Burton Safari identification help

[boardman73]

ahhh the good ole days:biggthump

[Jack M]

Jean confirmed me its from 1990 winter.. boards seems to be first PJ's...not sure i dont recognize them but its not safaris for sure.

As for the Safari comp II. Jean rides it full time in Canon surf and its a 1988 movie... so i think 1989 was the year between Safari and PJ, at least for Jean..

I'll give more info when i get them :)

Nils

It always seemed to me that Bauer and Nerva typically rode next year's prototypes for R&D and photo op's. There was one lone 171.5cm PJ in 1990 - this one:

The rest of the 1990 lineup was the three M's which were basically Safaris with new graphics and quadratic sidecuts. In 1991 there were 4 asym PJ's and 2 asym M's, but the M's had become freecarve boards while the PJ's were "race only" (0cm tail length! )

1989 (winter of '88-'89) was the year of the black and white Safari. Of this I am absolutely certain.

[Randy T.]

Are there pictures in post #28 from Nils? It sounds like there are but they aren't showing up for me, yet I see others like Jack and WW's. I noticed this same problem in TVR's board porn post. Anyone know what's going on?

[willywhit]

Are there pictures in post #28 from Nils? It sounds like there are but they aren't showing up for me, yet I see others like Jack and WW's. I noticed this same problem in TVR's board porn post. Anyone know what's going on?

randy - #28 links to here

http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jeannerva1hj8.jpg

not sure why you can't get there

here it is

I had to use tinypic cuz it's too big (271kb)

that Asym PJ 171 was my first real carving board

more pics !

tinypic won't work....doh

[Randy T.]

Willy,

I was able to see your pic, that was in post #27.

Is there a picture in the post from Nils?

[nils]

yes its a big size image with a few pics of Jean..not sure how to embed it in the forum here thu...

I'll try to get more pics from jean he still has lots of stuff :) but he got rid of the carving boots and plates long ago...I will have to drive to his place with a scanner and a huge hard drive :) He lives just near les arcs resorts, 2 hours drive from me.

Nils

[Randy T.]

Thanks for the info Nils. For some reason those aren't showing up for me. I assume it has something to do with my work PC. Strange thing is I can see the embedded image the Willy posted but the link to the site he poster is blocked my my work. I'll check this out when I get home to see if that solves it.

[willywhit]

yes its a big size image with a few pics of Jean..not sure how to embed it in the forum here thu...

I'll try to get more pics from jean he still has lots of stuff :) but he got rid of the carving boots and plates long ago...I will have to drive to his place with a scanner and a huge hard drive :) He lives just near les arcs resorts, 2 hours drive from me.

Nils

Nils,

you can email it to me and I'll tweak it if you like.Tinypic.com has been offline all afternoon.

Randy, I think your work PC blocks connecting to photo sharing sights. #27 is attached, not embedded or linked.

Mr Blake,

you're freaking me out with the old school carving stories, man.Can't wait to see some of the old footage. Got any Jose Fernandes ? that guy was a badass.

props to jack for the histoire

http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showpost.php?p=18092&postcount=3

[Jack M]

model year 1988 Safaris were rainbow zebra stripe, not black and white.

I believe the 87 Safari was the same. Yeah, if you were in the inner circle you could get protos or early releases of next-year boards with the next graphics, so it wouldn't surprise me if a few b&w safaris made it out onto the hill in winter/spring of '88.

Paul's post has a picture of the 1989 catalog. It shows the picture of the black & white Safaris. The '89 catalog contains no mention whatsoever of a production PJ (or any asym for that matter) at all. Any PJ on the hill in '89 was a proto or limited early release. Lucky you!

Thanks Willy, that post turned into this article.

edit... what the farg... my embedded picture keeps disappearing. I'll try to attach:

[Jack M]

You may be confusing the comp I (multi-colur)with the II and III (B&W) boards.

No, I know, the '89 Comp I was multicolor, but the stripes were jagged like the b&w Comp II and III. The '88 Safari, in my picture, had smooth stripes.

...The photo you've attached implies, erroneously, that the pictured boards were Burton's only offerings during those production years...notice it shows no '89 Safari, either.

The photo is from a timeline display that Burton had in its Burlington, VT factory store. I saw it in person. It simply displayed one example board from each year from about '77 to '04 or whenever it was up. I used that picture because it's the only picture of an '88 Safari of any size that I could find. The one in the picture appears to be about 175, and in any case definitely not a Comp I. I really don't think the "Comp" designations appeared until '89 anyway.

The multi-colour Comp I was available in '89 as well, albeit with a more aesthetically-pleasing stripe graphic and a decent (period) sidecut.

Agreed.

By '89 the first really nice (Purple) AIRs were out, many found them to be a superior slalom board than the period Comp I.

