icebiker

Wow, didn't know about that site...very cool. DIdn't see these specific colored ones but guesssing these are somewhere around 10 years old. Thanks for the link!

Thanks to this thread...(post 32) http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/41482-what-do-you-ride-on-pow-days/page-2#entry422749 ...I put a search on eBay back in March seeking softer Deeluxe/Raichle boots (for powder/bumpy/late day chop)) than my current 225's. I wasn't optimistic given that these boots are hard enough to come by, let alone in my size (MP31), of a softer vs stiff orientation, and in good condition. But lo and behold something popped up the other day. I am now the proud owner of these puppies: These Le Mans are in fantastic shape. Apparently only one season of use, and everything works. Liners are still plump and not packed out. And the price was a steal. So I'm trying to figure out when they were made. After researching on Carver's Almanac, I'm guessing at least pre-2007 (when Deeluxe went to the track series). I also see a mention that some of the red tongues were stiff? In any case, any input on about when they were made? Thanks

Not sure if this has been posted on here, but this is pretty sweet. Check out 5:10, 8:00 and 9:30 for good footage that mimics some aspects of hardbooting.

Big thumbs up!!

Love the angles....awesome production as always. I assume some of those "from above" clips were filmed from a drone as there didn't appear to be any chairlifts involved (no shadows, towers, etc).

Nice!!!

Thanks Mike, PM replied. Note, I already re-installed the yellow buckle strap from the Torques back onto the Flex that they came from. There are Torque-specific replacement buckles on the spare baseplates you can install on the Torques.

Good luck Michelle and thanks for all the help with my BOL purchases over the years. Big shoes to fill, indeed!

LIke your Save the Stick decal ....have one on my truck!

All SOLD From left to right: Flex Bindings from my 1990 M8. Torque Bindings M/L circa 1997 System Bindings M/L circa 1995, converted with Torque highbacks Also includes two Torque baseplates with straps and various bolts/nuts Binding pamphlets. Some notes: The Flex bindings are fully functional with the exception that the Right one is missing the middle ratchet strap. That strap is on the Left Torque binding (I had cannibalized it at the time when my Torque ratchet strap broke). You can use the spare Torque baseplates to install a spare ratchet strap on the Torques and place the Flex ratchet back on the Flex bindings. The baseplates both come with the requisite steel reinforcement plates for the heel-side mounting screws. I could only find 7 of the original 10 screws, though. You'll also note some surface rust on some of the fasteners. The Torque bindings are fully functional with the exception of the Right lean adjuster clip. The “hook” broke off years ago, so to keep the highback upright I installed a bolt and lock nut. Easily removed when you want, and the highback can then fold down. The System bindings are fully functional and come with a spare highback (non-strap version) as was the design back then. Of the spare Torque baseplates, the Right one has a crack at the mounting hole for the middle strap, so I wouldn’t use that baseplate. Just including it for the parts. $120 for the lot + shipping. Happy to send more pics if you like.

Ditto that!!! I had the pleasure of meeting Ryan last month at Breck by sheer chance....really cool guy and fascinating riding style. Props again, Ryan!

Nice! Reminds of Tom Sims' run in the James Bond movie way back....only better!

Thanks for the input guys. @ BlueB I'll try that. The Ride has a rather wide distribution of the inserts, even between the inner most holes, and I already have the front binding as far back as possible, so my only option is to move the rear binding back (thus widening my stance even more). But it's worth a shot. My angles on the Ride are 50/45 (vs 55/50 on my Donek), but I could go lower if need be since the Ride is pretty wide (26 cm). I already have a 7 deg Burton cant on the rear, but perhaps some inward cant on the front would help? @Dave: Interesting. I had assumed 225's were the softest available (though I realize the Raichles to which you refer are older models made pre-Deeluxe change). I rented a pair of Raichle's about 15 years ago in Switzerland (can't recall what #, but they were the first HB's I'd ever tried, and as I recall they were very comfy and rideable in the pow for someone who'd never tried them before). Going to be difficult to track some down in a 31, but I'll look around. I'd also been looking around for some mountaineering boots (like the Koflach's Damian Sanders used to ride), but again difficult to find in my size. @Duke: One thing I have seen is that current SB's are much higher up the shin than my 20 yr old Airwalks, similar to the shell height of HB's. As such, my current concern about not being able to flex my lower leg at the ankle while in HB's may persist in newer SB's. I had considered the clicker idea (or more recently the Kwicker that's been featured on these forums recently....recall issues notwithstanding). Will give this some more thought after I play around with BlueB's advice. Thanks again!

