lamby

I'd probably point an intermediate carver to the Seattle Ridge area of the mountain. Some very nice intermediate groomers there. On the River Run part of Baldy, the Mid River Run trail is a nice intermediate run that has a sort of half-pipe shape. Ridge is an intermediate run on the River Run side. Warm Springs side of the mountain has good intermediate grade terrain down lower - runs like mid Greyhawk, mid Hemingway, mid Cozy.

Super pic and great to see Jerry gracing the slopes again. The hill wasn't the same with him sidelined. Arc on !

Great to see the GFC out rippin' with Jer!

Likewise Atomic Hawx look super narrow, but I also did not find them to fit narrow. I have had neuroma problems in the past, so a large toe box is important to me. The toe box on the Hawx are plenty big for my needs. I do use a trusted local bootfitter, changing out the stock liners for Intuitions and custom footbeds.

If you can visit some local shops and try on various brands of alpine touring boots it can help inform your shopping. I think any AT boot that you find comfortable and which has a flex pattern that seems reasonable to you will work well. If you are looking for used gear, maybe try on various new boots to help you understand the sizing of various brands. I was considering Phantom Slippers (for a splitboard set-up). I was able to try on Atomic Backlands, which the Phantom Slippers are build from. I was able to get a feeling for sizing of the Atomics, and a feel for the stiffness/flex provided by the stock Atomics. Figured the Phantom Backlands must be more forgiving. I found the stock Atomic Backlands too forgiving for my liking, but I like a stiffer boot. I ended up buying another Atomic AT boot, Atomic Hawx 130, which also have a relatively forgiving flex pattern, but perhaps a little stiffer than the Backlands. A little heavier the Hawx, but not much. I'm glad I got an Atomic boot, as I did end up wanting more flex than the stock Hawx provided, and I wanted to be able to adjust the forward lean of the boots. Just as the Phantom Link Levers/springs fit the Atomic Backlands/Phantom Slippers, they also fit Atomic Hawx, which worked out well for me. But, Hawx are four buckle boots, and hard to get on and off. Plenty wide for my foot, and toe box is plenty big, but they are no slippers to get on/off. Sweet light weight boots. I'm very please with for use on and off groom.

We also rely on the Sun Valley Avalanche Center's forecasting and reporting.

Mine is Chris Tomer's Mountain Weather report. He puts one out each a.m. and p.m. (We're excited to be getting snow presently. Our local resort made Chris's headlines today - rare for us to be the bullseye for snow, so we are stoked!!! For more of an central Idaho perspective we like JP's report: Central Idaho Mountain Weather

Great local shop in Ketchum, Idaho (The Waxroom) has some great looking Winterstick demos. They were sharing them out last year, when we had lots of snow. Shop owner Curtis Bacca is friends with one of the owners of Winterstick (or has some kind of close relationship with someone associated with the company), thus why this ski and snowboard tuning shop has Wintersticks for use by interested patrons. Earlier this year they had the Wintersticks on display, but our lack of snow had them holding them until we got more coverage. We've gotten snow, so I need to stop in and see if they are allowing people to ride them again. One of the shop employees said that the boards are not for sale, but were being made available as a way to help introduce people to the products. If you like them, The Waxroom telling people to contact the company. Looking forward to trying some Wintersticks!

Sound awesome, and sure are beautiful.

I mis-wrote, my Orca is 153, not 154.

Modern powder boards are amazing. On new snow/powder days, I ride a 154 Lib Tech Orca as my powder board. Its forgiving and fun directional all-mountain powder board. On my Orca I ride hard boots and plate bindings at 40 rear, 50 degrees front. I'm 5' - 10" and 150 pounds. It is a wide board and has some very unique design characteristics that help it shine as an all-mountain powder machine that is very useful on groomers too (When the groomers get bumped up, this board's very tight sidecut radius can be a bit challenging as I depart the mountain, but that is probably more about me being tired and that my form is falling apart at day's end, not because anything is "wrong" with the board design (But other boards are easier to ride in such conditions - on bumped up groomers when your tired - but those boards may not be so great off-piste or in deep powder.) Orca is much more of a powder board than a forgiving carving board that like a Prior 4WD (which is said to be a very nice forgiving carver that can be enjoyed off-piste and in places like bump-runs - I have not ridden one, but aspire to. I ride an old Burton 163 edeck as my forgiving carver that I also enjoy off-piste (but its not a good powder board). Boards like Prior 4WD and Burton E-deck/e-series are soft carvers that are versatile and forgiving. They shine on the groom and are fun off of the groom, or in crud and as the day wears on and the groomers get chopped up They are soft, forgiving carving boards, which is something I really tend to gravitate to on a groomer day. Orca is not a carving board, but it can still carve. The tip is very soft however, so it can not be pressed - one needs to adjust where one applies pressure through a turn with this board. Orca shines in powder and off-piste, but is pretty great on the groom as you work to the next stash or challenge. It is not a board for days when you plan on harvesting the day's corduroy crop. Lib Tech Orca is a wide board with a lot of surface area. I ride the 154, and think I would like to try a 150 next time around. I get so much float from the 154 in powder that I feel confident that a 150 would not be too short or lacking in base area to accomodate me. I like the length of mine, but an even shorter version might be sweet. Orcas have short tail, which I like for when I'm in bumps, it comes around nicely, not tending to get hung-up in the tail. Another nice touch on Orca is that the edge is not a full-wrap construction at the tip and tail. This reduces the weight of the tip and tail and is another factor in it being easy to bring tip/tail around quickly (Tip and tail more vulnerable to damage, but I like the weight reduction). Orcas have a short sidecut radius of 7 m., very turny. Not something many riders here may like, but I find it to be just right for this powder board. It can be ridden slow with tight turns, and it can be opened up and will make very fun big turns too. Another thing you might want to consider as you look at different boards and board designs is taper. Snowboards designed to be ridden in powder often taper in width from tip to tail. This allows the tail to sink more easily into powder snow. The amount of taper a board has may impact how a board rides on piste, so something to consider. Powder boards also often have a stance set-back that is centered more toward the back of the board, to get the weight of rider back - to help reduce leg burn from having to put lots of rear weight toward rear of board in powder. Modern powder boards to not cause leg burn, you can drive your weight forward on them to initiate turns. Travis Rice Lib Tech Orca is an unconventional in its design and construction for sure. The base's contour is something called "banana" technology, and if you look down the length of the board you will see that the camber is indeed unique. It is rockered underfoot with camber underfoot to tip, and camber underfoot to tail, with early rise/lengthen camber tip and tail. Talk about wavy gravy! But it works. Stability, control, pop, float. It was so weird looking. When I demoed it I couldn't believe it would ride well, but it does. It rides great. If you are looking for something with a more traditional camber profile, consider the Burton Home Town Hero, also to be ridden smaller than you typically ride by around 10 cm. Have heard very good reviews of Home Town Heros, riders calling them very versatile all-mountain directional powder boards that rip on the groom. HTH also a tight side-cut board - much more powder leaning that groomer leaning (that's my understanding, as I have not ridden HTH, but aspire to). Best of luck with your continued fun search for a great powder ride. So many designs and options!

