Has anyone got their board stolen?

[bueller213]

Hardboot board and bindings are quite expensive, which can attract thieves at the resort. I would be really concerned leaving my board outside to go lunch or take a break. I was curious if anyone got their board stolen.

[Corey]

Someone had a Sims Burner stolen at SES a few years ago. It's quite rare. There was a feel-good story on here this past winter about someone recovering a board (Prior ATV maybe?) that was stolen from their house.

One good thing about our niche sport is that it takes some dedication to sell the stuff, so the thieves go for the softboot boards or skis for quick cash. I almost always lock my stuff, because not all thieves are smart enough to know that they can't easily unload an alpine set-up. Locks aren't that inconvenient, and if there is a big rack of boards/skis with only mine and a few others locked, I'd bet money that the lowlife won't take mine because it's more work/risk. At my local ski hills, there's enough theft that there are signs up everywhere warning to lock up your equipment, some have installed cameras too.

Everyone has to make their own call on the balance of the cost of the small inconvenience every time you lock up vs. the large inconvenience (with low risk of occurrence) of replacing a board.

[Allee]

I've never had any gear stolen, apart from my back armor which I left on the back of a chair in the resort, so that was my fault.

Mine depends on the board. I worry much less about my square tailed boards, than I do about my round tailed ones. Nobody is going to steal a square tailed board, because no gaper would buy it. With my rock board or my older, well used Donek Axxess, I'd honestly be more annoyed about losing the bindings than the board, and I rarely lock them. But my expensive Prior FLC, my awesome Madd BX, my adored glass Coiler (and soon to be metal Coiler), and my softboot rig, do get locked up.

I know there's a fair amount of theft from the local hills here, but so far the carving crew has been left pretty much alone. I guess the fact that a lot of us run step ins probably causes a thief to "WTF?", weird out, and move on to something more saleable.

[philw]

I've never had my board stolen.

---

I hear you on the "they wouldn't want to steal this stuff" thing.

On the other hand my board and bindings would cost me maybe £1,300 to replace. In Canada at least, I've no chance of getting a replacement within a short period of time - the technology I want just isn't available there.

So I treat my £1,300 piece of kit like a £1,300 camera body.... I don't leave it lying around where anyone could pick it up. It may not be fashionable, but it does look kind of expensive. If I'm slumming it at a resort then I have a beefier-than-those-toy-snowboard-locks cable lock that you'd not be able to snip trivially and I lock my board to something solid. I've a small ring bolt (discussed here in threads gone by) which means you'll not get the board by removing the bindings minus the F2s. You're going to need a more serious tool, so the casual thief is probably deterred.

Each to their own. I don't insure any of my stuff, instead I make sure it's not nicked. It's partly that I would feel a bit violated if a scumbag stole my stuff, but it's mostly the inconvenience of it all that I want to avoid.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Depends on the risk. If I'm up somewhere accessible only by lift, I won't bother to lock it. The odds of some thief trying to get away with riding down from the backside of Louise with an alpine board under his arm are pretty slim.

If I'm spending any significant time at the base lodge I will lock it, if they have a skikey rack because that's all I've got at the moment. I don't consider Alpine gear to be a high risk for theft but then I have had experience with thieves stealing stuff just because they're dicks - for example, a pair of prescription glasses and some keys I left at the Y. I don't see what use they had for either item but they took them all the same. I should probably lock up my gear more regularly is what I'm saying.

[Gcarve]

Hardboot board and bindings are quite expensive, which can attract thieves at the resort. I would be really concerned leaving my board outside to go lunch or take a break. I was curious if anyone got their board stolen.

My philosophy is, if it isn't next to you, lock it up. It is expensive replacing stolen boards and bindings, especially the kind of equipment we use.

[Dan]

I've never had anything stolen, but I don't generally leave stuff outside the lodge much - I usually don't stop for lunch, and who can afford apres drinks on the hill anyway? Days when bring multiple boards, I check whatever I'm not riding in the board check, or maybe leave it in the car if I think I might not need it (i.e., leave the crud-buster in the car because I optimistically think conditions will be good enough for my pow board all day, etc.)

Props to Crystal Mountain in Washington -- I was walking off the hill one day with 2 alpine boards, and a resort employee stopped me and asked why I was carrying two boards. I showed the plate bindings on both boards and my hard boots and they agreed that I couldn't possibly be stealing one of them. :) Great that they have someone checking on that kind of thing though.

[theboarderdude]

I've never had anything stolen, partly because I ride in the Midwest, and nobody knows what the hell any of our equipment is. I've never heard of anything being stolen at my resort(hidden valley ski area), but people are pretty vigilant. any way, I ALWAYS lock my setup. Would you rather spend the 15 seconds to lock your board up every time, or shell out another $2000 for your setup?

[Miltie]

So far have not had a board stolen (knock on wood!). If I ride LA local or Mammoth, I lock all our boards - even my kid's boards. Not worth taking the risk of losing a nice board or bindings.

