Talk Story 2

There were a lot of advantages growing up surfing in Southern California. One of them when the winter storms would mess up the ocean for surfing, we could drive to the local mountains in a couple of hours and ride frozen water waves. There were a lot of European skiers instructing and free-riding with decades of skiing experience that influenced style and skill. A lot of style is predicated by body shape and mind set. Mike being tall athletic and having the mindset, rapidly became an excellent stylish skier. It was a definite learning advantage to come from a surfing background.

The learning curve usually started with "snowplow" turns as name implies, you form a v shape with the tips of the skis together and the tails of the skis spread apart plowing the snow to control your speed ----- speed is only good if you can control it ------ next came the "stem christie" modifying the snow plow into a turn by splaying the tail of the downhill ski further out from the uphill ski and applying pressure on the downhill edge to initiate a turn. When you mastered the stem christie it was time to "bend zee knees and the ankles keep the tips and the tails together and parallel ski"! Be careful though, do not let the tips of the skis cross or you could be in for a bad fall! Of course, that would happen, sometimes too often!

The creative genius Mike is, he came up with the Ah ha idea ----- all I have to do is glue these skis together, I’ll never "cross my tips together again" and I’ll have sort of a surfboard and call it the "monoski"!  Turns out he may not have been the first to come up with that idea, but he rode the heck out of them, his style and skill matched the concept perfectly. It was always fun later on to tease him, Mike, if you had put the bindings in a surf stance you'd be "rich and famous" :-)

Again because of Mike's style and skill, he became one of the best carvers in the snowboard ranks. Curving boards are one of the snowboard designs that would equate to big wave guns in the surf world. The boards are usually longer narrower stiffer in flex, made for high speed committed turns. When you "commit" to that edge, you better have planned your line and be able initiate, otherwise you’re into the trees or off a cliff. Why Mike IS one of the best of the big wave riders ------ on the edge and committed!

Love you Mike --- stay on that "edge"
Mickey Munoz