# Soft boot carving boards



## Davichin (Jan 7, 2016)

Hello all,

I (around 210 pounds, strong legs, 5´10", size 11) am looking for a soft boot board mainly for carving, edge hold etc... (more than fifteen years ago I would jump around etc... but I guess the age, and longer crash recovery, is making me appreciate the pleasure of just carve down the mountain, feel G´s etc... 0 ). While I have seen many "all mountain charger" threads using the search tool, I have not found carving boards specific threads. I guess that this mixes with BX boards, but, in any case, this is a list of usual suspects that I have made by reading around, and I look for your comments and/or additions: In no particular order:

- Custom X
- Slash ATV
- F2 Eliminator
- Volkl Coal XT and Race
- Swoard Dual
- Kessler Cross
- Oxess
- Jones Aviator/Flagship?
- Donek Saber - Flux
- Dupraz D1
- SG Force - The Cult

I have never tried any BX boards, but a friend has told me that they are to use one hour or so as they can be too hard/stiff/uncomfortable? . By the way, I have always ridden traditional camber except for a RCR Rossignol which felt very "noodlely" and washed out at high speeds (it was a board meant for park...)

Thank you very much in advance.


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## trpa_ec (Jan 22, 2012)

edit: None of the 2 boards I recommended below are dedicated carving/freecarve/BX boards so they may not be as specialized as you may want.

My personal favorite board for this is the Never Summer Chairman. In the board review section, canmanski shared a video from an event organized by extremecarving in which he is soft boot eurocarving on his Chairman. It is however CRC hybrid profile so you may want to demo it first if you haven't ridden CRC profile yet. The Chairman is really really damp and stable. 

If you'd like traditional camber, I think the Amplid UNW8 is great. It is pure traditional camber. No extended contact points or early rise. No hybrid or modern camber. It is a moderately stiff traditional camber board but it is also light with very light nose and tail so it's easy to swing around. It's an energetic and lively ride but still stable. And the base is very fast.


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

You can carve pretty much any board if you set it up right. What's your goal? Do you want to do fully extended euro carves on the groomers? Or something else? A Burton Custom or Custom X both work well. I think the plain old Custom is more versatile if you want to ride soft stuff and chop. I have a Custom 163 that I carve pretty well with when it's set up with forward binding angles and a narrow stance. But I typically ride it with more of a neutral (but still forward angle) set up as a do everything board. If you wanna really freak out on soft carving howbout a SG "The Cult"? Or an old Tanker (200 cm!?!)? So then I suppose you have to buy the Catek bindings and stuff too. WHy not just do the whole fruit boot thing at that point?


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## Alpine Duke (Jun 21, 2015)

While the Dupraz does carve soft snow very well....and "the good ride" lists it when one searches their list of good carving boards.....I would not call it the board for someone looking specifically for a carving. It is a pow board that carves the soft stuff very well and has a unique ride.

I know I have read threads about carving decks. In fact, reading some of these is why I decided that I want to pick up the Fullbag Diamond blade....so I know they are out there.... someplace on here. (head scratch)

Be sure to let us know what you get.


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

Alpine Duke said:


> I know I have read threads about carving decks. In fact, reading some of these is why I decided that I want to pick up the Fullbag Diamond blade....so I know they are out there.... someplace on here. (head scratch)


Here's one: http://www.snowboardingforum.com/boards/61322-blunted-tip-thread.html

Effective edge is (in my humble opinion) the most important number to look at when talking about edge hold, second most important would be sidecut radius. I wrote a bit about that somewhere on here within the last few weeks.

I'll be trying my Volkl Coal Race this weekend on what's likely to be hardpack, so I can report back if you want. I have been on the Kessler Ride and it was stiffer and more heavily cambered than I found comfortable to ride as an "all mountain" board. In comparison the Virus Avalanche FLP AFT is softer and has a much more pronounced RCR profile (lifted tip really).

