Keyser Soze

I was going to say... Monday's supposed to be pretty cold, I was hoping to make it out on Tuesday evening. Then again, I'm sure the snow base has taken a battering over the last few weeks. Today definitely didn't help.

I see your point very clearly, however, new snowboarders do not have a practical understanding of of the tools they are about to use as you did with hand tools. Regardless, my suggestion was not actually that status as certified instructors would better out abilities to relay information on how to carve, but that if more of us took on teaching roles at our local resorts (which I believe you already do) we'd have a better platform to present the alpine board and hardboots as normal snowboarding equipment rather than fringe/race-specific gear. That's where this discussion leads back to the topic of the thread; more resorts would likely be comfortable renting out alpine snowboards if they have a few hardbooters working on staff as instructors.

I'm a bit skeptical in regards to the latter variables falling into place and making for a successful outing on a regular basis, but I admire your optimism. Perhaps more BOL members should aspire to obtain teaching certification and provide that instruction.

Agreed, and it's not like learning to snowboard in softies just happens instantly either. Everybody talks about the bumps and bruises from falling during the learning stage; hell, I remember them too, but I can see how ski boots on an alpine board can be a painful experience right out of the gate. Further to this, I remember switching to hardboots after riding approximately 10 days on a soft set-up over two seasons with no instruction other than BOL threads and articles. Not much fun for the first few outings.

I ride Dalbello Kryptons myself and have a pair of Raichle Flexons as backup boots, so there's no need to explain the merits of ski boots to me, though I admit there was a time when this wasn't true, and then Beckmann happened. What I meant was that the stiffness of ski boots might be overwhelming for the beginner in this hypothetical scenario, where he/she rents one of the few alpine boards and plate bindings a resort might happen to stock as rentals. It's nice to think that they could stock a couple of these boards and offer ski boots to try them with, but no board/binding is going to modify the flex on those rental ski boots. Just thinking about my own development as a rider, I don't know that I would've wanted to start on the Flexons or the Kryptons. If I stretch my imagination (which boasts with no engineering background whatsoever), perhaps something built on the science behind the sidewinder with a thick, softish pad underfoot that allows for forward flex might compensate for the inability to bend the plastics of the boot. Just the thought of it, however, conjures nothing but images of unbalanced discomfort and crashes in my mind. Then again, there are many greater minds than my own on this forum who surely would have very innovative ideas about overcoming these hurdles. But then, the problem becomes: would the system be affordable/reliable enough for resorts to stock them as rentals? And if so, is anybody actually asking for hard setups? I have a friend who tried snowboarding once and swore never to do it again because the rental shop gave him an alpine setup. He did two runs and traded it in for a pair of skis. I have trouble convincing myself that it was a one off, as that resort no longer offers alpine snowboard rentals.

That's just it, no matter how you design the board/bindings, those two components won't modify the flex of the boots.

Hmmm, they look like the Allflex plate's predecessors, and that's a Slovenian plate. Might they be by the same makers? Vic was riding the Allflex to his two golds.

I don't know. I'm a Krypton rider myself, but I feel like Patrizia Kummer was the only rider I saw still on Kryptons. Maybe Michael Lambert? I can't recall.

Hahaha, I think Nils is using the French word "hasard", meaning "coincidence" in this case.

This is a very important point. I never have any desire to watch curling, but my office was abuzz with chatter about how the men and women's teams were doing. It is Canada, after all. All this talk about the FIS and USSA not understanding our sport is entirely accurate, but then again, who exactly outside of our pint-sized community really understands our obsession? I get compliments all the time about my board and my riding, so I recommend Bomber to those who want to give it a shot, but I feel like every season I see fewer riders on plates, not more.

Yep, same system he was on in 2010. Definitely not the Carve Co. bindings.

Hahaha, you're a couple of days late! http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?29131-Alpine-Snowboard-Plate-Systems&p=417133#post417133 snowmatic, so the 98/99 Northwaves are the ones with the red boot cuff, and the 97/98 are yellow? I always thought the red cuffs were just a mod. Are there any other differences?

Sure, for future versions, but definitely not for the first run.

On the podiums for PGS, everyone but the female silver medalist was riding what looks to be the F2 Race Titanium. I posted a couple of pics here: http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?29131-Alpine-Snowboard-Plate-Systems&p=417063#post417063 I think Benjamin Karl was riding a custom plate system with integrated bindings in 2010. I didn't get to see what he was on this time around. I caught the race where he was eliminated, but don't have any of his runs on the video I downloaded because they only show the quarter-finals onwards. He may not be a big fan of the F2s, or it may have something to do with SG sponsorship. This is all, of course, just speculation.

The Olympics have meant a lot of things in the past. You're Canadian, you remember when NHL players weren't allowed to play for Canada, while the Russian national team was putting out teams that were composed of professional players, somehow without professional status. In the end, the IOC had to adapt the games to the changing times and economic landscape. I believe Kieran already mentioned the corporate sponsorships in another thread. I mean, at this point, do you really think Russia cares how they get a gold medal? Canada was pumping money into Own The Podium for the 2010 games, Russia's doing the same for Sochi. I believe I read that Vic was getting a 300K bonus for bringing "home" the gold. When the games are over, the only thing anyone remembers will be the medal total. They currently sit in second place with 10 golds and 27 overall medals, so I doubt anyone will be scrutinizing the origins of their Men's Snowboard PGS gold.

No problem, Dave. It's interesting to see that Fawcett doesn't recommend anything more than a semi-isolation plate for SL boards...

I believe Sean is talking about this: http://www.apexsnowboard.com/blog_gps.php

http://allboardssports.com/liberation-race-gs/ http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?5269-Liberation-Snowboards Looks like they only make wakeboards now: http://www.liberationwake.com/index2.php

Yes, my bad. Thanks for the correction.

Thanks, Sean. It looks like it would be pretty heavy.

Good question. From their website, I'm assuming the company is Slovenian? I assume Sean probably has more info, as I believe he said he's building boards to accommodate the plate.

A point well worth consideration, but looking at today's PGS podiums... MEN 1st- ALLFLEX 2nd - ALLFLEX 3rd - SG WOMEN 1st- ALLFLEX 2nd - ALLFLEX 3rd - ALLFLEX They may have just Kessler'd the plate market. That might even be F2 Race Titanium level domination.

Oh, cool. Must be something like the Catek spacers? I'll have a look, thanks for the tip.

Hey Kaz, what are the pads under your bindings?

Wow, my bad. I own Diamond Life? Yeesh, I'll delete it so not to upset anyone else.