[ieism]

permnation wrote:

Barrows/Buell, thanks for the insight.

Taylor wrote:

(two? – Furberg and Chimera?) have produced long radius sidecut designs.

Nobile (formerly Contract snowboards) has a 20m model http://nobilesnowboards.com/products/megadune-n5-dr

Plum Talps splitboard has a 20m radius also. I’ve been riding Furberg for a long time now, and I’m still in love with that thing. To me it’s very weird that nobody else is building larger radius boards, or at least willing to try it out.

I agree that a straighter sidecut skins a little bit better too, but it’s not a huge difference in most conditions.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

I can probably reuse the tip clip that comes with it. Thing is, I really like the Dynafit system because you can keep the board together with skins on it. Easier if you can keep the skins on while putting the bindings on imo. You can buy just the Dynafit parts too here in Europe.

Not sure what a wicket is, Google not helpful either… I’m assuming a metal wire piece like on normal skins.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

I don’t think you’d need them. I have a DIY telemark setup with Dynafit toes, and if you lock it it won’t release even with a free heel. If it does, you’ve not locked it or you have ice in your tech inserts. That sometimes happens.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

Off course. All things being equel, a lighter board is much better than a heavy one. But that’s not what I was saying. The heavier board I was talking about is shaped to have less drag in the skintrack, and it makes a huge difference. More than the weight of the board.

Besides, more of the weightsavings can be done by selecting boots and bindings so the weight of the board is only a small factor.
You can save half a kilo of weight on boots without spending more when replacing your boots. So boardweight is not a factor for me when I recommend people gear anymore. ( that said, I’m getting the Millisurf next year 🙂 )

Here’s my current “light” setup with skins and crampons on a very accurate scale.

It could be lighter as my Spark pucks are on my other boards, and the shoes are a bit wet at the moment. 3.85KG is not bad though.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

My friend tested the Millisurf, it’s awesome. She’s considering upgrading her Milligram. These will sell out fast I think.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

Haha, I figured that would get you guys mildly exited… Indeed I’m using a Mammut Ultralight now with carbon bottle, with an Arva Carbon light 155g and a strenghtened Arva Ultra shovel (under 350 grams). So that would be around 2kg.

You can buy the carbon cylinder form a shop in Europe and just tell them to ship it. At your own risk, but it has been done. I hate heavy packs, so I’m happy with my setup now.
Bear in mind, huts in the Europe are more like hotels sometimes. You won’t need to bring food or much water at all. Some socks and a shirt, gloves, a bedsheet and that’s it.

I can weigh the pack loaded for you if interested, but it’s under 3kg for sure.

Like I said, I own two lightweight boards, but they almost never get used. You don’t have to go try a Plum to get a feeling for how much the rounded tips and tail add to faster skinning. Just try a very wide freeride ski, you’ll soon get the idea. That’s not to say it’s as good as a ski, but it’s heaps better than my own splitboards. Shape, balance and skinglide make a huge difference. Have you ever tried skinning with something like a Venture Euphoria in a narrow skintrack set by skieers?
I’ve demo’d Plum stuff both before and after our Splitfest. I sort of have it as a loaner untill I return it to them right now. I think I have a pretty good feel for how fast a board skins, I’ve tried enough stuff over the years for sure.

I absolutely have faith in Amplid’s contruction, it will stand up to normal use. Out of all carbon boards I tested that feels the most like a normal board to me. I also own light Amplid telemark ski’s and I’m a bit of a fan of their stuff. But I’ve seen enough boards damaged or broken to be a bit sceptical of lightweight construction. Besides, if you do damage it, it’s not the cheapest thing to replace. They are seriously expensive, so that’s why we didn’t give out carbon demo’s if conditions are shit.

I guess I like lightweight stuff a lot, I’m definately a major weight weenie myself. But the board is the only part of my setup were I don’t actually use lightweight stuff for a reason. That’s a personal thing, I don’t feel much difference and would rather not worry about damaging my splitboard all the time.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

Next years models will have a few small tweaks again. I still ride the rockered model, although I’ve tested the newer cambered ones every season so far.

