BadBrad

Wow, Holly! That looks painful. Maybe you should just take up knitting for awhile.:)

You might also check out the ZipFit liners. I put them in my Burton Wind boots, and they are comfy and warm. They also made the boot noticeably stiffer than the stock Burton liners. They have a separate tongue piece rather than the wrap-around style. www.zipfit.com

Are there any photos of the 170 wide that someone can post or link to? Any full-length photos of any of the metal boards? I've only seen just the nose, and I really liked the look of the carbon top with a simple Madd decal.

That's saying a lot, since Madds are already known for phenomenal edge hold. Thanks for the info.

And how does that compare to their f2 flex?

Are the TC boards available in different stiffnesses like their regular alpine boards? They don't list any. If not, what weight range are they designed for?

I'd love to demo them, but unfortunately I won't make it to UT. I will be at SES, though. For width, 19-20cm seems to be the sweet spot for me. I have a 21.5cm board but prefer my 19 and 20cm boards, which give me angles in the 55-60 degree range. 18cm seems awfully narrow, though. Too bad that with a Madd I have to choose 18 or 21 when something right in between would be ideal.

On Madd's website, if you go to the shop link (http://www.madd1.com/Shop1.html) there are listings for an Alp 158 or 170 TC. I can't find anything on their site that says what TC is. The Technology link describes the R/CB but not the TC. Is this a new titanal option? Also listed is a 170w. I'm assuming this means wide. Anyone have the specs on this? Any recommendations for a 165 lb. east coast rider?

I live in Maryland, and a lot of my skiing friends don't ski locally at all. They do 2 or 3 weeks each season out west and won't consider going to one of the local areas. I try to do a few days locally before a western trip just to try to get into shape so I'll enjoy the trip more. As far as uncrowded areas, The Big Mountain is pretty nice. My sister lives near there, and I used to visit more regularly (before I got married). It was never very crowded. The worst I saw it was the week between Christmas and New Year's -- the locals were complaining that they had to wait 5 or 10 minutes in a lift line, which to me was nothing. I remember getting in a lot of vertical in a day -- you ski down long runs and then immediately jump on a high speed quad for a quick ride back up. I remember getting worn out pretty quickly there. The one drawback to Big Mountain is that they don't have a lot of sunny days in the winter compared to other western resorts.

Scott, I've had the same experiences as you, and I usually don't even go to the local areas on weekends anymore. I just don't have fun when it's crowded. However, I did go to Whitetail a couple of Saturdays ago. I got there before they opened and like you said it was nice for a couple of hours, then it started getting crowded. By noon I couldn't stand it any more and left. I've been working extra hours, hoping to be able to take a day off mid-week now and then. I was at WT on Friday, and hooked up with Rich. Local schools were out, so it got pretty busy for a weekday, but not too bad, but I still had enough by about 2:00.

This all makes sense, except that my other sports activities are not done sideways. Running, cycling, and pretty much everything else I do are symmetrical and forward-facing. Snowboarding is the one thing that is sideways for me, which might mean different requirements for left/right cant and lift. Now, other folks do other sideways sports like golf and martial arts, but those often involve raising up on the toes of the rear foot during a stroke/kick/punch, and they have a lot more ankle mobility, not locked into a binding wearing a rigid boot. williamblake, you sound very knowledgable on this subject. Have you studied exercise physiology and biomechanics?

I dug up this old thread because I've been trying to sort out my stance widths. I am 5'7" but have long legs (32" inseam) and a short torso. Shoulder width is about 17.5" and floor to knee height is about 20.5". For years I've been riding a mid-90's Alp 156, and I set the bindings at the reference stance for the board, which is 17", bindings flat (no cant). My other board is a 1999 UltraPrime 156, set at the reference stance of 16". This year I bought a 4WD 164, and its center stance is 19.5". The trend has gone to wider stances, so I set this board up at a 19.3" stance width. When I clipped in at home, there was a lot of pressure on the inside of the rear boot cuff, even with the boot cuff set at max inward lean, so I installed a 7-degree cant/lift on the rear binding and that felt balanced and comfortable. The last day I rode I started on the 4WD. It felt okay and I was making some nice carves. This was my 3rd day on that board. Then I switched to the UP, which I hadn't ridden in a year, and it felt so much better. More stable, easier turn initiation, more confident at speed, and just more fun. My knees did feel a bit crowded, but overall it felt great. I really expected to like the new Prior better than the old Burton, but that wasn't the case. Now I'm wondering if it's the board or the stance & cant setup. Another variable is the binding angles. I set them with the toe and heel at the edges of the board. On the narrow UP, this is 60f/57r. On the wider 4WD it is 54f/51r. I think that for next time I'm going to narrow the stance on the Prior to about 18" and remove the cant and see if that works any better for me. Any other suggestions?

