st_lupo Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 Hi all, hope I'm not going to bore the community by starting a thread logging the progress of yet another beginner in hard-boots. Just wanted to track my progress from zero to hero from the perspective of a softboot veteran. Regardless... the fact that there are so many noobs posting to bomber online now must be positive for the sport, right? Bear with me on this, and any feedback is appreciated ME: ---- So about me... I posted this info in another thread where I was begging for help in finding the right snowboard to learn on: 6ft 1in, ~approx 190lb and living in Norway (Kongsberg, typically hardpack to icy). I started with alpine skis (~5 years) and the memories of my freezing/cramping feet have probably stopped me from trying hardboot snowboarding earlier. I've clocked in 25 years on soft boots and my riding style is probably best described as aggressive all-mountain. While I haven't yet gone on the hunt for the perfect carve, I do carve a bit in softboots and understand the mechanics of "the norm". I made the decision to switch to hard boots a couple of weeks back when I came to grips that I'm now spending the vast majority of my time on-piste. It just seems to be the sensible thing given the local conditions. All of the little details that play into perfecting the various carving techniques also gets my inner engineer all bouncy and now that I've finally gotten all of my gear assembled I have to admit I haven't been this stoked in years! NOOB Gear: ----------------- Hardbooting seems a pretty small sport and Norway is a pretty small country (at least population wise). Add the two together and it means that there is very little chance of buying gear locally, much less demoing anything. For me buying gear has basically been an informed leap of faith: read reviews and tips, talk to anybody I can and cross my fingers! *Boots: UPZ RC10 (2014/2015) I had decided that boots were going to be the biggest investment for me. Without a great fitting boot things will suck, imho. Control and comfort is rooted in the interface between your board and your body. From what I've read, and from a friend's recommendation, I went with the UPZ RC10 boots. I followed the guide for measuring the Mondo Point size as described on upzboots.com and ordered them. For me, the boots fit really well and I've got pretty wide feet. They are firm and tight, but not painful and I haven't felt any scary pressure points yet; granted I've only worn them watching tv or in bed so far. *Board: F2 Silberpfeil (2012/2013) Here I didn't get what I was initially looking for, but I got an offer that I couldn't refuse. I was really hoping for a Silberpfeil Vantage since I figured the wider board with lower binding angles would be an easier first step. I couldn't find any Vantages at my price point, but I was offered an unwrapped 2012/2013 Silberpfeil for just a hair over 200 euros. From what I read it's a good board but maybe not as sexy as a Swoard or Pureboarding board. The potential downside is that it is narrow so I will be running with 58/55 on my bindings from day 1. *Bindings: F2 Race Titanium Again here I wanted something competent, but not necessarily the best of the best. I don't mind forgoing the customization of the higher end bindings in return for reducing the total number of variables that will effect (and maybe screw up) my ride. I was able to locate a pair of new bindings for around 130 euros. Everything else is just my old snowboard gear. Luckily my wife used to race downhill so we've already got tons of tuning gear to keep everything in tiptop share. One thing that I noted is that it is important to find a helmet with a big enough arch in the back to allow you to bend low at the hips but but still look up without your neck pushing the front of the helmet down into your eyes/goggles. Setup -------- I still haven't had my first ride on hardboots yet, but I've tried to adjust the stance on my board to something that feels right. My goal for this is to acheive: 1.) Wide stance . This is loosely based on many recommendations here on BO. Wide-->longitudinal stability and more precise modulation of your forward/backward weight distribution. Here I've wound up with a width of about 51cm. 2.)A stance that is symmetric about he middle of the fore/aft bolt patterns. From what I understand this should put the bindings symmetric about the effective edge's apex. 3.)Very little boot-out. So I'm at 58/55 binding angles. The binding angles will reduce boot-out but not eliminate it. The boots aren't completely inside the board (I've got MP29 boots), but I think they look reasonable, and I really didn't want higher angles yet. As boot out becomes an issue I'll either look for a wider board or increase the angles. 