Jack M

On any other day, yes, get out the soft gear. At a carving session, we are there to carve with fellow carvers, and we will try to do so until it's impossible. You're wrong about the meatloaf though. On a bluebird no-ice corduroy day, it's filet with a lobster tail.

LOL, website was done by a fellow BOL member in his spare time! (not me!) He is very responsive to email.

Sorry I didn't get clearance from the tower, my kids had a mogul competition at Loon on Saturday. Blew into town Friday and rode the afternoon with the fam and another fam, then Saturday was all about the comp and the awards ceremony. Nice to bump into Glenn, and I saw Mr. Alexander from a distance. Would have loved to have made some turns and/or tipped a few back with the team, but I didn't have the hall pass. Hadn't been to Loon in ages, the place is great! Friday afternoon was awesome. Midweek Loon would be great for an ECES - many just-right slopes for carving! Lower Flume, Walking Boss, Angel Street/Big Dipper, 7 Bros, the list goes on. I think you guys should take a turn!!!

There is a happy medium for everyone. I can say from experience that I prefer red (stiff) BTS springs over the blue (medium) springs on my T700s, but last weekend I tried ski boots for the first time in many years. I couldn't carve. I did have an experience somewhat similar to yours once many years ago when I forgot to put my then Burton Fires in ride mode and left them in walk mode. I basically fell forward, and into a better carving position.

Weight your back foot.

Love the bat-wing tail. See you at ECES?

With no experience in either skiing or snowboarding, I would say have him spend a day on skis first. Familiarize him with the whole process of going skiing, and the concepts of hard plastic boots and using sidecut to turn. It is stupid-easy to get a pair of skis to carve on easy terrain. You just stand there and weight the inside edge of one ski. If he knows how to ice skate he may not even need to be told this. Carving is not beginner-friendly on a snowboard, because you can't just stand up without first knowing how to snowboard at a basic level. So then on the next day teach him how to snowboard. You can start him on hardboots, that's really not an issue. But you will first have to teach him the never-ever basics you listed, and then you can introduce carving. Attempting carving without knowing how to break into a controlled skid is dangerous. Unless of course he is determined to snowboard in hardboots from the get-go. Determination goes a long way. In that case I would definitely say skip the soft boots. No need.

It has a 3-piece shell, same as Deeluxe, UPZ, Northwave, Dalbello Krypton, Full Tilt, etc. This means it has a lower, an upper, and a tongue. This allows for a buckle right on your ankle that goes diagonally right over your instep, for better heel hold and better flex characteristics.

"The January Thaw" has been happening every year for at least 10-15 years now, I've been keeping mental track. You'd think I would have accepted it by now, but it never fails to disappoint. Sigh. Looking forward to Winter 2.0...

1. Mark Brown, M-F 2. Jim Cheen, W-F 3-4. Andrea, Dave & Lillian Morgan, M-F 5. GeoffV, M-F 6. Michael Mercurio, M-F 7. Stephane Paquette, M-F 8. Derek Bonser, M-F 9. Tabatha, M-F 10. Brad Burns, M-F 11. Annie Beaudoin, M-F 12. Claude Fagnan, M-F 13. CarveFather, W-F hopefully 14. Bob Russell Buggs, W-F 15. Alex Juhasz, M-F 16. Steph Juhasz, M-F 17. Karson Mui, W-F 18. John Philkill, M-S 19. Hilux, M-F 20. Fishrising W-F 21. Shaggy 22. Ian M, M-F! 23. Max L, M-F 23. Tim K, M-F 24 Murphy Tues-Fri 25. Brian Barrett, W-F (or more :) 26. Khanh Vu M-F 27. Rob A Tue-Fri 28. Tom A Wed-Fri 29. Redhawk Wed-Fri 30. Jack Michaud Thu-Fri

Here is one from our Tech Articles: http://www.bomberonline.com/resources/Techarticles/binding_setup.html And here is a discussion of cant and lift: http://www.bomberonline.com/resources/Techarticles/cant_lift.html If you have Bomber TD2 or TD3 bindings, see this: http://www.bomberonline.com/resources/Techarticles/td2_setup.html

Well, that is plausible, as I know from my own Safari Comp II (165cm) it had about a 16m radius. HOWEVER - that board is an ANTIQUE and should not be ridden! Hang it on a wall or sell it to a collector!!

