VSR-Alex

Thanks, Dave! The board has been retired to the wall of shame.

Thanks BlueB. Sounds like more trouble than it's worth (considering I don't have a solid plate to do this with anyway). So R.I.P. I suppose. Anyone have suggestions on boards that would be comparable?

Thanks Lowrider. I had the same thinking as you. The top layers don't separate from the board when flexed, so I don't think it delaminated (yet). I'm just wondering if there's anything I can do to prevent delamination now (besides not riding it of course). As far as finding someone lighter, it sounds easier said than done I'm afraid. I'm 165lb. at the moment. Any new boards you can recommend that ride similarly? I like longer boards with sidecut radii in the 15-25m range.

Hey carvers, I discovered a top sheet crack in my SG Full Race Pro Team 180. Board is from 2011. The crack propagates laterally across the board right through the board reference stance marker on the front foot. This happens to also be underneath my VIST plate. The crack appears to also propagate through the titanal layer . I believe that it occurred when I rode in some powder last Sunday morning, though I didn't fall or anything that I would think would cause this type of damage. It wasn't there when I waxed the board the night before. Looking for advice on how to proceed. Is it repairable, or should I start shopping? Also, how on earth would this occur underneath the VIST plate. The VIST is pretty flexible and I wouldn't think it would overstress the insert pack.

Been looking for a reasonably priced plate for a long time now. PM sent.

Good point, @softbootsurfer. Carving progression is very dependent on the area in which we ride. I happen to ride mostly in Appalachia, in Virginia and West Virginia. We get the freeze-thaw cycle on a daily basis, so frozen slush in the morning and mashed potatoes in the afternoon. Most of the time, the morning frozen slush is pebbly and bumpy. In order to carve, I need to be able to dig through the bumpy frozen slush. I could not get my soft-boot setup to drive enough pressure into the edge to do that, especially on heel-side turns. The bumpy frozen slush doesn't work well with the flex of a soft-boot on toe-side turns either. Soft-boots work better for me in the afternoon, but by that time I am not carving. Carving mashed-potato snow is not exactly safe, nor is it real carving; more like slarving. Narrow alpine boards with low-rise noses really don't work well here. I usually break out my Donek Incline in the afternoon for slush fun. I could go either way with the boot selection on the Donek. Soft boots have the ankle flexion we need in soft snow, but I also like the board response and waterproofing (mainly waterproofing) of my hard boots in soft and wet snow.

New Alpine rider here: @johnasmo hit the nail on the head. Progression from soft boots to hard boots for me was indeed a natural evolution from soft boot carving inefficiencies. The body position for heel-side turns just does not feel like a position where I can drive power into the edge. Toe-side turns on soft boot stance angles feel better, but there are disadvantages to these too. Another reason for the switch was medical. Any hard toe-side carve on non-perfect groomers will blow out my ankles when I hit imperfections on the slope. It does not seem to matter what boots, bindings, or boot modifications I make, it happens. I lost may weeks of riding due to recovery from this. When I get to the point where the boots feel stiff enough to support my ankle, they are already as stiff as a hard boot. Despite what my local hill tries to advertise, perfect grooming does not exist. Carving progression for me was the desire to experience G-forces akin to roller coasters and race cars. Since progressing with soft boot carving, I reached a wall where I felt like I was not progressing anymore toward my goal. It frustrated me enough to really think about my equipment and technique. Eventually, I finally came to the realization: soft boots are soft, and they are designed to be soft. Some people can make soft boots work for them for carving. I could not. Since switching to hard boots, my progression is on the right track again after only 5 days on snow. I really do think that the soft boot carving trend will increase the sales of Alpine gear for those with the desire to push the limits and achieve their goals. Cheers, and stay safe!

