rhaskins

I can't wait for the snow. As for Buck on Sunday mornings, I have been there a few times and met some of the hard booters. I guess I just didn't make much of an impression :D I got out on the slopes over 50 times last season, so I will be seeing you guys at Buck. As for acquiring nice equipment - disposable income? Rick

Would it be easy to remove some of the pads? Without destroying it or the integrity of the remaining pads? I really want something to protect my left hip area. Rick.

I sincerely apologize for putting the word helmet in a post. Sorry.:rolleyes: Rick

Three days after a one-point landing off my motorcycle, sitting in the waiting room the doctor told me from the door I had a concussion. I guess my fully-dilated eyes gave him his first clue. It took a week of recovery to just get my eyes half working again in bright light. I would not be here entertaining you without the helmet I was wearing then. On two occassions last winter it was just me and 2 skiers on the same slope, me with the "right of way" both times and I got hit both times. Both times it was the two skier's racing each other. The skiers got the worst of it, they were going way faster and both times launched into perfect Superman's to land face and arms first many feet down the slope. Both times they claimed not to have seen me - tunnel vision because they were focused on racing. Both times my helmeted head hit the ground. I like helmets. But I digress, that is a discussion (helmet) that each person has to decide. I need shoulder and hip protection, something unobtrusive, easy to wear, as inexpensive as possible. I would like to get some of that d3o material to try either on a shirt or sewen into the liner of my coat. I have viewed the shovel test on the one of the sites, and it looks like the d30 will provide all the protection I want. Some of Spyder's biking shorts with the d3o look good, but probably come with a chamois. Not what I want on the slopes. I don't plan on ever falling this coming winter, just so that you know. Rick

I ride aggressively. My issue is with cat tracks and flat areas and always falling the same way in hard boots at slow speed. At speed, on edge, on a slope, I rarely have a problem. I never have issues in soft boots. I started boarding on Dec. 1 of last year and hard booting in Feb. All my hip and shoulder problems started after Feb. At slow speed I seem to catch an edge on my hard boot setup a lot. I don't know why. And I don't do it a lot, but when it happens . . . it hurts. OTOH, I can tuck and roll very good now, what with all that practice. Rick

This is sort of a reprise of the Gilmour Gear thread from last winter. I am looking for left hip and left shoulder impact protection. All my falls that resulted in any injury happen at slow speed, and I always land on my left side. I jacked my left shoulder up so bad that I forced the Doc to xray it because it hurt so bad. I also got a huge hematoma on a fall that bulged out 2 inches from my hip. I fell on it 2 days later and shattered the hematoma and it spread throughout my entire posterior. Dark purple with some of that there green color for some contrast. That hurt. I landed on that same spot about 3 more times after that, and ended up with a hematoma into early May. All at slow speed. At high speed I either cartwheel or skip and slide without any injury - so far. I am really interested in the d3o material, like the Spyder Stealth Top http://www.the-raceplace.com/spy_stealthtop.html That looks good except for the shoulder pads which are not d30. Has anyone used that? I want something to spread out the force of the impact. The impact shorts that I have looked at from the various manufacturers are bulky. Like the 661 shorts. http://www.sixsixone.com/Catalog_661Snow.aspx?id=920542a2-1cbb-49ca-b17b-279b74b3ae14&product=462827e2-f723-4c69-a579-4a0eb699bbf9 I am looking for impact shorts that will only protect my left side, again to spread out the impact force. If I have to purchase impact shorts, I will remove all the padding except for the left side. Anyone know of any shorts that have d3o material or removable pads that don’t have migration problems? Anyone know where to buy d3o material so that I can have it sewn into a pair of shorts? Is the Gilmour Gear going to be a reality? I am going to spend some money on this. I was really playing hurt at the end of last season, and want some protection this year. None of my injuries kept me off the slopes, but they did force me to switch to skis on some days because of the pain from boarding and landing on my hip. On the upside, my helmets did their job as they were supposed to. I completely destroyed one in one memorable high speed crash – a triple cartwheel right under a chair lift with a big audience. <O:p</O:p Rick

I ride Buck and Spirit. Made a trip to Lutsen once last year.

