Cthulhufish

I wasn't terribly impressed with POWERRIDES at first. Then I tried combining them with Strapins, and I think the two together are better than the sum of the parts. Having the straps at the top and bottom of the boot upper seems to help anchor the POWERRIDE to the boot, creating more support. Boots with all the necessary support built in would be ideal of course, but I suppose an upside of using POWERRIDES and Strapins is that you can put them on to carve or leave them off for a less aggressive ride.

I'm lapping Village Express at Snowmass if anyone is around. Might stop for crepes soon. Still haven't been able to join the WhatsApp group. Have people been able to get into town alright with the weather?

Never mind, CAIC is predicting a few more inches of accumulation this morning. I'll be taking my powder board to Ajax today.

Parking allowing, I'll be heading to West Buttermilk to test run my new ZipFits.

Will anyone else be out riding tomorrow?

Good news everyone: Snow! We needed it.

Not that I think the industry will do it, but I think the best path forward is snowboard specific AT boots and plate bindings. Technically hardboots, but they're comfy, flexy hardboots. Ankle pivot, tunable spring system for shock absorption, solid steel bails for edge response, no more relying on leather or a synthetic equivalent to flex in just the right way after it's broken in a little but before it breaks in too much.

I would have loved to have found a decent let alone good video on hardboot carving when I started a few years ago. I think these things are cyclical. There is little easily accessible information on alpine boarding, so it's hard to get into alpine boarding, so there's little interest in content about alpine boarding.

I got a 4 pack of strapins and have been using them on and off for the past few weeks. My overall impression is that if you need them, you've got a boot problem. But if you've got a boot problem, they can definitely help. They can help cinch in a loose boot/worn out liner or give a little extra support to boots that are softer than you need. Not a bad thing to have around for when one pair of boots is wearing out and you haven't found a replacement set yet.

As the title says, I'm looking for softboot carving bindings that fit small boots (24MP). I keep picking bindings then finding out they don't make them small enough... I have a pair of Burton X Bases which I'm considering replacing. Thus far, the top end stiffest bindings I've found which can fit my boots are the Union Atlas FC, Ride A10, Flux XV, and Flow NX2-Carbon Fusion. Anything I'm missing? What do people like/recommend?

Caveat: I'm still getting used to my Flux. I've only had it for a week, and it's my first (soft boot) true carving board. I typically ride 152-154 all mountain and free ride boards. I went with a 152 Flux w/ 8.5-10m sidecut. I'd say the length feels right to me - for a dedicated carving board. I've taken it through moguls and it rides waaay too big for that to be any fun. It has an enormous effective edge for its length. It's my first variable sidecut board, and the 1.5m difference feels subtle to me. It's there when I deliberately lean back, but unobtrusive. I haven't worked up to carving steep groomers on it yet, but 8.5-10m feels like it would be way too tight for that. As for the core, I've never ridden a titanal board so I can't give a comparison there, but it's a lovely smooth ride compared to off the shelf boards. Kinda wishing all my boards had cores like that.

It's like thinking a cold spring day is proof summer will never arrive.

Every year won't be hotter than the last, but the average temperature is going up and up and up, and will continue to do so for a long time even if we manage to hit net zero greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have been warning about that for decades.

First day on my new Donek Flux. 152cm x 25cm, 8.5-10m radius. Camera doesn't do the bright yellow justice. I wonder if anyone can do fluorescent dye for their top sheets... Cat tax:

Both can do anything the rider is capable of... which the board is also capable of... and limited by how hard the board makes it against how good the rider is at it.