dmc

For sale is a F2 board bag that fits 155-183cm boards. It is non-padded and opens on one end. No rips or tears and in excellent condition. Asking $30 plus shipping.

For sale is a set of F2 Intec Titanium step-in bindings, size medium. They were mounted on a second board and rarely used. Less than one season old. Minimal wear on the heel receiver (as pictured), and all hardware is in great shape. Includes wedges and mounting bolts. Asking $200 plus shipping.

For sale is a Donek Pilot 172cm in excellent condition. The board was used lightly and has plenty of edge left and no damage to the base. (It is pictured below with storage wax that has yet to be scraped.) I replaced it with a Coiler not long after I bought it, so it has seen very minimal use. Asking $250 plus shipping. (Note, I also have a pair of F2 Intec Titanium bindings and an F2 board bag for sale as well.)

Pics for views. :P

So I'm currently in Colorado. The check-in went pretty smooth. I managed to fit two boards/bindings and a pair of soft boots into a Series 3 Sportube weighing in around 45 pounds. The baggage handlers lost the wire case pin and I'm surprised nothing fell out when I found the case upside down on the oversized baggage carousel at the Denver airport. Spent my first day here at Aspen Highlands. The hard boots and Coiler AM were a lot of fun on the morning groomers—I swear Colorado groomers are 10x as wide as those in the northeast. For the chalky spring bumps on the steeps of the Highland Bowl and stuff off the Deep Temerity, I caved and switched back to the soft boots and Prior. G-6 and G-8 were awesome. Maybe it's just my lack of ability carving bumpy terrain on a 45 degree pitch, but the (intended) slop in the soft setup seemed ideal for pumping down the tracked out bowl. Does anyone ride this kind of terrain on plates and hard boots? Isn't it considerably more demanding and difficult?

I'm beginning to lean towards the last three days at A Basin. I'm seeing lift ticket deals for $148/3 days, which is half of what it would cost at Aspen. I'll be on the hill at Aspen and Vail for 3 days beginning Monday, 12-March. It's the latter of the week I'm on the fence about at this point...

Wow, tons of great travel and packing tips here. Thanks! I'm going to get that fishing scale and try my luck at packing both the Coiler AM and Khyber with one set of boots and bindings each. Not bringing a complete edge/wax toolkit like I normally do should help me make weight. So far I'm spending the first three days divided between Aspen and Vail. I'm now debating where to spend the last three days of the six day trip. Options are either more Aspen (possibly slopeside), or back in Denver with daily commutes to Loveland, A Basin, etc. Is there enough epic terrain at Aspen to warrant spending practically all of my CO trip there? Or is variety the spice of life?

Oh crap. I'm booked with United...

Hmm. It might just come down to that... Can any comment on how suitable either setup would be for mostly-inbounds CO? I have no idea what conditions to expect. Probably lots of soft chopped up crud (e.g. in areas like the Highland bowl)? So better to to power through it on plates or the more forgiving softies? BTW sorry for the gratuitous pic whoring... I figured I might as well give people something to look at in hopes of drawing responses... lol

Long story short, I'm headed to Colorado this weekend to visit Aspen Highlands, Vail, A Basin, etc. I went back to my pow board/soft boots today for the first time in quite a while and I was shocked at the difference. (Prior Khyber 160, Burton Custom bindings.) It took a few runs for the softie carving muscle memory to set back in, but even after trying various angles (up to 30/25) and railing 8m SCR turns at (relatively) low speeds, all I kept thinking about was the difference in power, control—and ultimately, my confidence. Around here, I ride a 165 Coiler VSR AM-T with UPZ boots and F2 Intec bindings. I seem to be able to throw it at everything—bumps, Vermont glades, groomers—but I have yet to ride it on a "real" mountain, i.e., the big stuff out west. I've done high alpine bowls, deep pow, pillow lines, cat... but it was all years ago on softies, and with much less bravado and skill than I think I have today. I know, shouldn't reach for the snow... Anyway, because of the airline weight limit on checked bags, I don't think I can take both a soft and hard setup out west with me. I'm don't mind the slop of softies floating around on bottomless pow. But what is the likelihood of encountering this stuff next week in CO? Would a Coiler AM and Prior Khyber on plates be a good two-board quiver for a trip like this, assuming I want to spend most of mine time riding steeps, bowls, and trees? I've never tried the Khyber on plates, and I don't think I'll have an opportunity to do so before I leave. Or should I just suck it up, crank the angles on the soft setup, and hedge my bets with only the Khyber? Any advice is appreciated!

