Rich Stephens wrote:The accusation that Alva dove on the Piercy run just to look cool or grab more spotlight is ridiculous. Compared to the other squares, Alva would have had the spotlight anyway...
Likely so- but Alva knew at an early age how important it was to get in front of the camera- photo ops pay bucks. Also as the underdog coming from a vert background there was interest....Besides...who knows....maybe they didn't interview Piercy because he was in the bathroom-.... Or Alva had the scrapper image vs Piercys image..its all just conjecture, how should I know?...I wasn't there, I'm just trying to add some commentary.
Rich Stephens wrote:It may be true that "Hester can outpump" Alva, but I feel you are seriously looking at the wrong guy if you are looking for cool skateboard style. If that run is a typical example of Hester's "surf style arm technique" he should have spent more time in the surf. Tony's style is just so much more subtle and smooth, while Hester's was overly exaggerated, and flappy.
Well I am more concerned with how has the fastest time as opposed to style. As racing is not about style so much as it is about speed. Tony has a pumping advantage as well as this hill....if you can believe that(In hills that are very steep vert skills come into play). At La Costa '01 I turned in a fast qualifying time by riding the hill as if it was a vert transition in snowboarding. I combined my lateral pump with a vert transition type pump. IF Alva was doing any of this it could explain some of his fast times- as likely he had great leg strength from riding pools.
Rich Stephens wrote:I know most slalom guys, especially the slalom-only guys, don't care about style (obviously from all that hinged arm high above the head stuff) but there is indeed more to life than crossing the line first...
-Slim
(who personally doesn't have to choose between style and speed, because I don't have either, ha!)
Post up some video clip of youself- that way people could offer advice.
Lastly- and quite likely it is possible that the left course was faster or was grippier on that side for pumping. Hester's acceleration on that second run at the top was blistering. I think Henry rode a very stiff, low flex Hester Model with an Extra ply. Does anyone know if Ed Economy has that deck?
I tried timing the differential at the finish line by hand as making up .8 sec in an 8 second course is very hard- though possible.
Would others start their watch when Hester crosses the finish and stop it when Alva passes the finish? I'd just like to see what others are getting.
Not that it is so accurate as I don't know the actual frame rate of the camera (24, 25, 30 fps?- assuming Betacam (SMPTE type L) circa 1975) meaning every frame would be about .04 sec.
Still I am posting times around .66- .61 for the differential assuming common start. Hester likely picks up .005 for the shove of his deck. The camera angle from the top isn't ideal.