Phil

"IMO, if it has bumps, it can't be that steep. Really steep stuff can't hold bumps. Hell, it barely holds snow." Man it must be nice to have good snow. Bumps tend to get longer and crappier on steeps, but come on out east and we will show you what we are talking about. Maybe it is not your snow, but your lack of crowds all going down the same 50' wide slope. I was on all of the mogul runs at Gore when I was there last year. I can't remember which was Rumor. I generally don't pay attention to names when I go places. Anyway, I would second the boot question. Your E-deck is great. Unless your boots are just too stiff, you probably need to work on your technique a little more. If it is causing you physical pain, you may want to forego rumor altogether. It is not worth getting hurt. Did you find that you were able to do this stuff in your six years on softies?

Tommy D. If you look at the times we posted, they are the same. I was not disagreeing with you intentionally, we just posted about the same board at the same time. (with different opinions)

5' 18" Just a little humor. This is how I say my height. Kevin Garnett tells people he is 6' 13". A lot of times when you say 6' 6" people are like "whoa". If you say 5' 18" they have to think about it first. No typo.

I have been on F2, Nidecker, and Volkl (among others that are not around anymore). I am 5' 18" and 230 lbs. F2 gets the nod for me. My SL 163 is done. Next year I will probably get the 166. Nideckers were alright. The Volkl does not seem to be fit for big guys. The F2 has been my little baby for a long time.

"Snow is not a plain ultrahard surface." Maybe not where you ride :D

Here is the story from the B website: "Back in 2000 I read an email from Rider Services about a customer that asked what the advantages of 3D® over 4x4 were. The reason we use (and legally protect) 3D® is that it gives us a weight advantage - we can get more stance options with fewer inserts than any other pattern on the market...less inserts equals less weight. After pondering this, I showed our board design engineer how we could get a larger stance range with smaller stance increments and less inserts by rotating the insert patterns 60 degrees. It turns out that when 3D® was first developed, the design team had a similar idea, but canned it because the holes for the toe-heel adjustment were too close to the edge of the disc and therefore not up to our strength standards. But we persevered, pushing it even further we eliminated an insert all together. If 3 screws are better than 4, then 2 are better than 3, right? The board team laid out the straight-line insert pattern and found that they could get 1/2" stance increments (instead of 1" in 3D®). But there still wasn't any way to mount the damn binding to it. After developing a disc that passed both the Baseplate Spin test and the ISO Static Bend test, feedback from early on-snow prototypes said there was some "wobble". After many different designs, countless hours on snow, and several local beverages we eventually eliminated the wobble. Used and abused by our UnInc team, 2X is now available on our entire 05 UnInc board line. And the saga isn't over. We are continually testing and re-testing, collaborating with our board, binding, and boot teams to create products that change the way we ride."

I posted this prototype pic last April, and as Frappe said, everyone thought that it was an April Fool's joke. I would say that the joke is on you guys, but I think that the joke may be on whoever buys this thing. At least it is limited to the UnInc. This prototype is a Custom. Then again, who knows. Maybe there is some merit to this. Being a big guy, I won't try it until it is thrash tested and comes up proven to last. Any innovation is scoffed at when it first comes out. Five years from now we may find Fin manufacturing 2X plates for the TD3's.;)

The UPZ boots have this. It is adjustable forward and backward flex. I am a set it and forget it kind of guy, so I never even messed with mine, but I am sure that you can dial your boots to have the exact flex that you want. http://users.uniserve.com/~yoja/boots.html

I have known a few that have ejected as well. I would steer clear.

What I was saying is similar to gdboytyler. I have been doing rails for years on both of my F2's. There is very little damage on either of them. Even on boardslides, as long as you do it in the same place every time, you should not have a problem. If you want to get into nose presses and tail presses, then you will probably start seeing damage. Edges only get jacked when you make a mistake - so don't make a mistake right?;) Anyway, my boards still carve as well as ever. I wouldn't ride anything but my F2's with hardboots anyway.

