Helvetico

I sent an e-mail to Strolz in Lech about this last year, and they said they no longer made snowboard boots, but would be happy to provide the foam liners. There's an American guy in Kitzbuehel who works at Dale Boots (who knows, maybe it's Dale himself...is there a Dale?) who seemed interested in the possibility of custom-making boots for a snowboard. I assumed he was just selling his product, but maybe there was something to it. Anyone used Dale boots to board in?

I have 9EEE feet with a high arch (dubbed "high volume" in by the shoewear industry: think Fred Flintstone feet), and find the 26.0 Heads too narrow even after having them punched out three or four times. I also had custom liners made by a local bootfit guru. I still lose feeling in my toes every time I ride, not to mention three toenails last winter. Tried on the UPZ...spent a LOT of time at the shop...and found them too narrow to even bother. I'm going to buy 27.0 Heads, have them punched out, then buy super-expensive injected liners from Strolz in Austria. It's either that or return to Salomon Synapse Wide softies, since nothing else fits. I'd buy custom-made boots in a heartbeat, but nobody makes them. It's enough to make me want to learn how to ski. I searched this forum (and others) and found only one other person with similar fit problems: Hans. He had to upsize. You have flat feet, so you'll probably be just fine with the prevailing bootfit wisdom.

If there's enough snow, and you can float, take a left halfway down the Testa Grigia run (the one you're carving on at the end). It'll put you into a series of ravines that will eventually dump you onto the village run. Go with a buddy in case things get sketchy.

How does it do in powder? My Tanker 200 is next to unsinkable, but it's a chore on the pistes. I'm thinking of trading it for a newer rockered model to only be used on powder, and using the Superswede as a hardboot AM board. Thoughts?

Got the 200 from a year or two back (no rocker). Floats over practically anything, but a little too wide at 25.5 for hardboots and rather unwieldly on-piste. Videos of the Superswede and memories of my 24.5 cm Tanker 182 have me thinking pretty hard about buying that woody yesterday. Anyone ridden the both of them?

The glacier is really flat...tilted, actually, off the top lift at Klein Matterhorn. Testa Grigia rides better, as does Cervinia. You'll have fun down near Schwarzsee. If time permits, make a day trip to Saas Fee in the adjoining valley. To avoid the mobs, go up to Hohsaas, which is ideally suited to carving on the upper runs between 2400 and 3200 meters: http://www.hohsaas.info/cms/index.php

Thanks for the kind offers, guys, but I'll probably just rent the narrowest all-mountain board I can find and ride hardboots on it...if the rental shops let me.

So I'll make it back to Sports 2000 or whatever it was called in Soelden and try what they've got. It'll save me the trouble of having to work out all the technical minutiae regarding board construction. I'm not THAT bad a rider. On hardboots I pass quite a few skiers and practically all snowboarders. I can carve at will on easy/intermediate slopes and can negotiate my way down black slopes effectively, if not carvingly. I can even handle powder pretty well on my longboard. Limitations? How about zero explosive power, as in maybe a foot of vertical leap. Middle age. Average sense of balance and coordination. In my original post I was essentially bitching about the Vantage's rounded and uplifted tail, which, to my untechnical mind, seems like it won't lock into the last part of turns. It also seems a little less snappy than it could be. Granted, it's designed as an all-rounder, so it's really a bundle of terrain-handling compromises.

Will be there for four days over New Year's. I'll haul my boots and plates over, but don't want to tote my board around. Will be staying close to the Happo One lift. Any help is much appreciated.

I rented one from Sport 2000 and had an awesome day a couple of years back. This makes me think I should try out the Scalpell and some other models, too. Now if I can only get the wife and kids to endure the long drive to Soelden...

Background: Been riding Tankers on softies, liked it, then switched to hardboots, which was even better. Rode last season on an F2 Vantage, which was fun and capable, but wouldn't dig in the rear inside edge at the end of the carve...nor the rear outside edge, for that matter. Looking for piste machine to tear it up (think middle-aged guy here, not young athlete). Does it make sense to spring for a Kessler? A Virus? I'm in Switzerland, so Euro-brands are easiest to buy. Note, I have previously ridden a Virus, and it was awe-inspiringly fun and snappy. The tail took energy plowed into the turn and kicked it out in a most gratifying way. Any thoughts on potential brands? Thanks, Uf Wiederluege, Helvetico

It's an F2 Vantage 166, a metal board with a 22.8 waist and a rounded, upturned tail. It's just too easy to ride, which is probably a good thing, as it was my first alpine board. Damp, yes, but Jesus H, this thing is almost spongy. I tried a Virus X-treme Carver (168? 169?) last year and really loved the kick out of the tail. This was out of a rental shop in Soelden. I hopped all over the mountain on it and felt like a champ, even though my athletic abilities are, to be generous, rather modest. Quite obviously it was the board that made the difference. I live in Europe, so I'm going to take a pass on N. American stuff...too much of a hassle to get ahold of. Can anyone else hold a candle to Virus, or should I just narrow the search to them?

So I finally rode it in some real powder, and slush. Set the bindings all the way back. It behaved very well...there is nothing wrong with the shape whatsoever. It won't float, though. This makes sense, as I'm 185 lbs. without equipment. Nothing like my 2 meter Tanker, which will get me through almost anything. In summary, it's a decent board with a lifeless tail. It absorbs energy from the mountain, but it refuses to return it.

Thanks, Nils. I had fun this weekend at Diavolezza/Lagalb and Corviglia at St. Moritz. Lagalb is steep and requires a shorter board. Diavolezza has a lot of easily accessible rolling hills if you turn left, traverse Schwarzhang and roll down Collinas. Corviglia's best powder chair is Las Trais Fluors. Obvious pow fields are to the left, but don't venture too far, or you'll get caught in avalanche-prone territory. Turn right off the lift and wrap around the mountain on either side and there's a lot of powder for the taking.

