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SnowJam 99 Scorpions - First Day Impressions

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  • SnowJam 99 Scorpions - First Day Impressions

    On Saturday went to Alpine in Tahoe to try out my new SnowJam 99s.

    The biggest thing is simply how different they are than the K2 Fattys I was on before. I'm surprised no one in here mentioned that, but maybe those of you that have ridden K2s it was a while ago. Part of this is that the K2s weren't maintained very well (or at all), but I get the impression that just the design of them, and maybe skiboards in general, makes them not very forgiving when compared to something like the K2s. Turns took a good amount more muscle than on the K2s (I've decided to start doing the squat thing to get my quads in shape faster). While riding straight, I found it was much more important to maintain balance; on the K2s if I got a little bit off I might wobble or swerve a bit, but on the SnowJams I would feel the edge bite in and if I wasn't quick to react would find myself on my butt. Part of that is, I'm sure, just how much sharper the SnowJams are, but it definitely made me feel like I had been put back a day or two in my learning curve.

    There was a lot of powder at Alpine, or at least what seemed a lot of me, and no groomed runs, and as I still am working on my powder skills, that gave me some trouble. I did start to get the whole leaning way back thing, while maintaining control, but invariably I would lose it and biff. Also had my first run in with serious moguls, and have a long way to go to actually find those fun. That said, definitely a lot better than the K2s in powder, much more a floating feeling and a lot more control.

    On the harder packed stuff, even some very icy stuff, which is what I'm used to other than groomed, I was extremely impressed. Very stable, very fast compared to the K2s. Crud that seemed like it would have had the K2s clattering the SnowJams just went right over.

    And also tried out the "gorilla stance" for the first time. Wow, other than getting my lower back muscles sore (a few more time out will hopefully take care of that), that works amazingly well. My gf was also blown away at how well it worked on her Snowblades. We found the best way of turning was to swing both arms into the inside of the turn.

    A few questions though:

    1.) When dealing with moguls, if you go through a mogul, either by accident or intentionally, do you find it is better to simply cut through it and then carve a hard turn in the next trough, or jump off the mogul and try and land in a trough? I tried one jump off a mogul, had a not too successful landing, but did feel like I was starting to get the hang of weaving through them.

    2.) When turning hard with skiboards, is it normal to have the boards far apart? When turning with the K2s, it seemed they stayed a lot closer together than what felt "natural" to do on the SnowJams. On the SnowJams it would feel like the outside leg would extend out from the standard gorilla stance, and the inside leg would bend more leaving my boards a good foot or more apart. The SBOL video on the Spruce 120s shows the rider doing this some, but I am merely wondering if this is thought of as the "correct" way of turning?

    3.) As far as the habit of the edges catching when getting a bit off balance, it felt most like this catching was occurring just behind the binding, although I couldn't say whether it was the inside or the outside of the board. Is this a normal thing with skiboards? Should I get that part of the board de-sharpened (is the term de-tuned?)?

    Thanks again to everyone for the advice. I'm going to be going out again, probably, on Friday up to Snoqualmie. I'll see how the SnowJams feel on groomed stuff, which is what I'm the most used to.

  • #2
    ...

    I think your balance issue might have something to do with the fact that the 99s are a lot thinner at the waist when compared to other boards. I suspect you'd have the same problem with the Spruce Flyers as well. I used to ride Snowblades and they had 9cm waists also. I found it rough plowing through powder with those things. I'm pretty sure the Snowjams are much better than the Snowblades though. Don't mistake me for comparing the two. I'm just going by the waist measurement similarities. Hope you had fun though.
    This Moonlife

    Line Weapons 94cm | Line FF Pro Bindings | Salomon Performa 7.0 Boots

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    • #3
      Edge Catching

      Definitely had fun. Was one of those days that mixed fun and frustration, along with some interesting educational elements. I've been told that in learning any of the sliding-down-a-mountain sports there are days like that as one attempts new things. When I got onto shallower powder or was on the harder packed stuff, I blasted right along, and even did a few small jumps off some mounds. Also really started getting down skating over longer distances.

      I'm sure as my balance improves the edge-catching problem will shrink.

      Actually heading up to Snoqualmie this morning to see how the SnowJams are in more familiar conditions.

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