Here is my detailed review of the OES 169FC Kevlar model from the perspective of a new user of hard boots. Disclaimer: I am a beginner hard boot snowboarder. I have used soft boots and wide boards since I started in 2001. I purchased this board with the intention of using it to progress to an intermediate level carver after having an exciting experience on hard boots last year. I was planning on writing this review after riding some steeper terrain that opened up, but my season has ended early due to a hand injury. I do not want to risk messing up my hand by riding with a cast on. This review will be limited to my time on green and blue slopes. I purchased a demo model from Québec Man. This board comes with the Kevlar construction and medium stiffness. Specs are: 19.2cm waist, 9-13m variable sidecut, 169cm length, with I think a 0.5cm setback. http://oes.cat/index.php/en/our-production/freecarving/169fc. The board arrived in impeccable condition and excellently packaged. I would recommend buying from Québec Man again. This board came with an 88 degree edge. It seemed to have a 1 degree base edge. The board is described as being optimized for Eurocarve geometry. I assume this means similar to EC with less body inclination, but I have no references to this style or what this might look like. I assume it might be the style used in many of the OES videos but I cannot confirm. For reference, I am 6 feet (183cm) tall, and 172 lb (78kg). I rode this in 2019 production year UPZ RC12 boots, and Bomber TrenchDigger TD3 SW standard bindings. My local hill is Massanutten, Virginia, and my closest resort is Snowshoe, West Virginia. I use a variety of riding styles, but mostly bomber and race style (shoulders facing binding direction), and sometimes EC. My binding angles on this board are 65 front, 55 rear. This yielded a centered position with just a tiny bit of overhang. I started on the 2nd day after opening day at my local hill in late November. Conditions were semi-frozen slush, but smooth. Perfect beginner snow. The only terrain open was the flattest green run, and the steepest black run as they merge on the same run at the midpoint. I spent the day on the green run. I was anticipating the full noob experience of falling every run, but the board was approachable and stable. Initiating turns was very easy in any body position. The first day on the slope was just to get familiar with the board and to develop good techniques early. The body position was a bit strange for me, as this was a much narrower waist than I have ever tried. I rode a Donek Flux on hard boots and the angles were much lower. Most of the time was spent developing an efficient body position. The stability of the board felt great. I practiced getting more angulation in the board and eventually made some half-circle shaped turns by noon with roughly 35 degrees angulation. The almost centered stance and minimal taper provides an interesting riding dynamic. Turn initiation is instant. On flat terrain, this board seemed to work best when you load the tail in the last 1/3 of the turn. Zero effort is required to pop off of the tail at the end of the turn. Very fun. After a few more days on the green runs practicing technique, the first blue slope opened; well, half of it anyway. Conditions this time were hero snow at first, but was choppy during the second half of the session. The general observation here is huge edge hold. The limiting factor on this day was the smoothness of the slope. This is the Kevlar construction after all, and the board is quite lively and not particularly damp. My skill level is not good enough to make full use of this board in less than ideal conditions. As a result, on slightly steeper terrain, I had some more difficulty selecting an edge transition technique. Cross over technique seemed to not work so well unless I added a lot of nose loading. This was the only way to get the board to carve a tight enough radius to make half-circle turns on such a narrow slope. It did not necessarily feel super stable either. As it turns out, cross through and cross under techniques seemed to be the right recipe for this board, at least on blue runs. I think this is due to me being able to get the board on edge sooner. With better technique and more experience, I could see how someone better than I would have a different experience. The board really talks to you and tells you what works and what doesn't work, an excellent learning tool for me. The next day was at Snowshoe, West Virginia. To say the conditions were firm is an understatement; every slope was straight ice from top to bottom, but smooth for most of the day. To prepare for this ice rink, I gave the board a decent re-tune with an 86 degree edge bevel and polished the edges with diamond stones and a finishing stone. My technique started to get pretty consistent. I found keeping a solid upper body position on this board provided the most rewards. I noticed cross-over technique was much easier on smoother terrain. Cross-through seemed to still be better. The edge hold was incredible. I' have never dug a trench in ice before, so this was something new for me to experience. This just happened to be the same day I got injured so I never rode the board after this day. Overall, I am excited to continue exploring the limits of this board and honing my technique. An excellent learning board for sure. -Alex

Hey All, Thank you for your suggestions and offers. I decided to take Québec man's offer on his OES 169FC demo board. I'll place a review toward the end of January in the OES review topic in case anyone is interested. Cheers, -Alex

I started a thread in the wanted section looking for boards for someone starting to use hardboots, and this might be a good option. http://forums.alpinesnowboarder.com/topic/48545-wanted-beginner-intermediate-alpine-board/ A couple of questions: What weight was this built for, and how much are you selling for?

That may be a bit short, but yet another great option. I'll definitely be keeping it in mind.

Thanks, Charlie! I am more looking for a slalom board or a freecarving board than a BX board at the moment. I think this might be a contender if I don't see exactly what I need. I'll definitely keep you in mind. This board would be very similar to mounting plates on my Donek Incline, though I'm worried about breaking it since I'm not sure if it's reinforced at the inserts.

Novice Alert: I'm looking to progress on a more forgiving hardboot snowboard this upcoming season before pulling the trigger on a new board. I'm getting tired of almost blowing out my ankles each time I ride on my soft setup, and I'm ready to take the plunge to hardboots. I'm looking for something smaller than 11m sidecut radius, since the resorts around where I live have narrow trails. Weight: 170lb/77kg. I have boots and bindings. I'm just needing a board. PM or reply if you have anything. Thanks, Alex