mackDan Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Took a snowboarding lesson at Squaw Valley Jan 12 1993 with few skier friends. I was telemark skiing after having gotten frustrated with Alpine skiing. Next year I bought a Nitro Fusion 162 soft boot set up which I rode for a couple years. 1996/97 I moved to Princeton NJ for 9 months of work, and went Tele skiing a few times, but it sucked so bad, I wanted to get back on a snowboard. So I stopped in a snowboard shop I think it was at Killington and was checking out boards when I saw a Oxygen Proton 164, and a Burton Factory prime 157 Assym. After talking with the shop guys a bit, I rented the Proton and headed out, only to meet two guys riding alpine boards on the same lift (quad serving a wide beginner/intermediate run). They were runing front and rear cant. I spent the day trying to learn to carve using all the little kids and their wide eyed parents as pylons. The parents were watching closely as I zoomed by their kids. I had a good time and wanted to learn to do it right, so I went back and bought that Burton Asym 157 and some burton plate bindings, but didn't get to ride it unitl I got back to California and picked up some boots. Sadly my Burton 157 Asym (goofy) and an Oxygen Apex 164 got ripped off in Denver bagage, on my way to Jackson Hole a couple years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derf Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 sore feet from the first airwalk softies.... plus a crazy guy on the local slope on a nitro EFT 162....called Greg Prouse.... at that time he was riding at the same sort of level as Bauer etc combined with crazy massive jumps like Damien Sanders... the guy was insane.So I hooked up a board EFT 156...tried in softboots once, didn't like them, switched to hardboots. Then harder boots...Then ski boots (for max stiffness). Like these ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derf Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Took a snowboarding lesson at Squaw Valley Jan 12 1993 with few skier friends. I was telemark skiing after having gotten frustrated with Alpine skiing. Next year I bought a Nitro Fusion 162 soft boot set up which I rode for a couple years. "What made you start hardbooting?"My Avalanche Kick. Back in '88 the boots were way more comfortable then a Sorel with a liner jamed into it. From there I started entering contests, I got my first alpine board in 89. Nitro Ameroslalom, that thing was a kick to ride. Souvenirs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrokel Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Snowboard Life ('96, '97?)... Alpine punk issue... Picture of a guy getting about fourty feet of air then snapping into a deeeep heel side carve. No WAY I was going to be able to to that in my Clickers. (and still can't do it in HB's but at least I'm on the right equipment :o ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xray Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Started on hardboots somewhere in 1990 or so just because it looked right, after my first couple of carved turns I was hooked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Snowboard Life ('96, '97?)... Alpine punk issue... Picture of a guy getting about fourty feet of air then snapping into a deeeep heel side carve.No WAY I was going to be able to to that in my Clickers. (and still can't do it in HB's but at least I'm on the right equipment :o ). wow. wish I hadnt stopped buying mags. would love to see that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raisputin Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Originally a skier, I couldn't stand snowboarders, then I started working at a mountain as a liftie and decided that I had at least better try snowboarding before I continued to bash it. Rented a board and proceeded to put myself in a leg brace the first day :( After that healed I did the same thing the nesxt season to the other leg .. grrrr..... Not willing to be beaten by a snowboard I went out and bought myself a Burton AIR with 3 strap bindings. Good times started to be had. Then I saw someone hardbooting and decided I needed to try it. I went and got myself a Kemper Apex GS 170 (Here is a pic of a similar board)<P><IMG SRC="http://www.robertsski.com/webpgss/mus32.jpg" /><P> but mine was of course for goofy riders and not the SL model ;) It had, and still does, Sims plate bindings on it, and I still ride it sometimes :) Next I went and purchased a Hooger Booger Booster 167, again for goofy footed riders (again a pic that is of something similar)<P> <IMG SRC="http://sport.bazos.cz/obr/99766.jpg" /><P> Unfortunately I have not ever had the opportunity to ride it as I have not found any bindings that would work on it. Maybe Burton 3D's? More recently I purchased a Hot Blast 162 with Burton plates on it (anyone got cant's they wanna sell? 4 hole pattern, not sure if I need new center discs with the cants?) and have been riding it more lately. Purchased the whole setup for $100 :) I teach snowboarding in the Pacific Northwest and ride a Supernatural 162 as my teaching and freestyle oriented board currently with Northwave Boots :) (comfortable for soft boots)... Having ridden plates for so long, it was very strange to ride with a freestyle stance and soft boots for me for a while, but I have actually learned a lot while teaching as well, and that has made me a better overall rider I think. Next for me is to get out of my old Dalbello Ski boots and into some real snowboard hardboots so I can make my gear complete. If Anyone has a pair of 27.5's they wanna get rid of cheap, let me know, I am in the market for some... Where I work the carving community is VERY small, there are 3 of us that harboot regularly, and maybe 4-5 others that show up now and again :( I am hoping that there will be a nice revival at my mountain as we have some awesome terrain for hardbooting. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 If Anyone has a pair of 27.5's they wanna get rid of cheap, let me know, I am in the market for some... you musta missed the classifieds: http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=8496 there ya go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raisputin Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 you musta missed the classifieds: http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=8496 there ya go! Yup...I missed em, and yup, they are already gone *sigh* gotta be FAST here ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 oh darn theyre gone? that sucks! yeah...you do have to be pretty fast sometimes..those were good boots for a damn good price. there's ebay, too...but definitely keep an eye on the classifieds. welcome, and good luck finding boots! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skully Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 wow. wish I hadnt stopped buying mags. would love to see that Did you want to see the whole article, or just the sequence that astrokel mentioned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharples Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 always had to stand out. tried snowboarding in 88-89 to be different from everyone in the ski club. had a couple of boards in soft boots setups, and when snowboarding started getting popular at my local hill (Mountain Creek, form. Vernon Valley), figured I wanted to be different again. Not sure where I got the idea to ride alpine, but I found a Kemper Apex assym and ran that with soft boots. Rode it for a yr., then traded the board/bindings with a local shop for a pair of sno pro plates. used that on the next two race boards (Mistral and Oxygen) and still use those on my current ride (Rossignol VAS) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ealely Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 I started hardbooting because I started snowboarding! Started snowboard because the snow was not good - I got bored skiing as my favourite black slopes were full of rocks and grass so I thought trying to learn something new on the blue slope would even better; then the choice of hardboots simply comes from the fact that at this time in Europe (94) or in this resort at least, they were still renting more HB than SB equipement... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aracan Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Same here. I got started on skis at age 2 or 3 (mid-70ies). Around 1990 or '91 I gave snowboarding my first try; in my ski boots, on a rented Burton Safari, IIRC. I liked it, continued to rent occasionally for a few winters, and got me an F2 Fire in '94 or '95. I still used my ski boots for the first winter. Why hardbooting? In those days, in Europe, many boarders were former skiers. They already had ski boots, so it was pretty common to start on plates, especially when you were on a tight budget, as I was then. And you often got told that while it might be a bit tougher to learn on plates, your chances of actually learning to ride instead of slipping around were higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Skully, I think that`s the coolest snowboarding photo I`VE EVER SEEN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skatha Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 I started snowboarding in 2003 at the age of 39. Yikes... I had never been skiing-a ACL blowout at age 17 put an end to that. My parents were not well off and shlepping 4 kids to a ski resort was a unaffordable luxury. I had always drooled over skis at the local Oshmann's growing up but my ACL injury put an end to that-my orthopod told me that if I hurt my knee again, I'd never walk again, at least, anything close to normal walking. I hurt the knee again 8 years later and found out the first orthopod was full of caca(Spanish for sh*t). I eagerly asked the second orthopod, after he told me that the second repair was a more physiologic repair and thus more functional, "can I go skiing?" (The fire doesn't die, you see) "well, you hyperextend your left knee, too...and since that caused your right knee to have an ACL injury twice...." That's all he needed to say....ACL patients don't knowingly go out to bag knee ligaments.... Flash forward to 2002...I meet Sam, who was introduced to skiing by his second wife(I'm #3). Loni grew up in Reno, actually Washoe, and skiing was an "every weekend" type of thing for her. Sam got hooked and he really, really wanted me to go to Tahoe with him in 2003 and maybe I "should try snowboarding because, at least, your knees don't torque off in 2 different directions" like they can in skiing.... My first lesson was rough...I had poorly fitting boots in stepin bindings on a played out board. I bought boots