Duke

Great. Not a bomber 2.0 I hope

Not a big fan of the sidecars. Motorcycles (and all two wheeled vehicles) steer in a peculiar way. Countersteering. It is pure magic to watch those bikes take those corners leaning so far over that they are sliding their knee pucks. Putting all that faith in a tire contact patch the size of a credit card. yikes. Not so with he sidecars. 3 wheels might as well be 4 wheeled cagers to me. ? Same reason the CanAms don't get the motorcycle wave .? Ya, the sidecars are fun to laugh at. but....they just end up burning time that could be spent on the real deal. ? Jealous of Allee for having been there and for getting to go back there too. Please ask them this question for me.."why did you steal Sicily's flag symbol for your island?" ??

by chance are those the Wintersticks they have mounted on the wall there? ?

bummer....just happens to be my anniversary weekend. I would have liked to meet you since we are like classmates and "started" at the same time. Maybe when I go to Norway someday :) Plenty of good slopes along the Wasatch Front including Solitude like Digger pointed out. If you are up for an hour drive i would recommend Beaver Mountain by Logan. Great groomers, no lift lines...just a fun place to carve. @utahcarver rides there and another friend of mine. Once again though....all of the choices along the Wasatch are good....well.....except Alta :) :) Powder Mountain and Snow Basin are the ones near Ogden. both are very fun.

I keep checking this thread to look for updates on bomber coming back....but it seems to be a different topic now....which I take to mean "no further info available".

Anybody on here ride the Virus AFT FLP? I have heard good things about it being the ultimate in softboot carving.....but just can't get myself t drop the $$ on getting one. it is double the cost of most soft boot boards. Anyone able to give some input on it?? https://shop.virus-snowsports.com/produkt/virus-aft-flp-176/

Here is a more recent article that has some more detail. It answers a few of my questions such as "is it for pow or slush or which condition?" http://www.sltrib.com/news/business/2017/11/23/these-utahns-say-their-invention-means-youll-never-need-to-wax-your-skis-again/

ha ha....Mig's blade make another showing in this thread :) The baseline, goto lineup. I may ride some others but one of the below will be seeing some action most any day I ride: Dupraz D1 178. What a pow slayer. Big gun for big pow!! Is there a board made with more float?? I doubt it :) Mig's Fullbag Diamond blade: Retired a couple of boards from the quiver. This board is to softboot groomer riding what the D1 is to powder. Mig put alot of R&D into this shape and hit the nail on the head. OES 172 FC my one and only titanal carver so can't compare or say much except i like it. Only complaint is that with the 17cm waist it is just too narrow for me to use when ski patrolling. Trying to bring the toboggan down with such a forward stance is a bit beyond me being able to correctly do my duties. I have a 20.5 cm waist Coiler on its way and it will be for patrolling. However, for just freecarving down the mounain....hits the spot for me :) If only I could carve well enough to give you any good input :)

Old thread revival time?? Been eyeing these a bit. Only a couple of riders chiming in above saying that they use these with soft setups. Would love to hear from anyone else using these. Not too bad price-wise but still not chicken feed so I would appreciate more input before throwing in on these. :) Anyone tried them and didn't like them or found them ineffective??

