An Expensive Day on the Slopes

So what happens when two snowboarders collide at high speeds, at just the right angle and one of them has a really expensive board and the other has a more affordable board?

The lesser of the two boards is sliced like butter with a hot knife!!

Cut five inches straight down the nose of the board... (Top view)

(Bottom view - note the metal edge cut through and torn back)

And the structure explodes in a delaminated mess.

Well, that's what happens when you go fast.

We were all at the mountain on Sunday, I was teaching with ASA (Adaptive Sports Association) and Jim and Stown were out playing. They came into the school were I was having lunch with my student and were all excited and stammering out bits of a story and most of what I caught was that Stown crashed really hard and exploded his nose. Being a mom I start to freak out a bit until I notice nothing is wrong with his nose. That's when they made it clear that it was the nose of his board.

As the story goes, Jim and Stown were on the backside of the mountain carving down a run when Stown collided with Jim (both were blindsided due to their riding styles). The nose of Stown's board hit the tail of Jim's board with such force and at just the right angle that it was cut in half, while Jim's board sustained only a minor scratch. They managed to ride to the front of the mountain and get to the local board shop at the base area. The thought of repair was beyond consideration due to the damage, if it was a car it would have been "totalled". Jim got a screaming deal on a used board out of the rental fleet ($600 new but we paid a fraction of that). They mounted up the bindings and took it for a test ride. By time they got to me, the deal was done and Stown ended up with a new board that day.

Life happens and sometimes it cost money. I am just glad no one was injured.

Be safe and go fast!!