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looks like a recent upstart (as far as i can tell) with a lightweight design. not much info other than a sparse fb page. good to see more players in the game. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hoof-Bindings/147125838682355

i tried mine last week out of curiosity (haven't ridden it for a couple years). wasn't really working for me; perhaps too wide, not enough edge. a better softboot carver perhaps. the atv is much better for my needs. good seeing you on the hill; i also ran into your student in the lodge. how'd it go? conditions were interesting. ~3" of groomed schmoo on hardpan. fall-line slarving seemed to be the technique du jour.

how's the vsr? contemplating a mid radius freecarve playboard.

roy - what's the consensus on those two boards? i'd like to pick up something with very similar numbers...

good point, aa. i saw a freestyle competitor at a local event a couple weeks ago laying down a few sweet ripper carves (prior to entering the course). not sure if he was inspired by the (small) group of hardbooters that were on the hill that day, or that's just how he rolls, but it was great to see. technique trumps hardware for sure.

i was wondering whose blue coiler that was i saw against the lodge... yeah, early am was fun enough, despite the flat light. weekends are all about hitting first lift then leaving before lunch, so it seems.

i'm mainly concerned that dwindling numbers will fail to support the few very small manufacturers that currently exist, and the failure of just a couple key companies (ie, boot, binding) could effectively kill our niche altogether. the industry seems tenuous at best. and: it's just fun to see other like-minded people on the hill. perhaps we're just freaks, but i don't know of any other sport that's so ridiculously fun, yet unacknowledged by the general pubic. the coolest board sport dynamics i've ever experienced. oh well...

what's the waist width on that? oddly enough, my wife is showing a glimmer of interest in carving hardware...

i'd say work more on a softboot carving setup. certainly more forgiving than the transition to hard, and lots cheaper (assuming you've got a capable board already). i've been on hardboots exclusively for about 4 seasons now, but rented a softie setup for a day last year (salomon burner, and whatever crap bindings / boots they had), and was impressed as to the carving capability once set up correctly (ie, enough angulation to avoid boot out). versatile, and lots of fun. i think once you've got the technique down with a setup like this, the transition to hard / dedicated alpine deck will be fairly intuitive. would love to give one of the hot modern bx boards (ie, kessler, prior, oxess) a go w/ some stiff softies...

was the rear toe bail - broke at the start of the threads. stress riser there i suppose. my smaller diameter rad air bails lasted nearly two decades (on & off use) before failing; i was a bit surprised by this. guess one should travel with spares...

for sure. a pathological liar with a complete lack of empathy; textbook sociopath, or perfect politician.

having a fun weekend at sun peaks; sunny weather, nice groom, and wide open slopes with minimal bodies. such a departure from the coast. great carving mountain; i'm jealous. ran into george of all people - nice to meet you finally! saw three other hardbooters on slope, and also ran into brett tippie (ex alpine racer / mtb icon), who was mc'ing the snowboard big air comp. rad guy; rides kesslers too. also - broke a bail on my td3's at the top of a run (end of day, fortunately). good times one-footing it to the bottom...

after years of getting out only a handful of times per season, my interest in snowboarding was also rekindled by carving; now i can't get enough. sean makes some excellent points; the industry largely ignores our demographic. i can see hardboot hardware being a tough sell, but even capable all mountain softboot carveable decks are few and far between. i imagine there's not much hope of significant growth in our niche unless one of the major players decides to step up with some accessible hardware - which seems unlikely, unfortunately.

i wonder if the aging snowboarder demographic will affect an increase in hardboot popularity. ie, factors such as comfort & convenience (step-ins) in conjunction with aspects of maturity (ie, wanting to differentiate oneself from the park rats) & doing something still really fun (ie, carving), but less potentially injurious than jump & trick oriented mainstream riding. greater disposable income also offsets the higher costs of entry, so is potentially less a barrier. any of the industry guys care to reflect on alpine hardware sales trends? i'm curious.

heading there for the weekend; done a couple mtb dh races there, but never been on the mountain with snow. anyone have any good intel? best carving runs (since it doesn't look like it's going to snow this week), coffee, fooderies, etc? trying to optimize my time there. cheers!

rad board. crazy tight (6.5m!). had it out yet? curious how they work. i imagine it'd be a tree & chute slayer; wonder how it works when you open it up.

well done. i'd trim the intro preamble and cut back on the slow-mo, but the shredding freecarve action rocks. need more of this!

^ badass.

so. retardedly. awesome.

first i heard of this brand. *google* neat:

we're getting slammed in the pnw. whistler got 50cm over night (what the hell am i doing working right now), and cypress (vancouver) has had 191cm (over 6'!) in the last week. mental.

ah; i've already got a 164, alas. great versatile boards. someone grab it!

what's the length?

ah, cool. first i've seen of it.

different (plate specific, it seems) baseplates at this store as well: