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Should i come over to the darkside?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
VolklAttivaS5 wrote:
I will be boarding on green/blue/possibly red runs on the first day, instead of wasting 1-3 days of my holiday falling on my back bottom trying to learn to board there....


There's no POSSIBLY about it - you WILL be doing red runs, even if it scares the life out of you. If you're with someone hen it's their duty to egg you on Toofy Grin

My first day i spent all my time doing greens and blues, doing the odd cartwheel in the process, but to crown the day off, my mates dragged me up to a mogul-infested red from the top of Roche De Mio in La Plagne. I pooed myself big style but got to the bottom with burning legs, a massive grin and a big sense of achievment. Got wrecked that night, regaling everyon with tales of how i conquered a red on my first day.... then I went up to Bellecote next day to do a red and bottled it Very Happy
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Specialman, it would be rude not to. wink

I am severely tempted to go up myself mid September as I have to nip up there anyway to finish my shadowing soon (and cast is OFF next Monday), however it would be an extreme tragedy if I do myself another injury so soon and have got the October boot camp and this trip in December to keep myself in one piece for. Shadowing is ok because I don't actually do any skiing, well a bit but not a lot.

I've got the Flexmeters now though but don't want to break a collar bone instead or summat just in time for ski season. Toofy Grin rolling eyes

Then again, I suppose I could trip down the stairs or something being "safe" indoors at home although not sure if I want to tempt fate getting on a board again so soon. Perhaps best to wait until my wrist has fully, fully, fully healed up.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Swirly wrote:

you're always going to be weighting your front foot mostly whether on dry, dome or piste. The only time this changes is in powder or doing tricks. It happens quicker on snow as there's much less friction so the board can come round easier.

When I get up to a good pace on-piste, I put the majority of my weight on my rear foot and steer with little micro-carves by rocking that foot forward and back. I find it much more stable than using my front foot at speed, and allows me to correct for terrain much more easily. Anyone else do this?


Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Wed 3-09-08 14:18; edited 2 times in total
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VolklAttivaS5, those flat, shallow incline blues that are obviously much easier with skis and poles are ok on a board, but you do have to get used to edging quickly, basically like standing on tip toes and then back onto your heels in quick succession. That's how I deal with them but you do need to get your speed up a bit beforehand. A waxed board helps too.

I find if you try to 'carve' too much on the flat, the contact point ont he bottom of the board goes awry and you have more chance of catching an edge, looking like a plonker Smile

They're the scourge of snowboarders. Your navigation and map reading skills will improve once you've done a few... you'll know all the routes that avoid them!! Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Specialman, thing is, I understand your logic but I have paid for 2 weeks ski courses the following 2 weeks after ski/boarding week so I will be proceeding with caution on that board, I won't be rushing it. I know I could claim on the insurance if need be but I don't want to miss out on my courses just for the sake of being a bit over adventurous on my board, I'm reeeeeeeealllllly looking forward to going on them plus I'm driving to and from France on my own so an "unnecessary" accident could make things rather difficult. Toofy Grin

I'll will probably be alright on wide red runs but I'm in no hurry. No way am I going to attempt moguls or trees on a board for a while yet-I value my face plus have just had orthodontics-they're coming off in November revealing some lovely straight teeth behind them Laughing I'm only doing the boarding so I have learned a second discipline adequately enough to do the BASI Level 1 in it in a couple of years time when I need it for ISIA (if I get that far). Laughing

Skiing is my bag and always will be....................she says. Toofy Grin wink
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Shallimus, sometimes I find myself, especially when razzing, putting weight onto the rear but for those meag-wide carves across piste when it's a bit fluffy. Other than that, I tend to be 50/50 or maybe 40 rear/60 front - just helps me do quicker, zippier turns.

