leeho730

PM me, a very happy Donek customer. Been using free carve metal and incline in South Island and so far so good :-) And Turoa is better for carving...

:lol:

Thanks! How's Ruapehu looking? My Hutt had snow but considering weather it's gonna melt anytime soon.

I would have loved to buy Coiler AMT! But I live in NZ, shipping cost would be prohibitive...

Perhaps the best compromise to ask coiler to copy shape of dual u want? That way u get metal construction and dual shape?

Well, in Thredbo I stuck to Cruiser lift.... So I'd be happy with both boards.... But if I wanted to go to supertrail (icy!) more often, I'd go for coiler metal softie...

Assuming coiler softie is similar to donek incline... Dual is lighter, nimbler, poppier, free ride-oriented whereas incline is heavier and beefier, carve-oriented. I'd say it's like comparing Mazda roadster to V8 Commodore. I like Swoard when I want to turn super tight or go to park or just play; incline is more heavy duty softie carving board that I can venture off-piste quite well or try kickers. I respect Donek's freeridability, I even smoked other riders on pow day during the instructor course. On chopped powder, they're about same. Both need a bit of weight shift when riding powder. For me, incline is more pleasing than dual. BTW, donek is more durable than dual.... So it really depends on what you want... Free ride board that can carve or softie carving board that can freeride? PS. For both boards I use burton/ibex on duck or bootout-less forward stance and yellow/yellow BTS on Raichle 123.

BTW... I'll never tell people to wear airbag or not.... I will PERSONALLY wear airbag pack, but we are adults and we should make our own choices, calculate risks... I believe in free will... It's like helmet.... Wearing helmet is beneficial.... And I have argued benefits of Helmets a few years ago here.... But in no way I'm going to tell people to always wear it while skiing/boarding... In no way I'm going to say those died should have worn airbag packs... They have made their choices and I respect that... If people decided not to wear helmets or airbag pack after calculation or risks or due to personal preference, I respect that also... In my post in no way I have opined that everyone who go to backcountry SHOULD wear airbag pack... Or snowboarding in general.... Snowboarding is a hazardous activity, but that doesn't mean people have right to tell us not to snowboard... What can I say I believe even Queen herself cannot force us to wear helmets or airbag packs or forbid us from snowboarding... What got me was... probably a misinformation that airbag pack does not benefit.... Call me picky or pedantic... Respect to you all...

big mario, True that.... One guy equipped with air bag didn't survive... others equipped with avalung (breathing device) didn't survive... Canadian Air Bag Study also noted that people still died with air bag.... Although survival rate increased from 56% to 83%... Beneficial or not? People should make up their own mind in regards to this... Well I'll use the phrase "potentially save" instead of "prevent"... I'm getting one... Backcountry is a very dangerous place... Need all the help I can get to potentially save my life... 83% sounds much better than 56%... As I said before... Brain is our number one weapon against avalanche (i.e. avoid getting caught in avalanche at all cost) but nevertheless backcountry is a very dangerous place and and I am going backcountry boarding so I need all the help I can get... always need to think the worse case scenario... Perhaps I'm super freaked by avalanche enough to invest $500-plus just for the pack just for a bit of chance of survival and potentially save my own life (Canadian study suggests one additional life could have been saved with every additional 3.7 victims equipped with avalanche balloon packs), but each to their own... And I kinda agree with lowrider.... The mentality of nanny state is becoming more prevalent... Perhaps in the future all patrol/backcountry guides/heli operators may need to be equipped with airbag pack as their standard equipment and insurance companies may refuse claims if snowboarders/skiers are found skiing in backcountry area without airbag pack... Insurance companies are especially pedantic with stuff like that.... Bugger...

