kipstar

I think you will find this is the classic OEM issue - where to get something made. For boots, clothes and pretty much most other stuff Asia and Europe make things for the world. For the most part, American companies are quite innovative sometimes, usually excellent at marketing something, and sometimes not so cost effective at producing it - high labour costs, inconsistent quality due to lack of volumes, high environmental protection standards etc etc. e.g. windsurf sails, surfboards, windsurfers, bindings, skiwear, skis, poles, etc. Almost all can be made to most specifications cheaper and of more standardised quality than in USA. Even taking into account shipping. That's probably why Coiler etc stick to marketing, design and manufacture; not OEM. TO me, it is clear that this company has a brilliant product and terrible service; someone on this board probably needs to advise them of the benefits of learning how to do marketing and communications. Most otherwise, someone should just take an old Madd to an OEM factory in East Europe, and we can start buying knock offs for probably 1/2 the price. With graphics on the right way. Is this the Madd Mikes Bitchin Boards guy?! Kip

I have tried the skier line, then also tried the various more carvy lines, and finally had a really good swiss boarding race coach in the mid 90s, who clued me into the most fun line. LIke bumpy ride, I love the steeps and the bumps. For me, I found that the easiest ride is a board with a big sidecut; since handling bumps you can't really rely on the nose to carry you over steep sided bumps, a short nose is not so important, but reasonably soft nose is. Two boards I liked a lot in bumps - the nitro scorpion 155 and the nitro epics. I take a slightly different line; carving hard around through the troughs mostly, using extreme rotation to ensure continuous carving. Steep sides of the bumps can often be sucked up using a turn with sucking up the knees (I can't remember the technical name of this type of turn) and the aim is to carve turns, no skids, without picking up too much speed, nor skidding out, and a few jumps on the way. This means a slalom sidecut. Incidentally, I ride in ski boots, and using a decent body rotation as taught by the swiss, no problems with chattering out. But man, can't handle too many runs like this without wearing myself out! THe key is to do a lot of time in the bumps, and you can get better. It also seems to make riding elsewhere better as well. I love it! Kip

>>Where else is there a forum where you can correspond directly with some of the best minds in the business and get direct feedback from product designers/mfgs/users? If you like this sort of conversation, you should take up formula windsurfing and go on these websites: www.star-board.com www.gaastra.com www.mytrims.com Friggin 'eck, you get to speak with the world champs (Pritchard, Wojtek etc) and the brand owners as well...unbelievable. I guess it is the beauty of being involved in sports without excessive media attention. Kip

I used to travel from NZ to Mammoth; basically it rocks. Tahoe has some great terrain, but for sure it is hard to beat the quality of Mammoth's snow, and the size. I would not bother going to June for more than a day, unless you want to do the same run again and again. For me (and this is just my opinion) variety is the spice of life, and June is mostly only medium pitch runs, with a lot of flat run outs; especially going to the cafe midstation, which means no turns, just gliding. THe best runs on Mammoth, IMHO, are when the wind comes up a bit, and after the snow falls. If the chair numbers are the same... then go up the gondola to the top, or up chair 23.... hit Scotties or Cornice bowl.... test your extremecarving techniques with some decent turns through some slight chop.... hammer the flats from cornice to link up to Chair 2, then all the way to the bottom.... or cruise around the back behind chair 1, and emerge on the runs directly below the area of Chair 1 when they set up race courses, and lay one down for the crowds.... or two. If going down Chair 3, or linking in from Cornice bowl, there used to be some very odd grooming bumps as you sweep around the bend going straight off chair 3 the wrong way towards cornice bowl ('cause that chair ends on a knoll) - you'll understand when you get there. Hammer the speed, and you can get some really funky (if goofy) exit full speed halfway through a toeside off the bump and land hard halfway through a heelside sensations. Magic! Chair 2 rocks early morning.... Chair 1 is pretty good too. It gets a bit chilly quite early though at Mammoth when the sun is behind the back of the mountain, from about 3pm, it can get cold quite fast, so bring a hat. With fresh snow, comes great responsibilty. Or not. Off the top is the way to go; Chair 23 traverse across to scotties or the chutes P1,2,3,P4 (the paranoids) - for some hard as carvng in the steeps. The line directly below the chair 23 is pretty decent sometimes, but can get bumped up too much to be carvable. Chair 9 is good and the backside is great, but more for powder riding than hardboot carving. I've ridden quite a few places, but still think that the wind packed pow in Mammoth is the best hero snow I've ridden in; cause it packs down a bit. It also is damn good if they are running super G or downhill for ski racing, cause they they groom cornice bowl, and that is steep enough for some serious carving. I strongly recommend! Kip