4.)Neutral stance when flat on the board. This is my big one. Given the above width and angle settings I wanted to adjust everything else (binding cant/lift, boot cant/lean) to make my stance as neutral and stress-free as possible. With the board a flat on the floor I want my body to naturally stand in a 50/50 weight distribution. I also want to eliminate (or reduce) any shear/torsion stresses in my hip/knee/ankle joints when standing in a "relaxed" position. Finally I want the natural tendency for my hips to point in the direction of my bindings. Given that my bindings are rotated over 45 degrees I focused on toe-lift (front) and heel lift (back) to clean up my stance, as opposed to cant. What seems to work for me are a few adjustments: 1)zero-cant on my front foot, 2) "standard" toe lift on the front binding by removing both front foot cant wedges and stacking them both into just the front toe platform 3) the default 5 degrees cant on my back binding 4)Heel lift on my back binding using the lift kit that comes with the F2 bindings. I still feel a little bit wide in my stance, but otherwise it feels natural and relaxed. Standing on the board I feel comfortable and I'm not having to use any extra force to clean up my posture. When I leaning my shins into the boots and bend forward at the hips it feels like I keep my CG lined up over the board and splits my weight about 55/45 on my fore/aft foot. I can definitely feel that the transitions between toe/heel/toe requires a different mechanic that I use on my softboot board. It feels like it will take more effort from my hips and that maybe it will transition more slowly, which is a bit of a worry. One of the big reasons I hate rocker boards is that the transitions feel sluggish and mushy (admittedly I've only tried one). Compared to my current softboot ride: Mental Preparation ------------------------- There is almost too much good stuff to read in these forums, and I'll never remember 5% of it for my first ride. So I've just decided to focus primarily on one piece of advice given in this thread: and concentrate on keeping my butt over my board. Other than that I'll take what I know from softbooting: balance and dynamic riding and try to wedge that into my hardboots. After my first day I'll regroup and evaluate what I need to improve. I'm planning on continuing posting to this thread to either brag about how easy the transition is (yeah, right) or to most likely beg for help from all of you awesome people. I'm really hoping to get up to the hill this weekend. Can't wait to see if I survive the transition or if I come running back like a whipped dog. Cheers! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 as a silberpfeil rider of similar boot size and greater height, congrats on buying a great board. do not be the least bit intimidated about its narrow width or the high angles required to have the boots inboard of the edge. i have a 55cm stance width and 65°/70° angles. it's probably not the best board to convert with, but like you i got a cracking deal. these days i love it. keep your weight forward, look where you want to go, and enjoy the ride. you will discover that it does not transition slowly. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 Good Luck ! If every run ends in a smile your doing it right . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Guy... Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 Someone should pin this as the benchmark for intro posts. You're off to a good start and be sure to keep this updated with your progression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mase Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 Wow man! You are going to have a ball. You have trained 25 years for this. Can't wait to hear how it goes. The only advice I could give you is that if you start sketching on a backside carve (being natural) just turn your head to the left a bit more. It was the best advice I was ever given. Have a blast and convert 10 people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcousticBoarder Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) Awesome post! That thread that you linked I think will really really help. I went out yesterday and definitely felt like I made a lot more progress just focusing on that sequence that two_ravens described, it really does help eliminate soft boot tenancies. I also envisioned the "borrowed" bamboo drill (Found here if you haven't seen it) too to keep my hands and shoulders about where they should be. When I got tired and transitioned to my soft boots for later day crud, riding them felt weird, not my hard boots :D My biggest advice for your first day, noob to noob, make sure you focus on the basics if you need to. I am guilty of trying to do half-a$$ carves and linking them instead of just going to a green run to do one nice solid carve until it terminates, and repeat until you can do it consistently. I still have a hard time doing this, and its making my learning process take longer Edited March 7, 2015 by AcousticBoarder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mase Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 What's happened to Barbie in your pic? