Poll: How did you get started out on hardboots?

[TVR]

Great reads in here...

The entire reason I HB is due to my son racing. He caught the bug and it was a great way to spend time together. Been doing now for 4 years with him and he has been on HB for 7 years.

[scottishsurfer]

My friend jokingly bet me that i couldnt ride his brothers old hard boot set up. Cue him appearing with it last year and the challenge was on two runs later and i was feeling resonably comfartable turning :). Now i ride Hard boots as a fun distraction from carving on softboots

[1xsculler]

The passion expressed in this topic is infectious as if any of us need more infection from our sport. I never hear skiers or softbooters talk this way about their craft maybe Ryan Knapton excepted. Alpine hardboot free carving is an addiction but only a very, very few people become addicts.

[SunSurfer]

Rode my first skateboard age 12 (1971), a steel wheeler a friend owned. Built my first skateboard age 12, from an old rubber wheeled roller skate cut apart and screwed to a simple ply deck. Lived on a no exit street 400m long with a modest slope and smooth tar seal. Cue my teenage years spent carving that hill, and building progressively better boards. Always a slalom/downhill rider for preference, and taught myself to tune my trucks for turns vs. stability at speed with wedges. Urethane wheels arrived in NZ in my mid teens and by 18 I'd acquired a pair of Tracker Trucks and a set of Road Rider 4s. Dallied with ramps and parks but road carving was always my passion.
Fast forward a few years, and I can ski pretty much all the inbounds terrain I can find at Mt Hutt, when I spot an Asian guy carving the most sinuous, smooth, short swing turns on an alpine board as I ride the lift. Brain explosion!!!!

Decided to try snowboarding, hired a board (only soft setups available), immediately found a screwdriver and swung the bindings from duckfoot to like my feet were on my slalom board (Turner Summerski profile, laminated, fibreglass/ply, cambered, with wedged trucks), and proceeded to try and carve from my first run. My snowboard instructor was left scratching his head and I never took another lesson in softs.

Bought a pair of Raichle 323s new (old stock in an NZ surf store I wandered into) and found a regular PJ 6.2 in a ski swap/sale. Made a little progress till I found Bomberonline Forum in 2008 and found a Riot Supercarve 180 on TradeMe (NZ's eBay). The rest is history & bliss.

[workshop7]

I worked as a ski tech in the rental shop at Temple mountain in NH ( now closed) all growing up.  Strange layout, the lodge was across the trail and up a set of stairs from the parking lot.  One day, in 1990, as I'm walking across that trail from the shop to the lodge I see one of my good friends on a Checker Pig G6 carving up a storm.  To this point I had never had any interest in snowboarding.  I skied from age 3.  I was 20 years old and getting a lesson on hardboots that very next day.  I haven't been on a pair of skis since.

[cbrkid1981]

Dingbat.... it was all dingbat.  I was working at Berkshire East and putting around on my softies and saw him rip big chief and it was all over.  

[Jcar]

Just wanted to turn!  Found this recently, Circa 1990 turnin some trenches at Sylvan/Treetops in Gaylord MI on a Mystery Air!!  Next year we all bought hardboot setups.  Thanks Peter Bauer and Jean Nerva!!

[soybomb]

post college i started renting ski cabins around Stratton with a bunch of boston/NY friends.   A couple of them were always snowboarders and were riding plates around this time.  It always looked really cool (because they could rip) and i eventually wanted to try it.  I borrowed someones soft board and after cracking my wrists and ass all day i said (out loud)  "f**k this".  I grabbed a pair of raichles and a blue factory prime w catek WCs (that i still have) and can recall the first time i threw caution to the wind and leaned into the heel side turn......i was shocked when the board popped me back up.  I rode hard for those 4-5 years but then life got in the way. I had about a 15 year hiatus where i just skied w the wife and kids but a few years ago i got back into it.....invested in a coiler, TD3s, etc and i still dont ride as much as i would like but will keep going as long as my knees and back allow. i just need to remember that its not 1999.