Now that I've got my Tanker 200/hardboot combo going, the need for avalanche-prone steeps is obviated. Anybody have tips on finding good resort pow in Europe? I find that places that attract extreme skiers...Verbier, St. Anton, Engelberg...get tracked out quickly. With two kids and middle age weighing me down, I don't have the energy to hike around looking for secret spots. I've had good luck so far at "family" resorts and remote locations accessible only by car. Have heard good things about Stuben in Austria. Any other recommendations?

I've torn the cartilage in one wrist (going 1 mph over an ice-covered road) and broken my left arm so hard my watch's metal wrist band snapped. Doubt anything could have prevented the second incident, but I researched everything available and went with the Flexmeters. Very pleased so far. Yeah, they ran one hundred bucks or so, but that's nothing compared to the pain in the ass of being out for six weeks. You can never, ever wear too much safety gear. Ever.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/travel/escapes/16ski.html

I spend about a month a year in Florida, with a couple of trips to the Mediterranean in the fall and winter thrown in to keep the beach-happy wife pleased. I get bored easily, so I'm looking to pick up a new hobby. I tried kiting once, but it seemed incredibly dangerous, and the thought of untying lines and pumping up the goddamned kite drove me mad. I also found the skimboard that you do it on to be useless in deep water. The sport isn't so much about surfing as it as about being dragged along unpredictably on a wakeboard. Windsurfing I've never tried, but it's safer and I can rent equipment anywhere I go. Would it be that much more boring than kiting, or is getting lofted into the parking lot really worth it?

I just looked at your post again and realized you meant NOSE rocker. Compared to the Tanker, which looks like a shovel, the F2 has a moderate amount of nose rocker. To my mind, it's an ideal board for resort cruising in most conditions, but I can't see venturing off-piste with it.

As a mediocre snowboarder, I have to say that this technology works on ice. F2 advertises it as a board for "soul-carvers," which is, in my estimation, a polite way of saying "guys who have the pep of accountants." I have a couple of Tankers...an older 182 that has given up the ghost, and which I dearly love, and a newer 200, which floats like nobody's business but cannot carve as well (nose wider than tail). The older board was floppy and practically decambered, but it just worked. Bad news on ice, though. Because I'm too lazy to go down to the basement and measure the actual camber of the F2, I'll post this photo: http://www.blue-tomato.com/medias/generated_xaZxV6gDQZscyVklhU3IEb-30_600_600.jpeg One caveat: I'm not an experienced alpine rider, so I would not weigh my review of the F2 too heavily. It's a good board for slow, middle-aged guys like me, but a young, athletic man full of spring might find it wanting.

All the stuff on REI looks the same to me: Thorlo, Smartwool, Euro-this-and-that. Which brand stands out? Is the only difference between light and ultra-light the lack of extra padding on the shin and heel?

Great ice grip, but I undertand this is a characteristic of all titanal boards. I've only ever ridden one other hardboot-specific board...a Virus Extreme Carver something or the other, which had a great, snappy tail. The F2 rides damp but might not kick back the energy carvers would want. Tried it off-piste in crud-covered fresh, but went over the nose after a couple of turns. I don't quite understand why anybody bothers with HB's off-piste, but I imagine this board is capable enough in that department. I'd rather take the Tanker 200 any day. Update: I did play around on the Tanker in shallow fresh with the HB's, and it was fun. I might be changing my mind about HB's and powder. Maybe I'm just getting better. Bottom line: Rides smoothly like a full-sized sedan, but its suspension may make things go a little too smoothly. Update: Had a chance to ride it in some shallow powder, and the board did well. Mind you, there was hardpack maybe half a foot underneath, so this might account for some of the board's responsiveness. Lots of fun to carve around on the piste and then play around in piste-side soft, but I would never want to get caught in deep powder or backcountry on this board.

I think you hit the hit the nail on the head: in bare feet the sides of my feet are touching the shell, especially the inside of the right big toe. This contact would explain why they get cold and go numb so quickly. I guess I have no choice but to move up a half-size to 27 and buy new shells. It's going to suck, though, since I'm not going to be able to find anything unmodified that will fit properly, so picking the proper size will be a guessing game.

Thanks for the resposes, guys. Hans, I sent you a message but don't know if you got it. In any case, you answered my question. Did you get your liners done at Strolz in Austria? I'm in Switzerland, so I could make a weekend trip to Lech to get them done. Are their liners that much superior to the thermoflex stuff most bootfitters sell?

I have a pair of Head Stratos Pros (26.5) that I've had punched out three times to accomodate my wide feet (26.3 L, 25.8 R: both are 11 cm. at their widest point). I've also had custom footbeds and liners made by the local boot guy, who poked around in the shell and said they were the right size. Haven't ridden the new liners yet, but the right shell still feels tight on my right toe, which is odd, since it's the shorter foot. It does have the higher arch, so maybe that's the problem. I wore both for a while on the carpet last night and the right toe started to tingle after half an hour or so. This wouldn't bother me so much if it weren't for the fact that my toes are still somewhat numb from my first ride of the season, which was TWO weeks ago. Admittedly it was in very cold weather, but most of the time I regain feeling by the end of the day. I really like hardbooting, but I'm not interested in destroying my feet in order to continue doing it I've read some postings in here from folks who had to upsize because of high-volume feet. Is it possible I need even larger shells? Has anyone out there done this successfully? If I could I would buy custom-made boots, but no such things exist for hardboot snowboarders. Should I consider another brand, such as UPZ?