lonerider

I am not really looking to sell the TD2s... they are SIs btw (I'm not sure if you realize you need Intec Heels for your boots to use them). I did send you an email with an offer though.

An Oxygen Proton would be a lot better than the UP162, little chatter and very stable during high speed carves. The Madd 170 has a very narrow profile and isn't the best for soft condition. I haven't ridden the Burton Speeds myself, but I'm pretty sure they are no where near as damp as the Coiler.No worries about the Coiler... you'll have nearly a year to save the move for one ;)

I started out on an UP162 myself. While it can carve a bit, there are many boards out there that you might like better - Coiler being one of them. The Coiler EX 168 model that I have has a 21.7 cm waist, that's pretty much as wide as most alpine boards go (the 168 Swoard has a 22cm waist and the Prior ATV has a 23 cm waist) so in general EC boards (which in general tend to be wider) will float better in powder.I haven't ridden the Swoard, but the Coiler EX is extremely damp and is quite good at holding an edge in cruddy, slush/variable snow (not that it is rather difficult to do a fully laid out EC in those conditions though). You can get an AM, but it doesn't sound like you really need an AM (since you are still riding on groomed trails most of the time - even if they aren't quite groomed anymore by midday). If you are set on buying a Coiler, you can talk to Bruce and he can adjust the nose for the type of snow conditions you ride in most often.

Hi, I'm 140 lbs and have size 24 boots as well. You first problem is that All mountain and EC don't really mix. While I think it can be done, neither the Coiler AM and Madd BX would be ideal for EC as they are All Mountain boards boards with shorter sidecuts and lower torsional stiffness (which makes them easier to swing around in off-piste situations). I had this very conversation with Bruce of Coiler and he said that intrinsically an All Mountain board is not a great EC board and an EC board is not a great All-Mountain board and while he would build me anything I asked for - he recommended that I pick a standard model if the only reason I wanted a "hybrid" was because I had a vague want for a "do anything" board. So I ended up just going with his EX model and it is a GREAT EC board. I couldn't be happier. If you do want to see what a Coiler AM hybrid is like, talk to Mike T. He has a "Slushbuster" AM with a longer like > 12m sidecut that he had made that he likes, but realize it isn't as good for EC as the EX model. So my question for you is... why do you want an AM board? Do you really ever go off into the trees, or bumps? Do you plan on doing jumps with it? The wideness of the EC will already float you a bit in open powders (as good as any non-powder specific alpine board). Or do were you like me and had some vague desire to not get a one-trick pony?

The Lone Rider

Yes, the ankle strap it pretty good at preventing heel lift, but the strap is attached into the shell above the liner, if you ankle was so skinny that it plus the liner tongue was still lower than the attachment point of the strap, then you will still get a bit of heel lift. I found this starting to happen a after the liner started to pack out a bit.

Pardon?

Madd 170 CFB "The Lone Rider" for sale. Has about a dozen days on it. Asking for $360 shipped. This is the 2005 run of boards. It rides great, but I prefer wider boards. Has a ton of camber and is in excellent condition. TD2 in photo are not included (Oxygen Proton is already sold as well). Basic board specs Length 170 SCR 10.5 (elliptical) Waist 18cm Flex - medium (I'm 145 lbs).

Right, what I've found wearing Salomon boots for the last 5 years or so is that the liner packs out a LOT. In particular, it packs out in the "kink" just above your ankle (as this area has a lot of pressure on it). This leads to heel lift up and ankle slide forward.What Nitro boots really well with is narrow ankles as that's the main "securing" point in the boot. If you are interested in "trying" them, I know that backcountry.com sells them and has a 30-day return policy (you just pay like $8 to ship it back to them). They have some Nitro Team TLS (TLS is like the Salomon's quick-pull lacing system, except it lets you tighten upper and lower portions separately) for like 40% off. I have only had about 15 days on the Nitro Teams this season, so I don't know about their durability (I've read reviews saying they've lasted well over 50 days).