Each to his/her own mind you Very Happy
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Specialman, hmmm whens that? fingers crossed its not that same day as me so i dont have 2 much of an audiance for my humiliation lol
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
VolklAttivaS5, understood. Think my eagerness got the better of me when i started Very Happy
Trees are an unknown for me. Never had the bottle to do them yet... scary territory indeed Shocked
Moguls I hate but they're a nesseccary evil at times.

snobunni, this Saturday (6th). It was his birthday so his other half bought him the day's tuition ebcause I've been nagging them to come away with us every year
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Quote:

are you goofy and what would you do in the example above?


yeah, personally I'd spin round and ride off switch then either flick the board round the right way or ollie 180 Laughing Actually I do this quite often anyway I must be a git to follow.

Narrow tracks are the bane of novice boarders, right up there with drag lifts and T bars. Just point the board straight and go (while keeping it on an edge) if you begin going too fast a sharp turn letting the edge scrape is the best way, once again my tendency is to let it come right round and ride switch for a bit, this stops thigh burn if you've been on the toe edge for a long time.

Edit to add when you get confident doing this you'll be quicker than most skiers.


Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Wed 3-09-08 14:42; edited 1 time in total
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Shallimus, but if you're not initiating with the front foot then you're probably not engaging the front of the edge Puzzled If I'm going fast I'm even more likely to be forwards making sure the edge transistion is smooth and commited: the consequences otherwise are painful.

Trees: no problem you're side on so, unlike on skis, not going to cop a face full Madeye-Smiley Moguls aren't that bad, forget everything you've been told about carving and throw the back foot round to get the board through the turn round the bump really quick. Great if they're soft bumps no fun when icy.

What no one's mentioned yet is slush: weight back like powder but a bit more strength needed to turn. Great fun when you power through it down a red showering the skiers slowly making their way down the scraped couple of metres at the side of the piste Laughing Laughing
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Specialman, ah thats ok then, i'm going during the week
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Specialman, ooooh the treeeeees! I discovered tree skiing in Val D'Isere this April just gone. How wonderful it was too! Loved it. However, not something that should be attempted unless skier (think must be easier on skis than on board) or boarder of quite a high standard because there is a lot of twisting and scraping of the skis involved. Think I would have killed myself if I had tried it a few ski weeks earlier mind. I'm gonna find some trees in Tignes (if I can Laughing wink ) might have to nip over to Val for those I think unless there's some lower down. Can't remember to be honest. You would have to be good at trees to get the most out of going to Japan if you were going to consider going-tree skiing ahoy there. Very Happy

Have you been down the Piste Perdu before in Val D'Isere (the famous "lost piste" that winds down through and under the rocks above La Daille) cos I know you're going in Dec?

I went down there from the top in April just gone again whilst I was out skiing in a group with the SCGB rep there, and it was (slight) carnage. Laughing Shocked Real narrow in places and lumps and bumps all over the place. Personally I enjoyed it in a warped way but I got down there alright, some of 'em, cor, even though they were quite good skiers on piste and alrightish off piste (they say "confident intermediates" should be fine down there but in my view the conditions make a hell of a difference). There were skis jamming into the rocks and all sorts of crashes that afternoon. I kept out the way and tried to help where I could! Having to turn whether you like it or not in a tight winding path is a lot more than some of them bargained for I think, a bit like the trees.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:

Great fun when you power through it down a red showering the skiers slowly making their way down the scraped couple of metres at the side of the piste


Razz Not sure I'm liking your tone. Fortunately I'm not one of them you refer to slowly making their way down the scraped side of the piste. Laughing NehNeh
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

Have you been down the Piste Perdu before in Val D'Isere (the famous "lost piste" that winds down through and under the rocks above La Daille)


There's a lot of really good runs through the trees round there, that's where I discovered trees: happy days snowHead
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

Fortunately I'm not one of them you refer to slowly making their way down the scraped side of the piste


Ha, it was in Linga where most of the piste was shut for a race and they'd left a small strip down one side about 4m wide of which half was scraped and half was piles of slush, I gunned it through the big piles as no one was going that way and when I got to the bottom (~400m) the skier I'd started next to was only 10m down. Honestly slush on a board is great fun.

Quote:

Not sure I'm liking your tone.


