twelsch42

You mentioned the 4x4. I'm 160# and had no problem adjusting (first carving board) to a 169 4x4. At home the board seems stiff compared to anything else I've ridden. On the mountain I was in control. After a few days on it, I was having fun even in the bumps. twelsch

Yes, that course was LAME. It seemed like *I* could have competed on that course. I'm more surprised that with all those softboots nobody was sporting the catek FR2's. twelsch

I've gotten some HB and a 4x4 I'm working with, but I can't give up the softies - especially with the Catek FR2's I've recently acquired. Obviously I like to carve. The other condition of my riding, is that I like to get off-piste. Way off piste. When I ride the lifts, I'm looking for as close to a back-country experience as I can get (inbounds). I'm searching for powder, and riding extremely variable conditions. What I've found so far is that I've enjoyed riding an NOS (04 or 03 maybe) burton custom 162 (i know i know...). It's kind of a noodle, but I'm a lightweight (6'2" 160#). What I enjoy about it is how much it eats up the chop and variable conditions without bucking me around like my stiffer boards do. Also with some setback on my bindings I get some nice float in the powder. I can carve around on this board just fine, but I really really want more edge. I'm thinking that a Razor would be fun, am waiting to demo one, or hear some feedback. I've never ridden a Donek at all, so I'm not sure where in their stiffness scale I would like to ride. I know I could always have Sean soften things up for me, but a noodley Razor probably wouldn't make sense. I ride in CO, so demoing a Razor is probably an option at some point in the future. I would guess that the Donek Phoenix is probably close to the softish Burton I'm riding. And the 165 Phoenix may fit the bill as a replacement for what I'm looking for. And now we come to the Tanker and the ATV, both seem pretty close to what I'm looking for. What do you guys and gals think? 171 Prior ATV 23.5cm 139edge 165 Donek Phoenix 25.5cm 132edge 170 Donek Razor 25.5cm 147edge 172 Tanker 25.8cm 134edge I think that a Razor could fill out one end of my softboot quiver. But what about the softer days when I'm looking for something noodley like my Custom? Thanks for your help. twelsch

What kind of bindings are you sporting? Can't wait for your updated on how it rides.

I was able to get in on a shared housing in Breck. Something you might think about for next season. Some of the ~8 members use it for the weekends - I'm a weekday member. So far it's worked out great for me. Between savings on gas, and getting in extra days, I'm almost going to break even. The deal I worked out was $200 a month for a 6mo lease nov-april. Check out craigslist for shared housing. Are you in the Denver area? I usually make it up Monday, Tuesday, and or Wednesday. If I remember you ride on at copper ... I only have a 5mtn / loveland weekday pass. twelsch

Just spent the last four days on softies riding the FR2's. It was a whole new ballgame. I've never felt so connected to my edge without being in hardboots. I was getting way further over into my turns than I ever have in softboots. If I had more edge I felt like I could rail a board just as hard in stiffer softies as I could on a hardboot setup. With the lift/canting options I was never getting any heel lift. They even felt well riding 20" of powder in Vail's back bowls, definatly not overkill for powder riding. Felt great on the hardpack at Breck. Felt right at home on the windcrust/mixed conditions at Loveland. I don't know if I should be proud or not - but I also stuffed the nose (accident) of a stiffer 161 Option board I was riding. Pulled a full front flip, and *almost* rode out of it. First time I'd really experienced that. On hard or softies. I can't wait to demo one of those donek razors with the FR2's. Bottom line, if you want to carve in softies, these are the bindings. I've been riding burton cartel, so I can't compare these to the nidecker 800/900's. Anyone else having fun on these cateks? I'll be trying to make the Loveland carving session on the 19th ... but I'll probably have to work. twelsch

I read it to mean the 4 who fell down the most.

Actually the guy in the video is protected by a helmet he's wearing (hiding) under his beanie.

I was in your same boat. I had decided on the dee-luxe boots, a big factor was being able to install the BTS. Untill I tried everything on. The Head's felt like a much more serious boot. And the liner seemed to get a really good hold of my foot compared to the dee-luxe boots. I figure I can tweak with enough things to keep me busy all season. Next season I'll be less attached to my spanking new boots. I'll be more okay with drilling year-old boots to fit the BTS. The Head liners felt better than the thermoflex, to me. I wasn't going to cook some liners in hopes that they would someday fit better than the Head's did already. I thought the Head liners felt like a higher density foam than the thermoflex. twelsch