This is a timely question, since I've had the fortune of having two relatively recent powder days...one in VT (6") and another in CO a week later (approx 12" in the bowls)...but found I was having trouble getting enough flex in my rear boot to allow me to get my weight further back, so I'm looking for some advice. My "soft/bumpy/powder" set up is a Ride Yukon 172 with Race Plates and my Deeluxe 225s. Even with the "give" in the Race Plates compared to my SW SI's, and even with the soft flexing 225's and even with the 225's set to powder mode and upper buckle loosened, I find the hardboot set up a bit of a struggle when the snow is deep and/or I need to whip the tail around on toe-side. So, I tried going back to my Airwalk softboots and Torque 3-straps. The Airwalks are a low-cuff boot, so getting weight backward was not an issue, but the rest of the ride was horrible. After 4 years in hardboots I've become so used to the firm connection HB's have to the board I couldn't hold a good edge and felt like I was boarding on marbles the whole time. So, I was wondering a) if my softboot problems are tied to 20-year old boots and bindings or b) if I need to simply stick with the 225/Race Plate set up and adjust my technique. Would rather not invest in new SB's and SB bindings if I can help it, given the relative infrequency of powder. Seems like most on here have no problems with HB/plates in powder (best evidenced by PhilW's sweet video of heli-runs at Revelstoke) so if anyone's got any "HB-in-powder" tips, I'm all ears.

Argentina....Las Lenas if you are focused primarily on boarding, Bariloche if you want to spend some down time in town (restaurants, variety, etc). I rode Bariloche in Sept about 25 years ago and, while it was great in the upper 2/3rds of the mountain, it was tail-end of the season so top-bottom runs were scarce. Looked into going this coming summer but decided to go to CO this winter instead. But advice I rec'd was to go early Aug (late July is Brazil's school holiday and it gets crowded). Here's a link that might help....from what I've heard from a work colleague whose wife is from Chile and has skied Chile and Argentina, Ushuaia is the best of them all, but it's even more of a haul to get there from the US than Bariloche or Las Lenas. http://www.powderhounds.com/SouthAmerica/Argentina.aspx

I've had back issues for over 20 years (2 herniated discs, 2 bulging, all in the lower L vertebrae, including L5 S1). I have tried everything but surgery: meds, chiro, steroid injections, accupuncture, nothing worked, until my 3rd physical therapist posited that my issue wasn't tied to the discs, but to poor muscle tone in my legs, butt and trunk. She introduced me to a daily stretching routine, along with regular use of a foam roller, and it has worked WONDERS over the past 3 years. I am able to ride (mountain bike (on very techical terrain) and snowboard) with no issues now, whereas in the past I'd knock my back out of shape pretty much every 3-6 months. The analogy she used was to think of your spine as a flagpole, with four cables holding it upright. Each cable represents the muscles and fascia in your front, back, left and right. If any of these cables has a different level of tension than the others, the flagpole (or the other muscles) become stressed trying to keep the pole upright. Key is to keep them in the same relative state. As someone with a desk job (sitting), whose main form of exercise is biking (sitting), many of my leg and lower-trunk muscles are tight as guitar strings. So now I stretch those daily. Most of my stretching is done on my legs (quads, hamstrings), trunk (QL, psoas) and glutes including piriformis. My rolling is focused on legs (IT Band, glutes). The roller hurts like heck at first, but what it's doing is breaking down the "stiction" between my muscles and my fascia. If these don't glide smoothly, the affected area tugs on other muscles in the area, causing (eventually) spasms, which in turn lock up my back. Definitely give rollers a try....$40 at your local sporting good store. That, and a professional massage once or twice a month..preferably someone skilled in myofascial or sports massage. Hope this helps.

