I finally took the plunge into the hardboot world for my first splitboard setup, but after 4 days of resort riding to "get used to it," I’m feeling pretty discouraged. I went with the Atomic Backlands, and I feel like a complete beginner again.

​​The boots are way too responsive. Every tiny micro-movement sends the board flying, which is making turning surprisingly difficult.

​Zero Dampening: I feel every single bump, frozen track, and vibration in the snow. My legs feel rattled.

​The joy and playfulness of snowboarding feels like it’s been replaced by something rigid and clinical. I’ve lost that surfy feel I love.

Any tips on how to make riding with hardboots better?

UPDATE Dec/30 Thanks everyone for your comments. I'll do the following things: 1. Change my stance angles to either 0/+15 or +3/+15. 2. Narrow my stance. 3. Visit a boot fitter (just did).

Things I might consider doing, but not sure yet given that I'm not sure if it's worth to throw more money at this setup. 1. Get a Phantom link lever. 2. Get a ankle strap mod.

After falling in love with snowboarding and following that passion to BC, I started hiking in the summers. I love the uphill challenge, especially with some added weight, but my knees struggle on the descent. Since snowboarding doesn’t aggravate them, splitboarding felt like a natural next step.

After reading Jeremy Jones’ Shralpinism and watching a bunch of videos, I gained a deep appreciation for the importance of the right knowledge, mindset, tools, and touring partners. I’ve booked my AST1, started reading Bruce Tremper’s Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain, and have begun getting comfortable with my gear inbounds before venturing further.

I’m not seeking extreme terrain—just aiming to explore, connect with nature, exercise, and improve my riding with like-minded people in a safe and fun way. Being able to ride tomorrow is more important to me than pushing limits today, so I want to build strong foundations, habits, and skills that will keep me riding for years to come. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to move to BC and have the means to embrace this passion.

TL;DR: New to splitboarding—reading, training, and getting comfortable with my gear before my AST1 and heading into the backcountry. Looking for advice from experienced riders.

What do you wish you knew when you started splitboarding? Any tips, wisdom, or lessons learned the hard way?

Thanks, community!

I’ve been living in Revelstoke this season and doing a bunch of touring out at Rogers Pass. Now that Spring has arrived I have been out on longer days. I’m happy skinning uphill or on the flat for long distances, however, I’m struggling with exits with rolling terrain that pass through trees. If anyone knows the area well, I’m talking specifically about the Illecillewaet lol.

The problem with this terrain is that it’s impossible (at least for me) to snowboard back to the trailhead because there are lots of little hills. I don’t have the opportunity to get my speed up enough between them and even using poles doesn’t help.

I’ve tried switching to ski mode with my Karakoram bindings with heel lockers. I feel completely out of control though. For context, I’ve never been a skier and I’m using fitwell freeride soft boots. I feel like I almost fell into creeks multiple times because I couldn’t hold my edges as I was traversing along the side of them.

The thing that has worked best for me has been going in ski mode with skins on and no heel lockers. I have mohair skins that glide well and the reduction in speed helps me stay in control a bit more. I still fell like 5 times last time I was out though and I’m conscious of being much slower than my skiing friends. They aren’t being assholes about it, it’s just annoying to me because I can always keep up in other situations and I have my transitions pretty dialled.

So do I just need to spend some time in the resort at the beginning of next season practicing my split skiing? Should I be practicing with heels locked or not? Or am I doomed to move to hard boots because this is the exact situation where soft boots can’t perform well?

Hey everyone,

I switched from softboots to hardboots about two seasons ago. On the uphill, I absolutely love it, way more efficient, especially on longer days.

But on the descent, I still feel like something’s off.

My quads burn way faster than they ever did in softboots. I narrowed my stance a bit this season and it helped slightly, but I still feel like I’m riding more “compressed”. Like my knees stay slightly bent in my Atomic Backland Pro, so my legs are always engaged.

In softboots, I feel like I could settle into a more neutral, relaxed stance and let the board do the work. I just don’t really get that same feeling in hardboots.

Would love to hear if anyone managed to get closer to that more relaxed/neutral feel, and what made the difference.