No comment on the ollie 180 to get out of a narrow spot then NehNeh
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 Poster: A snowHead
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VolklAttivaS5, never been to Val before so looking forward to all the runs. Particularly interested i thsi 'Face' piste thingy - sound enjoyable!!

Tried a bit of tree work in Les Gets but just didn't have the bottle to keep the speed up so kept sinking into the powder.

Not really into narrow runs like those colouir ones everyone seems to go in for in DMS&S magazine. Is that the kind of thing you're thinking? Did a hairy run from the top of Pont Du Nyon in Morzine though and that was nice - twisty, fast and steep but safe all the way.
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Specialman, la Face is steep! It was closed when I was there as it was being iced for the world cup downhill run. No bother for szy though who completely missed all the barriers/signs and flew down it by himself.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Swirly, have heard it' a bit tasty. Mind you, early December I suppose we're in the lap of the Gods whether all the runs will be open?...
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Specialman, yeah, it finishes in the town too although Val is fairly high. There's a blue above it called Stantons which runs down almost a natural halfpipe, that's good fun on a board: plenty of opportunity to mess about doing spinny things on the sides, you have to tank it out the bottom though as it's flat for ages.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
VolklAttivaS5 wrote:
rayscoops,

e.g you're goofy footed right. You're boarding down a piste and making a turn to the right and are on your heel edge finishing your turn, so you finish the turn on the right hand side of the piste looking down the fall line. Someone gets in the way so you stop on your heel edge to brake. Would you just weight the board onto your left foot and drift over to the left hand side of the piste on your heel edge (but now regular footed) as in falling leaf and carry on making a regular turn and swap again to goofy further down or would you stop, turn over on the snow and start again on your toe edge to get over to the left hand side of the piste?

Swirly? are you goofy and what would you do in the example above?


yes I would do what you said - ride regular (switch) on my heel with my left foot forward, especially in really congested areas, until I can ride goofy again on my toe or heel side - or I would just jump in the air where I am standing and spin the board through 90 degrees and head off on my toe edge - I would not sit down and flip the board over unless I wanted to sit down anyway Very Happy

what you described is also a good way of weaving through moguls too without having to turn to ride on your toes edge,

and come to think about it when buzzing around and twisty turny piste which consistently also cross-falls from one side to to the othert, I some times just flip it from heel goofy to heel regular to nip around the bend rather than turning on to my toe edge - and if you understand that you are a genius Very Happy


Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 3-09-08 15:37; edited 1 time in total
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Swirly,
Quote:

There's a lot of really good runs through the trees round there, that's where I discovered trees: happy days


Yes it's lovely. Personally I prefer to stay in Tignes and scoot over for a day to Val to sample the delights on offer. Laughing wink

Quote:

4m wide of which half was scraped and half was piles of slush, I gunned it through the big piles as no one was going that way and when I got to the bottom (~400m) the skier I'd started next to was only 10m down.


Not sure your hospitality shown towards that low level skier is entirely admirable. Hmmmm. wink

Dunno what an ollie180 is. I could guess but for clarity I will look it up in my book. wink Laughing

Specialman,
Quote:

VolklAttivaS5, never been to Val before so looking forward to all the runs. Particularly interested in this 'Face' piste thingy - sounds enjoyable!!


Oooh you'll like it I expect, hope so anyway, have you been to Tignes before though? When in Dec are you going again? Have you got a chalet or hotel and which bit of Val D are you staying in? It's a stretched out resort with an excellent bus service (Train Rouge) running up the middle of it to and fro like. You could be at one end or the other or somewhere in the middle. wink

The Face is the piste they use for the Men's World Cup Downhill. It looks steep looking up at it from the bottom, but it's not really when you're on there (well I thought it looked worse than it actually is anyway) it is a long run though so some folk get tired. Plus when I was there it was awfully slushy at the bottom and all ploughed up and grabby. I loved it though. You do feel like you've done something "proper" once you get down to the bottom. There was quite soft slushy snow (being late April) on it when I skied it, which depending on if you like slush or not (have to "push" harder) can make it easier or more difficult. Might be horrible if it was sheet ice though. Hmmm. I will have a look at it in December to see what the change in conditions/temp does to it.

