Slower Carve Board

n00b

Posted November 13, 2009

- Report
- Share

Posted November 13, 2009

Last season (my first) I was riding a Sims 167, and while I love the board and the ride, I'm a bit nervous going 9,000 mph all the time. I seemed to only have one speed on the board- full tilt- and the handful of times I fell, it was an ugly, scary mess. Any recommendations for a board that might be a bit less aggressive or a way to slow that mother down? I'm 170, 5'8"

thanks

Quote

Link to comment

Share on other sites

RideT-Line

Posted November 14, 2009

- Report
- Share

Posted November 14, 2009

A lot of good guys posting here with tons of experience, so I would be surprised if someone couldn’t help you out without too drastic of change.

Good Luck, email if you want to think about the Burtons.

<o:p> </o:p>

Quote

Link to comment

Share on other sites

mackDan

Posted November 15, 2009

- Report
- Share

Posted November 15, 2009

What you want is a shorter board that you can turn quicker and keep your speed down. So start shopping for a 162. I'm the same height and weight (168 -5'8") and I really like my Hot Special 162 and my older Hot shine 162. They are nice quick turning slalom boards and you can ride them all over. I also have a Nitro Scorpion 160 (157?) that i've been playing with, but the Hots turn better. The Scorpion is stiffer and will turn fast. But get any SL board in that shorter range and learn how to turn fast and stable then you can go back to the 167 and get the long carve down.

Quote

Link to comment

Share on other sites

lamby

Posted November 15, 2009

- Report
- Share

Posted November 15, 2009

Some years ago I made the transition from a soft set up to hard boots on a Burton e-deck - a 163. This board is out of production, but they can sometimes be found for sale on eBay or this site. It seems to be getting harder to find them in the 163 length, with the 156 and 148 lengths being easier to find (my wife rides a 156 alot).

The E-deck is a is softer, more forgiving platform. More so than a lot of boards with similar side-cut radiuses (sidecut of 9m on the 163 - around 8.5 on the 156 I think). A lot of stiffer decks with that type of side-cut radius are considered more of a SL/slalom deck. SL decks are great at making tight turns, one after the other. This can be great if you are running gates or want to make many turns in a row to work on your strength. The e-series is more noodley, so it doesn't demand that you stay on it all the time.

I still use an e-deck alot, for new-snow days and all-mountain riding. It is great for playing on the sides then jumping onto the groom, and back again. Other older/used "freecarve" decks you can look for might include Burton Coil, Nidecker Escape, Burton Fusion.

I have a couple of Nidecker Escapes for sale - a 158 and a 166. They are not as soft at the burton "e"s, but are still more forgiving freecarve decks (with a sidecut of around 9). Selling each for $100 plus shipping.

goodtrails@gmail.com

Best, Chris

Quote

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Buell

Posted November 15, 2009

- Report
- Share

Posted November 15, 2009

Hey n00b,

I am with you on the speed of carving.

Learning to carve is about learning to turn. Early on your carved turns will be much more open and you will pick up a lot of extra speed. As your technique improves (it can be a slow process), you will be able to turn tighter and tighter and have much more control over your speed.

It can be hard, but staying on the easy runs at first is important. It is much better to work on technique when you are in complete control.

In general a smaller board will turn tighter and help you control your speed. It will also turn better at lower speeds. The flip side is that a smaller board MUST be turned often to keep the speed down since in general, it is not as stable at high speeds as a longer board. The longer board, however, will not turn as tight and WILL go faster. Watch out though for smaller boards with bigger sidecuts and smaller boards that are really stiff as they can be much harder to ride.

Also, as ursle mentioned softer bindings would be more forgiving. F2s did wonders for my riding coming from TD2s.

A final note, I tried a lot of boards when I started. Some of them I really liked, some of them I couldn't ride for whatever reason. They are all so different. If you are able, test different boards. If you are buying used, you can often resell the board for close to what you paid. For a medium budget, one of my favorites was a demo 169 Prior 4WD. On a tighter budget, the Nideckers that lamby is offering would be a great boards to try.

Good luck, Buell

Quote

Link to comment

Share on other sites

RkyMtn

Posted November 17, 2009

- Report
- Share

Posted November 17, 2009

Hey Noob,

Welcome to the party!!! I would have to bet that the majority of carvers have experienced what you are dealing with. I bought an SG Speed 185 and took it out and did ok (this is after 15 years of boarding and 7 carving in hard boots), but with narrow trails and lots of people, it was a death spear. It took big turns, at hot speed, and if someone got in my way, they were going down. If no one is around on the slopes and I have 30 yards of trail width, it is a fun ride.

I started on an asymetrical slolom 161 from Burton. That flex allows me to vary the turns dramatically and didn't require much work to get it carving hard. For your weight and height, I think a 160ish slolom flex board is going to allow you to feel more secure and allow you to work on your tequnique to eventually get on a sub-GS like board.

I do have a 163 E-Deck gathering dust in great condition. I used it when I was in Aspen years ago as an alternative to the slolom race board I had, so I could practice ripping it up on powder days, which was fantastic. It is probably one of the best all around boards I have ridden.

I also have a Burton Alp 163 that has a similar flex pattern, just a hint stiffer, that would accomplish the same effect, but not as handy for dipping into a powder field for some turns.

I would also recommend the Nidecker Proto 162 'KeithB' has for sale. It will likely be the in between of the E-Deck and Alp boards. My soft boot boards are Nideckers, and they are the best I have ridden in my 17 years boarding.

Once you get some time in with a softer flex board, get your technique dialed in, you will likely find that the turns are too tight and want to open them up more and then you can start mastering the GS like boards. I picked up a Vokel Ren Tiger and it is suh-weeeeeeeet. Just that perfect next step up in stiffness to make lovely sweeping turns. I would absolutely try to find a ski local that has a carving guru and take lessons. That was a big help in getting beyond the plateau I found myself stuck on.

Best of luck and keep at it!

Eric

Denver, CO

Quote

Link to comment

Share on other sites

redrabit

Posted November 24, 2009

- Report
- Share

Posted November 24, 2009

I have a Burton Amp 6 with 3-strap Burton bindings size Large that is a mellow, easy to ride all mountain carving board. It is in good used shape and will ride great with a fresh tune. I have it listed here:

http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=27110

It's a good board and I would prefer that it get ridden instead of leaning against the wall for another season.

Contact me if interested-

redrabit1@yahoo.com

Thanks-

Brad

Quote

Sign In

Slower Carve Board

Recommended Posts

n00b

Link to comment

Share on other sites

RideT-Line

Link to comment

Share on other sites

mackDan

Link to comment

Share on other sites

lamby

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Buell

Link to comment

Share on other sites

RkyMtn

Link to comment

Share on other sites

redrabit

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Join the conversation

Announcements

Recently Browsing

Activity