Jack M

26.5 sounds about right to me for size 9. This is sensitive stuff - I love my 27.5 wide board, hated a 28.

I went from 3 front and rear to 6 front, 3 rear. Before I did that I was getting front thigh burnout.

But that article doesn't say anything about favoring a "heel and toe across the board technique" as you seemed to say. Maybe I misunderstood you, but that article is all about freeing your knees to be able to drive them however you want. Front knee, rear knee, whatever works for you.

Where do you see that? If that were true then you'd see a lot more people advocating for asyms. Driving the knees has been discussed ad nauseum here.

Yes, whenever I get a new Donek it comes to me in a very raw state, because they know us alpine types are picky and will get our boards tuned immediately with our desired bevels. I've ridden them before and after the initial tune and it's like riding two completely different boards. Maybe the OP's board is in a similar state.

Sounds like boot-out. To eliminate this as a possibility, put your board on a flat surface, angle your bindings such that with your boots attached you can run a deck of cards along the edge and not hit your boots or bindings. Know what I mean? If it's not boot-out, see the article Pat posted. The Proteus is an advanced to expert level board. High demand, high reward.

Nice SB carving. I'm loving my custom wide Winterstick ST 166 with 27.5cm waist (same as an old K2 Fat Bob), 10.5m radius. I have size 10.5 Burton Driver X boots, I ride it at 30/15 and don't boot out. 29.5cm sounds pretty wide. My next softboot bindings will be Now O-Drives. I tried them, very responsive.

They're calling it a "Bomb Cyclone". If I ever form a band...

Was all set to try the new Snow Raider, which appeared to fixed the biggest problem I had with the old pair I had, which was the seams on the palm. I've emailed the guy again for an update just to make sure. Guess I'll try the Kombi Ferrous glove now. Seamless Bison leather palm, cordura everywhere else. Looks promising, luckily my size was only $45 on amazon. DeWalt DPG750 looks interesting. Maybe not warm enough for January though. I also use Kincos as a stop-gap. They are warm and super durable, just the design isn't ideal for me. I like a gauntlet style glove to protect my jacket sleeve. On a whim last year I bought a pair of Burton's "Warmest Glove" because they were available at the mountain and I needed something immediately. I figured Burton has a good warranty if they fail, and I get a season pass discount at this store. Well they did, inside of a month. And now the warranty pair is failing. I'm going to return them again and rhetorically ask if they make any gloves that are durable.

I don't use anything, but It might be nice to use some padded undershorts. Google "padded shorts snowboarding" for some choices. Burton makes a pricey one here. If you are still in the stage of snowboarding where catching your downhill edge is an occasional accident, maybe also a back protector. Definitely use a helmet.

Ohhhmmmm... let the ground come to you, grasshopper.

I don't doubt any of that. Like I said, probably more practical than what I'm using. But I just can't go there.

Using non-release bindings looks like an awesome way to hyper-extend both knees at once...

LOL. And another thing I can't abide, these new stand-alone fleece hoods/facewarmers that go over your helmet. WTH? You cannot buy a jacket these days without a g.d. hood, yet people go out and buy an extra one and look like a doofus?? https://images.evo.com/imgp/700/102825/514377/anon-mfi-xl-hooded-clava-green.jpg

In addition to ski poles, here are a half dozen other things that are probably way more practical than what I'm using, that I will never be caught dead using: 1. Ruroc full face helmet 2. One-piece outer garment 3. Recumbent bicycle 4. Crocs 5. a Prius 6. a minivan ;-)

Hi Wessel, As others have said, it's important to be able to carve on less-than-ideal surfaces. But when you're just starting out with learning how to really carve your edge, it's more important to eliminate fear and distraction from the process. That means starting on easy groomed trails where you won't get going too fast and revert to survival mode. Then you'll be able to really pay attention to how your board feels while carving, and how your inputs affect it. Once you get up to speed then you can venture to other terrain. There are some articles here to help you get started: http://www.bomberonline.com/instruction-articles/ Good luck!