For me the rockered is more allround as it turns a little easier so I can still use it in trees and heavy snow.

The later cambered model has it advantages too, mostly if you ever hit a groomer or hardpack it feels much more stable. The rockered 1st gen Furberg still scares the $#!t out of me on horizontal smooth cat tracks for some reason. Maybe it’s my lack of technique though.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

The Amplid is a great board. Everybody who rides one seems to love it.

Dropping weight on your setup is pretty nice, but after a recent trip I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t really matter for me. Turns out one of the heaviest setups I tested this season was the fastest on the skintrack. Weight is not everything, there are many more factors involved.

I have a few pretty light boards, A Prior carbon and an OZ asym carbon. Both are full carbon construction, and boards don’t get much lighter than those right now. I also have a lightweight Magneto Binding with some go fast bits, very light skins and very light boots. Out of all of those, I still think the boots make the biggest difference in weight. You can spend a few hundred on a carbon board, but you can easily save more weight by picking a light boot next time like a 32 TM or a Salomon F3.0.

So I’m a bit of a weight watcher, I recently upgraded my avy pack and actually weigh all the stuff that goes in and replace whenever possible. I find that the weight of my pack ruins my day much more than on my feet. So I’m at less than 3kg now with a full avy pack for a 2 day tour. Carbon everything, It’s pretty sad really…

Then I had a bit of an epiphany while touring with the Plum Talps setup I demo’d. This is heavier by more than a kilo than what I normally use, but it felt much faster. I even did the same tour twice in a day to check, and it actually was faster. How so? Well the board is designed to go up. It has just the right camber, just the right place for the touring bracket. And all corners of the ski’s are very rounded off so it felt almost like my ski’s. I had a Contour mohair skin on that was fast, and the bindings are very solid and pivot smoothly. I also feel that a large radius board tours better than a small radius one. Next years Plum stuff will be lighter, I’m looking forward to testing that one.

This is not a Plum commercial either, I get lots of help from other companies when it comes to gear so I’m free to pick my own stuff. I love my boards and Sparks, but the Plum is just faster uphill by design.

As a “consumer” who sometimes buys his own stuff, I actually really prefer the heavier boards. Both the Plum and my Furbergs were pretty much the only boards that survived our Splitfest without coreshots and scratches. Ptex is thicker and more durable, and so are the edges. Some of the Jones stuff was beyond local repair after a single day. To me that is unacceptable. We didn’t even take the carbon stuff out for fear of damaging it, I don’t have that problem with Furberg as they are the most bomber construction on the market right now. Plum seems to be on that level too. It’s a Splitboard, it should be durable enough to last a few seasons.

So as someone who has tested and tried a lot, and is a bit of a weight weenie too. I’d have to conclude that carbon boards are not that much of a big deal to me. Nice to have, but will not make you noticeably faster in my opnion.

I’m talking about softboots here… hardboots I have no experience with.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

I dunno. I’ve been on Furbergs for a few years now and still really like those for slightly more technical stuff. For other days with deep snow I like full reverse sidecut now. I’ve stopped caring about the scary handling on hardpack, they are too much fun when there is some fresh snow to care about a fall or two. The biggest thing is how fast these are on slopes that are not steep. I still can’t figure out why, I’ve ridden so many extreme powderboards yet somehow nothing seems faster than these bamboo planks with no ptex.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

Cool, you can expect snow between roughly between Monte Rosa and Tonale there thursday till saturday, above 1000-1500m. It could be enough for the first lines if you pick non rocky terrain.

I’m not sure where you are now, but Aprica, San Bernardino, Bosco Gurin, San Domenico, Macugnaga are all really cool small places to ride if they get anything over 60cm. Lifts will still be closed, so perfect really. That can totally happen this weekend, but after sunday will be warmer already.

