Jack M

There's some beginner info in the links below. Good luck!

there's some beginner info in the links below. At your size I'd advise you to look for boards closer to 170cm in length. good luck!

I don't think these are a good idea for an intermediate or part-time carver. My wife has them and doesn't like them. She is more of an old-school slalom type fall-line skier. She's a good aggressive skier but there is very little true carving going on. The P02 has a very tight sidecut and the bindings are mounted smack in the center of the ski. Next to her previous pair of skis which were the same size, (Volkl Supersport 5-star, which she loved), the bindings look about 4" further forward. Point is, they're not great for not carving. They're designed to be rolled from side to side and carved always. They're like two little skinny racing snowboards. Other skis can carve very well while still being more versatile and forgiving. Another caveat about skis like this is that with such a longer tail, the danger of knee injury is greater due to the increased leverage back there.

good conditions.

Well that's a little different because a Teleboard is just wrong. ;) :p ;)

It's hardboots... it's one foot in front of the other... it's carving...

No, you will not need a wide front bail kit with ski boots. AT boots are not ski boots. TD2 with suspension kit or TD3 with soft e-ring has plenty of flex.

Agreed. File this in the "because it's there" category.

Heh, well, I wasn't sure, and Gecko's seemed kinda serious, so I lumped yours in with his. ;) I respect the right to think it's kooky, and maybe it is. Just pointing out that nobody wanted snowboarders on "their" hills at first either. Not that I think this is going anywhere.

What Buster said. These attitudes are extremely hypocritical coming from snowboarders.

Look for used TD2 + Suspension Kit in our classifieds. Or used TD3 with soft (yellow) e-rings, but there probably aren't (m)any used ones for sale yet.

Come on up. Tote Road and the Bucksaw chair area are good for intermediates, but the real fun is the steeper stuff off the Spillway chair, Superquad, and King Pine chair. And especially this year there is no ice to speak of.

I would definitely bring at least 2 or even 3 alpine boards in addition to your softboot setup. Sugarloaf can be enjoyed on just about any setup, it really depends on your abilities. The steeps will test you on any board. The cruisers are long and gentle and are good on a 170-something freecarve. Conditions have been great this year. Only times it hasn't been great is when there has been too much snow! Ironic! I believe there is, you can call the hotel if you want to double check. The hotel has a ski locker room for their guests, and there are coin-op lockers in the base lodge for duffle bags. But everyone just throws their bags in free cubbies or under tables.

I have done this, it was not a problem with my TD3 step-in. Of course there are limits.

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I agree Stratton is a carver crowd-pleaser. We will be back there for ECES 2012. It has a pitch that is fun while not intimidating.

If you like steeps and great grooming. Weekend crowds are manageable due to that other resort to the south which serves as a buffer zone and filter. Sugarloaf also has an alpine snowboarding instructor. (the two trails on the right of that image are actually nice and wide, just angled away from the camera) Nightlife is good but not wild. A few great restaurants. Plenty of on-hill accommodations. Park your car and forget it. Downside? 4 hours from Boston in good weather and light traffic. Can be very cold and/or windy due to high elevation. But, that also means that it can be raining in the valley and snowing on the mountain.

Awesome.

Un-bolt one side of the bail from the sole block. Bend the bail slightly to make it a little narrower than the sole block. This creates friction when you mount it back into place. This will help keep the bail in position

Thanks for the nod. The first step towards carving in hardboots is carving in softboots. You can practice The Norm on your current gear and get to the point where you are linking carved turns on green circle slopes - that is, changing edges before the board points downhill and carving the downhill edge around until it becomes the uphill edge. Then you can take that experience into hardboots. Bomber has a good policy about sizing boots and being able to return them (unridden of course) after trying them on at home. So I say try the Heads. Failing that, look for an all-mtn ski boot and seek help from good retail shops. As for bindings, yes, contact Bomber. They are away at the SES until the 14th, so you should wait and call them on the phone after that (do not email, they will be swamped with email backlog). Standard Bomber TD3s go to Mondo 30. Step-in TD3s go to Mondo 31, but call to confirm. Catek Longplates go to Mondo 31.5, but ordering anything new from Catek has been problematic for several people on here for the past couple seasons - they are having issues. You can check the classifieds here for a used set, but Bomber's suspension system makes for a more comfortable ride, imo. For boards, going custom is a good idea, or if you're on a budget I would look for a used Swoard 175 XH or H, or a Donek Blade 180. They are wide. Or heck, a new Donek Blade 180 ($700 - will save you quite a bit over a custom). Basically you want a board that is wide enough for you to mount your bindings no steeper than 60 degrees with no boot overhang. Hope this helps, good luck!

bschurman: catharsis: Ian M: GeoffV: Team Boiler/Coiler/TD3/Deeluxe/Habervision/Arcteryx:

This is a good drill to get out of the habit of facing the toeside edge and "sitting on the toilet" on heelside, and to get into the habit of staying aligned with the board as it turns. However once you get good at this, you can relax a little bit - being aligned with your binding angles is better than being twisted all the way around to the nose, and gives you more range of motion.

On a heelside turn, once the board points down the fall-line, novice carvers and softbooters will typically allow their hips and shoulders to stay facing downhill throughout the rest of the turn. Meanwhile, the board continues to rotate underneath them as it turns across the hill. This reduces balance and stability. Good carvers maintain the board/body alignment throughout the whole turn. A good way to tell if you're doing it right is whether or not you can see your trailing hand somewhere in your peripheral vision throughout the turn, while you look where you want the carve to go.

You probably need to think about "feeding" the board through the turn. Initiate each carve with your weight up front, and smoothly shift to the back as the turn comes around. Keep your eyes looking into the turn (not just downhill!) and keep your body aligned with your feet - on heelside don't let your hips or shoulders open up and face downhill. Good luck and welcome!

Very few? Where is this data? I ride parallel and know several who do as well. I agree some splay will probably feel more familiar at first, but I wouldn't recommend more than 5-6 degrees unless you are naturally quite duck-footed.