No, the Piste Perdu isn't a couloir. It's not steep at all, it's just twisty and you have to be quick to get your skis round. You'd struggle to get a toboggan down it if I remember correctly as in it's not steep, although you would pick up a fair amount of speed unless you were controlling it all the time resulting in a bit of a crash with ski tips digging into some rock face to the side. Thing is, a lot of piste cruisy people might be quite good on piste but struggle with it because of the manoevreability needed, hence the carnage that time I mentioned earlier.
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Swirly wrote:
Specialman, yeah, it finishes in the town too although Val is fairly high. There's a blue above it called Stantons which runs down almost a natural halfpipe, that's good fun on a board: plenty of opportunity to mess about doing spinny things on the sides, you have to tank it out the bottom though as it's flat for ages.


There was an avalanche down Stantons when I was there in April. First one I saw the aftermath of. Amazing how the mountain where the avalanche started from was bald (dirt and rocks showing) after it where the snow came off there and flowed down into Stantons what with being rather gully like.

Tis fun on skis too, although it can get busy because it's the only blue down to the town AFAIK. There's some lovely half pipes (think they might be made like it though-but not in a snow park they're somewhere else) for mucking around on in Courchevel on a big wide blue run that leads down to....1850 I think, can't remember now.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Never been to Espace Killy. Arriving 7th December and staying at a chalet called the Juniper, which is here - http://www.yseski.co.uk/juniper.html - pretty much in the centre by the looks of it.
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Quote:

or I would just jump in the air where I am standing and spin the board through 90 degrees and head off on my toe edge - I would not sit down and flip the board over unless I wanted to sit down anyway


Oh. No I'd have to sit and turn over in the snow for the moment, no jumping in the air stuff for me. I will probably be saying different after a week away boarding though.

I would ride switch to get over to a suitable space and then get back into goofy mode as soon as poss. Sound ok for someone who has just started hey.

Dunno what you mean by cross falls from one side to the other. Think I need more info.
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Quote:

what with being rather gully like.


yeah it's the kind of place you probably wouldn't go if it wasn't for the fact there's a piste down it.

Ollie 180: pop the board into the air and spin 180 degrees, fairly easy and one of the first freestyle things to try. It must be easy as I can do it and there not many tricks I can. It wasn't the one skier there were the 40 or so in front that I overtook and this was on a red Confused

Quote:
Dunno what you mean by cross falls from one side to the other.

No idea here either, nor the rest of it Puzzled Laughing
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Swirly, I do not understand it either and can not even picture the circumsances in my mind, but I sometimes flip from goofy to regular on my heel when going round a series of bends and I think it is related to cross fall or side-banks or something Puzzled it is just a natural instinct Very Happy
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Swirly wrote:
Ollie 180: pop the board into the air and spin 180 degrees, fairly easy and one of the first freestyle things to try. It must be easy as I can do it and there not many tricks I can.



there are 4 different 180s though, get them down and you're laughing.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Specialman wrote:
Never been to Espace Killy. Arriving 7th December and staying at a chalet called the Juniper, which is here - http://www.yseski.co.uk/juniper.html - pretty much in the centre by the looks of it.


Not sure where that is exactly, but you should love YSE. A mate of mine stayed in one and said the food and service was exceptional.

I'm on a course that week but might be able to meet up with you and your missus and your boarding mate one afternoon or summat if my course is on mornings if that's any good to you and you're over in Tignes skiing at some point.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
snobunni wrote:
VolklAttivaS5, i went to chile on my own, he's not really that into skiing and it would have been beyond him really. There were several people that had done the trip before and i think there was only me and one other person that hadnt had anything to do with Snoworks before, everyone else had been on several of their other courses.


Ah I see, just as well your husband didn't go as well then like or you'd have spent double the amount you have done.