[leeho730]

I haven't. I lock it though, if I go to places like cafeteria or bathroom where I can't see my board. I use the one that Bomber sells for 15 bucks.

[theboarderdude]

keep a look out for this... Stolen in chile 180 Kessler and Apex V2 plate!!!! The serial numbers on the missing equipment Apex plate was 901014. The board serial number is 15366.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Dave "D-Sub" had his board/ bindings stolen in Bend out of his car if I recall correctly. Evidently it was a drug user and they did locate the gear and it was returned.

There have been several posted here on BOL that have been recovered. One of the side benefits of how rare our gear is.

Some have been posted on Ebay. The trick is to buy it and THEN send the police calling. Caution, posting info about it hear can both work in your favor or hurt your chances depending on how savvy your thief is.

[michael.a]

I've had a board stolen. I've become so paranoid that I try to keep my board next to me at all times on the hill, locked up with at least one lock and in view of a CCTV camera. When back at the hotel/apartment I try to always bring it inside, worst case scenario keep it locked up in the ski room with a bunch of other equipment to make it too much of a PITA to steal.

In Europe I've heard of quite a few instances of thieves specifically targeting racing clubs as it's almost guaranteed that they ride on expensive equipment, even going so far as to find out where they sleep to then clean out the ski room one night.

[Mike T]

I usually lock or check my boards, but not always. I figure I ride often enough that if I am careless, something will eventually get stolen.

[Michelle]

I had my board stolen, in Aspen, out of my truck. locks froze on my truck and it was then easy to just open the door. The board was in a bag so thieves most likely just picked up and ran, never knowing what they had. I'm sure my custom Prior ended up in a dumpster somewhere because they looked at it and said "WTH is this?". It was a string of thefts that was reported to Aspen police and they caught the guys, but no recovery of my stuff.

I would ALWAYS lock up my carving gear because even if people don't know what it is, it looks expensive (rightly so) and they just think "racing gear" which as michael.a said, they think that racers are always on expensive stuff. I get funny looks when I take my board into the bathroom stalls with me, but it hasn't gotten stolen since that Aspen incident. Lesson learned. :(

[Allee]

^^ If my boards are in the car, they're locked in the roofbox. Nobody can see them in there, and nobody can get to them. But for preference, I take them inside with me, unless I'm staying at somewhere like Pano that threatens you with a $250 fine if they catch you with gear in your room.

I learned my lesson about leaving stuff in my car one night after going bowling. I forgot to take my bowling bag inside, and someone broke in to my car to steal two crappy bowling balls and my stinky shoes. In doing so, they munted three of the door locks before finally smashing in a window. $1000 worth of damage to the car. THAT was the bit that p&%$#d me off.

[Gossamer]

^^ I learned my lesson about leaving stuff in my car one night after going bowling. I forgot to take my bowling bag inside, and someone broke in to my car to steal two crappy bowling balls and my stinky shoes. In doing so, they munted three of the door locks before finally smashing in a window. $1000 worth of damage to the car. THAT was the bit that p&%$#d me off.

That's hard to believe, this is how I picture Canadians:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IJQc-noLQBM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Neil Gendzwill]

That's hard to believe, this is how I picture Canadians:

Naw, you want this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsgVspgy184&sns=em

[Allee]

That happened in New Zealand. I lived in an area where if you were mowing the lawn and ran out of gas, when you went to get the gas can you took the mower with you - or else it would be gone when you came back. Petty crime rates are horrifying in Auckland (things you didn't know about New Zealand ...)

I've never had any gear stolen in Canada.

[Gossamer]

My good friend Larry loved this Canadian, he gave me a roll of duct tape with a note

thanking me for introducing him to the Red Green Show.

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Edited August 15, 2013 by I_LOVETT
Spelling eh?

[RideGuy]

An attempt was made on one of my boards. It was leaning against the ski school meeting place sign. Apparently it was a combined effort by a couple of kids. First kid picked it up and threw it in the woods. Next kid picked it up and tried walking away with it. One of the other instructors recognized my board and stopped the kid. If he let him walk another 50 feet we could have changed him with theft. But he was still on property so we couldn't do anything.

[cemom]

Missing SG GS board after leaving USASA event Bryce Mountain in VA.

Board has markings that can identify this board. 2012-13 model with TD 3 bindings.

Please let me know. Board looks just like this one but with bindings....

[KyleMaxwell]

My Prior never leaves my sight at the resort, and never stays in the car longer than the trip to the hill and back. It ALWAYS goes into the lodge with me, the restroom, etc. People haven't given me much hassle, aside from the few negative comments. Generally coming from people who wouldn't have a clue what alpine gear is. I also carry a Dakine cable lock, but have only used it for locking up soft setups outside. I don't really trust it, but it definitely prohibits "grab n go" types of thieves.