spaamport

Absolutely. Those are great boards. Burton made way too many of those in the late 90's and couldn't sell them. Chris Klug was one of their team riders and he went out on his own and bought basically their whole factory overstock and sells it until he runs out. The Factory Prime was basically Burton's attempt at making a commercially available racing board. Unfortunately, the snowboarding race community is tiny. The Ultra prime is basically one step away from the "most recent" technology that they put into their race line and it basically aimed at being a common man's alpine board that won't be as deadly stiff and GS-course specific as a FP. It will be a bit more forgiving around the mountain whereas the Factory Prime has one purpose: to race. The downside of race boards are the same things that make them what they are. It's that they are long, fast, stiff, and narrow. So they don't do well in the trees, or the bumps, or frozen crud, or powder deeper than 4 or 5 inches. They are great on gigantic, flat, groomed, empty football field sized runs. So if you can afford to run multiple set ups for varying locations and conditions, go for it with the race boards. But if you want something a little more versatile, then you'll do well with the Ultra Prime. You hear these guys talk about their "quivers". That's fine if you have the money for that. And at $160, you can't go wrong. Even if you're luke warm about it (which I highly doubt), it'll be the cheapest brand-new snowboard you'll ever buy. I recommend buying the board and using it with your soft boot setup at high angles for a few days, or even for the whole season. If you have a high-back binding, you can even try adding a strap around the back to your shin on your lead foot to increase your toe side response. If you like where the feeling is going, then consider boots and bindings. I rode a race board for a season with soft boots (and 3-strappers) and it solidified my desire to get the hardboots and bindings the next season. So i spread the transition over a couple years, and the board I was on was a bit stiff for the crud, but short enough to be useful in the moguls and trees. but it sank like a rock in powder because it was narrow.

I have the '95 model of that board in goofy orientation. It still rips if anyone is interested. No bindings though. I put them on my current board.

Mine's a goofy if you're interested.

where you from? I grew up in Wilton.

Hey, does anyone know if any SB boots manufacturers have tried making boots that buckle toward the inside of the foot rather than the outside of the foot? I was thinking about this just now and it strikes me that a buckling system like that would: A: be more effective strapping your foot down from the outside holding your arch down and in rather than compressing your arch towards the outside of your foot down and out. B: buckling your boots would be way easier. I think our current design may simply be a senseless holdover from ski boot design where if the buckles were on the inside, then you'd run the risk of unbuckling your boots by bumping them together as you ski. This clearly would not be an issue for a snowboarder. Anyone ever think about that? And an ancillary benefit would be one more thing about our setups that poeple in the liftline would have the oppurtunity to ask us about "Do you have to wear your ski boots backwards when you're on a snowboard?" (sigh)

My Asym Oxygen 159 was so much fun... Yeah the lift line questions are the best. "Is that supposed to be like that?"

currently set up on an '07 Solomon Burner 172 But I still have my '95 Oxygen asym slalom 159 (goofy) and the only reason I don't ride it anymore is because I bought it when I was 15 years old and I've grown about 6 inches and gained about 80 pounds since then. I rode that stick for 10 years though and it is still a ripper.

I don't understand how any snowboarder goes in the trees with confidence WITHOUT a hardboot setup. Maybe my old softie setup sucked worse than most when I was a kid, but I just don't trust the response of a soft setup when I need to make some tight quick moves in the trees. My Solomon Burner 172 is heaven is the powder with hardboots. It floats and I don't have to exaggerate every motion to get it to turn in the deep -especially on toe side like you would have to in soft gear.

Well, I can't tell you from first hand experience because I haven't had any tuning done by them, but there is Seattle Ski & Snowboard on Aurora at like 149th in Shoreline. I'm having my new footbeds done by them next week and having my new UPZ's blown out by their bootfitter. Haven't been there yet, so I can report back on how that goes. Dont' know about board tuning though. The other option is Snowboard Connection under the Alaska Way viaduct in Pioneer Square. Again, I haven't had them do tuning but I bought my board there last year and they are exclusively a snowboard shop.

You know, I always figured they were the same as Performance Bike, but I don't think they were. But I could have sworn the logo was the same and the catalogue layout was kinda the same. But Performance Bike is out of NC and is still in business. I haven't heard anything about Performance Snowboarding in YEARS.

YEAH YEAH, they had Raichle too. nd I think the UPZ's were abck when they were UPS actually.

I skied until I was about 12, switched to snowboarding when i was 13 and rented for a season a soft boot/ freestyle board setup. It was a Mad Duck (I think) 154 or something similar. The next year i bought a bigger, heavier, wider board (a '94 K2 Fat Bob 162) but upgraded to 3-strap bindings. Big disappointment. The board was an ogre to turn, even with the extra support of the shin strap. And those K2 boots were terrible. I had major heel lift issues. Two seasons later I got my first race board, a '95 Oxygen asymetrical slalom 159, but kept my soft boots and 3-strappers for a season because I couldn't afford a 3-way overhaul. But it was like going from driving a dumptruck to a miata - and it was clear that i was going to have to cough it up and buy hard boots and plate bindings soon. The following year I got Burton Boiler boots and Burton Race plates and I still use those bindings and I just retired the Boilers this year for a new pair of UPZ RSV's. The switch from soft boots to hard back in '97 was cake. it takes a few days just to get your settings and your angles to where they feel the most natural, but in terms of adjusting to the gear itself, if you've been dreaming of having more response in your ankles, then it will simply be a matter of your board actually doing what you've thought it should be doing all along. If you're already a proficient freeriding snowboarder, I think the biggest hump is just getting your stance width, your rear foot cant, and your angles right for your body and for what makes you comfortable. The rest should be natural.

