jnshapiro

Hugh, I agree with you about James. He's been very helpful and a real good guy (not to mention a heck of a shooter ). With any luck, maybe I'll get to spend a day on the snow with him this season. This board is a great resource. Lots of really good info here. I'm sure I'll refer to the binding setup pages when the board gets here in 6 weeks or so. Joel

First off, I'm new here. James Ong is responsible for it. Blame him Here's a little history... Started skiing when I was 6 (38 now). For many years, not a year went by when I didn't spend several days on the slopes. One year I spent over 70 days on the slopes. Blew out a knee (OUCH!). The knee healed and I found skiing just flat out hurt. In a quest to stay on the snow, I tried snowboarding. Loved it! No knee pain. Went hardshell and plates right from the get go (I hate the floppy, loose feeling of soft boots). Started on a Burton M6. Not a bad board at the time, especially for the east coast ice pack. Then we bought a house (1997 here). Just before we moved in (April, '98) we took a 2 week blast trip to Jackson Hole. I love that mountain! We also rode at Grand Targhee. Had a great time. Lots of pow, lots of carving. Went snowmobiling too. Then life got in the way. Haven't been on a mountain since that trip to Jackson. We moved out here to the Sacramento, CA area a few years back. This year, we're finally in a position to get out again. So I asked around and James suggested Donek. Gave Sean a call and ordered an Axxess in 172cm. Also some TD2 bindings. My old Raichle boots still fit, and fit well. No plans to change boots. I'm really looking forward to getting back out on the slopes! Especially with a new board.

Not to mention that if it doesn't heal up right, you might have to get new boots. I busted up a foot several years ago and it never healed right. There is only one brand of hardshell boots (there's another kind?) that fit. Good thing they fit well! I'm stuck buying boots due to fit and not performance. Same goes for about all the shoes I wear. Let it heal.