Once you make it to val d’aosta, you’ll disover the Monte Rosa region pretty soon. Alagna is pretty well known. Don’t forget to check out La Thuile and Espace San Bernard. These get consistantly more snow than Courmayeur because they catch snow from almost all directions and especially a retour d’est brings massive snow there. The road to La Rossiere will be closed in winter, but you can easily get there from La Thuille ski slopes by hopping over the Col de La Traversette. I remember a place for camper vans as well in La Thuile, we spend a night in the 4×4 there it was very nice. There were a few other campervans there as well in summer, it was not the campsite right near the village but a bit further up the road towards the waterfalls. It’s right here:
google maps
I’m not sure if they keep that road open in winter but if they do it’s the perfect spot to maybe stay for a while.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

The Pyrenees can be fantastic dry, deep pow, but it doesn’t get snow as often as the Alps. Sometimes it doesn’t snow there for months. I think Catalunya is quite frienly to vans and people living in them though.

Switzerland is not an option, they don’t allow wild camping and fines are huge. It’s also a very expensive place to live if you don’t work there.
France would be ok, in my experience people in the mountain regions are much more friendly and open to “tourists” than Paris. They will speak english, and it will be ok for you to find friends or riding partners as ski touring is quite popular in France.

The weather fronts in the Alps typically roll in from either the north/west, or sometimes from the south. If you’re in a spot where you can quickly move to where there is fresh snow you can more than double your powdays.
Places like this are around big tunnels or major mountain passes.

Somewhere in the Aosta valley would work well, the Piëmonte gets hammered with a southern front (retour d’est) but you can be in Chamonix, St. Bernard for a west/north front pretty fast. Keep in mind that you can get to Cham without taking the tunnel as there is a lift on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc too.

I’ve lived near Lago Maggiore (the Italian side) for a while, same deal. Ride in Ticino or Valsesia with southern, or Simplon or Andermatt with northern fronts.
A place I would seriously consider is near Livigno. I’m not sure how easy it would be to camp there, but you can probably find out. Livigno is taxfree so much cheaper than Switzerland or the rest of Italy. You can also move to Austria or Switzerland quite fast. This would be a place I would move to after the winter has properly started though.

Or somewhere around the Reschenpass. You can be in Ortler, Stelvio or Engadin pretty fast, but also in some major mountains in Austria. Or Val Senales, same story.

In general the Northern and western parts of the Alps are better for early season. Places like Haute Savoie or the Arlberg are already getting snow now. Haute Savoie is also the place in France with nicer small villages, and not those huge ski resorts most of France seem to have.

Anyway, probably too much info. Send me an email if you have specific questions as I’m not on this forum a lot. I’ve traveled a lot in Switserland, France and Italy. If you’re stuck somewhere in those countries, I can probably find you that secret spot with pow you need. My email is: info [at} ivareisma [dot] nl

Ivar

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

buell wrote:

Cbalke wrote:

@Scooby2 This season OZ began offering their splitlock tech to increase torsional stiffness. They added a shear tab at the center of the board and beveled the inner board halves to lock the board together better. Everyone I’ve talked to loves it. I have not rode one but i hand flexed an OZ with and without the splitlock and there was definitely a difference. I’m still curious if it’s going to affect durability or side hilling ability on hard pack. It’s believe its a 22 degree bevel.

Maybe I am missing something.

A while back when I was still using pucks, I added a third Voile hook between the bindings to stop the two board halves from separating when torsional forces were being applied. It did the job and improved the board performance.

Maybe they have tested the two options, but it seems like OZ could just add a “shear tab” on each side instead of the beveled edge/shear tab on one side and accomplish the same goal with a lot less effort.

At this point, I just use a binding system that overlaps the board halves at each binding, which also accomplishes the same thing.

Actually I didn’t think it was such a big deal either, but after a few days on it I can tell you it’s a pretty brilliant idea. I’ve owned quite a few splits now, and tested lots more but this is a pretty clever idea and I’ve yet to find a downside to it.
It’s more solid, and less snow creeps between the boardhalves. It’s also easier to change back to ridemode, it sort of just folds together.

It’s one of those thing you have to try to see how it works.

Our Splitfest definately has the coolest demo’s on the planet, but this thing looks like its from outer space. Also the topsheet is very nice and really sheds snow well.

