Jack M

Welcome back. Unfortunately the simple reality is that now it's time to open your wallet. You'll have a much better time on modern gear. A new metal board will be the biggest bang for your buck. I recommend a Donek Metal Freecarve 171, Coiler Nirvana Balance, Prior FLC 169, Prior WCRM 169 or 173. You could wait for just the right board to pop up in the classifieds here, but you might be waiting a while.

^ damn you for making me want to spend more money!

Foot measures 28.4cm, size 28 UPZ, would not want to downsize. I've done some punching for width. Very happy with the switch from Deeluxe for me as I was also getting heel lift in Deeluxes. @Bobby Buggs, I'm curious about the difference between Intuition and ZipFit. Can you elaborate?

I am? Where? Two simple facts: you're giving up leverage by setting up your bindings that way, and, leverage is a good thing. A beginner coming from softboots will be more comfortable with the lowest possible stance angles. They're still likely going to be north of 45 degrees, probably around 50 or 55, but that's still better than blindly telling a newbie to use 60 degrees no matter what. No, the "old wisdom" is to start with toe and heel lift, go ride, and experiment from there. This works for a variety of stance angles. Secant and decimal multipliers and trochanter are simple for the general audience? However you want. I recommend a tape measure. And I said about shoulder width. So why should they all start with the same 60 degree binding angles?

As has been discussed many times before, the best angle to start at is that which places your toes and heels closest to the edge without overhang, with the front foot slightly higher. A total noob won't be laying out extreme carves, so they can tolerate a little overhang. This will result in angles dictated by board width and boot size. If this results in greater than 60 degrees for a new carver, a wider board would be much better. As for stance width, about shoulder width is good. Some toe lift on the front foot, heel lift on the back foot. Why? See Vitruvian Man. 3 degrees seems like a good middle-of-the-road place to start. Definitely more toe lift on the front foot for UPZ boots.

Ah, I see. I was thinking of this year’s AT8

Bummer. That is a dealbreaker right there.

If by "middle" you mean the ankle buckle, the 8 has that same buckle too. I don't feel a need for 5 buckles, but it doesn't hurt. It looks kind of badass I guess. Skiers are like "whoah, 5 buckles!"

Hmm, I didn't get that impression about the plastic. The punching I had done definitely worked. The UPZ website doesn't list a complete separate boot called the RCR, so it would appear that you build a RCR boot out of RCR parts (tongues, cuffs, ratchet strap) but the lower shell is the same. True that out of the box, UPZs are too soft for racing and my idea of freecarving.

Yes, I had to change from a 3 degree cant/lift disc under my front foot to a 6 degree disc. Stayed with 3 degrees under the rear foot.

I switched from Track 700s to the RC10 at the beginning of the 2016/17 season. Out of the box, the RC10 is significantly softer in every way. If your foot is not a perfect fit for your shell size, the stock liner will "squirm" inside the shell. This has been reported by several users. My foot measures 28.4cm, I'm in a 28 boot, and I got the squirm. UPZ boots come with a spring system, Track 700s do not*. The stock rigid forward lean adjuster on the T700 doesn't make sense to me. It prevents the ankle hinge from hinging at all, so any flex comes from you deforming the boot. The Track 700 comes with a good moldable liner much like an Intuition Power Wrap. The UPZ liner is moldable, but I wasn't inspired to try that. I switched to Power Wraps which made a big difference. Much better fit and performance. In addition to fitting better, they also stiffen the boot, which is welcome. After that I still needed more so I went to the stiffer gray tongue. This was a big improvement too. The standard black is simply too soft for me. Felt like riding in walk mode. This year I'm on the stiffest dark gray tongues and I'm loving them for hard carving. For all-mountain riding they're almost too stiff. I got the stiffer RCR cuffs, but I haven't tried them yet. The fit of the UPZ is better for me, I get zero heel lift. I would get heel lift in the T700s even with molded liners, and I would have to add those stick-on X-pads on the back of the liners. They helped, but didn't completely solve the issue. T700 heel lift seems to be a common thing. I also broke a number of T700 ankle hinge bolts. I would replace them but then the plastic of the boot itself around the hinge began failing. I'm 5'11" 190. If you're lighter you might not have that issue. Other than all that, the T700s ride well and I enjoyed them for years. With BTS red (stiff) springs installed I never felt a need for the race tongues. I'm liking my UPZs better though. The heel hold down is a significant improvement. The overall fit is more racy, which is more performant, but I have to unbuckle them at the bottom of every run. It's worth it though. I've had them punched out for more width at a shop. The UPZ heel is more forward under your heel than Deeluxe. This reduces boot length slightly, but it also means that you have to offset your binding toe/heel positions to center the boot on the binding. This also makes the UPZ heel higher. I had to change from a 3 degree cant/lift disc under my front foot to a 6 degree disc to avoid front leg burnout. So I guess if you want a boot that you can just take out of the box, mold the liners and start riding, the T700 is probably closer to being that, but you'll still have to replace the forward lean selector. If you're willing to spend more for aftermarket liners and possibly stiffer tongues/cuffs, I think the UPZ has greater potential. I can see why more racers ride UPZ than Deeluxe. I'd love to try the .951 but I just got the UPZs last year, and I like step-ins. *Until Bomber BTS kits are available again, there is a Deeluxe version available at YYZCanuck: http://www.yyzcanuck.com/shop/parts/deeluxe-lean-mechanism-spring/

