ajcannon

Thanks Chris. I will look for something in that 169 range for length. Do you think I should go with something free-ride/all-mountain? Or go for a slalom style racing board? I would not want to sacrifice carving performance just to get a rounded tail. I don't ride moguls much. Try to stay on flat stuff as much as possible. Don't ride switch at all really. If I could get similar carving performance out of an all-mountain/Free-ride I would consider it...why not right? But I don't want to end up with something like my Burton COIL 7.1. The nose would buckle whenever you really got into a turn on it. I assume the new all-mountain/ free-rides don't do that right?

I live in Iowa so it is not practical to demo boards. Back in January 2006 I relied on advise from some experts on this site and purchased a Prior WCR181 and I love the board. It is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks to all that helped with that purchase (Chris Houghton, Jack Michaud, Bobdea, D-sub, and others). Now I am looking to get something with a little smaller radius so I can use it on crowded slopes mostly - but still lay down some smaller radius turns and have fun without taking up the whole trail. I still want to go fast but maybe not quite as fast as the WCR needs to go. I don't want anything too soft where the nose might fold on me. My only other board is a Burton Coil 7.1 which is not in the same league...so this is really going to be my 2nd legitimate carving deck. It will be the board I switch to when the slopes are too crowded for the WCR181. Can anyone of you long-time riders give me some advise on possible decks to buy? I am 6'-2", size 12 shoe, 210 lbs, and have Burton plate bindings and ancient burton hard boots (I know I need to upgrade at some point but I really want a 2nd deck first so I can still have fun on crowded trails). Thanks to everyone in advance. -Adam

Oops. My board is actually a 181 (not a 184). The serial number/dimensions that are written on the deck are "7765 WCR181 x 13 x 19.5". Also, I used to love Sunday River when I lived out there. There was a trail that was pretty steep and wide and straight that I liked - I hink it was "white heat". But that was like 15 years ago. God I am old. Have fun. -Adam

I bought a Prior wcr 184 last year and it is a blast. I weigh about 200 lbs and it carves beautiful deep trenches but only in large-radius, high-speed turns. I love this board. It amazes me every time I ride it. That said...when the slopes get crowded, I wish I had a backup board with a smaller sidecut radius that could do smaller radius turns. I think that will be my next purchase. Good luck.

I do appreciate everyones thoughts on the matter. I love this forum. With regard to D-subs comments...lighten up. -Adam

I've never ridden anything but Burton Race Plates. I have one set that has machined aluminum toe and heel blocks, and another set with die-cast toe and heel blocks. Both seem to work fine, but then again I haven't tried anything else. What do you all think of Burton plates? Are they outdated technology? Are they a good value, despite being somewhat dated? Are they used by any of the "expert" riders out there? -Adam

thanks for sharing them.

Welcome to the forum. I have had a Burton Coil 172, and I find it to be very soft (too flexible) to carve while going fast. The nose on this board will buckle (flex too much) when even the slightest amount of weight is placed on the front foot in a turn. I find my back leg gets very fatigued when riding the Coil because I have to lean back to keep the nose from buckling in the turns. I think this is caused by two factors: [1]the extreme side-cut (only a 10.25m radius) means the nose and tail engage the snow very aggressively in the turns making the board very "turny". [2]the board is very flexible I think the combination of [1] and [2] make this board difficult at best to carve on. The only "carving" I've been able to do on the Coil is quick, small radius, fall-line (crossing-under) turns at moderate speed. That said, I'm sure someone out there likes the Coil, and I weigh 200 pounds, so the Coil may seem plenty stiff to you at 145. Also, I am not an expert, but I know that when I ride my other board (Prior 181 WCR) it feels effortless in comparison, and my legs don't get fatigued on the Prior. My two cents worth...Good luck.

those are some great photos. Looks like a perfect day.

Here's my take on the asym/sym debate: If you think of the body as a "point mass" (centered approximately at the rider's waist). The inward "centripetal" force on the rider acts through that point mass. Isn't the equation F=mv^2/R where v is the velocity, R is the turn radius, and m is the mass of the rider. In other words... if you combine all of the force that is applied to the edge of the board...the total "resultant" force must act directly through the rider's CG otherwise the rider will not be in equilibrium. So the rider's feet position doen't matter, they simply transfer the forces through them no matter where they are placed. So.. the location of the feet, heels, toes, etc doesn't matter it is the position of the rider's body CG that matters. An anology to consider is a car going around a turn, if the car is designed correctly the vehicle CG will be directly between the front and rear axle resulting in equal lateral cornering forces on the front and rear axles (analagous to an equal distribution of force along the board edge - when the rider's CG is centered on the boards sidecut length). So the question to ask yourself is...does the fore/aft position of your body's CG differ from your toeside to your heelside turns? I would say that mine doesn't, but maybe if I had an asym board it would naturally do so becasue it would "feel right". I think that is what riding is all about...positioning your body over the board to produce the desired pressure distribution on the edge. Wow that really sounds lame, but if you really break it down it is that simple right? The only "control" we have over the board is the placement of our body over it (and I suppose we can roll the board with our ankles a bit - but I think that is a much smaller factor). Damn engineers have to take the fun out of everything...Sorry.

