TheTruth

Dude, if your foot measures 27.3 cm, and you are buying an 11 street shoe, you are buying your shoes a size to a size and a half too big! 27 cm approx. equals an US size 9 mens shoe. Regardless, the important thing to remember is that ski or hardboot sizing has ***nothing*** to do with street shoe sizing. The most importing thing is sizing your foot to the internal shell of the boot. The easiest way to do that is to pull the liner and slide your foot into the shell. With your toes just touching the front, you should only have 1 to 1 1/2 fingers space from your heel to the back of the shell. Anything more is too big. Shells are generally made only on the 1/2 size, so a size 26 boot and 26.5 boot use the same shell (26.5) Here's why many people who have a US 9 or 9 1/2 foot (27 cm length) use a 26.5 shell. The stated shell size has ***nothing*** to do with the actual ***internal** shell measurement!!. Just about every "26.5" shell made measures internally 27.5 cm!! So people with a 27cm size foot fit inside with a nice, firm performance fit. They can even go down another shell size (25.5 shells measure 26.5 internally) if they have a good bootfitter who can grind and stretch the shell. Racers often do this to get the highest performance fit, but for most people downsizing that small, with all the related boot streching and grinding may be overkill. I know this is confusing to many people, so the best bet is to have a good bootfitter. If that is not possible, then the 1 to 1 1/2 finger rule I stated earlier works pretty well for a performance fit.

Step 1: Throw those suckers away NOW! Step 2: Buy new boots NOW! Your long term health may depend upon it. Step 3: If in doubt, refer to Step 1.

YEP, the entire mountain is terminal intermediate heaven. Just a bunch of bulldozed and blasted cruisers. But that can still be fun if you want to cruise around. But, it is in no way a challenging mountain. To be honest, I believe Flattons only FIS homologation is for USSA Masters level (for us old timers LOL) GS and SL events. That means the place isn't qualified to hold a true World Cup ski event, even something as short as a SL. IIRC, there are only 2 trails in the east homologated for FIS speed events: The downhill run at White Face, and Narrow Guage at Sugarloaf. Even those two trail are considered very tame by FIS ski racing standards.

They were not FIS ski downhill sets. I don't know how many times I need to state this. It is clear you have never competed in a ski racing speed event.

Dude, if you consider anything at Flatton "steep and gnarly" for racing you have absolutely no clue what "steep and gnarly" means for a ski racer. :lol:

LOL. I'm actually more fond remembering of what happened after the races in my career. Especially after the U.S. Opens, but that is another story. Snowboard "Downhills" may have been held on FIS downhill runs, but the course set was nothing like a FIS ski downhill. What you consider being a snowboard downhill is at best a fast open set FIS GS for ski racers. Like I said, been there, seen it and done it. Like I said, if you want to restart that type of snowboard racing, I'm all for it. Personally, I prefer the traditional GS/Super G format to the PGS stuff we see now. But equating a Snowboard "Downhill" to a FIS ski Downhill is just plain silly.

LOL Bob, I guess I better keep looking over my shoulder for the irate Flatton Village People. I don't know what's more comical; People getting mad when somebody calls Flatton non-challenging, or calling any race held at Flatton a "Downhill". I've seen WalMart parking lots with steeper gradients than that place.

Exactly right. Hey guys, I'm not trying to be a prick about this. I love to snowboard race. I also love to ski race. I've done both for years. I got the injuries to prove it. Like I said earlier, if you haven't run a ski Downhill, you simply can not imagine what it is like at those speeds, on those courses. When things go wrong, they go very wrong, very quickly.

What you seem to miss is that I have been racing a LONG time, both skis and snowboards. As far as the the snowboard side of things, I was a regular in the Green Mountain Series back in the late 80's through the late 90's, did the U.S. Open 7 times, and hit a number of the so called snowboard "speed events" my friend Gilmore spoke about earlier. I've also raced in 4 World Cup GS events back in the day when we used the two run traditional GS format. A snowboard "Super G" or "Downhill" is set like a open FIS skiing GS at best with similar overall speeds. I've "been there and done it" and the overall speed we carried is nowhere near the overall speed you carry in a skiing Super G or Downhill (been there and done that too... have you?). Hey, if you want to restart those type of races, I'm all for it. I actually don't like the PGS and PS format anyway. What I'm talking about being dangerous on a board is a real FIS skiing downhill set, on a water injected course, with the same distance between gates, the same blind turns where the only way of knowing where the gate is located is from memory, the same insane fall aways, and the same 80-90 mph speeds. Start running those for snowboards, and I guarantee you will see people seriously hurt.

