snowboardfast

+1 on checking conditions before you book a trip. Last season was a record breaker for snowfall in Colorado. The season before was a waste of time in December. It varies a lot from year to year . You might pick out a few states as options and keep an eye on the the conditions to see how much base and acres of terrain will be open? The condiitions in Colorado might be poor but be good in Wyoming or Utah or Oregon? Last year I rode with a guy and his wife who came out to Colorado in Febuary because it was ice in Oregon. If I was spending money to fly out I would want to go where the best snow is if possible. Thanks to the internet you can check conditions at almost any resort.

Hard boots work better with steeper angles. I ride 50 and 45 on my Donek 172 AX and several other am alpine boards with 21 cm waists. On carve specfic boards I wil ride 55 and 50 because I like to be facing foward more and am riding a stiffer boot. Those boards have widths of 18 and 20 cm. I found that the only board that I like to ride 45 and 40 on is the Dupraz D1 because it is wide for me-26 cm waist and I only ride that board on a real powder day-more than 6'' of new snow. I can ride 45 and 40 on the AX but it doesn't feel right for me. I am not riding steep angles but used to ride 60 and 60 with ski boots years ago on an 18cm Nitro race board. I ride the Deluxe lemans boot on all mountain boards-donekAX and Dupraz d1 and others. I ride Deluxe Susaka for the other carve specfic boards because it is taller and stiffer. The lemans boot is lower and softer and works better for all mountain use. I do not use BTS on either pair of boots as it makes them way too soft for me. Also if your stance is too wide with mellow angles that won't work very well either. I went down to 19" width after riding 20" for a while. I found that my back was hurting with the 20" stance and I was getting shinbang. I have a 30" inseam so no need to go way wide with stance for me. I have been riding Sidewinders and won't ride anything else as I really like them! That does not mean you would have to. I only ride a mondo 26 boot as my feet are small. The Razor Saber and Incline are designed for soft boots. I had a Razor for a short while but replaced it with the aX because I am not interested in soft boots anymore. I rode the Razor with Burton DriverX boots and Catek free ride bindings. angles were 30 and 25. The AX and other all mountain alpine boards are torsionally stiffer than the Razor to handle the extra forces of hard boots. Sean could give you more specfic info about the differences in construction between the boards. I hope this answers your questions? You would have to ride wider boards due to bigger feet. I still say demo boards before getting custom built. I also have demoed twin tip boards with softboots and duck stance but not for me. Have ridden tons of set ups over the years. Haven't tried a swallowtail but I doubt I will?

Before you get a custom board made why don't you demo some boards next season. Since you said you come out west you could demo boards from Bomber and All board sports in Boulder and if you are going to SLC you could contact Billy Bordy(hardbooter.com) about demoing boards as well. You should demo some metal boards if you have not done so. The metal boards may change your mind about skiing on hard snow as they hold really well on hard snow and are smooth. You may not need to ski anymore but that is up to you? The metal boards are also smoother in choppy snow and slush as I found out by riding my Donek 184 GS in slush and it is smoother than my Dupraz D1. However the Dupraz is better in deep powder which is what I mostly use it for anyway.The other option for demoing boards is SES. Demo a carve specfic metal board as you are already have a board for soft snow and are thinking about getting a split board for BC. You could also demo boards from Donek as well. Demo first before going custom.

The only way to find out if you will like hardboots and plates will be to ride them. I went back and forth from both setups for a while after riding hardboots for a long time and decided that I don't want to bother with softboots at all anymore. I like alpine boards and hardboots better for me and I am not the best carver on the hill but it does not matter to me. I ride hardboots all mountain but I do not ride trees. I ride several different boards depending on what I want to do and or conditions but you can get by with an all mountain alpine board if you want to. You can do laid out turns on almost any board if you are good enough either hard or soft boots although I think ec carving would be better in hard boots. I do not ec due to my shoulders and have a lot of fun without doing so. I went to hard boots years ago because I like the angled stances and the foot comfort and better edgehold. Softbooots and bindings are way better than they were years ago but I still have the problem with foot pain no matter what boot or binding I have tried and I have tried a lot of things. Ec stands for extreme carving which is doing fully laid out turns but again not for me. Give an alpine board and boots a try next season-You might just like it? I find that most people that ride softboots that ask me about my gear are afraid to try hardboots probably not you though.

I think you have to be in way better shape to ride soft boots all day due to the fact that you have to work harder with your legs to make up for what the boots and bindings won't do in comparison to a hardboot set up. I really like the higher level of performance of a hardboot set up for all around free riding even if I am not carving perfect turns all of the time. On steep terrain it was really hard on my feet to ride soft boots and too much work to hold an edge. Much eaiser and more fun to ride steep terrain with hardboots. If I wanted to do lots of tricks and ride switch than I would like soft boots. I suck at tricks and switch but that is just me. I will be riding hardboots for however long I will be able to continue to snow board which I hope is a long time.

Rode there last Sunday June 26. Not too bad soft and slushy but I would not ride a new board. I rode my Burton Alp and used Zardoz to keep gliding well. Might go up Sunday just to say I rode in July? Stayed up top mostly as the snow was better up there. I think July 4th will be busy as it will be last day?

Nice meeting you as well. I ended up switching to my Donek AX when it got softer and rode the rest of the day. Good food as well at mid mountain. Will probably go riding on the 19th. This is the best late season I have seen. Maybe they will stay open till July 4th?:)

Thank you for all of the replies. I did not think hotboxing was such a good idea before I started this thread but I wanted to see what others thought about it or if they were doing it. I am concerned about overheating a board with a hot box and don't feel qulified to build one that would be precise enough to avoid a problem. Hotwaxing with an iron is not a big deal. Thank you for the info Race carver about the specific reasons for hot boxing and why it is not a good idea for alpine snowboards.

