first upgrade

I just rode the first day of my fourth season yesterday. I'm wearing my
first boot upgrade, Salomon F24's. After wearing out my low-end
Northwaves, I decided I wanted to go straight to the stiffest boot I
could find. I chose them for better carving and cotnrol, but even more
than that, for better ankle protection; and hurt myself last year with
some bad techniques.

I'm still on my original board, a Ride Control size 158. I'm 5'11", 145
lbs. I want to upgrade to some more stable that will handle unven
terrain and bumps better, and not burrow under the powder (it was weird
how much powder was on Killington in November). I'm turning fine on this
board, and sometimes even swinging it around more than I meant too, so I
guess I'm ready for something longer. Is there any benefit to going for
a more expensive model, instead of just a longer version of the same one?

"Mike" wrote in message
...
I just rode the first day of my fourth season yesterday. I'm wearing my
first boot upgrade, Salomon F24's. After wearing out my low-end
Northwaves, I decided I wanted to go straight to the stiffest boot I
could find. I chose them for better carving and cotnrol, but even more
than that, for better ankle protection; and hurt myself last year with
some bad techniques.

I'm still on my original board, a Ride Control size 158. I'm 5'11", 145
lbs. I want to upgrade to some more stable that will handle unven
terrain and bumps better, and not burrow under the powder (it was weird
how much powder was on Killington in November). I'm turning fine on this
board, and sometimes even swinging it around more than I meant too, so I
guess I'm ready for something longer. Is there any benefit to going for
a more expensive model, instead of just a longer version of the same one?

good choice on the boots. those are really stiff and pretty comfortable.
with bumps you may want something flexible like what you've got, else you
get beat up by the bumps.
for general freeriding though, a stiffer, longer board will allow you to go
faster and carve more solid turns with stability at speed. see if you can
take a ride on a ride timeless 61. i have a timeless 64 and i love the
thing. it's VERY stiff, plows thru all kinds of snow effortlessly, and
turns on a dime. it's quite a ride on this board. i can't wait for the BIG
powder so i can try the timeless 67.

a word of caution though- if you're doing most of your riding at crowded
resorts in the east, a true freeride board like the timeless may be a bit
much to handle. it wants to go FAST.

--


jmed

Mike wrote in message ...
I just rode the first day of my fourth season yesterday. I'm wearing my
first boot upgrade, Salomon F24's. After wearing out my low-end
Northwaves, I decided I wanted to go straight to the stiffest boot I
could find. I chose them for better carving and cotnrol, but even more
than that, for better ankle protection; and hurt myself last year with
some bad techniques.

I'm still on my original board, a Ride Control size 158. I'm 5'11", 145
lbs. I want to upgrade to some more stable that will handle unven
terrain and bumps better, and not burrow under the powder (it was weird
how much powder was on Killington in November). I'm turning fine on this
board, and sometimes even swinging it around more than I meant too, so I
guess I'm ready for something longer. Is there any benefit to going for
a more expensive model, instead of just a longer version of the same one?

I'm not sure I'd go for a longer board if I were you. I was up at
Killington last weekend during demo day and rode a 56 and a 166. I'm
5-10 and 190 and the 56 performed much better. It was Sat, the trails
had been pretty moguled up and there were idiots everywhere. Heh, you
weren't one, were u? lol The shorter board was so much easier and
quicker to make sharp turns. I have the 66 for real powder when I go
to Colorado, or if they happen to get a good snowfall at Killington.
But, I think for a compromise, the 56 is where you want to be for your
weight. I'd at least demo a longer board before you buy it.

And yes, there is a lot of difference between boards besides length
and to some extent at least, you get what you pay for. I went from a
run of the mill Sims to a Burton Custom and the difference was like
night and day.

Chet Hayes wrote:
Mike wrote in message ...

I just rode the first day of my fourth season yesterday. I'm wearing my
first boot upgrade, Salomon F24's. After wearing out my low-end
Northwaves, I decided I wanted to go straight to the stiffest boot I
could find. I chose them for better carving and cotnrol, but even more
than that, for better ankle protection; and hurt myself last year with
some bad techniques.

I'm still on my original board, a Ride Control size 158. I'm 5'11", 145
lbs. I want to upgrade to some more stable that will handle unven
terrain and bumps better, and not burrow under the powder (it was weird
how much powder was on Killington in November). I'm turning fine on this
board, and sometimes even swinging it around more than I meant too, so I
guess I'm ready for something longer. Is there any benefit to going for
a more expensive model, instead of just a longer version of the same one?


I'm not sure I'd go for a longer board if I were you. I was up at
Killington last weekend during demo day and rode a 56 and a 166. I'm
5-10 and 190 and the 56 performed much better. It was Sat, the trails
had been pretty moguled up and there were idiots everywhere. Heh, you
weren't one, were u? lol The shorter board was so much easier and
quicker to make sharp turns. I have the 66 for real powder when I go
to Colorado, or if they happen to get a good snowfall at Killington.
But, I think for a compromise, the 56 is where you want to be for your
weight. I'd at least demo a longer board before you buy it.

