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Would like some info on Carving


Whaack

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I am Converted skier, Now boarding for 3 years. When I used to ski, I used Volkl p9 reinslalom 205's. I then like now perfer to go fairly fast and do mainly GS type turns on steep and fairly hard packed runs.I also like the powder when I can find it.I now ride a burton Indie 163 with flow Amp 5fr bindings and Rossignal ultimate(fairly stiff) soft boots. Iam 5'8" and weigh 155lbs, but board fairly aggressivly for a 47 year old. Because most of my boarding is focused around trying to carve nice GS type turns would a carving board be suited for me. Can I use my soft boots and flow bindings on a carving board.I realize this is a lot of questions for one thread but being new I need a lot of answers. Thanks alot Whaack.

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Welcome to the forum!

If carving aggressive turns on hardpack is what you want to do, throw the softboots and freeride board away and convert to hardboots. Softies won't be able to apply enough pressure to an alpine board to turn it properly, plus they don't provide enough support. You should be able to find a perfectly good used setup here in the classifieds for pretty cheap, or you can always se if there's anyone in your area who rides alpine. There are several people here in the forum in your area, and I'm sure you could find someone to let you borrow some equipment for a day.

Just so you know, alpine snowboard boots aren't nearly as stiff as ski boots, and are much more comfortable, IMO.

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:D A carving specific board sounds like it would be just right for what your looking to do. As far as wether you could use your soft set-up on a carving board, I wouldn't suggest it, but know people on this forum that probably do and can give you better advice than I. An all mountain board might be able to make the transition easier for you allowing you to at first ride with your softies than progress to a hard boot, but from what you said about your experience and eventual goal I'd say going straight to hardboots isn't a stretch. My only suggestion if you go straight to hardboots is to definitely get boots with a moldable liner and have them fitted, it makes a TON of difference! I didn't have fitted boots until this season and I will never go without them again. Be patient chosing gear, you'll get plenty of input here, just weight it all out and make the right choice for you.

Good luck,

Paul

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Your only problem is trying before buying as no Calgary shop has carried alpine gear since the late 90's.

Get flexible boots and bindings and don't buy anything too long for freecarve (160-175).

Have you taken a session? There are some good CASI guys at the

Lake... Ask specifically for a hardboot / alpine instructor (a Level 4). You have to be specific, because they don't get that type of request... ever? The groomed terrain there is good, if you pick the right run.

Yeah to the moldable liners... get them for your softs as well.

Nakiska midweek is a good call or Goats Eye at Sunshine when they catch up with the grooming.

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I'm sure I can dig up a spare board and bindings for you to run around a Banff hill with one weekend ... you can use your ski boots until you see if you like it.

Drop me an email : sullivan_allison@hotmail.com, and maybe we can meet up.

Rob, when and where are you riding? We should meet up as well. I know there's a few people in Calgary on plates, but we just never seem to get it together for a session.

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Thanks again for more valuable info. As far as moldable liners go, Where can a person find these? Can you use, used ones and remold them your feet and fit them into any shell of a snowboard boot?Also it was mentioned that for a trial I could use my ski boots. Would there have to be special bindings to hold ski boots onto the snowboard? At times it all seems a little overwhelming but with all this great info I am sure it will continue to make more sense.

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You can get a moldable liner at most ski shops. Buy new ones. If they're old enough to be considered a "remold", they're probably played.

Ski boots are a bit funny as they tend to be narrower side-to-side. This means you won't "boot out" tipping your skis over, but they will roll in the bindings and be a bit too stiff to work well as a first set-up. The sole length is also too long... not really an issue in skiing. With heavy mods, you could make a pair of ski boots into good (but still stiff) snowboard boots. You're better off just ordering a pair from this site (softer ones)

If you guys are shredding, I might be able to hook up robstevens@remax.net

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Ski boots will work fine. When I started out I simply couldn't find hardboots in New Zealand, so I learned in ski boots and rode them for years. No sense spending heaps of $$ until you decide if you're going to like it. The same bindings fit both.

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Whaak, I noticed your post on the wanted board looking for equipment. There will be a lot of people suggesting some fairly narrow stiff boards (one guy had a Factory Prime) but if you are hanging out at the Lake a lot I think you'd be happier with an all-mountain design. Even more so if you spend any time at Sunshine.

If you want to try things out for cheap you could probably pick up an old Burton Coil or Wire for not much money. If you're sure you want to do this and have a few bucks to spend, a Prior 4WD or Donek Axis might be up your alley.

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Don't toss your freestyle board just yet that can be your powder board!! (you'll probably hang on to that gear until you really learn how to carve, anyway).

As for a starter board, I'd look for something between about 155 and 162 based on your height/weight. I wouldn't get a race board, Sims Burner, F2 speedster, Oxygen Proton GS, Donek custom, or similar right off the bat, you'll want something a tad softer to start on. You can always buy one of those here, as there are a few floating around all the time.

Maybe an F2 siberfil, Volk Rennitiger, Coiler Freecarve, something along those lines.

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More info. FANTASTIC! I have seen A Coilier 178 Freecarve and an Arbour A Frame 166 for sale. Would you recommend eithier of these for me? I know the Coilier gets great reviews.

Those are quite different boards. The Freecarve is a narrow carving board, specialized for groomed conditions. Unless it's custom the waist will be a little under 19 cm. The A-frame is a stiff freeride board meant for softboots (although people do ride them with plates), probably a 25 cm waist.

As I said before, riding in the Banff area I'd recommend something in the middle, the all-mountain boards sold by Prior, Donek and Coiler usually have 21.5 cm waists, some 23, and are softer than the Freecarve. Read the articles in the Welcome section Jack pointed to for more info.

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If you inquire about the Coiler, be sure to find out what weight rider it was built for. All Coilers are built with a flex targeted at the original buyer's weight. If it is a stock-template FC 178 it's actually got a lot of sidecut, making it very turny compared to say a Burton FP 178 or a Oxygen Proton 178. I personally don't like boards that long with such a tight sidecut - they feel very locked-in to me - but others do. As long as your in the neighborhood of the intended weight, Coilers are extremely forgiving boards and IMHO a great deck to get started on. My wife's 2nd alpine board is a Coiler and she loves it and feels very much at ease on it.

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