wasatchbill

Resurrected thread after 3 years! Ha ha.. I only seem to have two new boards since then, but they are my favorites: Nidecker Legend 164, carbon fiber. Love the flex on this board! Wish they were more available in the US. Arbor Abacus 164 split; rockered; for next year :-).

Nice! Getting off the Snowbasin Needles gondola today (last day :(), I had a kid look at my all-mountain board with Burton race plates on it (40 degree stance, both feet), and my ski mountaineering boots, and ask, Kid: "Is that a monoski?" Me: "Its a snowboard." Kid: "No its not!" :D Hit some great steeps today! Need to get some photos one of these days. Any Utah backcountry steeps boarders on this list?

Dude, that is the most incredible powder board collection I have ever heard of; right on! Cool thread; gorgeous collection photos from years past. Theres 11 boards kicking around my living room right now: I have 3 165cm Winterstick Swallowtails on the wall, two green boards (one is "mint", never mounted, never ridden, with a Swallowtail case), and a maroon/green board. I wish I still had my other old Swallowtails, Roundtails, Burton woody, and the Fanatic UltraRat 159cm that pioneered some Wasatch steeps back in the day (early 90s), under the boots of Danny Caruso and myself. Other retired boards: Duret 165cm World Cup Asym, with antique two piece Snow Pro plates on it; what a pain in the a$?! to mount those! Hobie Double Edge 162- this has 4 edges - ever see one? Rode great, but impossible to really tune. Current all mountain boards: Liquid 162cm Adventure: an $90 special from a Gart SNIAGRAB, wood core Austrian board with a couple hundred days on it now; this has been a workhorse. Volkl 164cm Sensor Aircore: My Hawaii-bound buddy Mike just gave me this board; loving it in the Pow Mow sidecountry today Mike! Heal that knee! Joyride 165cm: couldn't pass up a bargain rock board last month; like the name; too bad they went out of business. Carving boards: Nidecker Extreme Race GS 170 cm: loving this board at Snowbasin recently. Nidecker Extreme GS 184cm: this board has some top sheet and insert damage; may be destined for the wall. Foss (made by Prior) ~185 cm: this is a beautiful black and red board; will have to get some photos. Cheers! WasatchBill

Hi Silver Bullet - A Life Link Slope Meter is the best tool I have seen for measuring slope angles (in degrees, not %). I've had mine for about 20 years. http://www.life-link.com/access_main.htm#misc http://www.avalanche-center.org/store/ll-slope-meter.html I have a compass with an inclinometer in it also, but it is harder to read. Its like this one: http://www.thecompassstore.com/51mc2d.html The compass clinometer only has 2 degree gradations, and they are much harder to see (very small). The Life Link slope meter has 1 degree gradations. So it is more accurate, and cheaper. I use a self-arrest grip pole to put the meter on (nice because the pole won't fall down the hill when you let go of it); or you could use a straight shaft ice axe , or probe pole, or some other straight edge that you can set the meter on. Just holding the meter on the snow is not as accurate, since its only 5" long. Once you've taken a few dozen measurements, and get a feel for how important it is to place the pole carefully, then an average of 3 readings is a pretty accurate number for a given slope; approaching +/- 1 degree. Where on the slope you decide to measure, and how long that pitch is sustained for, are other variables. That said, I just measured the steepest section of the Wildflower Downhill at 32 to 34 degrees; 4 measurements averaged 33 degrees. Cheers! Wasatch Bill