Some more information about the EGS option:

The Extra Grip System is an option I like on all my personal boards but it's not necessarily recommended for everyone.  The trade off is in the forgiveness of the board.  EGS is recommended for more aggressive riders and for heavier riders, and it's recommended for those who ride a lot of artificial or icy snow where extra grip is an asset.  It's not recommended for lighter weight riders who are more tentative (less aggressive).  So if you're choosing the "stiff" variation you probably want to go with the EGS, but if you're over 60 years old and/or under 160 lbs and/or only an intermediate carver you may not want it.

This is not a decision to stress over, the difference is actually quite subtle and either way the board performance will be exceptional!  On future models we may ramp up the grip but the C4 is designed to be a very forgiving and comfortable board so the extra grip is minimal.

And by the way, "C4" stands for "Carvers Connection Corduroy Cutlass", but that's a mouthful so only "C4" will be embossed on the boards and that's how we'll refer to them.

I'll fill out the form shortly, but it looks like there's not really a place to enter the options we'd like? Or is that automatically determined from the dimensions we enter?

Regarding boot size, are we looking for the "inside" (my foot size) or the "outside" (the boot's length) measurement? (I assume inside, but I just want to double-check)

I intend to ride this board on the hills we have here in Québec, where the runs are mostly narrow, iced-over ribbons of man-made snow. I assume I'll want the softer flex with the EGS? My main struggle with carving steeper terrain on my current board (Knapton Twin) is with speed management, I just end up going too fast as I'm making pretty large half-circles in the snow, especially on heelside. I'd like something that'll give me tighter turns.

Your daughter looks like she knows a lot about snowboards! RIP your son's ski ambitions, though... "Shut up Kevin / Shut up Tyler" would make a good forum catchphrase 🤣 

Posted by: @emilecantin

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it looks like there's not really a place to enter the options we'd like?

Yeah, I should have added that but the form is mostly just so we have everybody's info in one place instead of scrubbing it from the forum.  When you're certain of your decision just reply to the email I sent.  I'd like to have the form filled out first so I have the background info to confirm that it's the right choice.

Posted by: @emilecantin

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Regarding boot size, are we looking for the "inside" (my foot size) or the "outside" (the boot's length) measurement? (I assume inside, but I just want to double-check)

We're looking for your MondoPoint boot size, which is printed on your boot tongue.  It should correspond to the length of your foot in cm, or ideally a little smaller for a performance fit.

Posted by: @emilecantin

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Your daughter looks like she knows a lot about snowboards!

She seems to think so...  When I went to Utah in March she set herself up in my boardroom and started making her own videos.  We're gonna clip something together this summer, it's hilarious!  I hear my own words coming out her mouth, and with such authority!

Posted by: @emilecantin

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RIP your son's ski ambitions, though...

That was Otis, he was just visiting.  That's why he doesn't know the rooster's name.  We were all engaged in a breakfast time nerf gun battle when the boards showed up...

Hello everyone! I just watched the video and filled the forum. I'm 24 years old, pretty agile and getting stronger in the gym. I'm progressing very quickly in the carving game, I don't know if I can call me "advanced" but I can see only one man here in Italy carving better than me in soft boots 😌 . I'm 5'8" x 139lbs and looking for getting a little heavier the next years. I think the best option for me is the medium flex one with EGS. My main doubt and custom request is for the width. Life gave me chicken feet (26cm, performance fitted into 25,5 mondopoint boots), so I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts about my case. I tried 275mm and 282mm waist width boards with +27/+12 angles getting really high on edge and felt amazing without bootout. Calculating the proportion with you, James (292mm waist with a 27cm mondopoint), I'd go between 275 and 280mm waist width. I know it becomes an annoying custom board, but for this thing my budget is not limited. What do you think? Thanks in advance.

@wild-cherry Really looking forwards to your daughter's video, that does sound absolutely hilarious!

Regarding board specs, I think I'm really set on the EGS (I'd prefer a board I can grow into, even if it's a bit harder at first), but I'm still mulling over the flex. I do want something that's easier to manage in terms of speed and I want tighter turn radii as the runs here are narrow and often crowded, but I'm much heavier than you (I'm slightly over 200lbs). Would the soft flex be better or would it be too soft?

@emilecantin from what I understood, go for the medium one. I see you'd be a little heavy on a soft one, you'll grow well and tight into a medium.

Posted by: @iacopo

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Calculating the proportion with you, James (292mm waist with a 27cm mondopoint), I'd go between 275 and 280mm waist width. I know it becomes an annoying custom board, but for this thing my budget is not limited. What do you think? Thanks in advance.

Well...   Though I rode these protos with a 292 waist my preferred waist width is about 300.  I would even go wider if I could but there are limitations because the metal comes 340mm wide, plus, some of versatility of soft boots is lost at a certain point.  As you get better you'll probably want more width too.  Plus, this board is probably faster that what you're riding so you'll want to tip it higher on edge to turn tightly; I can get away with narrower widths on softer boards for example.  Having said that, if your budget is unlimited I'm sure Jasey-Jay will agree to make you a custom board.  Gimme a few days to see how many people feel the board is too wide and I'll email you with some options.

Posted by: @emilecantin

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Regarding board specs, I think I'm really set on the EGS (I'd prefer a board I can grow into, even if it's a bit harder at first), but I'm still mulling over the flex.