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted March 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 No ride today :( A friend from the US was in town so we met up instead. I'm pretty sure I'll make it out tomorrow though. In the mean-time I'll just share an alpine board video that I found on youtube that really gets my heart pumping every time I see it: Runners 2014 . I've shown this (and other vids) to some friends/collegues and the typical response is "holy carp that looks cool!" They never even knew the sport existed and some really seem to want to try it out. Regarding the barbie: I've got two girls so those things pop up everywhere in our house and sometimes it's just "wrong-time, wrong-place, Barbie". Ken, on the other hand, hardboots I think. He's got the stance down pat, as shown by his mastery of the zombie hands position. And a big thanks to the BO community for all of the supportive/informative posts! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted March 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 (Yikes!!! Apologies for the length of this y'all. I was just trying to capture everything I could about my first day and maybe get some feedback and/or help others who are starting out in hardboots, especially on a pair of legs that are used to soft boots.) First Blood!!! I made it out to the local ski hill on Sunday with the rest of the family and had some great spring skiing conditions. The short version is that I'm pretty satisfied with my first days performance, but I've got a long way to go. I'm definitely hooked! Conditions: 13C (55F), SLUSHY (the little brother of hero snow). At times it was more like wakeboarding than snowboarding. Runs: mainly blues and greens Around the lift ------------------- The immediate thing I noticed was that it feels really different skating the board around in the lift line. Pushing with the tip of the boot as opposed to a mostly flat foot felt really odd at the start but the large front foot angle definitely made it more comfortable to stand in line. Other than that, no big deal getting on/off the lift. Next challenge is strapping in the back boot!?! I'm used to sitting on my butt and strapping in my back foot at my leisure but that didn't go as smoothly with the hard boots. Nothing seemed to want to line up and nothing was where it "should have been". Ok, hardboots, I've gotta think a little different even with the small things. Shifting my weight to my inside hip helped a bit. But even then, pushing myself up into an upright position and trying to go those first few slow feet before getting good directional control had me looking like a chump all day. It probably sounds stupid, but does anybody have any tips for just starting from a sitting position? Run 1: getting my sea legs ----------------------------------- First run is a green slope. Getting started isn't pretty and my wife kept laughing at my wobbling knees. Regardless of how comfortable I felt standing on the board at home, once the thing starts sliding there is waaay too much softboot muscle memory that takes over. The hardboots + binding angles then create a different feel/response than what my body is expecting. Bad feedback loop. I stopped, regrouped and force myself to focus on: "knee-knee-hips-tuck" as two_ravens was so kind to point out in an earlier post. I got started again and kept focusing on knees-knees-hips-tuck and ah... Everything lined up in the right direction and suddenly my inputs were having an effect. An immediate effect. It was still a really shallow green trail, but the Silberpfeil is almost reading my mind and at the slightest nudge the board is doing the right thing and feels really locked in. I'm not carving yet just basic slow-speed directional control. Compared to this feeling my SuperModel (that I love) feels vague and laggy. The nice thing about this responsiveness is that it doesn't feel nervous at all. Now we are getting somewhere. Another big difference that I notice immediately is that I'm steering most effectively by leaning into my boots and not by flexing/relaxing at my ankles. This is a totally foreign feeling compared to carving in my soft boots but to me it seems to make a big difference. As long as I keep remembering to steer by leaning into the boots and keep my feet flat in the footbeds it feels like the boots take care of the rest. Halfway down the first run the slope gets a bit steeper and I can start thinking of carrying more speed. I start a heelside turn and wow! Again the board is a mind reader and it confidently goes into the turn and holds it without any complaints at all. I'll disclaimer that by saying it wasn't a great carve and all the veterans here would probably smile and say "oh yeah, I remember back in the day when I was starting out..." but it was a clean cut, about on the level of what I'd normally be doing with my softboots... but it was effortless. I stand up against the centripetal acceleration at the apex, then relax and let the board come up under me and transition to the next edge. Nice and quick transition. OK, now the toe-side edge, this will be easy... push a little bit extra to show off aaannndddd wipeout! I wind up in something like a bad extreme carve position, laying against the snow, but going in a straight line perpendicular to my board, scooping