lonbordin

That calculation seems close to my calculations. Are you measuring from the front of the toe piece or the front of the shell to mirror the rear of the shell? Just curious.

Thank you E., much obliged. I hope you are finding your northern location suitable. I too am looking forwards to riding... I was hoping today would be possible but life got in the way. 951, S5, Atomic Backlands... It's an exciting time in the world of hardbooting. I doubt it will get UPZs to use better plastics or DeeLuxe to actually make a heel pocket in their last (and use better plastics) but one can hope.

Do you have the red springs as well?

Yes I have that tongue... Stiffer than that. Like two of them stacked on top of each other...

Does anyone have a US source for these screws? Pretty tough pill to order from YYZ and pay $30 just for shipping (~$50 for 8 screws!) . I YYZ. PS- I find the cup washer method less than optimal and yes I am operating these outside of their tolerance ratings... (nah, their my powder bindings.)

LOL. I'm guessing @slapos might have a few loose springs lying about under a stack of boards and plates. These greens are much stiffer than those reds. I agree properly buckled these are stiffer than the UPZ RCR based on my carpet carving. The S5s are much wider throughout than the UPZs. I can only wear UPZs, without crying, after boot work. I have some plug Intuitions but no I'm using an ancient pair of DeeLuxe tongue liners that are embarrassing... pretty worn out with little support. I do have some sweet custom insoles inside. (I've got some replacement liners on order) I've not tried it on my TD3 SWs Gen.?... hang on... (goes downstairs....) No issues...

It makes sense... we'd all like to live where we want to... I live where I do because my spouse is a Professor and her work is tied to her laboratory at the University and I want to be near her. I can work from anywhere and I do when possible.

The long green are much stiffer than the long red. I looked on the site... only short ones... interesting.... Thanks for the 411

The longer reds? Did it just come with short springs? or did the longer greens come with it?

Looks like April 4th will be my first opportunity. All the local resorts (within 3 hours drive) are closed for the season. 18C and raining here right now.

Since my reply to this topic I've written a review of the S5s linked below. They are by far the widest snowboard specific hardboot I've ever come across out of the box. With the tongue and spring choices they can be as soft as you can imagine. The largest shell is 28.5 I've also done the home Memory Fit bootfitting of my Backlands. Super easy (242F in oven for ~5-7 min, search YouTube for videos) and it turned out great. I have very wide feet and the Backlands now fit nicely... with the Phantom link levers they do feel like a hybrid softboot/hardboot. I wish the Backlands tongue was firmer and the front cuff was higher but I'm not a softer flex fan. This is a boot that I would use in western snow... not so much in the hard snow of the east. All the previous commenters are spot-on with their bootfitter recommendations. I DIY because there are no bootfitters anywhere around me... if there was I'd make an appointment.

I'd keep an eye here https://www.donek.com/product-category/snowboards/in-stock/used/ Might just be better to reach out directly... Never know what might be out in the woodshed.

Great video... thanks for posting!

So I bought the S5 boots from @slapos (great seller A+). My feet are 292mm long and 110 wide (unweighted). I have a sizeable arch, tall feet, and high ankles. They make perfect footprints in the sand or when wet on the floor so I got that going for me. I knew the 951s would take significant boot work and I couldn't resist the deal on the S5s. I currently use modified UPZ shells 8.5/9/9.5 (291/312). I've worn DeeLuxe track 700s and 425 Pros in the past. I'm a really large person. The inner last length of the S5s is 2mm shorter than my UPZs. BUT the toe area is much less of an arrowhead and much rounder (perhaps even square in comparison). Also it doesn't have the slanted downwards areas of the top of the UPZ toes (which make no damn sense at all). I fit in the (285) 302 BSL S5 boots with no bootfitting. I'll let that sink in... a 28.5 shell that fits a 110 wide foot with a low volume liner. Heel hold is nice. It's a finger or less of shell fit same as my UPZs. There's a LOT of features of these that are borrowed from DeeLuxe. How the interchangeable tongue fits, the whole rear spring mount, including the spine is an exact copy. BTS or Drupi's setup will definitely fit. That said they also are very different. They have a boot board. Fully removable and grindable. The boot board angle is 6 to 7 degrees depending on where you measure which is much more ski boot like than "the usual suspects". The shell stands much higher than UPZ or DeeLuxe and the ankle hinge is also much higher. It's the closest match to my ankle I've ever had as most boots are much lower. With the lower ramp ankle your foot sits much lower than the UPZ or DeeLuxe as such the cuff feels much taller although the whole boot isn't as tall as the UPZ in the rear of the spoiler. The cuff and tongue on the front of the S5s are every so slightly taller than the UPZs. The cuff is more round than the UPZ which is more oval. The lower tread is exactly like the NW and 951 with the large central beam connecting the toe lug to the heel lug area. The wider toe and heel lugs make the boot much more stable than the UPZ on flat surfaces. The perch areas that the binding bails rest on are wider than the UPZs as well. The UPZ shell weighs 1942 grams while the S5 shell weighs 2119 grams. It comes with three tongues. The yellow is stiff, the red is firm, and the black is window dressing... keeps the snow out I guess. The S5's original power strap is stiff velcro (not pictured), ah well I'll put some WC Boosters on there anyway. LOL, maybe I'll get one of those newfangled Atomic Dual Straps. Unfortunately, like most of our hardboots one has to guess at the plastic. Why?, just why? I'm going to guess a mid-grade PU-Ester. The only stamps say COSI17SKI 270 (boot board) or COSI17SKI-L (or R) on the tongues. I'm really stoked with the purchase. Photo time (note the UPZs have had plastic work done and are larger than stock, also that is not an S5 strap): Edit- Forgot spring and parts pictures! N Note: the boot only comes with short springs not the longer green or red springs in the pictures.