I think we're confusing the term "out". I'm only talking about production boards that any schmoe could purchase from a retailer, and when those boards were available. I think you're talking about when prototypes and team boards hit the slopes. Yes?

Production year 1989 Airs were black with a big B and a weird pattern that had stripes and lines and white silhouettes of airport ground crewmen. Fugly. Purple Airs with the big red "AIR" stretching the length of the board were production year 1990 (available in stores early fall, 1989).

[Randy T.]

Okay the problem does lie in my work PC because I can see all the pics at home. I love hearing the stories and hearing about some of the history, makes me wish I had gottin into boarding earlier. I converted from skiing in 92 on a Burton Air 6.2 after holding out for many years, but never looked back. And I cant believe I didn't even know what hard boots were until about 6 years ago.

Maybe I'll post my pic from retro day with the Safari and Elite when I get into work tomorrow. Good times.

[nils]

jack and william: there could be also different release dates for the safaris between europe and US since Jean was a proto test rider, and the factory in austria, he was often getting protos and pre-series were available earlier in here... I had my first serial board, that comp II in 1990, and it was 1 year old.. it was released then in France in the 88-89 winter, this i'm sure of... and the safari 1, to my memory, was available in the 87-88 winter... then the following season saw 1-2 model and the 3 GS model was available, but i remember rumors of that 3 big guy available also when the comp 2 was there..

So here it is

1987-1988 winter: comp 1 - 175cm ( colored zebra that jack has on pic at Burton's place)

1988-1989 winter: comp 1 - 175cm and 2 - 165cm( white zebra) and maybe 3 ( 175cm stiff baby)

Lets try to get info :) historians at work should interview everyone :)

William, when did you switch to Hot? did you ride for the US hot team?

I will see Serge Dupraz in a few because his son studies in my city so he comes sometimes, and try to get him lend me pics from this area... he told me funny stories about the first day he came to the US mt baker bank slalom race with his team, and burton and sims had his team disqualified ( they were carving and the others were not so it was cheating and they created a new category for them so B and Sims could still be ahead of their class :)

There should be an Old School category in this forum :)

Nils

safari motto: " Sintered base for speed " hehe :)

[nils]

well i did not realize the alpines aka Safaris and PJ were made in Vermont still, i thought the all alpine lines were already in austria 100%...

i've never seen here a VT made burton here they are all stamped made in austria...

Now that they quit alpine for good, the austrian factory that was working for burton has closed and sold all machines and knowledge is gone there too..

Never seen R&D safaris or pj boards either, just regular models...but i think there were more PJ protos made that safaris..the comp III was the ' big guys racing model so this one had more protos and length that i think the comp II did not have and was more used in stock version ( jean rides the stock in Canon surf movies)

N

[Jack M]

How could boards with a 1990 production year be available in stores in 'early fall, 1989'?

uhh, that's how it's always worked. You'll notice the Burton catalogs that hit stores and mailboxes in September (or even August) 2007 were marked 2008.

Burton dates their products like car manufacturers, not Microsoft ;)

Nils, we've already established that the production Comp I was an '89 model and was 160cm. At least in North America, I am sure.

[Willow 15]

I raced against Jean Nerva in January 1990 at Les Menuires in the National Vuarnet DE Surf De Neiges. In the super g i am sure he was using the first pj(the red one 7.1) and in the slalom a new pj 5, but can't be sure. I was riding a safari one which was 160 and a slalom board. From what i can rememder the safari 1 multi coloured ,2 black and white and 3 b+w were commercial available in the 87-88 season. After that came the pj 5,6and 7, i am not sure which country they came from but my 5 and 7 were samples and the quality was superb as i still have them. The id number on my 5 is 000000052, i cannot remember when i got them but i was riding them well before any shops had them. Incidentally Jean won the super g and Dennis Bertrand won the slalom, other riders included Eric Rey and Serge Vitelli. Ahh the good old days.

P.s will not discuss my position in the race but a time machine would have been helpful to get near Monsouir Nerva's time.

[Jack M]

From what i can rememder the safari 1 multi coloured ,2 black and white and 3 b+w were commercial available in the 87-88 season. After that came the pj 5,6and 7,...

Thank you for the corroboration.

It's funny how the folks who didn't ride the early models simply disavow their existence.

It's not corroboration if it's inaccurate ;)

North America: The black and white Safaris were available in the 88-89 season. See photo of 88-89 catalog in Paul's post. Pink and white PJ (pictured above) was available in the 89-90 season. Fully asym (nose + tail) "marble notebook" PJs with tails colored purple (PJ5, PJ5s), pink (PJ6), or green (PJ7) were available in the 90-91 season.

