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NickCats

12-27-2006, 16:08

z12358

12-27-2006, 16:27

Got a great way to beat those winter blues...

Went snowboarding for the first time on Saturday. What a blast !

Any other avid snowboarders / Boxster owners out there ?

I am now looking to pick up some gear ( board / boots / bindings ) and I was wondering if anyone knows a good place to get gear for a beginner without shelling out a ton of $$$ ?

Thanks,

Nick

Nick, do you ski? I'm curious to hear opinions on snowboarding from skiers. I've skied for more than 20 years now and have been meaning to give snowboarding a try. There's just not enough days on the slope to risk even one good skiing day for giving snowboarding a try. And this winter I have yet to see any snow.

Z.

RandallNeighbour

12-27-2006, 16:36

Try craigslist.com or eBay.

Some second hand stuff that's not that great is good for learning. If you like it, you can always upgrade it to the best.

Perfectlap

12-27-2006, 18:45

You read my mind...I was going to do that this long holiday weekend.

I've been snowboarding many times but only ski'd once or twice. First time was 1990 or so. We had these huge silly looking snowboards back then. No plate binding then (I always wanted a set of those like quick release pedals in biking)
I was a natural on the snowboard but I was also a skateboard "dude" for 4 years. My friend and I built a half pipe at his place and I've been going to a chiropractor ever since. But many of the guys are now pros and don't have to work!
My first day of snowboarding was a 10 minute lesson and within an hour I was up in the trees and nearly broke my wrist by the end of day (landed on the toe edge after a jump). Snowboarding can be very dangerous if you don't know how to stop, particularly over ice. Its the only activity I was ever involved with in which people actually died doing it. Can't say that about bicycle racing or autosports.

Skiing I found to be harder than snowboarding, because stoping on skis always felt strange to me, so I would hesitate. But I didn't eat it nearly as many times as I did on the snowboard. A good idea to work on your sit ups before trying snowboarding for the first time.

I see they sell lift tickets at my local Costco. I'll have to remember that.

z12358

12-27-2006, 19:41

Just from observing snowboarders it looks like they do much more sliding and plowing and less carving than skiers. It only makes sense that two longer edges (skis) will provide better carving power (can sustain higher G forces in turns) than a single shorter one (snowboard). This may change slightly in deep powder when the wider board offers more floating surface than the skis, and where sharp edges don't matter as much -- but that's easily solved by just using wider skis. It also looks like skis offer more control, especially in turns as you can spread the stance of the edges (wider track) in high speed turns for much better balance and control. Finally, there's something about my feet being tied together that feels so constraining.

Actually, this sliding vs carving situation reminds me of the discussion we had on this forum about sliding vs carving a car into a turn. I remember mentioning skiing there as an analogy.

Of course, all this is just theory as I've never tried snowboarding.

Z.

NickCats

12-27-2006, 20:13

Z,

Yes I do ski. Big difference between snowboarding and skiing. I think that snowboarding is a lot harder and not as agile, but also more fun. I would definitely give it a try. I agree you have better carving power with skis and more control, but more finesse with snowboarding…

Perfectlap,

I was also a skateboarder back in high school ( sponsored, used to skate with Tony Hawk back in the 80's ) in San Diego, and surprisingly enough snowboarding was much more like surfing. I will say my abs and calves were very sore for two days after, and I work out 6 hours a week !

Nick

Perfectlap

12-27-2006, 21:10

good to hear I wasn't the only one who was WICKED sore the next day.
I never had so much fun wrecking myself...
You should try the halfpipe on the snowboard. I never had the nerve to try
that. I wonder if its the same.

Man guessing by the pic and those haircuts that's MID-80's at the latest! :p

We would all flock to NYC on the weekends LATE 80's which always attracted all kinds of pros. Mark Gonzales and Natas showed up once and it was like the messiah had arrived. I never saw so many guys standing in fron of a Burger King with boards. He was doing these insane things across the street in front of this bank near Wall Street. He stayed with one my friends before jetting off to Germany to spend the summer skating this one halfpipe. What ever happened to that guy? Can't believe I didn't hold onto a single video tape of any of this stuff.

Dr. Kill

12-27-2006, 21:24

Z,

I was also a skateboarder back in high school ( sponsored, used to skate with Tony Hawk back in the 80's ) in San Diego, and surprisingly enough snowboarding was much more like surfing. I will say my abs and calves were very sore for two days after, and I work out 6 hours a week !

Nick

That's really cool. I cannot imagine how exciting those days must have been for you.

The only exposure I had to skating back in the day were a few fights I got in with some of the skate punks at my school. I don't remember getting along with that crowd to well back then...