Last day. I had a great day. Was so hot had to get down to my sweatpants and shirt. No room for phone so no pics. Looked like yesterday. I did get to talk with one of my inside peeps that I haven't seen all season. I learned way too much about many of this seasons changes and the Vail/Paoli relationship. It's all sad. Hopefully 2022 will be better. Mahalo.

Sorry to read about your injury. I have had ankle injuries myself. I simply cannot recommend this leg crutch enough. https://iwalk-free.com/ You get the use of your hands back... So worth it. Heal well!

Beautiful day. Here's just before open: @Mike Blanz showed up shortly after open and I enjoyed his company. It's been great to ride with other hardbooters in this pandemic season. We both rode our Backlands today, just not at the same time. I need those link levers and the order is in! I stayed until 15:30. I got a second wind. I'll be there at open for the last day... no talk of carnival stuff... maybe I'll figure out something different.

They stop grooming tomorrow... last day. They groom after sunrise so the temps at grooming are actually below freezing.

As a follow-up. Phantom now sells a fully modified Atomic Backland as the Phantom Slipper. https://www.phantomsnow.com/collections/boots/products/phantom-slipper Boot tech- https://www.phantomsnow.com/pages/phantom-slipper-tech They also have places you can demo Phantom Slippers. Which makes it one of the few ways one can try hardboot snowboarding in North America. https://www.phantomsnow.com/pages/demo I asked Matt Manser, Atomic's boot guy, and apparently Atomic makes the shell for Phantom officially!

Back this afternoon. Mid 40's, sunny... S O F T! But where there's a will, there's a way... The end is drawing near- Oh man... I was having too much fun... They've already used up all their snow stores keeping the runs together. This weekend will be dicey.

Stay healthy! See you in early April. Save some snow for me, will ya'?!

But I was going to say @jolson didn't get the wear red text.

March 7th is the official end. Went this afternoon. Took softie setup and hard setup. No idea what I was getting into... high 40s, all runs open @1500 and I arrived on the slope 1530. Close to freezing the night before. Took the softie setup down Family trail. Soft... surfy... slushy without the water. Nice. Tried to layout a heelside... snow did not support that! Next run I went down the park run... wait-a-minute... super nice easily hold an carve... pretty fast. Made the decision to goto the car and get the hardboots. Noticed my phone was missing. Must've come out when I slid out... could see people near where it was... Strap in at the top and speed to the spot... a dad and a wee little girl... I asked them did they see my phone? Dad says, "Yes!" proceeds to drop his little girl who he was holding up (she falls down losing a ski) and reaches into his pocket to get my phone out. (I'm stunned at this point)... I say thank you and sorry about that. He waves happily (yup, no visible mask) and proceeds to help his daughter get her stuff on. Get the hardboot setup on and wear myself out on mindbender... Tried some of the other runs... no bueno. Hard and crusty on top with a soft middle, ugh. Around 1800 the sun was hiding behind the hills and the snow started to get REALLY firm, by 1830 it was downright harsh and my previous runs were a hazard. I packed it up. Did find out that Vail want's the Pro Shop to be their Pro Shop. Talked with the owner for a bit... he's got a spare bootfitting press... thinking about buying it... hmmnn.

Pat was trying to show you you can order the springs from other online resources as per that linked thread.