Wolf

The tandem trucks to transport the cable are pretty cool. A single heavy-haul truck couldn't make the turns up the mountain.

Wow, great picture! We were just inside the totality band in Ohio and got to watch from our deck. High, thin clouds didn't obscure the view. We were lucky as it was much better weather than Ohio typically gets for this date. Your photo really captures the awesomeness.

It looks like about half of the movement is in the slide mechanism for the toe pad adjustment. I'm not familiar with F2 bindings but I expect there's no way to snug up that part of the movement.

All - I really appreciate all of the good advice! Thank you. jburk - Do you mean these screws? Mine are flat head.

The flat sections at the front and back measure 5mm thick, so I assume that's the spec. I like the idea of trying the board without the plate. The board I used the most this year is a Donek FC (metal) 163. This Rev is an oddball 160, so pretty close. Nose side cut radii are similar(7.5-FC, 7-Rev) but the Rev probably has a larger tail side cut. Widths are similar (19.5-FC, 20-Rev). The Rev is a little stiffer so I should get the feel of that. I also haven't used the F2 bindings before. I have lots of time to think about it because the season here is done. I'm waiting until next season unless I take a big trip.

I just bought a Donek Rev 160 with a Bomber Boiler Plate from Chris C (photo below). This will be the first time I'm trying a plate. I know the Boiler Plate is an old design and plates in general seem to have lost that "must have" appeal that they once had. But I thought this would be an interesting new thing to try with a pretty cheap investment. We do get some days here with a little freshly blown, groomed snow on top of some uneven refrozen granular. The plate might make those days less fatiguing when I dig through the new snow. The instructions for the plate are still available on Bomber, and I understand how the pieces stack up and mount, plus the need to get everything aligned. But I'm wondering if there's any guidance on where to start for center-to-center distance for mounting the plate to the board (choices are 56, 59 and 62cm. My thinking is since the board is a short 160cm and I'm a wimpy old guy, 56cm might make sense to let the board flex more easily? Also, I ride with a 50cm binding-to-binding stance width. Do I want to start with my bindings at that width, centered on the plate? That would have everything centered, maximum flex for the Rev, and my usual binding-to-binding stance width. FYI, I thought I would use a set of F2 Titanium bindings initially. My other choice would be TD3s (not the BP version). Thanks for any advice y'all have.

It could really discourage lift line rash if you put a spiked wheel on it.

I think you're right. I checked with a magnet and zero magnetic attraction. Even stainless (unless a high-$ marine grade) will have some magnetism.

I had some with quite a bit of plating corroded off. I tried cleaning it up with a powered wire brush and found that the steel scratched easily in areas where the plating was missing. The steel substrate appears to be fairly soft. So, I would try a wire brush or steel wool, but start gently. I ended up painting my plates to make them look better, but the paint chips off too.

I wear old school ski gaiters. They're handy for snaking the Intec cables through. I'm also usually the only Alpine boarder, and everybody recognizes me since you can see the entire hill from the base.

If you have a short run with a short lift ride, how about strapping a GoPro (or cheapo clone) to a tree and riding by it for a few runs? It won't pan and follow you, of course. You could probably rig up a cable lock if there's a concern about someone taking it. You got me thinking because the round trip up and down my little hill is 4 minutes so I could get several runs in one video.

That's great! It took a couple of views before I figured out what I was seeing. Maybe I could do that if I switched to that brand of boots.

I have read that UPZ boots have a shorter sole length versus Deeluxe/Raichle for a given shell size, but I don't know what those sizes are. Your 192 / 312 could be the first data point if we can figure out what those numbers mean.

A while back I worked out that the maximum boot sole length for Catek OS1 and OS2 short plates is about 301mm. Here's a post showing how I got to that number: https://forums.alpinesnowboarder.com/topic/49299-boot-size-for-catek-os2-long-vs-short/#comment-498702

A little annoyance to watch for is that the size adjuster knob on the back of my Smith Camber MIPS helmet has a nice grippy, rubbery surface. It's great for getting a grip on when wearing gloves. But, that wheel gets enough grip on my collar that the adjustment will loosen up as I rotate my head from side to side. It would be better if either the knob were harder to turn, or if the surface were less grippy.