hadoken

Winter 86....begged my mom to buy me an Avalanche Reflex 150 sight unseen after I picked up snowboard mag at my skate shop...was that ISM? It was newspaper print and had the coolest pic of some dude named Damian Sanders :) Blew out the bindings, went to a Sims Kidwell original, didn't like skidding and switched to a Burton Safari Comp I with Alpinas and plates. Hard boots have always had a soft spot with me since those days but I no longer ride them as I ride so infrequently. I really do think those old days of learning on the backhills and riding old school tools on icy east coast hills developed riding skills that will last me a lifetime.

The "original" Avalanche started by the Sanders family was sold a few years back to a sporting goods company that had other snowboard brands. I assume they just slapped the Avalanche name on their cookie-cutter boards. I think the last real Avalanche boards were made in the mid 90's. I still ride the Avalanche Damian Ice Rocket BX board.

I'm pretty sure the Speedcross is simply an updated Breezer...which I imported into the US a few years back and only used a season. It wasn't very good IMO versus my older Burton Wire/Coil which was the competing board variant at the time. I thought the Burton had better edge hold and was a lot more lively.

the guy in the pic is using the F2 Roadster classic...you can google it and find a pic. It was an all mountain freecarve board in the 21ish wasit width. The last generation of that board made it more 'racelike' as you can see in the link you sent me. I almost imported the Classic back in 2000, but chose to import the F2 Breezer instead, a slightly more all around board than the Roadster. The Breezer sucked and if the Roadster is similar i would not recommend it. From that era, a Burton Wire/Coil rode better than my f2.

got the hat...looks great. I have a huge head so it looks a little small on me (it ain't going in the dryer after washes) but otherwise nice job.

I researched this board back in the day...it has a narrow waist for a soft boot board..23.5-24cm I believe. It's suppose to be fairly stiff, fast and pretty good. If you are getting a full blown hardboot setup, then I would not recommend this board for all mountain riding given the waist width and stiffness. This would be a good compromise if you could only buy 1 board and you wanted a hard charging machine for all mountain riding. The price is very good, but I personally would go for something more soft flexed if I was going with 2 setups

you are more of less stuck than with what you have if you insist on Switch. My general impression was that Switch boots offered fewer options if you wanted stiffer type SI's. I used them once and they are fine, but K2 def had more boot options. Flow is another option and really the only viable one since SI's development has all but ceased

1986 Avalanche Reflex 150. I stiil have the receipt for it but unfort not the board. At this time the only other model I could have gotten was the Burton Elite 150 as Sims were too expensive but I saw Damian Sanders in an ad doing his thing and went with the Avalanche. After that I went with the Terry Kidwell 165, gorgeous board but couldn't hold an edge, and my 1st Alpine board was the Burton Safari Comp I.

the reason why the super 'stiff' soft boot never caught on was that people didn't like them. Companies that used to make these boots saw little demand and I can somewhat see why. If I was riding close to 0/0 in all conditions including pipe and terrain park, I don't think I would want a super stiff setup as well. For the curious, the stiffest bad-ass softboot I have ever seen is the Nitro Mirage clicker boot. I currently have the Nitro Clicker Aura which is slightly less stiff but not by much. There were quite a few Clicker boots that were on the stiff side and it's a shame they went by the wayside.

Just read the carver's almanac..they list a lot of boards. On auction right now is a Sims Daytona from 2001 that looks like a great deal given the condition. i'd buy it, but I already have an older Avalanche Ice Rocket which works just fine. I'v ridden F2, which is OK, but their Eliminator is suppose to be good.

It should come as no surprise that product innovators often don't make it, especially when you have the potential for companies with deep pockets, technology and distribution networks to enter a market with no barriers to entry. People call Burton evil, but the truth is, it's one of the last of the legendary brands to not change owners. I don't think there are any US board brands that fit that. Perhaps F2 and Nidecker in Europe but I don't know their lineage.

