Category: snowboarding

Deeluxe Areth Rin Snowboard boot review

This is a review on the Deeluxe Areth Rin snowboard boot. Over the last few years I’ve tried on a lot of snowboard boots. Over the last 4 seasons I rode the Thirtytwo TM-3 and the Ride Fuse  putting in around 200 days per boot.

I am going to talk about those other boots at first and compare them a bit before getting into the Areth Rin. You’ll find a bunch of pictures and a video on the Areth towards the end of this article.

Deeluxe Areth Rin snowboard boot

But all those days on those boots weren’t comfortable days. Lots of pain and discomfort. Lots of modifications and with each of those boots and I bought different sizes. With the TM-3 I got the 9’s at first they loosened up and then I got the 8.5’s.

With the Fuse’s I bought an 8.5 first and they were too big so I sent those back and got the 8’s and rode those for a while and then decided they were too big and got the 7.5’s which were better volume fitting but ultimately too short on my left foot.

Whatever boots you get know they will loosen up

After a couple of days or a week or more they will loosen up so whatever they feel like on day one won’t be how they feel on day 20, 30, 50, etc.

So the natural inclination is to buy them too big since they only expand after you get them, but you can buy them too small too. Or sometimes they are right on one foot or in some areas but not in the other.

I was tired of pain so last season 2025 I went out shopping again for boots tried on a bunch and found the Deeluxe Areth Rin to be the most comfortable.

But it’s always a challenge for me since I have skinny ankles and two different sized feet and one is more flat than the other.

This boot has been sitting in a box though…

The Ride Fuse is a relatively low volume boot. And I would say that is true of Ride/K2 boots (owned by same company) in general and probably Salomon too.

Thirtytwo boots are not usually low volume. Although the new Grenier boot looks lower volume. But the TM-3’s I had were a heavy duty boot and same with the popular TM-2’s.

Are Deeluxe boots low volume?

No, I would not say these are low volume. They are kind of bulky and that’s why I haven’t taken these out on the snow. Despite being more comfortable wearing around the house they are relatively bulky so my fear is after I wear these for a week or so then they will loosen up a bunch and then I will have to fill that space with another insole and patches of foam here in there.

Deeluxe boots in the box

Why did I buy the boot?

It’s a lace hybrid boot with a BOA. Which is what I like and it was comfortable. I like the simple look too. I think it’s a nice looking boot too. It’s quite a bit softer of a boot compared to the Ride Fuse which is rated an 8 in flex. The Areth Rin is rated a 3 I think which sounds way too soft but it you can get a tongue stiffener to raise that 2-3 points which sounded good.

The liner is a little flimsy looking. I kinda didn’t like the straight back of it or the shell. The Ride Fuse liner/shell is better molded and I liked the look of the wrap liner at first, but it added pressure points and little bruises on the top of my shins. It didn’t really flex naturally so I wouldn’t use that type of liner again.

So am I going to take these Deeluxe boots out of the box? IDK. I might so leave a comment if you’re interested and I can give you an update.

I put them on Ebay if you are interested they are a size 8.

Deeluxe Areth Rin back – note the straight back
Deeluxe Areth power straps w/ cushy looking liners
Street skate style soles which are probably good for board feel and they are rubber which is good, but not a lot of tread if you are hiking around
Deeluxe Areth inside view with power strap
Deeluxe Areth side view with the BOA

Deeluxe says:

Whether it’s a crisp method, a fresh pow slash, or a creative line through the trees, the best riding comes from the soul. United by this belief, DEELUXE and AREth have teamed up to create the
AREth Rin. Armed with a classic appearance, it pairs clean design with rich materials and sophisticated technology.

And thanks to its ability to ride any terrain, it’s Kazu Kokubo’s boot of choice. Combining the best of both worlds, its traditional laces offer a timeless look and familiar feel while the boot’s BOA® Fit System allows you to quickly and effortlessly secure your ankle and heel. A rugged leather patch in the ankle zone enhances comfort and durability while further securing your foot.

The boot’s Stage 3 liner provides a truly custom fit while its Skate Flex sole offers unsurpassed boardfeel. Inspired by the boot’s refined design and impressive performance, Japan’s Freerun magazine recently honored the AREth Rin as one of the top picks in the freeride category of its Best Gear Awards. If your riding comes from within, consider the AREth Rin your soulmate.

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Bent Metal Axtion Binding Review

This will be a review of the Bent Metal Axtion snowboard binding review. I rode this in the 2024/2025 season on a Lib Tech TRS. These bindings are made by Bent Metal which is owned by Mervin manufacturing the maker of Gnu and Lib Tech snowboards.