I don't think that article is worth too many calories either for or against. someone tied into organized racing may get it a bit more I guess. It meant nothing to me and doesn't match any of what I have seen with the sport.....but then again, I have never even watched a race and don't intend to :) .........And Mr Eric, I am a non-expert that hiked and rode my first line the winter of 80-81 and even rode Alta that year. But...I didn't open it so I guess one can say that I'm the opposite of you in that.....gulp.... maybe I'm responsible for the snowboard ban there :) :) I'll chime in on the tangents about Noobs learning. I see quite a few and as ski patrol I get a number of request from parents and kids asking which they should try. We get oodles of school kids that come up on school sponsored trips. I do believe the first day is more difficult for a snowboard noob than a ski noob. I have always put it to them that snowboarding has a steeper learning curve right at first. 1. it doesn't work well on the 3 degree slope, rope-tow, bunny hill. SB requires some fall line to work. Difficult for noobs to give in and get some needed velocity. Our natural desire is to start out sloooow moving while learning. :) works with skis. 2. Snowboarding requires soooo much edge awareness. Noob skiers use their edges but don't realize that is what they are doing. Little thought goes into it. 3. the transition from dropping down "side to side" heelside or toeside, to linking turns is a big jump for most. The "Hillary Step" of snowboard learning. :) These kids with the school program get a gratis, group lesson for an hour or so and then off they go. the snowboard groups definitely struggle much, much more. Now to throw in a tangent to a tangent :) I am also a skier (which many of us old guy snowboarders are). Two of my boys decided then wanted to try my skis. Both are excellent riders. I went into this long lecture about how different they are, and their snowboard prowess won't confer any ski skills, and don't be discouraged, yada yada. Well, boy was I off. They picked it up MUCH quicker than a typical noob. Ya, I'm sure some of that was just superior genetics :) :) but how surprised I was to see that; based on my nonscientific, anecdotal experience with an N value of 2...:).......snowboard skills DO impart some transferable ski skills. :)

I'm with you my friend :) TBT not my thing either. My point was to say that you haven't be on softies in quite some time and softies now come in an entire quiver of cambers and edge profiles. There's something for everyone. Carving-wise they will never compete with your Donek setup.....but there are still many, many fun soft setups and I think you should try a few more and get one or two soft setups for you personal quiver. For example: I see you are in the PNW and, therefore, blessed with pow that many on this forum can only dream about. snag a 6 foot Dupraz D1 and some Solomon Malamutes and you will think you are in heaven. Just a nice, fluid, surf day to contrast with your precision, full on G, carve days. :) Even raucous chunder is a bliss on that board :) A K2, full-on rockered, Ultradream is so fun to surf on slush days! The rest of the season now will have many afternoons where it warms up and people, particularly skiers, start to abandon the slopes to go home or in the lodge attempting to find a miracle wax to make it work for them. You would be getting lipstick on both ears your smile would be so big as you surf down in total bliss!! Different rides from your Donek. No competition for it on packed groomers (both still fun there BTW) but opening an entire new spectrum for you in riding opportunities. Quiver up my friend!!! Quiver up! :)

Almost all of the soft boot rides these days are going to be some type o hybrid camber. Much of it is just what you like. Never Summer won't do much other than their Camber Rocker Camber they are so known for. Some love it and some don't. Same for Battaleon Triple Base Technology; it is your thing or it isn't (even though that is not really a camber thing). My own, non-scientific, anecdotal reckoning on this shows that the vast majority....were you to just blindly grab one off the shelf, would be Rocker Camber Rocker. Even my beloved Fullbag Diamond Blade, which is designed as a groomer carver, has a touch of a hybrid. I know that many of riders on here look down on and throw jabs at anything other than a traditional, full camber re: softboots, but I think the moral of the story is....don't knock it 'till you try it. It is likely that you will not like all or even most of them, but I doubt you would hate all of them either. :) Some are very fun. I hear ya on the TBT, but it does hold better with some pressure. it just takes some faith to pull some Gs on it. :) Not for me but some love it. I think, were you to try some different soft boot decks, you would find that technology has come a long ways. They can really be fun. Nothing wrong with trad camber. But, nothing wrong with a hybrid either.....IF it is something that matches one's style and makes it fun :) If you are going to compare softboot decks only based on how well they carve and match up to your carving board then....they will never hit the mark. They are a different animal. Yes, some can carve groomers well, but they just won't ever match up to a hardboot setup. They are a different ride, for a different day, and a going for something other than having your head just off the deck during your turns :) i would liken it to comparing a Ducati Panigale (hardboot board) to the KTM 450 SFX (softboot board). Two different beasts with different technologies and I want both; depending on what I am doing that day :)

Thank you Jack, this is great. This describes me spot on. Nailing every heelside....struggling with toeside. Hitting some....but just not consistent at all. Thanks again!

not only am I that guy (ski patrol back pack though so I get a pass) I do so on a Dupraz. double match!

