Boards: Soft vs. Hard
 

I have been riding for years and never really thought the board mattered
all that much. I know some boards are lighter than others and obviously
that matters but I guess I thought that was it. I always rode on
pretty stiff boards because that is what ended up in my possession from
friends, or sales, or garbage cans. But I was up riding in NH last
weekend and tried a softer/springier board and it was like a while diff
world. It is like getting in a supercharged mini after driving an old
rusty cutlas for too long. It was awesome. You can jump higher off the
tail with no hit necessary. You can run from tip to tail when you hit a
flat part (I learned it wasnt me who sucked at this, it was my board).
So, I had a shorter softer board which I have never used yet...found it
in the garbage last year, long story. But I cant wait to go up this
weekend and try it out. Once, you go soft, youll never go back.

Boards: Soft vs. Hard
 

Your Mom Says wrote:
Once, you go soft, youll never go back.

Well they are certainly more forgiving in general but I don't have any
trouble running flat on very stiff boards. At the speeds I enjoy, soft
boards are no good.

Neil

Boards: Soft vs. Hard
 

"Your Mom Says" wrote in message
news:voSGj.179$EY4.140@llnews...
I have been riding for years and never really thought the board mattered all
that much. I know some boards are lighter than others and obviously that
matters but I guess I thought that was it. I always rode on pretty stiff
boards because that is what ended up in my possession from friends, or sales,
or garbage cans. But I was up riding in NH last weekend and tried a
softer/springier board and it was like a while diff world. It is like getting
in a supercharged mini after driving an old rusty cutlas for too long. It was
awesome. You can jump higher off the tail with no hit necessary. You can run
from tip to tail when you hit a flat part (I learned it wasnt me who sucked at
this, it was my board). So, I had a shorter softer board which I have never
used yet...found it in the garbage last year, long story. But I cant wait to
go up this weekend and try it out. Once, you go soft, youll never go back.

How does it do at speed? On ice? Hard carves?

Boards: Soft vs. Hard
 

Neil Gendzwill schrieb:
Your Mom Says wrote:
Once, you go soft, youll never go back.

Well they are certainly more forgiving in general but I don't have any
trouble running flat on very stiff boards. At the speeds I enjoy, soft
boards are no good.

Sometimes you have no choice. Say, Kaltenbach/Hochzillertal in
Zillertal/Austria - you start with a very slow slope and if you don't
know this beforehand you get stuck 20m before the top of a very gently
hill. Same with one blue slope at the lower station of "Moraine" in Val
Thorens - take the lower slope to go back to the city and get stuck for
certain.

But. With a moderately hard board you can still jump sideways. Do the
Ollie. Gets you moving too.

--
Krischan

------------------------------------------------------------------------
MUD Morgengrauen - Ein Spiel fuer Leute, welche immer noch
http://mg.mud.de wagemutig genug sind, Buecher zu lesen.

Boards: Soft vs. Hard
 

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:59:56 GMT, "Bob F"
allegedly wrote:

go up this weekend and try it out. Once, you go soft, youll never go
back.

How does it do at speed? On ice? Hard carves?

Not very well, I would think, but then you knew that :) It's one reason I
moved from the Burton Floater to the Canyon, and then to Doneks.

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org.uk/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow.
Donek Sasquatch 162, Prior Pow 181, Burton Canyon 162

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://www.vpas.fsnet.co.uk/rssFAQ/

Boards: Soft vs. Hard
 

Switters schrieb:
On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:59:56 GMT, "Bob F"
allegedly wrote:

go up this weekend and try it out. Once, you go soft, youll never go
back.
How does it do at speed? On ice? Hard carves?

Not very well, I would think, but then you knew that :) It's one reason I
moved from the Burton Floater to the Canyon, and then to Doneks.

Ok, that I could have guessed. But how is a softer board off piste in
deep snow?

--
Krischan

------------------------------------------------------------------------
MUD Morgengrauen - Ein Spiel fuer Leute, welche immer noch
http://mg.mud.de wagemutig genug sind, Buecher zu lesen.

Boards: Soft vs. Hard
 

Christian Georg Becker wrote:
Switters schrieb:
On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:59:56 GMT, "Bob F"
allegedly wrote:
go up this weekend and try it out. Once, you go soft, youll never go
back.
How does it do at speed? On ice? Hard carves?

Not very well, I would think, but then you knew that :) It's one
reason I moved from the Burton Floater to the Canyon, and then to Doneks.

Ok, that I could have guessed. But how is a softer board off piste in
deep snow?

Soft is better in the deep but on the other hand, you can ride damn near
anything short of a race board in the deep, it's just a matter of how
hard you want to work. I have a Coiler AM with a 21.5 cm waist that is
guaranteed stiffer than the boards 99.9% of the people ride, and it
works fine in powder although admittedly I haven't had it in bottomless
fluff.

Neil

Boards: Soft vs. Hard
 

On Mar 28, 12:42*pm, Neil Gendzwill wrote:
Christian Georg Becker wrote:
Switters schrieb:
On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:59:56 GMT, "Bob F"
allegedly wrote:
go up this weekend and try it out. *Once, you go soft, youll never go
back.
How does it do at speed? On ice? Hard carves?

Not very well, I would think, but then you knew that :) *It's one
reason I moved from the Burton Floater to the Canyon, and then to Doneks.

Ok, that I could have guessed. But how is a softer board off piste in
deep snow?

Soft is better in the deep but on the other hand, you can ride damn near
* anything short of a race board in the deep, it's just a matter of how
hard you want to work. *I have a Coiler AM with a 21.5 cm waist that is
guaranteed stiffer than the boards 99.9% of the people ride, and it
works fine in powder although admittedly I haven't had it in bottomless
fluff.

Neil


What about a softer board makes it better in deep powder?

BTW, I agree that it's not really a problem riding a relatively stiff
board in the flats. A softer board is more forgiving, but once
you're reasonably skilled, the stiffer ones do fine.

It's not really that one board type is superior to another. It
depends on what you use it for and your skill level.

Boards: Soft vs. Hard