Board & Gear - Tall Guy
Ok, time for another new board thread 
I’ve spent the whole day reading up here and on various other sites about what to get, so I’ve got a pretty decent idea of where to start. However, I’m taller and generally heavier than most boarders so difficult to find too many people with the same requirements as me.
I boarded a few years back in Perisher and really enjoyed it. Only did 5 days but I really felt like I took it up quickly and loved just picking up speed down the mountain, as well as going completely off track.
I’ll be in Whistler from end of Nov until the end of the season.
A few choices:
Camber - As I plan to mostly free ride, high speeds, sharp turns, and off track later on in the powder. I think I used a Camber profile a few years back and quite liked it.
Sintered Base - I don’t plan on doing many park tricks or anything at this point and have no issues waxing the board. The most I’ll be doing is jumps on/off track. Things like rails, half pipes etc, just don’t interest me at this point and Rider has sold me on his “hate” errr…. dislike of extruded 
Medium to Stiff flex - Pretty self explanatory for an All Mountain type of board.
Centred stance (Duck). +15/-12 or that sort of variation (I’ll play with it when I’m there). While I prefer the normal stance, I don’t mind riding switch either so it’s important to have a versatile type of board and stance that is good in both directions, nose or tail first.
I have US size 15 feet and weigh around 92kg at the moment, which could easily go out to 95kg with a bit more muscle. So I guess a wide board is essential, especially if I’m on/off track and not in terrain parks.
I’m 197cm tall which is about 6’6” or so.
The Burton Custom or Custom X is pretty close to what I’m after, with the CX in 164 Wide. Is there much of a difference between the regular and X? I don’t mind paying extra. I plan to keep the board and gear for a number of years so happy to break them in properly. I understand the CX can be quite unforgiving, especially with new boarders but is perfectly fine for those who are doing a whole season and prepared to stick it out, rather than just using it for a week or so. I’m also tall and heavy so people seem to think that makes control of the big, stiff boards a lot easier than for someone a lot lighter.
How is it in pow? General consensus seems to be that you can use it in pow if you drop your stance back, but it can get tough on the back leg.
Basically I’m after similar boards to the C/CX and anything else you may think would suit me.
Also what are your thoughts on bindings? I see a lot of hype and positive reviews around the Burton Cartel EST.
Boots I haven’t looked at yet but a mate of mine swears by DC and boa lacing.
Size 15? whoa buddy. Andy is probably your guy to talk to about board sizes and width as that size foot is going to considerably narrow down your choice of boards.
As for bindings, yeah, cartels are widely considered some of the best in the industry, but it’s all personal preference - personally, I can’t stand the them.
DC make great boots, but again, it’s preference and will come down to your foot shape and size - try on as many as possible before settling on one pair. Boa can be good, but also keep in mind they do break - if a lace up breaks you can put a new lace in, if your boa breaks (and they do, despite the tech getting better in recent years) then you’ll need a specialist - so weigh up the pros and cons of boa for yourself.
As a last note, don’t exclude extruded bases - the hate towards it is unjustified. I’m on an extruded base right now and haven’t noticed a difference coming from sintered. Yes the wax is removed faster but to be honest I just stopped waxing it and it’s not slower in the slush, or in crud powder, and it definitely handles a beating when jibbing ruapehu rocks.
Hi Fledz, welcome to the forum.
Okay we have a lot of questions in there, but I’ll try my best. If I don’t miss something or you have some more question, by all means private message me or ask some more on here.
I’ll start with an easy one, the bindings. If you are going to get a Burton with the channel system then yes, get the Cartel EST’s. Burton Cartels have a long history of kicking ass and being well priced for a high range binding. The Cartels I had lasted me longer than any bindings I’ve ever had, and were still going when I sold the board.
As for the board, well I’m almost the same stats as you (6"5, 85kg size, 13 boots) So here’s my opinion:
- Boots: Just get what ever fits you best, this is the most important thing. But if you are going to get a BOA, make sure it’s a Double BOA not a single. The singles don’t tighten the boot evenly enough.
- Width: Yes, you DEFINITELY need a wide board. And Mid-Wide is not okay for a size 15, Wide Only.
- Length: 164 for length…. mmm it will be okay, that’s a personal preference thing. Myself, I’ve ridden up to 168 but I only ever own 160 max. Usually I like 159 or 158. But I ride park a lot. If you’re all about free ride the 164 is okay if it feels good to you.