Thanks. i am going to try this method. One question i have....using a 'turkey" bag is presumably because that plastic is ready for some high heat. It appears that you have two shopping bags sticking out of your boots. Since you have already done this then it obviously worked to have these boiled 5 times over.....so....i guess I can infer that the turkey part is unnecessary?? or at least that it was in your case?

+1 on it being mockery. The jab about powder sends that home. However, the irony is....that he accidentally hit on something there though I'm sure he has absolutely no idea. We just got 17 inches of pow over two days. headed up to my local hill and tried to carve some groomers....but they were just too soft. Was complaining that i was going to have to switch to a board out of the Dupraz quiver and spend the day off piste. My boy was staring at me, mouth agape, and told me he was worried that I had gone insane. But...I realized.....once i finally got where I could connect some good carves....i am enjoying it so much, I am now complaining about pow days!!! Irony indeed. Think of that. Snowboarding so interesting and fun that I was wishing for less pow :) His mockery has accidentally hit a real note :)

+1 I'm more impressed with and wish to achieve huge Gs but remain just above the snow. No touching other than a hand to keep track of where it is. I have been trying to get my boys interested in carving (fail) and have been showing some videos to them. They are impressed with most and also when we see a skilled carver when we are on the slope. the first time i pulled up a "eurocarve" vid one of my boys said "If i saw that on the slope i would think....oh, that guy keeps falling down" :) To each his/her own, but I'm with you (and it seems we might be in the minority :) ) No desire to armpit drag. i want the skill needed of course and appreciate that it takes much... but wish to leave nothing but a pencil thin line on the snow :) and not armpit hairs.

Great, now you guys have thoroughly confused me (meant in a good way :) ). I'm sure all of you get it, bu I am lost. :) (...what a surprise :) ) Finally....after so much effort....yesterday I was finally connecting multiple carve turns :) Still have a long way to go....but....if this were a ski story i would finally be out of the "pizza french fries" stage so to say :) My one and only board is a skinny skinny deck. 17 cm. My goal there was trying to get a board that would be easy to learn on ....but also be a good ride when I actually caught on and was cruising. And NOW I read here that none of you like skinny decks :( .....but the explanation gets me lost. I do have overhang on my back foot. Perhaps i am not getting low enough to cause a problem? I have gone very low before....but when that low I always fail to come up out of it and I just come to a rest on my side :) I am not booting out though....just failure to handle the situation. This is only for heelside. I haven't been able to get that low on toeside due to commitment issues :) and how much I like my face... though I have locked into some good carve turns on toeside too. I had my bindings lined up with no overhang but just could not ride that way. had to rotate the back out a bit. Wasn't too worried about it though. For one thing...buddy that introduced me to carving has some significant overhang and it doesn't seem to bother him at all. first pic is of his stance. so, I take it that riding mine as such IS likely to get me into trouble here in the future?? The next two pics show my back foot. Even thought the binding has overhang....when I look at the set up....it would take significant angle to boot out. Waaay over....or so it seems to novice me. ?? No racing in my future....WAY over. All of you are going that far all the time??

@slopestar you have intrigued me here. Mig's lineup is all pow boards except the diamond blade. Did you mean a different one from the Fullbag lineup or are you running the diamond blade as your pow deck?

I continue with the "lack of carving skills in perpetuity" method and its working great. No glove problems here :)

I'm selling a pair of bomber Trench diggers on ebay. Most of you seem to have 6 or 8 boards in your quiver :) so why switch bindings all the time. Pick up some bindings so you can have 5 full setups :) http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/152244095332?

