Waboarder

Hi there I have a Donek Free carve 1 171 with Catek OS1 bindings. I believe the board is from 2002. Easy to ride, I got it a number of years ago 2nd hand and probably put 15 hrs on it. 200.00 plus shipping. I can e mail or text pics if you are interested. Thanks Warren

I would have stopped had I heard! I ride with headphones.

My schedule changed so I was at Crystal yesterday as well. It's usually pretty easy to spot a hardbooter at Crystal since are very few but I did not see you. I was on the Kessler and rode from 1st chair at 8:30 until noon. Had obligations in the PM. You are right, once the sun hit it was pretty good! Its only my 2nd season at Crystal, coming from Stevens pass for 27 years but its really a killer MT. Whether its good groomers or steep pow runs in bounds or backcountry there is something for everybody just about everyday! Glad you were able to get a good day in.

I see they changed the forecast, initially they were calling for clouds on Saturday. Probably a good decision on your part. Crystal is big ! Make sure to check out the view from the top of the Gondola. Mt. Rainer in your face!! Have a blast, it’s a great hill.

I would advise going to Crystal Sunday instead of Saturday. Its shaping up to be sunny, starting off in the mid 20s and warming up to high 30s. The groomers should be outstanding. Not much at the summit except Alpental on a pow day. The rest of the Summit is Ok but runs are pretty short. Crowds have been shrinking lately and with any luck that will continue into the weekend. I'll most likely be up at Crystal Friday and Sunday, mostly a softboot guy, look out for an Alloy D0 165 or a Kessler BX.

JI1, you would be 6th in line. Pm me with your phone number and I'll text you some pics and keep you posted. No firm commitments yet.

I'm thinking about selling some soft boot carving stuff. 1 set of Bomber power plates, 1 set of Kessler Rocket Cross plates, 2 pairs of Catek FR2 bindings, 1 pair of Catek FR1 bindings. All well used but fully functional. I have all of the mounting hardware and some misc spare Catek parts. Thinking about 150.00 per item? Gauging interest at this point but the items are on Seattle Craigslist now. Straps/ buckles etc have been replaced on some of the bindings. If there is interest I will post pics or you can check out Seattle Craigslist. I'm pretty sold on the gecko plates and Now Overdrive bindings. I haven't used this stuff for a couple of seasons. Thanks! Everything appears to be sold except the Kessler Rocket Plate.

Hey Lance, It was a pleasure meeting you and Phil the other day. Admittedly I was a little amped to get out on some good groomers after riding pow for the last few weeks. I did calm down some later! Gotta love that DO!. With Crystals new ownership I will now have the IKON pass which is good a several Colorado areas. Great excuse for my son and I to check it out, we have been talking about it for years. Be sure and get a hold of me next time you are up in this area, I'm in the process of building a 1500 sq ft garage/shop with an apartment above in Enumclaw, 42 min from Crystal. Headed back up tomorrow, should be good still, sunny with an 18 degree high.

Hey Slopestar, I relocated and downsized to Enumclaw and crystal 1.5 years ago after riding at Stevens and Mt. hood for 27 years. I too, own a D.O.165 and conditions and schedule permitting, I will be at Crystal next Friday and Saturday. If I'm there, my gear will be in line before 8 and ill be in the lodge. Grey beard, black coat/ pants. if its a pow day look for a Kessler Ride, Donek Nomad or Fullbag Hammerhead. Crystal is pretty sick. Not the greatest carving hill but off piste its tough to beat. The D.O. is the real deal! Warren

Finally was able to log some time on the DO 165. Variety of conditions from icy cobbled groomers to mid teens hero groom at Crystal Mt Thursday, 35/ 25 with Now Overdrive bindings. Super stable at speed, quick edge to edge, locked in on every turn. 27,000 vert in 3 hrs, 65 mph top speed on Thursday. Rode it back to back with my 168 Kessler Ride. The Kessler was faster could turn a little tighter but as far as edge hold , there was no difference. Absolutely would recommend as a soft boot carver and would buy again, probably will. Customer service is top notch as well, There was an issue with first one they sent, Don brought it to my attention and replaced the defective board quickly. Awesome board!

