ptran11

I trust J. Gilmour 100%. He isn't about time and making money, but was helping people get into the sport. Rep or not he'll help people with what every gear they have. For my 2 cents, I was riding on gear that was at least 5 years newer than him and his technique dropped my jaw. He sided with catek but focus on technique as the essential. J. Gilmour can ride anything because of technique and thats how I would like to ride. If you need certain gear to ride comfortably to fit your needs make it known

See if theres any boot fitters in your area. They will be able to maybe get you a liner that is better, exact size, and tune it so you have the perfect fit. I needed to have some inserts placed after molding to get the right fit so no liner would have been right for me out of the box I've heard from another bomber that she got a ski liner that was molded and fit better from a boot fitter. I would have done the same if the standard liner didn't work after customization

As far as equipment is concerned... For me, riding a softer board helped alot. I felt like I really had to have my technique spot on every time with a board that was too stiff. A softer board was more forgiving, As far as technique... I found that going down the hill faster helped me. In the beginning I was going too slow trying to work on technique that it made it harder to transition between turns. Not saying you should blast down the hill out of control but challenge yourself to go alittle faster.

I'm no professional but you should ask a boot fitter. In the mean time duck tape is what I would put on the liner to prevent water getting into the liner core for a short term fix. Macgyver style.

A metal board will definitely help you. I just switch with a Coiler this season. I'm progressing slowly too so I know how you feel. The metal board really soften the ride, definitely less chatter so I felt less nervous to push my technique a little more aggressive. Some one else described a similar situation in another thread. I was riding through what looked like some chopped up snow but when I went down the mountain I didn't really feel it was choppy at all and felt confident going down the run. At the end of the run my wife (on a none metal board) said the run was rough and pretty bad.

I heard a kid say this on the chair behind me, "its like a mono-ski but with a board."

GeoffV, thats awesome that you got some people to try out the sport. Who would have know the sport can grow from the restroom.

Summit county hasn't got much snow this year yet. I would check the weather and the current base. The snow storms have missed Breck, Keystone, Vail, and Beaver for the most part. Vail has a base of 25" and Breck has a base of 44". The season has been strange. I would check out aspen and other resorts around Colorado and its snow base.

I'm not against all soft booters but there are lot of them out there to make a reputation for the community. Every day I'll see a person on softies spray an innocent person with snow with a hard turn and just ride off. Happens to me on occasion even when I'm off to the side and away from the main traffic. Don't get me wrong, my wife and a couple good friends ride softies. Nonetheless I can't wait to hear part 2 of the story. I have a feeling the resort will go to one extreme or the other on whether to exonerate Fin or not. Just a guess.

these patrol guys are all over the board. I've seen a newbie skier stop by the "slow" signs next to the MW people. A jubber on softies plows and takes out the sign and takes out the skier and the MW person saw the whole thing. The skier is about 15 feet from where he was standing and the jibber was 20-25 feet from the point of impact indicating the hit was at high speeds. The hit was on a green slow as well. The jibber gets up and goes down the mountain without saying a word. The skier asked the MW person to do something and he says the guy on softies wasn't going fast. I forget if this was at Breck or Keystone.

on a busy day like the weekends its sometimes hard too look up the mountains because of so much traffic. I usually just wait for the rush to pass but even then thats not full proof. I hate it when skiers use people as passing pylons, its just dangerous. Anyways. I hope you heal fast and have as much fun with your kid during the holidays.

Hi, Do you guys have any experiences with the level of traffic on Thanksgiving or the day after to go from Denver to Vail or Breck? I normally leave by 6 to avoid traffic but if there isn't too much traffic I've love to sleep in a little more.

Wow, seems like lots of Coilers coming in. I figured that I should post mine too. Just came in 2 weeks ago.

hi Lili, I was in a similar position. My lady wanted to switch to snowboarding, I had to do it to otherwise we'll never get down the mountain together while she was learning the sport. I some how found alpine carving on the internet and quickly bought used gear. I knew just from watching the videos that I'll be hooked and I was. I took the route to learn snowboarding on hard boots right away and by passed softies. While it was super challenging and painful it was fun. I can't wait until winter. I'm ready to hit the slopes last month.

is that board goofy or regular?

I used to ride in Tahoe alot, heavenly was one of my favorite spots. I can't stand icey conditions and the drive (4-5 hours) made it not worth it for me to go given the traffic and conditions. Having living in Colorado recently, I think I super spoiled now. I don't know what it is but the snow just seems to be softer (less icey) here than in Tahoe.

I think most people's comments are good and should be included. The OP should compile a collective list so we don't get repeats if the thread blows up. My two cents is to show video or picture what is good and what is bad technique.

my foot is 26.4 MP. I dont' know the width size, I just know its wide proportionally to the length. I hope you find a good fitting boot soon.

Have you seen a boot fitter? If you're going up a size then I'm worried that it might be too big length wise so you'll still have fitting problems. I had 28MP sized boots. It was fine but as my technique got better my foot started cramping more. Thats why I went down a size. I know I have a wide foot because my toes would always hurt and go partially numb in my hockey boots as they were getting cramped.

You're definately right about the toe section. I have a wider than normal toe section and the 700t fit just right in the toes and the length of the foot. I have skinny calves so I'm finding that I need to lock the buckles all the way despite moving the buckles back from the factory position. I like the asym flex as my knees don't hurt as much as my old boots (I just recently upgraded to the 700t's). Since they don't hurt as much I might be able to get my binding angles a little higher without knee pain. That is just my opinion, I'm sure other people don't like the asym shell.

Great work Jack! Should this be sticky'd or put in an article on BOL?

thats funny. They talk like its the first sport to think about adopting helmets. I play hockey and its mandatory and if it wasn't I'd still wear one, even if it impedes my vision. It doesn't impede vision but cranial damage.

If you need to justify it think about the hospital cost. My ER co-payment alone (less than $100) can buy a cheap helmet.

IMHO, if the lift attendants keeps asking you, you should try to promote the sport and tell him what you're riding really is and how he can learn about it. You can tell him what it can really do besides speed. I'm all about promoting the sport the best you can. I hope I don't get flamed for this, The rest of the post have gone to technical board specs. If you're talking to a lift attendant or a random person in line you don't got the time to explain it to convince them enough to convert. Keep it short and simple to promote the sport, you only got a couple seconds sometime to promote the sport most of the time. Sometimes the bes tyou can do it point them in the right direction to do the research to get interested