Hardboots in powder

[nils]

all in the poll question!! Was wondering!
N.

[gdboytyler]

I just bought a Burton Fish 156 MD that I rode last weekend in 1 ft of fresh powder. That board is really easy/fun to ride in powder. Hopefully I'll get to ride the Fish in DEEP powder next season.

I was wearing softboots and every time I got on a hardpack run, I was wishing I had hardboots on because the boot/binding was too flexy. I would have tried the board with hardboots, but I didn't have any 3-hole disks for my TD2's.

I thought the Burton Fish really sucked on hardpack. I think the combo of wide board and small sidecut made it easier to catch an edge on hardpack. On hardpack I really had to pay attention to prevent catching an edge and slamming. I've read other reviews where the riders thought the Fish worked well on hardpack, but I disagree.

[Neuffy]

Hm...from my experience (~5 years) virtually ALL softbootboards are unstable~ish/catch an edge easily on normal hard snow...Unless you're well into a slide/carve, you WILL catch an edge...going straight is something that requires decent skill....

Small sidecut...relative to your other _hardboot_ board? This last season I've been riding two boards (softboot), and the freestyle board is actually more stable than the freeride board...(Ride Serum ~154 more stable than Salomon Classic 163 - sidecutes of 8 and 9+ meters, respectively).

[Hans]

Well, gdboytyler and Neuffy

You have to gonna try this board, Pogo Longboard 175. I board this one for three years now with hardboots and softboots and really gives you a blast. Short or long turns, deep pow, trees, even moguls, this is the board I use when I want to do everything. The board don't shatter at all, you can even make GSturns at the highest speeds you are capable of, it will stay stable even with softboots. Hard packed ice, the grip is incredible. Powder: you feel like you are a surfer. Like all the other boards from Pogo they belong (among a few other boards)to the best money can buy. Easy to board, I am 83 kgs, 180 cm. Use this one with FLOW Pro S Freeride bindings and Vans Fargo Boa. It's the board you can see in my Avatar.
http://www.pogo.biz/shop/product_catego ... anguage=en

Greets, Hans.

[nils]

I think the pogo longboard ( swallowtails aside) is the best powder board i have ever tried.. it is really incredible and forgiving, almost as good as a swallowtail, but less limited!
I chose to buy a Donek Axis 177 because i still wanted a board to fill the gap between a Swallowtail and the Swoard, and the longboard is more powder oriented.. but awsome board!

Nis

[gdboytyler]

Those Pogos are nice looking boards, but damn, they are almost as expensive as Swoards!

I bought my Burton Fish on Ebay, brand new for $150 (US).

The sidecut radius on my Fish is less than 8m. I can ride my other boards relatively straight on hardpack with no problems (Oxygen Proton 164 and 149 and Donek Incline 160).

Has anybody been able to compare the Fish vs Pogos vs Swallow Tails? I already know Nils opinion on that issue

[jeanbernard]

I ride with softboots, but actually in powder the freeride board I use won't stand hardboots.
May be one day I will have a swallowtail and ride it with hardboots, who knows ? Dream, dream ...

[audacium]

Well, I also thought I would ride hardboots in powder, but since this season my choice for powder are softboots. I am riding a Nitro 169, a very nice and versatile board. Together with "hard" softboots (Salomon Malamute) I have not yet encountered a situation where I would have preferred my hardboots. Sure, for carving I use my Swoard with hardboots, but this is not what I want to do when I go backcountry.

And when I encounter hard packed snow or ice - the above combination gives me more than enough hold to feel secure. Yes, I was surprised that it works, but you have still have enough edge hold while softboots are really quite comfortable. What definitely made me convert to softboots in powder is the awesome surf-feeling I get with them, here I feel simply too constrained by hardboots. The gliding feeling, playing with the feet and the angles feels to me way better and much more fun in softboots.

But this is my very personal preference, regarding safety or riding restrictions in various terrain I would not see a special advantage to both hard- or softboots.


Greetings, Eduard.

[fivat]

What definitely made me convert to softboots in powder is the awesome surf-feeling I get with them, here I feel simply too constrained by hardboots.

Yes, I also love this feeling! Moreover the hard boots lack in maneuvrability on narrow terrains, in between rocks or on very steep backcountry.

The hard boots are definitely superior on the pistes: powerful, precise, giving dynamism (especially thanks to the spring systems), etc.

People who say that it's too expensive to buy both gears, I reply that each gear has a longer life time because it is less used... Thus with time one doesn't spend more money

Patrice Fivat

[AlpentalRider]

I use softboots with a burton Johan 163 for all my backcountry/powder riding. Looking at stealing a fish off ebay though for those deep powder days

[harald]

I have never ridden snowboard in powder. Real men ride blue ice .

[Hans]

I have never ridden snowboard in powder. Real men ride blue ice .

I pitty you, can't live without it anymore. Extremecarving is nice, but boarding some earlymorning fresh dump with my POGO Longboard 175, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

[harald]

I hope you have a little sense of humour and can take a joke. Powder is wonderful, however, I have only carving snowboards, and on my local slopes icy conditions are far more common than real powder. As a skier too, all my powder experience is with skis. The new fat skis are just great in powder. With respect to boots, I ski in powder with my Atomic Race Titan boots. But, that was not the question for this poll that asks for snowboarding. I do not doubt that snowboarding in powder with the right equipment is exhilarating. Sorry, for leading this poll off track (off piste??). I cannot promise not to do it again.

Regards,

[JonDahl]

of hardboots this year, my SB224's for resort riding w/TD2s, and a pair of SB123's w/ cut down cuffs, Vibram on the toe piece, set up for Fast stepins for backcountry use, both on my split and whatever I want to pack in. Crampon compatibility, kicking steps in firm snow, lower angles w/o toe/heel drag, and foot warmth (thermo liners) are my reasons. Oh, and a quickly releasable setup just in case.

[Silber]

Ride powder with soft boots. Much more fun. And get yourself a Burton Custom X if you are missing the stiffness. Very fast for a soft board with great manouvrability. Perfect for icy crowded tracks with snow accumulated on the sides (for all of us that can't go to Aspen during the week....)