BXFR70 Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 as the title implies, I am looking for a recommendation. I had searched, and could not find much new information. For awhile now, I have ridden soft boots, I ride in PA, so not much powder, once in awhile and some crud, I usually get to VT and out west though. I am now riding hard boots and do not see myself riding soft boots all that much anymore. I may sell a Prior BX 68 that I got last year. anyway, my question is, what would be a good board for crud around here and fresh snow in VT or out west, like Utah etc. I do not want a swallowtail or something that can only be used effectively in powder, but something powder orientated that can preferably be ridden with soft or hard boots. I probably want something in the 170 +/- range, I weigh 220 5'9-10ish I currently have a Hard boot board, the Prior BX for soft boots and a Burton Triumph for soft boots that is like my woods/dont care board. thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Try plates on that Prior BX, might turn out just perfect for your eastern pow/crud... It might even work in the West. I've got an SG Cult 169 on sale, cheap, click the link in my sig. Real HB pow board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 It all depends what you want to ride, and how... but testing boards isn't that hard, so I guess you can find out how different things feel and then take it from there. I haven't tried BX boards. I'd guess that the flex pattern would be all wrong. To me, a powder board lives or dies by the tail design. You don't ride on it, but it's important in breaking and controlling the turn especially in trees. Yes, I'm sure you could rid them, but I doubt it'd be as much fun as something designed for the job. 170 is pretty long for a modern board. Most are designed to be ridden shorter, but obviously try the recommended length for the particular design. Personally I'm not a believer in "hard boot powder boards" - I ride hard boots, sometimes on piste boards but if it's bottomless then I ride stock powder boards. Most major brands have powder boards which work extremely well with hard boots. Some I've tried: Charlie Slasher FK (flat); Fish (or derivatives, be careful which year); Joystick (not a powder board but works well there, reverse camber); Trice (reverse camber, stiff); Stellar (like a really big fish); Sick Stick (reverse camber, stiff); Snow Mullet. If you want something which will work on piste (hard pack) too, then you would want to avoid the wider boards and the ones with the more pronounced reverse camber. So although I have never ridden any of these boards on piste, I'd say that the Fish would be bad (too wide, too much taper); the Joystick or Sick Stick or Trice would be better (thinner, with a "twin" feel). The now obsolete Malolo is a design which would work across both; Burton replaced that with the Baraccuda which Terje has no trouble riding in powder in soft boots, and looks like it may work on hard pack too. Those are all "soft boot boards" but I've ridden them all hard and fast and they're fine mounted with F2s and hard boots. As you're probably aware it's a challenge to fit non Burton bindings to early EST boards; I posted instructions on how to do that (search for it) if anyone needs a hint. Reverse camber boards seem to have a wider range of "feel" than camber boards - some I hate, some I like. So if you don't love the first one you try, you may not want to give up on them completely because some of them work quite well. I have ridden but not been hugely impressed by various boards from some smaller "custom" type manufacturers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.T. Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 my question is, what would be a good board for crud around here and fresh snow in VT or out west, like Utah etc. Volkl Selecta - it's a very underrated board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXFR70 Posted October 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 Try plates on that Prior BX, might turn out just perfect for your eastern pow/crud... It might even work in the West. I've got an SG Cult 169 on sale, cheap, click the link in my sig. Real HB pow board. It actually does work pretty well in our powder/crud here in PA, because the board is fairly soft, and the decambered nose, it seems to ride and deflect off of the crud, I do not think it would work well for actual powder though. philw, thanks for the information, I was hoping you chimed in, I pretty much want the same, not a hardboot powder board, but a powderish board that can be ridden in hardboots. I figured Burton stuff was a pain... I was actually somewhat curious about the Prior Spearhead, as they have some for a pretty good price in the already done section, and being that it is a powder board, I do not care if it is perfect or not. anyone familiar with the Spearhead? philw, what kind of angles do you run on a powder board with plates?, also what size boot and what waist boards? thanks in advance everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekempmeister Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 not that I ride in pow much but i am always ready for it thanks to the Rad Air Tanker (187 and 200 for me). the 187 is a super versatile board and i enjoy it in almost any conditions, to say nothing of the fact that it is super surfy in pow. based on your weight, you are a prime candidate, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gossamer Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 Buell did a great review on the rockered Rad Air Tankers, even talked me into buying a RR177 Wide. I've been riding the deep Utah pow for 30+ yrs now and can say it truly is an incredible board. I'm 210 lbs and have been very happy with the effortless turn initiation and the ease of slicing through the choppy stuff. Very stable on the steep pitches, I have had plenty moments where I would have overwhelmed my regular cambered Tanker 200 and the nose of the rockered 177 has yet to let me down. It carves well but being the wide version it takes a bit of effort, wears me out fairly quick. I have not hardbooted the board, I ride a Donek Axis that does well in a few feet of powder. I found that hardbooting powder takes too much of the dynamics out of riding and I softboot it mostly. Good luck in your search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 (edited) Angles, on "soft-boot" powder boards... I've mucked around over the years but I think it's less important than on piste. The boards are of course much wider than my Kessler SL for example, so there's no need for high angles. A few years ago I settled on 52.5 degrees parallel. That means I ride precisely the same on powder as on my race board, so I don't have to think about that on the 5% of days I'm at a resort. It works fine for me. I think there's less of a difference in feel between different angles in powder. My boots are... can't remember the Modo point - 27.5 or 28, European size 41, uk size 8: smaller than yours I'd guess. I'd have to google the board specs to find the widths of those boards, but there's always plenty of clearance; I can put the angles pretty much where I want, it's not like race boards where you're governed by what will fit. I think I forgot to mention... some boards have quite large minimum stance widths, which for small people at least can be an issue. I've not found it on the last couple of season's boards, but earlier Salomons for example were unridable because they required a soft-boot "cowboy stance". So it's worth checking that. I ride the same width etc as I do on the race board. Here's a shot from Mike Wiegele showing the Trice, stance, angles etc. And a little drop being negotiated. To me it's all about the ride. I avoid traditional "hard boot" designs because of the trickle of people who I've seen ride them over the years, 100% have switched to a powder board on day 2. In my view the issue isn't the boots at all, it's the board design. You're really not restricted at all by hard boots - my favourite board from last season was a reverse cambered park board. I was as surprised as anyone, and fully expected to hate the thing, but it worked really well. Here's the inevitable GoPro video with the Trice and Joystick. The Trice was a bit too long/stiff for me, which you can just about see. This isn't the best powder, it wasn't brilliant just then. <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/34533771?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Edited October 4, 2012 by philw Remove autoplay - annoying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTwoO Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 It actually does work pretty well in our powder/crud here in PA, because the board is fairly soft, and the decambered nose, it seems to ride and deflect off of the crud, I do not think it would work well for actual powder though. I second an SG. I have a 169 all mountain. They have a batch recently made. The pin tail rides very neutral in powder and it holds a nice line on hard pack. The 169 offers plenty of float with my 250lb ++. The high nose is a bit floaty on mogully pistes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXFR70 Posted October 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 what are the specs on the SG Cult? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTwoO Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 From what I understand, the cult is narrower and stiffer than the soul (aka all mountain) the exact specs will require some digging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 what are the specs on the SG Cult? L 169, W 23, SCR ~9, Taper 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 Here's a shot from Mike Wiegele showing the Trice, stance, angles etc. And a little drop being negotiated. [snip] Here's the inevitable GoPro video with the Trice and Joystick. Can I have your life, please? Those trees looked so fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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