snowboardfast

I ride a Dupraz D1 with lemans hardboots and bomber sidwinder plates. I only ride this board when the snow is soft and I don't try to push it really hard like a race board on groomed snow. I weigh 187 and no problem. The Dupraz is designed to be ridden with either hard or soft boots. I would imagine that most soft boot decks today are made in China and are not made strong enough to be used with alpine boots and bindings. the Dupraz only comes out when it is a big powder day like 8" or more new snow. Anything less and I will be riding one of my all mountain alpine boards such as the Donek172AX or the Prior 174.

Could it be that you are used to the cant and lift setting on the Catek binding as oposed to the Bomber? Did you try the Bomber bindings on the board you are used to? I run the bomber bindings on all of my boards and it isn't that big of a deal swithching from my 172 ax to my 183 Nidecker or the 168 vokl. The waist widths on the carve specfic boards are 18 cm vs the 21.5 or whatever it is for the ax.I run the same angles and width on all those boards except on my Dupraz D1 I run lower angles because it is much wider. I even use diffrent boots on the all mountain boards vs carve specfic and it is not that big of a deal riding them.

I owned and rode that same board back when it was available in the 90's. I believe some time in 95 or 96. I rode it so much I wore it out. I had a lot of fun with that board. You will have to get a pair of hardshell boots to use with that board. Also you will need to know what mondo point size is right for you as hard boots are sized in mondo sizes not shoe sizes like soft boots. Those bindings might work? Maybe you could find some alpine snowboarders in your area that could help you get started? Post in the forum to try to find someone that might be able to help? Also post on the ride board for the resorts in your area. Maybe you could meet up with someone who has gear you could try out and or buy? There is a demo center at Berskhire east. I don't know if you could go there or not to try gear? Good luck and let us know any more questions that you might have.

I would not use ski boots on your 4807 board. The ski boots will put too much force on the board and you might pull the inserts out while turning. Also ski boots do not work well at lower angles because they are too stiff. I used to ride ski boots on a narrow 18 cm race board years ago and it worked okay with 60 degree angles on both feet . I used Catek and Bomber bindings with ski boots. Do not use a cheap used plastic plate binding with a ski boot as you will probably break it and it will explode at the worst possible time while you are turning.Hardshell snowboard boots are way diffrent than ski boots and will work much better. You are better off spending the money on the proper gear and having it work right instead of trying to make something else work that won't work well. I don't ride ski boots anymore.

Did you change your binding set up to ride these boots or did you leave it the way it was before you used them? I have ridden different pairs of boots on my bomber bindings and they seem to work well. Right now I use 2 different pairs of boots depending on what I am going to do. If I ride all mountain I use my Deluxe lemans boot and if I want to ride carve only I ride the suska boot of course not on the same board. I do not change my cants or lifts. I don't have a problem doing this. Of course the Deluxxe boots -the 2 pairs I have are somewhat similar. The Lemans are a softer boot than the Susaka. Maybe you should set up your bindings the same way they were with other boots with regards to cant and lift and then you could determine maybe you could adjust the foward lean in the boots to get it right? are you riding a board that you know worked well with your old boots? I can't comment on upz boots as I have not tried them. If I was going to try them I would start out with my usual settings on my bindings and ride them to see how they would work. Of course i would have to adjust the bindings if the sole lenght was longer or shorter but that would be all I would change to start. I have to adjust my bindings every time I change from the Lemans to the Susaka as the lemans has a shorter shell lenght. I mostly run the same foward lean setting on both pairs of boots and am running 3 and 6 on the Bomber bindings. I did the same thing when I was riding Head boots for a while. I quit riding the head boots because they were too big. The Head boots did not flex enough for me when I tried to use the stiff grey tounges so I went back to using the orange ones. I was able to ride the Head boots and they worked good for me at the time until they got too loose because they were too big.

Why not talk to Sean about a custom board? Local builder and you won' t have to wait a year to get one. You could drive there and pick it up as well which would be cheaper than having it shipped.

Don't forget that Sean can build you a wide waisted board for softboots any way you would want. You might contact him and see if he knows what the specs were on that board or he could build you something close anyway.

If the shells on your old boots are still good you could buy a new set of heat moldable liners for them and continue to use them. However if you feel your old boots are too soft you should consider a stiffer boot? I have a pair of susaka boots that I have had for several years that are working fine afterI had a new pair of liners installed a couple of years ago. They are stiffer than a pair of track 700's that I tried on at bomber last year. I also ride a pair of lemans boots that I bought from Newcarver last year and I put a new pair of liners in them this year-Intuition and they are working fine. I ride the Lemans boot for all mountain riding and the Susaka for carving on groomed snow with stiffer and narrower race boards. I do not use BTS. +1 on buying a used boot where the shells are in good condition and you can buy new liners to get the fit right. A lot of times the shells are in good shape because the boots were not used much.

Sounds like you are going to need a custom board designed to be strong enough to handle the force you are putting on it with the ski boots and catek bindings. I used to ride ski boots and Cateks but I never broke a board but you will wear a board out faster with ski boots if you don't break it. The other option would be to get some hardboots and not use ski boots anymore but you still might need a stronger board if you ride really hard? Make sure you let the builder know what you are using for boots and bindings and how you are breaking boards now. Have you tried snowboard hardboots? I went back to them after ski boots and have never wanted to go back to ski boots? A racing ski boot is going to be Way stiff for snowboarding and a rough ride on anything put perfect groomed snow.

