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This board might have ski screw mounting. It might have an aluminum plate where the bindings go instead of threaded inserts. Most boards that had that will have a diagram printed on the topsheet where the bindings are to be mounted sometimes with sugested angles. If it has that you will have to find a ski shop that can drill the board and tap it to install the screws that will hold the bindings in place. You will have to decide on stance width and angles before the board is drilled and will have to have it redrilled if you want to change things. You might be able to use a newer binding such as a Catek or bomber but you won't be able to change stance width without redrilling. I don't know if the bindings will stay put due to the fact that you will be putting more force on the plate with the stiffer binding.Don't try to do this yourself because it takes a special drill and screws properly installed for the bindings to stay on the board. I had several boards that were this way-Kemper apex asym ,Mistral 159 asym, Hooger Booger 164 asym, Morrow 175. The hot logicals were this way for a while. This was before the 4x4 insert pattern. The other option woud be to drill all the way through the board and bolt the bindings on with t nuts but you would have to countersink the nuts so they don't stick out on the base of the board. This will shorten the life of the board because you are making it weaker and moisture could go up into the core because of the exposed wood from the counter sinking. You might be able to find a shop that could install threaded inserts in the board but it would be a costly job. You are better off buying a board that has 4x4 inserts instead of messing with this one. I believe that the sims ace was an asym board as well so you need to know whether or not it is regular or goofy. If the bindings are not properly installed in the plate they will rip out of the board in short order- I know I had this happen due to improper instalation. I donated the Hooger and the Mistral to the Bomber Mueseum. The other problem with using this method is the older plate bindings tend to break in cold weather. I had a pair of snow pro Vario p3's shatter on the mistrall on a cold day. Wrecked hard and messed up my neck. If I remember right the sims ace had this mounting as I demoed 1 when they were out. I have seen a lot of changes in equipment since this is my 27th season riding. Be careful I would reccomend hanging this board on the wall .

I remember when those blue Burtons came out . They were selling for 79.00. I don't see how they are worth 2500.00 as a colectible item. Maybe 200.00. I started on a Snurfer which came out before the burton.

Does any one have a Swoard for sale. I am 5'10" tall and 185 lbs.I would demo one at Bomber but they don't have any. anyone in Colorado have 1 I could try?It looks like a fun board.

The plastic in your boots is soft and the heel and toe pieces on those boots are soft as well. They probably compress on a hard landing and pop the bindings open. i tried to use standard bail bindings( Catek World Cup) with a pair of Raichlie Lemans boots and was crushing the boots trying to keep them in the binding. If I set the binding loose enough to avoid crushing the boot I felt like it was way too loose and I could almost twist out of the binding just standing on the carpet testing them. Try this yourself and notice how the boot will compress and twist while in the binding due the softness of the plastic. I decided to use stepins to elimiate the problem. I don't have this problem with my Head stratos pro boots as the shell and heel and toe are much stiffer. These boots I can go step in or standard either catek or Bomber. I found that the toe and heel pieces in the Lemans boot would compress with the Catek binding and the boot would get progresively looser as I used it more. If you tightened the binding to compen sate It would warp the boot. Not a problem with step in as you are not relying on the stiffness of the boot shell to hold the boot down. You are not clamping down on the boot. I would reccomend changing to step ins if you continue to use the raichile boot. I would imagine that you could use standard bindings with the Raichile Indy boot as the shell and bottom of the boot is much stiffer. I have used ski boots with Catek and Bomber standard bindings in the past and they worked well.No problem with boot compression but the ski boots have their problems-flex not quite right and soles can be too big if you have big feet. also no adjustment for foward lean compared to snowboard boots. Switch to step in to avoid getting hurt.