all of the wet slush into my jacket. Hmmm. All of my fantasies of making a sequal to the Opus youtube clips on my first day were dashed in an instant. I revert back to focusing on "knee-knee-hip-tuck" and figure I'll just have fun and boogie down the rest of the hill. That actually worked just fine and it helped increase my familiarity with the board. It also helped highlight some immediate problems in my technique and letting my outside hand get behind me on the heel sides was probably the most obvious of them. I had a few wipeouts down the rest of the way, but that's just fine. Run 2: Exploring a bit ----------------------------- Second run is on the same green slope. This time I'll start to clean up on some of my worst problems. "knee-knee-hips-tuck" somehow got changed in my head into "shin-shin-hips-tuck" because I'm envisioning preloading my boots/board with my shins. I don't focus on that the whole time now, but starting off while consciously reciting it seems to help get me into a good stance right away and it carries through the rest of the run. What I do have to constantly focus on is what my outside hand is doing on heel-side turns. I keep thinking, "Why the hell does that thing keep going back there?!" and "Do I have this problem on softboots?". It actually took me lots of focus to keep it more or less where it should be (in front of me), and while it takes some effort it does payoff. It seems to keep my balance where it should be and that makes the difference between me riding the board and the board riding me. By the end of the second run my 9 year old daughter is giving me the "Come on dad! Keep up!" look. Hopefully moving on to a blue slope will settle her down. 1.)"shin-shin-hips-tuck":ok! 2.) "hands in front": roger that! 3.)"Hey, didn't somebody say something about pretending to hold a bamboo pole?":ok we'll try that too. Ok, bamboo pole... hold it this way, hold it that way, hold it level to the slope and across the board, hmm. I don't quite see the big deal until all of a sudden bam! bam! bam! For three whole turns something just clicked and my random gyrations must have lined up perfectly and everything seemed to flow. Instead of feeling like an artificial learning device, the bamboo pole was getting my hands where they should be, I was bending over at the hips and the carves were feeling really powerful. Those were the best carves I have ever done and it felt like there was plenty more power leftover for the taking... but after 3 turns it was back to reality :( Luckily there was no one filming so I don't risk looking back and being underwhelmed, but they felt so good! The closest way I can describe it is like being clicked onto a big spring and getting both the compression and rebound effort timed just right that I really got a smooth boost in power. Sweet! Run 3 and on ------------------ I get back to the lift and I still get the rolled eyes look from my daughter. To make her happy the next run down is just a bomber; the first one down the hill wins and all that. I'm kind of curious to how the board is going to react to a lot more speed. I'm planning my turns like I would in my softboots. Big diameter turns, each less than 90 degrees of direction change. In Norwegian this would be called grisekjøring. I beat her to the lift in plenty of time, but does that cut me any slack? The board obviously will go down the fall-line as fast as my other board and under good control. The weird thing is that getting downhill first just isn't the point anymore. I want to get back up there and practice trying to get some steeper turns even if it meant getting to the bottom slower. I wanted those three golden turns again. It was a good day in all. I was about where I expected, not as good as I hoped but also not as bad as I feared. Later I got a couple more turns just like those golden three, but I've got a long way to go. There were lots of crashes but lots more smiles Some things I learned: * There is a lot more than I expected that carries over from soft boot snowboarding to hard boots. Balance, coordination and a feel for the snow helps. If you already carve in softboots, it's gonna help, but you need to make a few adjustments. * Before making it to the mountain I was stressing a bit about how hard this would be. Turns out it was no where near as bad as my first ever day snowboarding. * Putting time into getting your stance right on the carpet at home seemed to remove some of the variables that could contribute to a bad run on the hill (for me at least), I aimed for: neutral/natural/no-overhang. * Contrary to what I expected from a narrow carving board, my Silberpfeil isn't nervous or hooky (at least not in slush). It turned when I wanted and it did so in a manner that was assertive but not hyper. * When making the switch to hard boots you're gonna come face to face with all of your bad habits from soft boots. * (Maybe this should have been #1), Have fun, crash lots, don't get self conscious and don't get overly fixated on the rules. * I feel that there is a risk of becoming obsessive about my edges. Every skidded