- Stance: Yeah +15/-12 sounds fine. If you like a bit of switch this sounds like a good compromise.
- Profile: Camber? Camber is the hardest profile to ride. It’s not ideal at this stage of your riding. Once upon a time (before all this mess of profiles came out) we all learned on camber because that’s all there was. So it’s not like it’s horrible, but why make life hard for yourself? You want to progress as quickly as possible right? Camber is the last profile I would recommend to you at this stage. A well made rocker is the first thing i would recommend (Arbor make awesome rockers for guys with big feet). But if you are in Whis all season, and you are going to be really pushing yourself and feel like something more aggressive. I recommend a CamRock profile, found in the YES boards, and many other brands these days. This will give you the benefits of camber but will be less catchy ie more forgiving because of it’s uplifted tips (also better in powder, cambers are the hardest on your legs in the powder)
Flex: I would look to a Medium flex, maybe a little stiffer but definitely not Stiff. Example: the Custom would be great for you, but not the Custom X.
If you go too stiff you will just hate it. (Again, i don’t recommend the custom in camber)
Weight: Make sure what ever board you get, you are within the weight range that the board is designed for, this gives you a bit of an indication if the flex suits you too.
Hope this helps mate, let me know how the board hunt goes for you 
OH I forgot. If you like Burton gear. Try their boots!
They may or may not fit you, but if they do then they are great for you, because some of their boots have “Shrinkage tech”. Which Means it fits a size 15 but on the outside it’s the size of a 14. This is key for you dude (and for me too). It lets guys like us reduce the toe and heel overhang from our big feet and allows us to ride boards that would be to narrow for us otherwise.
You will still have to get a Wide though, no question. But some wides aren’t as wide as others, so shrinkage boots are a good thing.
I only ride Burton boots, no matter how many brands I try, they are always my favourites.
Id suggest the cartel bindings for riders with big feet, or for that matter any of burtons bindings as they have a great size range that extends higher than most other brands.
With the board id say get in touch with the guys at catalyst snowboards (http://www.catalystsnowboards.com) i know they have a couple of super wide boards in their range around 160/163 that have a waist around 270mm, should be perfect for your sized feet. They have a few camber options and customise the flex to, could be a good option if you want to get the flex right for you.
Boots are something you just need to try, and even then there is a difference between standing in a shop and riding with them all day. I rode burton ion boots for the last 5 or so years, they felt great when i put them on everytime, but soon as i rode my feet were hurting. Changed over to Salomon boots this year and havnt had sore feet since and they felt just as good when i tried them on
Hey Fledz, got a little bit of experience with this sort of thing, I’m around 6’3” with size 12 feet but one of my best mates is over 6’4” and rides in 14 or 15 boot size and weighs around 110kgs. Firstly the size is a terd as it limits the boot fitting options straight up and as mentioned means you are restricted to wide boards. Weird as it may seem my mate ended up being most comfortable in what is basically a hire boot brand named Recon, he paid $80 brand new for em and they have done him well for the last 3 seasons or so with maybe 10 days each. He did mention this year that they seemed to be getting pretty soft and he might go look for some new boots with a little more support for next season.
As far as boards are concerned, he started on my old Rossi Contrast Wide which I think is about 263 waist from memory. When he stumped up for his own board and bindings he went for a Gnu Carbon Credit wide in 162 wide with K2 Indy Bindings, pretty basic binder but have served him well, he broke my Sims binding on my Rossi when he was riding that. I replaced those with a set of Ride LX, very, very basic binding but pretty indestructible, the Rossi is the board I lend to mates with big feet and no idea so performance is not a huge issue with that board.
Personally I would go a rockered board or some variation of C2 or camrock hybrid. My mate loves his Carbon Credit, helped his boarding out a lot thus far and when I stepped off my the Rossi onto my skate banana it was a completely different world of riding. I started riding +15 and 0, that changed when I got the banana as it’s a true twin and I was determined to learn switch, went to +15-15 and haven’t looked back. My mate rides about +15-9 as he’s not really keen on switch however he’s set a goal for himself to get that sorted next season so his angles may change.
By the sounds of what ya really want ya board to do, I reckon that ya on the right track!!!!!