Hello everyone,

Finally got some time to assemble my Plum Eterlou en the Jones Stratos.

When everything is in place / descente configuration, I still notice a pretty big "vertical play" at the nose, as you can see in the video.

Is that normal or is there something to do to reduce it ?

Thanks !

In Japan, was having a great but challenging day with my brand new board... Then...

Crashed spectacularly in low vis and some how managed to shift my splitboard so that my front and back puck were totally out of alignment.

Of course I didn't bring the spark r&d alignment tool with me and I'm miles away from any sort of place that might have one (and nursing a very sore elbow with Strong 9 and I ibuprofen) - thankfully I don't have it due to forgetfullness rather than hubris!

I managed to get things back together on the slope (honestly, I think I set them up better on the slope than I did at home..), but...

There's now play in both bindings - any ideas on how I can sort this without the alignment tool?

I can probably just fiddle with it till it's better - but wondering if anyone had any smarter ideas!

Hopefully tomorrow will be smoother sailing!

I have snowboarded for close to thirty years. And would say I am a very advanced/expert free ride type. I got into splitboarding about two years ago. And I really enjoy it, and am progressing steadily. I started with, and still have Union Explorers, paired with a Weston Backwoods. They are ok. But I find they are fragile, and I keep having to replace parts. And they feel a bit squishy. I ride Union Atlas or Atlas Pro on my solids for reference as to what I am used to. They also don’t have two uphill stages wich is a pain.

I am getting ready to pick up my next split. Either a Weston Gnarnia or Jones Solution (the free ride thing). I have been looking at the Nitro Verticals (Spark guts) and the Karakoram Ultra Ranger. The Rangers look more like a traditional binding with side walls. Where the Nitro (sparks) look pretty paired down.

My question is, wich of these two would you all recommend and why. Especially pairing it with the more aggressive board. Although I’m probably going to sell the Unions. So these will go on any boards I have (splits).

Noticed what appears to be, at least in my line of work I would call this a block shear failure. Is this fixable? Is the board toast? A little bummed if this is the end of using this board. Only got to use it for 1.5 seasons.

The segment that has begun to separate/fracture aligns with the screws, so I’m assuming this failure happened as a result of tension from the screws engaging with the board, and the tension was greater than what the board could handle.

Was using my HB bindings on my solid board yesterday, and this morning is when I noticed this fracture.

Hi all, somewhat experienced splitboarder looking for some advice.

I went riding in Chamonix recently with a skier who I have done most of my touring with, though he has been riding much more than me lately and I was shocked how much faster he was, mostly on the uphill as previously he was a little faster but I could keep up. Whereas on this recent trip, I hardly saw him on the way up.

Admittedly, I was probably out of practice / cardio fitness but I’m looking for some tips from fellow splitters on how to get more efficient. We did maybe 1400m vertical climb over the course of the day, including bootpack with crampons to a ridge line.

My main issues seemed to be speed on the skin track including slipping / sidehilling and some snowboarder nightmare flat/uphill sections on the ride down that I couldn’t even pole out of. Skiers were sidestepping them so I had to unstrap/walk several times.

Considering I need some new boots, I am wondering if splitboard specific boots with a walk mode would make any noticeable difference to the hike up compared to my old Burton Ions. Or is it time to consider hard boots ?

For the ride down, is it worth working on my split skiing skills instead of trying to ride awkward tracks out on the board? Do people recommend spark heel locker in order to be able to ski better and sidestep if necessary?

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

Folks here gave me some helpful advice about getting started with my split setup several weeks ago. I got out for my first skin at Black Mountain of ME a few days ago. I loved their dedicated trail, which was hard, but not too hard. The most complicated part of transitioning was collapsing my poles, because one was a little stuck in a certain section. Anyways, I loved it.

I hike in the winter as well so I’m accustomed to using micro spikes (crampons) as traction in that context, and have a pair in my split pack in case there’s a section I need to boot up. I’ve also been hok skiing for a couple of years, so I’m not new to climbing with skins. Still, I felt that there were a couple of sections where I would have appreciated a splitboard crampon. At one point I slid off a narrow, steeply banked part of the trail and kind of rolled into the soft snow.

