this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2024
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The advances in material science and manufacturing in sports equipment in the past 15 years has been amazing.
That means boots, bindings, and a snowboard that would have seemed like alien technology to me when I started riding. Same goes for all the saftey gear, knee pads, helmets, integrated wrist guards in gloves.
The performance, comfort, and saftey offered by modern equipement means I can still enjoy my favorite sports at 50. The thought of getting on a hill with gear I had just 15 years ago makes me shudder.
And all that manufacturing has caused a decline in snow, hasn't it?
True, but at least where I ride they have 100% snow making covered. Solution to man made warning is man made snow.
Joking aside, the season in the midwest sure has shrunk since I was a kid.
Damn... I still snowboard in my gear that is over 20 years old. Has it really changed that much? I only go a few times a year so I never wanted to spend the money on new stuff. Lift tickets already cost an arm and a leg.
It's like going from moms station wagon to a high end sports car. Do I need the performance sports car? Usually no, but those few times you push it, it's ready for all that and more.
Thermal form boots are a must, though I guess that tech is more than 15 years old in ski boots at least. I no longer cringe and grunt when I put on my boots, they are as comfortable as any footwear I've owned.
The flexibility in modern plastics means the straps and bindings themselves are stiffer where they need to be, and have give where they don't. Combined with the boots there are no more pinch points at all, and all the force you put into riding goes where you want it.
I ride almost exclusively in the midwest US, so hard, rough, icy conditions that most people wouldn't consider snowboarding in are the every day. A board with reverse camber, often called banana, and magna tractions, serrated edges for holding grip on ice, are a must.
"Turns ice into powder", well I dont know if I'd go that far. I can lay into turns in the worst conditions and completely trust the edge to hold. When you get that horrible downhill edge that wants to catch and slam you into the ground, the newer complex curves in the camber means more often than not you will pivot out instead of hanging up. I can't count the number of times I've felt that edge wanting to catch and end my day, only to slip around switch and get away with it.
I'm sure there are more now, but a product called 3DO gel was the first I saw. Flexible and soft normally, it turns ridged under force. I have pads of that stuff basically all over my body, knee and elbow pads, but also tail bone, forearms, and in the liner of the helmet. Saw a demo where they were hitting a guy with a shovel and instantly thought "That's for me".
If I had to pick one, a board with C2 or C3 gen camber from lib tech, or its equivalent makes the biggest difference. The over all package of a new setup bought and sized together for my cough, um, "modern" weight requirements, took riding from a painful and nervous experience, and made it relaxed and enjoyable again. Due to many old injuries, I used to ride an hour, maybe two, and had to quit. Now I can ride a full evening, and feel good about doing a few hours the next day as well.
Damn... Now I want new gear.
Also "I ride almost exclusively in the midwest US, so hard, rough, icy conditions that most people wouldn't consider snowboarding in are the every day" - I'm in the northeast, so I am very familiar with ice boarding, so I'm sold.
I went into one of the larger local shops to buy some risers or something to try and adjust my old setup. Older sales guy about my age took one look at my gear and said "Your knees must hurt like hell".
I had the money, so I just went full in on new gear, and came away with something I would never have picked for myself.
Not only did he size everything proper for me, he made sure all the pieces were right together. For the first time in my life toe and heel line up exactly with the edge, and where they belong on the pressure points. I'd always riden too small a board and had far too wide a stance to make up for it.
I was still skeptical, but he told me if I didn't love it he'd do a full price exchange.
Even though it's about the longest board I've ever had, the banana camber makes it feel half the size. Took about three runs to actually trust the board, and I was completely sold, you couldn't pay me to ride the old gear again.