Corey

You can add F2 Speedsters to that list. My SL and RS boards have two noticeable kinks in their camber (right where it goes from cap to sidewall) a bit ahead of the front binding and a bit behind the rear binding, when you fully decamber the center of the board the tip and tail slightly rise off the ground. I'm also really curious if the rockered Tinkler was done on a whim or after some testing. As Jack has pointed out, this has been tried and abandoned. That doesn't inherently mean it's bad, but we all have to wonder what's different this time.

Indeed! Thanks Scott.

I'll take two. Email sent.

Where can I find these 'choppers'? I routinely ride at -30 to -40 and have a heck of a time keeping my hands warm.

Al - If things don't work out with Yard Sale, would you be interested in a trade for a 3?

Email sent. :)

My favourite stomp pad was the old Burton ribbed foam one that I had many many years ago. No snow stuck to it and your foot never slipped. I figured it would tear but never did. My next favourite is a clear rectangular plastic sheet with a whole bunch of narrow/tall spikes all over it. The spikes all broke off instantly and now they're just a bunch of tiny circles that are barely raised. Still looking for another two for the latest boards... Ski hills here have insane off-loading ramps, often covered in glare ice from all the people attempting to side slip down them. Figure 25-30 degrees, from 4 to 12 feet of vertical, usually with one or more people laying at the bottom after they fell. Just ridiculous. :( Riding those without stomp pads is suicide.

More like shoe sizing is inaccurate! I wear between a 10.5 and a 12 depending on the brand. I tried 29, 28, and now 27 mondopoint boots before I was happy. Guess what: my foot measures about 27.9 cm. They're not kidding in this article: http://www.bomberonline.com/store/boots/Sizing_boots.pdf Of course this is for boots with thermoforming liners. They simply adapt to your foot when hot and set that way. A ski shop can also 'punch out' the toes slightly if they're just a little too small, but they can't do anything for boots that are too big.

Want just one? I have one 3 degree that I want to trade for a 6 degree.

I've been down since Thursday. I haven't been this sick in 15 years! Finally went to a clinic today, it turns out I picked up a lung infection. There's this F2 183 RS sitting in my basement, just begging to be ridden. I ran out of breath/energy just ironing in the wax... :( Here's hoping I get to make some turns* this weekend! * I won't make my first turns of the season on a 16m sidecut board! I'll break out something a little tamer first. ;)

Cool. I figured it would need some speed. This board is replacing at Oxygen Proton with a 14m radius, the F2 has a 16m radius. Should be interesting!

Thanks to Kurt for packing the board so well. It arrived safe and sound. :) What the heck kind of base structure is that? Lots of tiny little dimples all over the base. Looks cool, I'm guessing that's for slushy snow? Won't be seeing any of that for a while out here...

Black Snow Edge 145 (Christmas 1987) Burton Cruize 165 w/ 3-straps (1988-ish) Nitro Fusion 15_ w/ Elfgens with tongues (one of the early AM carvers?) Crazy Banana twin tip something (crap!) K2 Farmer 157 (1993-ish) Sims Tom Sims 15_ (1997-ish) Burton Alp 169 (2004-ish, first time on hardboots!) Oxygen Proton 178 (2005) Volkl RT 168 (2006) and 178 (2008) Donek FC1 171 (2008) F2 SL 163 (2008, haven't ridden it yet!) F2 RS 183 (should pick it up tonight, thanks Big Canuck!) It's kind of scary to list them all out... Still have the Sims, Volkl, Donek, and F2 boards. The Sims softie setup collects dust but isn't worth selling.

Brad, do you remember the blue Donek that you test rode at SES*? This will be same thing but with an Olympic core. * I took it out after you returned it, then fell in love with it and gave Sean my credit card #. ;)

Every day I ride. I find that there's almost always some snow packed between the liner and the shell.

I only have experience with Deeluxe, but I like them. For Canadians it is real easy to buy from www.yyzcanuck.com. www.upzboots.com is in Canada too.

LOL! Have you ever watched any US TV?

+1 for the rusty/rivetted/bolted look. That's the most unique and striking design in the thread.

I had some Raichle 123 (I think, can't remember now) 3-buckle boots. They had the exact same upper as the 4-buckle boots, but just a velcro strap instead of the top strap. I converted it to a 4-buckle boot by adding a strap and buckle. You could easily do the opposite too. Or just leave the top strap ultra-loose as a quick test.

That's straightlining with occasional edge changes. ;) I've had a lot of fun on an Oxygen 178 (~14m radius) on a 350' hill on a 3 cat-track-wide run. Even that consists of a minimum 10-15 turns.

Wii Fit has a GS snowboarding race. It's more about finely moving your balance than snowboarding.

Watch the BOL classifieds like a hawk. There are a ton of great deals that pop up in there. I've yet to spend more than $400 on a board, new or used. As for losing camber, most boards will be fine. Heck I bought a demo Donek at SES that has obviously been ridden hard for 2 or 3 years by a variety of riders, it still has great camber.

Thanks all! I'm going to see if she can tough out the start of the season until we go to SES. 'Good bootfitters' and 'Manitoba' don't really go together, our ski scene is pretty weak. Any recommendations in the Aspen area? Denver is another option as we'll likely be flying there and driving to Aspen. I had a very bad experience with Surefoot in Aspen, we won't be going back there again.

Where do I even look for more info on ski boots? Google has been near useless aside from manufacturers ads rewritten on various retailers websites and extremely generic advice. The first thing I've noticed is that heat-moldable liners are pretty uncommon in ski boots. Why is that? They're pretty much standard for snowboard boots beyond the cheapest models. After hearing me rave about mine, her next pair basically MUST have moldable liners. She's somewhere between beginner and intermediate, very non-aggressive on the skis. She can confidently ski greens and easier blues. She can make it down blacks when necessary but she's in survival mode. Her goal is having fun, she wants to start carving a bit this year and building confidence. She has a size 6 foot that's a little wide and larger calves. Any opinions on where to look?

Just looked at Burton's site, interesting idea. It's a bit of a throwback; baseless bindings were huge in the early 90's, this is similar except they have a thin layer of material under your feet. Having T-nuts in a channel isn't new either, but incorporating the two hasn't been done before. You likely could get away with it with a binding with a big and fairly round baseplate like a TD2/3 or a Catek, I'd be concerned with something like an F2. Burton's Speedzone strap looks pretty cool! Clip it in, pull the cord (with a 3:1 mechanical advantage) and you're off.