 

[Freezer]

Skiing at Squaw Valley 1993- I saw a ski patrol guy on hardboots with his hip on the snow every turn. I said to myself “that’s what I’m going to do” and that was literally the last day I skied.

[javajive]

Busted up my leg until I couldn't wear soft boots. I found an asym Hot Logical with Elfgen plates at Second Wind in Hood River. Using my rear entry ski boots I soon fell over and cranked a fully laid turn that still spooks me. It wasn't until I went to Nakiska decades later that I learned that was the objective. 

[Tddragon]

Used to ski as a kid in Austria in the 80's. Always wanted to try snowboarding. Never did (had a bad skiing accident that kept me away from all Wintersports until last year.  Started on softboots feb 2020. Got started on a capita mercury (after one day on a rental) - and quickly realized that the funnest part was being on the edge (didnt know yet that this was called carving lol). Kept pushing it on edge on ice and washing out even though the mercury is known to be “good” on ice. Googled stuff and saw a bunch of eurocarve type videos and was HOOKED. then found this site and bought a used board, bindings and boots in the for sale section  - then mountains shut down - spent all spring summer and fall reading, researching, buying a bunch more boards - and was out the first day local mountain opened. Now go as much as I can anytime I can and even when I technically can't or rather shouldn't (kids, wife, a business etc) 

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Tddragon

[queequeg]

I saw a guy on a PJ 6 @ Sunapee in NH when In school — like 94' (I think). I think it may have been Bordy as apparently he was carving there at the time. Decided immediately that I had to get a hardboot setup and learn to burn turns. Saved up all summer for a PJ and some Megaflex boots!

On 3/10/2020 at 4:59 AM, workshop7 said:

I worked as a ski tech in the rental shop at Temple mountain in NH ( now closed) all growing up. 

I used to ski there at night all the time! Loved that place! I made my first fully railed turns there thanks to the kindness of another hardbooter helping me figure out the technique! IIRC there were a good number of people carving there at times.

[lafcadio]

On 3/10/2020 at 7:59 AM, workshop7 said:

I worked as a ski tech in the rental shop at Temple mountain in NH ( now closed) all growing up.

How did I miss this? Hello, from Peterborough! 

[workshop7]

3 hours ago, queequeg said:

I saw a guy on a PJ 6 @ Sunapee in NH when In school — like 94' (I think). I think it may have been Bordy as apparently he was carving there at the time. Decided immediately that I had to get a hardboot setup and learn to burn turns. Saved up all summer for a PJ and some Megaflex boots!

I used to ski there at night all the time! Loved that place! I made my first fully railed turns there thanks to the kindness of another hardbooter helping me figure out the technique! IIRC there were a good number of people carving there at times.

Funny you mention seeing Billy Bordy at Sunapee and skiing at Temple.  I worked at Temple for 9 years.  Billy worked there for most of that time as well.  I learned from him and so many other bad ass carvers that Temple, a tiny little hill of a ski mountain, put out.  Great memories.

[Pokolikrat]

I wanted to try boarding, so I bought at Copeland sport on same ridiculous sale alpine Hooger Booger board with soft boot bindings. Of course I did not have an idea what is alpine board. It was just a cheap board. One afternoon I tried it with Nordica Grand Prix.Of course disaster and I broke that bindings. I got replacement and I needed boots so I went to rental shop. They did not have soft boots to rent but offered me brand new plastic purple  lace Kastingers still in the box. So I took them and went for a lesson at Soda Springs resort.On the return they offer to sell boots for a good price and even took renting fee out. After a couple weeks I found out there is something called hard binding. I hated those straps.  So I got Fritchi and the rest was the history. And now after thirty years I plan later in winter to take slope at Soda Springs and try to board again. I have top equipment this time but messed up body.

 

[workshop7]

10 hours ago, lafcadio said:

How did I miss this? Hello, from Peterborough! 

I was born in Peterborough.  Currier Ave.

