mackDan

I might be interested in the board. See my reason here. http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=25671

Hi, Going to try and experiment and i've been searching Craiglist for a CHEAP ( ~$50) 165-170 snowboard. A basic twin tip snowboard. An all mountain alpine board would work ok too. Not an asym board. No major edge damage, no major base damage, no bends, breaks, cracks, this needs to be a board that is safe and rideable, but maybe is just old, or needs some base repair. Wider too, sorry no old skinny alpine boards. Thanks for looking.

I'm relisting this Oxygen 170 Limited, previous buyer had a change of heart. This board has about 10 days riding on it, so its nearly new. Never base ground, just waxed once or twice, and currently has a heavier coat of wax on it for storage. its in really good shape. there are binding marks on the top surface, and maybe a ding or two in the edges of the top sheet. I have pictures of the board, but still haven't gotten my act together and sized them for the classifieds, so if you want to see the pictures, just e-mail me and I'll send them to you directly. $150 plus shipping, and I have a nice double cardboard box for it already, so it can be sent out quickly.

For your weight I'd say any of them in the 160-163 range would be fine. I'd avoid going to a 176 to start with. Check e-bay German, there are usually some Hot boards (162-164) for sale there.

Mark, you could just mount the left heel on the right, its the same four screw holes. There are only two real problems, which are really minor. 1. there is only one hole in the bottom of the boot, so you'll have to drill a new one in the heel of the boot, instep side. So OK, that's easy. 2. If you do drill a new hole in the heel of the boot, this means that the cable will be running up the inside of your leg, and will be buried inside your ski (snowboard?) pants. Now, me I bring my boot cable out through the lower leg zipper and velcro cuff of my ski pants so I can keep the ski pants cuff down low where its supposed to be. But this one is more personal choice. But swapping the internals is really easy, it really only takes a few minutes once you figure it out. So the choices are A. spend a few minutes swapping the internals of your intec heel and take the opportunity to lubricate the parts while you're in there (something you should be doing periodically anyway). B. Spend more than a few minutes figuring out where to drill a hole in your boot heel, then actually drilling the hole, and having the release handle on the inside of your boot. And then have your rear ski pants riding at the top of the boot so you can access the handle, and by the way, look like a dork for not having your ski pants pulled down around your boot like the rest of the normal people.

Yes, this is an excellent way to set up 2 sets of bindings. I used to have my bombers like this and now I have 2 pair of CATEKS set up for rear step in. You have to bend over only a couple times a day and the rest of the time you are just reaching for the release handle on your rear leg. And as noted it does give you two heel assemblies to use over your riding life. To change one Right heel into a Left heel, you just have to open the heel assemblies up. So after getting it off the boot, you remove the 3-4 small screws and the plastic cover lifts off. Then use your rear heel assembly as the guide (meaning DON'T TAKE IT APART), and carefully remove the guts from the other. Then you have to basically flip the parts over and re-install. This will probably take you one or two times, but rest assured it does work. The original designer of the heel assemblies was a good designer, since he designed all the parts to be the same and interchangeable from Left to Right. A good sign of a smart designer, limiting the number of parts needed for the L & R assembly, and thus reducing the manufacturing costs and increasing profit (or decreasing sale price).

The problem is as you point out, if one releases then the other MUST release. Too complicated. What happens if there is a malfunction, well then you get the helicopter effect that you experienced. Think of that happening in a bad crash, board and one leg going in one direction, and your body in the other. Lots of really (I mean really F**King bad) twisted knees, ligaments, torn everything, OUCH! The beauty of snowboarding happens in multiple ways, in stead of 4 things, two on your feet and two in your hands, there is only one thing attached to both your feet. Simplification, its awesome. That one item (the snowboard) firmly attached to both feet, forms a triangle with your legs. Now triangles are the basic form of buildings and structures. And the strongest! So you and your snowboard are stronger together than as separate units. Now that's a lot of generalization, but basically its true. So you want to be firmly clamped to your board and have it stay that way. Now go figure out why your front bail let loose!!! This is probably a toe and heel piece adjustment problem, you need to move then further apart (longer foot base).

I was in REI recently and they had a couple nicely padded Ski bags, that were meant for 2 sets of skis. Can't remember the brand but they looked like they would fit a couple long boards, like race boards or maybe general carve boards. Probably wouldn't fit a Tanker, too wide.

This is excellent advice. See the Doctor for your concussion (from your symptoms you have a concussion), and then see a Chrio for your neck and shoulder. And ignore what "CIV" says. He's just FOX news here. Entertainment, not factual information.

