SWriverstone

My hiking shoes/boots are 11.5 or 12...those fit perfectly and leave my toes with plenty of room to wiggle, spread out and relax. My carving boots are 28.

After years of carving, I never achieved the laid-out style (which so many want to emulate because it looks badass). I think this was due to a combination of lack of serious instruction and lack of time on the slopes. I'm athletic and a fast learner, but I think to achieve that style requires living 30mins or less from a resort with great carving slopes (wide, long and not too steep) that you can literally practice on almost every day. I'm a 2-3x/month person (sometimes more, sometimes less). And really, I was always pretty happy carving on a 35- to 45-degree board angle (as opposed to a 90-degree board angle). And though I tried to fully eliminate any and all skidding, the truth is I've always skidded now and then (even while preaching the gospel of NEVER SKID to friends, LOL). So switching to a softboots and a freeride board was less of a switch for me than for someone used to laying out massive hero carves on a dedicated carving board. Assuming I stay fit and healthy (which I plan to) I can definitely see "rediscovering" hardbooting in the not-too-distant future after buying some newer, more comfortable boots. On the topic of boot sizing, granted I'm not an expert carver...but I really believe the vast majority of people suffer (whether consciously or subconsciously) in boots that are too small—and that just strikes me as ridiculous. A parallel is going from traditional "pointy-toe" hiking boots and trail runners to a boot or trail runner with a W-I-D-E toebox like Altras. I absolutely guarantee once you switch to wide toebox footwear, you will NEVER go back to pointy-toed footwear. Human feet aren't pointy and were never intended to be mashed into pointy-toed boots! (But we've done it for so many centuries we've forgotten any other way...) Scott

This post is kinda the opposite of the many posts like this one... I recently posted about my old Raichle boots being too small. I re-cooked my Deeluxe liners and molded them again (they'd been sitting unused in my frigid garage for a few years) and that helped—but not enough. This weekend I spent Saturday on the slopes with my carving board. It was fun, but my feet were uncomfortable all day...and while I felt "reasonably solid" on my carving board, it was only on the less steep, wider greens and a few of the wider blues. I love hardbooting, but can't afford new boots right now. So on Sunday, I went back up to the resort with my softboots and freeride board. It was the first time I'd been on it in 15 years (maybe more?). I waffled for a while at home the night before trying to decide what angles to run (carving-style positive angles front/back? Or freeride angles?) I figured since I was riding my freeride board, I may as well give freeride angles a shot, so went with 15deg in front and 0deg in back. Bottom line? After a few runs down the bunny hill to be sure I wasn't out of control with the different setup, I had a BLAST! My feet were far happier in my softboots, and I quickly found myself carving on my freeride board—and taking the same lines (big treeline-to-treeline turns) I do on my carving board. Not surprisingly, heelside turns felt weird with the freeride stance. (Toeside turns felt fine, actually easier.) I had to work harder to orient my upper body more in the direction of the turn, and I kept wanting a higher angle on my front foot (I didn't mind the zero-angle of my rear foot at all). At one point I went back to the lodge and added more angle to my front foot (maybe up to around 25deg). That helped, but I still felt like I wanted my old 55/60 angles. At the same time, I felt like I needed to adapt to carving with a more freeride stance. The funny thing is, even while on a freeride board, I noticed I wasn't doing (or looking) anything like what all the other skidders on the mountain were doing, LOL. But the one thing I have to admit I really liked on the freeride board was how much easier it was (for me anyway) to stop or scrub off speed with a quick skid. This raised my comfort level dramatically on the steeper blues and blacks. And overall, I'd say I had almost as much (or equally as much) fun carving in softboots as in my hardboots and carving board. (I should add, though, that I hated trying to kick around in the lift lines in a softboot setup—it's SO much easier with a carving board!) Am I done forever with carving? Honestly I don't know? Sure, I could buy new boots that fit better. But I don't have the time or $$$ these days to get on the resort slopes very often. I also spend a lot of time Nordic skiing in the backcountry. So for me, my best future might just be remaining a carver at heart and continuing the tradition in my more comfy, forgiving softboots.

