Guest KnightRider! Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Hello everybody, I'd like to know if you guys have some tips regarding carving with softboots. I'm a 6'5, 240lbs man with size 15 feet so there's no way I cant fit on an actual carving board. I have a very stiff and large freeride board (Ride Yukon 169) and I'd really like to nail a good carving turn, any tips? KR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnstewart Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Your size is not a problem for a carving board. I wear size 12-13 shoes, and am 6'2". The key is getting used to higher boot angles. I ride at around 60 degrees in the front, a little less in the back. Get your weight forward, jam your knees into the turn, and just let it happen. You can definitely carve on a softboard, but it's a helluva lot easier and more fun on a hardboard. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Hey, Knight Rider's in da house! check out the articles here in the Tech Articles section on "The Norm" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KnightRider! Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Thanks for the tip guy! And omg thats picture is so funny!!! I litteraly fell off my chair!! HAHAHAHAHA, I'm putting it on a T-shirt! KR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Originally posted by johnstewart Your size is not a problem for a carving board. I wear size 12-13 shoes, and am 6'2". The key is getting used to higher boot angles. I ride at around 60 degrees in the front, a little less in the back. Get your weight forward, jam your knees into the turn, and just let it happen. You can definitely carve on a softboard, but it's a helluva lot easier and more fun on a hardboard. =) hey JS....whats the waist width of your board? I end up having darn near those same angles on a 19cm board in a size 27! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnstewart Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Originally posted by D-Sub hey JS....whats the waist width of your board? I end up having darn near those same angles on a 19cm board in a size 27! Well, those angles are what I'm riding now, a Donek Axis 177... which is 21.5cm, according to their website. It's basically any less and I'd toe out. My main ride last year was a Volant, which was definitely narrower. Not sure offhand. I probably was something like 65 degrees in the front, I think... not a ton more. I'm hoping to get back on that board soon... still waiting on a second set of TD2s! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 aha. axis. big difference! Id love to get on an axis one of these days. Im waiting on a coiler, but part of me suspects that I might actually like a wider carver better and the axis sure looks like a badass ride! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnstewart Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 I do like it, but I'm not yet in love with it. I got the 177, and I didn't really realize how big a board it actually is. =) It's kind of big for the hills around here, I think. It does like to make big wide turns. I've not ridden it on good snow yet (hopefully tomorrow!); it's either been slush or ice so far on the ski hill here. So while I was struggling with it the last time I was out, everyone else was also complaining about the conditions. I actually wouldn't mind trading it for another, shorter, Axis... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Oldsnwbrdr Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 I had finally learned how to carve with my softboot/freeride combo last year, so I felt I was ready to try the hardboot/alpine board combo this year. I bought some boots and bindings, and headed off to Vermont to try out a demo Donek Freecarve/Axis from The Starting Gate (a great outfit, BTW). I guess I overestimated my capabilities, because my first experience was a disaster. I'm lucky I didn't kill myself on the thing, I was making every newbie error, including the cardinal sin... catching the downhill edge. OUCH! My instructor said it would take 6-8 outings to get comfortable on the new setup, but since I only go out 3-4 times a year, I didn't want to give up 2-3 years of fun to learn the new setup. So I am in the process of selling my boots & bindings (thanks, bomberonline!) and just placed my order for a Donek freeride board, which is much stiffer and cruiseworthy than my seven-year old K2 Fatbob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeremiah Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 JohnStewart--How much do you weigh? I LOVE my Axis 177, but I'm about 200# (pretty fat for 5'8"). If you're a skinny guy it may be a bit big for you, but I see guys much lighter than me riding big sticks, so it's not like you won't learn to control it. It took me a day or so to get used to the length, and I was lucky that we had good snow early in Vt last year, so I could get on the mountain and get used to it before the crowds really showed up. I moved to the Axis after a season of switching between a soft freeride board and a softboot freecarve setup (K2 Ginsu). I had done the reading on the site here, and followed a couple guys on plates with my softboots, so I at least knew what I was trying to achieve. I've found that the Axis will pretty much do whatever you ask it to do, but it takes a bit of confidence to really get used to asking it to do much. If you're used to riding a freeride board with softboots, you may be sliding into the turns rather than rolling up