Michael Pukas

It's about time!!! :) Seriously though, thanks for the in depth review Jack. That took a lot of time to investigate and write - and it sounds like you had a blast doing it! I own a used Kessler 185 PGS - which has been my go-to, and only board, since late last spring. Since the SES, I've had a chance to ride all of the boards you reviewed. They are all fantastic boards, and each have their own personalities. However, I find the Kessler is a different beast. It certainly does set the bar for what a carving board can do. One of the many amazing things I notice about this board is that when you initiate a turn, it goes faster. Much faster! Most boards you turn and can check your speed - this thing goes like you just hit the ON switch for the super charger on the V8 Interceptor. It's uncanny. The rockered nose and tail make it very forgiving and versatile. Variable snow conditions do not upset the board, and if you need to scrub speed, it's easy to slarve the tail around. Saying that, I have issues with it. First off, it scares the s**t out me, and I don't always ride it confidently. When I do, it rewards. And then some. It doesn't like to be ridden lackadaisically. I blow out heel side turns constantly, especially on steep stuff, and softer snow - and that's from me not looking into the run enough and having my back hand behind me. I've been saying lately that it doesn't have to be ridden differently than other snowboards, just better. It's certainly making me a better rider. When I get on another board, such as the Prior - and I've ridden that exact board you reviewed - or a Coiler Monster, I feel so much more, erm, safer. Turns and speed are more predictable. I hardly ever blow out a heel side turn, even when I'm flailing in the back seat, texting my pals, drinking a chai latte. I'm not sure the Kessler is the best free-carving board. I have a hard time saying that, as I love the thing and really, really want to be able to rail well on it. Simply because when I'm on, on it, it's like nothing else! It's a race board, and racers do slightly different things than we do. If you want a board to challenge your skills and take your riding to the next level, a true PGS board like this will do it. If you want a short turning, easy riding board you can take anywhere, through anything, you may want to try one before you buy and compare to other options. These things are serious. Thanks again Jack! Cheers! PS - Ice, you really need to ride one of these things!

Thanks to Big and Bola for putting this on again. Great day to ride with some great folks. Always fun to see familiar and new faces making turns together!

On a higher note, I've been wanting to try AT boots for riding pow for years, but haven't wanted to drop the coin for them. There are some really, really trick AT boots out there now. I bet the Garmont Radium would be pretty sweet! But it's only got one forward lean mode, which I think would be too steep. Put a walk-mode-able BTS on the back of that and then we'd have something!!! The sidewinders open up some options to use stiffer AT boots. Maybe? Maybe not... There are so many advantages to using AT boots for off-piste - primarily in the walking-hiking end. And if you're really serious about snowboard mountaineering, then crampons come into play. No one is going to use crampons on a T700 (at least I don't think so). It doesn't seem too difficult to me for a backcountry focused company like Scarpa, Garmont, BD to take one of their existing AT ski boots and make a couple mod's - shorter sole, adjust toe-heel block shape for bails, and add an adjustable ride-walk mechanism. With a spring for forward-rear flex control like on the UPZ RC-10's, or without like the standard Deeluxe/Raichle. They're boots already all have ski-walk mode, so how hard could be? Then again, how many people would buy them? I bet less than 1,000 world wide... Prolly a couple hundred if that?

ditto on the above three threads. Our industry is so small, there's not enough $$ for a company to devote the resources for R&D. The AT/backcountry industry is actually quite big. Huge even. AT is much bigger in Yurp that the US of A. They're fanatical about saving weight, and performance, especially the racers. The AF boot was a big deal 11 years ago. The biggest thing in boot design in the last 10 years has been Fin's BTS... Pisses me off that Deeluxe, et al, brags about new design cahnges in their boots - like real buckles. Whoa!!! Real buckles??? what's wrong with them zipper strips??? Those worked 50 years ago, why change them now??? well, son, we've got to stay ahead of the game, and future trends are showing the ski boots industry may actual use these nifty new things called "buckles" to keep those new fangled plastic-type boots closed. We'll show them they way.... whatever. Give us new, better fitting, better performing, lighter, just better, boots already, DAMN IT!!!! Maybe after the Olympics we'll have a surge in interest in carving, more people = more $$$, and maybe some improvements will come along from the trickle-down effect boot wise.

Yes, glad to hear you are alright! You do know, don't you, that you should not use that helmet again? The manufacturer prolly won't replace it for you - I've been told that snow sports helmets are designed for one hard blow, like that one, and then they are not safe to use any more. And the manufacturer's don't offer any sort of replacement policy. That helmet has done it's job. Time for another new one.