I agree that anyone on almost any equipment can carve at Buttermilk and on lower sections of most mountains. Hardboots allow better carving on steeper and/or icier terrain. If this was not true you would see softboots in PSL/PGS events.

I'm 39 with skiing kids and wife. I have run into the same issues as above and for me the solution was a 163cm metal slalom board with a 21cm waist and a ~10m VSR sidecut. The wide waist and the deep sidecut give this board a wide nose that actually floats in powder. The tight sidecut is great on super steeps and fun on family flats. The tail has a slight kick and rounded corners. Originally I bought it to be my early season ice board, but it quickly became my do-everything board. It works great as a freeride board and a powder board. I ride it in trees, moguls, the park, spring conditions, ice, whatever. I don't see the need to switch to softies unless you want to get serious about tricks or if you get a lot of powder.

Translation: "I have no idea, but the guys on the podium have them, so..." Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Welcome llod. I'm not selling gear but I'd recommend looking in the For Sale forum for boards between 170 and 180 with a radius of 11 to 13 meters and waist width of 19.5cm to 22cm. You'll want the wider waist for your gunboats. If you have ski boots you can start with them to save a little money, otherwise look in the For Sale forum for used Deeluxe, Head, UPZ. Your mondopoint size is the length of your foot in centimeters. For bindings look for Bomber TD2 or TD3, or F2. DO NOT fool around with Burton bindings, they are too fragile and too old for your weight. Hope this helps. Below is some reading to get into the sport. Good luck!

1. http://unofficialnetworks.com/1-yearold-baby-snowboards-people-smile-127087/

I'll see if I can get a few women's shirts, what size?

Can I have your boards when you are crippled?

What did I just vote for in "Dampness"? More dampness? I hope not. I think there needs to be a balance. While very damp boards are smooth, sure-footed, and confidence boosting, they're also not as entertaining.

I've had the experience of trying a board and being blown away to the point of having to have it no matter what a few times. However I think for me "no matter what" is capped at about $1000. The times I had to buy a board were: 1, 2001 Donek 171 FCII. 2, 2004 Madd 170 3, 2005 Madd 180 4, 2006 Madd 158 5, 2009 Coiler NSR 185 My current Donek Proteus 175 recaptures the magic of that 171FC, but adds metal for even more edge hold. A lively board with just the right amount of dampness. I didn't demo it, so I didn't have that "have to buy it" moment. I bought it based on the description, and it delivers the goods. The Madds... mind blowing, but unfortunately with the 170 and 158 the board I ended up with didn't quite live up to the one I demo'd. I should not have let those demos get out of my hands. I wisely bought the demo 180. If Madd could ever come back and nail their consistency, they would be a real force. The Coiler NSR on the other hand put the Madd 180 to shame with new technology. Blew me away. Game changer. The Kessler 185 I briefly owned when I wrote that review also blew my mind, but with the Coiler nearly as good for half the money I just couldn't keep the K. Having $1600 under my bindings made me feel a little guilty while riding it. This is also why I have no interest in trying a Virus. My loss, perhaps. If I could only own one board to do everything it would probably be a Coiler Stubby 171 with 21cm waist and 13m radius. I haven't tried his VSRs in that length though.

Apparently the latest must-have is UClear. Noise-canceling, Bluetooth, military tech now available to civilians. Above my pay-grade and interest, but a buddy has them and was raving about them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

McDougall was great in Tombstone!

There is a free version of Tapatalk. Thank vBulletin 4.2.2 for that.