Of course you can buy a hotbox ready to go for the affordable price of 1200.00. NOT! I doubt I will be doing this? It seems eaiser to just use an iron unless someone can show me some good plans and easy to build? Also explain why it is WAY BETTER?

Thank you for the info. Idid a quick look at this and I am not sure about this as it all pertains to skis and not snowboards and 1 article said you could ruin your skis and the same article also said that it is not a replacement for prepping your skis for the weekend. I would want to know exactly how to do this for a snowboard before I went to the effort?

Is it possible to make your own hot box to wax your boards with and is it easy to do and are there plans available to do this?Is using a hot box way better than just regular waxing with an iron? I seem to have to wax my board a lot because the wax wears off quickly although maybe with a hotbox it would last a litle bit longer?

Email sent with address and I will pay shipping. Thank you

I would like to buy your boots. I can pay with pay pal. please let me know if they are still available? 150.00 is a fair price. Thank you

I spent a lot of money and time on softboot gear over the last several seasons and will not go back to soft boots at all due to foot pain on my insteps and the balls of my feet hurt as well no matter what I try to do when riding soft boots. I had cork insoles custom made which I still use in my hardboots. I just can't get my feet comfortable in a softboot set up. I was hoping I could ride softboots because they are cheaper. Maybe it is because I have small feet- size 26 and I weigh 187 too much psi on the balls of my feet. I do not crank the straps down hard on soft bindings and my insteps still hurt no matter what. Also I don't try to over ride a soft boot set up. Also my legs get tired way faster riding softboots especially if I ride steper terrain.I tried both softer and stiffer soft boots and foot pain no matter what. I can ride more runs per day in hardboots with way less fatigue. I am only a so so carver in either set up but am haviing fun and this was season 32. I ride a stiffer pair of hardboots on carve specific boards on groomed snow only and a softer pair of hardboots-Lemans if I ride all mountain. I do not ride trees and don't do freestyle tricks. I would have to understand why a lot of riders have gone back to soft boots only but not for me. I find with the Bomber sidewinder binding that I get a nicer smoother ride than any soft boot set up I have tried. That was the other reason I tried softboots again. I thought that they might be better in choppy snow but if the snow is choppy enough you will get beat around no matter what. I have been way happier with hardboots. If you are just making turns and not jumping and riding rails I don't see why I would want to ride soft boots? Steep terrain is much more fun in hardboots. I also use booster straps on my hardboots most of the time. The booster straps work real well on the lemans boot. Still riding this year rode today at Abasin on Donek metal race board and had a blast. Only a few more days left but amazing season this year. I rode softboots a couple of times this year but will not go back to them at all?

Abasin is still open with a 102" base! all 900 acres open. Will be open until at least June. Loveland last day will be May 8. No one else is open. Best season since 1996. Come on out and ride the Basin. You could stay in Silverthorne as there are a few hotels there. I don't know how much they are at this time of year. There should be some folks out that week. I might be taking that week off and going up. If I don't take that week off I will be going up on wensday of that week the 11th.Might want to bring an all mountain board because it does get softer later in the day if the sun comes out and it warms up. Still fairly cold as well so bring enough layers so that you will be warm. Lift tickets are 59.00 but I will check to see if there are other deals available.

Bindings have sold. thankyou for all the replies.

Boot pictures. I am highly motivated to sell this stuff.

I have a pair of Catek free ride bindings with carbon fiber highbacks and extra straps and rachets. I would like to get 150.00 plus shipping. You could pay with paypal. I also have a pair of Salomon Savage boots size9.5 or 27.5 that I would like to sell that were used only 2 days. 50.00 for the boots. 200.00 for the whole thing plus shipping.The straps are Nidecker carbon fiber and some Phiokia straps as well.

The reason why Bola is asking 575.00 is because the bindings he is selling have a carbon fiber high back instead of the plastic one. The 449.00 binding does not have the carbon fiber high back. The bindings with the carbon high back are harder to find. They would be stiffer as well which is what you might want since you are looking at the Catek binding.You might want to call Bola back and ask about the high backs? He is not over pricing them.

Flat tire this morning. I guess I won't be going. Sorry I don't want to drive up on the cheap spare in a snowstorm. It is installed as of now but don't wan't to drive that far with it. 7-12" new by the time the storm ends.

Alright then I will bring plates and plastic silverware and napkins.

Will be attending Sunday. I am covered for a ticket. Do you want me to bring paper plates and or silver ware?

Might want to take that board to a shop that does repairs-whoever you go to for an opinion. Better than having the bindings come off while you are riding hard.I don't know if that can be fixed?

That is a Dynastar course which was made by Dynastar. I think I demoed one back in the early 90's. I dont know what kind of bindings those are altthough they look like a binding that might have been on Checker pig boards? Be careful with those old bindings as they might break as the plastic in them is old and can get brittle. The board I demoed was yellow instead of red.

That board should work. I weigh about as much as you and have ridden boards in that lenght. I don't know what the weight range is for that board? That lenght will be good for short and or narrow trails and carving at lower speeds. Also a board that size will be eaiser to learn on since you said you are new to the sport. Make sure the edges are sharp so that the board will have good edge hold . Riding with dull edges is no fun especially when you are trying to carve. Later on you may want to have a longer board but keep the 162 for days when you may want to ride it. Good luck and have fun!