backcountry_rider

Yeah it's actually about as tall as she is. It would probably be fine if it were a women's freeride rather than a men's...it's just too stiff. She really has to shove it into the snow and it tries to pop her out of a carve prematurely. Hence the downsizing. She tried a Burton Feelgood demo last year, but that thing was a NOODLE. It made really short carves and simply wouldn't dig trenches. That's the main reason she's wanted to stay away from women's decks.

Nah, she's pretty accomplished, but she HATES to spend money, so I buy her setup for her...that way I can just say "yeah...it was all like $200" ... Anyway she's pretty short...around 5'2" and she's been riding a 158 for the past four years (men's board) and it's just a lot of work for her. Women's boards all seem to be friggin' wet noodles with shitty sidewalls made to forgive (not to mention the damn flowers and porno-pink graphics. Do women actually like these things??). She needs something that'll hold a carve and lay a trench deep enough to trip a park junkie. We're looking for speed and agility that won't break if it smacks a tree or takes like a ten or twenty foot drop. I like how fast NS men's boards ride. If I bring her something flexy and under 150 she'll be offended, which doesn't bode well for me! Thanks for the insight thus far!

You bet. You'll also want to see about picking up a set of brushes for post-scrape cleanup (you can usually find a good four-brush pack starting at wire and ending at nylon). Be careful if you use that pocket stone. If you're good with it, it can be extremely beneficial. Otherwise you can f*ck up the base. If you're not sure, just leave the stone be. I think I found some good waxing instructions, at least for skis...almost the same thing, but if you want more info when your kit arrives shoot me a PM.

Anyone out there have experience with Never Summer women's boards? I've heard great things about their men's boards. Thinking about a 150-155 freeride deck for her.

If they're not too deep (not a lot of PTex has been removed) you can just try waxing. That will take care of the minor damage. If they are deep (into the PTex) and you don't mind having a couple "battle scars" in your base, then you can save the money and Ptex it yourself ONLY if you have a waxing setup. 1. Clean up the base (some people look down on this, but Agent Orange cleaner can be used) so that the wound is clearly exposed without a wax covering (you may want to scrape around it with a knife and a VERY nimble touch or a good, sharp metal scraper). 2. Get a PTex stick and a good torch lighter (cigar lighters are good and powerful enough...I know somewhere out there an aficionado just cringed). 3. AWAY from your board start a good bead on the PTex with the lighter. 3. a. Once you have a good bead on the end, move to your board. 4. Gently keep heating the PTex over the wound and let it just start to drip. Place the bead low enough so that the PTex doesn't "drip," but instead maintains a connection with the wound. Move up carefully over the wound until it's full (a little over-drip is no big deal...neither is a little over fill, but get the over-drip off quickly with a plastic scraper). 5. Let it cool and harden (a good idea would be to let it go for the night, but an hour will be okay if you're really in a hurry). 6. With the PTex hardened, clean up any obvious overfill (where you can see it sticking out from the rest of the base) with a sharp knife and a LIGHT touch so that the PTex is more or less at the same level of the rest of the base. **For the next part, I like to put some wax around the wound in the base and iron it in. 7. Warm the PTex SLIGHTLY with your iron (it should be malleable with pressure. It should not be soft at all). 8. Scrape it with a metal scraper and moderate pressure. 9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 (one time) without putting more wax in and a lower heat setting on your iron. This time use a more flexible scraper to get the PTex flush with the base (I like to use a window vinyl squeegee) 10. Let the PTex cool and harden for at least fifteen minutes (it'll warm up again with the next step) 11. Wax your board. Scrape the board off and pay extra attention to the fresh PTex job--scrape this flush and then use your four brush progression (do NOT use one of those cheap bezel tool roller brush attachments). Let your board sit for the day with the base exposed. Whew, that wasn't too bad, was it? ***NOTE*** do NOT stone grind your base during this process!!! Now, before I catch shit for anything that someone might do differently, let me say that I've fixed two big core shots and a number of smaller, deep wounds on my base over the past five years and all the PTex has remained in place. I had a local repair shop guy ask me what my method was, so I consider it pretty damn good. I prefer to use clear PTex to show off all those battle scars from taking on shitty conditions and dusted woods. You can get PTex in clear, black, or really any basic color.

