gkanai

Just curious- you'd rather have a two-step release? And where would you put the release if not on the base?

Now Pilot. I bought the 2021-22 model. Very nice binding for carving and not as stiff as the O-Drive which is Now's stiffest. https://www.now-snowboarding.com/men/234-pilot.html

Interesting new binding from Nidecker coming fall 2022. Nidecker Supermatic bindings

Found a used F2 Eliminator LTD in 167. Not sure what year this is tbh. The base is in good condition but I will have it tuned/structured/edges sharpened before I use it. I plan to use my Now Pilot bindings on this. If anyone has ridden this board and has opinions, would love to hear them. Thanks in advance.

Freestyle/park riding is also quite popular in Japan. Japan has a number of top freestyle/pipe boarders at the international level too including Ayumu Hirano who has won two silver medals at two Olympics in the halfpipe.

I don't know for sure- I think it has to do with a few things. Japan was fairly early to jump onto snowboarding, only a few years after the sport launched, since Japan is a big winter sports country. Back in the early years of snowboarding, carving was much more prominent (if you remember the old Burton PJ boards, F2 had their Speedster race boards, Raichle had their hard boots (which are now the Deeluxe) etc. And so I think carving never went out of style in Japan. There's a lot of groomed runs in Japan and while Japan/Hokkaido is now famous for powder and off piste, I think snowboard racing and carving has always had it's place. When you see how many Japanese manufacturers make carving boards (Moss, Ogasaka, BC Stream, Gray, Yonex, etc.) it's clear that the carve/race market is vibrant even with 1/3 the population of the US. I ended up posting all of the pics to this thread, so no need to go to Imgur.

There's a district in Tokyo that has a lot (probably 20+ stores, I'm not kidding) of sports gear stores (Kanda/Ogawacho area) and this was just two stores. I was on the hunt for some bib pants for the kid and didn't have time to shop carving gear but I plan to go back so will visit more stores and take better photos.

A few photos from a few stores in Tokyo recently: More images here: https://imgur.com/a/gJ0SCxu

Not sure if this was shared here yet or not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cva3OtCFidI

Great photos! Please take more! I hope to carve in Italy someday.

Thanks Jack! Likewise :D

Thanks! I'll be in touch re: TD2s.

Dude- that would be awesome! Morning? Afternoon? I need to juggle my schedule around so let me know. Ore no keitai wa: zero hachi zero, san yon zero zero, ichi kyuu ichi zero desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.