Kex

haha, you should leave it there and watch from a distance to see peoples reactions

It was already mentioned, but I definitely think the best way to make someone more comfortable with speed is to make them comfortable in their ability to stop. I've been snowboarding for 15 or so years now and have no problem with speed, but two years ago, my parents thought it would be fun to get me back on skis(which I havent been on since before I started snowboarding, meaning at the time, 13 years. That means the last time I skied was when i was 5 or 6, hah!) I actually picked it back up very quickly, and was past the bunny slopes after one run and past the greens after another run. But once I got to the blues when you start to accelerate rather fast, i would lose my nerve. It was because I was not confident in my ability to control myself and stop. I would say that is the number one thing to work on with her. Also as was mentioned, a little padding wont hurt as well, girls are delicate!(sorry if this offends anyone) Good luck in teaching her, I've traveled the path of teaching women to snowboard a few times, you're a brave man!

f2 nose seems a little flat... where have I seen that before :p

I just like the idea of having a single boot to use and having the best of both worlds. the flexibility and short sole length of a snowboard hardboot, while also being able to use it to ski if I want. I dont want to spend a ton of money making my boots fit perfectly with getting the shell punched, liners molded perfectly, BTS, etc; and the have to go and buy another boot, get it fitted correctly, etc. And on top of that I would have to bring both sets with me in the car, on the plane, etc. seems like quite a hassle and waste of money. If I could get this to work I would use it. so you use a snowboard boot in ski bindings, without any need for modifying the boots? interesting... are bindings that can have the toe height adjusted common? so with your setup, you could use the upz heels with success and not have to modify the toe sole pad or toe ledge at all? does what I was talking about, making a custom toe pad from plastic, sound feasible/usable to you?

unfortunately i have no idea, my only boots are deeluxe. I would think though, that from just a few years, head wouldnt have changed too much. try posting a few pictures of the tongue and boot, and how they connect, so those with newer head boots can compare yours to theirs. sorry i couldnt be more help. good luck with your question!

yea, i was pretty much not even going to try putting the upz toe piece on the boots. I figured that the two boots would not have a similar contour in the front. the heel piece may be made to fit a universal contour, but i highly doubt the toe is. I was thinking of getting a block of hard plastic, maybe nylon or something, and shaping it to replace the rubber toe sole of the deeluxe boots. along with that, I could try making my plastic toe piece thinner, in order to lower the toe ledge(since someone confirmed what I suspected, that the toe ledge is higher on a sb boot). think making the sole plastic, in order to release properly and lower the ledge would work? is the ledge of a snowboard boot long enough(have enough surface area) to stay in the ski boot?

I was thinking of just forgoing the UPZ toe piece, using just the UPZ heels, and using the ledge that is already on the deeluxe boot. I looked at some ski boot pictures and the ledge doesnt seem much different from the indy toe ledge, but I dont know everything about ski boots and dont have a pair handy to compare my boots with to see if the ledge is large enough, the right size, or the right height.

