Glad to hear you took the plunge I definintely know what you are talking about. When I first moved over to hard boots, I found it used to throw me around when I was on bumpy and hard snow (and throw me down). As you know, it all comes down to the stiffness of the boot more than the absorbtion properties. I have no experience with the Radiums, so I don’t know how stiff they are. In any case, what I decided to do was leave the top buckle pretty much open on my boots and get the support soley from the velcro booster strap that goes around the top of the boot. I don’t even do that up tight. Just enough to get the support that I need and no more. Takes a bit of playing around until you get it as you like it.

When I first got my boots, I made a point of using them as they were supposed to be used…. but then I realised they were made for skiing And it didn’t matter if I didn’t do it the correct way. So I do all the buckles up pretty lightly (without my feet swimming in them), so there is the minimal amount of pressure and leave the top buckle undone. I changed the tongue on mine boot too to a much softer one which made a big difference.

Basically, the only difference between the hard boot and the soft boot is “the give” which is why they feel pretty hard on bumpy ground. Loosen the cuff of your boot and the shock will be dispersed by the increased articulation around your ankle and lower leg and a lot less will go into the boot and it will feel just like a soft boot. At least my do.

Let me know how you get on.

We spoke a while ago, thanks for all your advice. I’ve taken the plunge with a Jones board, Voile SD Mtn Plates and my Radium boots and all in all I’m very happy with the set-up.

I do however find the ride pretty hard on really bumpy ground and I think it’s down to having no cushioning for shock absorption. Have you found this and have you got any suggestions?

I’ve thought about putting some kind of padding between the base plate and the binding but I haven’t tried it out yet and I’m not sure what would work.

The other thing is I don’t know how clean the pivot action would be if you used the plates to skin. You would also be higher with the plates which might reduce your pivot angles and control (but then that’s no different to soft boots and bindings and they seem to work for most people).

The Dynafit toe pieces do weigh next to nothing though (not sure of exact weight) and sometimes that little bit of extra weight is worth the enormous gains in practicality and comfort….. That’s how I tend to think….

Hope that helps!

They should be good for riding too I think – they’re a Dynafit compatible ski touring boot and you can vary the stiffness a bit.

I really want to keep weight as low as possible so I was wondering how skinning would be using the slider tracks / bindings instead of an additional Dynafit piece.

What do you think? Would there be enough clearance at the toe end to let the boot pivot up fully?

Nice to hear from you. Personally, I think splitboarding with hardboots is the way to go. I don’t know much about the Garmont Radiums but if you are coming from soft boots, then it’s important to get a “soft” hardboot so you can continue to feel like you’re in soft boots. All the advantages of the hardboot come on the up and with crampons e.t.c. If you’re unsure, definitely have a look at splitboard.com. The forum is really helpful and there are a fair few of us with the hardboot set-up.

Otherwise, to your other questions…….. When you buy your splitboard, it will come with all the necessary bits (at least my Prior did). Mine came with Voile plates to slide the bindings on, so I use those too to attach my Bomber bindings for hardboots. So, why the Dynafit toe pieces…? Well, I only use the Bomber bindings for the down, otherwise they stay in my bag for the up and I use the Dynafit toe pieces to skin up like a skier. So if you go for that system, then obviously you have to have Dynafit compatible hardboots. That’s the one real advantage of hardboots. If you’re not going for the Dynafit set-up, then you might as well stick with soft boots in my opinion.

Oh…. and I forgot….no drilling needed. Spark R&D make some great little plates which match the holes already drilled into the board, so you fix them on and then you have the three holes needed for the Dynafit toe pieces. Sweet! And they also sell the toe pieces on their own too, so you don’t have to buy the whole binding or hunt around for second-hand gear. That’s a good find!

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

I’ve decided to get in to splitting and I think I want to go the hard boots option – I’ve already got some Garmont Radiums.

I like the look of your set-up but I don’t get how it works – are you using Voile sliders with the bindings? If so why the Dynafits as well? Also did you have to drill the board at all?

Sorry for the dumb questions but I don’t want to order the wrong stuff.

cheers,
Martin

Thanks for getting in touch and a good question. I don´t actually have any ski crampons for my set up but it´s definitely on the Christmas list!

I´ve been in touch with Spark R&D about that and they recommended a company called B&D to me (http://www.bndskigear.com/).

Supposedly, they do really good crampons for the Dynafit setup. I hope to get my hands on some of those at some stage.

Let me know if you try them out. And give me the link to your site so I can have a look!

Cheers Paul