Thanks for the feedback guys! Okay, that makes sense that the 28-29-30 was just for the tongue (that seemed like a large range for a shell). And hi BlueB! Great point—I've always had pretty high arches but yep—they might have flattened a bit. It didn't occur to me that a foot bed/insert could shorten my foot, so I'll try that. Remolding might help too, though I've forgotten the process for that (been ages since I did it...). My boots/liners basically sat in the garage for years and were never used...

Hi All: Longtime carver here who drifted away from the sport for many years (got into other sports like backcountry Nordic skiing) and now getting back to it...and I discovered when I pulled my trusty old Raichle 324 boots out of the closet that the Deeluxe liners are definitely too small. (Not sure why? Do people's feet grow as they age? I've done a huge amount of hiking in the past several years...) Anyway: my question is, my Raichle 324 boot shells have 28-29-30 embossed inside the plastic tongue. Does that mean they will accommodate liners in sizes 28, 29, or 30? I want to buy new liners—my current liners are a size 28 and too small...so I want to be sure if I buy size 29 or 30 liners they'll fit inside these boots. Thanks! Scott PS—I bought my Raichle boots second hand 15-20 years ago...and they're still in perfect condition. I'm sure many will say "Dude, you seriously need some new boots!" but these are working great for me—along with my now-ancient TD-1 bindings. It seems plastic alpine boots basically never die, LOL

Thanks for the replies all. I'm riding ancient gear, but it still keeps me smiling and I haven't been able to afford to replace it yet. :-) Raichle 324 boots (with newer Deeluxe heat-molded linings), circa...uhh...2004? Donek Freecarve, also circa 2006-08? I think it's around 170cm. And here's the cymbal splash of old gear: TD-1 bindings! :-D Like I said, I have a ball on this gear so haven't felt any burning need to replace—and ignorance could well be bliss! (And I know I haven't even come close to being able to max out the potential of the Donek Freecarve.) I hear you Pat on the altitude at Copper; though it affected me less than I thought (I keep my legs in pretty good shape) I'm sure it affected me. And nigelc, I hear you on the slow-thinking age thing, LOL. That's why I just camped out on a super-long green (steep for a green) and ran it over and over so I could take my time, be more relaxed with edge changes, etc. I've mastered enough technical sports in my life (except carving, which I haven't mastered) to know that to really do them well just requires huge amounts of time in safe, controlled conditions to do things over and over and over-to really dig deep mentally and analyze what's going on, make small changes, analyze, repeat, etc. Sadly I haven't had anywhere near that sort of time in the past few years. Happily, though, I've found that the couple seasons I spent about 10 years ago when I rode 50+ days each season still help me with my sporadic riding today. It's harder than riding a bicycle, but I've found I don't completely forget everything! :-) Scott

Hi All! Count me as one who had to put serious, consistent carving on the back burner for the past few years due to family and work commitments. :-( I just spent 2 days, though, at Copper Mountain, CO carving my face off for the first time this year (woot!) It was absolutely glorious. Everyone in Colorado is griping about what a crappy winter it's been there, but it's WAY better than what we've had in Oregon (hopefully that's changing now). After exhausting myself on some steep, long blues, I discovered a super-long, wide, and (most importantly) empty green slope that was perfect for just doing run after run to relearn and work on my technique. This slope was a little steep for a green, so it was easy to carry good speed all the way down. I did 8-9 runs on this same slope...until my legs just didn't have any gas left. I noticed afterward that my rear leg was a lot more sore than my front—and wondering if this is normal? Or if this is a sure sign I'm not distributing my weight evenly enough on both legs? I know it's not because my front leg is in better shape—though I haven't been carving, I've been doing a ton of hiking and biking—so no reason one leg would be in better shape than the other... Scott Eugene, Oregon

Hi All: I know this is ancient history, but I have a pair of TD-1's that are still going strong and work well for me (maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but these work great for me!). Alas, the little wire springs that hold the rear bails up/forward have worn out and become "flaccid." This makes it a pain to get back into the bindings (I have to reach down and hold up the bail while I slide my boot heel under it). I did contact Bomber...but figured I'd post up here too while waiting to hear from them—just in case anyone knows of a source for replacement springs that will work? Thanks! Scott

Here's what I hope to find somewhere at Tahoe, LOL Alas, this video was shot at a resort in Japan—but it represents my IDEAL carving run. :-)