I'm getting noticable edge burn after just one day of easy carving. This is after riding on mostly manmade snow. Even after using some hard powder wax on my edges before a medium-hard wax on my whole base. I'm also fairly confident my iorn is hot enough, if anything approaching too hot. Should I be using different wax for sun-baked manmade snow? Do I need a good base structure so my wax will penetrate better? Anything else I'm missing here? I figured with the x-cold powder on my edges that I could atleast go 2 days without waxing considering how I'm just learning. Thanks twelsch

zoltan - why is the incline not a great powder tool for you? too stiff? twelsch

I tried both on last week. 325 and Stratos pro. The Head boot felt light years ahead of the 325. I thought the Head liner was much more robust than the 325's thermofit. And I really wanted to like the 325's better - but the Head seemed to have a much more modern fit. The 325's felt a little dated for sure. for what it's worth twelsch

Anyone going to be riding mostly weedays this year? I live in Denver, and will usually be driving up to summit co (staying in breck, willing to ski other suco resorts) on Mondays and driving home on Wednesday or Thursday, with a stop at Loveland on the way home. Untill the season really gets going, half-days at Loveland will happen frequently too. I'm happy to share rides if we can get our schedules to work out. Who's out there? twelsch

So I head up to Loveland with two sets of gear. I was worried about the snow conditions so I brought my soft gear for the first few runs. This way I could get my riding legs feeling good before I broke out my alpine gear. I was a little worried about everything. Could I get off the lift? Could I handle this huge (not really) board? Was everyone going to point and laugh at me? Are my boots to small? Would I get shin bang? Was my heel lift too much, not enough? Are my angles too steep? Lets just say I felt better on my first run in hardboots than I did all of last year on my softies. I was hooking up some 'norm' carves. Keeping my knees apart. Trying to stop any counter-rotation. I think part of what made the transition so natural was the idea of carving your downhill edge, which I practiced lots of on my softies last year. It is pretty easy to skid out on a heel side carve, what I've read is true. Although sometimes when I was expecting to skid out my heel edge actually hooked up more than I was ready for. I'm 6'2" and skinny, I was riding a 169 4x4 with stratos pro's. I never even thought twice about the board, it was not too long, or too stiff to learn on. I can't wait to get this board into the trees and into some thick crud to see how it really rides. The boots are going to need some subtle fitting / packing out / heat molding, to solve a few minor issues. I saw atleast two others on plates at Loveland yesterday. I'll be back up for an early half day tomorrow I think. twelsch

As most have pointed out, a softshell works great as part of a larger system. For me a hardshell never made sense because they're not able to allow enough moisture out while being active. Pit zips can help breathability, but you'll still need an insulation layer before your base layer. Most of last year riding in Colorado I was warm enough with a half-zip base layer, and a 200 weight polortec power stretch fleece style half-zip. Although most days I rode with an extra shell style jacket in my backpack for extra protection. This year my possible layers include: half zip base layer half zip polortec power stretch Softshell Thermawrap Action jacket (my newest addition) Lightweight rain shell style jacket I'm excited to see how the Thermawrap jacket performs. They are really lightweight, and really warm. Here's another resource, these guys take their gear to the extreme. More hiking, backpacking oriented, but lots of good info about how different materials perform. twelsch

Nice looking board - and well guarded. Check out the dog hiding just inside.

I see the opposite. With a soft tounge you would require a soft BTS, else your tounge would be the only thing that would flex. With a stiff tounge all the transfer of force would be through the BTS. If the tounge is not flexing, the BTS is. Either with soft springs or hard springs. Something else to think about: Remember how the deelux-hardboot site dosen't rank the stiffness as a quantative number for the flex of the 700 as they do for the 325 and 225. twelsch

I can find threads that say "don't ride in walk/powder mode on hardpack" - but the BTS system solves this particular issue if you need more flex. With all the people on 2nd hand rachles, I would expect to see threads titled "my old 224's blowed up on me" if there was this huge issue. I having a hard time with this. thanks twelsch EDIT: thinking a little more about the physics involved... I can see where when locked in a forward lean position, energy is going to be transfered right through the cuff bolts. This is the weakest link, if you are locked in on your forward lean. The stress on your boot is going to manifest it self as a loosening around the two side bolts/connection. With a softer BTS, you greatly reduce the stress you're asking the cuff bolts to manage. The energy is absourbed in the spring, not the plastic around the cuff bolt. I'm confident that at my weight (160) and with the BTS that I won't have any issues, atleast untill I can get more than 120 days on them. What do you think twelsch

