[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by RambleJ

Taos is about a couple more hours further than Santa Fe right? I might put in the couple extra hours and make that happen..

Taos is just another hour. One annoying factor for both Santa Fe and Taos (but not Angel Fire) is that the ski areas are in Forest Service land, so you have a half hour or so drive from lodging to the ski area, there's no ski in / ski out lodging.

Taos was one of the last holdouts on the no boarding thing, but thankfully Grumpy Old Man Taos kicked the bucket and his family had some common sense. There's a ton of moguls up there, which I never enjoyed on a board, but love on skis.

Food in Santa Fe is better than Taos or Angel Fire (and certainly better than Wolf Creek) for what that's worth. If going with a family or spouse, Santa Fe certainly has the best amenities, but if you're actually going for the skiing, Taos and Wolf Creek would be at the top of my list.

[RambleJ]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Taos is just another hour. One annoying factor for both Santa Fe and Taos (but not Angel Fire) is that the ski areas are in Forest Service land, so you have a half hour or so drive from lodging to the ski area, there's no ski in / ski out lodging.

Taos was one of the last holdouts on the no boarding thing, but thankfully Grumpy Old Man Taos kicked the bucket and his family had some common sense. There's a ton of moguls up there, which I never enjoyed on a board, but love on skis.

Food in Santa Fe is better than Taos or Angel Fire (and certainly better than Wolf Creek) for what that's worth. If going with a family or spouse, Santa Fe certainly has the best amenities, but if you're actually going for the skiing, Taos and Wolf Creek would be at the top of my list.

I noticed that! I thought i was crazy, I spent hours on end trying to find lodging that was right by the lifts and couldn't find anything..
All other places I have ridden ( Bear, Mammoth, Tahoe, Arapahoe, Park City, Jackson hole) all have lodging really close to the ski areas.. This is going to be interesting for sure. .

I am going with a friend and it will be her first time riding so it really doesn't matter too much as long as there are a couple bars close by that I can rally at after a long day of riding.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by RambleJ

I noticed that! I thought i was crazy, I spent hours on end trying to find lodging that was right by the lifts and couldn't find anything..
All other places I have ridden ( Bear, Mammoth, Tahoe, Arapahoe, Park City, Jackson hole) all have lodging really close to the ski areas.. This is going to be interesting for sure. .

I am going with a friend and it will be her first time riding so it really doesn't matter too much as long as there are a couple bars close by that I can rally at after a long day of riding.

Taos has some of the best schools in the country. There are bars on the slope, but if you don't pack a roadie (who would recommend that?!) you'll have a long drive out of the Forest Service land to get back to civilization.

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

TThere's a ton of moguls up there, which I never enjoyed on a board, but love on skis.

Moguls can be a blast on a board when the conditions are right. I love the satisfaction of picking a line and being able to follow it through an entire mogul run.

[khaye1]

Originally Posted by abisson

Been reading since I was 5 years old! I have a lodge at Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, so I do it around 40/45 times a year. I've been to Vail, Keystone, Whistler, Steven's Pass in WA, and Sugarloaf! Still need to hit Europe and Japan.

I ride a Custom X with Cartel, and an Endeavor Gorilla Series (Canadian company) with Mission! I am riding with Driver X, but I might change them soon, they are kind of too rigid. I might equip myself with an alpine/hardboots board next year, not too sure, as it is around 1.3k for brand new gear.

Which binding do you prefer? I have the cartels but find them a little stiff for park and I heard the mission are a little softer...I want to switch but not sure which one to go with. Now IPO intrigue me but they're too new of a binding to spend $300 on without having enough reviews

[TotalPower]

I use missions on a custom 162 burton board. wonderful all around board

[abisson]

Originally Posted by khaye1

Which binding do you prefer? I have the cartels but find them a little stiff for park and I heard the mission are a little softer...I want to switch but not sure which one to go with. Now IPO intrigue me but they're too new of a binding to spend $300 on without having enough reviews

TBH, I am not entirely impress with the Cartel. They are not very comfortable at all, and the Mission are just as responsive and more comfy. I would make the switch or go to something even higher in terms of $$$, but same "profile" as the Mission.

[khaye1]

Originally Posted by abisson

TBH, I am not entirely impress with the Cartel. They are not very comfortable at all, and the Mission are just as responsive and more comfy. I would make the switch or go to something even higher in terms of $$$, but same "profile" as the Mission.

Malavita?

[sensi09]

Originally Posted by khaye1

Which binding do you prefer? I have the cartels but find them a little stiff for park and I heard the mission are a little softer...I want to switch but not sure which one to go with. Now IPO intrigue me but they're too new of a binding to spend $300 on without having enough reviews

What year are your cartels? Todays mission is pretty much a cartel from a few years back.

[khaye1]

2010s fairly new

[sensi09]

I have the same ones. For 2012 the missions had the same highback as the 2010 cartel and also the same base.....but different straps I believe.

They've been changing highbacks a lot lately, but from what I've read the 2013 cartel is suppose to be softer than the 2012 cartels. The "stiffer" high back of the 2012 cartels is now on the 2013 missions while still sharing the same base. A little confusing, but in the end the missions might not be much if any softer than the cartels anymore.

rabbitsnowboards had some really good deals on burton before the season if you don't mind buying used or demo

[abisson]

Originally Posted by khaye1

Malavita?

Yeah. My friend has them and loves them. Good idea.

[RambleJ]

Originally Posted by JasonCSU

Moguls can be a blast on a board when the conditions are right. I love the satisfaction of picking a line and being able to follow it through an entire mogul run.

Moguls are a pain in the ass on a snowboard. Now the very loose open moguls are a different story, I am talking about thosee knee high+ extremly close together tight moguls..

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by RambleJ

Moguls are a pain in the ass on a snowboard. Now the very loose open moguls are a different story, I am talking about thosee knee high+ extremly close together tight moguls..

Yeah, when moguls get that large they can be a pain in the ass especially if they are iced over. Come Spring though, large moguls can still be fun when they have turned into slush bumps.

[reeltime]

I ride in MA/NH/VT. I ride 154 arbor blacklist with union atlas and burton hails for boots. I love burton for their boots..i don't like their boards at all though. I saw the blacklist and wanted to give it a shot and i just really liked the board. Union makes dope bindings. Used to ride forces but upgraded to something better this season

[Spoolin335]

I am a intermediate snowboarder, i can hit small/medium jumps and do board grabs and simple 180's of small hits on the hill. Working on getting more comfortable on the M/L kickers in the park with more air. Been snowboarding since i was 7-8.

I ride a Lib Tech Skate Banana 156 board with Burton Cartel bindings.
The flex on the Lib is awesome, not crazy, but enough to get nice pop off jumps.

I have only snowboarded in Albera/British Columbia mountains.
Big White has been the best mountain i have ever boarded.

My board


Couple shots from a few years ago at Big White with my pervious Option board.
Knee deep powder on the entire mountain.
This was in the back country.

In the clouds

Taking off a small kicker

[BradZditosky]

I'm currently in Vail, just finished up my last day of riding, it was a great time.