JohnE

It seems like more and more people are "transitioning" from hardboots to soft. My expectation was that softboot carving would be the "gateway drug" into hardboots. I'm not familiar with the origins of hardbooting but it seems like it is an offshoot of snowboard racing (correct?). Softboot snowboarding came from the surfing / skateboard culture. Softboot carving was an attempt to carve with gear from that culture (?). Is it possible that this is a convergent evolution? If we fastforward 5 or 10 years most carvers will be using gear that is some hybrid of hard and softboot gear? Hardbooting will remain for racers and those who have to carve on very hard snow?

Nice riding! Agree on the backpack straps. The backpack is so small what use is it? Also, what's up with the tag on the goggle strap?

So many photos of new boards on this thread appear to have a much wider nose than tail. Is this so or just a perspective because of the angle. If so, how much wider is the nose than tail?

I've also bought a pair of risers from Donek. These raise the binding off the deck by 1/2". I don't have them mounted now because early season snow is pretty hard and boot drag is less of an issue. However, when the snow softens up, I may install them. One of my riding buddies (Arne) is still carving beautifully at 71 or 72 y.o. with 2x artificial knees and 2x artificial hips. He rides both hard & soft boots. Also, Softbootsurfer on this site is 76 y.o. this year. He rides 100 days/season at Buttermilk. He is super graceful and a real inspiration.

When I hear tales of collisions (or near collisions) it really makes me shudder. Glad you weren't hurt. Even if you don't get hurt physically, you stand the chance of getting hurt legally. Riding mid-week doesn't eliminate the risk but it does reduce it significantly. There are fewer slope sliders and the people out there tend to be older local skiers. They tend to be more aware, more capable and more cautious. Be careful out there.

John - I'm stuck in a pretty deep rut. I ride almost exclusively at Loveland. They have some new groomer cats and they have been doing a really great job of grooming lately. So I don't have to deal with scraped off / blown off snow. If the snow gets too icy, I discover that I'm not as good a carver as I imagine. I meet some college buddies once a year for 2 days at Vail. Last year their groom report showed that most of the mountain had been groomed. WHAT A LIE! Yes - maybe it had been groomed at some point in the past but certainly not in the last 24 hours. The snow was really scraped off and it sucked! Odd Job - you can switch between pretty high angles on hardboots to being nearly zero on softies and this doesn't confuse you? I could just never get comfortable at high angles. What is your boot size? What is the waist width on your soft board? Do you get much overhang or boot drag? Do you use risers of any kind? My new board has a 27cm waist. I wear size 10 boots. If I try to get near zero angles, I do get some boot overhang. I don't know if this will translate to boot-out.

If I only need about 3/4 liter of water and fill this half way is it about half as bulky?

I was thinking of cutting a ski pole down to maybe 16" or so, putting a small crutch tip to each end and creating a velcro "holster" on the outside of my rear calf. Each time you approach the lift, you pull the wand out of it's holster, release the rear binding and put it back in the holster. Am I overthinking this?

Just sold my Hot Blast on eBay. Turns out the buyer was Monodude! I wonder what he plans to do with a snowboard?

Agreed with most of this. My new setup is a new Donek Flux with a 27cm waist, Nidecker Supermatics and Nidecker (Flow) Talons. When carpet carving I'm finding that lower and lower angles feel more natural and stable to me. I haven't been on the snow yet this season but I'm anxious to try out this new setup. At 66 years old I need to keep this going as long as I can.

Has anyone thought about how we can release the rear binding without having to bend down all the way until your finger almost touches the topsheet? I've thought about some sort of wand - maybe 16" long that you could reach down & release. Problem is where to store the wand when you are riding? Probably not a concern if you're under 50yo.

Sold. Thanks

Well I've sold off most of my hardboot gear and I've bought only midweek passes for the last several years so I won't be joining the Sunday crew any more. I worked and worked at hardbooting but just never got comfortable with it. Now I'm strictly a mid-week softbooter but I'm having a blast. I'd like to express my gratitude to the Sunday crew for getting me addicted to carving. Especially to Derek and Mario for all of your tips, lessons & encouragement. I still recall riding up Lift #2 with my regular snowboard gear and seeing the crew carving up weeks old snow and thinking "that looks like fun!". Several weeks later I had bought my first used hardboot setup. I was riding up Lift 6 by myself and the guy ahead of me asked "how are you liking your plate setup?". That was the first time I met Derek. I expected you guys to be elitist and exclusionary. The opposite was true. I've worked & worked at it and have enjoyed every moment. Carving is the most fun thing in my life. Thanks again to all of the Sunday crew. Maybe we'll see you up at Loveland some weekday this season!

Thanks for all the collective wisdom. I have never raced and have no desire to. For me the high angles of hardboots on a relatively narrow board never felt "natural". Driving my knees side-to-side doesn't feel as natural as driving them forward and driving my butt back. I may not carve as well as the best hardbooters but I am having fun. Aside from people like Ryan Knapton and some online videos like Kira, the most beautiful carvers are the best hardbooters.

Don't know if this topic has been discussed earlier. The biggest dividing line here is probably hardboot -vs- softboot carving. Some do both. It seems to me that aside from the stiffness of the boots the biggest difference is in the width of the board and the angles one can ride. If that is so, why wouldn't someone put plate bindings on a wide board and ride at low angles? Why wouldn't someone put softboot bindings on a narrow board and ride that way? There must be some advantages (and disadvantages) of each. I started from "regular" snowboarding and loved soft snow and powder. Then I saw a group of guys on hardboots having a blast on weeks old snow. I gave hardbooting a try for many years but never got comfortable (or very good at carving). I never got comfortable at those high angles. So I reverted to softboot carving and found that suits me best. What is the fundamental difference?

Another comment: To get out of the binding you have to push a small lever down near the inside of your rear heel. The beauty of a binding like this is the ease of getting in / getting out (especially for old guys). Having to reach all the way down to where your finger nearly touches the board may not be much fun. If the lever were a pull instead of a push you could attach a leash that could wrap around your knee so you wouldn't have to reach so far. It would be more like an Intech binding (pull to exit). These bindings were obviously well engineered. I wonder why they didn't make this a pull instead of a push? Maybe because a pull might unintentionally get released?

Sold

Sold.

It does have a large heel loop. However, my boot heel will contact the snow before the heel loop does (because it is higher).

Thanks for the physics refresher. It's been a long time since college. Probably have to download the data into a program to do an ongoing calculation to find the max acceleration as you descend a slope. I think a phone in a pocket would show a better representation of what your body is experiencing that a smart watch. The watch would show the acceleration of your wrist which is likely higher frequency / higher amplitude than your body.

Has anyone carried their smartphone while riding with the Accelerometer app turned on? It looks like it records triaxial (X,Y & Z) acceleration. The purpose might be to capture maximum acceleration at the apex of a turn. It's unlikely that that max acceleration would be purely X, Y or Z but some combination. I kind of forget but there is math involved in summing the 3 axes. Has anyone done this? Is it interesting?

Sold - Thanks!

Donek will do any topsheet graphic you want. He also has a Graphic Designer on staff that will work with you to come up with a design. It's like $150 - $200.

Selling my Coiler Stubby on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/155236351247 Let me know if you have any questions.

Selling my Raichle X-Bones bindings on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/155236327411 Let me know if you have any questions.