FBTW Blog Post 1 – Snowboarding - Arc 1
- b1on1cdave
- Mar 29
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 29
Winter of 23’ – 24’ I got back into snowboarding and finally picked up a new snowboard, boots and bindings. Ending up with Rossignol Jibsaw board, Ride Lasso Boots, and Ride A-10 (2023) bindings. I decided to see a professional to purchase my boots. I made the trip to Bobs Sports Chalet of Bristol, CT - with the intent to buy, and luckily, I was assisted by an experienced salesman.
After a quick wait I got paired with a younger salesman, and I described my ideal boot as wide . He took one look at my feet and said “Looks like you have a bunion on your right foot” – perfectly on point! He then went on to recommend the widest few boots they had available in my size, one of which was Ride Lasso. These felt the best, and I was quickly on my way to the register to part with my hard-earned cash.
To purchase my boots, I did not wear my toes spacers. Snowboard boots must be broken in, and I don’t think I even attempted to wear them snowboarding the first year. As I was just getting back into snowboarding, I only went locally (Connecticut) about three times. Also adding another three big mountain trips in northern New England (23’ – 24’ season).
Second season with the new gear was winter of 24’ – 25’, I only went riding in CT once. Two trips up to Mt. Stowe in Stowe, VT - added four big mountain appearances that season. Throughout this season I was riding with my toe spacers on and off, sometimes only using the left spacer. This is due to my right foot having what I would describe as a moderate bunion, while I only have a minimal bunion on the left. This makes it much easier to wear the toes spacers on the left foot, over the right foot. This was the same pattern as my 2016 backpacking trip, where it was harder (more susceptible to irritation and pain) to hike with the right toe spacer.
The third “new gear” season of 25’ – 26’ has concluded a bit early and I’m done for the season. I only went 3 times this season, all to Mt. Snow in Dover, VT. However, this season was a huge success - my feet felt strong. I had minimal irritation and wore my toe spacers on both feet every run! My boots were well broken in. This took a full two seasons for me, because I didn’t get on the mountain more than six times each season. By the third season I felt confident and comfortable starting with toes spacers the very first trip. When first putting on my boots, I even recall having to take my right boot off, resetting and “booting up” again. I remember usually being a little uncomfortable starting the day. As the day went on, my feet would gain more comfort until I wasn’t thinking about how my feet felt.
After my final trip this season, I noticed my boots were showing a bit of ware on the outside. This is probably sped up by my super stiff bindings, but hopefully I’ll get a lot more use out of them. With a little more planning I’ll get out on the mountain more than this year. Ideally with even more strength and comfort. Now onto hiking and skateboarding season, maybe with a little bit of trail running sprinkled in!
Special thanks to my friend Matt, for sharing his helmet cam footage of me. At 0:06 I'm pictured left side, and Matt is pictured right side.
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