These are a simple functional binding. I had virtually no problems with this binding except for a while one of the toe strap ratchets was funky sometimes it would get stuck when I would try to loosen it, however I mentioned this to Mervin and they sent me a replacement pair which I never ended up using. The problem went away or I just dealt with it.

Compared to the Union Force bindings which I previously had the Axtion have a smaller (more narrow) foot plate which was better. Both the Strata and Force had empty space on the side of the boot more so near the toes. The Force had a toe strap that would slip off sometimes for whatever reason.

I had the medium sized Axtion bindings and medium sized Force bindings but the Force had more empty space on the sides of the boot when I was in the binding. I had sized down all the way to a 7.5 Ride Fuse boot and previously was on 8.5 Thirtytwo Tm-3 boots so in theory I could have ridden small sized bindings, but…

Before buying the Axtion I bought the Transfer in a small and I never rode them. But my size 7.5 looked doable but on the edge of being too big for the small binding so I returned them. If I remember right size 6-8 is a small binding and 8-10 is medium and 10+ is large.

What I liked about the Aktion…

No tool forward lean adjuster

They just worked. I liked the color of the orange black binding kinda like the old Strata’s. I liked the highback shape. I like the forward lean adjuster that you can do without a tool. Although I never experimented with a different flexing drive plate I like how you can pop them on and off easy.

Drive plate and base plate

The base plate of the Axtion looks better than the old Force ones I had. The Axtion has some kind of rubbery material below the plastic between the bidning and board and the plastic has holes in it probably to reduce weight. The Force had neither. The Force was just plastic on the board which would leave marks when you took them off.

I liked the heel straps on the binding as they seemed more form fitting than my previous ones. They seemed comfortable enough.

And I also like Mervin.

What I didn’t like about the Axtion…

Not much… pretty happy with them but if I was to nit pick I think they could use some stainless steel fasteners on the straps. I believe the ones they use are cheaper looking zinc coated ones. Mine have not rusted, but if those are zinc then they will rust eventually.

And one of the straps on my toes get’s kinda stuck sometimes. Either I got used to it or that problem went away can’t remember.

But overall they were good and I would ride them again. I am also curious about the Transfer too.

Check out the Bent Metal Axtion binding on Evo.com.

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Backwoods boarding 2025

Here’s a little video of some backwoods boarding in NH mostly in February and early March 2025. We got more snow than normal and actually got enough about a foot or so settled to finally ride some slopes by my parents house that I always wanted to.

So the east coast was doing pretty good till mid February then it didn’t do much for a while and then came the March meltdown.

Like if you look at the current thumbnail of the video below you’ll see a treed slope that I cleared a bit to ride and I was pretty much thinking it would never snow enough to cover all the rocks on that slope. It’s mostly beech trees and lots of rocks.

I hit a few little ones on the bottom of that run at 00:34. Rocks buried under snow can be a problem because if you hit one it can throw you off balance and if there are trees around then that’s no good.

I fractured my arm a long time ago doing backwoods boarding like that. I hit a sharp rock hidden under the snow. It pitched me off balance and I was near a pile of stumps and brush and it was either go into the hawthorne tree and rubble or do a hand plant to stop so I put my arm down and then kapow it was fractured at my wrist and elbow. Wore a cast for a long time and that elbow still bugs me sometimes.

We also say in judo and bjj “an extended arm is a broken arm”. It’s true in snowboarding too. Don’t fall on an extended arm.

Try to know what’s under the snow. Know there are things under the snow and be light on your feet and don’t edge too hard if you know there are rocks under there.

There’s another clip of that beeches run at 2:03.

I finally got to jump off the ledge.

See the ledge jump at 00:45.

I always wanted to do this, so if you look at the pic above you can see the back of this ledge which is shaped like a near perfect takeoff and I didn’t have to do any work on it except pack the pow down with snowshoes. Then there’s a little gap and then another ledge to the driveway.

I knew if we got the snow you could build a landing since the snow gets plowed near there. So I did a bit. It was a little short and steep though. Too much speed and you land flat in the driveway. Too little and you land flat in the gap.

The run in was a little sketchy too as there are stumps and bushes but I snowshoed a run in and we gave it go. I didn’t die and got the speed about right on the 2nd try.

Logs are fun

Logs and wood features are like so underused in terrain parks. If you ask me terrain parks nowadays are so cookie cutter and almost every ski area has their boxes and rails, mimicking urban skateparks. I’ve been working in terrain parks for the last 4 years and sometimes I hit those boxes and rails, but they’re not my thing. Wood looks way cooler, it’s more natural and it’s fun.