Keep your soft boot set up to ride in deep and heavy powder and bumps. You will have more fun in hard boots on harder snow conditions-groomed snow.I rode yesterday in heavy powder with my prior4x4. It is more fun to ride a soft boot setup in that condition as the prior is too narrow to float well although I made it work. I will be riding soft boots in deep powder now. The prior is a good board to try out with hard boots as it is eaiser to ride due to the wider width. Ride both hard and soft boots depending on conditions you can have fun carving hard in soft boots in soft snow. Have fun

When you get to CO and have time to ride you can go to Bomber in silverthorne and demo some gear.It is inexpensive and will help you decide what you want. I ride a Prior 4x4 174 with Lemans boots if I want to ride all mountain.

Even if you can set up the bindings so they don't drag you won't have enough power with soft boots on an alpine board to really enjoy it. You are better off using plates and hard boots on an alpine board. I have seen people use k2 clicker boots on a Burton asym race board. Why? Use your soft bindings the way they were intended.

The Dupraz only has the edge contact of a 156 cm board. i rode 1 for 3 hours in all different kinds of snow at Loveland this year. A fun board and very versatile. Excells in deep powder but is fun to ride in bumps chop and groommed snow. I rode it with soft boots but will ride it again with hard boots when I finish paying the board off- i put 1 on layaway at all Board sports. I weigh 185 and am 5'10''. i will try it with my raichille Lemans boots next. It is easy to ride and forgiving. You can ride powder without putting weight on your back leg. It is designed to be ridden with either hard or soft boots. Some people are using it for extreme carving as an alternative to the swoard. I think you will like this board- the flex pattern is soft so you don't have to be 200 lbs to be able to ride it. You can get real aggresive in powder with it and crank turns like you are surfing. I was leaving big trenches in the powder. Have fun!

You might try calling Bola at All Board Sports BoulderCO.(303)415-1600.He has a lot of equipment for sale. I bought my head boots there a couple of years ago and he usually has them in stock. Also has a large selection of boards and bindings.

Brunswick snurfer back in 1978. Yellow and black Bought brand new for 20.00 at kunkels sporting goods in Davenport IA. Put a bungee cord on it and made2 fins to go on the back out of aluminium. Kunkels is still around today. If i can rtemember them all I might post a list of all the boards I have owned through the years. And no I would'nt want to go back and ride all those crappy boards again! It was fun to see the equipment evovle to what it is now but we are fortunate to have the gear we have now.

Is anyone in our little world of hardbooting writing a book about the evolution of alpine snowboarding?Ithink it would be cool If someone could acurately chronicle when hard boot riding started. I remember starting about 1988 or 89 with a Burton Safari and alpina cool cat boots with variplate bindings. i went to the Bomber museum and remember all of the plate bindings that were displayed. It would be fun to know exactly when they were built. I have been around long enough to see the sport evolve from the begining but I don't have enough info to write a book. A person would have to take pictures of old equipment to put in the book . Maybe some of us that have been riding plates a long time could gather up info on the sport to do this. Maybe old snowboards.com could help as well. Maybe I could contact Avalanche, Burton and Hot for some accurate history. Any ideas? This could be put in the mueseum that Fin is putting together. Is there any displays at the smithsoneum institution? This sport was invented in the USA. there should be something written or documented about it.

this was common back in the late 80's early 90's. When I moved to Colorado in 1988 i rode with asolo mountaineering boots in a highback binding. this was at Aspen highlands.The 1st resort I rode at when I moved to CO. I think I started riding plates the next season.People did this for the same reason as we ride hardboots today-more carving power. There is no reason to do this today as we have the proper equipment. I did this because I didn't know about plate bindings at the time. I'm not sure when plates were first available ? Maybe someone can tell us?I rode those same pink koflac boots on a Kemper apex asym with snopro plates for a while. Damian Sanders used to ride koflacs as well.

