I just found out the Donek shop is 35 minutes from my house! (my location says Vail, but that's where I ride, I lived there in my 20's and bartended, and still have a place there, but I live in Denver) I'm going to set up a time to go meet Sean in person to set up a custom board design, and check out their shop, which will be super cool! I'll take pictures and post them here, if he allows me.
After the boot advice, with my skinny heel, I think I'm going to go with the UPZ XC12. They seem like a good balance of stiffness, flex, and comfort. More suited to my free carving style, than a stiff racer style. It's not 100% yet, but that's the way I am leaning.
The mountain slope seems a little too racer oriented, plus, I'm not a giant fan of the yellow color.
Oh, and looked for the model i currently have, it's a Burton Factory Prime 163, circa 1999.
My boots are Burton, but there isn't a model name on them. has three buckles, a power strap, and the tongue isn't completely centered. That's all I got on that description. Lol!
Today, I had four different 20-something yr old lift ops ask if my board was as fun as it looks, and i even had one say "sir, what is that?" He didn't even call it a snowboard, cause he wasn't quite sure..! hahahaha!