Jack M

I think it is a personal preference. I liked the AC version best of the 3 I've tried, but I won't be ordering one myself. I love all the thought that has gone into this. Skiers don't do this.

Just my opinion... he's going to an awful lot of effort just to be able to claim that he's a softbooter in name only. Riser plates, groomers-only board, stiff bindings, forward angles, surely the stiffest "softboots" he could find and then modified... and he is still getting a lot of chatter/oscillation on perfect groom. I'm not convinced.

Sometimes when someone asks what kind of board is that, I'll just say the brand name.

Well I guess that's that. Even their chatbot knows.

Full review might have to wait until next year as carving conditions have been destroyed in New England for now. 10 day forecast does not look good. However on some nice cold chalk on Friday I was having a blast on it. The flex is aggressive and energetic. Edge hold is abundant. The sidecut is just beautiful, with the turn size and versatility I wanted. It conceals the fact that it's a VSR with a very smooth feel. Carve initiation is smooth and intuitive. It has a lot of camber and not much decamber, so combined with the stiffness it doesn't like to skid. This one's a keeper!

Nah. I mean the K168 is a sure thing, but this is working great for me.

I’m super happy to hear that. Enjoy, and thanks! I have to be quick, but so far my review is this… Kessler 168 for sale!

Version 2 of the @Winterstick Squaretail Plus 170 has arrived - stiffer this time for my lardass, with double the carbon! Titanal and rubber too of course. 21cm waist. Also about 1m longer sidecut, 10-13-12m. Ghost plate - extra torsional reinforcement between the feet. V1 had this too and it worked great. Maiden voyage tomorrow! Got camber??

At what point is it really a hardboot?

Funny, my dad has that Duke, and a good friend has the Grom. What are those bar ends?

Not necessarily. Single radius boards can have any amount of taper by simply rotating the sidecuts. That said, I do believe F2 is using some kind of VSR or non-radial curve.

Sugarloaf’s Facebook today

I'll just add - mold your liners before applying Tognar pads, and not after. Otherwise, the liner will mold around them, rendering them ineffective. Good luck!

Yah. Wish there still was PSL in the Olympics. Watching Cody nearly come back from two mistakes in a PSL against Benjamin Karl was incredible. If the race had been two gates longer he would have won. But no we have to make room for more Curling and interpretive ice polka. What's next, Cornhole?

Weird, just the other day I emailed Hansjuerg Kessler looking for a 175 women's GS for my athlete and he emailed right back with several options. He has been great to deal with on my two customs as well.

I cannot fathom how this can possibly be of any benefit. Looks like all it will do is create two large flat sections in your board, and a kink in the middle. Seems like you would need a special board made to work with this setup. But I am not knowing. Who on earth wants to use a plate(s) for freestyle? Like this?

Just want to make sure you understand the board does not have a 7m radius. That would be ridiculously turny. That's the smallest end of the sidecut range. Kessler gives a hint about how their shapes work here: http://kessler-swiss.com/en-US/technology/kesslerShapeTechnology It's not the whole story and a bit of a smoke screen but it's a good start. Without Asmo measuring it there's no way to know how much or how little of the board is actually 7m. I'll bet it's only a few cm. While the 168 and 162 only differ by 1m at the small end, I suspect the sidecuts are much more different in shape than the numbers imply. I've flexed a new 162 by hand and it didn't strike me as much different than the 168. Yeah! Sell the one you like less. Consider the loss (if any) a rental fee.

K168 sidecut range is listed as 8-12m. K162 is listed as 7-12m. I would be shocked if that 1m is the only difference. I don't have a K162, but my K168 turns significantly longer than my F2 163. The F2's sidecut is listed as an avg of 9.8m.

Well stop thinking about it!! Hopefully winter returns and gives us epic carving conditions throughout March. There is talk of significant snow this Friday. Today is seriously depressing though.

You say it would be his first snowboard really, so I would say no, it's too long. Look for something 160-163.

That's a completely different scenario. I'm saying a softbooter trying hardboots is going to have more difficulty with skidding, steering, and maneuvering than with carving.

paging @barryj

over the years I've seen several other strong softbooters try and succeed. Including myself. I believe it is generally true. If you don't, that video is at least proof that it's possible. The act of simply engaging and standing on the sidecut is not so different between the two setups. The biggest difficulties are during non-carving moments.

Welcome! The first step before trying hardboots is to make sure you can carve your downhill edge on your current gear. That is, can you finish one carve, roll the board over and begin carving the next turn before the board points downhill? If you are fluid at doing that repeatedly and at will, then you're ready. The ultimate goal is for your hips and shoulders to be facing your binding angles throughout the turn. Some people need to think about facing the nose of the board in order to achieve this. An expert softbooter can jump on an alpine setup and start carving right away. Here's proof: https://forums.alpinesnowboarder.com/topic/52597-good-softbooters-can-easily-try-hardboots/ Good luck!

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