This is my first pair of skiboards – I’m 6’4″, 195lbs. I chose 110cm because I wanted to use non-releasable bindings with a longer skiboard.
Background: I switched from skis because although I was decent on skis (spent three seasons, ~6 times per season on Colorado mountains), I never became great at it. I would push myself too much on some steeper slopes, gather speed, cross my tips, and inevitably faceplant. I grew sick of this, and when I went to Snowshoe, WV last year, I asked for the shortest rentals they had – think I spent the weekend on a pair of 135cm skis and was overjoyed – magnitudes more control was enjoyed by me, and they were forgiving – if I was dragging the wrong edge, it didn’t hurl me down the mountain, I just removed pressure from that edge and kept going.
Now that I knew shorter meant more control and more forgiving, I wanted to buy my first pair of boards. I probably should’ve thought about this in the off season so that I could’ve picked up a pair of Condors with a serious discount, but I was able to pick up a pair of these “woodies” at a decent price. The first thing that struck me was how beautiful they were – I look forward to refinishing them when they get a bit of wear and tear – the fact that they have a wooden topsheet means that I can take a bit of sandpaper to them in the offseason, then refinish with a couple of coats of polyurethane.
These boards are very confidence inspiring – I like that their stiffness grabs high speed carves that I previously wouldn’t have felt as comfortable on, making irregularities in the terrain of little notice. They also feel like they accelerate quicker than the shorter skis that I tried out last season. I stayed out of moguls (never did like them), but did make short excursions in and out of the trees on the edges of groomers without worry. I think the last thing that I can offer some opinion on is their ability to handle “crud”. Fake snow in piles, slush, piles of powder on groomers – I had expected to worry about pitching end over end due to other skiboarders’ advice on setting inserts back, or moving your center of balance so that you don’t dig your tips in and pitch forward as if hitting a curb. I shouldn’t have worried about it – After I went through the first crud, I began aiming for them for the sheer joy of charging through and continuing without worry.
Add-ons: Snowjam Extreme 2 non-releasables – heavy, but very sturdy. Had read about the possibility of screws backing out after the first day, but I had no difficulties – tightened them all the way down, left them for a couple of days, and then tightened a little bit further – they’re not coming out. Line skiboarding boots were used – they worked fine, didn’t tilt me forward so that I could maneuver my balance more easily, but I’m done with hard boots. Looking forward to a RVL8 Receptor Soft Binding, a Rockerbinding, and a pair of stiff snowboard boots to make my days on the slopes confident AND comfortable.
Rider – Rob – Beginning Skiboarder
