Jack M

Pretty sure mine will be for sale soon, to be replaced by a new one of the same. I've never done that before, it's that good. Need to figure out some logistics before I list it. Purchased new in autumn of 2017, used in combination with 3 other boards. Bevels at 3 side, 1 base. Base and edge condition are 9.5, topsheet is 8. Nothing wrong with it, just want to maximize resale. Edit - ok, it's for sale. Shoot me a PM. @davekempmeister @AcousticBoarder

Late to the party, summer whizzed by. A few items: Based on my conversations with Fin at the time, the motivations for calling it UPM were not nefarious. Nobody is trying to get rich in this industry, so there is no point in cutthroat tactics. Fin and Sean recognized that the Apex plate was the state of the art then, and wanted to make that insert pattern into an industry standard. This was intended to be a good thing for Apex and everyone else because then stock boards could be made to that standard and people could try different plates on one board. This made Apex's plate (and Bomber's and Donek's and Jasey Jay's and whoever else's) more accessible as people could get into the world of plates without having to buy a custom board for every plate. I think keeping the ASIP name would have decreased the likelihood of the pattern becoming standardized, IMO. This is all somewhat moot because Allflex/Iron Rock have basically conquered the racing market for now. A shame, because the Apex is awesome for freecarving, and still good for racing, if not at the top levels. Kessler is not even making stock UPM boards anymore. Good thing you can get an Apex plate with Allflex hardware, or swap your X-Plate's UPM hardware for Allflex hardware. The 4x4 version the Bomber Boiler Plate also properly moved the axles towards the tip and tail so that your feet were mostly inboard of them.

Que? It’s an article. Sherman Poppen, 89.

https://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2019/08/father-of-snowboarding-a-muskegon-native-dies.html

FA Designs is worth a look, made by a fellow alpiner! I've had the Subsonic (shell) and Auxiliary (insulated). The Aux is very warm but also very lightweight for an insulated jacket. The outer material is exceptionally waterproof and breathable. The zippers are tops. The hood fits over a helmet and works well. If you regularly drag body parts across frozen granular, you will want to reinforce the fabric in those areas, or look elsewhere. (Aerostitch?)

Vulfpeck / Fearless Flyers. Impossible to not tap your foot!

Right!!

The only thing that changed was that the racing careers and public images of P and J as the torch-bearers of alpine were basically over, by their own natural progression. P&J were special, a tough act to follow that Burton could not reproduce. For the time, the gear was still awesome. Then along came Prior and the rest and they elevated the state of the art. After the PJ Burton made big efforts in alpine, like making boards AND boots for race (Factory Prime, Fire), freecarve (Ultra Prime, Alp boards, Wind boot), and all-mtn alpine (Amp, E-deck, Wire, Coil boards, Earth boot). They were even ahead of their time with softboot carvers, the Asym Air and Fusion. Market forces pushed Burton out of Alpine, and when they finally realized they had to, they divorced the Burton brand from Alpine pretty hard. That hurt, but then they STILL tried to keep it going under a new brand, R17 Addicted. These are not the actions of a company that didn't care.

No, I had moved on to Bombers by the time the Physics came out.

Late to the party but Burton deserves way more credit than this. Burton supported racing and alpine more than any other manufacturer, right up until they stopped in about 2003. They had full selections of race, freecarve, and all-mtn freecarve gear prominently displayed in their catalogs, starting with their first race board, the Express in 86 or 87. For many years they had as many as 3 different models of hardboots running concurrently, and 3 or 4 different models of plate bindings including step-ins. They invented 2 different kinds of step-ins, one which worked with any standard boot. For several years they offered symmetrical and asymmetrical race boards at the same time. Talk about commitment! And in the catalog, they made it look cool. In the early days, Jake Burton Carpenter was into Snurfer racing, and he thought organized racing was the future of the sport. Burton started the US Open with this intent. It wasn't until Sims became a big enough market force that Burton finally put a kick tail on a board in 1988. Their consumer race gear was as good as any production race boards could be. To say it never had a heart is way off the mark.

Ok so it's a bit of an illusion. As he leaves the lip of the jump his arms and upper body are slowly rotating to his left, but he carefully keeps his skis and head pointing forward. He sticks out his arms and then uses them to wrench the rest of himself around, like a cat. I hope he had a pool or foam pit to practice this in first.

How??

Yeah, that’s what I was hinting at when I referred to the Burton Physics system. And I agree with the concern about walking.

I'm super glad you are thinking about this. I agree hardboots and ski boots should look more like feet (e.g. Birkenstocks or Keens) than they do now. However boot molds are extremely expensive. Good luck finding someone to finance this mission. Mountain Slope spent over half a million dollars developing new molds for a relatively simple and traditional boot that was already designed. Your step-in design has basically already been tried many years ago by Burton with their Physics interface. The toe piece had hooks so there wouldn't need to be retractable pins in the toe of the boot. I like the idea of a better step-in, but you are talking about an infinitesimally small market. Most racers won't touch step-ins with a ten foot pole.

Yeah? I have a day job too ya know!

Shred, great idea. If you compile a list I will post it in a read-only section in the forums and on the main site.

Just had to share this shot

I never rode the 4mm lite, but I felt the 5mm V1 was too stiff in every way. Your plate sounds like it might be more like an Apex X, just taller. So I’d say my answer to your question is no. And I don’t think a UPM Vist plate exists.

A plate is not necessary to get started. If you want to podium in open class, sure, then get a plate. Or if you have money to burn. Most USASA youth racers are on softboots and freestyle boards, so just having an alpine setup gives you an advantage already.

For GS I would recommend something around 170cm, and for SL, around 155. If you get something in between it won't be very good for either event. I would suggest buying a GS board and then use your BX board for SL. You could put hardboots on it or not. My nephew who is smaller than you and not an expert is using UPZ RC11 boots and F2 Race Titanium bindings, fwiw.

Welcome Tfr! The very first step in this journey is to be able to really carve your existing gear. Can you change edges before the board points downhill and ride the sidecut around? There are some tech articles here at alpinesnowboarder.com. Let's assume you can or will soon, next you need alpine gear. If you want something new on a budget the Pilot is good, the Pulse is better. A new Coiler would be about as much as a Pulse but they may be sold out already for next year. I would also recommend looking for used race boards here in our classifieds - look for Kessler, SG, Oxess, Donek Rev, Coiler, F2. For boots if you have high volume feet Deeluxe is good, but for average shaped feet I would look to UPZ for better heel hold. If you're looking at a Donek/Deeluxe package, Deeluxe boots can be improved for average feet with custom footbeds and extra padding for heel hold. Bindings, step up to the F2 Race Titanium. They're not nearly as stiff as they sound and they will be better and longer lasting than the Carve RS. Do let us know your height, weight and ability/experience and if you have any specific questions. Are you looking for one board for all racing, or a slalom and a GS? Good luck!

sent you a PM about something else dude

It sounds like you are a prime candidate for hardboots regardless. I expect it will be a revelation for you, please report back. If you must have a plate I would recommend either the Donek AF or Apex X over any Vist gen-1 type plates. The former allow the board to flex freely beneath them. The latter sit right on the board and act as a flex modifier. They generally make the board run longer than the board would bare. The Apex allows a bit more torsional flex than the Donek, so a bit more pedaling which helps it feel more natural. Also it's the lowest to the board, so it disappears once you get used to it. However the Donek being torsionally stiffer has slightly more ultimate edge hold.