Well I went to Thrifty stick on the way home after work and found out that they are selling new Palmer boards which are supposed to be BX for 200.00 so that means my board is probably worth 100.00 tops.I think I will keep it and ride it since it has low value.

I already have 1 and am thinking about selling it. Thanks for the help. I bought another Dupraz cheap and don't really need the Vokl. i might be interested in trading it for another board as well?

What would be a fair price to pay for a Vokl 167 cross in good condition?

Did you have your liners molded at a ski shop or did you do it yourself? If done at a shop you should go back and request to have the problems fixed if they can be. The intution liner is a good one. Also did they hurt while you had them on at the shop? If so you should have addresed that when you were there how ever if it is a reputable shop they should help you with this. I just had a pair of liners done last week and rode them yesterday for the first time. They felt good in the shop and felt good on the hill all day for the first day. Moldable liners are suposed to be comfortable and hopefully your problems can be fixed. If your boots are too small it will be harder to make them fit right.

I had one for a short while a 170. It was a nice board and carves very well and rides all mountain very well. I ended uptrading it back in for a 172 AX because my feet get destroyed riding in soft boots. I rode it with Catek free ride bindings and Burton Driver X boots. I will not be riding soft boots ever again. No fault of the board. Great for soft boot carve oriented riding if you don't have issues with foot pain in soft boots.

I was'nt thinking of getting money for the liners. I suppose you could pay for the shipping but I don't know how much that would be off the top of my head? If you could give me your address I could ship them out right away. If you don't want to post your address on the forum you could send it to me at mcurtis20@hotmail.com.

The best thing to do to answer this question would be to contact the companies that make boards that you are interested in to find out the scr. Also if you could demo boards to see how they work for you? Today's new race boards have variable sidecut radius. People on this forum who have been riding the new boards for a while say that it is possible to do a large variety of turn sizes on the new boards due to the design. I have not ridden them enough to comment and don't know if I could do this any way?

I have a pair of thermoflex liners I could send you as I have replaced them with a new set. If you are interested let me know. They are packed out so I don't know how well they would mold again?

You also have to remember that most soft boot decks are getting shorter to make them better for riding the park and terrain features as that is the emphasis being pushed by the snowboard magazines and companies now. I looked at a magazine recently and resorts were given good reviews mostly by how good the park is. I think that is funny because how many snowboarders are hard core park riders? I never wanted to do that kind of riding and I think it is funny that the magazines automatically assume that everyone should be doing so. Getting a board that you like is not hard if you work with the smaller companies like Donek that will make whatever you want and can help you out with making that decision.

Since you have this recorded on video the evidence cannot be disputed. I would be talking to the management at Copper mountain that deals with these type of problems and demand that something is done about this. At the very least this person should not be allowed to race anymore because of stupid behavior. I hope this doesn't hapen to you or anyone else for that matter again. Good luck in resolving this. Please let us know how it turns out.

Rode Breck today and it rocked! 20" in the last 24 hours and 52" base. Was able to ride all mountain on the Dupraz D1 and snow was nice. More lifts need to open but the wait in the singles line was not bad and the line got smaller as the day progressed. The t bar was open but I did not go there as the line was long. If they can get more lifts opened by Sunday I will go up again on Sunday. The black diamond runs that were open had good coverage and soft snow. I hope they can open up peaks 7 9 and 10 up soon. Only peak 8 is open but again really good. I may go up Sunday any way as the conditions are so good and it is better now than it was last season in January and Febuary. Breck is super fun if you like to ride all mountain. It was great to be able to ride runs that you normally have to wait a month or more to get enough snow on them.

Beautiful woman deserves Beautiful board!

By the time you buy the Catek free ride bindings and boots you will be spending almost as much as a hardboot setup and you still won't have the performance of the hardboot setup. +1 that Blue B says less fatigue because the boots and bindings offer more support and power and you have to not work as hard to carve. Good luck in getting the Catek binding as the company is way behind on orders. Also if you get an all mountain alpine board they are more versatile and eaiser to ride. Check with Joerg who has the Pureboarding site and see if he can set you up with some demo gear as the Pureboarding two or the Bastard are fun boards for all around use. I believe he has some test centers at varios places in Europe. Keep trying and have fun ! Let us know how it works out for you.

Thanks for the photos. I used to ride a Burton Safari with those same kind of boots- the Alpina cool kats. also had a Avalanche kick. I got to meet Damian Sanders at Loveland at a demo day. He had switched to Clicker boots and bindings. I remember the pink Koflach boots as I used to ride a pair of those also. I wish I still had the magazine articles about Damian and the avalanche crew. Fun to be a part of this sport for so long.

Grew up in Iowa and am glad I moved to Colorado in 1988. The midwest is no fun to live in if you like snowboarding. I don't ever intend to move back to Bettendorf Iowa after living in Colorado. Better bike riding here too because of bike trail system and weather. Denver was rated #3 in the country for bike riding.

Are your edges sharp on the F2 vantage? If they are dull you will have problems holding an edge on harder snow conditions. +1 on demoing boards if possible. I am the opposite of you average talent and no cash to spend for the new technology at this time but I am riding glass boards and having lots of fun. I will probably buy a used metal board when I buy one but I will always be riding my cheaper boards as well especially early and late season as I don't want to chew up an expensive board when cover is thin.