Big Mario - pass Thor - no pass Michael Pukas - have pass - will ride!!! Angie - no pass Ernie00 - no ride Dave Winters - no pass Ink - pass ice - pass Biggerwrangler - Pass Balboajeff-Pass Kimo - 4-pak BlueBird - no pass Greenleaf - pass D.T. - pass Shelly - pass T.Stoughton - pass Kate - maybe, pass Brandon - no pass Frank - no pass Surf Rat -no pass pc denver - pass arneburner - pass Jim Callen- No pass aactis - pass KarverKai - pass Steve Prokopiw - no pass Sooperburd - no pass Sooperburd's Wife - no pass Greenleaf's friend - no pass Shrederjen - no pass Fairbanks - 4-pak lazysnowkisser - no pass <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

you suck

Are you guys riding w/ Frank anywhere on Friday? I have a couple days left to burn on my Aspen pass, and my work plans just changed so I may be able to ride over there on Friday. I'd love to check out Frank's boards while he's around! mpp

Wow - heck of review Johnny! You've certainly got my interst peaked... How long is Frank in town for? I could possibly head over to Aspen early next week - I'm slammed for the rest of this week. Is Frank going to the LCS w/ any boards? Cheers! mpp

cool vid... thanks for that but as a side note... this is a little more than way OT - it never ceases to amaze me how, when and why the BOL mods choose to let some threads stay and move others. No sense of rhyme or reason. edit - ok, moved - I eat my words

Never heard of them... What's special abotu them? Do you have a website? Does their website list distributors? mpp

Thanks for the update WG! An '11 Full Race has just gone on my wish-list...

Any changes from the 2010 boards?

NS boards are no joke. Prolly the best production board on the market. This, like all of their boards, is designed for softies. Comparing it to a VSR is not an equal comparison.

Great vid - thanks for posting! Who is the guy being interviewed? Now we have some info on the board's side cut - 21 nose, 20 underfoot, 15 tail. WTF???!!! That goes against what I've been thinking works for racing and seeing in other board designs with a smaller radius up front and bigger in the back. Is what he is saying true? mpp

that's funny - this boot of ours is over 10 years old now. The biggest development in alpine snowboard boots has been Fin's BTS and real buckles :eek: (and even those are old). I tried SB's a long, long time ago and don't like them. Bu that was a previous model to the current one. I went to AF's only when my Fire's got to a point where they were not safe to ride. The '09 white ones are too soft, and I feel like they are getting softer and looser - I'm starting to get shin bang (yeah, I know, my liners are shot now too). The junk bin '10's are stiffer and offer better performance and fit.

Will - how's the other reviews and vids of the custom Kessler and SG boards? Haven't heard from you in a while... missed you guys @ the SES this year.

Hey John - can you tell me where you got your Strolz liners in Aspen?

worked for me when not logged in... here's the link to c&p http://www.youtube.com/user/jewelltyler#p/u/1/wcoZPniRa4c

The latest f/ Tyler's channel on plate development. OT - what boots is he riding?

Glad your new liners are working for you Erik! ;) Just for reference in this thread, there's another liner option that hasn't been mentioned: The Black Diamond Power Fit liner. It comes in all of BD's higher end ski and tele boots. It's a tongue style liner that's heat moldable and has a BOA lacing system. My local ski shop that sells DB gear says people have been very happy with them, and due to the BOA they have great heel hold down. He also sells Intuition Power Wrap liners, and said the Intuition Power Wrap is slightly stiffer the the BD Power fit. No idea what kind of foam the DB liner uses. mpp

How's the review coming Jack? I'm curious to hear what you think of the single radius board (Prior WCRM 187) vs multi-radius boards... I had a few runs on the WRCM 187 a couple days ago, and it was interesting, in a good way. Finished turns tighter and held a heel edge better for me, which I blow out a lot on my Kessler on steeps if I'm not on it (old, very bad habits). Not sure which I like better though...

Check out CrossFit.

Lib Tech has a couple different versions of camber and rocker boards. Some are shaped like the NS with Banana + Camber, and some are Banana. They also have a funky wave-like edge they call Mange-Traction. Everyone who has ridden it swears by it. Wonder if it will ever trickle into our world...

Never Summer boards rock, plain and simple. Some of, if not the, best off-the-shelf free ride & powder boards. Haven't had a chance to try out one of their rocker&camber boards though. Love to see how it compares to what has become the norm in our world w/ a rockered nose and tail and camber under foot. Which brings me around to the definition debate... to me camber implies an upward curve, and rocker implies a downward curve. Convex vs concave. Decamber to me means flexing the board against it's curve - or camber. To say a board has a decambered nose seems incorrect. Decamber is an action, not a description of board shape/geometry. Saying it has rocker is also slightly inaccurate. How much and where the rocker is has to described. For our world, saying a board has a rockered nose and/or tail fits the bill. Having traditional camber underfoot in usually the norm, and implicitly understood. If a board has full rocker, like that Tanker what-ever, Lib Tech Banana, etc. then that's how it should be described. "Decamber" doesn't work to describe board shape/geometry. mpp