I've spent this season trying to dial in a new set of RC-10 boots. After about 30 days with them, I'm convinced a foam-injected is likely the only way to comfortably accommodate my EE wide foot, narrow heel, and odd boney bits. I've had the shells punched and blown out in places which alleviates some pressure points, but as you allude to, this only creates more problems with increased movement. Since our season in Southern Ontario is pretty much over now, I'm going to wait until next October or November to visit Surefoot in Killington. Hopefully throwing a few hundred bucks at a proper custom liner and orthotic is going to do it. I'm also interested if anyone has any experience with the UPZ foam liner...

So I'm a little late to the game, but here's my new Coiler 165 AM (21w, 10/12.7/12) with a custom "white rice" topsheet: The 182 NSR and 180 VSR asym aren't mine, but I thought it'd make a nice family portrait. :D

Without a doubt, Toboggan is my favourite carving run at Tremblant. Agreed that it's an early catch, but you can't beat the weightless feeling transitioning over the countless rollers all the way down. Fast!

Wow, awesome advice. Thanks everyone. No love for Tahoe huh? It seems Colorado is the overwhelming consensus for snow and variety! I'll do a bit more hunting for airline tickets and I think that will be the determining factor between Denver and Calgary. (SLC is so tempting with how close it is to everything though...) I'm going to aim for mid-week to avoid the crowds and will definitely post on the ride board if I'm headed that way.

I'm thinking of a mid-March trip out west for some "real" mountains. 3 or 4 days of wide-open groomer carving, mixing it up with pow and trees on a pow board. Since my plans are pretty spur-of-the-moment spontaneous, it'll likely be just me. Here's what I'm considering: (1) Tahoe. Fly into Reno, rent a car, and explore South and North Lake. Heavenly, Alpine Meadows, Northstar, etc. I anticipate accommodations to be on the expensive side since I will likely have to stay near resorts. Flights are also on the expensive side. (2) Banff. Fly into Calgary, rent a car, explore Lake Louise and Sunshine. Like Tahoe, I anticipate accommodations to be on the expensive side since I figure I will have to stay near/at the resorts, but the flight to YYC is cheap. (3) Colorado. Fly into Denver, rent a car, drive to Breckenridge et al. Is it feasible to stay in Denver instead of paying the high price to stay in Breck? I've driven those I-70 passes in the summer, but never in March. (4) Salt Lake City. Flights are cheap ($600 from YYZ). Stay in a cheap hotel downtown SLC, rent a car, and spend a few days driving to Park City, Powder Mountain, Snowbasin, Snowbird, etc. Probably the most economical option because I can stay anywhere in SLC. I guess what I'm asking is, from a bang-for-the-buck (and snow!) standpoint... Any suggestions where I'm better off going?

For the boards that see east coast hardpack, groom, and packed pow, I've always done 1° base, 88° side. Good compromise between bite a long-lasting edge.

Just resurrecting an old thread to add some more anecdotal information. It's no secret that the RC-10 is a stiff boot. I am 175cm/65kg (5'9" 145lbs) and on cold days, the stiffness doesn't allow for very laid back riding. So I got a set of the red tongues—apparently 100 flex index vs. the included black 110 flex. Aside from being a little funny looking, holy crap, what a huge difference! The boots are considerably easier to get on and off now. Flex in walk mode with loosened buckles seems almost soft enough to make these viable for the powder board. I'd say these are almost mandatory for lighter weight riders. Another issue I've been dealing with was the Intec cable pressuring my heel through the thin race-like liner. There isn't much material there in the UPZ liner, so no matter where I moved the cable, it hurt like hell after a few hours. So following an idea I read somewhere on BOL, I put a piece of felt next to the cable. It protrudes about the same amount, but now distributes the pressure over a wider area and thus alleviates some of the concentrated pressure. I can still feel the presence of the "lump" through the liner, especially when cranking the buckles down, but it's much more bearable.

