lonbordin

Sitting at Sliders by the Jordan lift spending WAY too much for some food and an overhyped beer. Light is Uber flat. Conditions are challenging. Crowds are large. They are so far from being 100% open. I know it's just January but I'm not certain they will achieve 100%. There are bare slopes everywhere and they are blowing water at the top. Yeah water not snow. The new Jordan 8 is operating at really slow speed... apparently it had some issues yesterday. A few more and we're done.

Been boarding six times this season, once at Sunday River the rest at Pleasant. Hardboots everytime. Other than Sunday River the conditions have been remarkably good considering the weather and the holiday crowds.

Did the 9-1300 shift today. Unseasonably warm. Had some decent runs early before the piles started building... Might choose surfing tomorrow... The holiday crowds are no joke. No way they are opening the east lodge anytime soon. They did open Headwall today.

Back again today... did the 12-5 shift. Not optimal but whatcha' going to do. Snow was decent. Typical scrape off and push piles from larger crowds. Had a friend with us. Been easing into the season.... He hadn't skied for some time so we spent a lot of the day on the greens. Their lighting needs moar lumens... I'm not sure they'll be opening the east side by the first. Bare ground showing on the lower mtn. over there. They did open some more trails today. Looks like early tomorrow will be the last before the rains move in. Ah well it will be a long season...I HOPE! Full of ups and downs, I'm sure.

I'm pretty sure Ryan is riding SCRs in the 17-20m range now. Check this thread, watch the vid and read the comments.

Was out at Pleasant from 10:30 to noon today... picking up a fireplace insert out that way. Pretty crowded... lots of loose granular on a firm base. Definitely could hear the edges from time to time. I had a lot of fun riding the BXFR (45/30). Lots of carving skiers at Pleasant... nice to watch.... gets me pumped for the next run. Speaking of runs they opened several more small side runs. The East side looked to be filling in... I suspect they'll open that up soon. Here's hoping the forecast gets some tweaks.

Bent center disk... I like that in theory. I don't see how they'd tighten it "hard" and not correct that. But their hard is probably different than mine. Bindings have all their pads? Using the original F2 screws?

Lol it was @pokkis We just had a discussion about his homemade plates. He said to me, "I use Apex extenders, have few of them. But earlier used 10mmx20mm alu profile until got extra extenders. Four of them is needed." Queue it's a small world after all.

@barryjPerhaps you would like to look inside the boots? Boot Size/Volume Study (bomberonline.com) Anyone have the additional pictures that used to be in this article or were they just in the BOL thread discussing the article? Rest assured that UPZ and DeeLuxe are still using the exact same molds that were used to make those sacrificial lambs. And I like to add that I forgot a manufacturer of alpine boots, G-Style out of Japan. @b0ardski is completely right, Thanks! G-Style does come with a step-in option... it's in the catalog I linked.

The design of the UPZ tucks the heel of the boot further forward which in turn raises the ramp angle of the boot. Most riders either embrace the increased ramp angle or offset the angle via their bindings.

I was riding a 168 Coiler BXFR (26 waist) today with my S5s on F2s at 40/30. It felt so right. It felt like my surfing. Like a revelation.

Back out today, Pleasant opened the summit lift today. Conditions were good. I had a blast riding with my son... he had some equipment issues, but he'll get that sorted this week. Snow was good. Groom got ridden off pretty quickly. Not too crowded. Everything feels good tonight... stoked! Rode the BXFR 40/30... so much fun. A revelation really.

Same shoe mold, same cuff mold, hey instead of sticking a Carbon fiber sticker on the cuff they are putting in some composite. 4 buckles instead of 5... progress for UPZ... how long has buckle clash been a problem?? Tongue is held on by a single nut rather than on the sides. That's been there for a short while. I don't see a boot trying to compete with the Mountain Slope. I don't see a group trying to innovate. But certainly, of the two three choices for step-ins UPZ is doing more than DeeLuxe. I forgot Japan's G-Style boots offer step-in heels.

Pretty much everything... ah, stuck on step-ins... that does shrink the list of candidates down to UPZ or DeeLuxe. Both seem to be in the we aren't going to change or even upgrade the plastics we use phase of development. There are really no significant differences in the current versions and the previous versions. Mountain Slope or Atomic Backlands with the Phantom lever are quite a step forward in performance with the .951 being the performance carving (look at all the podiums) and the Backlands/Phantoms being the better than a SB setup (soft snow/splits/pow). All that are left are S5 from Korea which I ride and are very niche... and really a hybrid of existing molds. For me they were a good buy, and they offered a fit for my flippers. I will likely jump on the MS train for my next pair of boots and spend time with a qualified bootfitter. I'm not sure there are any other new choices other than modified ski boots available today. Bending down to clip in keeps one young.

I saw him in other videos with that setup. I figured he was attempting to offset some physical abnormalities... it appears he's doing this on purpose to achieve that riding "style". He's always really pumped which is cool but his riding hasn't really progressed. I know he is often surrounded by really strong riders both on soft and hard equipment... not sure why he hasn't absorbed some of that knowledge or maybe this is his shtick.

Was up at Pleasant yesterday thinking if I can get my pass situation straightened out and take a few skritchy runs I'd call it a good day. Well guest services was on their game and able to locate my Shawnee Peak purchase on their old system and get me imported into the new Boyne/Pleasant Mountain system. Then I took out the new, to me, BXFR I purchased from @Pat Donnelly. Dude is a seriously nice guy, fun to ride with. I had the Backlands on as my S5s were having a wee bit of toe room being added at Rodgers. They did a good job. Let me tell you the conditions were REALLY great. They need more snow as you can see in the photos but the ops fellers I spoke to said they were planning to open the Summit lift Monday. No loud edges, decent groom, low crowds, and good visibility. I had some fun. So many questions about my setup. I know I'm not the only hardbooter that's ridden here but it felt like I was the only one that's ever been. The day was far better than good... dare I say even pleasant. https://photos.app.goo.gl/mqqBgBtSr3hM5yPg7

Yes. They can be stiffer or as stiff as Thraxis. Especially half a season old Thraxis.

The 29/29.5 Backland shell has a BSL of 318mm and the UPZ shell 8.5/9/9.5 has a BSL 291/312mm The larger UPZ number is from the addition of a SKI /DIN toe pieces. That said the difference is less than one imagines. I don't actually have a pair of softies to compare BSL at this time. I can run a fuego 55/50 on a 23.5 wide 9-12 vsr board. On a 26 wide BXFR I can run fuego 35/30. In this photo I've pressed both to the trim so you can see the difference yourself. Since you live in an area that has large ski retail shops I'd encourage you to put your mitts on a pair of Atomic Backlands. Backlands can be easily converted to Phantomesque setup.

I've modified my early Backlands (orange/blue) to be very similar to the Phantom. I bought the Phantom spring kit. I've actually tried the Phantoms... there's a shop in Silverthorne that used to rent them. The Backlands can be setup to be very soft. Softer than Driver X/ K2 Thraxis out of the box.

I like Toy Films stuff, usually they have the rider's equipment and stance angles in the video as they ride... nice!

He likely does not... https://medium.com/the-ascent/research-confirms-that-no-one-is-really-thinking-about-you-f6e7b09c458 That video sure displays some fun looking terrain!

I have a pair of deluxe branded F2s that the heel bail is taller than my Backlands. [shrug] They fit fine with my other F2s and my TD3 SWs.

How much? Mahalo

Look forward to seeing that..

Interested in the Thirst, what are the specs? The waist width man... It could be between 17-25 cm...