In article aTlHd.7429$HT6.7056@trnddc04, says...
That being the case, what do you see as the tradeoff between a big-
mountain shape and some of the more turny tapered shapes?

I haven't ridden a pintial (e.g. Fish, Khyber) yet but I do suspect you'd
miss the full-on tail on a board when carving the groomers. I wish I
remember more about how you ride in your hard boots @ TLine last May,
whether you like to make swooping C-shaped turns or whether you tend to
switch edges when point more downhill.. if the former, the pintails might
feel like they are realeasing a little early on you?

In any case, I think the Incline 168 or equivalent might be a bit much to
handle in trees, in soft boots. I've got an older one that has softened
somewhat and it's work in trees on softies, fine on plates, and I've got 20
pounds on you. Why not look at a shorter version of one of your
big-mountain choices... say an Incline 164 or the equivalent in one of your
other brands? A little shorter and softer would let you work it in trees
and bumps easier but I think you'd still have plenty of edge length and a
big enough sidecut to carve it nicely on the groomed. Or you could get a
big-mountain and a pintail, but I digress...

You guys get hit by the Pineapple Express as hard as we did? Mt Hood
Meadows's base went from an already-pathetic-and-dirt-showing 3 feet to 2
feet in about 24 hours, and when the water runs off I expect another 6 inch
loss... I suspect they are closed till the next dump.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

-Mike T

Hi Mike. I'm more of the swoopy C-shape. My background was surfing so
I'm essentially trying to make big rail gouging bottom turns all the way
down. Since the weather is so terrible, I've put off this buying
decision although I'm thinking hard about one of the F2 speedcarves -
wider and shorter than my Prior 4wd 169. I'm actually thinking about
selling the Madd170 since it looks like I won't get to use it until next
season.

This season sucks... It was 60 deg today and rainy. Other than a short
cool spot later this weeks it looks like warm and wet is what we've got
for a while. My local hill had a 30" base that probably no longer
exists. I'm wondering if they'll even be able to reopen... Not a good
year to be a season passholder for a family of four!

Thomas
--
-she ain't revved 'til them rods is thrown...