Hi There, I can't wait to get on my D.O.165! Love hearing about how they ride. I'm late to get started this season due to an ongoing project that is demanding of my time but I should be able to get on the D.O. in the next couple of weeks. The board looks sick! I ride at Crystal Mt. Wa., so mostly off piste but there are some pretty good groomers for carving. Anxious to see how it compares to my Kessler soft boot boards, Doneks and SG Bx board.

Hey Sandy hopefully the pending sale you have on the Gecko plate is with me. ill be tough to get ahold of after 4 or so today and hit and miss the rest of the day. Feel free to leave a message, text or email and I’ll get back to as soon as I can. I have cash and a pretty flexible schedule. Warren 425-785-8574 or email thanks

For all the Jimi Hendrix fans out there, Randy Hansen from Seattle will be in Denver this coming week. If you like Jimi, you will want to see his show. Check out Randyhansen.com for details. Cant wait for the winter, Ive got an Alloy D.O.165 coming and most likely a new Donek. Cheers!

I agree! although I'm headed to T-Line for a week this Friday the 11th. 2 Kessler Rides, 168-176, 1 Donek flux 169, 1 fullbag 171 Hammerheadand a Donek FC 176 plus ?

Hey Bob Next time we ride, I'll slow it down and tighten it up. Although I'm not a great hardbooter I can carve the crap out of softoots and I can certainly go a lot slower and tighter in hardboots than the other day. This week I'm buried at work but normally I can ride whenever. By the way, today was the best pow day of the year at Crystal. Everything was awesome. The earlier suggestion of a Nomad might help to expand your horizons. Crystal is an awesome mountain for riding pow! Pow runs off Rex, 6 and Northway were tremendous today. With the forecasted temps the groomers will hold up well this week. Wish I could be there. Warren

Rode Stevens pass Saturday and Crystal ( my new home mountain) today. Both deep blower pow days. Rode the new Fullbag Hammerhead 171. Best 500.00 I've ever spent. Rips the pow as well as my Nomad, carves the soft groomed up really well. Been on harboots a couple times this year after 3 seasons away, partly due to a 1 1/2 year injury but looking forward to spending more time on them. Love riding pow and softboot carving but hardbooting is a different animal and one I want to keep up with.

1xsculler, I'll be at Crystal tomorrow and may bring a hardboot set up with me. This is my 1st season at Crystal after 27 years at Stevens and the past 10 years back and forth between Hood and Stevens. I typically ride soft boots but was starting to get into alpine at Hood a bit. Got hurt a few years back and have only been on softboots until last Wed when I broke out the Swoard and hardboots. It was pretty fun! Black and yellow coat, black pants and black helmet. I'll be on a SG BX board to start then will switch to the hardboots after a bit. Ill probably start out on Rex, and or Forest Queen then move to Quicksilver for the Hardboots. Its short and mellow but a nice run to ease back onto the alpine stuff. When its good I hang out on 6, Southback and Northway. I'll keep an eye out for a hardbooter. I expect it to be bullet proof tomorrow. Warren

T line has been great the past 2 days. Should have started out yesterday on hardboots as it was solid ice for the first 1.5 hrs. Groomers were great then had a blast out in little Zig Zag and Big Zig Zag canyon.Weapons of choice were the Kessler 176 ride and Donek 169 wide incline. This season has been mostly a pow fest at Stevens Pass mixed in with pow and good groomer days at T line. 0 days on the hardboots this year. Next year I will have more time

Garret, I could loan your buddy an older Donek Free Carve 171 with Catek OS1 bindings. I have a pair of boots also that are 28.5. I keep my hardboot stuff in Oregon and will be going back in a couple of weeks. I'm at Stevens Pass a lot and could bring the set up with me. I rarely ride the hardboots there, Its been a powfest so far this year. As far as any coaching goes, I'm not the right guy. If your buddy is a competent soft boot carver he should be able to at least get the idea pretty quickly. I was able to pick it up in short order and I found that board to be very easy ride. I also have a HotBlast 178 that I would be willing to part with for not much. let me know. ( I'm the one that bought your Swoard) Warren I

Timberline 4/28 Decent conditions today, unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. Started sunny, then the clouds rolled in and out, mostly in for the rest of the day. Good turns on Norman and the mile, Palmer was socked in and not much fun due to the lack of vis. Was hoping for Palmer out of bounds west. Did not happen today. Good grooming for sure. Hoping for better weather tomorrow or Sat. Forecast is not promising for tomorrow. Today was the Kessler 176 ride and Donek 168 incline. Hardboots tomorrow or Sat for sure. Met Aaron from Soul Motion snowboards and saw them riding, short, wide swallowtail, they were carving it up. Not sure its my thing but they look good.148 just seems way to short. he was super nice and the const on the boards looks sweet, super light when compared to my Incline with power plates! May have to give it try for shits and giggles.