1. The platter goes between your legs. They have a curved end, that can accomodate the offset pull needed for a snowboarder. They load up the back of your front leg though and hurt pretty good. The only question for a snowboarder is both feet in or back foot loose. Many snowboarders ride platter lift with both feet in, but then you'll have a slight problem getting the platter in between your legs and then back out at the top of the lift. People do it. if you fall though this is more likely to drag you up the hill until you can roll twist the platter out from between your legs. Rear foot out. You have to take the pull load with just your front leg. your back leg doesn't add any strength. But getting in and out is easier, and if you fall over for some reason there is less chance you'll get drug up the hill by the platter.

first check out www.tahoecarvers.com. I'd have to say that most of the tahoe riders ride at Mt Rose (close to Reno), and Kirkwood (3-3.5 hours from the bay area). but there are few people riding at all of the resorts. Donner is close and easy and small and cheaper. Same for Boreal. Busy but good slope grades for carvers. Sugar Bowl has a good variety of steepness, some good runs to carve, some good off piste, including some of the steepest in Tahoe. All essentially next to each other at Donner Pass. Mt Rose is higher (good when it rains), Close to Reno, smallish, and has a good variety of steepness, including super steep off piste. Northstar is great for carving with fairly constant slope runs and wide. but it gets busy. Lots of terrain, lots fo great tree riding off piste. Squaw, big wide open, and good for carving. Lots of off piste and hiking opportunities. Expensive and busy on weekends. Alpine not as big as Squaw or Northstar, some good runs for carving. Lots of off piste and hiking opportunities (steep and complex). AWESOME spring time riding. Homewood. Pretty easy in general, some good carving opportunities. Usually not busy. Heavenly. big, intermediate and usually busy. But there is some awesome hidden off piste here, it just takes for every to find it.

Advice: 1. You probably have a concussion (maybe mild but I'm no doctor), which just means you whacked you head so hard its swelling up and that's what is giving you the headaches. You can get a mild concussion from a non-black out crash, so a black out crash is pretty bad. 2. Did you crash and black out or blackout and then crash? if its the later there is something else wrong with your head or blood flow. So #3 is... 3. The doctor visit would be the smart move for tomorrow. 4. If you decide to skip the doctor visit, sleep in the same apartment/house as someone else and have them wake you up every 2-4 hours. If for some reason they can't wake you up, its likely there is enough time for a doctor to drill a couple holes in your head and save you. 5. Don't ride tomorrow, take the day off. if you whack your head again you will probably end up in the hospital, and that's way more expensive than taking the day off. 6. Wax your board and sharpen the edges and do some deep knee bends with lots of weight on your shoulders. and play some video games.

I'll say that is an excellent suggestion.

"They are cranked to the point of preventing circulation, so they are not loose." OK, K2 boots, those have a stiff back, and you have them tight, so that's not the problem. But "+30 degrees front, -7 degrees back. Shoulder width apart." OK I think that's the problem. your back foot is trailing too much in angle. If your thinking about going to hardboots, the angle between the bindings is only 3-10 degrees. Most of my Soft boot friends only ride about 10 less on the rear foot, or ride duck, +5, -5 or so. The +30 on your front foot is good for fast forward snowboarding, but maybe not so good for powder riding. Try going to +20 or +15 on the front, and set your rear foot to +15 or +10 (5 degree less than your front). that will get your legs working together more and should aid in a faster more balanced transition to your heel turn. "When I turn from heel to toe in the deep stuff, I un-weight the back and try to kick my rear foot back." Try a push then pull. Push with your legs, drop your shoulder into the turn and push through. "But I often can't get turned far enough (because I'm pushing snow) and I end up standing up with my legs straight in the middle of a turn, then I have to horse it a round a bit more which can get a bit hairy when you're heading for a tree." You're trying to force the turn with your feet, instead of your shoulders and body. So stop that bad form. Here's an exercise for you (after you readjust your binding angles). Start on a run with a long slow turn all the way across. Then each turn after try and decrease the time between turns until you stop. then repeat until your bored. repeat some more. exercise #2 (my favorite). End of the day, find that intermediate run with all the deep pushed snow. The piles that run down the hill. You are going to work one pile, staying within about 5-10' of the center line. Start slow, drive hard and early with your shoulders. the board should be turning, carving quick up the side of the pile. Before you get to the top, start the shoulders back the other way, When you sort of pop off the top, your body should be aligned for the new turn, and the board should drop down the backside and turn hard up into the new side. You want regular timing and you should be able to stay within +/-5' of the center line. You'll feel it when this is working, your arms will be going one direction, your shoulders will be about a 1/2 turn in front of your board and the board will be hooking up every turn and popping off the top. And you'll be balanced and in control. You can do this on flat snow, but the snow pile and up down will help your timing. Again report back.