When I went on the one SW course I've been on earlier on this year, as I recall there were a few people there that had been to Chile the year before and who were going again this year.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
VolklAttivaS5, i agree with you, stay in tignes and head over to Val D for a day or so. the snow always seems much better in tignes. Toofy Grin

i dunno but i thought the pisste perdu was a couloir by the way. i seem to remember it being 6-8 feet wide and about 40 or 50 feet deep sheer rock sides in places, but then i skied it 27 or so years ago - maybe it's eroded it bit snce then Laughing
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rogg, hmmm you are probably right. I've never heard it described as a couloir by anybody though, I suppose it's because when people think "couloir" they think steep and difficult and then the term drifts away from the original (and correct) meaning. It is pretty high on both sides still although some of it probably has eroded away as you say and is about 6-8 feet wide as you say, less in certain places. Wikipedia define a couloir as this, so in that respect it definitely and perfectly fits the bill. Very Happy

A couloir (from the French word meaning "passage" or "corridor,") is a deep gorge or gully formation found on the side of a mountain. A couloir may be a seam, scar, or fissure, or vertical crevasse in an otherwise solid mountain mass. Though often hemmed-in by sheer cliff walls, couloirs may also be less well-defined, often simply being a line of broken talus or scree ascending the mountainside and bordered by trees or other natural features.
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stab wrote:


there are 4 different 180s though, get them down and you're laughing.

Go on then? I can't think of a way of splitting them into four I can do less or more though Puzzled
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
snobunni, Go for it! What have you got to lose? (bruising aside,that is).
Would recommend having lessons in the resort as well though, to consolidate what you learn indoors. The slopes are full of "quick learners" with very poor technique. Agree with comments on UCPA if you can put up with Youth Hostel type environment. Full week of tuition and guiding for all levels is included in the price. Hard to beat.
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Swirly wrote:
stab wrote:


there are 4 different 180s though, get them down and you're laughing.

Go on then? I can't think of a way of splitting them into four I can do less or more though Puzzled

You can tell stab is a freestyle park rat wink I'm pretty sure he means FS & BS 180 and switch FS & BS 180, but I just think of it as one thing (although there are obvious differences between the 4).
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
larry duff, thanks for the encourangement. Tamworth is booked for next week, hubby purchased me some crash pants earlier, already got helmet, knee and wrist guards so i'm all se to go . . .

If i like the idea still after Tamworth i'll def book some lessons for our trip to france at Xmas and start picking up some of the hardware, if i get on ok in France then i might not have to lug my skis to Jackson in March Very Happy
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Shallimus wrote:
Swirly wrote:
stab wrote:


there are 4 different 180s though, get them down and you're laughing.

Go on then? I can't think of a way of splitting them into four I can do less or more though Puzzled

You can tell stab is a freestyle park rat wink I'm pretty sure he means FS & BS 180 and switch FS & BS 180, but I just think of it as one thing (although there are obvious differences between the 4).



yep exactly, fs/bs 180 and switch fs/bs. For me switch BS is hard, switch FS 180 is the easiest IMO, followed by switch FS 3, switch 5 is fun but sketchy, wouldnt like to do them at height or speed. Technically from a skateboard viewpoint there are 8 180s if you add in proper half cabs but snowboarding seems to miss the main point sometimes of half cab being taking off from the tail riding backwards.

After my zermatt trip I'm far from being a park rat Sad
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stab, I doubt I'll ever be able to do FS, it comes from trampolining when it's ingrained to always spin the same way, as soon as I get in the air I spin anti-clockwise. I can do BS 180 Indy though and that's about it.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
another big yes from me, i tried skiing for one week then went over and have never looked back [ only when coming down the white stuff lol] i have now spent four one week holidays boarding and i love it, also i will add i am forty seven so its not just a younguns sport. Only drewback is them skiiers zig zaggin across the piste in front of you [jus kiddin ] As for lessons i had four one hour lessons at castleford and then one hour while in la thuile. Now cant wait for the winter. Benn to xscape a couple of times to take the edge off but its not the same..... Sad
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Swirly,
i always find doing anti clockwise 180 the easier
buttering round the other 180 is fun
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are we talking anti clockwise regular or goofy? I can't believe people find anti clockwise easier if they ride goofy.
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