Hey does anyone remember Performance Snowboarding? They were a mail-order snowboard company back in the mid-late 90's based out of Fairfield, CT. They sold a lot of stuff from west coast manufacturers like Avalanche, K2 and Gnu and that sort of thing. They did windsurfing gear in the summer I think. Anyway, I bought my first race board from them - a last year's model '95 Oxygen slalom asym 159 at a warehouse sale for $160 in '96. And I remember they always had UPZ boots in the back of the catalogue and the price kept going downa nd down every catalogue because they couldn't move them. Did they go out of business? Does anyone know?

Sweet. Hopefully they'll be someone there that will have some I can try on. Thx

The time has come to buy new boots. My Burton Boilers are finally starting to come apart after 11 years of faithful service. I'm headed over the the Seattle Ski/Snowboard Expo this afternoon to look for anything that I can find that would be relevant to riders like us. I'm not expecting much, but does anyone have anything they know of that I should be looking for? I'm going to do it right this year and get moldable liners, custom footbeds, and get my boots fitted right from the get go. My Burtons were always notoriously narrow for my wide feet. Anything anybody want me to look for while I'm there?

If I was going to sit around all day, I'd wear softboots too. Why hardboots? So when the robots take over, they'll think I'm one of them. Yes, they're snowboard boots. And don't call me "brah". Snowboarding is totaly misunderstood. You can't really drag your knuckles with soft boots. No, I don't race. Races usually have competition. Just because I don't have a tail, doesn't mean you can stand on the back of my board. I'd rather surf than hang out at the skatepark. But that's just me.

ha, we have the same wainscot in our house. Oh yeah, sick board dude.

If you can, try to get your hands on some 3-strap bindings. Burton used to make a Custom highback with a 3-strap option. I think they were maroon. The main problem with softies is that no matter how high the back is, or how stiff the boot is, there's nothing reacting directly to the forward lean of your shin without that third strap. I too have wide feet and went the "size up" route when I switched to HB. My regular feet are 11.5 wide, but I wear size 30 burtons. I'm not unhappy with them, they've served me well for 10 years, but I think Heads are going to be my next boot.

There is a SMALL chance my parents have one in their attic. Circa 1983 Keystone, CO. Navy blue though. You're probably looking for something more garish. I think my parents may even have had matching ones, but my dad was 6-2 and my mom was 5-9, so they probably won't fit... Let me know if you want me to go to the trouble of asking my mom to go up to the attic and look. (I live 3,000 miles away or I'd check myself).

My liners are 30's. They're not too badly worn to be honest. A little salty and a little frayed at the top, but apart from being Burton liners to begin with, not that bad. I'm probably going to go get myself some thermaflex liners this season and see if I can't improve my lot a little. The shells are built like tanks. I'd be surpised if they ever wear out.

That's awesome dude! Spread the word, brother. yeah, you're right about the settings though. because the setup is so much stiffer, you really have to fine tune your gear to fit your body and your style so you're not fighting your stance all day.

Yeah, ditto on Killington. No es bueno. Especially that week. You'll be tripping over snakes of skiwees and dudes in jeans with NY Giants puffy jackets trying to ski while simultaneously sliding over sheets of ice only to wish you had gone to Okemo. Okemo has wide flat groomers and will be much less crowded than Killington, although it is also a pop. family mountain, so that week might be dicey in terms of people on the slope. Lift lines aren't too bad at Okemo. I don't mind Jay. It doesn't have the big industrially groomed sloped football fields that Okemo has, but my experience is that it isn't very crowded compared to some of the (shall we say) more accessible Mtns (Jay is off in the Northeast Kingdom on its own), and I've found other hardbooters there. Although be warned, they're probably Quebecois as Jay is one of the more popular mtns for Frenchies from southeastern Quebec. I even saw a monoboarder there once... maybe it was a dream. Anyway. Vermont on Christmas break can be tough. Be prepared to do some human slalom. And get out there early. The snow is largely man made and gets skiied off early. Sugarbush also isn't bad, but is a bit farther north in the same realm as Smugglers Notch, Stowe and Snob Skier Glen.

rear foot - Burton disc cant on '96 Burton race bindings. I'm not sure what the angle is. The disc says "4" and I'd say its maybe 10 deg rotated off from canting right up the centerline of the board. So mostly inward, and a little forward, but not much. Without taking the binding off and looking at the numbers on the cant plate that's all I've got.

I currently have a pair of size 30 Burton Boilers. My regular shoe size is 11.5 wide, so the size 30's are a little tight on the top of my arch and around the front of my ankle, and a little long in the toebox. They've been otherwise great boots but I'm starting to think about replacing them since they are going on 10 years. Anyone have any suggestions about boots that might run wider than Burton? I understand UPS/UPZ run wider. Any help would be appreciated.

Yeah, the first board I ever bought was a '94 K2 FatBob and I got big ol' K2 soft boots (size 11?) and 3-strap bindings. Needless to say, I ditched the fatbob after 2 seasons and got myself an Oxygen asymmetrical slalom board. At the time I couldn't afford hard boots and plate bindings also, so I ended up riding with my K2 boots and 3-strappers for a year with my race board. It was a fiasco. I had to ride at SUPER high angles to avoid toe and heel drag because of the footprint of the softboots was just too long, and the boots and 3-straps didn't have nearly enough response. I'd lean into a turn and think, "shouldn't my board be turning too?-oh there it goes..." Given my experience, I would go the other direction. Spend the money on the hardboots and platebindings first, THEN buy your alpine board when you've whetted your thirst for speed and response.