So how do I ride this thing?

[hockey2]

I've been riding softboot for 19 years and I'm ready to try out my Alpine board. How much different is this going to be that my board that I ride now?

I've always ridden with both feet angled as far forward as I could get them, I guess I've always been a closet Alpine rider...

I've been watching a lot of video's on Youtube trying to learn the technique before I get out on the hill.

Any help you guys could give me would be appreciated.

[cail]

check out these links:

http://www.alpinecarving.com/

http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/welcome_center.cfm

for me it was a whole new experience. i just headed out and went down the hill over and over trying to get it right. i spent a bunch of runs just working on a single edge, either heelside or toeside turns. i bit my pride and spent a day on the bunnyslope trying to connect turns and transition right, cause i was struggling on the slopes to get it all down. once i was comfortable i took it to the greens. i've been hooked ever since my first trench :D

[D-Sub]

Fast and hard, baby. Fast and hard.

[tex1230]

"Go that way very fast. If anything gets in your way, Turn!"

[pebu]

I have a feeling if you're a closet hardbooter that you'll have no troubles transitioning. I went from soft boots at 7* and 0 to ski boots at around 60*... If you're linking turns now, you shouldn't have any troubles linking with hardboots. And if you've been studying the whole theory of it, which it sounds like you have, again, you should have that much easier of a time. Just go for it.

[Pow]

it might be a little awkward going from toe and heel to side and side, because with the slightly steeper angles you'll be using the side of your foot more than you used to.

[Mike T]

Start on the bunny slope, and work your way up. I had at least 200 days on softies before I got into hardboots, and still needed to play on the bunny slopes and beginner runs first. Welcome to hardbooting and welcome to Bomberonline!

[BadBrad]

I was a closet hardbooter too. I used a Kemper hybrid boot that was a hard shell on the bottom but laced at the top. I would lace them very tight. I used 3-strap bindings and always liked the shin strap very tight, and I liked pretty steep angles, even on a freestyle board -- something like 45/40 degrees. So when I went to hard boots and plate bindings it felt just right to me.

[SEJ]

Welcome. I also was a softie "closet carver" When I was beginning a guy named Rissely gave me a pointer that really helped. When making a right hand turn, put your left hand on your front boot and visa versa for a left hand turn. Doing it helps to get your weight forward and low. Patience. You don't make the board turn, you put it on edge and let it turn. YES, you will pick up speed coming down the fall line, but you will lose that speed as you CARVE across the hill, and back up if needed.

This is very simplistic, and there is a much greater depth of knowledge here, but it REALLY helped me start to put it together.