And yes, there is a lot of difference between boards besides length
and to some extent at least, you get what you pay for. I went from a
run of the mill Sims to a Burton Custom and the difference was like
night and day.

Couldn't have been me in your way. Riding down Killingtom on a Saturday
is like driving in Manhattan on a weekday. Actually, so is any other
slope in the Northeast on Saturdays, so I only do weekdays. I'm lucky to
have a work schedule that lets me do it. My friend's got a suite in the
Grand Hotel right at the base of Snowshed, so I spend my days off during
the week there.

I've got one weekend trip booked for Martin Luther King, Jr, weekend.
That's gonna be crazy. If I get a longer board, I might ride the older
one on an occasion like that.

I didn't know weight was much of a factor for choosing length. I'd
assumed it was all in a rider's height. I'll have to research that more.

Mike wrote in message ...
Chet Hayes wrote:
Mike wrote in message ...

I just rode the first day of my fourth season yesterday. I'm wearing my
first boot upgrade, Salomon F24's. After wearing out my low-end
Northwaves, I decided I wanted to go straight to the stiffest boot I
could find. I chose them for better carving and cotnrol, but even more
than that, for better ankle protection; and hurt myself last year with
some bad techniques.

I'm still on my original board, a Ride Control size 158. I'm 5'11", 145
lbs. I want to upgrade to some more stable that will handle unven
terrain and bumps better, and not burrow under the powder (it was weird
how much powder was on Killington in November). I'm turning fine on this
board, and sometimes even swinging it around more than I meant too, so I
guess I'm ready for something longer. Is there any benefit to going for
a more expensive model, instead of just a longer version of the same one?


I'm not sure I'd go for a longer board if I were you. I was up at
Killington last weekend during demo day and rode a 56 and a 166. I'm
5-10 and 190 and the 56 performed much better. It was Sat, the trails
had been pretty moguled up and there were idiots everywhere. Heh, you
weren't one, were u? lol The shorter board was so much easier and
quicker to make sharp turns. I have the 66 for real powder when I go
to Colorado, or if they happen to get a good snowfall at Killington.
But, I think for a compromise, the 56 is where you want to be for your
weight. I'd at least demo a longer board before you buy it.

And yes, there is a lot of difference between boards besides length
and to some extent at least, you get what you pay for. I went from a
run of the mill Sims to a Burton Custom and the difference was like
night and day.

Couldn't have been me in your way. Riding down Killingtom on a Saturday
is like driving in Manhattan on a weekday. Actually, so is any other
slope in the Northeast on Saturdays, so I only do weekdays. I'm lucky to
have a work schedule that lets me do it. My friend's got a suite in the
Grand Hotel right at the base of Snowshed, so I spend my days off during
the week there.

I've got one weekend trip booked for Martin Luther King, Jr, weekend.
That's gonna be crazy. If I get a longer board, I might ride the older
one on an occasion like that.

I didn't know weight was much of a factor for choosing length. I'd
assumed it was all in a rider's height. I'll have to research that more.


Since we're dealing with gravity, weight is by far the most important
factor in choosing board size, with height a secondary factor. For
example, if you were considering a range of boards for a given weight,
then I'd go with the longer range for a tall person.

I agree with you about Killington. I usually go during the week too,
as I have a flex schedule too. Somehow, this being the earliest I had
ever gone up, it didn't even register that it could be very crowded on
a Sat this early. I went Sat based on weather and the demo day.

Where are u located? I'm in NJ and if you're possibly interested on
sharing a ride up sometime, let me know.

Mike wrote:
I'm still on my original board, a Ride Control size 158. I'm 5'11",
145
lbs. I want to upgrade to some more stable that will handle unven
terrain and bumps better, and not burrow under the powder (it was
weird
how much powder was on Killington in November). I'm turning fine on
this
board, and sometimes even swinging it around more than I meant too,
so I
guess I'm ready for something longer. Is there any benefit to going
for
a more expensive model, instead of just a longer version of the same
one?

For the rider, weight is more important than height. Height is just
easier to "measure" and in general weight increases proportionally with
height. In the same way, snowboards tend to get stiffer as you go
longer... BUT you can get a stiffer board without increasing the length
- pretty all company's high-end freeride models are *much* stiffer than
their "beginner board" models.

So first upgrade you board to a high-end board just like you did with
the boots. The Control is a "beginner" board that is softer and more
forgiving... but won't be very stable at higher speed. The Ride
Timeless 156-158 would be a good board for you. This is shorter than
the board you are riding, but I believe it will be stiffer and
therefore more responsive and stable.

