ShortcutToMoncton

Have you reached out to Mountain Slope or Ivan at I-carve?

Super confusing to me…I don’t see this as a hot take at all. I said need—as in, no one needs 10-12m sidecuts in order to carve, it’s just super beneficial for certain styles and terrains. But a beginner carver doesn’t “need” 10-12m to get better at carving. They need to learn how to carve first, and 8.6m on a wide Korua board is perfectly fine for someone learning. Any one of us could likely hop on that board and make nice, short, deep carves, but for the OP who cannot, moving him to a 10-12m sidecut on a stiffer dedicated carving board isn’t going to magically make him a better carver! To me, a true hot take is telling a beginner who is struggling to carve that they should just get a 10-12m sidecut and “tilt it”. Is that really helpful??

I’m sorry, I just disagree with that specific advice on sidecut in this context. Someone who is learning how to carve should go to 10-12m sidecuts? There’s nothing wrong with 8.6m sidecut, it can carve perfectly well as long as there’s no bootout. Larger sidecut boards need more speed and angulation—that’s something a new carver can work up to. But there is absolutely no need for even a dedicated softboot carving board to have a 12m sidecut.

Sounds like a fantastic opening scene for the future hardcore classic Lift Orgy III…the Hardbooter

I have very wide forefeet and UPZ has been the most comfortable in stock form (out of old Deeluxe boots, older Dalbello Krypton Pro ski boots, or newer Mountain Slope which I now have….I’ve never tried the old Head boots). Having said that, you should likely not be expecting any of these boots to fit stock. Just expect to need a ski bootfitter to punch the shells wider. You may have already done that, but if not, consider it a mandatory boot-buying process.

Goddamn, I feel I could watch that video for hours! With a skin suit you get to see exactly how she’s moving….you can isolate her head, shoulders, knees, etc and focus on just one thing! What a machine. It’s way more helpful than watching someone in a snowsuit, and way better than watching a race where you feel they are cheating on the ragged edge half the time! It goes without saying but she is such a picture-perfect rider.

Does Ledecka have a channel? Anyone have a link? Haven’t seen it on YT

I can’t speak for those closest to you but personally I think breaking 100 views has really gone to your head….. Killer riding on a super steep pitch. I’ve been bouncing back and forth between my hardboot Contras and my new softboot Contra for the past couple weeks, and my biggest weak point so far on the softy is heelside chatter/washout. Do you have any tips on your heelside body positioning? When I watch your videos I feel I’m instinctively replicating my alpine stance for softboot…lower crouch, upper hand off the snow and lower hand reaching for the edge. Your stance seems more upright especially with hands & upper body. Is that deliberate? Thanks for the videos, they are always inspiring!!

Yeah, I’ve always noticed that if you reach down towards your front foot on heelsides, you’ll end up being a bit too hunched forward on your front leg and your chest will drop down. When you watch racers or professionals their trailing hand tends to float near the rear foot on heelsides, or at least some middle point between their feet, which keeps their upper body upright and balanced. That’s what I would suggest, but we all work a little differently!

I like the reaching for board advice. As a regular left-foot-forward rider it’s helped me to try and remember to reach down with my left hand toward the heel of my front foot on toeside carves, and reach down with my right hand towards my toes on the rear foot on heelside carves.

Two falling objects converge to a single point…. Also, good reminder to look over that heelside shoulder!!!

Interesting, this isn’t one I’m aware of! Watching alpine racing and carving, I’ve thought the front leg is always flexed on heelside?

They make one called the PQ EX which has a natural wood top and is rated as being stiffer, I think….wonder if it’s a true ripper? I was on the chair at Lake Louise with a (Japanese, I think?) guy who was riding it. Ridiculously beautiful board so I happened to look it up. I’d buy it to say I had one or put on the wall, but powder days are once-a-season events around here so seems like a bit of a waste!

Lol I absolutely love that you read everything he wrote and concluded “I really gotta ride this thing” what a maniac

Yup, the neoprene board sleeves cover the entire base and part of the top as well, plus they have handles to grab. They are great for throwing in the truck/car/case/whatever and take up no space. The YYZ one is good for flat-end carving boards (a couple of the buckles are oddly positioned but it still works). For wider softboot boards you need something else. I just got one from EVOC and it mostly fits my 28cm-waist (33cm nose) 163cm Coiler although it’s close to the limit. Donek makes them as well and I’m sure they fit their wider soft boards…..I just couldn’t bring myself to put a Donek coat on my Coiler, nothing against Donek but it felt kind of weird hahaha.

Hello Miles, Yes, you should visit a professional ski bootfitter. There are likely many in Northern California and you could probably get recommendations around here. It just sounds like your liner might be slightly too small…the shell might be fine. Even heat-molding the liner would make a difference. A bootfitter could easily and cheaply tell you if they will be able to make the boots work! If they say no, then you have to sell them anyway…but they are good boots, and if they’re only slightly small then I suspect it won’t be a problem! Good luck!

Thanks, about a custom Kessler/Oxxess! It still might be too pretty to ride but it’s not crazy for a special edition.

Thanks for your response. You said they were too small—how much too small? Have you taken them to a ski bootfitter to see if the shell can be stretched and properly fitted? Or did you accidentally receive completely the wrong shell size? I know this isn’t the intent of your for-sale post and I apologize if you’d prefer not to get off-topic. There are some riders on this forums who wear these boots, and I hear they are really quite nice and comparable to Mountain Slope. But MS is the high-end industry standard right now and you are asking more than a pair of new MS boots, which would at least have some seller support behind them. I guess what I’m saying is that you might be looking at losing a bit of money to move these regardless, so I’d make sure you’ve first visited a professional ski bootfitter to see if they can make them work! Good luck!

First off, I love this type of crazy idea, and that someone went out and made it. That’s just awesome. Second…why and how is this a better idea than an actual snowboard? It’s not like this is a splitboard someone can use for backcountry purposes—this is a dedicated, on-piste contraption, right? The user would still need ski bindings, boots, and a place to put the plate when converted?

Wasn’t there a guy around here who used to collect old snowboards for some type of snowboard museum? This feels spot on.

Yeah, my new 163/28.3cm softy Contra is such a beast. Only four days on it so far and I’m still working out my softboot heelside positioning to avoid chatter, but damn does it just grip and rip. I was at Lake Louse last week and had three random guys just come up and ask to try it out after I’d finished a run, hahaha. So happy with it! Bruce is truly doing the lord’s work. Have fun tomorrow!!

These are too big for me, but I was under the impression that S5 boots were cheaper than Mountain Slope boots. Are they actually more expensive? I did not realize that.

I’m pretty sure I have the full version of that pic as my phone’s background image! 26cm waist, what a beast!

Wowsers…..[edit: $2473 in CAD….around a custom Kessler/Oxess….expensive but not crazy for a limited edition!] Damn well better put that right up on the wall, tell the wife it’s the highest art form! Because I’m already hating myself for the inevitable lift-line meltdown when some 14yo jerry rides up the tail at 9:30am my first day out…..

This feels like the only snowboard I’ve ever seen I would not actually ride! Put that thing safely on a wall and chat about it with your grandkids one day.