onto the edge. That can be very tough to do, especially with a long board. I would recommend finding a gentle groomer, pointing the board down the hill, and initiating a turn just with edge pressure. Do this toeside and heelside to get used to the feeling, and then you can begin to link them. Once you feel comfortable entering the turns, work on holding them until you are perpendicular to the fall-line, which is the way to check your speed without skidding. You want to force yourself to completely carve the turns, rather than skidding the beginning/ends. At this point you can start to really link the turns, head down the mountain, edge up to toeside, ride it 90 degrees, switch edges, ride it 180 degrees, repeat. As you get comfortable with the way the board holds and turns, you can start doing the fun stuff, like catching air in the transitions. Jeremiah VT -6 hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnstewart Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Originally posted by jeremiah JohnStewart--How much do you weigh? I LOVE my Axis 177, but I'm about 200# (pretty fat for 5'8"). If you're a skinny guy it may be a bit big for you, but I see guys much lighter than me riding big sticks, so it's not like you won't learn to control it. I'm about 210# (though I think after the fish fry I just pounded down I'm more than that today!). I moved to the Axis from a Volant Excel 167 (I think), which is MUCH MUCH stiffer. I've not actually ridden in softboots in a couple of years... carving is not really a problem for me. Of the last three times I rode it: First time - actually decent snow, but a ton of people on the one run that was open. I loved... LOVED the board. On my second run on it I declared that it was my favorite board of all time. Second time - slush... literally skiing on a soft-serve ice cream pile. Getting any inclination on it ended up cauing my boots to push around a ton of slush, making it pretty sketchy. After many runs, I found that shallow, quick, turns afforeded the best control. Holy crap I spent a lot of time cleaning the crud off the bottom of the board! Third - Hard, very bumpy and very icy/hard corduroy. It was UGLY. I found myself losing confidence in it, especially on toeside. I knew I was letting my weight get back too far, but I couldn't get the nerve up to get my knees and weight into it to turn properly on the ice. I actually ended up moving the bindings up on the board because I felt like it wasn't initiating the turn (though in reality it was probably mostly my fault for not getting my weight into the turn, due to simple fear of smashing myself on the ice - which I did pretty badly on the last run of the night) Part of the problem was that any carve I laid was likely to be interrupted by very sketchy bumps and undulations in the icy corduroy. It was a really bad grooming job. So, I'm not making the judgement that it's a bad board; I'm chalking it up more to the uttery crappy conditions I had the last two times out. It's looking good for this weekend, though! Apparently some more runs are open, so hopefully that means fewer targets on the hill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Originally posted by D-Sub aha. axis. big difference! Id love to get on an axis one of these days. Im waiting on a coiler, but part of me suspects that I might actually like a wider carver better and the axis sure looks like a badass ride! D-Sub, when I get my s&1t together and come to Bend, you can try my Axis 172. It's got quite a bit of mileage on it and may be a tad softer than a new one, but you'll get a great feel for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnstewart Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 So just to follow up... I rode my Axis this weekend, and last night, and am getting a LOT more comfortable on it. The hero snow on Saturday was a good start (and I was the only hardbooter out there). Holy crap, I was shredding the hill all day. I had at least a half dozen guys on the hill make comments like "you're the guy who's going really fast, right?" =) And last night it was a bit sketchy... some very thin snow cover over very hard packed, icy base. But now that I'm more comfortable on it, I'm getting my weight forward enough to keep a solid carve through it all. Love the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 I would suggest something a little wider than a yukon it waist just shy of 27 try a donek sasquatch that has a waist of 28 CM so you could ride with somewhat shallower angles on it with a size 15 I would say have Bruce V. at Coiler make you a deck that is extra wide if you want to go alpine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulY Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 KnightRider, I've got a Coiler AM 172 with a 23 waist (not for sale!) that I absolutely have a blast with. You could ride this with lower angles, I wear a 29.5 boot(size 12) and run at 50-54* on the front foot. Bruce will build the board to your size and riding style. I believe that the Prior 4WD can also be ordered with a wider waist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stoked Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 I had a chance to sit in this car two times! in the 80s when they even visited our little village on a promotional tour and one time later in LA I think or was that the Delorean from Back to the future not sure but then again I like both cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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