I'm pretty sure it's not ankle support that he needs... just a better fitting boot. Do you have narrow ankles with a slim lower calf Louis? If so you are like me and you have always tighten boot just about your ankle a lot or it won't lock your ankle down (and you get heel lift).For that I suggest getting a pair of Nitro Team boots. I've ridden virtually every boot in the Salomon lineup (Dialogue, Synapse, Malamute, F22) and the are decently narrow, but nothing matches the amount of contour a Nitro liner has around the ankle.

I usually switch midday from hardboots on an alpine board to softboots on a freestyle board. The first few runs after the switch, it feels like you boots aren't tight enough and you are riding on a lunch tray (short and wide), but as Pow said, once you remember how to ride softboots and fs/fr boards, it all comes back.

Yes...

Good man... have find and remember that riding softbooots require more ankle flex/extension and less knee steering. Have fun!

Sorry, I was waiting until I got to my cabin tonight to check my TD2. By center disk you mean the black disc that is fastened to the board via the bolts. Yea, mine has no slop to it at all. Are you sure you've tightened the bolts properly and the disk is not upside down or off the side a little? A photo would be very useful.

Right, part of the reason why I haven't being going to High Cascade the past bunch of years is that while it's a great camp, I've been interested in doing other things with my time and money even though I still love freestyle.I'm not quite sure if I understood you question, but I'll say that repetition is key. So when working on a trick, practice it and nothing else. So the ideal learning situation is to hike the rail, pipe, or jump again and again - so there is nothing on you mind in between - that will really let you get comfortable with a particular jump or rail. It's also important to get outside advice to point out technique issues that you main not realize you have... video review is very useful here as is expert advice. On top of that, being able to ride consecutive days as it has been proven that your muscle memory improves when you sleep (it's a cognitive psychology thing, I can cite studies if you really want to know). This is the type of learning environment a camp like High Cascade provides you, although you could definitely do it yourself with a bit of planning and effort. I'm not sure what you mean 8 works of lesson a week for a month. If you mean you go up for 2 days each weekend, 4 hours of lessons a day, for 4 weeks out of the month. That is very helpful, but I would say this is less helpful than the all-out lesson for a single week because of the benefits of working stuff on consecutive days. I mean, the moment you wake up on the third day, you can visualize that jump and that trick while eating breakfast. Compare that to having a whole week of work, school, whatever that has been distracting you in the meantime, then you could to pull on your gear, "warm up", and all that before you can get started. This assumes that you are physically able to snowboard and hike for 5-6 days straight and that you don't injury yourself. This also for short term, I would not recommend an intensive training regimen for say an entire month (we all need breaks) - but a week is not very long. Key thing is to NOT GET HURT! There is some loss of practice with it being in the summer and you not riding for a while... but in the scheme of things, think of how rusty you get with you skills have not riding for six months instead of three and three? As for whether a beginner can get better at it... I think I only had like 40 days of riding before my first camp and I learned a lot. I would suggest that you be able to control you speed and direction (mean real control... not like you can sort of stop when you want to) and obviously being able to to small jumps is good, but you don't need much more. The key thing for virtually all jumps and rails is having the properly speed and approach angle and so you will learn how to judge how much speed you need for thing - that is a basic prerequistic to doing any trick.

The prices have shot up - it was only like $1300 8 years ago. However I would like correct you in that High Cascade does include food (you go out to decent restaurants every night), transportation (High Cascade is unique in that it is only a 10-15 minutes shuttle ride to Timberline), demo equipment (you can try virtually any major brand board, bindings or boots), and I'm pretty sure it's 6 days of snowboarding, not 5. There is also access to a skatepark, trampolines (I believe) and you can go wakeboarding or rafting one of the days.To be realistic, there is no way it would ever be as cheap as you say. I mean think about the daily costs. Food and Lodging - say $100 a night Lift ticket - $50 Full day of private instruction - $150 (?) Transportation - $20 Private Terrain Park - $30 (?) Add that up that's $350 a day... times six days that's $2100... For it to be a third of the cost, you would be paying $30 for lodging AND food, $14 for a lift ticket, $50 for a full day of private instruction, $7 for a shuttle and perhaps you could ride a public park. So yes, it is rather expensive and not for everyone... but for freestyle, there is nothing better than to session a single well-built jump or rail and while High Cascade is not the only place to do it. It is one place where you can get all of this and an pro-level instructor to teach you (although pro riders are not always the best teachers... I think they still try to get the "teacher-pros"). You might not be able to do a 540... but you probably could do a 360 (off a very small jump). Some of the kids there can barely turn, but they can throw backflips and frontflips and rodeos. Not that I would recommend learning these tricks over basic snowboarding and carving... I'm saying that learning freestyle tricks is about practice, correction/adjustment and more practice - and you don't have to be an amazing to start learning them. There are many great carvers here who can't even do a 180 off a average size jump, that's not because they aren't great riders... it's because it doesn't interest them and they haven't practiced it (so paying any money for instruction is not worth it for them) However, if freestyle riding does interest you, then you should make an effort to practice it (more than a few runs through the park at the end of the day). It sounds like you are already getting in some good freestyle sessions right now though. I haven't gone in about 6 years, but I plan to go either this summer or next.

