The Mountain and The Pickle

The Mountain
Windham just earned the title of “my favorite slope spot within 3 hours of NYC”. It doesn't have as many steep trails as Hunter, but overall the terrain is more interesting. Windham also has 4 terrain parks, one of which is built specifically for people who have never done parks. I tried boxes for the first time, and it was fun!


The Pickle
I really love the GNU Park Pickle! It's a hell of an upgrade from my old Burton Custom. I feel that I made a lot of right choices in board features. And here they are:

• Shorter board. My old board was 158 cm; the Pickle is 147 cm. I can make much quicker turns. The custom really felt like a truck on turns, and while riding the steeps, I actually had to bring my body in front of my leading foot to keep the nose down. With the new board I position directly over my leading foot, which is a lot easier. The one negative aspect about the shorter board is that I can now flip over the nose if I try to hang over the leading foot. I've also flipped over the tail while overdoing a tail press.
• Lighter board -- partly due to the fact that it's shorter, partly due to board construction. The Pickle is weightless! Don't know how it impacts riding yet, but lugging it around and hanging it off one foot on the chair lift definitely became much less frustrating.
• Banana Technology (BTX). Definitely makes the board easier to turn. Where as with the Custom I had to swing my torso in order to turn it, all it takes to turn the Pickle is a little twist in the leading knee. Banana also makes it easier to do nose or tail presses.
• More flexible board. Again, makes it much easier to turn, since twisting the leading knee puts the leading edge down, wile keeping the rest of the board flat, allowing for smoother carves. The flexibility/pop makes for better ollies, too. I made my first real ollie that day! Real, because it resulted in a jump instead of just the board slapping down. The flexibility is also very helpful when land on the nose or the tail instead of flat. The Pickle just flexes, absorbing the shock, and quickly flattens against the slope. The old Custom would just keep riding on the tail, providing for some of my most spectacular spills.
• Magnetraction. Riding hardpack and ice just got less scary. It works! It definitely grips better than a smooth edge.

And here are some features/decisions that I'm not quite sure of yet:

• Asymmetric side cut. I just don't know if it makes a difference. It's hard to tell unless you have the exact same board, only with a symmetric side cut.
• Extra wide stance. It was weird at first; then I got used to it. I'm not really seeing the advantages yet. The disadvantages are being able to flip over the nose and tail, and possibly less pop on ollies. I'll attempt riding duck-footed next to make riding switch less painful.

I was also happy with the Super Feet insoles, which I put underneath the stock insoles. They hold the arch, provide extra insulation that makes the boot warmer, and they take up some room in the boot, making for a snugger fit.

Wearing a full base layer was also helpful in 4 degree weather:)