# First Tours



## Zee (Feb 21, 2008)

Well, got my first two tours under my belt. Reudi's Ridge (Kicking Horse Side Country)on Saturday and Grizzly Shoulder (Rogers Pass) on Sunday. Some very modest vertical, but it's out of the way. 

Now I need to tour more, because at the end of the tour on day two, I was so wrecked that on the ride down the legs refused to listen to me.

But... it was still great


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

After a bit you'll find that you have two sets of legs. One set that gets all worked over on the up and can be completely worthless. Yet the other set kicks in on the down and you generally do just fine. Of course they can both get worked, then it's time to find the bar...

Congrats.


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## Zee (Feb 21, 2008)

Funny thing, first turn of my first descent I snagged a hidden tree branch that missed the jewels by about 6 inches. Still hurts like hell.


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## jeri534 (Feb 19, 2008)

Zee said:


> Funny thing, first turn of my first descent I snagged a hidden tree branch that missed the jewels by about 6 inches. Still hurts like hell.


nice, my first couple tours were pretty brutal but after that it started getting a lot easier.


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## Zee (Feb 21, 2008)

The last tour definitely felt a LOT better. It's probably a good to tour with people that are more at my level, the first couple of times I was with guys that can easily do 5000-6000' a day, just keping up with the pace was killer.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

You should've seen me attempting to skin up steep stuff my first time on a split. I was borrowing one of killz' old ones. Complete shit show. One of those times where you just have to pause for a minute to have a good laugh at yourself.


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## nzboardlife (Mar 25, 2008)

God damn do i have to get to CO some time in the next few years to ride with you lot, we just don't have that much BC in the north island of NZ. Good to hear you're now fully in the swing of things Zee, i remember my first couple of tours being a bit of a shit show trying to skin in steep icey conditions (which im quite good at now ). On another note im in the market for my 2nd split, what are you lads on at the moment? i need something more powder orientated then my 165 prior backcountry.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

If you want a powder gun the Neversummer Summit is definitely the deep day slayer. It's perfectly capable on hard pack stuff too. Not great at switch riding stuff if you are in powder of any consequence. With the set back, it's hard to keep the tail up. 

My Heritage is great for that switch stuff in pow. I am so not used to being able to do that, as I've been on very directional splits for the last 5 years. It's also not going to be as good in the really deep stuff as the Summit is either. 

The Venture Storm is another pow oriented board you might look at. The Venture crew, like Neversummer, really give a shit about how their product turns out.


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## nzboardlife (Mar 25, 2008)

Yeah i'm leaning towards either venture or NS but there are so many more brands coming out with boards soon, i think i want something that i can slay pow both ways with.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Anything that rides switch well will be compromised in powder. Part of what makes powder boards so great in the deep stuff is the setback and taper - the same things that work against you riding switch. The Heritage is a pretty darn good compromise between the two.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Linville is dead on with that one. I'd say the Neversummer Heritage (or SL for next season), or Helix would be good fits for what you want. The Helix is a true twin splitboard. A little more of a noodle of course. Ed was on the Helix for my PNW trip and it seemed to handle just fine for his style. 

I am excited for all the new split coming on the market. The thing is these are all first year efforts for most of these guys, while the others have been doing it for a long time now. There is something to be said for experience.


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## Mysticfalcon (Nov 27, 2007)

My solid Never summer SL does surprisingly well in pow in both directions. Ive also ridden a Smokin that was similar to the helix that uses Smokin's Dirt rocker and I find the float of the Never Summer RC Tech to be a lot less work on your legs to float with a centered stance. 
My directional Venture however is unsinkable.


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