Jack M Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Not just snowboarding... how long have you been riding Hardboots as your primary setup? Don't count 2010 yet. By the way, this poll was Shred's idea, but he didn't have time to post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 if I remember correctly I became fairly exclusive in 1996 or so yes, I was 15 or 16, started young Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Since 1991. Was teaching skiing and snowboarding. Switching boots multiple times day was a hassle. Switched to plates and never looked back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wun Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 so far, only a few under 5 years. the rest are frickin' vets. alpine really IS an old fart's sport :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 6 years for me on hardboots, but only 6-10 days per year on the hill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 if I remember correctly I became fairly exclusive in 1996 or so yes, I was 15 or 16, started young I think that I made the switch fairly regularly in 96 as well. I wish I could say I started young, though. ;) All that being said, I have been riding softies more in the last two seasons. This is not necessarily by choice - teaching FT on a race board hurts my knees now. :( Being a freestyle coach doesn't help either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffV Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 started on hardboots in 1987 on a Burton Elite at Gerlosplatte in Austria, rode softies for one season in 89 because some jibber stole my PJ6:boxing_sm. Got it back end of the season and never rode softies again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenchman Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 I started winter of 92-93 on a Sims halfpipe wearing sorels with old skiboot liners. I bought a Libtech Inner-course and burton 3 straps before the season was out. I broke that board and bought a new burton with stepin plates and never looked back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterGold Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 I´ve been on hardboots since ´88, but I have always used softboots as well. Some seasons were almost exclusively hardboots. Others the other way round. I have always seen myself as a ´snowboarder´. And I try to adapt to the conditions. Riding powder in hardboots is almost as bad as riding well groomed slopes in softboots ;). I wouldn´t want to limit myself to just one kind of setup. But this season I have quite a lot of new alpine gear to test :D - and I´m looking very much forward to this task ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterGold Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Are the last two categories (26-30 and more than 31) on the poll a trick question? The first plate bindings were built around 1985, right? That´s 24 years ... So how can anyone get in the last two categories :rolleyes:? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Are the last two categories (26-30 and more than 31) on the poll a trick question?The first plate bindings were built around 1985, right? That´s 24 years ... So how can anyone get in the last two categories :rolleyes:? Heh, I wasn't sure exactly when plates came out. I just picked the maximum 10 categories and ran with it. Hey, maybe someone out there MacGyver'd something together before '85 ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 my 22nd season as far as the requirements of the poll are concerned.In 88/89 I cut the bases off my rigid highback burtons to which I had added a third strap in 86,and used those bases as risers for my Emerys.That setup eventually ended up on my Gyrator(imo worst board ever made:), which is stashed somewhere in the Colorado Ski museum.In 89/90 I did PSIA Full Cert on a Mistral Aztec 160 with Flexon Comps,though that year my favorite board was a 195 Skitech Research mono mounted as a snowboard with Crazy Banana plates. I love this sport! Long live hardboots and the kickass people who use them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterGold Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Heh, I wasn't sure exactly when plates came out. I just picked the maximum 10 categories and ran with it. Hey, maybe someone out there MacGyver'd something together before '85 ;) That would make some interesting stories . But I guess we would have already heard of such pioneers by now ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawndoggy Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Softies for about a million years (saved my paper route money (really!) for a brand new 1986 performer elite 150 (first year of the highbacks!)). Lots of skiing intermingled in there since then and a little time on tele boards too. Moved to hardboots in the 07-08 season and got serious about it last year. I think I pretty well figured it out, at least on good groom. Off piste will be the challenge for the coming season (esp. since my pass this year is @ Squaw Valley, where off piste legends are born). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tahoetrencher Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Although my Sorrels with boot liners and thule sailboard straps tightly wound were pretty firm for the first three years! Didn't get snowboard specific HBs 'til maybe '94 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 I started snowboarding on borrowed boards on the hills around my school in 1986/7/8(? .. not really sure) and switched to Hardboots in 1993, stopped snowboarding for awhile between 2002 and 2006 ... so I guess I have been hardbooting for about 12 years if you don't count the time I was not snowboarding altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Do the ski boots count? I use them for snowboard, anyhow :D That would summ up to about 35 years... Now snowboard itself... I stepped onto one of the 1st rentals available in Yugoslav mountains in 1990. It kicked my a$$, I didn't even last for a day. Shortly after that I ran away to South Africa, no snow sports, except for SA Skiing Champs, 4 days a year, couple of times. Fast forward to early 20th century, few visits to friends in Germany and Austria, riding their h/boot setups on freeride board (Rad-Air!). Finally, arrived to Vancouver in 2003, rode softies for a year, found my 1st plates in 2004/05 season and 1st alpine board followed shortly... Never looked back, except to teach the lessons. So, I guess the years thing is a bit decieving... I could say 19 years and still not be lying completelly. I could just count every year I stepped onto plates, even if for a day and say 8. Or yust count the really active 5 years... Then, some people do more riding in a year then the others in a decade. The really appropriate poll would be "How many days in total?"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkaholic Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 I started riding in '79 (Snurfer & Backhill) and started using HB in '82 when I couldn't get enough support out of Sorels. I was putting ski boot liners in the Sorels in '81 then just switched to ski boots (Koflach) which I modified for more flexability. Being able to turn on anything not powder was the sh!t back then. I have been mostly on HB ever since but always keep Softies around for when I want a change or it's powder. Ink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tahoetrencher Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 only when clipped in to appropriate carving bindings (e.g.emerys, sno-pros) on an appropriately square-tailed board. Not sure how anyone could claim more than 25 years. I bought the first HB bindings I ever saw in 1989. Was anyone really HB carving before 1984? PS Ink, we we're posting at the same time. So you were clipping your ski boots into the old strapped bindings like the Sims? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 ...Fast forward to early 20th century, few visits to friends in Germany and Austria, riding their h/boot setups on freeride board (Rad-Air!). ... You and your friends have been hard booting since the early 20th century? That is amazing! Jack, add another option to the poll... Sorry, BlueB, I had to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 I think it was 89-90, went with Koflach "Damians" on a Gnu Race Room with Elfgen plates, never looked back. So I guess this is coming up on my 21st season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik J Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Interesting graph - it looks like it follows the ebb and flow of popularity over the years fairly close(at least on BOL). I'm just guessing though. So, I guess the years thing is a bit decieving... I could say 19 years and still not be lying completelly. I could just count every year I stepped onto plates, even if for a day and say 8. Or yust count the really active 5 years... Then, some people do more riding in a year then the others in a decade. The really appropriate poll would be "How many days in total?"... agreed, hours or miles logged would be more accurate - but who keeps track of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkaholic Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 PS Ink, we we're posting at the same time. So you were clipping your ski boots into the old strapped bindings like the Sims? Correct TT, I was using them in the early softie bindings before getting Fritchi and Avalanche plates. Not sure how anyone could claim more than 25 years. I bought the first HB bindings I ever saw in 1989. Was anyone really HB carving before 1984? The OP question is "How long have you been hardbooting?" which isn't exclusive to carving. Back then it took a while just to be able to make a complete run without falling all ova the place, without having metal edges. Heck, maybe one of these days I will actually be able to accomplish this feat. Ink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Winter 1990- sold off my Burton Elite and got a Rossignol VAS 165 freecarve board with some Rad Air plates- had to drill 12 holes into the top-sheet to mount the bindings .... We've come a LONG way. Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterGold Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 1982? That was the year of the National Snow Surfing Championship (first Nationals). I quote - ´Most raced on Snurfers wearing rubber boots or tennis shoes´. I guess with a pair of hardboots you would have beaten Tom Sims easily ;) ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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