Do you often find yourself engaged in fun conversations on the ski-lifts? I seem to. Rarely is it that someone doesn't want to talk, which is fine. But, mostly, people enjoy a little conversation. My encounters are mostly with everyday people who love the mountains (my peeps!) Yesterday I met a guy from Reno who has been skiing in the Tahoe region for years. For some time he has had a goal of traveling to other resorts in the west. He now has a Sprinter and is taking a trip around. We enjoyed each others company on a chair ride, then went down the mountain taking different runs, but coincidentally ended up on a chair together when we reached the bottom. We were sort of in synch, and our conversation continued to flow on that second chair ride:-) Today I met some guys on the chair who had just drove from Minnesota to here (Sun Valley). On the way here they realized that their skinny downhill skis weren't going to cut it, what with fresh snow predicted. They used Facebook Marketplace to purchase a lightly used pair of powder skis from a guy in Jackson Hole. The two of them then drove here, (they plan to hit Jackson on the way home). They shared the powder skis yesterday, swapping skis several times during the day. They loved them, so last night found another deal on another pair of lightly used powder skis from a Sun Valley local. Today they were both on fun gear for the conditions and loving life. Why pay 1000+ for new skis when you can drop 200 and be in blissyville. Well, such tales are not exciting or really noteworthy, but meeting people who have a sense of adventure and who are into skiing and snowboarding is fun. Hope you are having lots of good times where you are. If you feel like it, share a story or two here about the people you enjoyed riding the chair with, or who you enjoyed meeting over a shared cocoa-conversation in the lodge.

Been watching the snow reports daily. Congratulations on all the snow! You must be powder drunk, and more on the way!!! Hope your snorkels are long

After reading that Phil is having had good results with lower angles I backed my angles back 5 degrees on my all-mountain/powder board set up (153 Lib Tech Orca). Formly at 45 rear and 58 front I adjusted to 40 rear, 50 front. It felt weird at first. First, we riding in large open bowls on tracked out, big bump snow. I felt like it was easy to stay in control on my heel side, but on my toe side it seemed to be harder to control my speed - after committing to a toe turn. At one point I did a nice header into the snow, toe-side, flipping endo, but coming out of it not much worse for wear. Later in the day we were on groomers and I was feeling very comfortable with the change in binding angles. (I had also reduced my stance with by about an inch - to 20 inches - this felt good). By the end of my time on the hill I was liking how everything felt. I ended the day on a steep ungroomed bump run, and my toe-side control felt equal to heel side. I'm eager to try something closer to what you have settled on Phil. Will try to creep up on it to see if I like it. So easy to go back to whatever works and feels good. I to like F2 bindings, particularly the Carve RS. I like the beefy bails and flexy feel of them for the riding I seem to be gravitating toward.

Inspired by tpalka, I decided to ride the lifts this morning on my split board set-up. I've gotten zero time in the backcountry this season, but I hope to get out there before too long. I figured it would be good to get more used to riding my split board by taking some laps at the resort. My split board is a 161 Jones Solution, Phantom bindings, Atomic Hawk 130 AT boots with Phantom link-levers (gold springs). With this set up I can reach 30-degree binding angles, which is how I have mine set up. Normally, when riding at the resort, on a non-split board set-up, I'm often riding binding angles of +/-45 rear and +/-54 front. In the past, when backcountry split boarding, the 30/30 angles were fine, but did feel limiting to me. I sort of longed for the ability of the Phantom bindings to be able to go to steeper angles. Today, I was pleased to find that what at first felt rather awkward, felt better and better as the morning wore on and as I got more miles on the 30/30 set-up. By my third run I was comfortable and relaxed and enjoying the set-up completely. I'm stoked that it felt so great. I feel like we’re adaptable, us humans, especially when we spend a lot of time getting proficient at things. After many years of doing sports, we get pretty good at making all sorts of set-ups work for us. I like things dialed, but it’s amazing how adaptable the human body is.