damian 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Not a popular topic, but hard (alpine) boards that i saw recently were interesting. They were only a little wider than a ski and far narrower than a regular hard board. The feet were slightly off-set and one behind the other. It was like these guys were riding on razor blades. It was very fast and impressive, but it scared me just watching it. Seemed like the ultimate 'carve up the groomer' tool to me, but not much use for anything else. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 No soul in that. I think I'd rather ski than do the tadpole. Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 yeah, im not a fan of that either really. dont see the point personally, but heck what ever tickles your fancy! Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Actually used to be into carving a few years ago and thought about buying one, but this past year I've swung the opposite direction and have gotten more into free-riding (jumps, tree-runs, powder, etc). Still, one of these days might be interesting to try a really stiff board/alpine setup for a really long, fast course, like at Furano. Btw, is there some sort of speed limits at resorts??? Link to post Share on other sites
badmigraine 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 I hear you Ocean, the soul element really matters. And you don't find it in a hardboot-plate binding-racing board setup. But on the other hand, part of me wants to go faster and faster and carve sharper and deeper...while still being able to hit the moguls and powder and tree runs. I was a skier for almost 20 years, before I took up snowboarding. You can ask Mogski for confirmation, but I think my favored terrain and style of boarding is more what you'd expect from a skier than a born snowboarder. That explains the speed and the moguls. That explains my high stance angles (33 front, 21 back, and creeping higher every couple of weeks). In terms of speed and carving, I've reached the limit of what I can do on my mass-produced all-mountain boards. It's not that my skills are superhuman, instead it's a simple limitation of my equipment: the edge can't hold as well as I want it to at speed and on icy hardpack...the waist isn't thin enough for the quick side-to-side that I want...the straightline speed is slower than that of most skis... If you want to go faster and carve deeper, you need an alpine board and hard boots. I know you are rocking some Palmer PowerLinks. Do you like what they do for your edge hold? Imagine that leverage and bite times ten on an alpine board... And I am going to be giving this a try...next season when my Salomon 550 and Burton Supermodel are fully used up. I've been researching custom boards on the Net and through acquaintances, and some of them appear to have excellent quality and performance. Check out Donek and Coiler and Prior snowboards. Read what people say about them on the Freecarve site... I'm probably going to get me a softer pair of hardboots (good ones have forward and lateral adjustability and variable stiffness, they are not old-style, ironclad ski boot prisonhouses), some decent plate bindings, and either the Donek Axis or the Prior 4x4...these are all-mountain boards done from the speed and carve perspective. Because I want to go FAST, all over the mountain! I want to be SCARED again! Bring it on!! If an alpine board is too much, how about a regular freeride board with some of the great characteristics of alpine boards? All of these makers put out a regular all-mountain board for soft booters, and these are supposed to be excellent boards. I noticed that the Donek one is only $330... Once you get over the myth that nobody can make a great, reliable snowboard as well as a giant company or former ski maker, there is a great world of custom boards out there. Talk to Ben at the Hirafu Chalet about the custom pow boards made and sold in Niseko. These guys were making and selling something way better than the Burton Fish, years ago. And they still are. Considering that Ben used to race Formula cars professionally, you should see the expression on his face when he gets rolling in the powpow on one of those boards. It's like watching an Aussie version of the Silver Surfer or Hobgoblin. ZOOM!!! Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by montoya: Btw, is there some sort of speed limits at resorts??? I dont't think that there would be speed limits as such at resorts. At least i didn't see any speed cameras anywhere on the slopes. I think it is more a matter of boarding or skiing responsibly. If there are heaps of people around and its a beginner slope, then you should probably watch your speed, and also recognise the "slow skiing" zones. Other than that, as long as your in control you should be right. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Yo migraine Any tips on buying an alpine board? What size to go for etc. Donek's page says international shipping is only $25 to countries where they don't have a dealer. Does that cover Japan I wonder. If so, that's well cheap. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Author Share Posted February 3, 2003 seriously, check out the ultra-narrow alpine boards (I have not seen them in j-land as yet, but i have not been out that much). The guys riding them (ex 'conventional' alpine board riders) where raving about them. Link to post Share on other sites
badmigraine 0 Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Hey NoFakie I'm just starting to info-up on alpine boards, so I don't yet know what is good, bad and/or tweakworthy... I wonder if somebody else on this board has good first-hand info on this topic? After learning about the boards, I'll move on to the bindings and the boots. The bigger companies (i.e. Burton) are phasing out of, or have already quit, making alpine stuff. Their main market sweet spot has become wannabe-corestyle kids/teens of suburban parents who'll drop $1000 on gear to set up a PS2 junkie rail/big air punk. Good for them. Keeps them off the real slopes where I wanna play. Link to post Share on other sites
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