No. Head race skis are really nice. A good combination of power and forgiveness. Of course, at the World Cup level the brand of skis the big name players use is based on sponsorship money. Racer's skis are all hand built, custom made to what they like and are fast on, so the brand name is meaningless. At that level they all are on great skis.

Jack, all the race skis have plates under the bindings. The 2 reasons they may not seem as prominent as in the past: 1. FIS has reduced the total stack height to protect racer's knees. 2. Ski waists are now wider across all disciplines, therefore binding plates don't need to be as high to prevent boot-out. Visually, the wider skis make the plates look even shorter.

I wholeheartedly agree with you on that.

Picture a trail that is uneven in contour both down the hill, and left to right. As you are making a high speed turn through this contour at first you may get pulled both downward and to the right, but at some point (while making the same direction turn around the gate) the contour may suddenly change and you get pulled downward and to the left. These gates are difficult to set up for correctly at speed because in a fraction of a second you are getting pulled 3 different ways. In this day and age, it is actually difficult to find these trails at resorts in the U.S. because management has bulldozed and blasted these features flat into one fall line (downward) to accommodate the teaming masses of terminal intermediate skiers and boarders (Think Flattton Vt.).

Apparently none the racing organizations agree with you regarding the safety of speed events for snowboards. :rolleyes: Look, I'm not missing the point here. I think many of us have made insanely fast runs on our board and walked away to tell the tale about it. But that is different than an organized season long schedule of speed events, that I honestly believe that most people WOULDN'T end up walking away from without serious injury due to the inherent diminished stability characteristics of having both feet strapped to one board at that speed. Like it or not, the current PGS and PS structure is not going away in snowboard racing.

Big difference in going fast on a perfectly straight run, and in going fast in a Downhill with 4 to 5 G force blind turns, fall-aways where you are off the ground the length of a football field, and "straight aways" that have double and triple fall lines. No doubt a person can slide fast on a board. The problem with running a board in a true Downhill is the transitions you must make to stay balanced at 80 to 90+ MPH. It is just so freaking hard to do that with both feet strapped to one board. Having a "perfectly groomed" slope as some have suggested won't help that much when you are dealing with the turns, fall-aways, and multiple fall lines at a speed that covers the length of a football field in 2.2 seconds. Honestly, do you guys really want to try this on a board? <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVkPG7KnbgQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVkPG7KnbgQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Sorry guy, I have to disagree. I have run Super G and Downhill on skis many times. I also have a box full of medals from snowboard racing, so I can appreciate the skill set needed for both. Nobody, I mean nobody, can even remotely imagine what it is like to run a Downhill course at 80+ mph unless you have done it, and more importantly extensively trained for it. You get scared, very scared. Like I'm going to soil my pants scared. Bode still gets scared. All the World Cup guys do. Once you start the run, you have no choice but to charge it as hard as you can. The second you back off, you will get injured. When you get to the bottom, you are totally exhausted, your legs are like rubber bands. You swear to yourself that you are never going to do that again, but you know you will. The insanity of the Downhill draws you back like some illegal drug. PGS racers will not make it down that course in one piece if they try to charge it. PGS races top out at 35 mph. They are used to making tight turns at moderate speed. They are always on edge, and never tuck (except the finish) They have no training on a course that icy and that fast. Their equipment is simply all wrong for the that type of speed. The reason they stopped Snowboard Super G, was because so many racers were getting hurt.

Sure you could if you want to die or seriously hurt yourself. First, Downhill courses are insane. They are salted and/or water injected to the point of being pure ice. You can't put a dent in them with hockey skates. Second, they are full of fall-aways and bind turns. Those turns may look big on TV, but from personal experience I can tell you they come up fast at 60-90 mph. Third, the key to having as fast Downhill time is having the balls to run your skis as flat as possible, and being in a tuck as long as possible--two things that are difficult to do on a board. A few years ago, I was doing a USSA speed camp, and I talked the coaches into allowing me to take one training run on a prepared Downhill course on my board. I scared the living crap out of myself and will NEVER do that again. I agree with Softbootsailor that boards are best suited for technical events such as PGS and Slalom.