OK, I need some stiff soft boots like a Malamute or a Driver X, but I am on a tight budget. If anyone has some new or like new boots that costs ~$100, please let me know at hadoken@newsguy.com Thanks!

hoping some of my soft carvin buddies know where I can get some old stock Malamutes or used ones in good shape in size 9.5...limited budget so new ones are out of the question. Would really like a pair of 03/04's...

oh man, that ATV is just what I want...23.5cm waist. I ride softies 30-45 degrees and this is exactly right. So tempting to replace my Ice Rocket with this bad boy...

the speedcross is just a reincarnation of the f2 breezer which I imported from Blue Tomato back in 2001. It sucked...my Burton Wire rode better. Get an older Burton Coil instead.

I flipped through the journal and it is pretty cool, but not $13 cool. I understand the economics and all, but nobody is going to pick this up on the shelf. The pics of the early days are fabulous. Brings back old memories and reminds me of my copy of the first issue of Transworld Snowboarding.

I find it offensive that anyone would protest about wearing a leash. Yes, the rule is not enforced universally, but that should not be the reason why you shouldn't wear a leash. I actually blame the snowboard companies and marketing for this one. All the jibbing pros don't use them and so you have companies switching to short leashes to minimize the appearance of the leash. Yet, all of us old school guys out there with the long leashes (so long you can strap it right above the knee) know it's the perfect shoulder strap to carry a board. Furthermore, long leashes let you carry the board without the need to take off the leash in those situations where you need to disengage and walk. Runaway boards don't happen often, but it does happen. If everyone stopped using a leash because it was no longer policy, I guarantee that more accidents would happen. Some of us are grateful boarders no longer have to be certified to ride a mountain or need to check the Burton catalog to see where boarding is allowed. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me to wear a leash as a minimum safety policy

Ebay dude. For example, here's a set of Mirages that are new and just closed at around at $45. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3654190003&category=21249 Between Nitro, Shimano and K2, a stiff set of boots come to the market fairly often.

Jason: The Nitros are narrower than my Shimanos, but might not be narrow enough for you. If you get a liner designed boot and add some custom footbeds, I think it might be worth the splurge as the footbeds are SO COMFY and transferable to other boots. I got my Nitros for $50 this summer new. As for the OP seeking freeride boards, if you want narrowish boards there is the Oxygen Supercross series. They always change the name, but its their BX board with a 23.5cm waist. I'd go for the Donek. The board I want if I can find it though is the Avalanche Ice Rocket. Long live Damian Sanders! Someone please post that AWESOME pic of him in neon doing a crossrocket in hard boots! Classic.

Many people here like the Flow/Malamute combo, but I personally like the Clicker step in systems. The nature of the design puts a great deal of stiffness into the boots plus I don't need to worry about binding overhang. Finally, the stuff is pretty cheap on Ebay. I had Shimano Skylords, and have moved this season to Nitro Auras. The Nitro Mirage, no longer made, are mad stiff boots. There are many flavors of K2 clicker boots that are pretty stiff if you do some research.

I never rode the Speedcross, but I did own the F2 Breezer which is an older model based on the same formula, narrow waist and all mountain shape. I didn't really like it all that much and preferred my older Burton Wire. I rode both with stiff soft boots. As for Jack's recommendation on the 4x4 or the Axis on soft boots, 21-22 cm is somewhat narrow. I'd love to try out the Prior 4x4, but I'm thinking the Donek Incline with its 24cm waist is a much better fit because there is more versatility to use lower angles if there is a need to do so. IMO, only a handful of soft setups work reasonably well around/above 45 degrees. I very much like soft boots with high angles on narrow boards, the edge transition is very fast and it works well for all mountain East Coast riding.

Personally, I think it is not necessary to get step-ins with hard boots when starting. Unlike soft boots, it is very fast getting in and out of plate bindings. Sure if you get a deal, all the better but not worth paying a premium if you are starting out. Money can be better spent on other stuff. As for your comments on soft boot step-ins not being very 'good', I think you'll find some people disagree with you on that one. Sure some suck, but some are very good and it is more marketing reasons that they failed rather than technical.