neanderthal Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 Carving from 1989 - 3 buckle burton cruise with sorels and ski boot tounge hardboots from 91 on an kemper asym with raichle flexons This season puts me @ 26y Don't miss those boards but I do miss the DayGlo neon style Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex1230 Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 1981... But had a few years off due to injury and poverty... All told, 34 years since I first strapped on a board, with maybe 4 years of not riding. I think I made up for those years off with a few 100 day seasons though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poconopaul Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 1987 Burton Cruzer with LL Bean boots. If my memory serves me correct when I opened the box ( I'm pretty sure it came in a box ) there was a sheet of paper in that listed the areas that would let you snowboard. For me it was Hunter or Alpine. I went to Hunter and came home very sore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateW Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) I rented two or three times during the 88/89 winter, so I think that's the real start for me. Not sure of the brand... maybe Snowtech? Whatever the name was, they disappeared shortly afterward. My parents bought me a K2 Gyrator not long afterward, I'm pretty sure that was in the 89/90 season. I'd been skiing and skateboarding since about 1982 (the 4th grade) and so had most of my friends, so the learning curve was tiny, just one or two days on snow until we were all competent on groomed runs and looking for challenges off-piste. I'll always be grateful to my parents for paving the way for me back then. First with ski lessons starting in 4th grade, and eventually just ski bus programs, all the way through high school. And of course my first snowboard/boots/bindings. Snow has brought me all kinds of fun every winter ever since. There were a couple years in college where I only went once or twice, but otherwise it's been 10 full days per season at least, usually 20-25, occasionally 30. So now I try to get all of my friends to put their kids into ski and snowboard schools, buy or rent gear, etc. It's not cheap but it's the ticket to a life-long joy. After college I bought hard boots, first on a freeride board (45/30 stance angles) but then slowly went progressively narrower and steeper. And expensiver. :-) Never had any interest in racing, I kept thinking I didn't want to go fully "alpine" because it wouldn't be versatile enough if it got too narrow and too steep... a totally unfounded fear. So only about 10 years with 21cm-and-narrower / 50-degrees-and-more. I also built a snowboard in shop class in 85, plus or minus a year. Back then, the state-of-the-art was turn fins near the back binding. The other kids (this was 7th or 8th grade) thought I was nuts for putting metal edges from tip to tail and grinding them flush with the base. "They don't stick out, what's the point?" or "They're too long, you'll never turn!" And the edges were made of angle iron, so flex... what flex? :) But I knew how skis worked so I thought turn fins were a terrible idea and I set out to show everybody. Except... bindings. I used eye-screws, shoelaces, and Sorels. The eye screws all pulled out after a few "runs" down an 8 foot tall hill about a block from my parents' place. I made one actual turn. And then I had no board, no budget, no driver's license, so that was the end of that. High school was when I really started. And thankfully, while turn fins weren't quite extinct yet, metal edges were starting to catch on. Edited January 27, 2015 by NateW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmD Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 I am glad I have found this topic as last year in Chamnoix on a bus, I over heard a pair of young kids laughing and saying "ha, look at the boarder from the last decade" Obviously referring to my hard boot set up, not lack of hair or general middle age etc. I was rapidly thinking of a smart reply when I realised it was my 4th decade on a board, ha I thought I've got them, then realised this really would not help me. But it did make me think... I started in 1984 on a Snurf with rubber bindings and fins. First hard set up I had was when I bought a Jose Fernandez Hooger Booger 175. I learnt about him in one of the first issues of Transworld Snowboarding and decided I wanted to be a euro carving expert... took a while and I'm still not quite there... So since 1984 makes me 31 this season. Tim PS And why was Bomber not in Silverthorne when I live at Farmers Corner, just outside Breck? I really struggled to remain a carver for two season while I lived there, very little hard set up equipment available in Co. then... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucasgo Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 Winter of 84/85, upstate NY on a Burton Backhill followed by a Burton Cruzer. Got rid of that a couple years later in favor of a Sims Kidwell. Eventually drove to the Burton shop and picked up a Kelly Extreme and a PJ7. Didn't have the funds for hard boots to go with the board, so my buddy and I rode our PJ in 3-strap softboots carving circles around the meadow at Togg. I also remember having to take the "are you a menace to society" tests. Got my first plates in maybe 99... Ebay special! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darko714 Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkoonyMcGroomer Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Bought my first snowboard at the Vail ski swap in '90 and had no idea what i was buying. It was a Kemper 170 with very little scr. It was like turning an aircraft carrier, but that didn't keep me from trying to keep up with my skier friends on black bump runs the first day out. Pounded! Hooked on it ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvsnowlion Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I started in Flagstaff, AZ 1986 on a Burton Performer that I still have. Wish I had keep my Mystery Air and Asym Airs too. Got my first season pass in 1987. Worked at a ski shop in Flagstaff and we hosted Bert Lamar on his Coors light sponsored Lamar pro model tour. Remember that stick? He was fun to ride and drink with. Then moved to Tahoe in 1990. On my 24th season pass now, 10 of them as a groomer operator. That was the best. Work all night, punch out, get on chairlift, ride for 3-4 hours, drink beer, sleep, wake up and repeat. Well over 100 days a year in those seasons. Living like a vampire and riding as much as possible. Moloik \m/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarfy Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 (edited) oh shit, that's exactly what I was searching.. I had the one without edges, and had to "upgrade" to the edge because no ski station were accepting snowboard without edges... If my memory is good, it was called a "mogul monster"... so much fun with this cheap thing !!! we were riding behind snowmobile with it... Edited January 29, 2015 by gnarfy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmorita Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 36 years. Burton Backyard. Rember having to get lower and upper mountain certifcaitons to ride the lifts at Stratton? Still have mine. Damn I looked young in the photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 January 10, 1988. Certified at Stowe on an Elite 150 by an instructor of Lowell Hart's crew. Next board was a Safari Comp II. Then hardboots in 92. Dang we're old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Guy... Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 Black Snow... wasn't that the blow molded plastic board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 Black Snow... wasn't that the blow molded plastic board? Injection molded! It had some glass fibers too. Not a laminate, just loose fibers mixed in the molten plastic. I later tried to 'blunt' the nose and make a rounded tail. That's didn't work out so well. The bindings had more sheet metal and rivets holding them together than plastic after a short while. Then I picked up a Burton Cruise 165. WAY too much board for a 13-year-old me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 Yesterday "Black Snow", today Äsmo. No disrespect intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyt. Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 If riding the Snurfer at college in VT counts, then then upgrading to these very cool "Back Hill" boards when some early pioneers visited some classmates, that was about 82-83. Still skiing until Stratton allowed it and some other east coast areas started. Went totally over to The Dark Side in 88-89 and moved to Vail, CO. Early snowboard boots lacked the support for me, and I discovered Raichle hard boots. Handful of guys riding plates with boards starting to carve around that time. I moved back east in the mid nineties and started the family, and rode a lot less. I still get to VT to ride and I just got a new Coiler 178. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadwood74 Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) 25 for me this year!! only 2-3 years in soft boots. Here's my board history Driving since 24 years, but changed the car a little more often !!! Edited January 30, 2015 by Gadwood74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darko714 Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) oh shit, that's exactly what I was searching.. I had the one without edges, and had to "upgrade" to the edge because no ski station were accepting snowboard without edges... If my memory is good, it was called a "mogul monster"... so much fun with this cheap thing !!! we were riding behind snowmobile with it... Respect that you rode that thing and had fun with it. In about 1998, when I was still in softboots, a colleague gave me a 'Mogul Monster' that she had sitting in her basement. I noted the length (about 120), lack of sidecut or edges, permanently positioned bindings (about 45 degrees) and the integral buckles (to accommodate galoshes). I accepted it, but I didn't dare try riding it. I gave it to a collector about 4 years ago, who recognized it and was very happy to have it. What was it like to ride? Edited February 2, 2015 by darko714 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowwjob1 Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Started building plywood boards with friends to imitate the old skurfers around '83 and got my first real snowboard for Christmas 1985, K2 with Sims bindings that cracked 2 months after I got them Sims then replaced the high backs, So I Guess this would make it 30 years this season, WOW time flies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 Next year will be 30 years on a board- bought my first Burton from Jake himself at Wildcat Mountain in NH the winter of 1986. Wish I still had that Backhill- it would be a cool reminder how far snowboard technology has come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCrobar Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) Started skating the summer of 1976; buy a pair of Bata runners and you got a free skateboard, my first deck! About 1978 I saw a Winterstick add in a magazine, it was as if I had just seen God! In the summer of 1984 I ordered a Burton Performer directly from Burton in Vermont, I remember that it took weeks for it to clear Canadian Customs. Tried a friends Hardboot set up the winter of 1988, an instant carving revalation! Started Hardbooting full time in 1989. About 2002 I was luckey enough to discover the Bomber and EC sites, both of which have helped to keep the Stoke going via posts like these! I still have my 1984 Burton Performer, hard for me to believe that this all happened 30 plus years ago! Cheers from one old guy to another! Rob Edited February 3, 2015 by RCrobar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 I went Elite 150 -> Sims 1710 Blade on softies, then switched to hard boots in 1989 or 1990 with a Gnu Race Room. Then it was Burton Asym Air -> Prior 4WD -> Coiler AM -> Coiler Nirvana. I sold the 1st two which I regret, still have all the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarfy Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 What was it like to ride? It was back when ski station refused snowboard, so I was patiently waiting until it close to play with the board. the only think you were able to do with those cheap plastic stick was to slide... as a kid I was broke, so to look cool I painted it as a burton... seriously it was dangerous, for me and anyone on my way ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Started on a Burton Cruzer in '87...I remember the tailbone pain like it was yesterday Oh the tailbone pain! It took about two years from my first day of snowboarding before I could sit long enough to make it through a 2 hour movie. Started on a K2 TX at Loveland ski area in CO in 1990. That board barely lasted one season, don't know who the moron was that thought it was a good idea to make the edges out of dozens of short segments instead of a single piece of metal. Scraped up enough money and got a factory reject Burton Craig Kelly the next year and loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Buggs Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Newbie here started in 93 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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