I'll sell you a set of 4 buckle UPS Mach 2s; used for 1 day; still in almost perfect condition.... 27.5 size. Only problem is you will have to wait until I get back to NZ to pick them up in Feb.... let me know if interesting.

How about: Primal Instict Snowmass & Summit Total Imersion Trenching Snowboarders and Apocolyptic Snowboarding Sessions Burton Or Oxygen Bombers Sessions Basic Unity Total Trenching Snowriders Or Wonggarn Len Hima Roon Samai Kip

I don't know the heads specifically, but in general the boots have parts that match several sizes, e.g. if it says 27 - 29.5 it means that the part concerned is used in the assembly of all boots size 27, 27.5, 28 etc until 29.5. The liner is then packed out more or less to make the different sizes. Similar to cars I suppose, the engines and models may be different, but the body is the same. Beware that there may be parts you can't see that may be specific to that size boot. Somewhere on the head, it may comment on what sizes the shell covers off. Either way, if you have both liners out, their external diminsions should be basically the same, if you expect them to fit in the same space inside the boot shell. Get a boot fitter to do for you, and should be easier! Kip

Did you get my email? Kip

THese are now a fairly old generation boot; I remember seeing similar in 1992/93 season - so they will tend to be: - very soft compared to the newer carving boots such as the heads and new Raichle Dee Lux indy which I am led to believe is stiffer - fairly soft plastic construction compared to the more modern materials - quite a lot of forward lean if I recall correctly - I don't think they have a walk mode but could be wrong I don't think this that good a boot, compared to what you can get now, but if cheap enough maybe it will do. Those extremecarving people probably like it, because they seem to recommend softish boots (which is also probably in part because they ride in what looks like very soft windpacked powder in their vids). BUt if cheap enough (ie. less than $50 USD) you might be happy. If it fits your foot well then it may be perfect! If used, it is going to be quite old so may be broken by now. The borton from the same era is the megaflex. Kip

I had a pair of them! They were, if I recall the same model as you, a hard ridge, with rubber on either side, so the suspension was in the boot sole/binding wire interface, rather than the binding itself. It made a difference for a hard sole like a ski boot. I used to ride the 5 hole nitros with the fritshi bindings that mounted the binding on a single bolt in the centre, and the heel and toe floated on a sliding track. So the suspension was basically absorbing flex of the edge independently from the single centre screw. Did nothing for riding flat over chop ;-) Surprisingly, it actually worked quite well, so I was heart broken the next year when nitro went to the 4 hole pattern, and I had to toss out all that gear! Kip

I have a pair of almost unused older UPS boots, and they seem to have a low cuff and a stiffer flex than the raichles, which just stops at around about 75% pressure going through a turn, after which the boot distorts out sideways, rather than bending further forward. It looked to me like I could max out the flex just standing in them, and the buckles collided (the 2nd and 3rd). So...if you have the same model (and older Mach Z) and are encountering the same problem, then you may like to try playing around and seeing if you can identify if the buckles are affecting the forward flex pattern, which, if not constant, will cause a sudden stop in flex as you go forward...which might lead to a boot distortion and shin bang. Most of my riding in southern hemisphere is in NZ on very icy conditions which are highly variable, so a boot tends to have to cope with quite a changing flex load, much more than riding in the good snow of USA; so any boot with a flex problem going forward shows up quite quickly. If the buckles are colliding, you may need to shorten or lengthen the wire bail on them (if they are like my old ones) so they don't collide.