Had the same problems with snowpro bindings back in the early 90's. Bails would snap while riding. had a rear binding shatter while doing a toeside turn. Had to go to chiro for a year and a half to get my neck readjusted after pinballing down the hill. Those bindings are at the carving mueseum at Bomber where they belong. I will not ride any plate binding with any plastic in it. I ride bombers and catek exclusively. Have nt had a problem with breakage. I rode with a guy a number of years ago that said he broke 10 pairs of Burton plate bindings in 1 season. Go buy some Bombers and ride free from binding problems! Carbon fiber and plastic become brittle in cold temperatures. I am no engineer but I don't trust anything but metal bindings. If you need a new pair right away go to Boulder All Board Sports- Bola can set you up with Catek or bomber. Glad you didn't get hurt! Ride safe Ride Metal!

Ditto on the boots- get a pair of snowboard hardboots that fit well. you will enjoy the sport more and learn faster. Also don't skimp on bindings. Cheap ones can break I know I have broken them and won't ride anything but Cateks or Bombers. You can buy used ones on the bomber clasifieds or ebay. The bomber and Catek bindings will allow you to get set up properly with the proper angles and cants again making it eaiser and more fun to ride. Have fun!

Don't throw those Raichlie boots away. They could work well on that axis for all mountain riding. i ride a prior 4x4 174 with Lemans boots. Angles 45 front 40 rear. width 20 inches. 3 degrees front foot 6 degrees rear. That is the bomber discs. I ride a stiffer boot on my carve specific boards Head Stratos pro. angles are steeper 57 front 54 back same discs. The mellower angles on the 4x4 make it eaiser to negoiate powder bumps and uneven snow. Also the board is wider - no need to ride steeper angles . Size 27 boot I weigh 185. You will need a softer boot if you ever come out west to ride powder. I demoed an axis and the prior is slightly softer. I liked the axis too and it will work well on the east coast I would imagine. . I can turn quickly when I need to.

sounds like you are trying to overcompensate with the longer board. Thus wearing your legs out faster. I do work a little bit harder to ride my longer board- Liberation 185 than my rentiger 173 but not that much harder. I also don't ride the liberation if the snow is choppy as it is too much work to keep from being bounced around. Also I like to use a stiffer boot with those 2 boards- Head Stratos pro. I tried riding with the Raichile lemans but had trouble holding an edge well on harder snow conditions. I use the lemans to ride all mountain on a prior 4x4 174. This boot is way softer than the head boot. I weigh 185 and am 5'10''. You will get used to the longer lenght board after a while. You might try riding only part of the day on the longer board to start until you are more used to it. I hope this helps. The longer board will make it more fun to do bigger longer turns without slowing down.

You could probably ride that board but if it doesn't have bindings you will be hard pressed to find a pair that works because it uses the old 5 hole pattern.

I remember this board and other asym boards because I have been riding plates a long time. Used to ride a hooger 164 asym which I donated to the carving mueseum at Bomber. Also used to ride a Mistral 159 asym which is also in the mueseum.Also rode a kemper apex 160 asym and a hot logical. Those boards all had aluminum plates in them to mount the bindings on. You had to have the board drilled by a shop that knew how to do it and the bindings mounted with special screws in the plate. If you wanted to change your stance you had to have the board redrilled with new holes. It was a great day when they came out with the 4x4 insert pattern we have today! You would pick a stance and ride it.

I would recomend buying a good pair of bindings such as catek or Bomber and not going cheap. The older bindings had a tendency to break- I know I have snapped them while riding and i wasn't pushing them that hard. You should be able to find a used pair of cateks or bombers at a good price.

