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Busted! I was just trying to keep a long story short. If you want the gory details, here it is. At Apex Sport, we wanted to carry one binding model to go with our soft boot boards. One and only one. We started with Burton Diodes but we heard too many reports of busted ReFlex discs and felt the high backs got too soft. So we bought a bunch of high end bindings as replacement candidates. Union Charger, Drake Podium FF, Ride El Hefe, Nidecker Carbon and a handful more that I can't remember. After a lot of demo riding, we narrowed it down to the El Hefe and the Podum. They were both good but in the end the Podium won out after I saw that both Maelle Ricker and Kevin Hill were using them at Nationals. So there you have it. As for the unnamed Canadian rider who won a certain colour of medal at a particular sporting event on some mountain north of Vancouver using the Apex Race Plate, he asked me to remove his name from our website and I did so. Simple as that. No conspiracies. No lawsuits. It was understandable since he runs a competitive business. You're gonna like the Drakes. No nonsense, strong, stiff.

I stand corrected. The Ride El Hefe is a fine binding and the multiple footbeds are a bonus. Irrational personal preference led me to keep the Drakes and ditch the El Hefes.

I owned both the Drakes Podium FF and the Ride El Hefes last year. They were both good, stiff bindings. I stuck with the Drakes and sold the Rides for two reasons. 1) I preferred the carbon highbacks over plastic. Now mind you, the Drake highbacks are not 100% carbon fiber. I can tell there is some fiberglass in the laminate. But, they *looked* stronger. 2) I prefer the 4x4 pattern on the Drake to the 4x2 pattern on the Ride.

At SBX Canadian Nationals last year, I walked the board racks with a clipboard. Keep in mind this is not a World Cup event. Riders ran the gamut from WC regulars to 90 pound juniors. 23 Burton Cartel 18 Burton Diode 4 Burton Genesis 3 Burton C60 3 Now Drive 3 Union Force 3 Drake Podium 2 Burton Malavita A whole bunch of one-offs. Burton is tops because of availability and because you can get parts anywhere. Cartel is popular simply because they are cheap and functional. Talked to the coaches and Drake Podium is the high end binding of choice and Cartel is entry level. Only 3 Drakes on the racks mainly because there are so few shops that carry them. When you hear about highbacks breaking, that is usually from landing jumps. I find it hard to believe you're going to break them while carving.

Looking good Gabe. I'm addicted to my Carver and take it everywhere with me. I know a place where we can ride our Carver rain, shine or snow if you're looking to ride.

You might be able to tell by the lack of wear that I can't longboard worth a damn either. I was going to hang this on the wall but decided that would be criminal. It needs to be rode.

I had this made custom by Matt Napier, a well known custom longboard shaper in Canada. It's a dropthrough model. WB: 30.25" Length: 39.25" The deck, trucks and wheels are in mint shape. There is some discoloration at the ends from some adhesive foam that I had added as nose and tail protection. No crashes. No curb hits. Napes charges $650 for the deck only so I am thinking USD$325.00 for the complete board. The Apex sticker is removable but that might lift off some clearcoat so I left it on.

Freecarve and Kessler Ride are sold. Nirvana VCAM still available. Note, this is .3 Titanal construction - the sweet stuff.

1) 2017 Kessler Ride 163cm. SOLD 2) 2016 Coiler Nirvana VCAM Gecko Special Edition 174cm. Waist width: 20cm, Sidecut: 12-14m, Taper: 10mm. USD$650 without Gecko plates. USD$900 with used Geckos in mint shape. Ridden two days. One small scratch on topsheet between the binding inserts. Otherwise mint. The storage wax is still on it. 3) 2008 Coiler Freecarve 173 with Titanal. SOLD

Sent you a PM JohnnyH. Sorry for the delay. I was out of the country.

I'll just jump in here, uninvited to say that these are vastly superior to the VIST in terms of build quality and usability. You're not relying on self-tapping ski screws to keep you attached to the snowboard.

Still available. Anyone at $150? That's Canadian dollars. Plus shipping.

Boots are sold

One of the things I really dislike in a ski resort is marketing hyperbole. You know, overly optimistic snow reports, trumped up numbers of trails and vertical drop. Killington is one of the worst in this regard. Here's the true vertical of all New England ski resorts: http://mountainvertical.com/best-skiing-in-new-england.php Killington claims a vertical drop of 3050 feet. The true vertical that you can actually ski, top to bottom is 1645.

Combo these boots with the Ride El Hefe bindings I just listed and get the boots for $75.

SOLD 2015 Ride El Hefe bindings in size large. These bindings are highly regarded for quality and response. Excellent for soft boot carving. They come with 3 pairs of footbeds to give you 3, 4 and 5 degree canting. Plus a nifty case for storage or travel. In excellent shape with the only faults being a) minor separation of some of the webbing on the toe cup (third photo), b) some inner liner wear on the the ankle straps and c) a little dent in the rubber at the top of one high back (fourth photo). Comes with two extra ladder straps and screws for conventional and channel (Burton) boards. CAD$200.00 plus shipping. Buy my Flow Hylite Focus Boot with the bindings and I'll drop $25 off the set. Boot listing.

Price reduced and formatting cleaned up. Price reflects condition (toe cuts). These were $300 new.

All outerwear sold or no longer available. Zipfit liners still available. Listening to offers. Review of the Zipfits here: http://www.epicski.com/products/zipfit-liner

Sold. Yes, the run a little large. I am a 34 and they were too big. These are 2014 or 15 line.

How did it compare with the Fish for tree riding?

Answered.

Killington blows massive chunks. I think we are all in consensus. I've been to Jay Peak, Killington, Smuggler's Notch and Stowe. Of the four, Jay Peak is tops but it's at the northern most part of Vermont so a long drive from DC. Stratton is supposed to be good but I wouldn't know because it poured rain the entire ECES last year. If you can make it up to Maine, Sugarloaf is probably the best riding east of the Rockies. Loads of variety and a carver's delight.

The purge continues. Zipfit Gara liners, 27.5, excellent condition with extra tube of cork. $200. FA Design Subsonic jacket, red/grey, size large, small cut over left pocket (see third photo). Otherwise excellent. SOLD FA Design Subsonic pants, red, size large, never worn, $110. Pants look pink in the photo but they are red like the shoulders on the jacket. SOLD FA Design Subsonic pants, grey, size medium, never worn. $100. Pants have masking tape residue on them. Will come out with some Goo Off and a wash. (see photo #6) DECIDED TO KEEP THEM FA Design Subsonic jacket, red/grey, size medium, like new. $150. DECIDED TO KEEP THEM All prices in Canadian rubles.

Sorry about the line spacing. Tried to fix it but it doesn't seem to take.

Price reduced from $150 to $100 CANADIAN dollars + shipping. Would like to see these gone. 2014-15 model. Purchased in September 2015. Rode them two days and decided to stick with my broken in, Burton Driver X. These are rated an 8 out of 10 in stiffness by Flow. Very light and have the benefit of being a compact build. They fit nicely into medium sized bindings. I am a size 10 (mp 27.5) and these boots fit me perfectly. I cut of of the toes them on the edge of the snowboard while riding the lift. Most of the cuts are just scratches but one of them cut through the top skin of the pleather. Close-up photo below. Video review here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/yTW3M7LszW0