Hi All: I'm going to have one day in the Lake Tahoe area (with a free place to stay in Incline Village—woohoo!) next week on Friday (maybe Saturday too—not sure). I've never been to Tahoe before so have no clue which of the seemingly countless resorts in that area offer the best carving runs? And in case my definition of "best carving runs" is different than others, I'll describe: My perpetual carving dream is what I experienced many years ago at SES in Aspen—Snowmass in particular: groomed slopes that went on forever, and (most importantly) many of the slopes were a quarter-mile wide! (So TONS of room to carve back and forth across the slope.) That's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my drift. Oh, and no mobs with long lift lines, please. LOL (I know—probably not possible around Tahoe.) So any advice or recommendations is much appreciated! (Best wide carving slopes, smallest mobs.) I'm willing to drive too. Though I'll be staying in North Tahoe, I don't mind getting up early and driving south if it's worth it. Thanks! Scott PS - Are any of the little resorts worth going to? (Boreal, Diamond Peak, etc.) I ask because they're a lot cheaper. (I'm still kinda shocked at the $150-$160 lift ticket prices at the big places.)

Forgot to add to my post above: if anyone has tips for how to quickly get up again after falling in deep powder, I'd love to hear them! Because it seems to me to be a bit like getting up on a slalom water ski after you've dropped the tow rope and the boat is gone. (Damn near impossible in deep powder!) Scott

Well, it's been an experience. I put my plates on my freeride board and rode that way yesterday. It helped---by late yesterday I was getting some decent carves and feeling like I knew what I was doing. But that was also because the snow backed off and the slopes got more packed-down. This morning we arrived to find another foot of powder had fallen overnight. I took the lift up to do a run down a blue/green combination. Deep powder at the top and the side thirds of the slopes. I barreled into it, tried to stay loose, and promptly fell. It took 5-7 minutes of exhausting flailing to get back up. After another minute or two of enjoying the silent gliding through powder I fell again...and spent 10 minutes flailing to get up again. Recovering from falls took the fun out of it. I know the only way to get good at it is to keep doing it, but it's definitely frustrating (at age 53 with years of carving experience) to feel like a total beginner again. :-( Maybe some who've carved on ice their whole lives take to pow like a fish to water...but not me. I'm still dreaming of acres of perfect corduroy, such as I experienced at SES several years ago in Aspen. Granted, many Mt. Bachelor regulars have assured me that Bachelor is definitely not always covered in deep powder---and that sometimes it's nothing but corduroy. So I'll come back and keep trying! I'll give powder another chance...but I don't think it's a stretch to call it a different sport, and not unlike the difference between mountain biking and road biking (and while some bikers do both, roadies tend to stay roadies and MTBers tend to stay MTBers!). Scott

Great info---and it makes perfect sense that you can't really "carve" in deep loose stuff (which is why I was such debris the first day). It's worth mentioning that if 99% of your experience is on icy boilerplate in the Mid-Atlantic region, trying to ride in powder is pretty much a completely different sport--and I feel like I'm starting from scratch. Very humbling! (Like paddling whitewater the first time when all you've ever done is paddle flatwater your whole life.) My plates are on my freeride board now---so I'm ready to try again with that setup tomorrow! (My board is a circa 2007 Rossignol Premier 159; it's really wide, so I suspect it ought to do reasonably well in powder.) Scott

Latest from Bachelor: pretty much the whole mountain is shut down due to raging high winds, so we're skipping today (had a good time with the tots just hauling them up the hill a short distance and letting them ski down). I did one short hike-up run with my softboots and was not into it---they actually weren't as comfortable as my hardboots, and softboot bindings were totally Rube Goldberg after being used to plates. I might rent a powder board for tomorrow, but either way I'm definitely going with plates on the freeride board! Scott

Thx for the replies everyone---and awesome vid Philw! Was that at Bachelor? (Don't remember seeing any helicopters there...) And were you riding in hardboots or soft? You are now officially my inspiration, LOL I think today's plan will be to give my freeride board a try (although I honestly don't know whether it's a freeride or freestyle board? But it's far wider than my carving board. What I'm still not sure of is whether I should put my plates on the freeride board? Or just ride in softboots with similar angles? Depending on how today goes, I might rent a powder board for tomorrow. Stay tuned for another report on my powder flailing! Scott