I saw the DIN heel attachment that UPZ has for their boots to allow you to use them as ski boots and thought it was interesting. I've read that they don't work so well though, because snowboard hardboots are much more flexible than ski boots, which is apparently not what you want while skiing. from carvers almanac: I was thinking though, what if you used the UPZ heels with a stiffer snowboard boot, e.g. deeluxe indys(plus the stiff tongues if necessary)? Seems like it would work, however there are a few things that might keep it from working, so I thought I would ask here.First off, do the UPZ DIN heels fit on deeluxe boots? since they replace the heels in the same way intec heels do, my first thought would be yes, however, as I've never seen them in person, I'm not sure if they fit the contour of the boot(could be adjusted?) or attach at an undesirable angle Second, is the toe ledge on a deeluxe boot large enough to safely slip into a typical ski binding? Lastly, someone mentioned that the toe area of an UPZ boot is hard plastic, while on deeluxe boots the toe is rubber. I don't see this as a huge issue since the rubber is fairly hard, and it wouldnt be impossible to replace the rubber toe pad with a plastic one, even if I had to self-fabricate it. Anyway, any opinions on this issue, whether it be the viability of a deeluxe boot in stiffness, something else I mentioned, or something I didn't think of, would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I have deeluxe indys in size 26(feet are 26.7 and 26.8). The length is ok, they are snug, but work. the problem I have is width as well. When I put them on they feel fine, but after a little while, both my feet start to seriously hurt. The pain is kind of a lateral pressure on the front of my arches, like someone is pushing on the inside of my foot just behind the first big toe "knuckle." I don't know if this is what your pain resembles, but it sounds like it might be similar after reading your post, i decided to measure my width of with my foot flat on the ground. It is approximately 10.5 cm across. I've never thought my feet wear especially wide, but they seem to be enough that the boots are not comfortable. I haven't gone to a bootfitter yet, so i cant vouch for that route, but i did find a partial solution. my liners are heat moldable, and when I molded them, i followed the instructions that most say, and put my insole on the bottom of my foot, then put a sock over it to keep it there while sliding my foot in. I was hoping that after molding the pain would go away, but it didnt. I was getting fed up to the point I was thinking of just reselling the boots here on BOL, but figured I would try taking out the insole just for kicks. As strange as it sounds, it worked. after taking out my insoles, my feet were able to have enough room to relieve some pressure. I'm not sure exactly why it worked, because the pain seems to be caused by a width issue, and removing the insole only seems to make the liner have more room above and below my foot. Anyway, it relieved a little pressure, and between doing that, wearing very thin socks, and popping the buckles loose while I am on the lift, i'm finally able to do more than two runs without taking a break. I think before I go to a bootfitter, I will try one more thing. I am thinking I will remold my liners one more time, however this time when I do, I will basically add a bunch of extra padding on the sides of my foot. This way, it causes the liner to mold slightly wider than my foot(by making the liner thinner there), so when I remove the padding, I will hopefully have enough room for a comfortable fit. Good luck!

I'm flying into SLC next weekend and will be there for the week. Its my first time out there, so I'm wondering what recommendations you have for resorts to visit, in terms of best prices, best conditions, best layout for carvers, etc. Let me know what your favorite mountains are to carve it up on please! Thanks!

id love to join you but I'm leaving for utah/idaho bright and early on the 7th and have to go to class, drive 3.5 hours home, and get ready all on friday night. and I dont want to risk breaking something on your east coast ice right before heading out west

glad to hear no one was injured! I'm flying into SLC next Saturday, will probably spend 2 or 3 days trying out the Utah mountains before heading up to SV. hope to see you there!

just as you can hear your own edges, you can hear other rider's edges. like i said earlier, when I'm alone, i ride with music as well, but i keep it low enough that it doesn't impair my hearing, and i cant even hear the music while i ride. its for when im stopped or on the lift. I just don't see why someone would purposely impair their senses when flying down a hill at high speeds - especially when all of us know too well that other riders and skiiers are not used to being around carvers and the unorthodox patterns we take down the hill. and for what? to hear a little bit of music? please. I'm riding to ride, not for another excuse to turn on my ipod. This makes me think of going to my classes. What if I decide to wear my headphones there? I don't need to hear the professor, he's putting up slides and writing notes, and I can even try to read his lips right? I'll take every advantage I can get, thank you. If they come out with skiier radar on a HUD for my goggles, I'm up for that too!

speaking of which... http://cgi.ebay.com/Snowboard-Alpine-Carving-Burton-Speed-168-Wide_W0QQitemZ230327743608 (not my board, but one of his suggestions and cheap to boot)

maybe its just me, but this just sounds dumb to me. who cares if its the other guys fault? if i can avoid a collision by being able to hear, and possibly avoid broken bones, then thats worth it to me. just because it would be his fault, doesnt mean that i want to be hit.

i want a coiler hat! does bruce sell them?