My weight hovers around the low 90KG’s too (But I’m only 6’, and don’t have a hoof like yours), and I ride a stiff DC HKD (Devun Walsh Model now), and it does the job great!!!!! It will be my main ride that I’m takin to Japan this feb!!!!!
While I’m not sure if the longest Walsh will take a US15 footprint though, I reckon that the Custom-X will be a perfect choice but, and also look at the K2 Slayblade!!!!! Or if ya wanna go the way of a hybrid that still has some camber feel, the new YES Pick Your Line comes in WIDE, and the graphics look wicked!!!!! (This would probably be my next board if I had wads of cash fallin outta my pockets right now)
Along with the Cartels as a good choice of binding, the FLUX TT30 will also treat ya right!!!!! If ya have the cash flow, a pair of FLUX SF45’s, or money is no option, the Sexy Carbon FLUX DMCC’s would suit any of the above boards down pat!!!!! (If ya get a Burton Board make sure ya get the discs for the FLUX’s to suit The Channel) (I’m a FLUX fan if ya hadn’t noticed)
Boots, Boots, Boots!!!!!
Get something that fits!!!!! And most likely to suit the Board Binding feel, something on the stiffer side of things!!!!!
I’ve had BOA, but I truly reckon that ya better off getting laces cause while they may take a little longer to do up, they will be more comfortable pressure point wise!!!!!
And like Andy said about the Burton Shrink Tech too, with your hoof size, something with a smaller footprint is a must!!!!! I know that NIKE has a reduced footprint on their 2013 range now also!!!!! But again, get the boot that fits your feet the best!!!!! Just gotta do the try, try, and try again game!!!!!
Hope this helps the cause?????
And like Andy said about the Burton Shrink Tech too, with your hoof size, something with a smaller footprint is a must!!!!! I know that NIKE has a reduced footprint on their 2013 range now also!!!!! But again, get the boot that fits your feet the best!!!!! Just gotta do the try, try, and try again game!!!!!
While we are talking about this, much to my dismay 
, I’ve found that Nike and DC have some of the biggest footprints out there. They were actually a size up on the footprint. A size 15 in these brands with a reduced footprint may only reduce down to the size of a normal 15 footprint in any other brand. Sad but true.
However I haven’t tested the new 2013 boots range cause my boots are still going strong.
The best thing to do is find 2 or 3 pairs of boots that fit really well, and then hold them sole to sole with each other and see which one has the smallest footprint. That’s what I do.
And like Andy said about the Burton Shrink Tech too, with your hoof size, something with a smaller footprint is a must!!!!! I know that NIKE has a reduced footprint on their 2013 range now also!!!!! But again, get the boot that fits your feet the best!!!!! Just gotta do the try, try, and try again game!!!!!
While we are talking about this, much to my dismay
However I haven’t tested the new 2013 boots range cause my boots are still going strong.
The best thing to do is find 2 or 3 pairs of boots that fit really well, and then hold them sole to sole with each other and see which one has the smallest footprint. That’s what I do.
Yeah, the 2013 Nike range has been reduced!!!!! 2012’s and previous aren’t!!!!! By how much, I can’t say as I’m just goin off info available at the mo!!!!!
And apparently Salamon have one of the smallest, but I don’t know how hard it’s gonna be to find a dealer that will stock a US15 in Salamon in the first place????? It’s gonna be pretty hard to even get a huge range to sample I reckon!!!!!
Might even be better off waiting till he gets to Whistler to get boots?????
Hey Fledz,
Great advice above. I’ll start with some general advice and my initial thoughts.
Don’t set yourself on a particular brand of boot. You need to go with what works for your foot shape. At your size, I’d certainly be looking at boots with a reduced footprint, i.e. Burton’s top end boots (if they work with your foot shape).
If you do decide to get boot with BOA, make sure it has a double BOA system, i.e. separate lower and upper boot zoning.
I’ve spent a lot of time riding Whistler and I have spend much of that time riding a cambered board. The truth is you can make camber work in all conditions. Whistler pow is generally heavier than say Japan or other parts of North America (supports your weight better), so with a bit of conditioning and good technique you can make camber work - if that is indeed your camber preference. That said, having some degree of rocker in the profile can make riding pow a lot easier and less draining on your body. These days my preference is rocker for deep pow, camber for everything else. The alternative is a hybrid, if you want one board to do it all. This all comes down to personal preference, so be informed and understand the differences, but ultimately you need to decide what will be best for you and your goals this season.
