Groomed Waves

[softbootsurfer]

Aloha Rob  

 

I feel I have HB and SB as well    just in one set up     That course in the Original Post sure looks like FUN... 

 

as for Groomed Waves...count me in    

 

Cheers,   Happy Bob

[Mig]

These days I like to say that my favorite two tricks are turning left and turning right, I would guess that this is true for a large portion of the overall snowboarding community.  My point being that if 90% of riders are primarily turning 90% of the time, on and off piste, many would benefit from gear that was designed with turns in mind first and flying second.

That's where Fullbag comes in! ;) But seriously, you are pretty much describing what Fullbag is all about: designed for turning first, whether in powder or on groomers. But a lot of board models from other small companies, or bigger established ones, trying to fit this riding style are sticking to the "smaller and wider is better" philosophy though. It might be fun in untracked powder at slower speeds, but not so much when hauling ass on groomers or tracked out snow, or if you are heavier than an olympic marathon runner. There's a lot to say about having a bit more effective edge. :)

And every single resort should have something like the Happo Banks!!! :)

Edited May 2, 2016 by Mig

[b0ardski]

 

Hi

 

 

Agreed.

 

 

I can't completely agree here as this has not been my experience.  I agree you can get close ... but not as much power vs mobility, etc.  I also feel way safer, with regards to ankle injuries, when carving with HB's in crappy conditions ... more than I do with soft boots.

 

 

 

 

When I say across the board heel to toe, I mean a back foot at say 30 degrees.  You seem to have interpreted my post to mean zero degrees, this was not my intention.  For discussion sake I was imagining above 50 degrees in hard boots, below 30 degress in soft boots; that stance range in the between 50 and 30 is open to a lot of variables for both hard and soft. 

 

It would be interesting to see a BX racer in HB's with a 45F-30R or 40F-25R stance, in a course like BlueB described, especially if the interface had the mobility to handle the rollers and air.  With angles in the mid 40's the front foot possibly generates more edge pressure via the side of the boot while the back foot in the 30's probably generates more edge pressure via the heel-toe, tongue of the boot ... so it is a mix of the two forces you described. 

 

 

Bottom line is I'll try any boot on any board as it's all boarding and fun ... this is why I have both hard and soft boots:)

 

 

Cheers

Rob

 

That "mix of the two forces" or rather mixture of styles to apply those forces is one reason this style (45*f/30*r) is so versatile; especially for fakie

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

When Stratton used to have the Tyroliene Double chair still, they'd run a night-time BX event on that slope (this is to the skier's right of Yodeller near the bottom). In those days, it was the 'lower intermediate' slope, used mostly by students/instructors, and come Saturday afternoon, two snowcats would push the snow up into a decently fast BX course. It was pretty gnarly in terms of who'd show up, often looking like the line-up from past US Opens, with local rednecks and stray flatlanders tossed in to mix it up some. Anyhow, the course would only open for that night's race, then get groomed back to being a steep-ish Green Circle  learning area. Without that chair there, Stratton turned it into a kid's scale snowpark area.

 

I used to often show up on plates, running my Rad-Air Soul Asym (Yes, has turned-up+rounded tail) or Reto 156.  I'd usually be at 20-3/4" stance, with front  of 45*, and 30* rear, canted and a heel lift, though on the Reto 156  the angles were more along 39*F/24*R.  It worked quite well. I came out 4th overal for the Series, and almost, almost, beat  Mark Heingartner in the last race, but he passed me on the last roller, full-on Method over-my-shoulder move from behind. The choppy sections were where I had the most trouble, but I could 'pump' through banked turns quite well, and ollie-pre-jump when and where I wished. On a bigger course, one with bigger jumps or 'ripples' I might prefer a softboot set-up, as having a bit edge-forgiveness on harsh landings is sometimes a good thing. On Step-up jumps (where the landing lip is higher than the take-off), I'd rather be in hardboots and on a lively board that can pump off the tail. So, yeah, hardboots can work pretty well for BX type events using moderate angles.