nine40

Fun fun.....It all began with..... Beck 150 Freestyle (basically a sheet of plywood with plates on it) F2 World Cup Beamer 168 Agression Assult 165 (with F2 Plates) Sims CON 166 (like MFR but softer flex) Burton Alp 169 Burton Supermodel 174 (1997 - blue) Burton Supermodel 174 (1997 - purple) T&C 158 Freestyle (the "less than ideal conditions" board) Burton Ultra Prime 168 - Factory Prototype Burton Supermodel 174 (1998 - Yellow.... I just loved these boards) Burton Malolo 166 (destroyed with only 5 days on it) Prior Spearhead 172 custom Prior Khyber 165 custom Wish I could have kept them all..... still have 6 of them, including the old Beck.

Back in the early to mid 90's all I had was alpine boards.... and I rode a lot of powder. The old F2 Beamer 168 was an awesome freeride board. Great for dropping cornices, threading trees, and the base was bomb-proof. Sims Con 166 (a slightly softer MFR) and the MFR 175 also saw a lot of out-of-bounds powder time. The burton Alp 169 was another one I really enjoyed in the powder. Basicly it wasn't until alpine boards got really narrow and stiff that I stopped taking them into the trees. I think any wider softer alpine board with a reasonable rise to the tip will be fine. The old Beamer had a pretty high nose on it which made it work really well. On the other hand, the old Burton Supermodel 174 and 181 were fantastic in powder and trees, and were stiff enough to carve really well on the groomers (not so much on ice though). Personally, I think you can stick hard boots on pretty well anything and have fun. I think the biggest issue is getting the boots soft enough. I would have the upper half of the boot so loosely done up that the buckles would be open by the bottom of the run. That was usually about right for me.

My Driver X boots are stiffer (and MUCH lighter) than my old Raichle hardboots. I love em. For carving I use Ride SPI bindings. Inexpensive, comfortable, stiff highback, and enough cushon for those carve - to - drop-off situations. Not as adjustable as the Catek's, but it doesn't really bother me any. I like the convertible rubber toe strap, which I use the old-school over-the-top way. I find the toe caps like the Burtons are great for cinching your foot back into the binding, but they add to what's hanging over the toe-side edge..... my feet are big enough as they are.