ncapriot Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Took a long break from boarding (10 yrs), but was all about carving on courdery with my rossi throttle back in the day. Recently got back into the sport and headed west on a Burton Supermodel. The whole time I was wishing I was on a hrd boot set up. Living on the east coast, I have never encountered more than a few inches of fresh snow on my alp board. Im just wondering what alpine boards are like to ride in pow. Oh yeah, im heading to Snowbird and will be with some softies who will want to ride pow if possible. If it were up to me Id stick to the groomers. Can I survive in deep snow, or will I have to ride solo on the groomers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex1230 Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 plenty of us ride hardboots in powder. Juse move you bindings back a little and you'll be fine. It really depends on the board - I tried to ride a Rossi 18 in 2+ feet one time and failed miserably...but I took a Madd 170 out in 18" and had a blast... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 There are all-mountain carving boards now that work great in powder and rip the groomers. Check out the Coiler All-Mountain, Donek Axxess and Prior 4WD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncapriot Posted February 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 should I consider picking up a different deck that is longer? Looking at a 171 burton amp...pretty old but in new condition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 The Amp was a lousy board even in its day. And we have come a loooong way since then. If you're serious about wanting to get back into hardboots, money spent on a cheap compromise now will be money wasted when you realize you want the real deal later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call me jack Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 if you can swing the cash, just get a all mountain board. theres no reason the boots should have any effect on the boards abillity to apply correct tensel pressure (abillity to sink into the snow or flow over) to the snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ur13 Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 The Amp was a lousy board even in its day. And we have come a loooong way since then. If you're serious about wanting to get back into hardboots, money spent on a cheap compromise now will be money wasted when you realize you want the real deal later. Sound advice Jack. Sound advice indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 if you can swing the cash, just get a all mountain board. theres no reason the boots should have any effect on the boards abillity to apply correct tensel pressure (abillity to sink into the snow or flow over) to the snow. Do you mean an all-mountain carving board? Because all-mountain freeride boards generally suck at carving with hardboots. And it's "tensile". If you're going to masquerade as an engineer, ya gotta spell the terms right! ;) ;) ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncapriot Posted February 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Good point...ran into similiar problems when I started mountain biking..Got crappy equip to start and basically threw it away after a month. Problem is with baby on the way and a serious mountain bike race addiction the wife might not like the idea of getting a pricey setup. Sounds like the Prior, Donek Axxess, or Coiler are the way to go. Now for some size questions? I am 5'9" 175 lbs, and based on how I rode the soft setup I rented in Big Sky, I am pretty much as good as I was back in the day..looks like board tech has changed a bit since then. My Rossi is a 159 i think. Should I be looking in the 170 size range? Please excuse the stupidity of my questions..kinda funny how outdated you get after taking a little break from the sport. thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call me jack Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Do you mean an all-mountain carving board? Because all-mountain freeride boards generally suck at carving with hardboots.And it's "tensile". If you're going to masquerade as an engineer, ya gotta spell the terms right! ;) ;) ;) i sat here for about 3 minutes debating how to spell that actually. lol and yeah, i did mean a all-mountain carver and while were at it; can some one suggest a board size for some one who weighs 145lbs and is 5' 10"? no ever has the same dimmesions as i do when this stuff some up and i don't really wanna make a new tread for it lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 Sounds like the Prior, Donek Axxess, or Coiler are the way to go. Now for some size questions? I am 5'9" 175 lbs, and based on how I rode the soft setup I rented in Big Sky, I am pretty much as good as I was back in the day..looks like board tech has changed a bit since then. My Rossi is a 159 i think. Should I be looking in the 170 size range? Yes. 167 to 174. and while were at it; can some one suggest a board size for some one who weighs 145lbs and is 5' 10"? no ever has the same dimmesions as i do when this stuff some up and i don't really wanna make a new tread for it lol. Depends on what you want to do and your foot size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buell Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 and while were at it; can some one suggest a board size for some one who weighs 145lbs and is 5' 10"? no ever has the same dimmesions as i do when this stuff some up and i don't really wanna make a new tread for it lol. I am almost exactly your size. You can PM me for more info or start a new thread giving us more detail about what you are after in a board. Proper flex is going to be your biggest challenge. Most boards that are built for an average sized rider are going to be stiffer than you need (want). I am currently on Coilers custom built for my weight and riding style. There is nothing like having the right flex! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeW Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 At one time during race/gate training at Copper, it was on a real deep powder days, and we all had to go thru a section of deep pow to get to the gates. Man, I have to say the senstation of hauling ass on my Madd 158 in deep powder is -different- but FUN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nine40 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Back in the early to mid 90's all I had was alpine boards.... and I rode a lot of powder. The old F2 Beamer 168 was an awesome freeride board. Great for dropping cornices, threading trees, and the base was bomb-proof. Sims Con 166 (a slightly softer MFR) and the MFR 175 also saw a lot of out-of-bounds powder time. The burton Alp 169 was another one I really enjoyed in the powder. Basicly it wasn't until alpine boards got really narrow and stiff that I stopped taking them into the trees. I think any wider softer alpine board with a reasonable rise to the tip will be fine. The old Beamer had a pretty high nose on it which made it work really well. On the other hand, the old Burton Supermodel 174 and 181 were fantastic in powder and trees, and were stiff enough to carve really well on the groomers (not so much on ice though). Personally, I think you can stick hard boots on pretty well anything and have fun. I think the biggest issue is getting the boots soft enough. I would have the upper half of the boot so loosely done up that the buckles would be open by the bottom of the run. That was usually about right for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 ... Recently got back into the sport and headed west on a Burton Supermodel. The whole time I was wishing I was on a hrd boot set up. Living on the east coast, I have never encountered more than a few inches of fresh snow on my alp board. Im just wondering what alpine boards are like to ride in pow. Oh yeah, im heading to Snowbird and will be with some softies who will want to ride pow if possible. If it were up to me Id stick to the groomers. Can I survive in deep snow, or will I have to ride solo on the groomers? Well the old Burton Supermodel was the "standard" powder board for operators like Wiegele. Snowbird snow is a tad dryer, but it's skier-pisted so it's not quite the same thing. I would imagine that the new Supermodels would also work well. I rode the old one for years in bottomless powder with hard boots. No problems with that. I have also ridden alpine boards - GS and Slalom - in heli-accessed powder. GS boards can be ridden but are hard work. Slalom boards... well I didn't have to walk down, but that's a really dumb idea. Powder boards (with hard boots of course) are much more suited to powder. No surprise there. At a resort though, even Snowbird, you can ride anything you like as the bottom's not that far down most of the time. The more fresh there is the less fun it'll be is all. I generally take a powder board and a piste board where ever I go so I have it all covered. And one good pair of hard boots of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncapriot Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Im gonna take a 172 lib tech litigator with me. My plan is to try it first in hard boots and hopefully stick to that...if I dont like it, I'll put softies on it and see how it goes. Ive tried something like this before in the past and basically always wanted the opposite of what I was riding...the grass is always greener...I do tend to over think things, thought. The problem may be more mental than equipment based. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I notice you showed interest in a Coiler AM. It's a fine choice for what you want, but check first that the target weight is close to your own. If you get one built too stiff it might be a bear for you in the soft stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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