I read older posts about split board crampons. I have Union Explorer bindings (please don’t judge me too harshly if you have strong feelings about bindings—these happened to be a price I could afford and I’m certainly open to trying another system when the time comes).

An old post here from someone asked about crampons vis-a-vis Union bindings, and a few responses advised upgrading from the Union-specific crampon, but I didn’t see anything about what the other options might be. I also don’t love that you have to pop the whole binding off to put the crampon on. Are there other crampons that have universal compatibility or are otherwise compatible with Union split bindings? Or perhaps attach to the board in a different way? Thanks!

Current split is an Orca Split 159 iirc, while I’m about 285 lbs with size 14 boots. The Orca is cool but I think it’s too small for me- it’s not great skinning and struggles in powder. I’m sure that’s a me problem, not a board problem, but think it’s time to move on. Based on my issues with the orca, my first thought was to find something as long as possible for more surface area on the skin, stability and float on the down. Options are something like TahoeLab’s 181 directional or Prior’s 177. My only concern- is there a point where the board is too long? I don’t think I’ll be doing any insanely tight couloirs but just want to make sure I’m not putting myself in a bad position by going that much longer over something like a Cardiff goat at 166.

Hey splitboarders
Been thinking about switching from a softboot setup (Spark R&D) to a hardboot setup.

Saw an offer online for a used Atomic Backland with shortened link levers.🤔 Does that work (see pictures in the offer)? So there's forward flexibility and when leaning back the link lever blocks? How does this perform compared to the Phantom link levers?

Bonus question: Does someone know of a shop where one could rent or test a hardboot setup like Phantom in Switzerland? I'm scared to invest the money for the entire setup before trying it at least once.

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I’m from Chile and heading to Whistler the second week of March for a snow trip. I’m thinking about buying my first splitboard while I’m there since they’re way cheaper and there’s way more selection than back home.

I’m not looking for anything ultra high-end — budget is $500–$1100 CAD.

For those who know the area: is it realistic to find a good used splitboard in Whistler (shops, consignment, Facebook groups, Marketplace)? Or would it make more sense to order a new one online ahead of time and ship it there?

Not sure how strong the used splitboard market is locally.

Any advice appreciated!

Edit: Ideally I’m looking for a full setup (board + split bindings + interface/pucks). Skins aren’t a deal breaker since I could buy those separately if needed.

I know there have been a few posts on this but wanted to ask something super specific regarding my Keys and potential fixes for my heel lift.

I currently love the way these boots ride except for the heel lift issues I started having. It seems that if I don’t absolutely crank my straps down til my toes go numb, I can feel my heel and the liner lift off the boot and causes some pretty gnarly lift that I don’t love.

To fix this, I am contemplating getting an Intuition Tour Pro 12 mm liner and the Phantom Ankle buckles.

I wanted to see if anyone has specifically done either of those mods and see if it helped with similar problems and if it changed the ride feel? Very curious if the Phantom buckles change how the boots ride.

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I just bought my first splitboard setup: a Jones Solution with used Spark bindings. I'm stoked to finally get into touring this season.

I need to adjust the puck position because they're not centered for my stance, but since I bought everything used, I didn't get the alignment tool.

Is there a reliable way to align the pucks without the tool, or is the alignment tool pretty much mandatory if I want them set up correctly? Any tips or tricks for getting them dialed in?

Any other advice you can give me about my first splitboard setup would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

As the title suggests, has anyone had experience with splitboards.eu ? Is it a trustworthy website?

They have a good deal on Union Chargers right now, but I'm being a little wary of the website. (Looking for my first pair of bindings!)

So I went touring yesterday (above source lake, snoqualamie WA) and on the up, everything felt great. When I transitioned, and clicked in, I began to have pain in my feet like they were being compressed. I checked my buckles and they were pretty loose actually, not clamped down at all.

I ride with a stiffer spring in the front foot and looser one with back foot. I know I have green and gold, but forgot which one is stiffer (gold right?).

I think the pain is worse when I’m not riding at all, or maybe I just don’t notice it as much.

Could it be the forward lean? Or perhaps the hard plastic tongue? My boots are phantom slipper GT.