The scorpion was definitely one of the first narrow symetrics; I used to ride for them, and made the mistake of geting the asym the first year (when they were still either 5 hole or topsheet). Broke it, and went to 2 scorpions, which I still have! awesome boards, and also 19.8cm wiasts I think. Also, have a nitro EFT from 1991/92 season.... haven't ridden it for a while, and a brand new unused nitro epic 1992/93 season board... ready for bringing back out soon. Both will need T bolting though to take 4 hole bindings I guess. My brother also has a moss (which he still rides) - this has to be the first super narrow board I've seen; 195 inch waist, asym; moss is a japanese board company, and it came out in 1990/1991 season. It has the super super tight radius nose shape on the toe side, so permanently sends up a small stream of snow right into my borther's face most of the time when he is riding on the toe side. And it is unbearable in tracking, due to the width and asymmetry; in fact it is the only super narrow asym I've seen, probably because Japanese have small enough feet to be able to ride it at 50 degree angles without overhang. Bring back the Look Lamar trickstick and the K2 gyrator; the 2 ugliest boards I have ever seen!!~!!! Kip

I would like to find out more about the bindings...email me and we can talk (you have emailed blocked at the moment though). Similar set without cants sold for $50 new on ebay, so around that price is gonna be better? Kipsan Beck kipsan@gaysornbkk.com

best varied terrain for hard carving the steeps/bumps etc: Squaw best for wind packed powder and groomed highways: Mammoth most varied terrain in one run: Whakapapa New Zealand Best place to try with unlimited cash: somewhere on someone else's list outside of Tahoe, SoCal, NZ!!!! Best place for "no shirt" snowboarding sans boots and board: Jomtien Beach, 2 hours south of Bangkok. No snow, but nice for da windsurf ;-) aiiight. kipsan

Randy... you and another private message have me intrigued with the head boots....I may yet be able to actually fit a snowboard boot purpose made after all! - how much forward lean do they have? The UPSs were quite a bit mroe than I like, cause I ride with not much forward lean at all (mind you on ski boots with no backward flex you don't really need that buffer of flex before you start to turn) - they are definitely stiffer than the raichles, correct? - how is the heel hold of the heel cup? - in your opinion, do they fit narrow, wide, or duck type feet, and is the instep high or low affecting the top of your foot? I may just have to buy a pair, and use for more than the day I got on the UPSs! Kip

Drum and bass all the way.... Ed Rush and Optical High Contrast Grooverider Calibre Anything from hospital records DJ Krust and DJ Die/ Roni Size Yep yep yoo.

Hi I would like to buy a set of oxygen 4 hole plate bindings or similar, 'cause they are the ones that work good with a ski boot (which I am sad to say I still use). Actually, I will take it with a oxygen board too, if you have one. They are a plasticy looking binding, usually grey; most people don't like them, but i do! Let me knw if you have some.... newer the better yo! Kip

