Jack M Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 'bout time for another one of these... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 Hmm - lots of 50 somethings. Not the demographic that advertisers are clamoring over. At least I'm in good company. I've always thought that hardbooters were a great group of guys. Now I know why! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gcarve Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 ^^^ Yup, looks like I'm in good company! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Yep me too. Maybe not faster, hopefully a bit wiser?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 This doesn't surprise me at all- LOTS of veteran snowboarders here, who can now be seen as elders of the tribe... Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boarderboy Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 The Zebra-striped Safari Never rode one, but that was one serious looking tool. First hardbooter I saw get pipe-style air was on one. cheers Boarder(delusional)Boy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emdee406 Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 The Zebra-striped SafariNever rode one, but that was one serious looking tool. First hardbooter I saw get pipe-style air was on one. cheers Boarder(delusional)Boy The Safari 111 was a tank, but I loved the I & 11. Loved the graphics, really intimidated the opposition too! I'm pretty shocked to be in the age majority on any kind of active/sport based site...wow! But very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 It's funny how in every sport I have been into,the talk is always the same;"Oh we've got to get young people in to it or it will die." No it won't.People our age are the fastest growing segment of society.The whole reason masters/age group competitions and past times are so popular is the size of the demographic and the buying power.Why should we pander to the young when it's well known that youth is wasted on them anyway.I feel cool enough without having to check and see what's on MTV or the Xgames.In fact my age makes this more fun because I'm not nearly as self conscious as I would be in my 20's or teens.I like the goofy stuff I wear AND RIDE for example; but the 'Teen Me' would have to have the same exact crap the next gangsta wannabe has on,so I could feel like I'm as different from 'Old Guy Me' as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Right on, Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezy Posted November 23, 2011 Report Share Posted November 23, 2011 Perhaps the biggest hurdle getting into hardboot snowboarding is getting past the cool factor. Being older makes that easier. Having $$$ to drop helps too. I'm a relatively young 33, and I love getting older. Gives me more of what I want. Just hoping I can kick the bucket before my body craps out on me. Obviously I have no kids that would want to make me hang around after my passions have become inaccessible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekempmeister Posted November 23, 2011 Report Share Posted November 23, 2011 Steve sounds damn near self actualized. Nicely stated, Steve. also, I read in the newest/latest TWS (w/CK on the front) a quote (I'll be paraphrasing) from Freddy Kalbermatten about his first boarding experience being in hardboots and how much it sucked because he couldn't turn. he got his hands on softboots and his sister's board and he was hooked. he's not exactly helping alpine with that comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C5 Golfer Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 Anyone older than 65? or who is the oldest and still riding - not just reading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pokkis Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 I know many, me not yet :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.oldsnowboards.com Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 Hmm - lots of 50 somethings. Not the demographic that advertisers are clamoring over.At least I'm in good company. I've always thought that hardbooters were a great group of guys. Now I know why! At first glance the "50's" group looks large. However, the 20s, 30s and 40s are halved. They must be grouped to give a fair comparison of the decades. Looks like the 40s is the largest group. Hope I can make it into the 60s catagory!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Tat Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 Based on the graph I would say that the majority of people either ride soft boots for a long time before they realize the interface is sadly lacking for carving, or they suddenly get tired of beating their bodies on rails in their 30's. In fact there is such a noticeable step change between the 20's and the 30's (much greater than the teens to twenties) that I suspect it could have something to do with alpines attempt at suicide (when boards got stiff and essentially to expert level for an average person to ride), and Burton abandoning the market. Anyways all guesswork as I kind of gave up riding between 1996 and 2007, so I missed that particular segment of historical drama. It would be interesting to see a poll that could cross-reference age with number of years riding/skiing for a particular rider. Because it would be related to whether people riding hard boots had the opportunity to see many hardbooters before taking it up. Which certainly isn't the case for most people in their teens and twenties. Dave As an aside tossing the speed suits from slalom and GS racing is probably one of the better moves from an optics perspective that could have been done. Having alpine racers in standard winter clothes creates less visual separation between alpine and all other forms of snowboarding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.E Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 I'm 31, and I started hard booting at 17. