KingCrimson

The angle differences between brands is negligible. Its way more important that you get a boot that fits and flexes correctly.

East is so much fun. I definitely miss riding there, have fun!

Here's mine, thanks for the post Bryan. It sucks my season is over, but I am completely in love with Mammoth and I'm still living the dream.

Thanks guys. It wasn't even a crash, just bad chatter at mach one.

No easy chair, but I happen to live in a handicap room so that works out well. Thanks everyone for the kind words!

I broke my tibfib yesterday.. Anyone who comes to mammoth is welcome to ride any of gear except my apex sl. Hahahah

I have boas on my 32s. I can certainly get them tight enough it hurts my ankles, but I don't think you really need to make them that tight. Don't expect to fidget and play with them too much. Simply pulling my pant gaiters up and off the boots often pops the knob. I'm also in constant fear of it breaking because it looks and feels that way. If boas were two-way adjustable, not a ratchet that disengages for loosening, they would actually have something on lacing, but its more or less an equally frustrating experience to lace or boa. I may have taken until the end of second grade to learn how to tie my shoes, but my mom says Im starting to really get the hang of it and that I make the prettiest bunny ears she's ever seen a college student make. I do suspect boa cuts down on hot spots from laces getting crushed against your foot by the ankle strap if youre one of the masochistic hardbooters who tries to replicate hardboots by cranking straps down all the way.

That's exactly it!

Where the tongue strap bolts to the lower, there is a cut out and the boot cracked from the edge of the cut out about an inch long. I heard shins, only through the grapevine.

I feel that this forum is very out of touch and close minded. It reminds me of a lot of car forums- people who are heavily myopic and think their CAI on their Honda is the cats meow and it'll beat any suped up Ford Focus and drift like Ken Block. There is this attitude that softies are useless or somehow detrimental to "good riding" when the fact of the matter is hardboots just arent that versatile. A lot of people here have been hardbooting since I was in the womb, and I fully believe that at the time hardboots just were that much better. But to see so many posters so astounded by the leaps and bounds in alpine design in the last 5-6 years that just assert that all softboot decks are the same and technology hasnt changed because they are just popsicle sticks is crazy to me. I have a burton fusion that a friend graciously gave to me, and i rode it with hardboots a lot, i even raced bx a few times on it. It carves amazingly well. Putting softboots on it and running it duck doesn't change that. i use double forward because i want to avoid boot out and to do so with duck would be too much splay. And really, the fusion isn't anything special. Its not considerably stiffer or more grippy than my thrift store Burton Floater. Sure, production softboot boards pale in comparison to the boutique stuff we all ride, but that doesn't make them bad boards by any means. What Sean had to say makes a lot of sense- I can definitely see that the market has shifted way too far to park, with a disproportionate number of people riding small jib decks for no reason. About two weeks ago I started a job with Sharpshooter as a full time action photographer. I work on one of the most heavily used trails here at Mammoth. I basically spend four hours a day standing watching literally thousands of snow sport participants ride and ski by me. The two days a week im not doing that, im on the snow most of the day. I would say about 30% of people riding really belong on park boards, maybe 60% on all mountain/freeride shapes, and 9.9% on something like a bx board, and about twice a day I'll see a guy who I think should be in hardboots, or a hardbooter that accounts for the last .1%. I also see the occasional hardbooter that would definitely have more fun in softies. I think way too many people ride park sticks when they would be happier with a longer, stiffer, and more damp board. But as far as people who would actually carve an alpine board well and have that be their focus as it is ours, i really don't think there are a ton of people outside of the current community. Certainly not as far as i see here at mammoth. Softboots and duck definitely are not a barrier to carving- thats what i see leaving the most trenches and i dont think they explain why people dont carve.

I MAY have Friday at least partially off work. Let's make some ruts!