stop just makes me picture my edges getting dull. Does this happen to everybody? * After getting home from the first day I found this Youtube video. Seems to do a great job at breaking down the individual elements and really makes a good visual impact: EC technique lessons by BEN *Next time I carry a foldable PZ3 screw driver. I had a really bad crash on my last run and my front binding got twisted around. I can't begin to described the suckage of riding downhill with my front foot rotated to 5 degrees while my back is still at 55. *Have fun, have fun, have fun. And listen to anybody willing to offer help. No video or photos from this trip, but I'll be going to a Kvitfjell this weekend, and I think they've got pretty good snow. My wife promised to film (and to keep a straight face). Then I'll be begging for tips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Actually that's interesting. Sitting down: don't do it. Seriously, it's for kiddies and those who can't ride. I never do it at a resort or in powder. You don't need to - you can rest with your back foot out on piste, or just stand there, and in the back country just dig the back of the board into the snow and relax. Therefore I've no idea how you get up, it's a knack I suppose. The board that sounds right: "responsiveness" is precisely what it's about. Most people will never experience it in a snowboard. I have a (gen 1) Supermodel but I never rode it on a piste. Steering yup, that's how it works. There is ankle flex, but it feels more like you're pushing your shins against the tops of the boots. You can rock them from side to side that way even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) Sitting down: don't do it. Seriously, it's for kiddies and those who can't ride. I never do it at a resort or in powder. You don't need to - you can rest with your back foot out on piste, or just stand there, and in the back country just dig the back of the board into the snow and relax. Therefore I've no idea how you get up, it's a knack I suppose. That's ridiculous. We all need to sit down from time to time, if only after a fall - are you such a brilliantly talented rider that you never fall? I assure you I can ride, as can the majority of us who sit down on the regular rather than clip out at every stop or try to teeter on our edges. It's also a pretty condescending bit of advice to give to a beginner who's going to have enough of a time clipping in and out without thinking he has to do it standing in all conditions. st_lupo, it just takes a little bit of practice to figure out how to get up. You went through the same issues learning with softies I imagine, you just have to sort it out with the forward angles and stiffer interface. Edited March 10, 2015 by Neil Gendzwill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcousticBoarder Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 For sitting, I try and only purposefully stop on my toe side, much easier to get up. Of course, you will probably fall and need to get up from heel side, it is not very easy. Word of caution on the video: it is showing extreme carving technique, not angulation or bomber method. Some things will carry over, but others will contradict, namely the position of the hips, and tucking between or during the turns. I found this out after a very frustrating day on the slopes :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Nice stuff! Just reading that brought back memories of the same learning curve! Keep with it. With practice all those things become better. Focus on having your hips turned to match your feet angles. Early on, I spent a lot of effort keeping my hands in the right spot but missed that the point was to drive my hips that way too. Rotate/pull that rear hip forward and all of a sudden the stance feels normal and reasonable. It takes a while for the emergency position to be burned into your brain. I had a few 'oh no!' stops where I rotated the hips into a softboot position by reflex - that hurts the ankles and knees! I haven't figured out a graceful way to get up. Keeping your hips aligned with your boots is a great start. I frequently flip over to my toe side if I've stopped/fallen in a flat area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 St Lupo I am also a noob. I went last Sat with a carving friend of mine. I decided that I just couldn't expect him to go slow with me. For me to do what I believe is good technique I have to be slow cruising on a greed dot. Soooo......I just went with it and was skidding around. I was not keeping up but was cruising along with him and not worrying about style or rules. Turned out to be a fun day. May have set me back on technique, but was fun! Even skidding I was able to go faster than I would have on my softboot setup. Heading up tomorrow to try and catch some new snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Guy... Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 When you stop to clip in, face downhill with your free foot uphill of the board and dig a shelf into the snow with the heel side of your board. Usually, three to five kicks will do it. This will give you a flat place to put the board so it won't move while you stand on it as you clip your rear foot in. It will be easier to get your boot to line up if you're standing, but if you'd rather sit to clip in, getting up might be easier if you grab the toe side edge of the board forward of your front foot with your right hand (I'm assuming you're regular?) and pull on that as you use your left arm to push off the snow. Or, just get step ins, which is what I did when I got tired of farting around with my rear binding. Either way, if you're having trouble getting your boot to line up with the binding, there may be a chance your heel lift/ cant angles still need some work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mase Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Hey St Lupo, God your a good writer! Talk about bringing back memories of learning to deal with plates. The ultimate for me as beginner was to lock in while on the lift. Talk about a cool off-load! I could only do it on an empty chair though on the right hand side. Another pearler is, if your on your bum do a ninja side roll to get to toe side and be on your knees. Way easier than trying to stand heel side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aracan Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 When you stop to clip in, face downhill with your free foot uphill of the board and dig a shelf into the snow with the heel side of your board. Funny. I always do it the other way round: Face uphill, hack the downhill edge a few times. That is usually enough to hook the board until I have clipped in the rear foot. Of course, this only works on very moderate inclines. As for standing up from sitting: This is much easier when you stand up toward the nose (not toward the toeside edge), bringing your outside hand toward the nose and your butt over the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 That's ridiculous. We all need to sit down from time to time, if only after a fall - are you such a brilliantly talented rider that you never fall? I assure you I can ride, as can the majority of us who sit down on the regular rather than clip out at every stop or try to teeter on our edges. It's also a pretty condescending bit of advice to give to a beginner who's going to have enough of a time clipping in and out without thinking he has to do it standing in all conditions. "Don't do it" needs to be read in the way it was written - a little ironically and with a smile. There are plenty of posts here talking about how to get up. I'm avoiding repeating that good advice by suggesting that actually you probably don't want to sit down all that much in the first place. Personally I never sit down whilst riding on a piste or off piste. Everyone crashes. You're deliberately confusing the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbvt Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Next challenge is strapping in the back boot!?! I'm used to sitting on my butt and strapping in my back foot at my leisure but that didn't go as smoothly with the hard boots. Nothing seemed to want to line up and nothing was where it "should have been". Ok, hardboots, I've gotta think a little different even with the small things. Shifting my weight to my inside hip helped a bit. But even then, pushing myself up into an upright position and trying to go those first few slow feet before getting good directional control had me looking like a chump all day. It probably sounds stupid, but does anybody have any tips for just starting from a sitting position? I don't sit down to clip in, I just find a flat spot to stand (I make one with the board if I have to) and clip in standing up. This gets easy with a little practice. If you do need to sit down, it's much easier to get up if you flip over onto your toeside edge and get up from a kneeling position. The only time I get up from a regular sitting position is if I'm on a pretty steep slope (because my butt is already higher than the board). * There is a lot more than I expected that carries over from soft boot snowboarding to hard boots. Balance, coordination and a feel for the snow helps. If you already carve in softboots, it's gonna help, but you need to make a few adjustments. * Before making it to the mountain I was stressing a bit about how hard this would be. Turns out it was no where near as bad as my first ever day snowboarding. Absolutely. I remember my first run in hardboots -- felt awkward as hell at first, even though I'd been riding with three-strap bindings up to that point. But it only took a few runs to get used to the different angulation required. The basic mechanics of snowboarding definitely carry over. I made the switch in part because I found myself constantly cranking down the binding straps so tight, in order to get improved response, that my feet would be killing me. This was back in the days that even the stiffer softboots, like the Burton Comps I wore, were still very soft compared to some of the current ones that are nearly as stiff as hardboots. It finally occurred to