MidWesterner needs advice- Going to Colorado

[wrecker69]

I am a snow boarder who likes carving. I live in Wisconsin and all I ever

carve on is hardpack groomed runs. I like hard boots and carving. My board

is an older race/all mt board.

My question is, will this board work out West on the Mountains? Or is it too stiff and narrow if I encounter powder?

My brother told me to bring two setups, but that is going to be too difficult.

Is there a board that is more forgiving on powder, that still is stiff enough

for hard boot carving? I seem to recall K2s El Dorado had a good reputation.

Also, should I go with soft boot bindings since it will be my first time and therefor might be easier to deal with?

thanks for any suggestions

[pow4ever]

I face the same problem for the past 2 seasons. Most airline have reduce the luggage weight from 100lb to 50lb. You can always paid extra to bring both hard/soft setup. Or just bring the soft boots + hard boot set up.

You can always rent/demo softboot snowboard if need be.

Are you more comfortable with hard boot or soft boot?

If it's a mountain you never been to. Most resorts on the west coast is bigger than what I have back home. You probably will spent a day or two exploring. I would do that on the setup that you are most proficient at.

You might get trap by mogule/trees/steeps and etc.

Check the weather often. Check the local board here to get feedback on the conditions.

Personally alpine board for me work well in powder that's less than 2 feet.

I bought only 180 gs board to lake tahoe and they got 7 feet of powder.

I would have a much better time if I did bring my soft setup. But I think that's due to my own lack of experience.

I am sure other will chime in.

HTH

David

[queequeg]

I like david's suggestion: bring the alpine deck and boots ... since you cant rent those all that easily. If you end up running into a pow day, renting softboot equipment is easy.

[crucible]

A couple of questions for you:

1. What is your current hard boot set-up?

2. Where will you be riding out West?

3. What is your level of riding experience, your weight, and your height?

The answers to these questions will help us suggest products that will work best for your trip.

My basic advice to East coast and mid western riders who are contemplating coming out West to carve is to make sure that your boots and bindings are well dialled to your specific needs, and then to bring them with you. Renting hardboots and plate bindings at 90% of Western resorts is next to impossible.

As a general rule, carving equipment is hard to rent outside of mecca resort areas like Whistler, Jackson Hole, or Aspen. If you have hard boots and plate bindings, then these can be transferred to rental freeride boards more easily than the other way around.

When I go on winter road-trips in BC and the Western US, my standard quiver looks like this:

- a 165-169ish All Mountain freecarve board like an Coiler AM/AMT, Prior 4WD or ATV, or a Donek Axxess- this is the "first-out-of-the bag" EDC (Every day carver)

- a 159-165 Boarder cross board like an F2 Vantage, Palmer Crown for riding trees, steeps, and moguls.

- a 167-172 race board with a sub 20 inch waist for icy conditions or hardpack. Mine is a 164 Oxygen Proton.

NB. If the trip is to a specific powder mecca like Revelstoke or Utah, then the race board gets substituted with a dedicated powder gun. I bring along a Winterstick Swallowtail or a Burton Malolo, depending on the area and who I am riding with.

If I had to only travel with 1 board, it would be the All Mountain freecarve board, because it allows you the greatest amount of versatility to enjoy the huge variety of snow and terrain that you get out West. Don't get me wrong-I have enjoyed epic powder days on a 165 Oxygen Proton race board, but I had to work a lot harder on that day than if I had been on a Prior ATV.

My firm opionion is that you want this board to be long enough and with a decent enough side cut radius to hold and edge and lay out your carves, but not so long that you will have a hard time swinging it around on steep terrain, moguls, or in the trees. For people between 5ft 7 and 6ft 2, and 150-250 lbs, this means an AM board between 165-177 cms.

I keep the weight down on my travelling quiver by having only 1 pair of hardboots, which are supportive enough to handle everything from powder to crud to ice. In my case that is a set of Raichle 325's with BTS blue springs.

I use these boots even with my powder boards, with the upper cuffs loosened to provide that surfy range of motion, and sometimes with the softer BTS yellow springs spec'd in instead of the blue.

I also keep weight and space down by using an interchangeable plate binding system like the Catek OS2. I have Catek base plates mounted on all of the decks, but just 1 set of bindings- that way board changes are quick and just involve loosening 3 screws.

All of my stuff fits into a single board bag and a rolling duffel- including my goretex, fleece layers, helmet, goggles, and daypack with avalanche and survival gear. Total baggage weight is 50 pounds.

Of course, if you're coming to ride in British Columbia and traveling through Vancouver, then you can come with no boots, bindings or boards.

There are enough carvers in this town with big enough quivers and gear closets that you could be outfitted completely in one afternoon... Just contact one of them and ask them to show you around, in exchange for some loaner gear and a lift ticket and you'd be in business!

YMMV. Hope to see you here this winter,

George

[wrecker69]

big thanks to everyone's kind help.

I have a very old set up, It's a Airwalk Force 67, 167 length. bindings are snowpro base. boots i don't know are not here right now.

my gear is so old, I might just buy new gear. I like the idea of bringing

my hard boots and an alpine, and renting a softer board if there's powder.

will the rental guys let me put my own bindings on one of their boards?

seems to me they would want to rent the whole shabang.

also, I don't know where we'll be going, he lives in denver and says all

the places are around 70 miles from him.

[wrecker69]

I am 6'3" and 180lbs if that helps in recommending a board

[wrecker69]

moderate /intermediate experience level

[crucible]

Rental techs will mount your bindings to a freeride rental board, but you have to be specific about the stance width and angles. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting a board set-up for a rank beginner, or for freestyle and not carving.