I am in the same camp; I bought a pair of UPS boots a few years back, but found them just way too soft (and previously also had a pair of raichle snowboard boots which were so soft too). FOr me, I think the only ski boots to consider are soft flexing ones, like the old Raichle flexon series from the early 90s. In fact, compared to the poorly designed UPS boots (which bow out when flexed forward), the raichles were actually made out of decent plastic. The raichles were well known as a ski boot for being very soft in forward flex, and having a constant flex using a tongue system; far better than an overlap design like most ski boots or the hmmm burton boots which used to also be overlap as well. THe issue of lateral flex is not that important for me, since I would prefer none. BUt I don't know whether the super stiff new generation of bindings would be so pleasant if that were the case. There is not backward flex either, so the heelside turns can be far crisper if all the conditions are right, but in choppy snow, if ends up being fairly tough on the knees. I've seen the extreme carving guys, and to be honest, I can't see that what they are doing is that different to what I am doing from the waist to the feet on a heelside turn; I can get just as low; I just choose not to break at the waist to head bit 'cause i don't see the point in trying to lie down on the snow. And just to clarify, back in the day when I rode in USA, most of the top riders Tom Tuttle etc in the mid 90s were also riding raichle ski boots on Mammoth back then too. I saw virtually no other decent riders back then on ski boots of any other brand. There was a good racer in New Zealand who had langes, but he was 100kg and a former ski racer, so he knew how to load them up. The bindings are an ongoing problem though; burtons snowpros and so on don't work with the reduced thickness of the sole. I have a pair of oxygen bindings which work well, but I am always worried if they break. The aluminium bindings would be very very stiff IMHO, because the ski boots have a solid sole, not a rubber sole. I like and prefer this with my current set up, but with ultra stiff bindings I am not so sure it would be good. The sole length is also a problem; I only have a 27.5 foot, so not any overhang really, plus I am on a 20cm waist board. The nice thing, is that the weight is loaded up in the cuff of the boot, using he old raichles and UPS I really hated the toeside, where you couldn't do that. The heelside was ok, but the toeside was so soft, that I had less edge hold and it felt blah. Fine for good quality Mammoth/Tahoe snow, but in New Zealand it gets very icy, so edge hold becomes important. I would like to get a new pair of boots though, and will be checking out the latest from Dee Luxe; but UPS uses soft plastic in their boots, so I don't think I'll waste my money again! (brand new, full retail, used for 30 minutes!). Kip

Before going to Nitros, I used to ride hot in 1992 and 1993; I can honestly say they were a poorly made board. But very nice handling shape though. The top sheet of one lifted within 20 days; then the replacement lasted a bit longer, but both (IMHO due to the core) end ended up like a boat with a non flat bottom. From end to end, the second board lost all its camber (so it was flat) within a full season (not to be unexpected) of race training and carving; but the boat effect was not good at all, except in slush, when it came in very handy. It looked like the edges were about 1-2mm higher than the centre of the base particularly near the tail area. It theoretically should have made the carving worse, but it seemed ok on the great snow in USA compared to here in Thailand ;-) 3 of my friends also got cheap boards from hot via me at the same time, and all suffered similar results; I think the next year (the one where they went to symmetrics) they might have corrected this issue, and they went to 4 hole, but by then I was nitroing my way around ;-) Back in the day, the old G&S boards were also horizontally laminated and seemed to end up like boats as well. By comparison, my scorpion 155 still had a full 1cm of camber after riding for 3 full winter/winter seasons in New Zealand then mammoth..... There were actually 3 models; the logical was the race board; the blast was like a detuned race but similar, and there was this other very odd looking freeride board called a hot spot? that was lower again. The other thing that didn't help...the retention plate inside the board ? to attach bindings was laminated well inside the board, not on the top like the old nitros/other brands. Porbably stronger, but several people ended up pulling out bindings as a result, when shops not knowing this mounted the boards with screws that were too short! Hmmm.....Korean huh? ;-0 (jealous) Kipsan

When I lived in Mammoth in the early 90s, I used to ride off the top almost every day no matter what the conditions on my then nitro epic 164? - the last series of asyms before they switched totally to the scorpion (which I also rode off the top). MOstly mammoth doesn't get so deep, since by the time it opens often it was a bit wind packed, but among the trees on the backside, and around chair 9? I think it was, cuaght it thigh deep several times. The heel side felt fine, but without changing my bindings, the toe side turn was a bit dodgy sometimes ;-) The key seemed to be to stay up to speed and not try to turn too sharp. THe scorpion 155 wasn't too much better ;-) but in windpacked powder, both these boards ripped on the steep windpack. If riding hardshells, my suggestion would be to get a much softer pair of boots and wide board; the set up for groomed might be a bit stiff for powder IMHO. Kip

I know little about boarding, but the asym core is the idea of a NZ guy called Dave Patridge; it is basically a sympetric shaped board with an Asym core, and possibly an asym sidecut - this same guy also came up with the channel idea as well; I think he worked for them in 1992. He previusly made boards himself in NZ called Snostix that also used the same idea. A very smart guy, not sure what Dave did after this. Regards Kip