NickCats

12-28-2006, 06:08

Perfectlap,

Gonzo and Natas, very cool !

I think that picture is from 1987. Tony Hawk was a tall, skinny dweeb back then, but man could that kid skate !

I wish I still had my old "Bones Brigade" tapes. We used to watch those daily...

I love that movie "Lords of Dogtown" - brings back fond memories ( even though that was WAY before my time ).

They actually mention my old sponsor ( Bob Skoldberg ) in that movie. He was a slalom champion in the 70's !

Nick

porscheracer

01-04-2007, 19:43

I've been snowboarding for 15 years from Hunter ICE mtn to Mont Blanc virgin snow.
If your learning to snowbaord I recommend wearing a helmet and wrist guards.
I'm a big Burton fan but in my opinion burton boards are to stiff for back country. I snow surf with Ride with freestyle bindings.

My equip:
Ride 162
Ride freesytle bindings
Solomon boots
Burton jacket
Burton gloves
Oakley goggles
helmet
Ipod black nano with techno and metal music.

Anyone here from ride the East Coast?

porscheracer

01-04-2007, 19:47

NickCats

12-10-2007, 18:54

I need some input from you pro snowboarders out there...

I went snowboarding for my second time yesterday, and I would like to pick up some equipment.

I have narrowed down my choices. Any input on what would be the best setup for a beginner ?

( looking at the Rossignol setup from a local retailer )

I would like to stay under $300 ( but I really like the Burton setup ).

Thanks,

Nick

djomlas

12-10-2007, 19:27

Nick,
i was out at Galena this saturday as well snowboarding.
it was great. a little sore now, but all good.

btw, i ALWAYS ski...snowboarding tried for the first time. ... i am not going back to skis anytime soon, ill say that.
snowboarding is 100 times more fun, well at least for me and my friend that skis as well all the time, not time to gear up.
but ill prolly be picking up some equipment in offseason.

JJJ

12-10-2007, 19:51

you can't get a great new set for $300, unless used on craigslist...
some places have sales...
out in cali, we have sportschalet that usually have sales. Look online their too...
best shop in Mammoth is waverave and i know they have a website.

i have a RIDE board w/ burton custom freestyle bindings, and i recommend Northwave boots...they feel a lot better than Burton boots.

I would recommend good bindings first...those plastic crap ones suck...when you're in the cold snow, sometimes the snow freezes your bindings and it's tough to get in and out of your bindings...but if you have a good set, then no problems.

These prices are back a few years but I know my board was like 350 on sale, bindings like 250, and boots a little over 200....

For a decent set...i would say you could get a good board for 300, bindings 200, boots 150ish.

Perfectlap

12-11-2007, 05:32

Are all those snowboards I see at Dick's Sporting Goods any good? They have a really big selection...

NickCats

12-11-2007, 13:44

Perfectlap,

I stopped at Dick's on Friday. They have a good selection, but around $500 for board, boots, and bindings.

One of my buddies at the gym recommended this website :

http://www.the-house.com/

They have a huge selection, and awesome prices, I just don't know what to buy :confused:

JJJ,

I checked out sportschalet and waverave, thanks !

I used to ski Mammoth all the time when I lived in San Diego. A lot better than what we have here in the Midwest, that's for sure...

dj,

That's too funny you were at Galena this weekend ! Anytime you want to go let me know. Raging Buffalo snowboard park is 15 minutes from my house in Algonquin :

http://www.ragingbuffalo.com/

Not as nice as Chestnut, but a hell of a lot closer :D

Nick

djomlas

12-11-2007, 20:49

yeah man, coudnt resist, they had the lift tickets for 5 bux or so, and rental for about 20.
and even so, my friend bought them while i was in the bathroom so free is something that was nice :)
we stayed for a whole day into the night, and then downtown at couple of clubs.
im still sore man.

and yeah, a friend of mine was telling me about the raging buffalo, he said worth checking out, so i may make it out there sometime hopefully. if nothing at least to see some tricks and feel bad about myself and lack of skills hahaha

pompous

12-12-2007, 20:35

Ebay is a great place for great deals! I grew up skiing, but have been snowboarding as well for the last 5-6 years. The first time or two out on the snowboard I can certainly say was ROUGH!! Skiing (for me at least) is almost relaxing (unless i'm doing stupid stuff) whereas snowboarding is more like work, at least to me. Snowboarding seems more fun to me as I've pretty mastered skiing quite well and it is waaay easier to do tricks on a snowboard than that of skis as well. Don't get me wrong...i never go to the mountains w/o my skis, but i will usually start the day on the board and end it on skis.