Do not use ski boots. They are not compatible with intec bindings and you can't flex them enough both foward and side ways. Also the soles are generally too long forcing you to ride overly steep angles. When snow conditions get choppy you will get banged around too much due to the stiffness of the boots. I have ridden them in the past but they aren't that good. as a beginning carver it will make it much harder to learn.A good boot to consider would be the raichiile lemans. It works well with the boards you are considering. It can be adjustedto be softer or stiffer. It is not a super stiff boot to begin with. I have riden it on a prior 4wd and it works well. It is a comfortable boot due to the thermoflex liner and it is intec compatible. Also where will you be riding? Are you going to be going out west and riding powder and soft snow or are you interested in groomed snow only? I have been riding for 27 years and prefer to ride plates on groomed snow only and soft boots all mountain. The prior 4x4 and axis can be ridden all mountain but I think a quality soft boot set up and board works better. I feel that the 4x4 is a good board for a begining carver but is too narrow to ride in powder well. I can do it but I like soft boots better.If you are considering soft boots don't buy a cheap pair as they will be too soft and won't allow you to carve as well. I am riding the deluxe spark boot with the plastic stiffeners added. It has a thermoflex liner and fits well. Carves well all mountain. i have spent more time in soft boots this year due to the fact that the conditions in Colorado have been good for it. I do enjoy hard boots when the snow is hard and it hasn't snowed for a while. a lot of times I will ride both set ups the same day. I hope this helps.Try contacting Bola at All board sports in Boulder CO 303-415-1600 for hard and soft boot gear. Also i have heard that Bomber might be offering demos in CO this year . Call to find out

Practice doing tighter turns on your current board. You should be able to do both short and long radius turns on that board. You just have to practice doing both. Especially as big as you are shouldn't be a problem. A free carve board might be slightly more turnier because of the smaller side cut radius but it won't be that much diferent. I am riding a 185 liberation and can do both small and large turns when needed. It has a 15 meter sidecut. Obviously I don't like to ride it early season when not much is open. I am 185 and 5' 10''

You are right Riding with loose intec heels is not good. i would think a person would have a better chance of breaking the heel by doing this. By riding with loose toe bails you are putting all of the force on that heel assembly. Also you would be side loading the heel pieces more due to the extra movement. Better to use a standard bail binding to get more flex. That is what a lot of racers are doing.

Am currently riding a ride nation 168. Great board =works well in powder bumps steeps and any where. Have spent more time on this this year because snow is soft this year and I like to ride all mountain. I am using Phiokia fix bindings and DeluxeSpark soft boots with the plastic stiffeners added. Carves almost as good as hard boots. I have decided to ride hard boots on groomed snow only. I am like you I get bored just riding groomed snow. If you decide to get a hard boot setup keep your soft set up for all mountain.Race boards are fun if it hasn't snowed for a while and you want to carve harder. I am 185 and 5' 10''

don't ride in walk mode. ride with your boots in powder mode as I said before. In walk mode you will be giving up control in heelside turns. turn the teardrop shaped adjuster to the left. this will put the boot in powder mode. the boots will be softer but stiff enough to carve well.

are you using raichile boots? If you are ride your rear foot in powder mode-flip the adjuster over to the left and leave the lever in walk mode. this will soften up the boot and allow you to flex foward more for softer and uneven snow conditions. It keep you from getting locked in turns in the bumps. I tried riding both boots in powder mode but was afraid I was going to break my front boot becuse the ratchets were popping all the time from me pushing against it. If you are a lightweight rider you might try both boots in powder mode when riding off of groomed trails. I am using Lemans boots on a prior 174 4x4 with stance angles of 45 degrees on both feet. Bomber td1 step ins 3 degrees front 6 degrees rear. Yellow bumpers. I don't know if I can tell that much difference in the bumper hardnesses. I love it. I can ride all mountain with this and don't see the need to ride soft boots. If you are using the head stratos or Deluxe indy to ride in bumps you are using too stiff of a boot unless you are very heavy- 200 lbs or more. I weigh 185 and like the lemans boot for all mountain bumps and powder days. If I am going to ride groomed runs with a race board I use a pair of Head stratos boots with the orange tounges and 54 degree angles. I have spent more time this year on the 4x4 because the snow has been so good so far this year. Also I get bored riding groomed runs and like going all over the mountain riding variable terrain.