If your F2 is doing it, then you already know the answer. My SL and GS boards are both F2 as well. They both work as well as can be expected on rails. Being that no alpine board is really set up for rails, I would say ride the rails with whatever board you are on.

My buddies and I have been playing games with circles for years. Beware - this should go w/out saying. My friend went to do a circle around me when I had finished mine. I am a big guy, and I blocked his view. He ended up going uphill full speed into someone coming downhill full speed. They both laid there for a while, but they were O.K. their boards were not as well off. It should go without saying that if you are going to do this, make sure there is no traffic, and always look uphill before you go uphill. Going around traffic or groups is another hazard because you cannot always see around them, so make sure that you are aware of traffic on the other side.

BTW - I like to call it carving a circle. It is just my preference, but saying 360 makes it sound like air 360. Yeah Barry, I hope that we can hook up now that I am going back.

Scott, RT has plenty of snow so no worries. I am heading back to work tomorrow after an extremely expedited recovery from my knee and shin injury. Warm weather just means less clothing and different riding tactics. I have to light carve it tomorrow, but I can't wait.

Dianne Roffe was telling me the other day that on the circuit, they are using low 20's for GS.

And two to hit "new thread" while meaning to "post reply":D

"A carve-snowboard is the ONLY equipment that holds edge so well that you can make a carved 360, or even 180!" That's a thilly thing to thay don't ya think? :) I have done two 360's on skis (720) - mach 10 into the flats and letting it rip. I was demo'ing some volkl slalom skis and I just knew they could do it. I still have yet to try that on a board. I don't know why, but I just have not. I have done 360's more times than I can count on ANY gear, which I think that you will find a lot of people in this community that have done it on any gear. I have even done it on my new park/pipe noodle that I got this year. It is not about the equipment (although I never did it on straight skis) - it is about the technique, and sometimes the location that you do it. Some locations are more conducive than others, but unless something is waaay too steep, or just too narrow, I believe that it can be done on most slopes. If I have done it on skis (which I am not very good at) I would bet that there are quite a few guys that can carve a 720 on boards as well. Anyone, anyone?

I don't know specifics, but you can check out www.usasa.org

I am going to say something to the people that have already posted here only. Disclaimer - I want no troll wars over this!!! How many of you guys that hate your softboots are riding "face the nose"? A lot of times I see hardbooters go to softies and try to face the nose. Because of the lower angles, it creates far to much torsion in your body to ride effectively. Of course this is only one possible answer to a complex issue. Riding hardboots should only improve your softy riding, not hurt it. Once you can better understand how your body makes the board work, you should be able to apply it to all setups.

I voted any/any/any, but that makes me somewhat hypocritical because I keep four boards at the mountain at all times. I rarely switch once I go out though.

You've been riding the wrong mountains.

I figured that you had the kind of sleeve that did not have a bevel built in, but just raised the file. In this case, moving it closer to the edge would give you a higher angle. Many times when people ask questions, they are given answers that do not pertain to their question. That is what I thought had happened here. Since you thought that moving it closer would make a difference, I thought that you had the cheap sleeve. Apparently you had the one listed above, and my assumption was wrong. I was not ribbing you, but the other guys - and they turned out to be answering your question correctly. I was wrong.

I know a guy that uses a guide that is just a slip on sleeve that does not have a bevel. It just lifts the file a little bit. That is what it sounded like you were talking about. So you are saying that there is a built in bevel? Sorry for getting smart guys.

Hey Fleaman, I don't know the answer to your question - and for that I am sorry. Isn't it funny how quickly people underestimate your intelligence when you ask a question?

There is a lot of good advice here. If I were you, I would get a set of late model Burton SI bindings. They really have addressed most of the issues with play. Since she is used to them, it would even be better. The PSI's were the worst. They would break springs left and right. I am guessing that most people who had breakage issues had these. The older SI's were not nearly as durable as the newer model SI's. I have been getting a new pair every year, and they have really improved. Make sure that you get the newer ones though. There are a lot of old ones that people would probably like to unload and pass off for new ones.