Plates and Powder

[Galen]

After I started riding plates a couple seasons ago, I didn't think I'd be using my soft set-up for anything but powder. On my current trip to Bachelor for a week, did'nt think there would be any big dumps, so i left the Fish at home and just brought my Reto-lamm and Catek FR's. got up this morning with about 12" of fresh and was to lazy to swap my FR's from the boy's board, and put the TD2's on the Lamm. Sweet! I started with my usual 30/15 soft angle, but it felt wierd, so I switched em to 35/25. got small feet, so almost no overhang. Just loosened the top buckle on the boots, walk mode, everything felt so much better then the softies. Now I'm wondering what the heck I'm going to do with my FR's and Ions :lol: Hey, anyone know where in the States I can get my hands on a 162 Tanker? Anyways.....just spewing :D

[RJ-PS]

I've got some Tanker Crown wides on the way and might be able to hook you up with a 162. Give me a ring (209) 201-7926.

Gotta love the Reto though, one of the all around bests!

[D-Sub]

Galen, man...get a steepwater if you dont get a Tanker. I guarantee youll love it.

[mackDan]

I've been riding hardboots all over the mountains for about 10 years now and it is good, as you say. The one place its not great is the Half pipe, but you can still venture in.

Depending on what you want out of it, you can, run your plates on your freestyle board, or get a board that works a bit better in all conditions with plates. I used to ride hard boots on a Winterstick 159 all mountain board, and am currently on a softer Hot Shine 162 that I like for all around conditions/riding, or the Oxygen Proton SL boards are good too. There are other similar SL type boards that are a bit wider, a little softer and shorter (about the same length as your freestyle board). I also like the boardercross boards, which is similar to the Tanker , a rounded but chopped, maybe slightly narrower tail. My new (1 y/o) powder board is a Oxygen Super X 164 (i'm 5'8" 160-170#), nice and wide with great float. Lots of good BX boards out there to run plates on.

Stance angle: I'm riding the Super X at about 50/48. I've tried less angle but really didn't like it, but that probably is just getting used to what ever angle you ride at and dealing with something that is different from the norm (62/60 on the Proton)

I ride with my boots the same tightness pretty much all the time, although I tend to like the ankle tight and the cuff just a bit loose. And for off trail/powder/moguls I definitely ride in "Walk" mode.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I've ridden exclusively hard boots for 15 years now and frankly I'd rather be off-piste than on. I don't understand this specialized equipment thing - I ride the whole hill and if I come across a tasty glade, a nice set of bumps or some fresh cord I just dive in, I don't change equipment. My old Raichle 224s have plenty of flex (even laterally), I ride them in normal mode everywhere.

[Hugh]

Good advice on board choices so far. A couple of years back, I drove my 168cm Identity into the pow and the nose went straight down, funny but not fun.

My 174 Prior 4x4 is a dream in the shallow powder (3-6") with hard boots. I haven't tried it in over 8" yet.

I need to try my Burton Fish in hard boots this year

My 4807 is still virgin, doh :(

I better get my work completed, so I can get up to the snow instead of just typing about it.

--Hugh

[utahcarver]

Galen: I broke the cherry on my 200 Tanker yesterday morning in 8 inches of new snow with TD2's (f60/r35) using surfy angles. I thought that I would fight the 200cm behemoth but with some older Nordica SBH's and an 11m SCR numerous runs were slain. The Tanker could be called the PowderSlayer. It rides like a stable platform. Rarely a bobble, except from operator error.

Please keep the dream alive! Visit RJ's site for a Tanker. Hardbooter.com has Tanker goods, too. Plates in Powder rocks then and now!

Duty Now For The Future!

Mark

Still to come: The Undertaker 185cm

[Baka Dasai]

I ride plates at 40f/20r on an old Burton Supermodel in powder. If I got to ride powder more frequently I'd buy a Fish or an Osin 4807 or something, but I don't think I'd give up the plates and hardboots.

I ride the boots in "powder" mode with the top buckle undone, and they don't seem to have any disadvantages compared to softies. The low angles make the stance stable and it's easy to throw the board sideways around tight trees. And when I hit the groomers I'm comfortable maching it, although that board can't hold much of an edge, and it's really easy to overpower it.

And if it's less than 12" of powder I ride my regular alpine board, cos at that depth you're still hitting the bottom at the apex of the turns, and so the board still works as designed. I've ridden the alpine board in deeper snow and it's not fun - it sinks and the nose wants to dive and I have to put all the weight on the back foot, and then the damn thing just wants to go straight. It was a nightmare in trees.

[philw]

I'm sure we've done this before but I ride my plates in powder all the time also, and I tend to get more than my fair share. Some of the trad powder boards have minimum stance widths which can be a challenge, but the Fish works fine. I mellow my angles a tad - 55/55 or 50/50 or something like that, but I'm not sure it makes a lot of difference, it's just what you're used to.

The control of hard gear is just as important in the trees as it is on the piste. The warmth and comfort of proper boots is a plus, as is the rapid in/out you get fron Intecs (you occasionally will hit a flat you didn't spot).

With hard gear you can ride like a traditional boarder, or you can do little skier turns in the powder.