I'm 140-145 lbs and I find the RC-10 (size 24.5) to be crazy stiff even with loose cuff buckles and the spring in walk mode. Maybe it's just me and my (lack of) weight? I've ordered the red 100 flex tongues to hopefully soften things up a little more.

Thanks. I'm almost thinking about getting another set of softer hard boots specifically for instructing, low-performance, and powder days. (HSPs? I have wide feet.) The UPZ RC-10s combined with my light weight (145 lbs) make for one crazy stiff—but super supportive—setup. Great for railing the crap out of the hill, but not so great, it seems, for relaxed detuned riding. I'm pretty sure with my m24.5 feet I can achieve super low angles... I guess I just didn't want to blow it and eventually caved. The evaluator, however, was impressed at my ability to ride both styles proficiently. It was a great course, and really helped solidify in my mind the distinct techniques of carving on soft/duck stance vs hard/forward angles.

Quick update, in case anyone care. I just finished the Level 1 course with flying colours. Only thing is, I had to switch to soft boots after the first day to do it. I found it extremely difficult to demonstrate the exaggerated amount of flexion in hard boots (granted though, my UPZ RC-10s are about as stiff as they come). And even with a relatively soft and wide Coiler AM and Donek Incline, detuning to demonstrate beginner and novice turns was a challenge. Like trying to drive a Ferrari below the speed limit—much easier to go slow in a Kia Rio, no detuning needed. The fall-line edge change component in the QuickRide system involves riding switch for half the exercise. (This is supposedly relatively new? Added within the last few years?) Duck stance actually made this part much easier. Overall, it was a great experience. My evaluator had plate/race experience and I'm now a much better hard AND soft boot carver because of it. Now on to Level 2... p.s. Has anyone ever taken the Plate Riding Improvement Session? Good for a range of race/free carve abilities? There's one coming up next month at Tremblant, and one in April at Sunshine.

Interesting. I figured I'd have to unlearn a lot of the carve/race style to conform to the CASI standard. I guess I'll bring the hard boots and run small angles. I have m24.5 feet so on my Donek Incline I can run a pretty sideways stance without a crazy amount of overhang. I'll keep the softies in the car just in case...

I'm doing my CASI Level 1 certification next weekend at a tiny bump of a hill in Southern Ontario. Though I'm not foolish enough to show up with a carving board, the hard boots are super comfortable with step-in convenience—surely a benefit with the (lack of) vertical around here and the many lift rides. Would it be silly to attempt the course in hard boots with low angles on, say, a freeride board like my Donek Incline?

What a great day. I rode non-stop from the time I arrived at 09:00 until my legs could take no more, retiring to the car around 14:30. Had to skip the après because I had to rush back to Toronto. It was my second day ever on plates, and was it ever fun watching, talking to, and learning from you all. Thanks!

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I've since backed down the tension on the toe bails because, as some have pointed out, I think I had them set too tightly. The bails flex ever so slightly just before pin engagement, and the entire system has very minimal play. I'm slowly beginning to realize that with hardboot carving, the slightest change in angles, microadjustments, and technique seem to yield huge changes in performance.

Okay, so keep the interface free from play, and just trust that there will be some inherent flex in the binding while riding. Thanks. And just for the archives (apologies if this post was a little redundant) here are some photos showing how I have them adjusted now. Under its own weight on the toe bail, the boot sits about this high up off the receiver before being pressed down: At the point the plastic Intec wedge contacts the receiver, the pin is still pretty far off from engaging: Pushing down on the boot causes the wedge to force the toe further forward into the toe bail. The pin now rests at the top back of the hole: I hope this proper adjustment (combined with my rather lightweight 145 lbs) will mean a decent service life for these heels. I've read so much stuff about Fintecs here, but I'm taking everything with a grain of salt...