Maybe the big-footed guys can clear this up, but I’m not even sure the Custom X Wide will be wide enough for size 15 boots. It only has a 261 waist. I would think you need to go even wider than that! What do you guys think? Is that wide enough for size 15 boots?
A board I would also look at is the K2 Slayblade Wide 163. http://k2snowboarding.com/snowboards/slayblade-wide-1213
I think a board like this could be ideal for you. Firstly, it has a 266mm waist, which I instinctively feel more confortable recommending for your boot size. The board is flat between the feet with a bit of rocker in the tip and tail. It’s still stiff and agressive and will be a nice all-mountain choice. I feel this camber profile will offer you more versatility for Whistler. However this board does have a 3/4” setback stance, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ride it almost centred. I’m not necessarily saying to get this board, but I would definitely consider something like it.
Another excellent board to consider would be the Lib Tech Skunk Apes. http://www.lib-tech.com/snowboards/skunk-apes/
Fairly stiff, wide enough for size 15, hybrid camber, twin. Definitely a board to consider. Something like this could be the perfect one-board quiver for Whistler.
Bindings. I’m a big fan of Burton Cartels. They offer excellent performance and comfort at a good price. You can’t really go wrong there. If you’re looking for a really responsive binding however, I would suggest maybe looking at something a bit stiffer. Personally I don’t really find the Cartels to be stiff, even though they are rated at a 7, and I only weight 68kg. At your size, you might also find these to be a bit softer than you want. You could look at something stiffer in the Burton range, or maybe consider something like the Flux DMCC or SF45. Again, it comes down to personal preference in regards to stiffness/response. I’m just going on your size and what you’ve told us about how you like to ride.
^
Yeah, 261 wide will be pushing it for a size 15. I was on a 263 this season and I squeezed down a size into size 12s Burton Rulers with shrinkage. A 261 would be okay for most size 13s and maybe a really low profile size 14 with a little bit of toe/heal drag. But I can’t see it being a good idea riding a board narrower than mine with boots 3 sizes bigger.
A good thing to do would be to buy your boots first, and then you sit them on the board you’re looking at and see if they are going to fit (remembering the bindings will lift them up an inch too). But I would be looking for something wider I reckon.
Like I said, if you change your mind and want a rocker, check out Arbor boards. Their rockers widen out underneath the feet making the rocker hold a better carve and also allowing guys with big feet to ride narrower boards.
Any other brand you will just have to look for REAL wide boards. Some brands “wides” are narrower than others.
I’m going to have to recommend AGAINST one of Andy’s recommendations: the cartel EST’s. Two reasons:
#1) as they can only be used on Burton boards with the channel, you will not be able to try different boards from another company in the future. Reflex (Burton’s non-est binding tech) not only feel as good, but you can put them on any board.
#2) Cartel EST’s do not have the hinge. The hinge lets your highback roll naturally when ollieing .... something that reflex bindings do naturally! An est binding without the hinge will not let your foot move as naturally as reflex binding.
Actually, after comparing my new NIKE DK ZOOM’s to my old Vans BFB’s, the NIKE footprint is fractionally bigger!!!!!
So can them for an option, Fledz!!!!!
True ^
Personally I don’t use Burton channel boards or EST bindings. For that reason. I don’t like to feel forced to buy all burton gear. I just like their boots.
I actually recommended a YES or an Arbor board, which won’t be used with an EST Binding. I just said that the Cartel is solid and well priced.
But if you do get a Burton Channel board, then I recommend getting an EST binding. They will give the best and most natural board flex because they were designed specifically to work together with the channel, rather than just fit anything. So maybe scrap the Cartel idea and go for a Burton Malavita binding. They are EST’s and they have the hinge too. And priced pretty close to the Cartels. That’s what I would get if I had an EST board.
But if you can’t commit to either keep riding burton in the future or just keep that board and binding as a set. Then like Gamblor said, the reflex bindings are a better option than just plain disc bindings.
Wow, some solid feedback there guys. Thanks!
Last day of work tomorrow, then I’ll do some research based on all the input as soon as I get back home.
Boot/Bindings suggestions are great but don’t stress too much. It’s easy to try them on when I’m in Van/Whistler, which I definitely plan on doing!
Board is where I need the most input as there’s really no way to test it without being up on the mountain
Make sure ya let us know what ya end up gettin, and how it all goes on the mountain!!!!!