I guess the extreme carving thing will entertain me for a day or two, but
then
I'll get bored with it 'cause it's not challenging enough and there seems
to be
not a lot of space to progress into.

I'll have to agree with Baka Dasai... there is plenty of space to progress
in "extreme carving". I'm putting that in quotes because there is a
specific style that's been labeled "extreme carving", but there are plenty
of other styles that are equally Extreme.

I find technical carving to me equally challenging as other types of riding,
perhaps more so. Don't be fooled by the fact that most of the people you
see in hard boots look like they're really good at it!

a) Most of the people who do it are extremely dedicated and have good
number of days under their belts

b) Watch closer. While it's not difficult to carve and lay trenches on a
hard boot setup, developing style takes time, just like it does in the park
or pipe.

I originally tried hard boots in hopes that I'd learn how to ride in them
well enough so that it would give something back to my soft boot riding.
Now I spend 80-90% of my time in hard boots. The only time I ride in soft
boots is in ridiculously deep powder, and when it's low visibility, or right
around freezing and combination snowing / raining. (I have a toddler, so I
don't get to pick and choose my riding days the way I used to... and riding
in crappy conditions beats not riding at all!)

-Mike T