I have sung the praises of Kryptons quite a lot but I cant recommend them after three consecutive years of shell failure after one season each.. I broke my most recent pair in 35 days, and less than that for my first pair. They both cracked in the same place, on a stress riser that is engineered into the boot. Their warranty department refused to send me a new pair without me first sending them the failed pair despite numerous pictures of the crack showing no impact or other damage to the boot. Wayyy too much of a pain in the ass for me, especially since I haven't been able to properly hardboot since the beginning of this month. This crack is not unique to hardbooting, a skier friend of mine has also caused the same crack on his boot racing skiercross. I paid an authorized retailer to ship them to Dalbello (in NH) two weeks ago and I have now sent 2 emails with no reply, and the retailer hasn't been contacted either. They are kickass boots for carving though, and the heel hold is mindblowingly good with the cuff that's new for this year..I don't even remember what heel lift feels like. I know the steamboat kids were getting hurt with them, but as far as I know they were using much stiffer shells than the ones I like, and riding way better and im sure crashing much harder.

I have the A plate. I've seen and played with the af plate but never ridden one. Its a cool concept and from what Will Garrow has told me a much better approach to the slider style plates like Vist and Tinkler. My new Apex slalom board with its integrated vist knock off is super responsive, and its bump absorption isn't anything amazing, but chatter and skittering aren't even noticeable. The a plate takes a ton of response out of the board but on a big stick it doesn't matter and you can do stuff like skim over the tops of moguls. Let me know if you're ever in town midweek, Wednesday and Thursday are my days off.

If you cant wear speedsuits in bx, you shouldn't be able to wear your sisters pants in the pipe.

i meant in mammoth! Ability level aside, I think a lot of people on plates would carve better and have more fun in softies. The surfy style of carving just works better in softies.

I know a pile of softbooters who can out-carve a lot of hardbooters, but counting myself, I think 4.. One of the kids I coach on the high school alpine team, his dad, and 110/220 i think lives here but I've never seen him ride or met him.

Hey Chris! Im glad you found me! Shoot me a text when youre up next. That burton is set up and waiting.

Sage message me your address on Facebook. I asked my dad to pull the BTS off my boots.

Well, depends on your definition of inches..

Im probably working, but ill request it off. Either way I'll be on sidewinders and a donek plate on my PJ6

Im working 40+ hour weeks and its hard to get time off..i won't be down to san Diego before then.

I think the Northwave spring system works well for racing because the ankle pivot is actually where it belongs. I don't personally like BTS, I think it gave a wonky feel to my AF shells because the movement was a hybrid of the boot puffing out in the ankle (is anyone here on their original set of canting "moons"? I know I lost a few before replacing them with bolts), the tongue bellows compressing, and the BTS action in the pivot. It was a mushy awful feel, but not in the sense that they were too soft. I know one of the Steamboat coaches had replaced his springs with elastomers, which in hindsight were probably stacked skateboard bushings. I also have a stupid, poppy way of riding most of the time and rely way too much on pressuring the boots instead of subtle controlled movements derived from the soles of my feet. I couldn't ride softboots to save my life until yesterday when I figured that one out the hard way. I've ridden in Rossignol race boots which are SCARY low volume, with carbon inserts and crap like that and they actually work pretty well despite the lack of forward lean and flex. I rode them with Sidewinders with blues all around on a too-stiff old school WCR. I think as long as your knees are stacked well over your board and you're facing the bindings it's a very serviceable setup. I rode it in a GS and a Super G and had a few very clean, screaming runs. Generally I'm really not a good racer at all..For whatever reason I lock up and suck in the course. As far as freecarving, i'd like to think I'm aggressive and use fairly decent race technique. I think I'm better suited to being a coach hahaha. Next time I'm in San Diego I'll take the BTS off my old boots and mail em to you or next time you're up here you can pick them up from me and try them. If you like them, I'll sell them to you as long as you give me your old 5-positions so I can sell the boots.

Badass!

I have a couple of snowboards, some angle iron, and a plastic recycling bin. Challenge accepted.

I cant the bindings until I feel evenly distributed, cant the cuffs until my knees are over my boots..then I have to readjust the bindings and then the cuffs until it feels good. Happens to be double outward cants, but just barely, and neutral cants on my cuffs