I'm inclined to push you to the medium flex @emilecantin.  You would definitely enjoy the tighter turns of the soft flex but since you wrote that you want a board that you can grow into, go for the medium.  If I were 205lbs, I would get bored very fast on the soft flex and be craving more speed and more g-force right away.  Considering your weight and skill level I suspect the medium would turn about as tightly for you as the soft does for me, and I love the soft protos. 

Either board will work for you, whatever you choose you won't be disappointed.  But it's not realistic to expect the same board to perform perfectly right out of the box and still be exciting after you develop your skills over the next season or two.  So it's probably going to be a little challenging in December 2024 or a little boring in February 2026. 

I'm always pushing the quiver mentality, so it wouldn't be a terrible idea to get the soft one now and then get a faster board that carves a thinner line in a year or two when you're ready for it.  That way you have a board for slow speed riding in marginal conditions on busy days, and another for weekday riding in better conditions in Vermont, for example.  The mid flex will do it all, but you'll be compromising a little bit at both ends.  What I'm saying is, if you want one board to last you two or more seasons get the medium, but if you intend to build a quiver then start with the soft and then the slow end of the spectrum is taken care of.

That probably doesn't make your choice any easier, sorry.  It's an individual preference.  Unfortunately, even though we've done lots of testing, your feedback and that of the other 29 owners will be very useful in making better recommendations for the next batch.

Also, just to complicate things, there is a break in period for these boards.  So they'll be stiffer on day one than on day ten, but after that they'll be quite stable for a long time.

I have been on Knapton twins for the last 5 seasons. Starting on a 28cm and working up to a 32cm waist and 12M Sidecut.  Last 2 seasons have been on the 32cm board.  I have a 29 mondo boot size.  5ft 11 200 lbs. Riding extremely aggressive.  I finally took the leap and switched from duck to 27 15 end of this season and transitioned fairly easily.  I feel like the EGS and a stiff board would suit me. Not sure where I get boot out in that stance.  Definitely not concerned about the width.  I'd take a wider one as well but I got big feet.  Rather not see it go under the 29 cm waist 

New snowboarder here, just ended my third season snowboarding and my 2nd season carving. Got really good at high inclination nipple rubbing turns last season on toe side. This season was able to do high inclination but dragging turns (need to tuck in my butt more my inside hips eventually hurts when I spontaneously drop to the snow...) on heel side on blue runs. Unfortunately, I don't have any groomed black runs to practice carving on steeper terrain so I'll probably stick to carving the blues here. I'm about 205lbs, 177cm, with a 26 mondo footprint. Was thinking of getting either the medium or stiff flexing c4 with the EGS as my home mountain Snoqualmie can get a lot of re freeze cycles. My current board for carving is the stranda cheater 170w. Sometimes I ride the 154 biru both with posi posi angles +30/+9 thru +15 depending on mood. Might be leaning towards the medium flex as 292WW seems massive for me and my footprint.

Posted by: @wild-cherry

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What I'm saying is, if you want one board to last you two or more seasons get the medium, but if you intend to build a quiver then start with the soft and then the slow end of the spectrum is taken care of.

That probably doesn't make your choice any easier, sorry.

Actually, I think it does. I am planning on building a quiver of sorts, but it'll be relatively limited in terms of budget and "wife acceptance factor" if you catch my drift. I'd like to end up with one carving board, one splitboard and one freeride-oriented board (I've started competing in freeride competitions). The Donek might become my park board (it's a twin, after all), but I'll need to detune the edges, because right now it's catchy as hell on rails. I'm getting old for park, though...

So yeah, given all this, I'm only planning on getting ONE carving board, so I'm leaning more towards the medium.

Posted by: @wild-cherry

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Gimme a few days to see how many people feel the board is too wide

Funnily enough, my concern isn't about the width (I currently ride a 286mm), but the length: my current board is a 157. Going +9 on overall length and almost +13 on effective edge is probably going to help on edge hold, but yeah, that seems like a lot of board.

Just to give people another perspective... I’m 172cm, 165lbs, size 8 boot (though my mondo is actually only 255; outer boot length is 287).  I’d say I’m a somewhat advanced rider.  I was very apprehensive about the width.  I tried two prototypes in suboptimal conditions (ice softening to slush).

#1 was the softer flex w/o EGS… I could certainly take it in this width, but I’d worry that I’d outgrow it.

#2 was medium with EGS… which seemed like too much board for me in those conditions.  It had a lot more torsional rigidity.  I think a 282 waist would put my shell right at the edge and probably be good.

But I’d probably take the 292 width in the softer flex, but with the EGS.

As another point of reference, my Stranda Shorty 164 has much softer tips than either, with a centre flex that’s probably somewhere between the two. I hear the Cheater is stiffer.

Or maybe I’d take the medium without EGS? 😂 

(I probably wouldn’t muck with the width)

I’m an intermediate carver whose daily driver is a Donek Saber 158 with a 30cm waist. I’m 5’10” and 177lbs. Mondo 29 feet. I am wondering if I can pay extra to max out the width beyond the 292. I’m thinking mid flex with EGS.

@parkcityguy with the shovel limited to 34cm, I’m guessing you’d be looking at a custom build with a larger SCR (16m?) to get a 30 waist.