I get this not so fresh feeling...

I understand the temptation of carving around and through "obstacles". When I am riding I am looking for terrain variations, obstacles, etc. that make me want to go a certain direction. On crowded slopes people often become the obstacles that dictate your path. Thinking of them as gates is kind of an exaggeration of that concept. These boards are amazing the way they turn, and getting close to certain obastacles or cutting tight turns around things is always tempting. I find myself turning around lift poles all the time. Anyway...I understand the thinking there...or at least the temptation.

I agree with Mike T - slush can be great if it isn't too slushy. I was out riding some slushy stuff a couple weekends ago on a GS board (181cm) and I was shocked at how deep a trech I could leave. You can really dig into that stuff if the conditions are right. Plus they seem to groom constantly at my local place whenever the snow is getting slushy. Have fun.

I think just about any carving board is fine to start out with. I don't know how stiff that board is, but let me tell you my experience of getting into the sport.... After riding for 4-5 years I realized my board was too soft - because the nose would over flex if I went at a turn too hard, I actually had learned to compensate for it by leaning back and "riding the tail" in the turns (the tail is just as soft but doesn't catastrophically buckle the way a nose will on a soft board). Now that I have a board that has the appropriate stiffness for my weight I can get into the turns at much higher speeds and I feel stable and can ride with much less effort. So just watch for that as you progress. At 220, if you want to carve agressive turns at high speeds you will likely need a stiff board (and probably longer although not necessarily). I'm riding a Prior WCR 181 and I like it a lot (I weight 210). Welcome to this site and good luck. -Adam

thanks for posting them.

I was in your shoes a couple weeks ago (looking for a pure carving board- after riding a combination freeride/carver for years). I did a lot of looking around ans asking questions. I ended up with a Prior 181, with 13.5m radius, and 19.5cm waist. I've ridden it three times now and it is exactly what I was looking for. This board can do things that would have bent my old board in half. There seems to be endless potential with this thing so far. Definately the "next level" I was looking for. The oneI bought was an "in stock" standard model, and arrived about 1-1/2 weeks after I ordered it.

Still looking for 4-hole cant plates to go under burton race plates. Would also like to buy a spare set of burton race plates if anyone has a pair to get rid of. -Adam

I'll take it all for use on my back-up board. Call me at 319-400-0191, or email at adamc1974@msn.com. -Adam

I want to ride burton plates on a non-burton (4-hole) deck. Is there a cant plate product out there that will work for this purpose? Has anyone ever tried to drill the 3-hole ones? -Adam

burton backhill with only 1 rubber foot strap (for the front foot). By the time I got it second hand, someone had made a back foot straoout of an innertube, and had made "metal edges" by screwing angle brackets on the sides that hung down about 1/2" below bottom of deck. After that I picked up a "Flite" board (made in a garage in Newport RI I think). This board was awesome for it's time. Had awesome hi-back bindings with an innovative velcro pocket on the backof the hi-back. The board had a plywood core and you could see the ply's all down the edges. Had a cool shark graphic on it. :)

I'm looking for 4-hole cant plates (for front and back - probably 3-degrees each) to go under my burton race plates. I had a Burton deck, but just switched to a Prior WCR 181. But I'd like to keep the Burton bindings and boots around for another season...so my old 3-hole-only Burton cant plates no longer work on the non-Burton deck. Is there a cant plate out there that will allow me to keep the Burton bindings? By the way, the WCR 181 feels great so far, I think it was exactly what I wanted - very stable and plenty stiff, the sidecut radius seems perfect so far - so much fun, and so much room for improvement now. Experimenting with the "crossing-under" technique for the first time on this board- left me in awe of the pure potential this board has to do amazing things. Good stuff. Thanks again for everyone's recommendations.

I'dlike to be added to the list if it isn'ttoo much trouble. Thanks. adamc1974@msn.com

Brad, Well hopefully we'll both get up there next weekend. I've got this new board supposedly coming in from Canada, and I've got some issues yet with getting it set up (I need some 4-hole discs for my burton plate bindings). Assuming I can get a couple of those, I'll be up there next weekend. Good to know someone is in the area. Thanks for the reply. I wonder if anyone else is out there. -Adam

Hey Minnesot-ers. I'm from Iowa City, but I get up there quite a bit to visit my sister-in-law who lives in St. Paul. Maybe I can catch up with you guys sometime. Seems like twin cities is a hotbed for boarders. I'll keep an eye out for Buck Hill or Welch posts. Thanks. -AJ

Yeah that's right...Iowa...and I did call it a mountain :) Seriously though. I've got a new carving deck coming my way in the mail, and I'd like to try it out next weekend at Sundown in Dubuque IA. Anyone in the Iowa area looking to do a day trip on Saturday or Sunday next weekend?? BJVIRCKS: you interested...I noticed you were from nearby. Just wondering how many (if any) boarders are in my area.