FTA2R Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 hey all, the shop decided they wanted to keep the board after all, so i never got it. nevertheless, i'm thinking of buying my 2nd alpine board. currently i have 1 alpine board, a Burton Alp 157.5. I've only ridden it a handful of times (5-10), and I'm still def. a newb, but are there any other boards that you all recommend? would an ultra prime be too much for me? i know it says for "wide open terrain," but.... keep in mind our dinky local hill is southern PA, usually crappy conditions, takes about 5-10 min to get down a run, i do plan to go out west more, though. also, i'm not looking to break the bank, dont' think i'm ready for the Donek FC yet, financially or riding-wise. how long did you all stick with yoru first alpine board? perhaps I'm underestimating the Alp? --- Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derf Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 I kept my first alpine board 3 years (1998-2001), then I sold it because I hated it too much (155 race board, too short and too stiff). I spent one winter with no alpine setup, just a freestyle setup, and I regreted it a LOT!. Then I got a freecarve (longer -166- and softer than the other one), and I found it to be an amazing board. I only have one alpine board, but I only ride 5-8 times every winter, so one is enough for me. I prefer to be good with it and know it well. The bottom line is: since you are a newbie and don't ride much every winter, one board i enough. Learn to be good on it and progress as much as you can with it. If you get bored with it, really don't like it or feel that you have reached a sort of "plateau", then you can get another one. This is the best way to have fun, progress and not spend too much. Knowing the people here, you get a couple of very different answers! Hope this helps. Derf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Originally posted by Barry hey all, the shop decided they wanted to keep the board after all, so i never got it. nevertheless, i'm thinking of buying my 2nd alpine board. currently i have 1 alpine board, a Burton Alp 157.5. I've only ridden it a handful of times (5-10), and I'm still def. a newb, but are there any other boards that you all recommend? would an ultra prime be too much for me? i know it says for "wide open terrain," but.... keep in mind our dinky local hill is southern PA, usually crappy conditions, takes about 5-10 min to get down a run, i do plan to go out west more, though. also, i'm not looking to break the bank, dont' think i'm ready for the Donek FC yet, financially or riding-wise. how long did you all stick with yoru first alpine board? perhaps I'm underestimating the Alp? --- Barry I have a Burton Ultraprime 162 as my first board (I've ridden it about 6 days like you) - unless you were a complete beginner before switching to alpine (rode for 8 years at roughly 25-30 days a year - and consider myself advanced or at least upper intemediate), I seriously doubt that you would find the Ultraprime to be too much board for you. I've ridden an old Prior 4x4 169 and a 2003 4x4 174 and found those to be more difficult to handle (the 169 because it's was old and beaten up, the 174 cm because it is rather long for a 145 lbs person like me). Out of the three, I found the Burton to be the easiest to ride, note this doesn't mean it's a great board and that you should buy it... or that it is significantly different from the Alp (I'm told it's stiffer). I've posted it before for advice, but here are some videos the first two are on the Burton. The third is on the Prior 4x4. As you can see I had a much easier time carving "relatively" tighter turns with the Burton and that it clearly isn't that unforgiving as my technique needs a lot of work. That run is medium width, but short (maybe takes 5 minutes at most) so I think it match well to what you see on the East (but I haven't been riding on in the East for 3 years now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Make sure to compare the sidecut radius of whatever you may purchase to what you already have. Here's an article that discusses the many ways boards are measured: http://bomberonline.com//articles/how_to_buy_snowboard.cfm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 easy board to ride I think the large one had a sidecut just under 12 meters they feel schetchy on ice though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlpentalRider Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Check e-bay for the Burton Speeds. Me and a buddy bought the 168 length for around $120, awesome deal! We tested them out at Timberline a few weeks ago and love them. I think that board for the pricepoint can't be beat especially if you are new. It will give you something decent to ride until you get good. Once you get good on the burton, I would recommend demoing as many boards as you can before buying your "keeper". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTA2R Posted July 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 I have a feeling that would be too much for me at this point. keep in mind our conditions are average at best, decent coy/groomers are pretty rare (at whitetail, at least) and slopes are frequently semi crowded to crowded with a lot of jerkoffs who don't ride safe and lack courtesy (read: collisions are sorta common on this hill! lol) perhaps i'll start going more on weekdays thx for the suggestion, though. I will definitely do some reading on it. seems to me that the burton UP is definitely at least a step of from teh Alp. --- Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 Barry, I started alpine on a 159cm Rossignol FC. The next step was a hard setp on a 173cm twin-tip board. Finally, I ended up on riding 178cm and above alpine FC decks exclusively. I kept using a longer board each successive season. The reasoning was more stability at speed, more dampening and less chatter. Each season as my technique has improved the added length has proven to be a worthy ally. I still enjoy the little 159 Rossi on race days and staccato turns on colder days. Finally, I rode for several powder days on a 198cm Undertaker and plates this past season and kept thinking: "I wonder if a 215cm or 225cm would be better?" Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.oldsnowboards.com Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 A fellow rider really summed it up last year while riding up on the chair lift. There are so few ways to learn good carving tech. , few areas offer alpine lessons or rentals. You really need to serve an "Apprenticeship" , hook up with a seasoned rider who has a positive out look and patience. As you can tell by the conversations here on BOL, most of the guys that love alpine snowboarding also love to share it. Seek and your teacher will find you. Look around and watch for another rider to hang out with. If you never see another alpine rider , get of as much video as you can, read all the BOL FAQs, then get out there and log as much time as possible on the mountain. The board is important , however time on the hill on ANY alpine board is better than NOT. Your energy and desire will take you far. Enjoy!! PS Get the video camera out , have someone take photos of you riding, then compare to the photos you see. I am sure you will get plenty of positive feedback from the guys here if you post them. Next best thing to being there!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 I spent too many years on a small alpine setup. My first board was a 156cm Santa Cruz Race board. Small boards can be hard to bend (carve) when you don't already know the carving feeling. I then bought a Burton Coil (a bit softer than the Speed) thinking that I could ease into carving...that didn't work either. Then, bought a used 168 Ultra Prime and that is when carving started to work for me. Funny thing is that a very experience carver was in the store at the time trying to convince me to buy the UP or Factory Prime instead of the Coil. The UP proved to be the best choice. Later, I sold the UP and bought other carving boards. Last year, I added a bearly used UP to my current quiver. I never rode the 162cm UP, but the 168cm is not too big a board to consider. Anything in the 160's is a good choice for new carvers. Good luck, Hugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.