Poll: How did you get started out on hardboots?

[Carvin' Marvin]

Just curious to find out people's initial motivations.  Free-carver myself.  Wasn't born with a competitive edge.  More of a showboat.

[TimW]

hardboots / ski boots was pretty much the default option late 80's in europe, Took a few years to discover carving.

Just freecarving, never been interested in doing any sport competitive.

Edited March 6, 2020 by TimW

[pmorita]

Soft boot boards really were not as good as they are now and riding groomers was getting stale.  Hardboots and a Factory Prime changed all that. 

[lafcadio]

For the hardpacked iced up trails in New England, hardboots is the right tool for the job. Until I discovered alpine snowboarding in hardboots, I preferred to be on my skis when negotiating icy conditions and hardpacked snow. I haven't been on skis in over ten years now.

[SnowFerret]

I really liked watching people getting low and making clean, fast turns while I was riding a chairlift. It reminded me of surfing, auto/motorcycle racing, and roller coasters. That was the style that I wanted to emulate. I thought that the snowboarders with the hardboots looked the best or looked like they were having the most fun and that’s what sparked my interest. 

[b0ardski]

being a skier  already when snowboards happened, I learned quickly that all snowboard gear of the time was crap on hardpack, and sorels with skiboot liners and duct tape were worse than hiking boots. I rode the lift with a guy at Ski Acres in '87 that ripped steeps on a metal edged Avalanche w/Lofo plates and old lace up ski boots from the'60s. I tried my backcountry boots on my performer (I considered a toy) and gave up laces and highbacks forever.

Edited March 6, 2020 by b0ardski

[lonbordin]

I started as I wanted to turn harder... I saw @Carve234 at my local bump... I didn't even know there was such a thing!  All I knew is I wanted to do that.  I had boarded a long time at that point... just not that often.  I was more into surfing and skateboarding.

I did race after a while and I'd race again if the conditions are right.   

I don't find them mutually exclusive... there are things to be learned from racing and free carving.  Also most resorts that do NASTAR will allow unlimited runs for $10... if the resort is super crowded carving the racecourse can be a welcome respite.

Edited March 6, 2020 by lonbordin

[Jack M]

I started snowboarding when I was 13 for two reasons - I started seeing kids surfing the mountain, and, my best friend was doing it.  My parents were/are big skiers.  They weren't keen on me snowboarding, they thought it was a fad and I'd get bored with it after a while.  I had to buy my own snowboards.  In 1989 after one season on a Burton Elite 150 I knew I needed something better.  I was torn between the super cool Mystery Air or the badass Safari.  I figured that for my money I'd get more use out of the Safari here in Maine.  Got hooked on the carve and never looked back.  Spent hours watching video of Peter Bauer and Jean Nerva starting with Snow Rules.

[Gossamer]

I started snowboarding because the boots looked more comfortable, back in the Sorel days. I rode a Burton Supermodel and it was incredible in the powder and it liked to make round turns, just not on firmer snow. After years of trying to modify softboots to act more like hardboots I had to find something else, got on Bomberonline, went all in and I've been hooked for the past 18 years. 

[Mr.E]

HS race team (around 95) and a decent amount of freecarving media coverage and available gear in NH/ New England. Right time and right place. I was on softies only for the first season, switched for back and forth (primaily HB) for the next 2 or 3, then HB only since.

 

*No vote, since it was 50/50 at the beginning.

Edited March 6, 2020 by Mr.E

[Wolf]

A little different story here.  I never saw anyone carve on an alpine setup when I first decided to try boarding (on junky rentals).  But a friend had an old Hooger Booger (he really couldn't carve either), and let me try it with ski boots.  I just liked the forward stance more plus the easy in and out of the old Wombat bindings and thought the whole setup made more sense.  Then I saw some young guys carving on Factory Primes and knew alpine was the way to go.

[Rusty Edges]

Saw some of the early videos out of Europe of Peter Bauer, Jean Nerva, and Serge Vitelli riding hard boots everywhere and laying out some amazing carves on the groomers.

Tired of the BS judging at early freestyle events, it was a no brainer.  I found a set of the Koflack Albona boots, sourced a set of crude plate bindings and mounted on a K2 Gyrator 166.  The rest has been a 30+ year search for the perfect groom...