I would take the time to figure out what your personal stance width and angles are before you start your trip. There is an article that discusses this subject specifically in the archives.

Your Snow-pro plate bindings are GTG- I have 2 pairs of them and they are burly, easily maintained, and versatile.

I suggest bringing along the wrenches are drivers needed to make on-hill binding adjustments with you.

I carry a very small repair kit that has the smallest vice-grip pliers available, 2 Allen keys for my bindings, spare screws for the 2 sizes needed my my bindings and a tin of F2 glide paste in a small zip-lock bag that rides in my daypack.

I end up having to use it every year- usually to help out other people....

[crucible]

Based on your weight and experience level, any of the all mountain freecarve boards that I suggested in my earlier post would work for you.

Since you're going to CO, I would also suggest contacting Sean Martin at Donek to see if you couldn't demo or rent an Axxess from him.

If you're riding at a resort that is overly crowded, then getting a board length on the shorter end of the my suggested spectrum will make maneuvering through skier traffic easier, not to mention keeping your board from getting excessively trashed in the lift lines....

Geo

[queequeg]

If you are thinking of picking up new gear and headed to Colorado, you should stop by All Board Sports in Boulder CO, or stop by Bomber Industries in Silverthorne to get hands on with some current equipment.

[fin]

wrecker69,

What queequeg just said. We have a full demo selection here at our shop in Silverthorne. This includes boards, boots, and bindings. We usually have most of Doneks demo fleet here as well. You best bet is to contact us before coming out and setting it up so we can have the gear ready for you.

Drop us a line if you need any more help on this.

Cheers,

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

I am 6'3" and 180lbs if that helps in recommending a board

Yes indeed! It does help allot. Just so happens there is a great "Tweener" board on the classifieds right now. It can be ridden hard or soft bindings.

Long enough to have the effective running length to carve yet flows the pow quite well too. It is pretty beefy so you won't feel like you could buckle it with plates on groomers yet it won't dive as bad as a alpine specific board. I owned this at one time and it is fast and rips!! Good price for a tough board to find. See this thread.

Not to mention a free bag and the best stomp pad in existance IMO.

The color is more accurate in the second , full length photo. It is really nice translucant red. You can see the core. NICE!!

[wrecker69]

what does "tweener" mean guys? I'm not up with the lingo;.

I saw this Donek Tucker also. I think it looks sweet. You don't

think it would be to long if there was a bunch of powder? Also, you

don't think its too long for my weight? 185ish.

My old all mountain board is 167, and i've been meaning to go

longer with my next board.

Do you think it can hold a good edge where I do most of my skiing at

home, on hard pack?

thanks

[big mario]

what does "tweener" mean guys? I'm not up with the lingo;.

I saw this Donek Tucker also. I think it looks sweet. You don't

think it would be to long if there was a bunch of powder? Also, you

don't think its too long for my weight? 185ish.

My old all mountain board is 167, and i've been meaning to go

longer with my next board.

Do you think it can hold a good edge where I do most of my skiing at

home, on hard pack?

thanks

Tweener Board: Noun, a snow board that is neither a pure race board or a powder board, can deftly handle all conditions from hardpack to powder.

mario

[inkaholic]

Wrecker,

This would be a great board for you. Carves well and does a good job in pow also. Both Tony (seller) and D.T. (Neighbor to Tony) rode this board well in both situations. I ride with these two every weekend and it is a well cared for board also.

Ink

If you wanted you could even pick up the board when you come out to save shipping.

[wrecker69]

i am assuming this wouldnt' be as good in moguls or trees

as a shorter board. is that detrimental? or is it easy to stay

out of those areas.

also, how much is shipping?

thanks

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Tweener Board: Noun, a snow board that is neither a pure race board or a powder board, can deftly handle all conditions from hardpack to powder.

mario

Well done Big Mario!! Could not have said it better myself

Also. "In Between Board" The board you go to when it is not super deep or firm groomers. Somewhere in between.

This does not mean that in the right hands (feet) it could not be outstanding in either condition.

This one was originally spec'd by Scott Tucker. I have enjoyed several of the boards he has had Sean build. Classic.

[CarvingScooby]

i am assuming this wouldnt' be as good in moguls or trees

as a shorter board. is that detrimental? or is it easy to stay

out of those areas.

This board is Nose Soft, Tail Stiff. Good in POW, Trees and Carved on hard pack. I my self used the longer version 169 with HB (I'm 6', 210lbs) but in tight trees the 163 will be easier. There are good comments in BOL about this dude. Anyone can add maybe...

There is one on the market and good deal for a brand new:

http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=26176

Good luck....

Roy

[BlueB]

I have a very old set up, It's a Airwalk Force 67, 167 length. bindings are snowpro base.

I had that board, it's the same as Oxygen Fr 67. It is actually an ok all-mountain board. Somewhat soft for high speed carving, but forgiving at lover speeds. Nose is a bit too abrupt for smooth float, but it's a nice mogul board... Keep it as backup.

Snowpros are good bindings, at least the Race and Ltd models that have aluminum bases. Now that Base model, they are plastic with non-adjustable built-in cant, aren't they? Maybe not such a great idea riding them, especially if they are very old...

[BlueB]

Would be a really nice medium length pow/chop/tree/mogul board capable of light duty carving too. It rides very well with soft boots too. It is probably one of the most versatile boards ever.

169 is harder to find then 163. There are few 163s floating around BOL. They are softer then 169 version.