it was when it first came out, it made it just something I had to have.

I totally saw it for what it was: the perfect riding iPod.  The clip helps make sure you don’t lose it.  You don’t have to worry about perspiration hurting it as much with the flash based memory.  It’s also small enough you don’t have to worry about crashing on it.

I use a Highway bag to store my gloves and goggles in; the shuffle fits nicely in that business card pocket so I can find it quickly without having to dig too much.

At one gig, I just load it up with songs that I want to hear when I’m riding.  I don’t really manage my music on the hill that much, so I don’t need a screen or integration into my coat; I just hit play in the parking lot and get on with the job at hand.

Some of my great pow riding memories are associated with songs that have randomly come on at the top of a line (Hurricane and Sixteen).

Sometimes I do forget to charge it, which brings me to an honorable mention…

My MiniDisc player

The Warhorse

Before the shuffle, and even when I had my 40gig, I would always ride with the MiniDisc player. I had no problem burning a disc with some riding music and just rolling with a tight playlist.  Like the shuffle, this was cheap enough that I wasn’t afraid to crash on it.

Now, I still keep my MiniDisc player in the bottom of my Highway bag just in case the shuffle has no juice left.  I pretty much just keep a Led Zeppelin mix in it; you can never go wrong riding to Zep.
(The first time I went to ISPO we needed to pump music into the booth and all I had was my Zep disc; I don’t know if Paul can listen to Zeppelin ever again after three days of non-stop Zep)

Fin

So hopefully you enjoyed this tour through my music listening habits in the office, on the road, & on the hill.  Check back over the next few months as we roll through some of the other items we’re using.  By the end of the year I hope to go through all of Rome’s product categories.  As the snow flies, I’ll look to give some reports from where we’re riding and what we’re using in those conditions.

Think Snow.

Some additional music links…

Wolfgang’s Vault Sully and I like to put something on from the Vault when we’re looking to shake things up.  I think Mark Joyce turned us onto this site.   I’m a big fan of the 1977 Pink Floyd concert from the Animals era.

Pandora Sean Larkin showed me this a few years ago.  I don’t really listen to it that much, but I know the guys in Warranty put it on to help mix it up over there.