Carving on a freeride board

[guesswho]

I have a 158cm burton elite freeride setup with soft boots. Is it possible? Is my board just way too short (I'm a smidge under 5'8)? Are the hardboots absolutely necessary? I am talking low speed carving here, nothing serious. I am still a beginner and just bought this setup so I cant afford to change it now. But something about carving just calls to me, lol. It looks freakin' awesome.

I have tried it at home and it is possible to angle the bindings toward the nose and lean them forward for a deeper knee bend. Am I over simplifying? I admittedly know very little about alpine.

Also, it might be important for you guys to know I live on the east coast in NYC, so I can only get to smaller mountains with mostly man-made snow, and maybe occasional trips to new england.

[JJFluff]

Carving can be done on anyboard actually. Some boards are just more suitable than others. Yours, when ridden correctly, can carve it up. Give'r hell.

[pebu]

Ditto. It's a good transition between skidding and hardbooting.

[lonerider]

I have a 158cm burton elite freeride setup with soft boots. Is it possible? Is my board just way too short (I'm a smidge under 5'8)? Are the hardboots absolutely necessary? I am talking low speed carving here, nothing serious. I am still a beginner and just bought this setup so I cant afford to change it now. But something about carving just calls to me, lol. It looks freakin' awesome.

I have tried it at home and it is possible to angle the bindings toward the nose and lean them forward for a deeper knee bend. Am I over simplifying? I admittedly know very little about alpine.

Also, it might be important for you guys to know I live on the east coast in NYC, so I can only get to smaller mountains with mostly man-made snow, and maybe occasional trips to new england.

You can carve virtually on any board, just some boards will carve better. Your Burton Elite is not too short in length, but it does have a rather short sidecut radius (7.67) which will let you do tight carves on mellow slopes (blues). Once you start charging down faster intermediate and expert runs (blacks and double blacks) it will want to try and turn too tightly for the given speed.

If you want a board that does it all - check out the Madd TT158 (www.madd1.com). It has a 8.5m sidecut and excellent edgehold on the firm, icy conditions you will see at Windam, Hunter, and Mountain Creek. In my opinion to really carve nicely you will need something was over an 8m sidecut.

Hardboots give you more power and so it is easier to carve hard, but again you can carve with regular boots as well (although you will eventually probably move towards hardboots). Read the articles on the welcome page (http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/welcome_center.cfm) for more information.

For basic setup off your bindings, try something like 33/30 stance, about 19" apart (it really depends on your leg length, something close to the length between your heel and knee joint, adjust until comfortable).

[Przemek/Brooklyn]

I agree carving is possible on any board and any setup. On softies you should try early morning and avoid icy slopes. That is when really you can feel difference ; the ice. I am considering myself a skilled carver and i ride both soft and hard but when there is ice (there is almost always ice on east coast especialy afternoon) carving on soft boots is vastly compromised. Hard boots with proper board and technique can cut thru ice like a knive.

I think here comes a big diffrence in opinions between east and west cost.

West cost people think you can carve almost the same on soft as on hard.

Sure but on the snow.

[pebu]

I feel a coastal brawl coming on...

[lonerider]

I feel a coastal brawl coming on...

Lol, well I grew up in upstate NY. I would say that people who grew up riding on the East coast know how to handle firm, icy conditions a lot better due to experience. Most west coaster would call frozen hardpack ice, which it is not. Many east coasters get a chip on their shoulder because people call their mountains small and flat.

It is definitely more difficult to carve on ice (smooth, shiny boilerplate) with softboots and a freeride setup, but it can be done if you have a good freeride board (like the Madd TT158 I mentioned), sharp edges, and some skill.

[Jrobb]

As other said you can do it on soft setups, even the board is less a limiting factor than the boots and bindings. I have stiff Nidecker Pro 800's and Salomon Diaoogues( not the stiffest boot ) and can carve decently. In fact I'm now just limited by my toe and heel overhang. I've found I can stand angles up to 27/21 F/B in this arrangement on my Arbor but past that I can't get the power I need on toeside. Plus my feet are like little princesses...if they get uncomfortable in any way from to omuch pressure...my day is over.

Check out the Bomber articles Norm, and NormII for some technique. I've found my main issue is trying to reach for the snow (which unweights my edge enough to start it skidding) rather than staying aligned over the edge to maintain pressure on it and keep it carving. When your'e riding focus on tipping your rear knee into your front knee and apply pressure via your shins instead of your toes. THis help me maintain carve on toeside. On heelside, I sit down a tad and keep my butt aligned with the edge to kep it carving.

J

[guesswho]

Thanks for the feedback guys, you've been a big help. Not only did you respond quickly, but in abundance. Sorry to tell you, but I am definitely coming back here with all my annoying newbie questions, lol.