Timberline 3/18-3/19 Friday I spent 6 hrs on the hardboots, 2 boards, Donek Free carve II from 2013 and a Swoard 175 EC. Grooming was terrible ( not characteristic of Timberline) it must have sloppy when they groomed, there were huge holes, big ridges, missed spots etc and it was rock hard. I had to work hard to stay on edge and leave trenches. I applaud those that can make it look good under those conditions! Still had loads of fun but I felt it at the end of the day. I'm a seat of the pants , shoot from the hip kind of guy and my lack of technical know how when it comes to hardbooting was definitely exposed. More to work on. Saturday was another story, bluebird, no wind, firm very carveable great grooming, wish I had the hardboots. I switched to the Kessler 176 ride and it was awesome. Tore up the groomers in the am and got the first cat up to Palmer, went way east out of bounds and found smooth cream cheese all the way down, really fun. Rode a mix of groomed and off piste for the rest of the day. Gonna give it a go tomorrow as well but they are calling for rain, hard to believe, here in Welches its still sunny and clear.

Timberline 3/11-3/13 Spring conditions with mixed visibility Friday and Saturday,a little firm in the am then softening as the day wore on. A little fresh Sat am over fairly firm. Got on the Donek 176 and hardboots for a couple hrs Friday, again not Ideal conditions but still had a blast. Sat was the Kessler 176 ride on soft boots, we destroyed the groomers. Riding with my son for his birthday, he was on the Kessler 168 BX. Sunday was full on winter storm, about 6" new , driving snow and building wind. My son went back to the Glissade 168, I committed to trying out the Swoard 175 and hardboots. We only rode for a couple hrs but it was a gas. We have a long standing tradition of riding together on each other's birthdays, starting when he was 9, he turned 35 this am. Anxious to finally get on the hardboots with decent conditions. Back next Fri- Monday, then into Portland for the Springsteen concert. Saw another hardbooter Friday, on a Tinkler , also saw another hardbooter Sat. Never crossed paths with either.

I have owned a ridden all of the Glissade " Big Gun" boards from the 168 to the 195. To this day, they remain among my favorites and I still ride the 175 often. They destroy powder and the 168 and 175 make great soft book carving boards. The bigger ones work really well when its deep but are a bit much otherwise, at lest for me. The boards are vey durable as well, my son has a 168 with over 500 days on it and it still has camber and plenty of pop left despite being beaten to crap. At one time I owned 27 of them but sold all but a couple of 175s off when I discovered Donek. I recently bought back a rare 182 from a buddy I sold it to years ago. It is a different shape than the Big Gun series and is an absolute rocket on the groomers. It loves to carve huge turns but needs a bit of real estate. I have never ridden them with hardboots but I imagine they would work fine. They were very popular here in the Northwest and most of the team riders were based out of my home mountain of Stevens Pass Wa. along with Mt. Baker. I still search for them on a regular basis but they are getting harder and harder to come by. If you can find one I'd recommend getting it!

Thanks for the responses. I was mainly interested in whether or not the Swoard would work as an everyday caver or if it was more of a one trick pony only good for extreme carving. After 39 years of construction work, weight lifting and numerous shoulder injuries, the extreme carve thing is not for me. I'll try it out in a couple of weeks when I return to Mt. Hood where all my hardboot stuff is.

A couple of seasons ago I picked up a Swoard 175 medium for a great price. I have not ridden it yet. I have no intention of taking up extreme carving but was wondering how it would work as all purpose freecarve board. Been dabbling with hardbooting for a few years but have relatively low hours. Spend most of my time softboot carving and riding pow whenever possible. My other alpine boards are Donek 171 freecarve, Donek 176 freecarve II, Donek 184 , and a Tinkler 185. Aiming to spend more time on the hardboots after having a blast yesterday in less than ideal conditions. Any opinions would be appreciated.