Phil

Yeah, I actually have them in 14. I found that I can squeeze into them without discomfort, so it was worth going down a size. Big feet are such a curse for snowboarding. :( They are not really stiff at all. They are more middle of the road. My Atomics are really stiff, but they are 15's and the length difference is noticeable. I like to ride with the shallowest angles possible, so I stick with the Burtons. I really don't feel the need to have stiff boots in softies. Let me know when you can make it up.

There is no XL needed the L's go up to at least 15. My Atomic boots are 15's and my Burton boots are 14's. Both fit comfortably and it seems like I could go larger if I needed to. Right now, I ride Burton bindings on all of my soft boards. I really like them and will enjoy comparing these bindings to them this winter. Thanks for the offer on the Heads. I have an almost-new pair of UPZ's that I'm running right now, so I'm OK. I doubt that you would have any trouble selling them, though.

I'm thinking about getting a pair.

They never cease to amaze me.

I have been nothing but a perfect husband and have never said anything bad to my wife. ;)

The recent thread with the ditch vid made me want to ride one. Where would I go to find out more? Right now, there is a very good chance that I may go to both places. It only costs about $75 more to do both than to fly to one and come home.

Congrats. I wish Calvin good health and to sleep through the night ASAP.

Wow! Do you ride that place (Seattle Center)? I don't know where we will be staying yet - is it easy to get to? Is Seattle pretty board-friendly? The board will also be my main method of trans. while I am there.

My wife is going on two business trips in Sept. One will be to Seattle, WA and one will be to Scottsdale, AZ. I may go to both, but I think I will definitely go to at least one. Other factors may influence which city I go to, but I recently got a new skateboard and I would like to ride some fun stuff. I will have the days to myself in either city, so it will just be me and my board. Which city is better for skating? I would love to go to some skateparks while in either place. Any recommendations?

I'm finally getting back to the report. The Gravity Pool 36 was definitely the way to go. The longer wheelbase really feels like it is made for me. Gecko - good recommendations on the rest - it all feels great. I have a feeling that I would have liked one of those pool cues as well, but I really like being able to have a wide stance. Until yesterday, I have just been riding the board around - doing a few miles here and there and chasing my kids on their bikes as well. Yesterday my daughter and I went to a skatepark. I helped her descend the easy stuff and she had a blast. I was completely humbled b/c it has been so long (and I probably remembered myself as being better than I really was ;)). Never the less, I had an absolute blast. I just love riding this thing. I don't have any skate parks nearby or I would ride them all the time. I am still smiling about it today! I can't believe that how bad I sucked and how good of a time I had - it seemed to be inversely proportional. The best part was that we went really early and there was nobody there. We had the place to ourselves. Finally a kid came and I had him snap a pic. Elmira, NY:

If I remember correctly, the arrow is not pointing to an actual screw, but a nut that does not get turned, but rather rides along the long bolt which brings the toe and heel pieces in and out to adjust for sole length. Did that make sense? In order to take the heel and toe pieces off, you must move the bails all the way (I can't remember if it is all the way in or all the way out) exposing the bolts underneath that hold them on. You move them in and out by using the phillips head bolt on the front and back of the binding. I always used a drill driver to move the bails because they take a lot of turns to move them all of the way. Good luck.

That is true. Have you tried a DH bike? It makes a huge difference. An XC bike (any bike that is not a DH or FR bike) makes everything feel twice as steep.

Different mountains do it different ways. Here are some that I have seen: Gondola where you carry it with you Chairlift where you carry it with you (this sux) Chairlift where a liftie puts it on a separate chair (usually using a bungee) Chairlift where a liftie puts it on a separate chair with a bike rack Chairlift with rack on the side There is a bike rack that fits over the seat back of a chairlift and can be quickly removed. I think that this is the best way to go from what I have seen (if you don't have a gondola). Some examples:

