New Toy

Happy Halloween!

The days have been getting colder and it could mean only one thing. Winter is near which means another season of good riding. Now that I'm working, I figure I could do some upgrades to my snowboard. I bought my first and only board used at a snowshow back in '99. The board is a Nitro Spectrum 159 with Rossignol SB bindings. As my skills improved I noticed my bindings weren't up to par and so today I did some shopping on West 4th (the snowboard shopping mecca). I forgot how many stores were clustered together and that made for good variety and comparisons. I went to The Boardroom, Pacific Boarder, Westside Sport & Ski, and Westbeach. I browsed through all the bindings and was thorougly educated about the science of snowboard bindings. Who knew the complexities involved? I learned what materials are used to construct bindings, the different types of rachet cranks, the rotations of hi-backs, strap positions, stance location, and what ramped gas pedals are. At The Boardroom, I looked at the Ride EX bindings which were light, but wasn't too crazy about the colour. He suggested another brand and model called the Burton Mission bindings, but they didn't carry it. He said they're even nicer.

My last stop was Westbeach, and lo and behold I saw the Burton Mission bindings. The guy who helped me was very knowledgeable about the product and preferred Burtons over any other binding on the market. He suggested Drake bindings as well, but the Burtons were nice and within my budget so I picked them up. I can't wait to try out my new bindings. It'll definitely make my ride more enjoyable.

Peace.