Binding angles are stated such that 0 means your binding is straight across the board. So now you understand just how steeply forward jtslalom runs his softies.

The point was, I hated having so little behind my back foot. I was riding powder and trees, so SCR wasn't much of a factor. It was almost 8 years ago, I can't be 100% certain it was a Malolo, maybe it was a Fish. Whatever it was, at that time, the board had a lot of taper and what seemed like about 5 cm of effective edge behind the inserts before the kick tail. Not my cup of tea. For carving purposes, the Jones Hovercraft does not have what I would call a bobbed tail. Looks like a pretty normal amount of effective edge behind the rear foot, only the kick tail has been deleted. I'd be interested to try a 165 wide. A buddy rides a Jones Storm Chaser, which I would call bobbed tail. Very little behind the rear foot before the swallow tail, which is kicked (off the ground). I think the board looks grossly undersized for my friend, but he says he likes it. *Shrug*

Sweet directional graphics! Reminds me of...

Two years ago I got a Winterstick SW164, which has a 26cm waist. I tried to avoid boot-out by setting my angles at the maximum allowed by my bindings - 36/27. I still booted out if I tried to carve deep. So, I switched to 30/15 and forgot about deep carves. I liked that a lot better for freeriding. Now on a 27.5cm wide ST166, I can use these angles and carve and not boot out. The flatter rear foot feels more powerful for everything. However I tried 27/12 and didn't like it as much. To each his own I guess.

In 2010 we went to Jackson Hole. I didn't own a softboot setup at the time so I got a "high performance" rental from a board shop (not the mountain rental shop). The guy was very knowledgeable and recommended I try the new theory in freeride/powder boards, and set me up on a Burton Malolo, I think 160 (or 156??). I hated having almost nothing behind my rear foot and such a short board in general. I spent a morning on it and went back and exchanged it for a Supermodel 168. Aaahhhhh. So, I have no interest in these Elite shaped things. Frankly I suspect they're a fad, and just a way for some snowboard companies to catch people's attention by making something outrageous looking. I experienced what to me was a serious drop in performance from the snub tail, so I can't fathom any benefit.

1, word. 3, well sure, we are all just sliding down a hill, which is pretty absurd to begin with. Why is it offensive to see people having fun "incorrectly"? LOL 4, http://forums.bomberonline.com/topic/39772-board-riding/?do=findComment&comment=409455 also Gabe's sb carving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMziK7kfDZY&feature=youtu.be

Try softboot carving? Didn't you see my earlier post? I am trying it, now that I have a board wide enough to prevent bootout. I'm riding 30/15 with a 22" stance width on a Winterstick ST 166 with a custom 27.5cm waist. I'm having fun, and I would submit I'm doing better than the guys in the video in question. I see more softbooting in my future, but hardbooting is the ultimate carve.

A few thoughts. 1, I cannot abide these "new" boards like this Moss Snowstick that are basically the same shape as my first board, a 1988 Burton Elite 150. Horrible, horrible thing. We had come so far, why repeat the mistakes of the past? 2, Rob seems latched on to the heelsides in the aforementioned video, and I agree they are generally strong for softboots. However some are just holding on, waiting for the board to come around. 3, Like I said, the toesides in that video are objectionable here. I agree with what Rob says about them emulating a surf-style toeside bottom turn, but IMO it's just a style and an unnecessary one at that. When I am really in the zone I like to look and feel like I am doing absolutely nothing, and the board is doing it all for me. Their style involves them doing a lot. 4, I like Slopestar's sb carving a lot better.

They are carving. Yes. I would title the video "Snowboard carving" or "Carving on a Snowboard". Just not anything authoritative. Their toesides are objectionable. "Better than that" - Yes, the latter, but maybe I'll change it to expert, just because heelside is so different. Any expert hardboot carver here could be carving better than these guys inside of a day or two on softboots, assuming no boot-out and that they're interested. Agree to disagree I guess.