I rode them all. Heeeeuge Burton Boy here (recovering). :D

I don't disavow the existence of mid-season early release of next year's product. Burton does this a lot. However those boards are never in catalogs, and are limited availability.

[willywhit]

The regional Burton rep in Tahoe, "Laurent", was crestfallen when he saw his parent marque's top riders on his fatherland's premiere race board.

didn't Laurent recently get promoted to #1 at Burton ? Met him out west, nice guy. He was big into windsurfing, too. like almost 10 years ago :rolleyes:

[Jack M]

Just wanted to see you say it:

:DThere's your production year/riding year problem, then: The Retail PJ that I rode on in 1989 was simply a 1990 production year model.

The 'squared-off' tail-tip 2nd. gen PJ i rode in 1990 was a '91 prodcution year board.

This explains the schism inherent in the above posts.

yeah, I think we're arguing semantics.

And the production Comp I actually came in at least two actual lengths, according to country of origin and production run.

there was a 162 and a 159 comp I

interesting.

[nils]

i like spliting hairs too :)

thnx jack indeed forgot the comp I was 160... did not know there could have been a 159 and a 162 ( what are those 3 cm for???)

Denis bertrand is now head editor of Snowsurf magazine :)

N

[tex1230]

wow - i have a headache

williamblake - do I know you? were you up at donner with Jerry?

[tex1230]

think that was rob...

I don't remember a lot from back then but the riding was good...I just can't believe I wasted so many good riding days trying to shave 1/10th of a second off my time. in retrospect, I should have ridden more powder and less gates!

You still in tahoe? Hope you have a big friggin' pow stick ready for this monster that's hitting...

Heading for stratton tonight and soooo jealous of those who stayed on the left coast on weekends like this...

I remember you, we didn't hit it off too well

I had that effect on a lot of people back then...but when you're 20 and your chosen role models are Palmer, Sanders, Farmer, and Holmes, you can tend to be a jerk! now I'm only a jerk online - I've gotten much nicer in person! :D

edit:

Me and at least 2 other bomberonliners that I know of...

I remember Vlad (who hasn't posted here in a long time)- who else?

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

I have a Burton Safari Comp I (88'). It is the multiple color "zebra" pattern. I have only seen the black and white Comp II boards. Can anyone explain the difference in the models? Where these boards normall hard boot setups? Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

I see this type of request dozens of times a month, I do the best I can to provide information free of charge as time allows.

I am often asked why don't you label all the boards in the gallery with the "Year" and "Model".

Well , I did originally. When OSB was in it' infancy I set out to do just that.

Imediately I was deluged with corrections, many were not so kind.

This thread is a pretty good example of two things:

(1) Dates of snowboards can be difficult to pin down. Model years, production years, proto types, adds can all be used and offer differ.

(2) There is an amazing depth of "Old School" rider that lives withing our alpine community. I find it one more reason to remain among the wealth of knowledge here at BOL. "Ride On" , no matter what year it is

"Shred Ready" , Bryan of www.oldsnowboards.com

PS, You may find some old friends in the "Legends of Snowboarding" galleries of 2005 and 2006 , sorry they are not all labelled.

[tex1230]

One of your cohorts had a 200+ cm Safari proto- don't remember who it was but I saw him up on Donner Summit near the train tunnel jump with it in Feb/March '91 after the big storm that year

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

AMAZINGLY evocative photo-

THANK YOU!

{remember that at the VT. factory, many raceboards were manufactured w/safari Graphics...MANY different boards, including (and I know this is a bit of a conflict with something I posted earlier) mild-asym Safaris ().

They seemed to be one-offs manufactured during bad Labatt's binges. I made off with one originally ridden by Pete Salamanca (no, NOT Seminara...this was a team rider, not rep)...and for you people wjo know and caoch with Scott Palmer, he should be able to help ID some, as well. I recall seeing him on BIG safari DH protos. }

Jacoby told me about some of the 200cm+ DH boards that were built. (Burton)

Short story: Few years back. I spot MJ in the early big pow day line up at MHM , couple feet overnight. I can only see the tip of his board through the mob. I smile (knowing he often would ride an old sims on big pow days) , and smartly state, "Got the Blade 1800 out?" , He smirks/smiles as only the "JOKER" can and quietly says "2000". I actually paused at the top to hook up with him ( I never do that) , and although I techically did start out riding with Mike, my view was short lived as he rocketed down the face out of site. All I got was dust in the face and a fun memory.

Yes, I now have one in the collection.(SIMS 2000 Blade) They are MONSTERS!! Same model Kelley won numerous DH comps on.

[tex1230]

wb - shoot me an email at tex1230 at gmail dot com or turn on your email thru the forum. I'm in stratton or stowe about every other weekend...

You should come up to ECES if your foot is better.