For anyone else who may have been interested, the forum was www.hcor.net

Hey Chubz, I cannot remember the name of the Mid Atlantic DH forum I used to use. When I remember it, I'll let you know. I searched and could not find it. I am sure that you know about Blue this year. Let's hope that it catches on and they open with a real schedule in the future. Denton is on a 3 weekend schedule this year - not surprising given their location. Diablo and Seven Springs are the best bets in our area (7Springs is a little further). They are both open 7 days a week after July 4th. Highland, NH is supposed to be the best place around now. If you are on facebook, look me up. There are a lot of guys in the Philly and York areas that I do trips with every year. In Sept, we are going to Highland and either Diablo or Platty. We also go to Ray's at least once a year if not twice. There are also a bunch of local places that we shuttle. I believe that one is up your way. It is called Glenn Park and it is near E. Stroudsburg I think? That place has some insane stuff. The bottom line is that Diablo is the closest place and it has everything you could want in a mountain IMO. I love that place:

Yeah, that is unreal. It's talked about here: http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=25796

I finally got to step on some boards for reference, although they were longboards and not freestyle shapes. The important thing was that I got a feel for some different wheelbases. I found that I really liked, if not needed, a long wheelbase for my height/inseam. After talking to the guys at SoCalSkates I ended up getting a Gravity Pool 36. It has a 17.5" wheelbase which should be long enough. Nothing that I got on that was less than that felt right. I put on the Indy 169's and ****fire Speedlabs as well. Thanks Gecko and everyone else for your guidance. Maybe I'll report back on the results - I won't have the board for a couple of weeks yet.

That is great! My last boards were SMA Natas Kaupus (sp?) from aound 87? - I have both the street and the vert model. They are in my basement and that is what I play on with my girls! I did not know they were still around.

Gecko - pm sent. Let me know if you did not get it. Thanks.

I'm glad the review helped oldacura. Let me be clear about other types of boards. I am not advocating getting a Ripstick OVER getting an SL board, longboard, or any other type of board. I just wrote my experience with my own and how much I liked it. I have no doubt that I would LOVE a SL board or a longboard. However, I have 5 mountain bikes (DH, XC, FR, DJ, SS), more snowboards than I care to count, 6 tennis racquets, many other racquets (I love racquet sports), and I really want to get an oversized skateboard for riding parks/street/pipe. There is no way that I can justify getting any other equipment right now. The only way that I would get anything else is if/when my kids would get into that stuff. I don't have enough time to use all of the stuff that I have already. BTW, Gecko, the video was awesome. That looks like fun. KingCrimson - my guess is that the SL board would replicate short radius carves the way that the Ripstik replicates short radius skidded turns? I am sure that they are a blast.

