Ski Builders Forum

I took out a few of my new boards today at Keystone, opening day. The slopes were packed so I figured I could only test a couple of boards. The first one had 6mm rocker between the bindings and 6 mm camber over the bindings. No tip/tail rise. This board sucked! The edges were very un predictable. The board would right itself on turnsl. I would turn and it would catch and only want to go straight. I only made 1 run on this board because it was too damn dangerous. My second board is a 6mm rocker between the bindings and a 3mm camber under the bindings with a 3mm rise at the tip/tail. This board rode OK. It wasn’t too hot on the hard pack, it was a little floaty but overall a nice ride. I think this will be a great powder board. The funny part is I started to get a little cocky on the board and launched off a cat track. I caught an edge on the landing and hit harder then I can remember in a long time. It was one of those crashes that I laid there in pain until the first thing I saw was a ski patroller hovering over my face asking me if I needed a ride down. I could hardly speak but I told him I would need to be on the verge of death before I ride in one of those toboggans down the hill. I messed myself up pretty bad but a few margaritas tonight and some ibuprofen and I am not bad. The older I get the more these crashes hurt!

I did that once. I caught my heel edge and landed on my wallet. Never ride with a wallet in your back pocket. Took me a month the sit straight.

You wear a helmet?

When prototyping goes wrong.

Eric, I figure everyone has had a few memorable crashes! Good point about the wallet, actually my snow pants don't even have pockets in the back. Them north face people sure are smart.

Mm, ya I have been wearing a helmet for the past few years but another good point when testing boards. I was shocked how quickly this board caught an edge.

I've been told it takes quite a few runs to get used to the camber/rocker/camber thing. I am still not buying it. I think camber should stay in the middle of the board.

the R/R skis I made, the first 10 times I had them out I thought I was going to die and then they became the most wonderful powder tool the world has ever seen.

doughboyshredder wrote:I've been told it takes quite a few runs to get used to the camber/rocker/camber thing. I am still not buying it. I think camber should stay in the middle of the board.

I have a theory that all these goofy cambers are around because of all the people that can't properly control their board. So many people use counter rotation to turn instead of carving.

I agree DBS. I will stick to the traditional full camber or full rocker. I think its just a marketing scheme to sell more boards.

Ouch - Can't speak for boards, but first (production) and second (home modified) pair of rockered skis I tried had the habit of trying to kill on hardpack

COsurfer wrote:.... I caught an edge on the landing and hit harder then I can remember in a long time. It was one of those crashes that I laid there in pain until the first thing I saw was a ski patroller hovering over my face asking me if I needed a ride down. I could hardly speak but I told him I would need to be on the verge of death before I ride in one of those toboggans down the hill. I messed myself up pretty bad but a few margaritas tonight and some ibuprofen and I am not bad. The older I get the more these crashes hurt!

lol... I know the feeling, similar thing happened to me at Stowe a few years ago. Banged the side of my knee real good on the edge of my ski in a fall. A Ski Patroller came by but no freakin' way was I going down in a toboggan unless I was unconscious. I took similar medication that night

Idris - That confirms my suspicion about rockered skis on hard pack, since that's the majority of the stuff I ski on. I can see how they would be great in powder or even a few inches of fresh snow.

COsurfer wrote:I agree DBS. I will stick to the traditional full camber or full rocker. I think its just a marketing scheme to sell more boards.

Try rockered tips. They're amazing. Or even just decambered tips (check out donek).

Eric, I agree completely.

you know what would be really interesting...if one of you guys tried building something like bataleons triple base or forums combo platter (although latter one doesn't make any sense to me at all! i always thought that the widest points of your board dig into the snow most. so why make a camber board with raised edges underfoot?!)

Has anyone tried the bataleon triple base? It looks like a great board for beginners but not very responsive for experienced riders. It's an interesting concept.

Try rockered tips. They're amazing. Or even just decambered tips (check out donek).

Rocker in front of the binding inserts, camber between? Its hard for me to picture. Wouldnt that shorten your effective edge?

COsurfer wrote:

Try rockered tips. They're amazing. Or even just decambered tips (check out donek).

Rocker in front of the binding inserts, camber between? Its hard for me to picture. Wouldnt that shorten your effective edge?

Only when you're flat basing it.

Once you de camber the board in a carve the whole edge is carving, it's just that the rockered section is already in the shape so you are only de cambering the section under your feet.

Allows you to shorten the tip and tail, reducing swing weight, while actually increasing effective edge in a carve, and in variable conditions or soft snow. The only time it reduces your effective edge is in hard pack or groomed conditions, which I pretty much avoid entirely.

All of the top race boards now have decambered tip and tails.
I won't be building any boards for myself that don't have some sort of decambering or tip rocker.

My main tip profile now has 1.5 cm of rise over 25 cm. And, it's not really rocker, as it's actually a flat section. Similar to capita's flat kick or Surfaces three stage.

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capita does it right

http://www.capitasnowboarding.com/tech/camber