Landed a spontaneous trip to CO Rockies...advice needed

[spanyard]

... the week of 12/19 with a buddy and his family, and I was looking for some advice as for what gear to bring. 1 day at Beaver Creek, 2 days at Sunlight, with forecasted conditions normal for Dec. with some snow possibility. If it were up to me, I'd go to Copper, Loveland or A-Basin, but passes, lodging, food, transportation are free, so can't complain.

This will be my first trip out west in nearly 20 years. Back then I thought I had honed in all the right gear for bringing to the real mountains. But with all the upgrade in tech in past 20 yrs and in personal learning experiences, I really want to take advantage of bringing the right stuff this time around. Was wondering what you all think I should bring out there for an optimal experience.

Because of vehicle space, I can bring one board bag with 2 boards, 2 binding sets, and a pair of boots. 99% sure I'm bringing my Acerras over some other softer adi models I use. Now for the hardware part; here's what I have as setups currently, but (with exception of ESTs) I can mix and match a bunch of ways.

-159 pencil/o-drives
-158 FT leaderboard/drives (thanks again @kimchi)
-156 wide basic RDM uninc/cartel reflex
-156 endeavor clout/genesis EST
-155 Salomon taka x wolle (spec'd as a pow stick but love it on piste too)
-malavitas EST

My riding nowadays is just good ol fashioned fun turnies, pow hunting, and side hitting. 175 lbs+ w/ gear/5'5"/size 8/mondo 26.

Any opinions? I appreciate any input.

[eleveneightnate]

We’ve been getting great early season snow and Beaver Creek has awesome tree runs/glades, so bring your favorite board for that type of riding. It’s still low tide in some spots, so I’d also bring something you don’t mind getting dinged up just incase.

Btw, lots of variable light the past few weekends, so bring a couple good lenses. Copper last weekend had me wishing I brought my chromapop storm after using my sun blackout all day.

Have fun, dude!

[coleslawed]

Clout/Pencil is my vote

[kimchi]

-158 FT leaderboard/drives (thanks again @kimchi)

You're welcome! Hope you're enjoying them. Had forgotten I sold them to you, everything has faded away into the fog of new parenthood lol.

Boards, my vote would be Leaderboard and Pencil. Leaderboard is non-negotiable in my eyes. If you ride in the Midwest and haven't traveled West in 20+ years, you've never had a chance to let that pony run in a bigger mountain environment.

Bindings, Drives and Cartels... maaaaybe the O-Drives over Cartels but I don't like super stiff bindings (perhaps if matched with a Leaderboard-type deck).

Leave anything EST at home unless you opt for an all channel quiver with Leaderboard and Clout. Limits optionality in case you want to change things up and redundancy in case something breaks. Shattering up heelcups might be a very me-specific concern, but I've done it twice-- and catastrophically broken 2 other bindings --so always in the back of my mind lol.


I honestly would probably just sneak in a third board haha. The incremental space / weight is marginal, and you can make the 50 lb cutoff if you pack smart.

Boots in carry-on! Everything else you can rent and get by in the worst case scenario and airline's on the hook to reimburse it. You do not want to get stuck with rental boots on a rare shred trip (ask me how I know). FWIW I always carry-on stuff I wouldn't want to rent... boots, base layers, outerwear, goggles, helmet, gloves. Bindings if I have space since sourcing performance binding demos can be hit or miss (although I imagine you'll be fine in the Front Range).

[spanyard]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I definitely want to bring a slightly longer board, and something slightly shorter and more playful for playing around trees, natural hits, and powder stashes. For that I was thinking the RDM and/or Salomon taka.

My concern is if I bring my pencil or leaderboard that they will be a little bit too much board for not have ridden a big real mtn, if you know what I'm saying. The first day after a day of acclamation will be Beaver Creek, so it will be the best of all 3 days on there since Sunlight can't compare to it from what I've heard...

And I'm wondering if I should ride a big board that one day at Beaver Creek or go for something more playful and let me drive it with my skill set, not the other way around.

I might try to sneak a 3rd board in the bag. FYI my buddy is driving my gear out there, so I'd be hiding it from him lol.

[eleveneightnate]

And I'm wondering if I should ride a big board that one day at Beaver Creek or go for something more playful and let me drive it with my skill set, not the other way around.

Take something playful and nimble, it's Beaver Creek not Alaska haha. I'm telling ya, it's all about the glades:

https://skimap.org/data/497/2200/1635286154.pdf

[coleslawed]

I def overthought/packed for my first big trip out west. brought four boards to Montana the first time. did manage to ride 3 of them (& would have gotten on the fourth if we didn’t get blown off the mountain the last day), but for round two I only brought a big gun (Annex 162) and a pow stick (Storm Chaser 157) and ended up only riding the Annex. I might have pulled out the Storm Chaser on the last day where we were getting free refills, but it was already unmounted & in the board bag for the drive home after.

all that to say, you’ll probably have fun no matter what you choose. but I’d go with whatever you’re most comfortable on that will also fit the terrain. if you’ve ridden the Leaderboard or Pencil at Afton and liked them enough, they’ll be able to open up that much more on some bigger terrain. then throw in a shorter guy that can handle freshies & trees and you’re set.

[kimchi]

And I'm wondering if I should ride a big board that one day at Beaver Creek or go for something more playful and let me drive it with my skill set, not the other way around.

Take something playful and nimble, it's Beaver Creek not Alaska haha. I'm telling ya, it's all about the glades:

I'd probably just listen to the Colorado local here lol. I haven't made my way out to Beaver Creek, but Front Range terrain tends to be pretty mellow in my experience (with the purported exception of A-Basin, which I still haven't visited). But Colorado mellow is still Minnesota triple x-treme lol.

[eleveneightnate]

I'd probably just listen to the Colorado local here lol. I haven't made my way out to Beaver Creek, but Front Range terrain tends to be pretty mellow in my experience (with the purported exception of A-Basin, which I still haven't visited). But Colorado mellow is still Minnesota triple x-treme lol.

For sure. Beaver Creek is all about low-angle pow runs through aspen groves. It's like the Japan of Colorado haha.

Side note to @spanyard: if you get down to the bottom of the main lift (Centennial I think) at 3, they dish out homemade chocolate chip cookies for free every day.

[ad1105]

I’d vote for Pencil/RDM Basic.