Can freestyle board/softboot carve?

[Guest bitslizer]

as you can tell, I've no experience with carving. I'm infact fairly new to snowboarding.... my skills level is being able to go down the easier black diamond at Vail without killing myself :) I don't really do jumps or rails yet.

so I came across the carving site and took an interest in carving but I got mostly freeride/freestyle equipment(Burton Clash, Flow Binding, Burton freestyle boot). Can I learn to carve with these equipments? or must it be done with Hardboot/Alpine board?

[Baka Dasai]

The simple answer is YES, you can carve on your average soft boot/freeride board setup.

Or if you have a desire to see the relative merits of soft-boot carving vs. hard-boot carving thrashed out to a ridiculous degree, read <a href="http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1704">this old thread</a>.

And check out <a href="http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=27456">Boostertwo's posts</a>. He has a nice habit of attaching time-lapse photos of soft-boot carving to his posts.

[Guest motopilot]

I used to ride only plates/race boards because of the performance. But to be honest, not that I do not love riding a 180+cm race board, I can rip just as hard on the freestyle setup in soft boots as well. You can carve on anything, equipment and terrain, once you have the skills to do it.

[philistine]

I have never been on a board with hard boots. I am currently learning how to carve with my softboots just because I don't have any other way to practice. Whenever I try to make really sharp turns my toe's or heel's catch and I skid out.

I am curious as to what stance angles other people have used. I am at 20 15 but it's not enough, maybe I should try steeper.. yeah.. thats all

[Baka Dasai]

Originally posted by philistine

...Whenever I try to make really sharp turns my toe's or heel's catch and I skid out.

I am curious as to what stance angles other people have used. I am at 20 15 but it's not enough, maybe I should try steeper...

If you are referring to your toes and heels of your boots catching in the snow, then yes, you need either steeper angles, risers, a wider board, or some combination of these.

The highest angles I ever used in soft boots were 39/27, and it seemed to work OK for turning except my boots were still hitting the snow. I thought about getting a wider board but decided to get a much narrower one instead.

;)

[Guest jeremiah]

Before I bought a real carving setup I was riding 45/39 on softboots. It wasn't optimal, because I was folding the boots over when carving hard, but it allowed me to learn the body positioning and balance. Once I played with the bindings to have the highback rotated to the side of the board I was able to apply more pressure, and really understand the carve.

I still do a day or two on softboots every season, and unless I'm doing a park day with friends, I still ride with pretty steep angles.

I tried riding angles higher than this, but my boot/binding combo just didn't work out well, and since I've got small feet, there was really no reason to go higher on a freeride (or even my first freecarve) board.

Jeremiah

[Guest vaguelyevilguy]

I usually run 45/30 on my softboots, but my flows aren't giving me the lateral support I want. I'm planning on looking into either stiffness inserts for the boots or someone to make me wings for the highbacks (or even a third strap...). Pity that flow's adjustable bindings cost over $400. Even their pro freeride model has little more than a sliding toe ramp, forward lean, and minimal highback positioning adjustment.

[Guest motopilot]

I ride a Burton Raven 163 with 18/10 angles. No problem with heel / toe drag. You do not need higher angles to carve, you just need to adjust you technique. Even on my race boards my angle have come down a lot. At one point it was 63/60, now I am down to 47/40 about. Its much more comfortable way to ride.

[Guest BigJay]

I used to race SL and GS in the mid-90s... back when hardboots were all over the place. I was on the Qc cup and racing alongside Jasey Jay Andersen and now, i only have a freeride board (among others).

My board is an Option Makinen 164 w/ Palmer PLS FLEX risers and Burton Mission. I ride 21deg front and 12deg back.

I carve down a trail in slalom and GS type turns all the time. I do not carve as deep as i used to on a race board but once you manage the technique of carving, you can carve anything.

I can carve real good with my Burton Fish. The huge nose makes it really easy to initiate a carve and the tapered tail doesn't make the board stick into it's turn.

I love being able to carve down the trail and then switch to the woods and into the park... riding all over the mountain. Even when i use to race, we would train in the morning with the GS board and carve on the fresh carpet until lunch time. In the afternoon, we would switch to our freestyle boards to ride anywhere on the mountain... especially in the woods!

So basically, it's easy to understand that with a good freeride board, a general boarder can have fun all over the mountain!

There is still some alpine riders but the numbers have dropped and now the companies to sell hardboots components have really dropped also! Burton was one of the biggest name in alpine setups and they dropped it 3 years ago... You know alpine boards were really on a steep decline when they decided to stop! But the market for this stuff is still there but the community is smaller... but closer... that's why i'm going to get flammed on this post... LOL!

Don't worry, you will be able to carve with your freeride board!

[Guest motopilot]

BigJay, I fully agree with you. Yes I love riding a 180+cm board on fresh groomed snow, but its nice to play in the park, the trees, etc. I almost have more fun riding switch on the GS board just for something different.

Now lets all get out there and ride!