Yea, I would go with a F2 flex. I am 5'9" 145 lbs and my Madd 170 equivalent to a F2 flex with a 10.5m sidecut and it is great in narrow slopes.I think Chubz has an F2 (?) as well so it will be good for you, it is very turny (for big slopes I ride a 12.7m Prior WCR-M 178). It's a good board for you OR West Carvin... so stop twiddling your fingers and buy the board! Seriously... 170 is not that long for either of you (5'10 or 5'5').

You mean like the Track 225? That's what I'm looking at upgrading to in the next season or so.

Sweet... anyone know if they have made the boot lighter. I've just seen AT boots and they weigh like half as much. I assume it's because they use lighter plastics (that's just my guess as I don't know much about the boot construction).

NEW BUYING CRAZE!!!BUY THIS OR YOUR BOARD WILL EXPLODE!!!

Yes rear lift can offload weight. The lift shifts your weight in the direction of the slope of the lift. With all heel lift in the back binding (which due to the high angles of plate bindings) you weight is shifted forward quite a bit. Just try it now. Stand in alpine stance, now put something (a book, a sandal) under you back heel. See how you weight shifts forward? It's the same thing when riding... cant and lift adjustments should be done careful to properly align the body and weight... in general I would just go flat to start off.

Sounds like it's the first time you've encountered real powder and everyone does that the first day or so. Riding in powder is not like riding on groomers, with regular boards you really have to bias your weight to the tail end of the board.As BlueB said, it's a combination of technique and getting the right gear. I'm guessing you are in the 150-160 lbs range, if so than you should be able at keep the nose from submarining. With your current setups, move you bindings at least one insert set back. With a powder board, you will float virtually automatically and don't need to lean back so much (reducing leg burn). Letting you enjoy the floaty sensation more.

That's your personal philosophy... but if you looked at the original poster's profile, he only has one board at the moment... far less than your nine boards. I myself have a number of boards, but I realize there is a bit of a gap between those of us who have a board for every type of riding, and those of us who like fewer more versatile boards.Not to mention your home mountain is 30 mins away from your and Whistler (which gets a "decent" amount of powder) is like 1.5 hours at most. This is compared that to someone who drives 4 hours to get to the mountains (making the chances of him catching one of the few East Coast powder days rare).

Well I didn't say "I" would ride a AM board for powder, just many people here would Actually I had ridden the 4WD 174 in a 6" of fresh in the tight trees at Whistler and it wasn't too bad. I mean most of the powder boards I've ridden float better (Burton Fish, Prior Khyber, Osin 4807), but I had a lot of fun with it. Since the original poster is on the East Coast, I question the need for a dedicated powder board (unless he travels a lot). I personally have a Khyber 160 split right now.

I'm 5'9" 145 lbs. I rode the 168cm and it gave me plenty of float (I am lighter though). If you riding the East Coast, I would go shorter because you have tighter trees and the powder isn't as deep (so you don't need a tremendous amount of float). Remember that all powder boards are wider and so they will be slower edge to edge - but many of them carve pretty well if you take that into account. I'm surprised that you don't find you Coiler AM good in powder (many people would use an AM board as their powder board).