snobee 0 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Just got back from a few days in the rarefied atmosphere of West-Japan snow - pretty nice! But one things been nuttin me ever since. First I saw a boarder cut directly over the top a mogul field, knees just boinging up & down . Didn't deviate at all. Then as he hit the course proper he laid over the most wicked arcs I've ever seen (I think), truly horizontal. He kept up the circus act till out of sight. Lunchtime I spot what I thought was a very phat powder stick with radical sidecut and then realized there was only one, so thought it must be a board. Yep 2 bindings which appeared to be simple coiled spring retainers/straps, set not at cross stance but in line one foot behind the other. Later saw the same dude charging in at ankle height at the bottom of a course, abruptly stops, stands up, slips one boot out of the binding and proceeds to push his plank ala skateboard style to the lift passing everyone on the way. He was riding the above mentioned board. Never saw him or the stick again. So excuse my backwardness in tech developments, but could anyone throw some light on what he was riding and any info/links. Much appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites
3da5snow 0 Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Could it have been an alpine snowboard with plate bindings ? Link to post Share on other sites
Meathelmet 0 Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Njet. A TeleBoard. Some freaks like to make things even harder... Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 I think that might have been a Skwal - I rode one once very strange indeed, kind of uncomfortable with your feet in line, creates for terrible balance, but they do allow your to dig a trench. http://www.thiaskwal.com/accueil.htm *this picture isa moving gif - enable gif to see it Quote: wow Skwal I saw one of those in Spotaka shop recently, havent seen one for 5 years. I tried riding one back then, when they first came out and its a really interesting thing, your feet and both pointing foward, one behind the other on a narrow waist with a really big sidecut-wide tip and tail. Anyway its a fairly unstable thing due to the positon of your feet,just try standing like that right now, you have no stability. To make it work your hip must face foward at all times and no twisting so all the motion is conducted from the knees, angling them in the direction you want to go. initially you need ski pole for stability but once you are going you can carve a trench deep enough to lay cables in. And its really hard much harder than skiing or boarding. a newcomer to snowsports would really struggle without ever skiing before I wrote that in a thread from 2003 Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 This is like slaloming on a waterski. Couldn't imagine waterskiing down a hill, though.... it would feel strange at first without having ropes to hold. I think it would be more stable to steer if using the feet to steer rather than knees. Link to post Share on other sites
snobee 0 Posted January 11, 2006 Author Share Posted January 11, 2006 Thanks guys. MeatH - I checked out a site about teleboards and they seem very similar, but a little more rounded ala twin tips. Probably much of the physics is relevant to both. Snowglider from your info & link I'd say it was a SKWAL for sure.The one I saw fitted the profile to a T. Snowglider - did you only ride it once? I can imagine there's a hefty learning curve, but from what I saw this guy doing he looked as comfortable as I've ever seen anyone on skis/board. Maybe he's had years on it. I'm afraid my old bones and knees wouldn't stand the strain of such, but sure looks the go. It'd be interesting for some of the advanced riders on this forum to trial them and report back. Any budding skwallers around??? Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 yeah I rode it just the once in Colorado 8 seasons ago, they had a display and trial stand set up at the bottom of the mountain. I followed a guy down the mountain the day before and was fascinated by his fluid turns and superb carving so I was eagre to give it a crack. I found it really difficult and unnatural and it took me a good hour to get the hang off it, I needed ski poles for balance. towards the end I started to get some rudimentary carving going but I can imagine it didnt look all that pretty. The pointing my hips straight at all times and steering from the knees is hard to get used to. From memory stopping was kind of tricky. A few days after I trialled it an experienced ski instructor on the Mtn also trialled it and sadly lost control and ploughed into a tree or metal pole and sustained some horrific injuries. Could be nice toy for the quiver of the man who has everything. The one I saw in Spotaka was pretty pricey IIRC. I would buy a swallowtail powder board myself if I had that kind of money to blow! Link to post Share on other sites
snobee 0 Posted January 13, 2006 Author Share Posted January 13, 2006 Sounds pretty hairy to me. From links it seems like there is a bit of activity Euro side, esp France. I wonder if they'll ever make it to mainstream. And swallowtail boards - they get me excited just looking at them - and I'm a skier. Wide tops, radical cut tails - almost all other sliding options look boring. The Ferrari of powder slides. For the talented they must be magic to ride. My old swallowtail surfboard never looked like that. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 wow, never seen anything like this. Are they still around? Link to post Share on other sites
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