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Tat Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 I'm 31, and I started hard booting at 17. Which would have you starting back around 1997 prior to Burton leaving the market, when equipment was still available. If you started at 17 in '97 did you come in as a racer or a carver? I started hardbooting as a freecarver in '94 at 24, mostly because I saw films with Peter and Jean eurocarving. People and kids today don't see that kind of imagery in modern snowboarding videos. Yes carving videos exist if you are specifically looking on youtube and vimeo, but hardboot carving isn't presented in a video alongside mainstream snowboarding so most people never see it or make the connection. Dave It would be interesting to know how many of the younger riders who voted ride HB because they are primarily carvers or primarily racers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnuts514 Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 I'm one of the guys that got tired of beating myself up on rails/jumps. I have always loved powder/freeriding/carving as well. I had maybe seen one hardbooter in my life but it didn't even register as to what it was all about. When I went searching for a powder board and found the tanker, it led me to this site...the rest is history. haha Started snowboarding when I was 15 back in 1999 I think, I'm 27 now and this will be my 2nd season hardbooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.E Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 It was out there, for sure. I grew up in NH, and could drive to the Burton factory to pick up last years goods on closeout. My first few years on the hill, if I looked and asked I could find Oxygen, Sims, Burton, F2, Hooger, Crazy Bannana, Northwave, Catek, Bomber, Rossi, Molly, Kildy, Liquid, Blax, Elgin, K2, LIB, Mistral and several other alpine brands locally (meaning between Boston and southern Maine, VT to the coast). I had several boot, binding and board options I could try on and pay cash for. It was funny, it seemed like the options were limited then (ha!). When I started I was racing (poorly) as one of two alpine boarders on my schools "team". We had our asses handed to us by the folks that actually bothered to coach their kids. I remember seeing next model year Rossi's and then Rossi-distributed Bombers under kids feet at the starts. Realistically I was teaching myself how to freecarve 6 days a week so that I could go loose races on Saturday's. I'm not sure if I ever classified myself as a "racer", but I did call myself a "snowboarder". But to your point- yes, alpine, while small then, was still in the catalogs and magazines (not for long, though). It also seems like the relative cost of entry for hard gear has gone up- back when I started it was roughly even with soft boot stuff at the mid line consumer grade. Which would have you starting back around 1997 prior to Burton leaving the market, when equipment was still available. If you started at 17 in '97 did you come in as a racer or a carver? I started hardbooting as a freecarver in '94 at 24, mostly because I saw films with Peter and Jean eurocarving. People and kids today don't see that kind of imagery in modern snowboarding videos. Yes carving videos exist if you are specifically looking on youtube and vimeo, but hardboot carving isn't presented in a video alongside mainstream snowboarding so most people never see it or make the connection. Dave It would be interesting to know how many of the younger riders who voted ride HB because they are primarily carvers or primarily racers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Which would have you starting back around 1997 prior to Burton leaving the market, when equipment was still available. If you started at 17 in '97 did you come in as a racer or a carver? I started hardbooting as a freecarver in '94 at 24, mostly because I saw films with Peter and Jean eurocarving. People and kids today don't see that kind of imagery in modern snowboarding videos. Yes carving videos exist if you are specifically looking on youtube and vimeo, but hardboot carving isn't presented in a video alongside mainstream snowboarding so most people never see it or make the connection. Dave It would be interesting to know how many of the younger riders who voted ride HB because they are primarily carvers or primarily racers. Racer here, only got into it for that reason. Same goes for 99% of the Maine HB'ers under 18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Only about 12% under 30? No wonder they hate us.:D Double nickels, baby . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezy Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 I started snowboarding late, 'bout 25 (poor childhood), never seeing any hardboots or having it register if perchance I did. Started slobbering over the Burton Fish and the realization of what snowboarding could be - so much different than the teeny knobs I called mountains out east. Stumbled across PhilW's site by reading Fish reviews and was totally blown away. That dude had it made in so many ways. Heliboarding the way I drove down to my local resort. And his writing came across powerfully, as someone who had self actualized. Except that he rode hardboots. What the f#$%? How could someone like that be so clueless? So after I pondered that question for a while, then swallowed my pride, I realized that I might be the one missing out. Here's hoping I can replicate his vertical in my own heli experiences. He's got a couple of decades on me though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmoore Posted November 30, 2011 Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 Anyone older than 65? or who is the oldest and still riding - not just reading? Turned 65 in October. No plans to give up racing on my board at any point in the foreseeable future. Will continue to ski race too as long as the knees hold up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar(angel Posted November 30, 2011 Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 and looking forward to a good season. Promised myself I'd spend more time on the mountain this year, let's see if I can follow through... Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Wow - almost 80% over 35 years old. I wonder what other activity has a similar demographic? The other question not asked was gender. I wonder what percent are female? Maybe 5%? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.