My 3 boys and I rode today and had a great time. At the bottom of one of the runs I went ahead and "allowed" my 18 year old to try the Blade. This kid is into straight bombing it and jumping in the park but I told him to just hold it on edge and see if he could keep from skidding. So.... not a black diamond run or anything harsh, but still you will see that when a non-carver gets that much, correctly shaped, EE.....he turns into one. :) I don't think he left a single track wider than an inch :) On a side note....my kids generally refuse to wear the teletubbie helmet for vids, but...I don't worry too much and am happy to clip on top to catch some vid of my boys :) When I do...they try to stay far away from me :) I told him he couldn't try to straight bomb it away from me and had to allow the teletubbie to follow him :) https://desertdukephotos.smugmug.com/HmanCarve/i-3Prn53x/A If I knew how to embed a vid thumbnail I would....but I don't so sorry it is just a link

What are your summer plans? Fly fishing and backpacking

You aren't too far away. Come on up and you can give it a try (Kelly Canyon or Targhee)

So, I have been lingering and wanting one of these for some time now. I posted about it on this thread: http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/42648-carving-on-regular-snowboards/page-2?hl=fullbag And was surprised to hear from the designer himself (I didn't know he was on bomber....I should have guessed) He did coax me into taking the plunge and snagging one...even though it is late in the year. I did a review on a different site, but as I know many of you like to carve in softies too I thought it would post it here and it is as follows: Team Duke headed out to Targhee today to test this deck out. The members of team Duke were: Ted Nugent, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and....yours truly...Duke. The temps were below freezing last night but were just above when I arrived. Groomers were hard as a rock at 0900, but softened up by about....10:30 or so. The sun was out and the day was nice. Bottom Line Up Front: Team Duke, combined with 137cm of effective "Hattori Hanzo steel" edge.....sliced that mountain to RIBBONS!! Ribbons I tell you!! That board rocks! A carving machine!! Can't get the smile off my face! 163 is about the size of board I like and use, but I was a bit worried that this would seem like a giant plank with the LONG EE. Well, not a problem at all! Handled great. Felt much more nimble than it should have for a 163 that is all edge. And by all edge I mean edge all day long... and held through anything. It took me a while to build up confidence in the edge hold because i would get to the normal point I would expect it to give and ...would wince a bit an push it a bit further.....and waited for it to give....but nada! That edge holds through anything. I was flying down the mountain all day. Once the snow softened up a bit I was really railing it! Pencil thin lines in perfect arcs. I rode right through lunch and didn't pause until 2:30-3 pm. Was having too much fun! I have never felt so much control in a softboot board. With my Salomon Malamutes and this board...it was quite the technical ride, and I loved it. My beloved Dupraz and a hardboot board sat locked up in the racks ready for my to switch to them if conditions called for it....or just for a change....but this thing kept carving....even in the soft stuff. Not until 2:30, when it was really getting soft/slushy did I switch to the Dupraz and headed off piste. This Diamond blade is a GREAT groomer board for softboots. I have never been on a Virus (ultimate carving deck)...other than some day dreams..... and I wish I had so as to compare....but my guess is that it would be a close call. Regarding camber: . Not really alot of camber to this deck. Doesn't have the same pop full on cambered boards have....but also isn't catchy at all. I flatbased this one no prob and eventually wasn't even worried about catching an edge. Usually when riding a full camber I have it on my mind...just a bit...all day long. I've caught too many edges in my day and so it always lingers. But not on this one. I think i would call it 1/2 camber. Easy to ride, but no big pop either....but still...it does have camber and I did feel it. Does not ride like a rocker board. it didn't feel like there was any rocker anywhere on it though I think there is juuuuust a bit at the tips. Board flex: Definitely a stiff board, but didn't seem overly so. I am 170 lbs naked and it seemed perfect. I was riding hard though and I think for my weight....riding hard matches this deck. One thing that was making me hesitate on this board is the width. I was wanting a skinny deck for carving. Turns out that this seems to be a good width. i was railing this over so hard that I was tappin' boots....and that is for size 8 boots so not big. Not really booting out...but tappin'. I had to adjust the angles a bit, which took care of that, but I'm glad it isn't skinnier after all. Weight: this board is much lighter than I thought it would be. very light. My only regret: that I took so long to make my decision. Now i have to spend the entire off season wishing I had snagged this earlier in the year.