"og" wrote in message ...
It seems to me your after a board for the "one day" of deep powder and wide
open runs. Those days are rare so I'd get a board that works for daily
riding. At 172 cm you might as well try skis.

I would agree that buying an expensive powder specific board for one
heliboarding trip is silly - most heliboarding tours rent powder
boards. A specialized board isn't worth it if you only ride it for 3-4
days a season. Obviously people like Neil G and Mike T ride a
significant number of days a season, so owning 4-5 boards is less
extravagant for them compare to us mortals.

That being said... Burton Fish are selling on Ebay for the $100-$150
range. The OSin 4087 178 (boat-hull nose, swallow-tail) is going for
$90-$130. At that price, it may be worth getting if you are in a
powder happy area. I've been teeter-tottering about getting a Osin 168
since Kirkwood gets 500" annually, but personally decided against it.
Never the less the 178 would probably be a good board for you if you
want to hit big open bowls. The Khyber and Fish are most for tree
riding, but I'm sure they can handle decently in open bowl (just not
has fast as a Swallow Tail). If you go to the board section on
freecarve.com and search for Fish/4807 you will see a long discussion
on the abilities of both between PSR and me.

Finally on the topic of length... I know "og" has a very strong
preference for shortboards over longboards because they are easier to
manuever, which is true.

Personally I like boards a *little* longer as they get better carving
performance as medium to higher speeds. However this can easily be
taken to extremes... especially by hardbooters. I'm 5'8" 147 and I
ride a 155 for freeride boards. I have a 162 alpine board and I'm
finding that a little short... however I did try a 174 cm board!!! it
was longer than my friend's skiis (that's just crazy) and that was a
little long for me in terms of manueverability in powder runs through
trees. It was pretty awesome on wide, wide open trails though (still a
little stiff for me). I've found that as you improve, you are much
more efficient in your snowboarindg an can ride longer and longer
boards - which will give you more stability at breakneck speeds. My
friend Randy is like 230ish and he is a racer and rides a 210!!
HOWEVER, that doesn't mean you will want or like doing that... so I
don't suggest jumping onto a long board immediately... slowly increase
the length of your board. As I've improve over the past decade or so,
I've gone up from a 152 to 154 to 155 to 156 to 157... I found 157 to
be a little long and went back to 155 for a good compromise. For
you... I strongly suggest demoing a longer board before buying it.

I would recommend you stick with a freeride board... a Khyber is a fat
freeride board... maybe you could go with a Donek Wide or Sasquatch,
which I'm told have very respectable powder floating abilties, while
being exceptionally good on groomed runs.

That's just how I see it. Og's viewpoint is somewhat valid as well.
--Arvin