Up until this last year I hadn't been in soft boots since 1988.  The Pentaquark  and the Endeavor Hammerhead changed that.  Now my truck is loaded with boots and boards, both hard and soft, when I head up to the local bump.  It's fun confusing the lifties with what board is he on this run?

Trenches for All!

[barryj]

My second year of boarding, 1988? and was getting tired of sitting on  my butt and fighting the buckle bindings.

Saw a set of Emery Plates at the local shop and I had a dream.....to clip in while on the lift and ski/ride right off the chair!  And it worked!! .....and at our little hill at the Broadmoor ski resort in Colorado Springs the lifties didn't care.    

I used my Asolo mountaineering boots that year. Those boots design wasn't made for that application of course and I ended up ripping the sole from the boot with one too many hard turns!   Moved up to old Raichle ski mountaineering boots.. the one with white shells and  with one boot with a magenta tongue and the other with a chartreuse tongue .....

wow!  So 80's!!  Looked like these -

 

[Neil Gendzwill]

Neither of those two options.  I was on a Sims 1710 Blade with Sorels with ski boot liners stuffed in them.  You had to really crank those old Sims bindings and they were painful.   At the speeds I liked to go at I felt my ankles were in danger with such flimsy support.  So I switched to Elfgen plates and Koflach Damians and never looked back.  It wasn't about racing or carving, it was about free-riding and still is for me.

[bumpyride]

Came from skiing background.  Got bored and wanted to try snowboarding.  Burton 3 straps and too big of a board per recommendation of the local dudes.  

Went to smaller boards and new I never wanted to ride switch.  I only wanted to ride bumps and off piste.  Was hyper extending my ankle when I'd hit the trough on the bumps.

At the Seattle ski swap 1997.  Saw this weird set-up at the swap meet that I had never seen before  Was Raichle 123s, Burton Alp Asym, and Burton Plates for $125 complete.  Hmmmm?  Would this help with the bumps?  Never went back.  Answered all my concerns about riding off-piste, steeps and bumps. 

Still riding 2000 Vintage Burton 156 Coils for any day less than 6" of fresh (I have stockpiled 3, two of which are still in pristine condition), and a Nitro Squash for those rare days of over 6".

Switched to Raichle 122s from the 123s.  No power strap and a bit lighter.  Thermoflex liners make them feel like slippers.  Always ride in the Walk Mode.  Totally comfortable and just stiff enough.

[Poloturbo]

My first was a Burton safari but softboot .

Fast forward to 1994 I was selling Hot and 02 boards at a snowboard shop.

Decided to try HB with 02 boots and Hot spot 162. 

Still have it in my cottage lol.

Only good SB carving boards right now and absolutely not looking at HB in the future...

[Frenchy_in_SD]

Started in France in early 90s, hardboots setup was the only available. Did it sparingly for a few years before moving to the USA. I was impressed seeing the first carvers and what looked like the first ECs

Got back on it 13 years ago and looked for HB there as I wasnt interested in skidding in softboots. I've always remembered the carvers in the french alps...  Bought a Donek FC171 on Ebay and tried to figure it out myself, sprained my ankle bad, stopped for 12 years ( life happened too...). I still love the board anyway...

Went back a few weeks ago and loved it all over again, so I came back to bombersonline... I mean alpinesnowboard.com.

I did pound my sacrum on a hard fall on my last day, but still want more.

Next year, I will go to Mammoth or a big mountain west and find an instructor to help me out.

PS. I'm a Caribbean boy, was windsurfing and sailing early on, discovered the white funny stuff at 18... Still scared of the slopes, and the water is softer than snow/ice when I fall, but will go back on the slopes. Freezing temperatures is a pain compared to complaining when the water temperature dropped below 78 in the winter.

The feeling in the turns reminds me of some good jibes and days on the water sailing. 

[big mario]

I saw Snowboarder Pete aka pcdenver aka pcABQ on hardboots tearing up Firecut at lovey from the old Reload  chair back in aught 3.  I knew I had to do it.

Mario

[BlueB]

I jumped from the skis to snowboard, softies didn't even look like a logical choice. The first year in Vancouver, I couldn't find hard gear and first few years at the snow school I was forced to use softies. I was always in pain. 

I raced skis a bit when I was younger, but snowboard really only couple of times (nothing available locally). So, the board was always about turning for me. From mostly carving the groomers, I have changed into a bit of a freerider, for various reasons... Requirements of advancing the CASI certification, grooming getting worse every year, crowds getting bigger... and of course, our mountain having great freeride terrain. 