That's a pretty nice place...stayed there once to avoid my folks. Screamers were next door, though...never heard such a confused nympho; between the 'right there, again!' and the 'no, oh god stop!' I didn't know what the hell was going on. Anyway, check this place out too...it's basic, but the food there kicks ass and they have good deals for whiteface: www.hungrytrout.com It's a fishing and hunting place, so there are absolutely no frills...it's about five minutes from Whiteface (I think you can catch the shuttle to the mountain for free from there). Downside: if you're gonna hit the town at night you'll need a (pricey) cab. The cops in LP are real dicks. They won't hesitate to pull you over for no reason and administer a breathalyzer, claiming that you were "weaving" or "driving somewhat erratically." Anyway, rant over. Enjoy Whiteface!

I've never been a big fan of their boards, since most of their freeride stuff is ridiculously expensive, but I've been riding their mission bindings for the past couple years and I love 'em. I've also been rocking a burton jacket for a long time (this is its 6th season) and it's held up like nothing else. I remember hitting up the home mountain when the wind was ripping at 35mph at the top and producing a -70 wind chill (the lift closed right after we jumped on...had to beg the lifty to let us go) and it kept me...well...from dying, so it's been pretty good for me. It's been hit by trees, water, ice, snow...just about everything from eastern Canada to Western US. Quality stuff, but it cost me about $350 back in '03. Gotta agree with Schif...when it comes to Burton, you get what you pay for.

It's a real pain in the ass to not be able to find these for demo anywhere...let alone for sale...anymore. I'd love to get my hands on a setup. Shit, if you can buy a teleboard you should be able to find an alpine setup. Burton and Rossi both used to have sections on their sites exclusively for race boards. Both companies have done away with their lines now. I realize that the public image of the sport has evolved over the years. I remember reading in snowboardLIFE (anyone remember that before transworld went ass-spelunking through it's pages?) about the differences between pro freestyle riding and alpine riding. Nowadays everyone wants a 28" stance and a pink jacket, according to pop culture...

I remember I used to see guys rocking alpine decks all the time back home...right up until about 04 (give or take a year or so). Where'd they all go? You can't even buy an alpine deck anymore unless you want a custom race board for about a grand... They used to have a few of those halfass burton factory primes for demo every now and then--they were a blast to ride. So what happened, did I miss something? Was there a sport-wide agreement to just stop hard boot carving?

Gone. Thanks for the info, though!

Looking for 07/08 Arbor wasteland: http://www.sierrasnowboard.com/Arbor-Wasteland-30170.asp Can't find this anywhere and I was still in school last year, so I missed out. If someone has one of these in good condition I will buy. 159 or higher only, thanks. Will pay for delivery and board if you live more than 3.5 hrs from Harrisburg Will pay cash and pick up myself otherwise. If you have this board and have never used it, let me know. Will pay $400 cash in person. If you know where I can pick one of these up new please let me know.

Everybody raves about Jay Peak in later March because it starts to get warm (avg temp in the 30s) and they love the "spring skiing." What a waste...mashed potatoes and soup in your ass all day. If you can make it in the early to mid part of March, Jay will rock. Stowe is always a lot of fun, but with less thrilling terrain (although I haven't been there in a couple seasons). If you're looking for some woods to hit, early and mid march is a ton of fun in Jay. Whatever you do, try to get there on a week when it's going to be under 30, otherwise you'll probably get rain on at least one of the days.

Hey, new guy here... I used to live pretty close to Jay Peak. Don't know if you did a ski and stay thing with the tix included...if not, check out some local gas stations on your way. Once you get within a couple hours a lot of the convenience stores will give you a discount pass for one day if you tell them you're local and ask about it. We got a couple passes for $32 a pop last winter. If you decide to hit the OB section on the back side try not to go during the middle of the day...I hit it around 1 with my cousin and we couldn't get anyone to pick us up for about a half hour (might've been because we were riders. VT loves their skis). If you want to go check out some cool nightlife, you can make it into Sherbrooke in CA in about an hour and a half. Always something crazy going on there if you look hard enough (or you can just hit one of their bars). Bring your passport and leave your gear or you'll be in customs for a while.