The only thing I didn’t like is the base takes a lot of wax to be fast initially. It was a bit fuzzy for my taste, but I had sort of a pre-production model I think so maybe it’s just my board and they rushed to get it to me in time. After a few extra coats of wax and some polishing it’s fine now. The craftmanship on the rest of the board is top notch, on par with Prior in my opinion.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

@HansGLudwig

Just got back from Flatland Splitfest, we had 10 sets that we gave to participants and I used mine for 4 days as well. I can confirm that it works, the scale and colours took a little getting used to but it’s pretty good overall.

I’m still keeping my Pieps on my other pole for a few trips, but probably not for long as the sticker is much faster to work with.

The sleeve that protects it from coming off and scratching doesn’t really fit over the BD Expedition pole though because it has that rubber grip on the lower of the pole. There were two other poles that had the same problem. I just took some transparant sticker film I had laying around and that works fine.

Also, for most of the poles we’re using you only use the largest of 3 stickers was needed. So you could give the other stickers to a friend that skis, or has thinner poles.
I used a bit of plastic tube of the right diameter and made a few extra handheld clinometers that you can clip to your bag with a simple prussik rope and a clipper. Throwing away the other two stickers seemed like a waste to me.

If you have any specific questions, I can go out and test this weekend becasue I’m leaving for Austria fridaynight.

cheers, Ivar

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

It’s harder to sight a downhill slope with the Pieps. You press the button and it gives you a reading, but as soon as you move the pole to check it it shifts. It only really works if you put your pole on the ground, and if you’re standing above a line or on a convex that’s not going to help you. A simple tilted display or mirror would have fixed this. Or a button to lock the reading.

I haven’t tested the poleclinometer in real life conditions yet, but here in the office it seems to work better in that regard. I can look down at a sloped angle (that I verified with the pieps) and be accurate enough to asses a slope just by looking at the sticker and the “slope” below.

Pulling a phone out is not an option for me, the thing needs to stay in the bag turned off for when I really need it. It’s just not practical.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

I hardly post or even look here anymore. It’s a shame because this place has a lot I like, good people and a lot of info.

I can’t get over how laggy it feels, and the lack of an “active topics” function means I don’t even visit anymore. I’m still very active on other forums, and very actively splitboarding so it’s not that.
Just my opnion, I really want the old forum back although I love the added conted to the main site.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

How well does a pulk work? Let’s say we need to haul a large expedition dome and two small ones, and winter camping stuff for about ten persons. I don’t really see how we could do this with just backpacks, even if we have the manpower. Just the large dome weighs 51 lbs and doesn’t pack small enough for a pack.

I’m thinking of building two small pulks specific for doing this. It will fit in a skintrack and have some lateral stability to allow sidehilling. There could be one person pulling, and one at the back pushing.

But we’ll be going up pretty high, and the terrain might be quite steep.

Ideas and experiences with pulks welcome..

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

I like it, it looks new and shiny.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

I know a dude who still insists approach skis’s are the shit. He’s a much better snowboarder and freerider than I am, so I’ll give him the benefit of doubt. They even build their own balsa core ski’s, I believe with no ptex just skins epoxied directly onto the fiberglass. I think you could make this light enough to work, but as a splitboarder I don’t really see the point.
I’ve never actually seen him use them, I guess if you don’t use them they are perfect. :scratch:

Also invited him to our splitfest last year, because i’m not ashamed to be seen with a skier in general. But he couldn’t make it.

IMO if you build a super lightweight ski yourself from some old skins and wood and mount Sparks on it, why not. But buying the full MA set is dumb, because for that kind of moneys you can get a nice splitboard setup.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

How does that board skin? I have a home build reverse sidecut experiment that’s begging me to be split. But I’m not sure it would skin well in anything but mellow soft snow.
Does it want to go up a skintrack, traverse?

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

[ieism]

I dont think PLUM has that anymore. I finally get to test them this season, I’ll be sure check how far they lean back. This may take a while, they dont have snow around their HQ yet.

http://flatlandsplitfest.com/

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