My favourite thing to do when there's no new snow is to lay down as big a carve as I can, and so far the Virus is the best board I've been on for that. The Volkl should be bloody good though, and it's half the price.

Have fun!


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## Alpine Duke (Jun 21, 2015)

Here's another:

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/boards/195393-new-board-carver.html


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## Alpine Duke (Jun 21, 2015)

One more:

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/boards/173610-favorite-carving-snowboard.html


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Many boards out there which carve great. Your first decision point is how much of a specialization do you want? The more you specialize, the more the board is losing other traits. How much give and take do you want?

I.e. A Volkl Coal is great to carve, and it's greatness there makes it a cumbersome ride in bad groomer conditions; at least the '12 version I've ridden. A Custom X is great to carve but still general enough to be pretty easy to handle in crud chop bump afternoon conditions. 
A Jones Flaship is also great to carve, but more as a side trait; it's actual purpose, big mountain, doesn't make it the first one I'd get if ONLY carving in mind.


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## poopresearch (Jan 2, 2016)

Neni kind of hit things on the head.


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## ZeMax (Feb 21, 2014)

I guess the question is: How low do you want to go ? >


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

ZeMax said:


> I guess the question is: How low do you want to go ? >


^ This. Even the "best" carving board will be only meh if too short. The edge needs to be capable to handle the G force you seek to experience. F=ma.


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## Davichin (Jan 7, 2016)

trpa_ec said:


> edit: None of the 2 boards I recommended below are dedicated carving/freecarve/BX boards so they may not be as specialized as you may want.
> 
> My personal favorite board for this is the Never Summer Chairman. In the board review section, canmanski shared a video from an event organized by extremecarving in which he is soft boot eurocarving on his Chairman. It is however CRC hybrid profile so you may want to demo it first if you haven't ridden CRC profile yet. The Chairman is really really damp and stable.
> 
> If you'd like traditional camber, I think the Amplid UNW8 is great. It is pure traditional camber. No extended contact points or early rise. No hybrid or modern camber. It is a moderately stiff traditional camber board but it is also light with very light nose and tail so it's easy to swing around. It's an energetic and lively ride but still stable. And the base is very fast.


Even though they may not be specialized, I will check them out. Thank you!


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## Davichin (Jan 7, 2016)

Fielding said:


> You can carve pretty much any board if you set it up right. What's your goal? Do you want to do fully extended euro carves on the groomers? Or something else? A Burton Custom or Custom X both work well. I think the plain old Custom is more versatile if you want to ride soft stuff and chop. I have a Custom 163 that I carve pretty well with when it's set up with forward binding angles and a narrow stance. But I typically ride it with more of a neutral (but still forward angle) set up as a do everything board. If you wanna really freak out on soft carving howbout a SG "The Cult"? Or an old Tanker (200 cm!?!)? So then I suppose you have to buy the Catek bindings and stuff too. WHy not just do the whole fruit boot thing at that point?


The goal would be as fully extended euro carves as possible while not going hard boot. I would really love to try an SG or similar BX boards (at least to convince myself that they are not what I look for being too stiff or whatever). I checked the old Rad Air Tankers too, but I guess 2m is too much and I am not sure if effective at all. Thank you!



Alpine Duke said:


> While the Dupraz does carve soft snow very well....and "the good ride" lists it when one searches their list of good carving boards.....I would not call it the board for someone looking specifically for a carving. It is a pow board that carves the soft stuff very well and has a unique ride.
> 
> I know I have read threads about carving decks. In fact, reading some of these is why I decided that I want to pick up the Fullbag Diamond blade....so I know they are out there.... someplace on here. (head scratch)
> 
> Be sure to let us know what you get.


I thought more or less the same about the Dupraz but, since I read a lot of positives comments about its carving ability, I included it... Thank you for the links that I will read asap 



poutanen said:


> Here's one: http://www.snowboardingforum.com/boards/61322-blunted-tip-thread.html
> 
> Effective edge is (in my humble opinion) the most important number to look at when talking about edge hold, second most important would be sidecut radius. I wrote a bit about that somewhere on here within the last few weeks.
> 
> ...