What we need is a form of "adult swim" for the slopes :-)

Hey Teach, what mid-week days do you ride Camelback? I could take a day off sometime week of March 9th, have some flexibility. Anyone else available? NickG? JT? JP? Bueller?

Haven't been to PA yet this year but given the season has been good I do plan to. Would love to meet up with you and other area hardbooters there or similar Pocono mtn (Blue, etc). I plan to take a mid-week day off sometime soon. Just back from CO so catching up at office, but could likely do in the next couple of weeks. Will post up in the PA forum if so.

Hey teach, interested in the Donek if Bruincounselor defers

Looks like a fantastic (fantastique?) time! Thanks for sharing your pics. I myself am looking forward to ECES next year, would be great to meet more fellow hardbooters.

After many years on a Supermodel 174 I moved to hardboots and found they overpowered the ol Burton, so after much research on BOL and with a ton of great input from many on here, I called Sean and ordered an Axxess 172. I wanted something turny since, like you, I tend to ride narrow east coast trails (VT, NY, etc). This is the one and only thing I've ever had tailored to me (not even all the suits and bikes I own are tailored to me ;-). To say Sean nailed it is an understatement. From the very first turn it felt great. Damp enough in the nose to cut through the chop, but enough camber in the midsection to hold a good edge, and enough taper to release easily. Stock VSCR for this length is 10-12 IIRC, but I ordered it with 9-11. A few years from now as I get better at angulation/turn initiation, I may go for something with a longer SCR, and a longer length, but for now it suits me really well. I have big feet (31 MP) so it was built with a 26cm waist. Back then I was riding shallower angles. I'm now at 55/50 and probably could have gone for a 23.5 waist. I'll be keeping all these things in mind for my next board, but in the meantime, I can't recommend an Axxess enough for our terrain. Hope this helps.

Our trip to Breck and Vail was fantastic....two days of low 40's, soft but by no means slushy snow, 2 days of snow (7" mid-mountain, up to my knees in the bowls) and one day of packed powder. No complaints at all. We went out that way since it was a treat for my son (his HS graduation gift...he'd never skied out west before....he ate up the bowls...kid in a candy store). But with all the snow over here in the east we're hoping for an extended season.

4 days at Breck so far, and had 2.5 days of packed powder and grooms to further practice your tips. Finding my self much more confident, turning quicker, and more comfortable on narrower/steeper pitches. As I dropped in on one particular run (steep blue...equivalent to some of the blacks back home), a voice in my head (most likely Nck's or a chorus of several of you) told me "commit!, commit!" and lo and behold my turns came around quick and with great edge hold. Have to admit it was a bit daunting, and my legs weren't strong enough to keep it up forever. We've also had a bunch of snow the past 24 hours. Not much carving today...more like surfing. Dropped into lower Serenity bowl today and fond myself knee deep all the way down....amazing. Heading to Vail tomorrow for one last day before heading back. @ Beckmann: As with the piñata, the success of the endeavour is affected by one's angulation. Fixed if for you ;-) @ Rob Stevens: Your toes probably come around more slowly because we all tend to be back foot biased on the toes. With little pressure on the front half of the board, the sidecut isn't as engaged as it could be. It's opposite for heels, where it's much more natural to be front biased. The problem there can be a nice strt, with a wash out at the end. Knowing this, you can move the board under you as you go through turns. Note I'm thinking move the board under you... Not moving your center of mass. Pull the board under you so you're over the front foot to start, progress through a mid stance at the apex, finishing with a feeling of being over the back foot. This makes sense. i found pressuring the rear foot more on toe turns helps with the edge hold through the turn, but makes for longer radius turns unless I weight the front first (which is why in my original post I felt I needed to work more on leaning forward at turn initiation). Will keep at it.

Thanks for the replies all. We ended up not having the options I thought we did (son's school schedule dictates), so we're going for it. Hope to see some of you out there amongst the teeming masses of humanity ;-) Blue jacket, grey pants, black Donek.