Carrying the Carving Mindset to Softboots

[SWriverstone]

This post is kinda the opposite of the many posts like this one...

I recently posted about my old Raichle boots being too small. I re-cooked my Deeluxe liners and molded them again (they'd been sitting unused in my frigid garage for a few years) and that helped—but not enough. 
 

This weekend I spent Saturday on the slopes with my carving board. It was fun, but my feet were uncomfortable all day...and while I felt "reasonably solid" on my carving board, it was only on the less steep, wider greens and a few of the wider blues.

I love hardbooting, but can't afford new boots right now. So on Sunday, I went back up to the resort with my softboots and freeride board. It was the first time I'd been on it in 15 years (maybe more?). I waffled for a while at home the night before trying to decide what angles to run (carving-style positive angles front/back? Or freeride angles?) I figured since I was riding my freeride board, I may as well give freeride angles a shot, so went with 15deg in front and 0deg in back.

Bottom line? After a few runs down the bunny hill to be sure I wasn't out of control with the different setup, I had a BLAST! My feet were far happier in my softboots, and I quickly found myself carving on my freeride board—and taking the same lines (big treeline-to-treeline turns) I do on my carving board.

Not surprisingly, heelside turns felt weird with the freeride stance. (Toeside turns felt fine, actually easier.) I had to work harder to orient my upper body more in the direction of the turn, and I kept wanting a higher angle on my front foot (I didn't mind the zero-angle of my rear foot at all). At one point I went back to the lodge and added more angle to my front foot (maybe up to around 25deg). That helped, but I still felt like I wanted my old 55/60 angles. At the same time, I felt like I needed to adapt to carving with a more freeride stance.

The funny thing is, even while on a freeride board, I noticed I wasn't doing (or looking) anything like what all the other skidders on the mountain were doing, LOL. But the one thing I have to admit I really liked on the freeride board was how much easier it was (for me anyway) to stop or scrub off speed with a quick skid. This raised my comfort level dramatically on the steeper blues and blacks. And overall, I'd say I had almost as much (or equally as much) fun carving in softboots as in my hardboots and carving board. (I should add, though, that I hated trying to kick around in the lift lines in a softboot setup—it's SO much easier with a carving board!)

Am I done forever with carving? Honestly I don't know? Sure, I could buy new boots that fit better. But I don't have the time or $$$ these days to get on the resort slopes very often. I also spend a lot of time Nordic skiing in the backcountry. So for me, my best future might just be remaining a carver at heart and continuing the tradition in my more comfy, forgiving softboots.  

Edited March 7, 2023 by SWriverstone

[Corey]

You gotta have fun, and pain stops fun pretty fast. 

That said, there's a strong focus on this site on taking small hardboots and enlarging them to fit the bumps of your particular feet. This is fine for many, but you can also get boots for your foot size and still get 70% of the performance with 5% of the work. 

There's a decision point for everyone of effort vs. performance. Only you can decide where you sit on that spectrum. Some people will gladly deal with some pain and make 5 trips to a bootfitter in the fine tuning process. Some will quit hardbooting if their feet hurt on the first day.  Choose your fitment accordingly. 

[Grip]

I’m having the exact same experience. Got injured a little over a month ago on the hard boot gear. Swapped back to softies for a bit. Running front binding at 37 and rear 21. The new Burton step on Bindings and stiff’ish Ion boots are fantastic.

Effortlessly shredding the entire mountain now. Still laying down plenty of nice carves, just not quite as sharp and dramatic (albeit at a much safer speed). Throwing in some scrubby turns too when conditions require it, which feel great and still traverse laterally across the trail (just not on a pencil line edge every time). Doesn’t mean I’m just scraping down the mountain. I’m calling the mixed style “grooving” instead of all out “carving” every single turn on the hard boot boats.  

[zyzgerry]

Same for me, partly for cost reasons, also partly want to stay flexible, I'd like to stick to soft-boot

I just posted a new post asking for some carving technique advices (posted in the wrong forum i think, but don't have a way to change it). If you have any suggestions for me, please do share

 

 

[JohnE]

I worked and worked for years trying to make hardboot angles work for me and never got comfortable at those angles. I switched to softboots and much lower angles (about 25F, 10R) and feel much more natural and stable.

I doubt that I will ever be able to carve as well as the best hardbooters but this works for me.  

[SWriverstone]

After years of carving, I never achieved the laid-out style (which so many want to emulate because it looks badass). I think this was due to a combination of lack of serious instruction and lack of time on the slopes. I'm athletic and a fast learner, but I think to achieve that style requires living 30mins or less from a resort with great carving slopes (wide, long and not too steep) that you can literally practice on almost every day. I'm a 2-3x/month person (sometimes more, sometimes less). 

And really, I was always pretty happy carving on a 35- to 45-degree board angle (as opposed to a 90-degree board angle). And though I tried to fully eliminate any and all skidding, the truth is I've always skidded now and then (even while preaching the gospel of NEVER SKID to friends, LOL).

So switching to a softboots and a freeride board was less of a switch for me than for someone used to laying out massive hero carves on a dedicated carving board.

Assuming I stay fit and healthy (which I plan to) I can definitely see "rediscovering" hardbooting in the not-too-distant future after buying some newer, more comfortable boots.

On the topic of boot sizing, granted I'm not an expert carver...but I really believe the vast majority of people suffer (whether consciously or subconsciously) in boots that are too small—and that just strikes me as ridiculous. 

A parallel is going from traditional "pointy-toe" hiking boots and trail runners to a boot or trail runner with a W-I-D-E toebox like Altras. I absolutely guarantee once you switch to wide toebox footwear, you will NEVER go back to pointy-toed footwear. Human feet aren't pointy and were never intended to be mashed into pointy-toed boots! (But we've done it for so many centuries we've forgotten any other way...)

Scott

[pow4ever]

off topic-ish:

Altras/Xero shoes wearer here.
my street shoes is 10.5 and i ride in 26.5 shell.  it's pain in the butt and i don't carve nearly as well as the discomfort it cause me lol...

for zero drop/wide sole/food bed - seems to get good review from TGR.  might get some for my street shoes.  anyone use them?
https://yoursole.com/us/shop/mens?features=206

[SWriverstone]

My hiking shoes/boots are 11.5 or 12...those fit perfectly and leave my toes with plenty of room to wiggle, spread out and relax. My carving boots are 28.