Stand next to your board on a level floor. looking straight ahead (NOT AT YOUR FEET) jump up in the air (about a foot or so) and land on both feet in a stable slightly wider stance than you would if you were just standing. You should repeat the landing locations, and it should feel comfortable, not like you have to force your feet apart. Mark that or measure the center distance. Now rotate your feet to about the stance angle. Do the same thing. Set the bindings some where between the two measurements.

I'll start with KJL's comment: Riding with the boot back unlocked. Yes, you will see this mentioned in other posts. In the powder being locked in does not give you the flexibility you need to adapt to the snow under your board. Different from carving on the hardpack where you try and dominate the snow with your board and boot/binding. Thus in powder you need to adapt to it, and thus need to be more flexible. You can ride with a locked back, but it takes some getting used to. "my rear boot is set to be leaning forward more and my front foot is more upright." Yes this allows you to apply pressure to the rear leg and get the board rotating up for the heel turn. This demonstrates that the heel turn (not the toe turn) is driven by the pressure of the shin on the rear of the boot. going to hardboots in powder, the hardest part to learn is the heel to toe transition (forward), exactly what you're having problems with, so I don't think HBs are going to help you out. Ok, now to your original comment; "The problem is, in deep powder in the trees I have trouble going from heel to toe. I find it's easier when I jam stuff in the back of my boot to increase my forward lean." Sorry, but that doesn't make sense. going from heel to toe, you are pressing your shins on the front of the boot and that pressure gets the board up on edge and leads to the turn. Locking the back at greater angles helps you get the heel edge turn faster. What this sounds like is your boot is flexible and you ride with the boot tops looser than maybe you need to. Filling up the area behind your shin, pushes your shin forward and pre-loads the boot allowing you to transition faster onto your toes. Or its a function of your riding style and your turn initiation. Maybe your trying to turn with your feet instead of your body? OK suggestions: 1. tighten your boot tops, or try adding a power strap. You can simulate this cheaply with a belt or nylon strap or even maybe tape or rope wrapped tight around the top area of your boot to tighten it up. 2. A toe lift. Try jamming stuff under the toe of your boot. This will have the same effect of pre-loading the boot for the toe turn. 3. try and slow down and drive the turn with your shoulders. Try and just steer with your shoulders only, over rotate them to learn what happens. good luck, report back.

t whit, Sorry you got busted up. And I can understand your frustration, but you're only 16. Plenty of riding ahead of you. Take the time to get the injury fixed correctly and wait for it to heal, then re-hab good. Yeah you probably won't be back on the hill this year, but that means you have a whole spring and summer to get stronger and let the bones heal well. If you get back on the hill too soon, then you risk screwing it up even more, which might be career ending.

"It's a Nitro GTR 163" Nitro made a few different alpine boards over the years, GTRs GTX. I think the GTR is a more all around board, but thats based on some old memory cells. As for your repair, well you'll only find out by riding it, and seeing if it will endure the forces. "I'm 6'0 and 175lbs." OK, its your weight not your height that really determines what board you should be on, and that depends on the board stiffness. There are plenty of good - excellent boards available in Europe, just look at E-bay in Germany. there are over 200 Alpin boards available. Some really cheap good ones. You say you like to carve tight, so that would imply that you should be on a Slalom board. So look for a 160-165SL. HOTs are good easy riding SL boards, quick turning. Oxygen Proton SLs stiffer and very stable. Some good F2 boards. Bindings, If your carving on your softies and are using a toe lift and heel cant, you should be using either Bombers or CATEKS. spend the money, its worth it. The CATEKS are more adjustable, but need to be watched more for tight bolts. The T2s T3s are heavier and more solid. Then get them set up to minimize the stresses on your knees. You should be comfortable on the board, not comprimize comfort for riding ability.

Where ever SES is.

if you can drive on snow out east you should be generally OK. The FWD car will do fine, driven one of those around wisconsin winters with 12" of snow on the roads and had minimal problems. but we were also going slow. But what your probably not used to is the steepness of the roads in the mountains. So get chains for the car, the rental company will have them. And learn how to put htem on and take them off a couple times. Your drivers floor mat makes a nice thing to kneel on.