Maybe I should have specified - I'm only talking about the new 07/08 Deelux models. BTS and RAB are the same idea right? The suzuka no longer exists in name, 700 is it's current equilivant. Can you direct me towards more info on deelux's current 225 and 325's blowing up? Maybe i've missed something. You're pretty much saying that the current 225's and 325's are not a safe boot. And I should look at something even more stiff than I was thinking before. Can you please explain a little more? The consesus so far is that the 225's would do me fine. I have a really narrow foot which turns me off from the Head boots. thanks for your help twelsch

This will be my first year on hardboots. I'm skinny and tall - 6'2" 160lbs. I'm starting with a 169 Prior 4x4. I like to ride all over the mountain, and am usually trying to keeping up with skiers. I prefer to ride the powder, but want to be able to get some G's on the groomers at the end of a tree run. I'm planning to use these boots next year on a split-board in the back country. After reading AllMountain's thread, I'm a little scared about trying to ride everything in anything but the most flexable hardboot. I'm planning to ride TD2's (yellow) on a yellow suspention kit, and a soft or medium BTS kit. If I wanted to spend all day learning to EC, this would be a no-brainer and I'd get the 325's... Thanks for your input. twelsch

I may or may not go looking for an instructor. I atleast want to have a few days on plates so my riding muscles are back in some shape. I plan on buying my boots and some bindings from your shop - when do you think you'll have your stock in for the season? thanks twelsch

I've got my pass, I've got my board (older prior 4x4 169), and soon I'll have a new pair of boots. Last year I rode +24 / +9 on a noodlely 162 (old stock 04, new burton custom) with stiffer Salomon boots, and some burton cartel bindings. The bindings have alot of forward lean, even set at zero. Last year was my first year snowboarding (I've never skied). I put in over 55 days riding the hell out of copper mountain. I have executed concepts behind 'the norm' and good at carving my downhill edge, and ankle based carves. I would guess I ride a more carving style than most other soft-booters. I can tell that because of my forward lean, I was riding with a more sitting back stance, than a standing tall stance, even with my shallow angles. If I tried to bring my back foot up past +15, I felt like I had no control. Now that I have had a summer to imagine myself in hardboots it seems like applying force to your edge with high angles is more of a lateral pressure (side of your leg/ankle). Where soft-boot / and shallow angles is more of a fore / aft pressure, being applied through your heels and toes. Does this sound right? This seems like one of the downfalls to soft boots, you can only apply so much pressure going right through our very flexable ankle. Any hints or insight on what to expect my first day on hardboots? Are there some bad habbits I should watch out for that I'll try to carry over from softbooting? What things can I practice to get my board angle steeper? This was one thing I don't think I ever did in softboots, was get a good angle on my board. What was your transition like? Were you riding softboots for a long time? How long was it untill you were feeling some G's? What board did you first put plates on? thanks for your insight twelsch edit: asking a few more questions

Height is a big factor. I'm really tall and skinny. 6'2" and 160lbs. I can get my mass further away from my edge (my head and shoulders, and arms are further away from my boots). This means I can apply more force to my edges. Our boots act as a fulcrum and we are the lever, with force being applied as gravitational forces, and equaled out transfering through our edges. Imagine someone 6'6" driving their upper body towards the snow in a nice carve. The forces acting on them (mainly gravitational) are amplified because of how much further away their head and shoulders are from their boots (the fulcrum). Someone who's 5'5" just can't apply as much force to their edges. But they can transfer that energy more quickly, and have an easier time balancing. Keep in mind this is applying some physics from college I took more than 10 years ago. I'm up to read other opinions. twelsch

I'm actually the proud new owner of the 4x4. And D-sub, just so you know, it's my first carving board. As if I wasn't excited enough for the upcoming season... twelsch

I'm going to drop for a new hardboot setup this fall and need some help figuring things out. I spent 50+ days last year riding a stiffer softboot setup and have decided I want to give hardbooting a try. I like riding trees, powder, and hiking for the sweetest snow. I spent most of my time last year on a few-years-old (but never ridden) burton custom 162. Never did this board feel too big, and I rode all over the mountain with ease. I've decided on (I think) either a donek axxess, or a prior ATV. My problem is that I don't know what size board I should make this transition with. And to complicate things, I'm skinny and tall. Think lanky. 6'2" and 160lbs. My height makes me think a 168/172 would be about right, but I'm worried about my weight not being able to flex a stiffer board. I'm leaning towards the ATV because, from what I've read, it's going to be more suited towards riding in powder than the axxess. The axxess being tuned more as board to ride the groomers, but can survive in the powder. I'll probably end up with the deeluxx 225's as I don't think I need anything too stiff because of my weight. I would rather support Donek, and the local Colorado scene. Maybe I could get an axxess with bit softer flex to suit my weight, and powder riding. Any ideas for me? Thanks for your help, twelsch edit: fixing AWD typo