This is my first post to bomberonline. I have been lurking here since last winter when I started to hard boot. Actually, I only learned to snowboard last December coming off a broken leg from skiing. My first carving-type board was a Donek Axxess 167 with Catek bindings and Deeluxe 325T boots. I got that setup in mid February and was immediately hooked on this carving thing. I proly spent about 50 hours on slope with that setup. By the end of last season it had taken a hard toll on me, the left side of my body was so beat up. Black and blue left hip, left shoulder with chronic pain. I had to stretch a lot before riding at the end of March to get full range of motion. Recovered now tho. In the off-season (they close the slopes here in Minnesota on or about March 31), I have acquired 2 more Doneks, a FC1 171 Olympic core and a Razor 170. Sean gave me last season’s price on both and next season’s price for the Olympic core upgrade. Sitting side-by-side, they look soooooo different but should perform similarly – except for the hard-boot soft-boot thing. Last Thursday, sitting at home the doorbell rang and it was the USPS with presents – my new set of UPZ boots and my Radikal Claw for my summer endeavors. The boots from Dan Yoja are 25 % off right now. As I sit here wearing my UPZ’s in 80 degree heat, I only need one more set of Catek Olympic step-in bindings and a set of Catek FR2’s to be fairly complete for next season. I already got my season passes. I am going to use my Burton Driver-X boots for the Razor. I had a K2 Zepplin board that I used the Driver-X boots with for softboot carving, and I essentially broke the board in 4 weeks using it that way. Cracked the board at the middle to end transition points, both sides, all 4 transitions. Got a full refund from REI. Acquiring the new boards was a no-brainer for me, as in who needs an excuse. Tthe boots were a different story. When I got the 325T’s, I had them fitted and a new set of custom footbeds made. My first day on the slope with them – about 2 hours – my right foot kept slipping up and down in the boot. My heel just plain hurt. I remember the pain that day, but also the fun of just carving down the slope. I took the boots back to my boot fitter the next day, and he put in one of those X shaped rubber dealies that tighten/shape the liner over the heel. It stopped most of the slipping, but pressured the heel. So we shaved the part of the rubber dealie near the heel down. And that seems to be the best we could to after fitting it about 2 more times, moving the buckles to grab my foot and ankle more and adjusting, adjusting, adjusting. My foot always seemed to jam the left-side of the right heel against the boot some way, especially in a crash (the left-side thing I described above). My right boot still has a slight heel lift. My left foot has never had a problem, and the right boot fits great. Funny thing is, my right foot is bigger than my left and it should be more snug in the boot, which it is not. Standing in the boots, there is absolutely no problem. In the bindings, they are ok also, but once my heel is jammed against the boots (as in an oh-so-frequent crash), they hurt my heel constantly. I took time off and skied so that the heel could heal, but that did not solve the issue. Next steps are to just punch that side of the boot out a lot so it will not have contact in a crash. So, seeing as Dan has a sale, I ordered the UPZ’s, and so far they seem to fit like a glove. I have had them on about an hour and a half in 3 sessions, and they seem to be molding to my feet nicely. My initial impression is that they hold the foot in place much better than the 325T’s do, more like a ski boot. Both the UPZ and the 325T boots are the same size so it must just be my feet and the way the boots are shaped. The UPZ shape seems to grab the back of my foot better than the Deeluxe. What is so bizarre about this is I get all my boots fitted, and I would have betted money on the Deeluxe boots not having a problem as the fit is just so good. Next season will tell the tale. BTW, I really like the customer service from Sean and Dan. Good people. And REI. I am really looking forward to getting on the slopes. 3.5 months and counting down. Rick