and got demo bindings and a board the next day and another lesson. When things gelled, it was brillant... I go myself for spring break 2003. That was the real test...would I go riding alone.... I had bought my own board and bindings-soft stuff, I didn't know any better. I figured that if I had to spend an hour or two getting used to rental stuff everytime I went, I wouldn't have good time to progress. I had a good time put really leaning in for a toeside turn-I found I had heel-lift rather than toe side pressuring the board....the resolution, lotsa cranking bindings and having to take breaks to get the sensation back into my feet 2005...back to Tahoe....I finally got fed up with my boots...I had switched over to the new toe capstrap binding system without a change in the boots.....arghh! Massive heel-lift still...I have narrow, flat feet and for what ever reason, the boots that I try on, even when I go up on tiptoe in the store to make sure my heels stay put, I get heel-lift pressuring the toeside edge. I go back to the gondola, down to Heavenly Sports, find as small a boot that will fit me length-wise, drop my old boots back at the hotel, and get on the gondola...I ride up with a hardbooter. That's the first time I saw the possibility of a different riding system..... I have no interest in park or pipe and riding fakie has always bothered me because, when fakie, I'm leading with the leg that has my twice recon knee in it....I know it's purely psychological.... The Canyons 2005-I have this freak accident where I hyperextend and invert(and evert) my ankle. Of course I keep riding...I live in Houston, by Jove, I'm not going to let a little thing like pain ruin a trip to the mountains....I find out in Sept., I actually broke my ankle in Feb at the Canyons. Of course, I ride in March after that, did the MS150, hiked all around the Tetons and Yellowstone, in fact, one day I carried my 65 lbs son about 2 miles-quite a feat at 7900 feet altitude for a 41 year old flatlander with an undiagnosed, and improperly treated broken ankle... Anyway, I find out that I have about 30% of my talus involved in a condition called osteonecrosis in Sept-Of course, it's those damn boots fault.... I have surgery in Oct(and more scheduled 5/3). I ride anyway...we miss Tahoe in January because of my husband's wreck and we have to reschedule Canyons, but March I go out for the first time in my new hardboots Heel lift-forgettaboutit... Numb toes....hah For the first time in my life, I really feel like I'm riding and not fighting the equipment. The first time out....I could barely walk...I told my husband that I was like learning guitar, you try to holding the strings as hard as you can against the frets while learning your chords, only to find out that holding them lightly is the best way to progress through your chords. I was really muscling in on the toesides because that's what I had to do to carve in my soft setup-no longer... Each run I relaxed a bit more and was less and less bonked out at the bottom of the hill... I was really looking forward to more progression at the Canyons 'til I realized how unsuited my old freestyle board is to plates and hardboots....knowing me, you gotta know my lesson was painful :o It's easier to ride on a broken ankle than think about riding with a gimpy shoulder.... Now, I listen to softbooters comment of how uncomfortable they think hardboots must be and all I think is the legions of softbooters out there, parading at the lodge and sitting on the hill and how few I actually see carving and just laugh inside... It must be hell to be a slave to fashion and feeling "core" My hardboots are uncomfortable only where my fungus toenail sticks out... Anyway, my bags are already packed for Tahoe next January.... As an aside...my 7 y/o was griping about the "wiggle" between his boots and stepins he noticed with his rental setup he learned on... Future Hardbooter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mats Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 When I was in Italy in -97 I saw this guy from chairlift. He was carving insanely low carves. Totally railing. When I got to the top I straighlined on my 210 GS skis to the bottom to try and talk to him. Did´nt find him and whent in to the nearest rental and said - "I need a snowboard". Got a very short orange daygloo board with hardboots. Went up on the same hill that I just skied and... Yeah... I almost killed myself. Day after I couldn´t move from all the beating. So I tried softboots next year and after a couple of runs I carved my first toeside turn. That was one of the best experiences ever. But the better I got this feeling was growing that I was on the wrong track. Used to buy Snowboard Life and when I saw James Cassimus pics from Aspen and the Purecarve crew I cranked higher angles and broke bindings on my softie setup. So in 2001 on my 40th birthday I converted to hardboots and became an "Alpinepunk" for ever. Story of my life /M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skully Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Now, I listen to softbooters comment of how uncomfortable they think hardboots must be and all I think is the legions of softbooters out there, parading at the lodge and sitting on the hill and how few I actually see carving and just laugh inside...It must be hell to be a slave to fashion and feeling "core" My hardboots are uncomfortable only where my fungus toenail sticks out... I also enjoy the comments about how "comfortable" soft boots are to "walk" in. Yup, that's why I wear my snowboard boots, to walk around the lodge..... I usually only wear my snowboard boots when I'm SNOWBOARDING. Who gives a rat's @ss how comfortable they are to walk in. I want to be comfortable when I'm RIDING. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 I was already a snowboarder in ‘90, having learned the hard way at Tahoe resorts on a Avalanche 167 (self-taught, with absolutely no clue) but could now skid turns pretty well. Had a pair of trusted friends who were Summit Co. snowboard shop owners who had me set up in Kastinger lace-up mountaineering boots (because they were so much stiffer than Sorels) in soft bindings. Imagine arriving from San Diego in the worst blizzard. I make it onto the bus from Denver to Breck, which finally pulled into a diner in Silverthorne, I think, and driver announces we can't go any further due to the storm. We're going to stay in the bus all night until daylight, and then continue after the road gets plowed. Off to a pay phone, to tell my bro's the situation and that I'll be there in the AM. They say "no worries' we'll come getcha" Aw, thanks guys, but they're telling us , roads closed, not passable, etc. My friends snicker and say "yeah, ok see ya in 30 min". Sure enough, a while later they pull up behind the bus. "How'd you get here with the road closed?" I said, still a little surprised. "Dude, we live here. We know the back way" The bus driver had already opened the luggage compartment to let people get toiletries and personal items. I grabbed my backpack and boardbag, and he say's "where do ya think you're` going? -ya can't leave the bus" "Yeah, well my ride is here - just check my name off the list" "I can't just do that" he yells. "See ya" I said. By now a crowd of people who were getting stuff out are all jaws agape to see us pull off into a whirl of snowflakes. These guys had it dialed from start to finish, and they were going to show me how to ride the best Summit. Next day, I was on a chair lift at Breck, and saw somebody coming down beneath the chair snaking these crazy laid over turns. I knew he had to be somebody, because there were people set up with camera's on the run on tripods, and a rider with a camera coming after him. A lot of Burton logo's on their gear and jackets. And at a place on the run where it opened up to a flat spot, he laid out a carved 360 without a sound, and rode up out of it, and kept on going. That's a ‘Buttonhole' somebody said. "How do you..." I stammered "you need hardboots and different bindings - and 10 years of practice" After that trip, I bought hardboots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex1230 Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 so who was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stoked Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 1993 I started because I had nothing better to do and I still ride for the same reason :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 At its most basic, wechoose to ride this way because of: 1. The carve 2. The speed 3. The control 4. The FUN of it. George As an aside, I notice that I get more and more positive comments from other snowboarders and skiers when they meet me at the lift line line after watching me lay trenches all over the hill. One woman who was just starting to snowboard last weekend at Cypress, asked me, "How do you do that?". My response was that all it took to carve that well was some different equipment, and the commitment to spend a lot of time on the snow. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 and the guy whose fault it is: Kib Dacklin. I think he was riding an F2 Flame or Fire?? about a 165-170 with Raichle ski boots. He was the first guy that I saw who could really lay it out. My typical response was that looks nutty and I want to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 started at the end of '04, intent on riding alpine. I wasnt sure it was even still around then but i knew I wanted the speed and riding quality alpine boards offered and I was big on control, so hardboots made sense as well. It took me a while to get the hang of boarding, but by the next season i felt confident enough to make the switch over to a carving setup (although it was a bit unconventional: a pogo longboard, phiokka bindings and burton wind boots on east coast granular and ice). I spent my summer searching the web for all kinds of snowboards, came across pogo, donek, bomber, catek, virus, and all those other brands i forgot to mention and fell in love with the Longboard model. I caught on pretty quick, thanks mostly to the surprising easy alpine-like handling of the longboard and am looking forward to ripping the overdose next season. After experiencing true carving, my reasons for alpine riding still stand: fast carving is way too much fun to pass up for a squishy boot and a rail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 so who was it? To this day, I have no idea. Would love to know. I've never seen anybody completely buttonhole (and ride out of it) since then. Seen some close tries... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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