[powdahbonz]

Started snowboarding winter of 1987..started on a Burton Cruzer migrating to a Lamar Trick Stick-early features and half pipe just didn't have the appeal to me..still loved to ski and preferred to send it on skis. Started alpine in 91 on Mistral Ectasy with rat traps and Lange banana yellow boots--such an upright and awkward feel. I just like to have options-right tool for the day-

[Keenan]

    Damian Sanders & Tom Burt.

[MountainSlope]

HR was doing World Cup races when I first met him. I had never tried before I met him. So all of my snowboarding knowledge and ability is because of him. Great sport to do together! 

Edited January 12, 2021 by Puhutes

[Deuxdiesel]

I had been teaching snowboarding (on my Burton Cruiser!) and skiing for a couple of years, and it was a pain to switch boots back and forth, so I found an old pair of Lange ski boots and some SnoPro binding to put on my board.  

[ursle]

Pontification, ahh

Was a skier, started on a set that, back then skis were measured by extending your arm, they went up to the end of your wrist, well, the 4th son got handed skis that were 4" above the fingers, and the hill was short but steep, has turned out lot's of olympic skiers and I hated it, took up hockey.

Then I met my to be wife, a very successful ski racer, started skiing again, we joined adult leagues weekdays at vt, nh hills, I was always 249'th out of 250 racers, then she handed me Warren Witherell's book, how the racers ski, next race I broke the top 25, last time I raced, 98, I beat the pacesetter at Okemo, an honest 5 nastar (John Neal) I was a 4 handicap, next day I got on a feral horse I'd been conditioning 2 years, sucker was solid muscle, (he went to the bucking horse association where he became a champion, sob) that bucked and dislocated my right hip, as I was flying backwards my only thought was, I'm a snowboarder now, spent a year in softboots, melted two pair of boots, bought a set of burton somethings, had a blast, snowboards could carve small radius turns then, skis couldn't, got a 7 nastar on a snowboard, 2 years ago got a new hip, then got back on skis, this year am carving smaller turns than on a snowboard because the skis are snowboards, point being, in 98 skiing was boring, today, they're as much or more fun.

Got a skateboard in 58-9 28" long, poly wheels and cushions, learned that I was correct foot forward, back to snowboarding, it was weird when on the 2'nd year I broke my left collarbone, then 5 days later on the board the first turn, the bone rubbed the skin, stopped, had to reevaluate, 2'nd turn was weirder, took 10 to get a rhythm, ahh, life and it's feelings.

 

[xy9ine]

started boarding in the mid-80's, and coming from skiing, found the sorell / highback interface to be fairly shit, so tried my ski boots (stiff lange zr's) in some gnu highbacks (using only the ladders / ratchets), which worked surprisingly well. ran this setup for a couple years prior to picking up some proper burton plates & hard boots. 

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by xy9ine

[Jack M]

@xy9ine that picture is legendary!!

I tried putting my ski boots (Salomon SX51) in my Burton “Darth Vader” softboot bindings once because I had forgotten my softboots at home. Hated it. Swore never to become a hardbooter. 

[xy9ine]

yeah; oakley factory pilots + mullet = *chefs kiss*. 

also: remember leashes? 

[dredman]

I started riding at Turner Mtn in 1983 on a Backhill and Sorels.  The following year I picked up a Performer Elite 150 with real edges and high back bindings... Wow!! talk about a performance jump!  Late 80's or early 90s was when started in hard boots.  Burton first came out with MegaFlex boots.  I think it was on one of the first generation PJ boards.  I was still a pretty serious freestyle guy and spend maybe 20% of my time carving or trying to copy what Peter and Jean were doing.  In 94 I blew my ACL and riding soft boots just loaded my knee uncomfortably,  so I started riding hard boots exclusively.  I was riding Factory Primes and some other all purpose Burton carving boards.  I got my ACL replaced in 2000 but have stuck with carving and hard boots.  My first custom Coiler came in 2002... and here we are today!