Snowboard recommendations

[vertical_doug]

No. I don't think I've ever boarded with one that I recall anyway.

Nor did my son use one. We rented from the same shop.

One question that I had was our rental boots were Salomon. They had a Bora dial on the outer and for the inner was this long pull cord that you cinch down. Neither of us could figure out where you're supposed to put the long excess part of the cord after you cinch it down tight. We tucked it inside the boot layers but I don't think this is where it's supposed to go. But back to leashes, I assume this is common so that a runaway board doesn't happen. I need to educate myself about this. I see everyone has leashes on their mittens but I'm not sure I've noticed one on a board?

I'm 6' 1 1/2" (187cm) if anyone's reading this out of curiosity what length board do you use? It looks like I'm 162, 163, or 164? 162 being the most common size I see around as far as longest stock board. I won't do tricks, wheelies, pops, or any air. I guess I'm looking at the all mountain category. My shoe is 11.5. With Burton I believe some of their regular width boards will work. For other manufacturers I may have to go wide. I would really like to have the shoe-to-board width dialed as far as an ideal marriage.

At 11.5, your boot is not that large. You can go wide, or possibly normal works also. It really depends on your stance on the board. I assume you ride duck foot- range +9+20 on front foot and rear -5 to -9 or so on back. If you are riding both bindings forward angles, it probably does not give you as good a base in your stance. In pow, some people prefer forward stances, I don't.

I won't worry that much on your snowboard size. For most boards, the stance width isn't going to vary between 162-166 or so. I 'd be more concerned with the camber in the board. Traditional, hybrid, how much rocker on tips etc. . . That's why I prefer the traditional camber in the custom. I think this is most versatile all mountain. I ride a 164 custom. I also have a 178 supermodel and a 196 swallowtail in the quiver. The big guns are strictly off piste powder and mostly only used for heli. I would not want to run trees with those. (The swalllowtail sounds extreme, but back in the late 90's , we got a lot more powder in Japan than now and it was colder and the pow lighter. You really needed the extra float somedays.)

I think you may be wearing your boots too loose. You said they feel like a slipper, but that doesn't sound snug enough to me. Moreover, you tweaked your angle on something relatively minor, which is never a good sign. I hurt my ankle in crappy boots which were a bit too big.... Otherwise, as you get better and faster, you eventually can really torgue your lower leg which is never good in a hard fall.

But in general, like most things, it is all personal preference in my opinion and having fun.
What works for me, may not work for you.

[holliscx]

At 11.5, your boot is not that large. You can go wide, or possibly normal works also. It really depends on your stance on the board. I assume you ride duck foot- range +9+20 on front foot and rear -5 to -9 or so on back. If you are riding both bindings forward angles, it probably does not give you as good a base in your stance. In pow, some people prefer forward stances, I don't.

I won't worry that much on your snowboard size. For most boards, the stance width isn't going to vary between 162-166 or so. I 'd be more concerned with the camber in the board. Traditional, hybrid, how much rocker on tips etc. . . That's why I prefer the traditional camber in the custom. I think this is most versatile all mountain. I ride a 164 custom. I also have a 178 supermodel and a 196 swallowtail in the quiver. The big guns are strictly off piste powder and mostly only used for heli. I would not want to run trees with those. (The swalllowtail sounds extreme, but back in the late 90's , we got a lot more powder in Japan than now and it was colder and the pow lighter. You really needed the extra float somedays.)

I think you may be wearing your boots too loose. You said they feel like a slipper, but that doesn't sound snug enough to me. Moreover, you tweaked your angle on something relatively minor, which is never a good sign. I hurt my ankle in crappy boots which were a bit too big.... Otherwise, as you get better and faster, you eventually can really torgue your lower leg which is never good in a hard fall.

But in general, like most things, it is all personal preference in my opinion and having fun.
What works for me, may not work for you.

Here's what my brother said when I sent him your JP recs. Stay away from Honshu. Snow sucks! I have skied at probably 30-40 resorts in Japan. So many I have forgotten their names.

Re: slippers I was saying that mostly compared to ski boots. I was surprised this past weekend how much stiffer my rental snowboard boots were compared to more than a decade ago. My ankle injury was a freak thing coming off the lift. My son pushed it past the point of no return with his body weight. Had it been an adult I think the injury would've been severe. I had some knee drama on the same leg about 6 years ago. I can't close that knee to full bend anymore so I'm "nervous" on that leg but zero issues boarding so can't complain.

No idea re: stance. I just board what the rental shop gives me and have never had any issues apart from am crust + steep. I'll take a look at the Burton Custom Camber. There are so many choices. Welcome to the rabbit hole.

How tall are you with a 164 board? I'm sure there's no difference between a 162 and 164. I assume I'll fall around that range if I pull the trigger on a package.

[vertical_doug]

I'm 5'10 on a good day. If you look at the board specs, the manufacturer will have stance width and running length somewhere on there. Burton has all the specs, you just need to the size chart and see more details.

Niseko pow is good, but I find the terrain lacking. I've skied enough pow for my lifetime so now it is all about terrain. I don't think Niseko can compare to Hakuba for terrain. . . problem is Honshu season is about 4 weeks shorter now and more rain events in feb....

Snowboard issues tend to be more wrists and shoulders unless you choose to hit a tree. . .