# New addict from NYC... need opinions on gear.



## Epic (Apr 13, 2013)

Hi all! 1st season snowboarder here from NYC. I've been skiing since I was 4, I'm 28 now, and decided to try boarding this year and I'm hooked! I started with 2 days of lessons using a rental and liked it enough that I bought my own gear: 162cm Burton Process Flying V, Burton Custom bindings and Ride Anthem boots. I got in about 10 more days with my gear including a 4 day trip to Breckenridge. I feel like I've progressed a decent amount and wanted to upgrade my gear now during end of season sales. There's a good chance I'm moving to Colorado towards the end of summer and I want some gear that I'll be able to grow with as I'll be on the mountain a lot next season.

I'm 6'2" and usually in the 180-190lb range. Boot size is 11-12 depending on the brand. Skill wise, towards the end of season I was able to handle east coast blacks no problem and did a couple blacks at Breckenridge and didn't kill myself. The last day at Breck I was consistently landing 5 foot jumps and was playing around with board grabs. I love hitting the whole mountain and doing jumps; rails I'm not so keen on yet and I want to really perfect my all mountain skills before messing around in the park.

I've already upgraded my boots as I didn't feel the Ride Anthems were that comfortable and I didn't like the BOA system. I bought Burton Imperials in size 12 which it says has the profile of a size 11.

As far as boards, I didn't like how the Process Flying V felt straightlining at higher speeds and the edge hold wasn't great. Like I said, I love going all over the mountain, doing jumps, and I'd like to get comfortable going through trees and improving my switch riding next season. After reading a lot of reviews, the GNU Billy Goat 162cm is at the top of my list, my only concern is that the waist width is 25.3cm and I'm not sure if that's wide enough for the boots? It comes in 165cm with a 25.5cm width. The 162cm length felt like a good length on my Burton board but that had 25.7cm width. Any opinions on going longer or shorter or if I need a wide board? I was also looking at the GNU Rider's Choice, Ride Highlife, Lib Tech Skate Banana and TRS. Any other boards I should consider that are sub $400?

The Burton Customs I have are EST so I have to get new bindings too since I'm not looking at channel boards. I was looking at the Burton Cartels; would that be good for my riding style or are there other bindings I should be looking at?

Thanks! 
Matt


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## andrewdod (Mar 24, 2013)

wow... welcome... lots of stuff here to say... If your looking for something like the billy goat thats wider you could pickup a NeverSummer Heritage. Its kinda similar to the Billy Goat from what ive heard. I'm not sure if they make a wide version of the Billy Goat. You could probably get away with a 159 heritage at your weight. You could also probably get on a mid-wide board if you wanted too, which has a wider profile but not as wide as a full out wide board. 

As far as bindings go explore all your options... i say this because they are all preference, try to compare different brands and models, demo as many as you can. and find what you like.


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## mark6711 (Apr 9, 2013)

Hey Matt,

Welcome to the forums, I too am a first time snowboarder this season 12/13 was the first time trying this sport, also the age of 28.. Im hooked to it as much as you are and I love it so much. The nearest resort to my state is Brian Head Utah, by the way I live in Las Vegas. Ive been to colorado as well, and love keystone. They have alot of good resorts, which city are you gonna be staying in. The only gear I am missing is a board, did some research. Have you looked at flow brands as well? Libtechs I heard are good but very pricey well they all are LOL or better yet this whole sport is LOL!.

Regards,
Mark 



Epic said:


> Hi all! 1st season snowboarder here from NYC. I've been skiing since I was 4, I'm 28 now, and decided to try boarding this year and I'm hooked! I started with 2 days of lessons using a rental and liked it enough that I bought my own gear: 162cm Burton Process Flying V, Burton Custom bindings and Ride Anthem boots. I got in about 10 more days with my gear including a 4 day trip to Breckenridge. I feel like I've progressed a decent amount and wanted to upgrade my gear now during end of season sales. There's a good chance I'm moving to Colorado towards the end of summer and I want some gear that I'll be able to grow with as I'll be on the mountain a lot next season.
> 
> I'm 6'2" and usually in the 180-190lb range. Boot size is 11-12 depending on the brand. Skill wise, towards the end of season I was able to handle east coast blacks no problem and did a couple blacks at Breckenridge and didn't kill myself. The last day at Breck I was consistently landing 5 foot jumps and was playing around with board grabs. I love hitting the whole mountain and doing jumps; rails I'm not so keen on yet and I want to really perfect my all mountain skills before messing around in the park.
> 
> ...


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## Epic (Apr 13, 2013)

Not sure what city yet, depends where I get a job. Preferably in the Summit County area.

I did look at Lib Tech boards, forgot to put that one of the Lib Tech Phoenix variations is up there with the Billy Goat as #1 on my list. I've seen both on sale under $350.


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## tj_ras (Feb 13, 2011)

On the bindings im going to echo what andrewdod said, while burton is an awsome choice in binding brand there are numerouse other brands that are as good or better then burton and its all about personal preference with bindings. Try out as many as you can before pulling the trigger on a specfic one as you may not like your end choice.


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