I've actually been finding the opposite, which has been frustrating me. The faster I go, the bigger my turns get. On a moderate green/blue slope I can link nice tight turns, but on steeper slopes I gain speed and I can't get the board to turn as much. Even on the easier slope, when I get going fast I can't turn as tightly. I just can't seem to get the board way up on edge when I'm going fast.

I put ZipFit liners in my Burton Wind boots. They are noticeably stiffer than the stock Burton liners, but comfy and warm. I removed the laces and power strap from the liners, which reduced the stiffness to where I like it. Check them out at www.zipfit.com They aren't cheap, but you can often find new ones on ebay at a decent price.

I'm still experimenting with the cant thing myself. I rode with a rear cant when I first started on hardboots, then for years I rode with no cant, but with a narrow stance. The boards I rode were an UltraPrime 156 and an Alp 156, which have their center stance widths at 16" and 17" respectively. This year I bought a new 4WD, and its center stance width is 19.5". Based on the guidance here and on the carver's almanac, I set my stance width around 19.3" When I clipped in and stood in a balanced stance I felt a lot of pressure on the inside of the rear boot cuff, even with the boot cuff adusted at max inward cant. So I installed a rear cant and everything felt a lot more comfortable. However, I'm not sure if this is actually working better while riding or not. I think that next time I will try narrowing my stance down to about 18" and removing the rear cant and see how that feels.

Is it easier to flex the board into a tighter radius with a narrower or a wider stance? It seems that narrower would pressure the middle of the board more causing it to flex, but wider would allow you to bend the board by moving your knees, so I don't know which works better.

How about we just call it riding backwards?

Anyone know which boards we can expect to have available for demo at SES? How about Coiler? I know they are generally made custom for each rider, but there have been some for sale at some shops, too, so any chance of demos? Madd? Prior? Donek? F2? Others? My dream list would be: Prior 169 WCR (preferably metal) Prior 173 WCR (preferably metal) Coiler AM 169 Coiler AM 172 Coiler FC 172 Madd 158 (f1,f2) Madd 170 (f2) F2 Silberpfiel Donek Freecarve II 167

For me the switch was very natural. I started snowboarding in Sorel hunting boots, then got some hybrid boots that were a hard shell on the bottom and lace up at the top. I would lace them very tight and use a 3-strap binding with the shin straps very tight, and I still wanted more stiffness. So when I went to real hardboots and plates it just felt right to me. The one awkward part was the binding angles, especially at the rear foot. It's harder to get the board to skid with the steeper angles, so when you get on steeps or somewhere that you need to skid it will feel very strange at first. I was not a really good softbooter when I switched, so it should be much easier for you.

I might consider that if the 45-year old has a successful medical practice or is independently wealthy.

A couple of tips for teaching kids: 1. Criticize and punish every little failure. Kids need a lot of negative reinforcement. 2. Push them well beyond their limits. They can't know their limits until they have exceeded them. Just kidding, of course, but I have seen parents put their kids in sports, or music lessons, and do exactly these things.

Rich, I'm no expert, as you know, but I wonder if that Nidecker SL 158 would be too small for you. It gives a rider weight range of 60-80kg, and you are up at 90kg. If I recall, you liked somewhat relaxed binding angles, so you might like something a bit wider, too. Perhaps something a Donek Axxess 167 or 172, which would give you a significantly tighter sidecut than your WCR 177, or maybe a Coiler AM 169. Brad B.

I did a carving clinic at Big Mountain years ago and some of the guys on the U.S. Olympic team showed up for part of it. They were riding fakie down steep, bumpy terrain with little trees sticking up, on their Factory Primes. So it can be done, at least by guys who ride about 300 days a year, but not by me.

Thanks Allee and jtslalom. We are adopting from Guatemala. We recently got final approval by the legal system there, and now we have to wait another 6-8 weeks for the U.S. embassy to do a passport, new birth certificate, another DNA test (to make sure the baby wasn't switched), etc., so we should go down to pick him up around late February. I'm planning to be at SES -- looking forward to a solid week of carving before fatherhood hits.

I'm soon to be a new dad, and I was wondering whether it would be better to start a child on skis or a snowboard. I was thinking that it would be easier for me to hold him and control his speed if he and I were both on skis. I still have some time since the boy we're adopting is only 6 months old now, but I was thinking that I might need to buy a ski setup a few years down the road. And I don't understand your comment about being late to the sport of snowboarding. I also started about 20 years ago, but I was in my late 20's then, not 17 like you were, so I guess I started really really late. Now I'm a gray-bearded knuckle-dragging geezer. Based on the people on this forum, it looks as if there are quite a few carvers in my age group.