Eventually once you have a moved up to the top end stuff, THEN you can
play with length to try out different sidecut radii and stuff... but
don't worry about that now really because you just first to move up in
the "board model lines"

--Arvin

Mike wrote:
I'm still on my original board, a Ride Control size 158. I'm 5'11",
145
lbs. I want to upgrade to some more stable that will handle unven
terrain and bumps better, and not burrow under the powder (it was
weird
how much powder was on Killington in November). I'm turning fine on
this
board, and sometimes even swinging it around more than I meant too,
so I
guess I'm ready for something longer. Is there any benefit to going
for
a more expensive model, instead of just a longer version of the same
one?

For the rider, weight is more important than height. Height is just
easier to "measure" and in general weight increases proportionally with
height. In the same way, snowboards tend to get stiffer as you go
longer... BUT you can get a stiffer board without increasing the length
- pretty all company's high-end freeride models are *much* stiffer than
their "beginner board" models.

So first upgrade you board to a high-end board just like you did with
the boots. The Control is a "beginner" board that is softer and more
forgiving... but won't be very stable at higher speed. The Ride
Timeless 156-158 would be a good board for you. This is shorter than
the board you are riding, but I believe it will be stiffer and
therefore more responsive and stable.

Eventually once you have a moved up to the top end stuff, THEN you can
play with length to try out different sidecut radii and stuff... but
don't worry about that now really because you just first to move up in
the "board model lines"

--Arvin

"lonerider" wrote in message
For the rider, weight is more important than height. Height is just
easier to "measure" and in general weight increases proportionally with
height. In the same way, snowboards tend to get stiffer as you go
longer... BUT you can get a stiffer board without increasing the length
- pretty all company's high-end freeride models are *much* stiffer than
their "beginner board" models.

So first upgrade you board to a high-end board just like you did with
the boots. The Control is a "beginner" board that is softer and more
forgiving... but won't be very stable at higher speed. The Ride
Timeless 156-158 would be a good board for you. This is shorter than
the board you are riding, but I believe it will be stiffer and
therefore more responsive and stable.

Eventually once you have a moved up to the top end stuff, THEN you can
play with length to try out different sidecut radii and stuff... but
don't worry about that now really because you just first to move up in
the "board model lines"

--Arvin

The Timeless has been suggested to me several times now. I've been
using Ride bindings with my Control. Any recommendations on which Ride
bindings to pair up with the Timeless?

"Chet Hayes" wrote

board, and sometimes even swinging it around more than I meant too, so I
guess I'm ready for something longer. Is there any benefit to going for
a more expensive model, instead of just a longer version of the same one?

I'm not sure I'd go for a longer board if I were you. I was up at
....
weren't one, were u? lol The shorter board was so much easier and
quicker to make sharp turns. I have the 66 for real powder when I go
to Colorado, or if they happen to get a good snowfall at Killington.
But, I think for a compromise, the 56 is where you want to be for your
weight. I'd at least demo a longer board before you buy it.

My experience is to the contrary. Short boards have a problem with
simply having not enough edge on the snow, so it gets very, very
hard to not sideslip on 'em on steeper slopes - they simply don't hold
the edge. If speed is a concern, a longer board with bigger sidecut
will do the trick - it will turn faster and yet have a good edge hold. For
freeriding a 156cm board will likely have to be maxed out on stance width
for a 5'11" guy, so it will ride very differently from a 160 or 162 board
with normal stance. I'm same height and only 10lbs heavier, so I speak
from personal experience here.

"More expensive" might mean many different things. It might mean
"more hyped up" board with the same performance as the next one
with less known name, for example.

I gave that recommendation a number of times here, but since then
I've had a couple of friends try that board with very good impressions -
Palmer Classic. I'm also extremely happy with my Nitro Shadow (160),
except for the fact that I got it badly banged up on rocks at Baker
last weekend. Core shots, edge nicks and all :/ Should have taken
one of my old boards for "early season conditions", stupid. Didn't
expect it to be THAT bad. If I can fix it correctly, I'll probably be on that
board most of the days this season, even though it's marketed as
a mostly freestyle board and I'm not going nowhere near the park.

While pondering the Universe, (Chet Hayes) wrote
:


It's been my experience that from a practical standpoint under the
conditions I see here on the east coast of the US, the flexibility of
being able to do quick manuevers with a shorter board is usually more
important than the increased holding power of a longer board. I find
the longer board excels in powder or on nice groomed runs. Like
everything, there is a tradeoff and each person has to make up their
own mind.

Riding on the ice coast as well, I agree. I've met the odd person
from out west who thinks some of our trails should be labeld as gladed just
because they are narrow and have a few trees here and there

I would add in that the stiffness of the board also plays a role. My Donek
is a lot more difficult in our bumps than my Ride exile which has more
flex. The Donek is great on the regular runs though