Thirst 22CC+ Softboot Carver

[Cookie Monster]

 

My first time on a Thirst softboot carver.

 

The conditions were probably the worst anyone could have. All man-made snow. The night temperatures were in the low 20's and the day time highs were in the upper 60's. Morning groom is solid and softens up a bit before being scraped away to the solid hockey rink solid smooth surface.

 

The board, Thirst 22CC+FAF WARP 165, 26.6 wide, 382 flex index, with a torrified Oak wood veneer topsheet.  This is not my preferred combination, the opportunity to purchase this board presented itself and I took the leap. The magic between flex, profile and radius create a soul that is beyond the numbers. Normally I would have preferred a 175 that was 28+ but I was wrong, This does it!

 

I am in my early 50's, 5'11'' and about 185 pounds. Focusing on carving since 2019 soft and hardboot, with an average to below average skill.

I own Coilers, (two are BXFR), Kessler X-carve, Donek SRT Saber, some other custom boards from Canadian builders (that kick ass) along with a bunch of production boards, as well as a Thirst FX173.

My angles vary from board to board, front 43-55, Back 26-37(softboot).

 

I was fearful to ride the board in such crappy conditions. Honestly it's a little nerve racking having such a beautiful board and not being at a big mountain with great coverage. Southern California mountains are notorious for being the most crowded with the most dangerous people. I know that your mountain might be worse! 

 

So, after an hour of carving the mountain on my custom Canadian kick ass board and a few beers, I decided that If I was a real snowboarder I would need to take the board down the hill and not just leave it in the car. One plus was that the crowds did not materialize, still a lot of people, but not the super crowd for a friday.

 

With the board strapped to my new boots that hurt (another story), I headed down the first run. It was pure magic, each turn was like being in a snowboarding movie. No matter how much I laid into the board it held. No slippage, no chatter, that's right the board did not chatter. Big turns across the fall line to short hard and tight power turns in between people learning to ski. I forgot about my boot pain, angles, weighting front center and back, it just did its own thing like reading my mind, zero effort.  What I got in return was the super G-force engagement and turn radius of my choice. I have never ridden a more perfect smooth refined board. 

 

Writing this short review does not come close to the feeling that the board gave me. The joy and happiness are life-altering.  Keep in mind that this was not a custom build for me, it's what Mark calls an "FIB" (flex index baseline), basically an off-the-shelf board that he was building and was going to give to his daughter.  My next custom build will be a Thirst Snowboard.

 

[slabber]

Genuinely curious about the other Canadian custom boards you have in your quiver...? 

JJA and Prior come to mind, I'm not aware of others but I'm probably a bit in the dark so would be interested in learning more.

Great to hear that your first Thirst experience was so positive! 

Edited December 13, 2023 by slabber

[Cookie Monster]

Vaughans, a custom and a Proto. 

But they are symmetrical with respect to the radius and the center of the board. 
 

FAF and WRAP changes everything for me and my relationship with the board.

It’s so much more than just an asymmetrical board. (22CC+) 

 

[bigwavedave]

Ha! I had asked Mark to design an "all-Mountain" board like this for me several years ago. Before he got around to it, he offered to sell me a 169 PCjv swallowtail he built for himself and I kind of lost my desire for a CC+.

 @rwmaron bought this CC+ from @Algunderfoot and BSO sports in Bessemer a couple of years ago and loved it until he decided to go all softboot and his big feet weren't comfortable  riding softies with the high angles required on a 23cm board. 

I asked if he'd let me try it before he sold it, well I kind of fell in love with it today  and I'm keeping it.   This one was built with a matched sidecut (no warp) and at first I didn't like it as much, but somehow today it felt great. It dealt with all the late day ruts (most of them mine) and crud. It was a pleasure riding with more relaxed angles in my hardboots . My body liked the change of position.

You're gonna have to pry it outta my cold dead hands

165cm x 23cm waist 10.5scr 145cm effective edge ~1.7 cm taper and powder nose

I was simply carving on it today (no deep snow) and it rode like you'd expect from a Thirst--rock solid carving edge that hangs on all the way through every turn. No chatter, no slarvey sketchiness, just pure pencil-line carving.  

**12/16/23 edit after referring to the Thirst website**

This CC+ is an earlier iteration of the 22CC+ and not the same as the 1st post above, but part of the evolution from BX to CC to CC+ to 22CC+. Originally designed with the intention of introducing softbooters to carving on a board designed for carving wearing soft or hard boots so as to ease the softbooter's transition to hardboots. Well, that plan seems to have backfired, as the 22CC+FAF  appears to be designed (by popular demand) specifically for softboot carving  and comes in much wider widths (FAF = fat-as-f**k).

[Algunderfoot]

Wait till the "TH" comes out

[bigwavedave]

12 minutes ago, Algunderfoot said:

Wait till the "TH" comes out

 

[Kneel]

Tonya

[Pigbrogg]

Beautiful board! I'm still waiting for Mark to build one for me.

[snowburn]

I'm the proud new owner of Dave's CC board thanks @bigwavedave. I fell in love with this board as well but on day one. Mounted with hard boots it was ripping the whole mountain from 12-15" of pow to groomers.

On 2/15/2024 at 10:33 PM, Pigbrogg said:

Beautiful board! I'm still waiting for Mark to build one for me.

Hopefully you get yours before the season ends! If I had only one board this would be it!