BlueDevil

For me it feels best when carving at lowest possible speed. Of course that speed is higher when the slope is slower, and can be lower when the slope is faster. But lowest possible speed on which I can carve smoothly is what I'm always trying to find.

I rode assym. I rode some before assym were around (red MBoo (actually Bamboo) slalom board comes to mind - red on topsheet, bottom was red & black like a cheetah pattern, smth like that). Then came assyms, all the hype, and then they went out just like that... Always liked them

Kronplatz can't be missed

I used to go to Zermatt every year, for years. Might I recommend this approach: sleep in Italy. As you know, Zermatt is indeed in Switzerland, but the skiing resort is half Swiss and half Italian, and you can buy skipass for just one of them or for both. There's a border on top of the mountain, you ski/board across it, and there's even a line drawn in the middle of the room in one bar up there, so you can cross border by hopping or keep your left foot in Italy and right one in Swiss. Anyways, accomodation is MUCH cheaper in Italy. Look for "Breuil-Cervinia" and find accommodation there, you'll save some good € if you're there for a week or more. Also, if I remember correctly, the skipass covering both CH and IT side is a bit cheaper if bought on IT side. It's not half price, but it IS cheaper. All things added together, there's some nice money to save. Food is also cheaper, shops, restaurants... Everything is cheaper on IT side, and you get to board on the same slopes regardles of which side of the hill you wake up in the morning. HTH

For any hardbooter (meaning you prefer groomed piste over fresh snow), Kronplatz is a *MUST*. It is by far and long the best resort on old continent, and I'm pretty sure I'm not exaggerating if I say it's in top 3 in the world - if not THE best. Skipass is expensive, and you want to avoid first/second week of the year because of crowd, but other than that it's over 80km of perfectly (and I mean PERFECTLY) groomed runs, there are top of the art lifts, none of them require you to stand on snow (you can rest), it's all very well interconnected, and in the near of the resort there's factory for snow cannons, which they test on the resort, so it's covered by snow the entire season, and there's a cannon every 30 meters on every slope. There's only one downside - you get spoiled. You get spoiled for life, because after that mountain nothing will ever again be the same. I know it sounds like a (bad) publicity post, but for you guys from USA and Canada, if already making a trip over the pond, be sure to visit Kronplatz. It's covered in Dolomiti Superski pass, too.