Alpine snowboard semi-isolation plate

[Eric Estlund]

A little manual mill practice side project. In the last 10 years there has been quite a bit of development in alpine snowboard plates designed to isolate the rider and increase edge pressure. I made a monolithic shear type with a fixed rear and floating front for this JJA slalom board.

[Paul Jacobs]

What material did you use for the isolation plate please?

[Eric Estlund]

UHWPE with 6061 "t nuts" and stainless snowboard threaded binding inserts. Nothing really radical here- I amalgamated a few designs I have experience with.

[roseyscot]

Is there a place where slalom boards are still popular? I rode one for a few seasons but nowadays I see maybe one per year on the slopes. Still plenty of wanna be ski racers around but seems that slalom snowboards are nearly extinct

[Eric Estlund]

There are pockets around the country where they are less unpopular- generally places with a race culture. Parts of New England, Park City, Summit County, parts of California, Bend, etc. Canada. Europe. Pretty huge in Korea.

[Mark Kelly]

Surely "alpine snowboard" is tautologous: the only people I see trying to XC on those things are definitely lost.

[Eric Estlund]

[72gmc]

There are pockets around the country where they are less unpopular- generally places with a race culture. Parts of New England, Park City, Summit County, parts of California, Bend, etc. Canada. Europe. Pretty huge in Korea.

20 years ago, the Mount Hood glacier was swarming with 'em in the summer. That's where my friend Jay used the slalom board and boots that I got him on pro deal.

[TTX1]

I can’t tell if the thread is about trench digging, hard boot goodness or back country shenanigans...

[Eric Estlund]

Summer camps still happen on Hood, as well as glaciers in Europe and some of the Southern Hemisphere winter resorts.