Thank you very much! please let me know how the Volkl rides.



neni said:


> Many boards out there which carve great. Your first decision point is how much of a specialization do you want? The more you specialize, the more the board is losing other traits. How much give and take do you want?
> 
> I.e. A Volkl Coal is great to carve, and it's greatness there makes it a cumbersome ride in bad groomer conditions; at least the '12 version I've ridden. A Custom X is great to carve but still general enough to be pretty easy to handle in crud chop bump afternoon conditions.
> A Jones Flaship is also great to carve, but more as a side trait; it's actual purpose, big mountain, doesn't make it the first one I'd get if ONLY carving in mind.


Regarding specialition, only carving, no need for pow performance, park, etc, or even ride fakie, just edge hold etc... I could change the board for the other conditions/uses. I think I read you something like that about the Flagship in another thread. Thank you!



poopresearch said:


> Neni kind of hit things on the head.


+1



ZeMax said:


> I guess the question is: How low do you want to go ? >


Oh well, I don´t really care as long as it is convenient for the carving.


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## Davichin (Jan 7, 2016)

neni said:


> ^ This. Even the "best" carving board will be only meh if too short. The edge needs to be capable to handle the G force you seek to experience. F=ma.


I think so too. The good thing about BX, F2, Volkl boards is that they have a long effective edge in comparison with free ride boards, as example:

Burton Custom X 164W (longest): 128cm Effective edge
F2 Eliminator 163: 144cm EE

A great difference of 16cm - 6.3"

In our case, F=m*w^2*r


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

Davichin said:


> Thank you very much! please let me know how the Volkl rides.


So I patrolled all weekend on the Volkl (Coal Race)

Conditions were frozen groomers in the morning, softening up through the day to spring corn snow. Quite variable throughout runs and throughout the day, some ice, some hardpack, some soft snow, some slush.

The quick and dirty: It holds an edge as well as the Virus, in other words for softboot carving it's a very good option. However, it felt much stiffer and less forgiving. I found myself several times laying into a carve and it felt like the board was so stiff it transferred too much of the snow variations to my legs and I would start to wash out. Overall the Virus is a better board.

I think on a perfect groomer day they would both carve equally. Also, if I were wanting a race board I'd probably want to get my legs in better shape and then really give this thing a run through a course, because the stiffness may help at a certain point. At high speed and edge to edge it was very confident.

For medium speed full on carving, it felt more punishing to ride than the Virus, by far. Some of that may be that the board needs to be broken in.

In softer snow and in tight tree lines the stiffness was a hindrance. I used to be all for super stiff boards, but after the Kessler Ride, and this Volkl, I think I'm backing down to prefer more of a normal "stiff" level, still stiff, but not super stiff. > 

Didn't get to try it in fresh powder, but I imagine it'd be competent but tiring to ride.

In other news: Anyone want to buy a Volkl Coal Race 159? :grin: Only two days of use on it! Perfect condition...


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

poutanen said:


> I used to be all for super stiff boards, but after the Kessler Ride, and this Volkl, I think I'm backing down to prefer more of a normal "stiff" level, still stiff, but not super stiff. >
> 
> In other news: Anyone want to buy a Volkl Coal Race 159? :grin: Only two days of use on it! Perfect condition...


Lol, you never know until you _know_. 
Dunno how the Coal XT and race compare, but my take on the XT was that it's a typical early morning perfect groomer board...


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

neni said:


> Lol, you never know until you _know_.
> Dunno how the Coal XT and race compare, but my take on the XT was that it's a typical early morning perfect groomer board...


I think the Coal Race feels similar to me (except that it can likely be leaned over further than the XT). Fun board, but not a quiver killer. The Virus on the other hand... well I guess you could say I'm infected! >


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