Anouncing the Wasatch Trenchin’ Convention!! Official dates will be 5, 6 and 7 March at Solitude, Snowbasin and Park City Mountain Resort respectively. The tenative format will be a flash demo. We will have only boards available for trial so bring your boots and bindings to mount. Board sharing times will be in the respective parking lots from 0800 to 0900 and then sometime before and during lunch. The second demo time will be set in the morning on the day of said ride dates. Kessler’s, Priors, F2’s and of course some vintage rides will be available. We’re making this a very fluid event so send Billy, Curt and I any suggestions on layout. We’ll keep the blog up to date as well as the forum and facebook pages.
Posts Tagged ‘Kessler’
Wasatch Trenchin’ Convention
Friday, January 22nd, 2010Jan 17th
Sunday, January 17th, 2010Wow what a bluebird day up at Park City. For the first time since 1992 I got out on a SL board. Billy and I traded Sigi SL and Kessler SL boards with Dave ripping on the F2 SL.
It was a fun filled slalom day for sure. Definitely took me a while to get used to being on such a short board. After years of riding nothing shorter than 180cm a 167 is a completely different beast. The new boards ride a lot different than I remember. I was never a big fan of slalom but these boards might make me change my mind as it felt more like a mini gs turns at ¾ the speed. Give me a few more days like today and maybe, just maybe, I will start to like slalom a lot more. Also Billy gave Flavia a few pointers and she is making some improvements. It always amazes me that when I tell her something she ignores me but if Billy tells her the same thing she pays attention. Must have something to do with she is used to ignoring me most of the time haha. On our last run down we hit the NASTAR course…ask Billy who won. Anyway after a great day on the hill we hit Squatter’s for a beer and some food. If you are in the area and you like a dark beer 
make sure and try their new Outer Darkness brew, it’s a very tasty beer for sure. Looks like 7 out of the next 10 days are calling for snow so should be real good up there so get up there and make some turns.
Kessler 185 Video
Thursday, January 14th, 2010Here is the video for the Kessler. Sorry for the shaky cam. The next one will be better. I hope you all enjoy it anyway.
Kessler 185
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010Finally after a few seasons of listening to the hype about Kesslers I got the chance to use a 185 (thanks Billy and Dave at Hardbooter.com). My first reaction by the time I got down to the lift was “Holy Hell!” Here are my stats so you can gauge this review. Riding alpine for over 20 years, 5’8”, 165lbs, goofy foot, with angles of 55 in the front and 50 in the back. I have raced at all levels but much preferred to freeride. I used to get anywhere from 250-300 days a year on snow but now down to about 50 depending on work. The board was set-up with a Vist plate and F2 bindings.
Now on to the important part: the review. I have been riding this board now for about 6 days on snow and this is a beefy, powerful snowboard. Carving performance was unreal, to say the least. Power, energy, no speed limit. For those who are looking for tremendous “pop” from the tail then this isn’t for you but if you really load up the tail then you do get that sensation, just not like an old school glass board. I am not a huge fan of “popping” off the tail and getting sent into the woods so I like softer tail that gives some forgiveness. This is a straight up race board but not like the old race boards that kicked your ass every time you weren’t spot on, it is very forgiving. This combination of power and forgiveness lets you ride anything with confidence. On the first day it was perfect groomers and this board I could relax, or be aggressive, and it responded well to both styles. We ripped race inspired GS turns top to bottom and even through in some Eurocarves for good measure…not to mention some switch riding. The problem with such perfect conditions I can’t fully put this through the paces and it left me wishing that I was back at Whiteface on a blue ice day. On New Years Eve we got up to Snowbasin, which is usually perfect but that it definitely wasn’t that day. My friends from out here said they hit some ice but I just called it good ole hardpack. Coming down the “iciest” part of the run this Kessler didn’t skid a bit, made me feel like Jean Nerva in Chill “you carve, you carve, you carve, you carve…no skid even if it’s icy”
If I hade to have one board this would be it, no doubt. This is especially true with the Vist plate on it. I am going to throw that Vist plate on a Prior very soon to see exactly how much of the feel is influenced by it. I know some freeriders don’t want to ride the Vist or Hangel due to the weight or for whatever other reason but I can tell you that I love the Vist (easier to move from one board to the next) and don’t want to ride without some type of plate system.
This weekend I will be shooting some video to go along with this review and a Park City Mountain Resort review. I was supposed to get some videoing done last week but that didn’t work out. Look for the video being posted over at the Hardbooter.com blog site plus I will try to post it here. Again, a huge thanks to Dave and Billy. See ya on the snow.
Kessler 185 PGS Review: First Impression
Thursday, December 24th, 2009For the last two seasons I have been riding a slew of different boards like Virus, Prior, and even a pre-KST Kessler. With all the hype surrounding Kesslers I have been dying to get my hands on one to put through the paces, and finally yesterday I had my chance. The board is a new black top 185 that is mounted with a Vist plate and F2 bindings.
But before I breakdown the board let me give you some of my specifics:
Weight: 165lbs
Height: 5’8” (on a good day)
Stance: Goofy
Stance width: 20.5”
Front foot: 55o with toe lift
Back foot: 50o with heel lift
Years on hardboots: 20+
My first run was on a very easy trail and without much speed I was hesitant to how the board would react. Within a few turns it was evident that long gone were the days of forcing a board to turn. Unlike like some boards where you need to really move forward to initiate the turn you can just stay centered and let the board do the work. Back in the later part of the 1990’s my favorite board was a Rossi 193 but I remember how much fore movement was needed to initiate the turn. For me, the earlier and higher that I engaged the edge, the more that the whole board was pressured. Although I wasn’t lucky enough to have any ice to test this on there was plenty of inconsistent grooming. The suppleness of the Kessler combined with the lift from the Vist plate made for ride that felt as smooth as a Cadillac with the power and control of a Ferrari. No matter what type of snow or grooming I ran into this board had it for lunch. There was not one slip of the edge that I didn’t do on purpose. Even though we didn’t have any ice yesterday I could tell this board would rip through the bluest of blue ice days back at Whiteface. I couldn’t help but wonder what this board would do on Whiteface’s Mountain Run, Stowe’s front four, or Sunday River’s Obsession after one of the east’s famous freeze thaw cycles. The board railed turn after turn and asked for more. There wasn’t the need to make huge adjustments throughout the turn unless I wanted to or I got off balance. Again I just wish I had some blue corduroy to run this on. Overall, for pure carving, this is hands down the best ride I have ever had. I haven’t had enough time or variance of conditions to say if it is as versatile as the Prior (which I feel is the best all mountain race inspired board that I have ridden so far) but I am very impressed. For me the goal has always been to feel like water running downhill when I ride, finally I have felt that way. This board makes carving effortless.
FYI this whole set-up is now available at Hardbooter.com. If you are a weekend racer, an inspiring world cupper, or just someone who wants to ride what those girls and guys ride here’s your chance.