First of all, my condolence to the family members who are affected by the accident... The number one cause of death during Avalanche is suffocation (up to 75%, http://www.ravallirepublic.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/article_a0b12a3a-237b-11e0-a516-001cc4c002e0.html), blunt trauma being the second. And the chance of survival is related to how fast victims can be dug out (http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Avalanches/Avalanche-Survival-Curve). I mean, it seems that the sole survivor that was dug out in 2 hours was not shredded (I meant no disrespect to the survivor) when faced with such avalanche.... The other two victims who were buried 12 feet deep were tangled with one another, but not dismembered... It is because humans are remarkably resilient... And flotation device ensures that victims of trauma are found early and can be sent to hospital for treatment... Airbag will not prevent all deaths from all avalanche incidents, but nevertheless it helps rescuers recover victims faster which improves chance of survival can prevent death.... I'm definitely getting one, BCA 32L one. There is no doubt that brain is our number one weapon against avalanche, but it always pays to be prepared. For example the group in Loveland accident were no beginners but expert boarders/skiers who were well prepared and thought they were crossing on relatively safe area... Like car accident, no matter how carefully we drive, there will always be accidents and seat belts and airbags will improve our chance of survival, because unexpected things can and do happen... I' like to recommend the following link: Canadian Avalanche Air Bag study http://blog.oplopanax.ca/2012/11/canadian-avalanche-air-bag-study/ Big mario, sorry the article doesn't contain info regarding whether the group had equipped airbag or not, doesn't state it. The group was super careful when they were riding, riding at the bottom and fairly spaced out... Probably what you mean by is that Loveland ski patrollers are equipped with air bags? (http://www.mammutavalanchesafety.com/2012/12/loveland-ski-patrol-adopts-avalanche.html) Who knows... In the future airbag may become a standard equipment for backcountry guides...

Absolutely better than nothing. Pro-skier survived avalanche while two other were killed: http://www.budgettravel.com/blog/stevens-pass-avalanche-this-air-bag-backpack-saved-a-life,12223/ 3 killed while one with airbag survived: http://www.npr.org/2012/02/20/147164902/science-behind-avalanche-air-bag-saves-skier http://www.elysesaugstad.com/2012/11/abs-avalanche-airbag-backpack-review.html

I'm getting backpack with airbag to prevent this....

Snowed last week in New Zealand I began waxing my boards Now 9 degrees

I put blue/yellow (top/bottom) on front and yellow/blue at the back. But it depends on what I want to do. Also depends on cant/lift... Too many variables.... But in general the more I ride, the more I tend to go for stiffer springs....

A very good question! I recon it's about 90 or lower for 06/07 model with TF liner (much softer than my 110 ski boots) but probably contacting Deeluxe directly may answer your question better...

Am using zipfit, one happy customer. I even downsized from 25 to 24. Used thermoflex, Palau, wasn't happy. They would pack out really fast and didn't have enough foam on areas I wanted for my wide feet with skinny ankle. But it really depends on why you get heel pain. Can't really tell if zipfit or foam injection liner would help unless a professional boot fitter who really knows what he's doing has a really good look. I was lucky to have former Olympic skier turned boot fitter to fit my zipfit liner for a reasonable price... Consider myself one lucky SOB. It also seems that your orthotics may be a bit too high? I sent my hardboots along with my foot mould (I had podiatrist to make me one using carbon fibre) requesting that heel lift be kept minumum and that also seemed to help a bit. The kind of orthotics made by ski boot fitter is, well, I'd say feels a bit cheapo IMHO... But that's just me.

I still use level wrist protector on my marmot glove. Works well, low-profile.

Hi, I'd like the buckle set (1st photo) and Stratos sole set (3rd photo). How much will they be? Can you ship to Oregon? How much? Can I pay by PayPal? Thanks!

I would like to ask a question. I'm thinking of purchasing UPZ 24, I have size 25.5 feet with mid-wide toe box area (100mm). The liner will be zipfit gara for lowest volume. Have been using Raichle boos 24 with no problem. Have anyone downsized UPZ boots? Does it work? Thanks!

It's possible to bring the 6 degrees disks to the mechanical engineer and get the disk precision milled to 4.5 degrees... Added advantage is that since the cant disks are cast they're not really flat but by milling them you ensure they're dead flat. Once I asked the engineer to shave the cant disk by 2mm... It may cost quite a lot though, I remember costing me 80-100 bucks for 2 disks.

ACSS, cut wings and removed bits of plastics. But with zipfit liner it is relatively stiff and I love it...

I have to sympathise with the ski resort on some of those... For example a snowboarder got injured in the park in 2007 and got 14 million dollars in damage from the resort (http://www.denverpost.com/skiing/ci_5682314). There has been some chairlift accidents, most famous one being Vail skier dangling upside down with exposed backside. People can sue resorts for all sorts of damage nowadays and resorts have to protect themselves as well. What can I say, we're living in increasingly politically correct societies where every snickers bar says it contains peanuts.

Like helmet I say. Each to their own (like I stated on the previous post), we are all adults so unless ski area forces we should do what we want and be responsible for consequences. It's not like safety belt which is enforced by the law.

So RC 8 replaces ATB...?

3. Probably reason leash is not advised for heli boarding is because during avalanche people would want to lose the board but with leash people would get dragged down even if they managed to unbuckle both of their bindings in time? Also even if one loses the board there is pretty much no one to hurt.