Until Bomber BTS kits are available again, there is a Deeluxe version available at YYZCanuck: http://www.yyzcanuck.com/shop/parts/deeluxe-lean-mechanism-spring/ I recently switched from Track 700s to the RC10. Out of the box, the RC10 is significantly softer in every way. If your foot is not a perfect fit for your shell size, the stock liner will "squirm" inside the shell. This has been reported by several users. My foot measures 28.4cm, I'm in a 28 boot, and I got the squirm. UPZ boots come with a spring system, Track 700s do not. The stock rigid forward lean adjuster on the T700 is simply wrong. It prevents the ankle hinge from hinging at all, so any flex comes from you deforming the boot. The Track 700 comes with a good moldable liner much like an Intuition Power Wrap. The UPZ liner is moldable, but I wasn't inspired to try that. I switched to Power Wraps which made a big difference. Much better fit and performance. In addition to fitting better, they also stiffen the boot, which is welcome. After that I still needed more so I went to the stiffer gray tongue. This was a big improvement too. The standard black is simply too soft for me. Felt like riding in walk mode. This year I'm on the stiffest dark gray tongues and I'm loving them for hard carving. For all-mountain riding they're almost too stiff. I got the stiffer RCR cuffs, but I haven't tried them yet. The fit of the UPZ is better for me, I get zero heel lift. I would get heel lift in the T700s even with molded liners, and I would have to add those stick-on X-pads on the back of the liners. They helped, but didn't completely solve the issue. T700 heel lift seems to be a common thing. I also broke a number of T700 ankle hinge bolts. I would replace them but then the plastic of the boot itself around the hinge began failing. I'm 5'11" 190. If you're lighter you might not have that issue. Other than all that, the T700s ride well and I enjoyed them for years. With BTS red (stiff) springs installed I never felt a need for the race tongues. I'm liking my UPZs better though. The heel hold down is a significant improvement. The overall fit is more racy, which is more performant, but I have to unbuckle them at the bottom of every run. It's worth it though. I've had them punched out for more width at a shop. So I guess if you want a boot that you can just take out of the box, mold the liners and start riding, the T700 is probably closer to being that, but you'll still have to replace the forward lean selector. If you're willing to spend more for aftermarket liners and possibly stiffer tongues/cuffs, I think the UPZ has greater potential. I can see why more racers ride UPZ than Deeluxe. I'd love to try the .951 but I just got the UPZs last year, and I like step-ins.

Don't ever refer to those things as "alpine boards". From his "about us" page: "We took out the camber, softend [sic] up the flex, and added todays [sic] technology with Tri-Axle [sic] Carbon Fiber Matterial [sic]. Using Set Screws in the boards to allow different stances and bindings..." I may need a BP prescription now.

Yeah, it's a shame, although he can probably make himself feel better by gazing upon his double golds from Sochi, and his beautiful Russian bride. One has to wonder what kind of "regimen" the Russian team required of him.

Ok so that would be this year. I've heard that the Deeluxe order did not come in before the shit hit the fan, so that wasn't really in their control. I imagine they could have been more proactive with Deeluxe, but I don't know. Of course this has nothing to do with bindings/parts and the other orders that were dropped.

Who's in? GS and SL dates are January 6 at Sunday River and February 24 at Sugarloaf. Ironically I won't be able to make the Sugarloaf event. Register here: https://www.usasa.org/index.php/events/regional-events/regional-series-schedule

With Russia now banned from the 2018 winter games I find this to be even more important. I wonder what Vic Wild will do now, probably compete as an independent I guess.

Shut up, Bruins colors are always in style.

Wait... April of 2016? Or 2017?

It means he's the forum admin. The bank owns everything now. They have given Fin control.

I would say so. My foot measures 28.4cm, I am in a size 28 boot, and I got the squirm. No way I'm going to a 27. Tried that once, ouch. Perhaps if your foot size is a perfect match for a shell size you won't get squirm. I guess mine isn't. Unfortunately you're just going to have to open your wallet and get some better liners. You won't miss the money once you do.

Only my very first metal board purchased in 2006 had issues. Every one of my metal boards since 2008 has not. I put about 200 days on that board. So many skis are made this way too. I'd say this is a non-issue.

You did very, very well. Nice going. You'll be blown away by those boards. Boots... tough call but with Deeluxe there is a significant chance you won't be able to find a spring system to replace the ridiculous rigid forward lean selector, which should be scrapped immediately. UPZ comes with a spring system. If you go UPZ try them for a day and if you feel like the liner is "squirming" inside the shell, replace with Intuition Power Wrap. This is fairly common.

I've done similar, not in a race, but I distinctly remember the silence while airborne, and having time to think "this is going to hurt". Have also heard of the Tomahawk referred to as the Starfish.

Lawn chair - nice! Turtle - lose a heelside carve, spin around on your back. Bonus points if you can spin 360, put your board back down and ride away without using your hands.