since its apparently so hilarious, and im so lazy that i dont want to search, can someone post a link? thanks

when I'm riding alone, i use earbuds with the volume fairly low. With this setup, I pretty much cannot hear the music at all while riding, because of wind and the sounds of my own edges, however whenever I stop on the slope, or when i'm on the lift, i can hear it fine. The volume stays at a level that I can both hear the music, yet also hear anything people are saying to me just fine, without them needing to shout. With it like this, I never have to adjust the volume, so my ipod can stay inside my jacket at all times. I feel that riding like this gives me the best of both worlds. music to keep me entertained while im not carving it up, and the ability to hear whats going on around me while I am

I dont understand how he has admitted responsibility. He saw the kid, but as he stated, he was beside him, and after the next turn, he was still beside him. He then started to take precautionary actions and started to slow down. We don't know the exact specifics of the accident, such as whether the slope was wide open or if he was pinned against a cliff/trees/wall. If they were beside each other, they are both equally responsible for their own riding. Even if the other rider is a 9 year old kid, by choosing to ride on a blue run, he should be proficient enough of a rider to have control over himself. The kid's lift ticket says the exact same thing as anyone else's. Furthermore, from knowing how us hardbooters advance down the hill(wide arcs), and from the way he tells it, I am guessing that Canuck was riding at a slower "downhill" pace, and that before the accident, the kid was uphill from him, gaining on him, and just before the accident, was suddenly beside canuck. (please correct me if I'm wrong). If this is the case, then the kid's maneuver can be called an attempt to pass canuck, in which case canuck has the right of way and the kid is passing at his own risk. It is the uphill rider's job to pass a safe distance away from any riders, and since he was close enough to become involved when canuck caught an edge, he was obviously not doing this.

On the subject of using the same boots for both, does anyone know if the UPZ DIN heel blocks fit onto Deeluxe boots? My first instinct would be yes since the heel shape is the same as intec heels which are universal, but i didn't know if they also form tot he shape of the back of the boot, or are situated in a strange angle or something. Even though snowboard hardboots are typically considered too flexible for skiing, I have indy's, so I was thinking that maybe they might be stiff enough?

speaking of which, do the DIN heels that UPZ sells work with(fit on) other hardboot brands like head, burton, or DEELUXE boots? I've heard that these DIN heels don't work too great since snowboard hardboots are more flexible than ski boots. therefore they dont make the best ski boots, but with a stiff snowboard hardboot like indys or HSPs, would it work well enough to use?(assuming they do in fact fit)

I think I must me missing something... this looks to me like its just a heel receiver - with a starting bid of $150... wtf? E: on description it says $65/pair for burton or $40 per pair for catek, but whats the $150 about then?

I would agree with the assessment you came to, looks like a powder board to me. I think that some people classify any board that doesn't look like your typical twin-tip freestyle board as an alpine board. Great price for a powder board, and as you said it looks pretty good too. I'd ask what the base//edges look like but for fifty bucks why not?

My recommendation is the 28. street shoes indicate nothing. I measured my feet to be 26.7 and 26.8, and have been happy with the length of my 26 boots. According to a sizing chart, that means I'm a mens 8, yet every pair of street shoes, dress shoes, work boots, running shoes, etc, that I own are all either size 10.5 or 11, because I like the fit of that size better. If you are still unsure, I would recommend going to your local ski shop, trying on some ski boots(since they are also sized in mondo point and are much more available than snowboard hardboots), and doing the shell test(see link below if you don't know what it is). Ask the salesperson to get you a few pairs to try on, because some brands run big, others small If you can try on snowboard hardboots, definitely do that. I am having issues with the width of my wide feet. My shell puts pressure on my arch and causes some pretty bad pain, so i will probably need to go to a bootfitter and get the shell punched at some point. http://www.alpinecarving.com/bootfitting.html

that one made me actually laugh out loud. I can just imagine two people on the same board trying to synchronize their turns. "ready... lean left!...no! your other left!" bruce, I think the lift operator would sh*t himself watching someone trying to get on the lift with that