Princess Diaries, Chapter 1 - Coiler Stubette

[two_ravens]

Seems to me there are quite a few women out there on hard boots (saw a bunch at SES 11!) yet I have seen very little info on women's boards. I think women are much more likely to have fun and come back for more if they have a chance to use suitable equipment, so I am hoping that a few board reviews might contribute to that. I would love to see other women post up their thoughts and experiences, too. And some of the manufacturers, especially Bruce (Coiler) and Sean (Donek) are stepping up with design modifications for lighter riders that seem really good - I think we should encourage their efforts!

So you know where I'm coming from, a bit about me: Certainly not the best carver out there, but I do know what I like and what works for me. :) Started softbooting in 94/95, and got on hardboots in Dec '07 after 7 years away from riding, but wasn't really linking carves until Feb '10. Mostly ride alone at Snow King on steep, hard, fast manmade snow, often poorly groomed, with occasional trips to Targhee and other mountains with actual snow and grooming - where I chase Montucky boys around and try to keep up. :)

Me:

5'7"

120 lbs

mondo 23.5 boots, started with Raichle 124's, then Deeluxe 225's, BTS yellow springs

bindings: TD2's

stance on this board: 18.5" with the front boot biased forward (toeside) pretty far making it 19.25" center to center on the boots, 62 deg front & 3 deg straight toe lift, 56 deg rear with 3 deg straight heel lift.

The board:

Coiler Stubette, built for me

160cm

18.2.cm waist

12m SCR

flex 7.0 + 6 W

This board arrived in Dec '09, replacing a Donek slalom board that was built for Michelle Gorgone that I'd been riding for 2 years (152cm x 17.8 x 8.2m SCR.) The slalom board was really way too stiff for me, but treated me well mostly because it was small enough to toss around and narrow enough to be able to edge easily. I have never found wide boards to offer any benefit to me - they make edging the board much more work, and transitions become dreadfully slow.

So the first turn on the Stubette was certainly eye opening, coming from an 8 meter sidecut! But by the second turn I felt I had a grip on it, and by the end of one run had figured out how to tighten the radius as needed. The Stub is softer in the middle and a bit stiffer in the nose - so this board is very easy for me to bend into almost any radius turn. It is happy running big, wide turns, but I can fold it almost in half if I need a quick change of direction - very handy for getting out of trouble! Within a week I had ridden this on hard fast groom, 4" of fresh over groom, chop, and soft groom. The board seemed happy in all conditions! I rode this board almost daily all last season and the start of this season, and the only thing I wish I could change about it now would be the ability to handle a bit more speed as my riding has improved - though I must say it was the perfect speed for me when I first started riding it.

When I first started on this board I was riding a 17.25" stance. Late last season and early this season I started moving the stance around and ended up with an 18.5" stance. Seems to work better with the wider stance, but worked quite well narrower too. Bruce did place the inserts a bit more forward to compensate for a narrower stance.

Overall, I think this a great board for aspiring carvers. It allows access to all the skills, without punishing mistakes. Handles very well in a wide variety of conditions and is very easy to turn at slow speeds, while handling bigger turns and somewhat higher speeds well too. Super easy, fun board - and it would be my first recommendation for women or lightweight riders learning to carve!