Every day during the ski season, at every resort, people come in for lessons and the supervisor queries them about their abilities. Every day people respond saying that they know how to "carve". The problem is, that "carving" has become synonymous with turning a snowboard in the minds of the general public (much like the term "hang ten" just means surfing to those who don't know). In the same way, the caster board companies have mislabeled the sensation of being on a caster board. They say that it is like carving a snowboard. Anyone who has spent any amount of time on one knows that this is far from the truth. That being said, the caster boards DO emulate skidded turns. In fact, they emulate them very well. The first time I ever got on one was under the tutelage of a high level snowboard instructor (both hard and soft booter). I immediately remarked about how pumping it reminded me of making short radius skidded turns. For this reason, I picked it up almost immediately. Of course, on Bomber, "skidded turns" is like a four letter word. To the average snowboarder, "skidded turns" has more to do with forcing a board around and has nothing to do with the round, controlled turns that I am referring to. I believe, however, that there are great applications to skidded turns and that doing them can be as much as an art form as carving turns. How else are you going to look good in the bumps and/or on uber steep, tight trails? I recommend the Ripstik to a lot of riders to help them with several skills: upper and lower body separation, initiating movements from the ground up, sequential movements with the feet, etc. So here is my experience with the Ripstik and Wave board (I've got both): I got them to hang out with my 2 and 3 y.o. daughters as they rode their bikes around the park. After the riding experience I mentioned above, I had to have one. I rode with them quite a bit. Ripstiks are not that fast, so it was a good match. We kept it mostly on flat and gentle up and down hills 'cause the girls could not handle more than that. On the flats and up hills, I would pump using independent, sequential movements starting with my feet while trying to keep my upper body as quiet as possible. I quickly found out how well this thing could move with very little effort if I rode it like I would ride a snowboard through moguls. On the gentle downhills, I would simply open up my turns a little. I made short, medium and long radius turns that felt exactly like skidded turns on a snowboard. They were nice and round and could be adjusted for shape and size by using the same movements I would on the board - while skidding (you did catch that this thing is NOT like carving, right?). It was a real blast. My oldest daughter is now 5 and motors on her bike, so I am not as interested in trying to keep up with her on the Ripstik anymore. It is too much work to keep it going that fast on flats and up hills for any length of time. Last September, I attended a snowboard jump camp at the Lake Placid Olympic training center. I had arranged lodging with some guys from other areas that were all attending the camp. It was pretty wild that when I arrived, we all had Ripstiks with us. These guys are all experts at the art of carving and the art of skidding turns, so we decided to hike some of the hills around the Lake Placid area. Someone mentioned earlier that you would end up picking it up and walking. That was certainly true for these hills. I was not interested, nor do I think that I was physically capable of pumping up these mountains. So we hoofed it, and it was worth every step. It had been a while since I had that much fun. Again, we made short, medium and long radius turns, only now I was going down big hills and had a lot more speed. It was a blast and I really did feel like I was snowboarding. I have to mention that I have not done any SL skateboarding. I can see how this would be more like carving and I believe that I would really like it. I liked the versatility of the Ripstik, though. I feel like I can take it down any paved hill and keep it in a reasonably narrow corridor. I cannot do that on a skateboard, but maybe I could on a SL board? I am sure that I will try someday, but I can't justify another toy right now. Lastly, two weeks ago, I took the Ripstik to the skatepark. I had an absolute blast. It felt really good. My only gripe is that I could not tail drop. I am sure that someone can, but I almost ate it hard once and I just am not willing to take chances. That thing just feels terrible when you are tail dropping. For this reason, I just went to the places that I could roll in. Once I got that going, the thing felt like riding a snowboard through a terrain park - again, skidded turns only. One can easily pump the transitions of the bowls/ramps and continue through the park without having to kick or Ripstik pump. That is probably not very clear - I mean that you can pump it on the ramps like a skateboard. I really enjoy riding it. I do not ollie it - and I ollie pretty well on a skateboard. I do not do kickflips or grind either. I just enjoy making a lot of snaky, fun turns on hills, ramps, or wherever. I am not sure why it would be dangerous, but I agree with what you see. I thought the same thing. I was lucky enough to have a good snowboard instructor teach me, so he made sure that I was not doing all of that. It is rare to see anyone ride this way, though. If you think about it, the same is true with snowboarding - how often do you look around the mountain and see people making efficient and effective moves on their snowboards? That does not mean that "snowboards teach you nothing but twisting around instead of pressuring with your lower body". People are just really good at hacking their way through things to learn them. My dad took a video last year of my nephew and me riding a Ripstik. My nephew came down the hill first and he was doing exactly what you said - a lot of twisting, contorting, forcing the board around. I wondered if that is how I look (not knowing that I was on the video as well). I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that he got me as well. It seriously looked like I was descending on a snowboard - angulation and all - upper body quiet and doing everything with my lower body. As with anything else, it would not hurt to try before you buy, but if you have the money, I recommend it. IMO any cross training can help.

I heard a trainer this year (forget which mountain) say that every time one teaches a segment, they have to pretend that they are texting - only say as much as you would if you were texting. I'm with you Neil. I believe that as instructors, part of our practice should be learning to be concise. Some people are naturals at this. I am not. I work on it all of the time.

My kids are napping and it is raining, so I have time to reply. :) Seriously, if I was in a clinic like that, I would give the clinician hell. Of course, I know my clinicians nine times out of ten, so I am comfortable doing that, but still, they would fail a candidate for running a teaching segment like that. There is no excuse for them to do it. I have never been to an AASI clinic that was all talk and no ride. The PSIA clinics that I referenced above were very much like that. That was my big gripe. That is really too bad, Steve. Sorry it did not go better.

Yeah, I honestly think that I was just up too late on that one. That makes more sense. I can definitely see where you are coming from there. Hopefully that will change with progression of the sport and of the organization.

over on Epic. This guy is interested and rides Bachelor. Thanks.