me that since I was most interested in going fast and carving, it was stupid for me to suffer all day long with aching feet when I could just use hardboots and have both increased response AND comfort. Last year, after a long break from snowboarding, I tried a pair of Burton Driver X softboots (one of the models that's almost as stiff as hardboots); thought was that maybe going with more of a freeride setup would get me back into snowboarding. I actually really liked the boots, but I immediately remembered how much I hate strap bindings. After the convenience of flipping one lever while standing up to clip into a plate binding, having to sit down and fiddle with straps was incredibly frustrating. This year I have indeed gotten back into snowboarding, but I've very happily stuck with my hardboots. :) --mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted March 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Thanks everybody for the advice! I think I'm better prepared regarding getting the back foot locked in. I'm taking the family on a weekend to Kvitfjell this weekend which is a little higher and a lot colder than last sundays ride, so the snow should be a bit harder. I'm planning on focusing on driving my hips into the turns while angulating everything above the hips, practicing cross-under turns, and keeping my eyes on where my BOARD is headed this trip. I think I can get some video this weekend so I'm kind of interested in seeing how lacking my technique is. -->Markbvt: Those three strap bindings wouldn't have been the old Burton Flex bindings would they? I lost count of how many pairs I broke when I started out riding. Comparing the rubber "shock-absorper" on the highback with the springs on my hardboarding boots, those Flex bindings were pretty chintzy. But I guess there have been a few decades to improve things? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbvt Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 -->Markbvt: Those three strap bindings wouldn't have been the old Burton Flex bindings would they? I lost count of how many pairs I broke when I started out riding. Comparing the rubber "shock-absorper" on the highback with the springs on my hardboarding boots, those Flex bindings were pretty chintzy. But I guess there have been a few decades to improve things? :) I had the Flex bindings on one of my first boards, but then their successor, the Torque bindings, after that. The Torques were sturdier bindings overall. But I'm still much happier with hardboots and plates! --mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slopestar Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Newb carving gets me stoked to ride. Just the excitement that makes snowboarding fresh. I love it. Great read. Great advice. Philw, never sit down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beckmann AG Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Re: Getting in, and getting going. Learn to lock in while standing. E.g., If regular, stand to the toeside edge (board across the fall line) , fingertips of the left hand just ahead of the left toe on the snow. Work your right heel into the rear binding, set the toe lever in place with your right hand and hold with slight tension. Then smoothly swing your left hand toward the right hand and slap the lever closed. Continuing the movement, stand, look over your left shoulder, then release the edge and glide off. Note; this doesn't work well for some body types/dietary practices... If you cannot balance upright at rest, there is a good possibility that your binding setup isn't optimized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Guy... Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Note; this doesn't work well for some body types/dietary practices... I used to be faced with the great dilemma- Do I want seconds, or do I want to clip in to my rear binding? Life is so difficult. Fortunately, Intecs facilitate my dream of having my picture posted as a BOLO at the registers of the local buffets. Thanks, step ins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbvt Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Fortunately, Intecs facilitate my dream of having my picture posted as a BOLO at the registers of the local buffets. Thanks, step ins! Thanks for the morning laugh! :) A few weeks ago I rode my freeride board with my old Burton Step-In Race Plates mounted. Wonderfully convenient at the top of the mountain, but I discovered when I got to the bottom that getting out of them is a serious pain due to the tiny release lever that sits down lower than the heel of the boot. I admit it, I could stand to lose a few inches around the waist, and bending down that far and flipping that lever is no longer very easy. But then last weekend an old friend of mine rode with me on his Factory Prime with step-ins, a setup that he hadn't ridden in years, and he had just as much trouble getting out of the damn things. And he's thin, so that made me feel better. --mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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