Do you guys actually wear this stuff to snowboard on groomed trails? Christ, NFL linebackers don't even wear that much padding. In my younger days I raced Downhills at 90 mph in nothing but an unpadded speed suit. I don't mean to offend, but isn't this a tad bit excessive?

That's because race stock is designed for one thing: to let highly gifted racers, who are in superb physical condition, travel at insane speeds through an ice hardened race course. Race stock skis are designed for narrow, specific conditions. To the average skier, a modern GS ski would be "easier" to control than say a long, "straight" GS ski from Tomba's era. But compared to what most consumers like, even a modern GS ski would be considered much harder to ski well than what most people buy. But take the construction/shaping of a modern GS ski, and modify it for all mountain use, and now you have a ski that many good skiers can appreciate (if they are willing to pay the $$$ for the technology, which is another story). To be honest, I love the performance of race skis, but I find my Stockli XXL Stormrider, which is a modified GS ski, much more enjoyable for most conditions.

True race stock can be an absolute blast to ski as long as one knows how to ski it properly. Most recreational skiers absolutely hate skiing on race stock. They can manage somewhat on slalom skis, which are short and turny, but they are so reactive, you have to be on your "A" game at all times. No mindless cruising on these babies. Many recreational skiers find new GS skis frustrating to ski. New GS skis turn by strong tip pressure. Release the tip pressure, and they drift and go straight (this is by design). Since most recreational skiers ski from their back seat, they find it very hard to turn the ski. GS skis (in the longer men's lengths) can be a bear in mixed conditions. They require a lot of strength to muscle their way through slop. On the days I do race training, I always bring 2 sets of skis (or my race skis, and my board) Once I am done running gates, the race skis get put back in the car, and the mid fat skis or the board comes out. That way I can relax somewhat and enjoy the rest of the day on the snow. My mid fat skis, Stockli XXL, are based on a modern GS design, but are way more forgiving and give up little in carving ability.

The sidecuts are no longer simple due to the companies trying to please the racing community with fast turn initiation, while trying to adhere to FIS rules designed to prevent skis from getting locked into the turns, endangering the racer's health and safety. The latest GS skis have far less camber than older versions, with a small amount of reverse camber the tip and tail. This enhances fast, modern GS technique, which is far removed from how the general public likes to ski.

Might be expecting too much from the equipment with a such solid interface. Flying down a mountain induces huge forces into any equipment. I have broken, by far, more equipment in alpine boarding than any other snowsport. Softboot equipment has a built in shock damping (e.g. slop). Ski bindings, while they look extremely rigid, have mechanical damping designed into the system to avoid sheer forces than may damage either the binding or boot.

This stuff is available to anybody! Check out sites such as raceskis.com or racestocksports.com. Many skishops that cater to race programs have this stuff in stock. Just plop your money down, and you can walk out the door with a real race ski with the latest technology/shape. What really is going on here is not that ski companies are not making this available to the general public (they have been for years) it it the general public does not want such high performance in their skis! The average skier wants some wet noodle that is soft and forgiving, a lets them ski around at ease. This is exactly why hardboot /alpine snowboarding is, and will be a nitch sport. They typical consumer snowboarder wants the same thing as the typical consumer skier: a forgiving noodle that takes little effort to get down the hill. The ski and snowboard companies are giving the typical consumer exactly what they want. What ski racers and alpine boarders want in their equipment simply does not register with the general public.

Any current FIS compliant GS race ski (not the consumer stuff). These are what Kessler bases his snowboard designs on.

I'm not sure if I understand this comment. Many of the high end ($$$) all mountain skis have the same technology (modified for their intended use) as the FIS race stock. Are you asking does the same technology/construction/shaping get into the mass volume entry level skis found in the big box sports stores? Most likely not, due to the price point and the fact that the type of skier that buys these skis couldn't tell the difference anyway while the are skidding down the hill in a flying wedge! The same for the snowboards sold for the masses. The stuff they sell at Dick's Sporting Goods isn't top grade stuff either. You won't find a top of the line Palmer, not alone a Kessler, Donek, or Prior soft boot board in these type of stores.