Bryan, Talk to the guys out east adn filter what everybody says just a bit. There are a lot of "big board" types here and if you start too big you'll probably slow down your learning curve. Talk to a few guys in your area and see if you can borrow a board, or shop for a good used one. I started on a 164 race board at Stowe as a rental and it was little long (165#). I rode a 157, then 164's, and now have 160-170 length boards. I'm in at 175# now (beer!!!) As for board length, don't get all wound up in thinking you need a big board cause your a big guy. If you ride a 190 twin tip now, a 155 will have nearly the same effective edge length. Its your weight not your height which is going to flex the board and make it carve. So don't be afraid to start out on a 160-165 board, learn how to make good carves and then move up in board length. I'll be if you start on a 190 alpine board, you'll still be dropping the tail and skidding lots of turns for a couple seasons. Also you're riding the great icey east, so you'll want more edge bite, more edge loading, not less. So maybe look for a good 160-165 Slalom board to learn on and you can still ride that after you learn and get htat longer board so you cna be like the rest of the macho dudes here. Slalom boards can go plenty fast, and they are fun to ride in varying conditions funny how macho surfers use short boards, but macho hardbooters use long boards.

Miguel, I'n glad you've found a way to ride off piste with your hardboot rig. I think I use 413s and previously had 224s. Never really thought about buying a boot that was softer, just was cheap at the time. I'm not sure how much the boot as to do with my riding ability off piste, but I'm happy with what I have and will go anywhere on a mountain with my boards. I ride with the cant locks in off or on depending on the conditions and how loose I feel for the day. Sometimes I ride locked, but more upright, say if its snowing, but not much accumulation, and the conditions are similar on and off piste. I'm sure you will find the right times to use both to your advantage, and its nice because you can just reach down and flip the level and change mode. Definitely riding in deep powder, you'll want to be un locked to get the flexibility in the upper boot. good luck in your riding and I'll wave as I pass you by, heading down Scott Chute or through the trees up on top of Heavenly.

a lightly used Oxygen Limited Edition 170. I used this board for a few days, and then it was test driven for a day or two but a potential buyer. In excellent condition. Has a few minor scuffs on the base. $175. I'm working on getting pictures resized for posting. e-mail me directly if you want pictures.

Pegtal, I have a 2001 Oxygen Limited 170 for sale. Search the for sale listings. I'll go bump the listing so it should come back to the top. ! and I should be in Cannes, for about 4 weeks maybe starting around December 23rd for work. I could bring the board with me, and we could work out a place to meet. I've been trying to decide if I'm going to haul skis and gear, or a board and gear over, but if your buying the board, I'll bring boards.

I get on here (BO) once in awhile, so I'm not sure what boards you just sold off. So my advice might be throwing you back to something you just sold off. Its also my opinion, and there are plenty of those floating around here. I ride all over the mountain, chasing or leading my soft boot buddies. They ride a lot of off piste, steep and really steep, powder and packed powder (Alpine meadows, Squaw Valley, Sugar Bowl). I'm also 170# and 5'8", use hardboots exclusively (and Teleski), and release my cant locks in the powder/steeps. I tend to prefer Slalom boards for that kind of riding, around 162-164 length, which are the longer ones. They have some good flex which I think gives a better more control-able ride in the powder. Also a tad bit wider for float. Good for about 6-10" of powder. Deeper than that and I switch to a freestyle board with plate bindings, which isn't as good carving, but has more float. But its about 162-165 long also. I've always found that when you start going to a longer thinner board, it has a more difficult turn initiation cause by the nose up more than normal. Length also becomes a real problem the steeper the terrain, forcing you to do a jump turn. If your board gets too long, you'll catch the tail (up hill side) on the start of the jump turn and it will toss you down hill on your head. I think that also happens more, the stiffer the board. Shorter boards allow you to lead with the shoulder and actually do a short carve through the turn. Similar problem with mounting your bindings to the rear, screws up the initiation and turn responses. I do not change my stance position on my boards to ride powder or piste. My SL boards ride good in the powder and carve excellent with no change in stance. i think that's a result of the width of the board which I think is a better way to go than length. Here's a test to try, take your long board out in the afternoon. Go find and intermediate/advanced slope with a lot of pushed snow. Your looking for those 1-2' deep snow pile fall line ridges that form at the end of the day. Ride one of those ridges, try not to go more than about 3-8' to either side, turning fast and crossing quick. This requires a lot of upper body, leading with the shoulder, and fast top transitions (lifting the tail, but not jumping). If you can stay within the ~6-10' total width AND do a fast carve turn, I'd say you have a good steeps board. If you skid the turn, or have to jump to turn, or turn outside the ~10' total width, get a shorter board. What ever you decide on, you'll have to figure out how to ride it, and the only way your going to do that is try it on the steeps. Good luck.