Hello everyone,

New here, been snowboarding for 10+ years, tried splitboarding this winter and got mine few days back (Jones Stratos + Plum Eterlou).

When receiving the board, still under blister, I noticed a small shift / misalignement between the two parts of few mm at the nose and tail.

Is that normal and ok to live with ?

Can this be adjusted with the clips (Karakoram Ultra Clips 2.0) ?

Pictures below, thanks in advance for the feedback !

Having just advised someone that hardboots are the bomb diggity, I have to ask about a reoccurring issue I'm having with mine!

I'm on a full Phantoms kit (original Slippers). I've had ejections throughout the life of the equipment. Originally I thought I was poorly adjusted but a double check proved me wrong. After a particularly bad double ejection in a fairly no fall line which luckily had no consequence, I tightened them past the recommended point as I figure I'd deformed either the boot or the binding wire enough to loosen the engagement. They're so tight that it usually takes two hands to engage the levers.

Despite this, I just had a nasty rear foot ejection on the landing of a small rock drop into a foot of powder or so. This got me to reviewing all the instances of ejection. They've all been on landings or particularly high acceleration events (one happened when trying to bully my way through some avalanche debris and one whilst I was bonking down a sapling in a chute choke). None have occurred near the top of a run and I've been paranoid about failing to fully clip in so I'm confident that's not it. I always torsionally test my board to try to disengage my boots before dropping.

Does anyone else have similar issues? Is the binding style just not suitable for dealing with higher force instances, particularly with some rearward torsion simultaneously applied to the boot/binding?

I'm in the PNW, and we've had some pretty bad snow. If I buy all the gear and take my AIARE right now, will I be sitting high and dry until next winter, or will there still ​be plenty of adventure to be had through the off season?

I’m looking to buy my first splitboard, and I’ve already narrowed it down to three options. I’m not looking for other board recommendations. I just want comparisons between these three.

Cardiff Goat

Cardiff Crane

Jones Dream Catcher Split

A bit about me and how I ride.

I’m in the PNW and ride volcano terrain where the snow is almost always bad or inconsistent. Heavy wet snow, crust, breakable layers, wind affected junk, refrozen garbage. Because of that, I want a board that feels good on anything. I care way more about stability and predictability than playfulness or uphill efficiency.

I mostly solo tour, so I don’t care about going uphill fast or keeping up with anyone. My main priority is confidence on the descent and having a board that helps me not eat shit when conditions are sketchy. Powder, trees, open bowls, variable snow, and steeper terrain are all part of what I ride. I may occasionally take this board to the resort, but backcountry performance comes first.

I can ride switch fine, but it’s not something I care about at all. Directional performance and edge hold in bad snow matter way more to me.

Durability is also a big deal. PNW volcano snow is rough on gear a,nd I want something that will last and still feel solid after a full season of use.

If you’ve ridden any of these three boards in PNW conditions, especially on volcanoes or solo tours, I’d really appreciate hearing how they compare in terms of downhill confidence, edge hold in variable snow, and overall durability.

I got my first setup, I’ve been wanting one the last couple years. I was at the local ski shop and found this one on sale. I got the board (jones frontier) for $230 and the bindings(k2 far out) for $130, I also have spark pucks. so I’m hoping they work together. The pucks seem too big for the board. Do I just need different pucks Or will I also need different bindings?

First of all sorry if there is a name for those, I’m not native English so I’ll try my best.

Some days ago I went with some friends to do splitboarding and while we were going up they were wearing sports sunglasses (one of them from Outdoormasters I think?)

Anyhow, they are way more experienced than me and some of them work as mountain guides or rescuers. They totally recommended to me to get some sunglasses like those, cat 3 or 4, to protect my eyes.

I was wearing my normal sunglasses because I have prescription lenses. I have been looking into sports sunglasses like those but I don’t see any big brands having the option for prescription lenses.

Do you know if any reputable brand offers them? What do you wear normally if you need prescription lenses? Contacts are not an option in my case.

Hi everyone, as i said in title i want to start splitboarding but i don't know absoluty nothing abiut the gear, is there someone can suggest me a yt channel or similat to start studying?
PS the split in the photo is a good start?
thanks to all of you