[philw]

I learned in Finland, where there were no soft boots in the late 1980s. I just used my ski boots in a rental board's bindings and it was fine. I'd seen soft boot bindings in a shop - they looked really primitive and were not attractive. Soft boots proceeded to take over the market, but I already knew how to ride, and when I tried them they hurt my feet. An accident of history, then.

[GeoffV]

I’ll never forget the day. At the time in 1987 I was living in Austria.  I was a young teenager and was at Gerlos Platte  in Austria with my buddy. We saw two guys come down on what we thought was a short surfboard, actually we had no idea what it was. We chased them down to ask them what it was. They told us it was a New thing called a snowboard and where they had Funky test boards with plates so we tried it out. I can’t tell you how many times I fell that day, but I loved it and was hooked. My father was not to happy since we had just gotten 195 Blizzard skis from the factory and I only used them twice.

 I didn’t even know there where soft boots when I started besides what I saw on TV and mags since just about everyone in Europe were on plates. Not until I moved to the US in 1990 did I actually see someone riding in softboots. The only reason I tired softboots was for jumping, it was difficult to pull a rocket air in plates. I was all about looking for jumps, laying down turns between jumps, repeat.  I hated not being able to carve until I discovered I could do both tricks and carving with a PJ 6 and Flex bindings. In one season I busted 3 pairs of Burton Flex bindings until they replaced them with plates. 

 

[st_lupo]

When I lived in CO I was always way more into free-riding and back-country and had Craig Kelly as a hero.  Went through K2 TX, Craig Kelly Air, Asym Air, Custom and Super Model.  I did see the Scream of Consciousness film when Burton had a big party on the hill in Boulder and the shots of Peter Bauer and Jean Nerva laying down carves on the corduroy always stuck with me. 

After I moved to south-central Norway, where the fresh snow is a lot wetter,  the old snow is a lot icier and powder-days are really scarce, I went through a period where I started getting sick of riding at all.  After 15 years of hating the terrain parks, hating groomed slopes and hating riding crusty snow and dodging mine-shafts in the nearby "back-country", a friend really insisted that I try riding hard-boots.  That completely rekindled my love of snowboarding and I learned that the snow conditions that are pretty ho-hum for free-riding are super excellent for carving.  I'm not sure if I was this stoked while I lived in CO.  With hard-boots, if the conditions are juuust right I have a hard time even staying on the chairlift all the way to the top.  I  get this compulsion to  hop off the lift and get at it!

[Corey]

I came to snowboarding through skateboarding.  Jumps, jumps, and sometimes jumps to change things up.  Turning was something you did between jumps.  However, I wasn't really that good at jumping.  I had a lot of fun being barely mediocre while dreaming of riding like the guys in the early 90's movies!  

I got burned out on jumping (and crashing), but liked snowboarding, so I started being the snowboarder that most of us hate: Way too fast, edge change from one skidding turn to another, barely leaving the fall line.  I was a danger to myself and others and had no idea.  That got me through another few years, but it wasn't a serious passion of mine.  At the end of my softboot riding I was spending 2 or 3 days per year on the snow.  

Somehow I came across the Bomber forum at random and saw some videos of hardboot carving.  Maybe Swoard videos?  They were definitely among the first.  "Hello, what is this?"  I was intrigued!  I got myself some used TD1s from the Bomber forum and board/boots from eBay.  It was pretty bad stuff, but I saw the potential and started falling in love with snowboarding again.  

I've experienced a lot of fun places/things/events, met countless great people, and ridden with fantastic riders that have inspired me and passed along great tips.  Really glad I accidentally came across this niche sport!  

[Eboot]

Poor and on snow in Switzerland in 93 for the first time I learned to ski (too incompetent to do much but bomb in a straight line).  Then bought a Burton with hard plates so that I could use my ski boots. Lost the skis, never looked back.  Watching carvers under the lifts on the glacier in Zermatt kindled a desire that has never died.

[1xsculler]

Watched VSH tape of Cliff in about 2000 and said to myself, "That's the coolest thing I have ever seen.  I WILL learn to do that."  Spent one day on rental soft setup and then used my SX91 ski boots on a Blue Rosi...never been on soft since.

After skiing for sixty years I never had any interest in snowboarding and still don't but hard boot Alpine free carving is my passion.