There are some wood parks though. Some cool wood parks are Burton’s The Stash parks which are located at a few mountains around the world including Jackson Hole and Killington, VT has a cool one and then the wood jumps they made at Baldface NST.

Hiking

Hiking has always been a part of snowboarding for me. Whether it was hiking into the upper bowl of AZ snowbowl, off the Bluebird lift at Brundage towards Hidden Valley and Sargents, early season, late season, Tuckerman’s, hiking a jump to work on a trick, or backwoods boarding like this.

Even at the ski area I’ll hike. Sometimes it’s too stay warm and/or to work on a trick. I like the exercise.

Snow shaping examples

I’ve been working in the terrain park for the last 4 seasons and I love building jumps and shaping.

Check this before and after of a tank at Cannon. Shot right around the end of 2024 when we got 4 days of rain.

After the snowcat groomed it
After I shaped it with a rake

It’s somewhat rounded Holy Bowly style which is like the sickest park in the world. Check this Holy Bowly vid out.

Making fun stuff on the sides of trails

Then there is the side of the trail where you can sometimes find some fun stuff, but this wall ride I made was initially a pretty solid wall of snow left by the snowcat. A solid wall of snow is kinda dangerous and definitely not fun, but with a little handwork using a shovel I was able to turn it into a fun wallride.

I started knocking the wall down with a shovel.

Could also be turned into a hip style jump easy enough but I left this as a wall ride.

Shaping a long down tube

This was built for a “rail jam” Cannon had. It should have been called a “tube jam” because “rail jam” is so cliche. Every mountain has a rail jam. Call it something different at least!

I am not really a fan of rails (especially skinny ones) maybe PTSD from a fractured collar bone. Rails and boxes are kinda overkill at resorts if you ask me. I like snow features best.

Although, I don’t mind shaping around boxes and rails and I shaped most of this tube including the take off. One other person helped on one side.

I shaped the takeoff which went pretty good but it had chunks of chunder in it which is annoying
It’s a long tube with nice clean sides. This was just in that location for a couple of days.

Another wall turned into wallride

Wallride’s are sick. I love banks. It’s kind of a waste of snow to leave it as a wall when you could fairly easily turn it into a fun bank or jump.

No one can get it on it. Either they run into it or they fall off it which isn’t cool.
Now people can ride up on it and that’s fun.

A rainbow rail and tank ready to go out. I ground, painted and waxed these features at Cannon mt. The Yeti is Cannon’s mascot or smthg. I made the stencil.

Ride Fuse snowboard boot review

This is a review of the Ride Fuse snowboard boot. I bought this boot in 2023 to hopefully be the solution to my old Thirtytwo TM-3 boots.  And I just added an update here on these boots in 2024 below.

Ride Fuse snowboard boot 2024
Ride Fuse snowboard boot 2024

I first got the 8.5 Ride Fuse boot which was the same size as my previous boots, but after wearing it around my work I figured it was going to pack out and get more spacious. It definitely felt and looked bigger than the same size in my Thirtytwo boots.

So I looked a little longer and eventually found a size 8 and got them. I didn’t really like the blue color way much so I ordered some other blue laces that thought would go better than the white ones that came with it.

Ride Fuse boots are pretty stiff (8-10) out of the box for a freestyle boot.

They felt awkward and so I would wear them for an hour or two and then go back to my old 32 boots.

I think the Ride Fuse boots could get better, but as they were breaking in I found my self trying to customize them more by getting additional insoles to take up space. My feet are weird and my ankles are skinny which leads to some boot fitting issues.

With the size 8 Ride Fuse I noticed my foot was starting to move around in the boot so I got some heel shims then they kinda still moved and there were pressure points on the widest side of my foot where I developed bunions near my pinky toe probably from wearing my TM-3’s daily working 8-10 hours in the park.

So I already went through like two seasons of ongoing boot modifications with my TM-3’s so I started to think I would sell them on ebay.

But then I changed my mind after putting the old TM-3’s on again. But too big after a few weeks of using them so I got the 7.5.

What I liked about the Ride Fuse and it’s features

Pros:

  1. It’s got an articulating cuff so when you flex the boot it doesn’t distort.
  2. It’s mostly lace and has a boa for the tongue and inner liner.
  3. The inner liner is different as it doesn’t have the traditional central tongue. It kinda wraps and is called the Mobile Trap Wrap Liner .
  4. The rubber sole is pretty good for traction – Michelin® Hybrid Fiberlite Sole. Sometimes I thought the gripped my board better 1 footing than the TM-3’s but then others I thought maybe the TM-3’s got better traction walking in snow. But still good.
  5. I like the exterior tongue on it – called Slime tongue which is supposed to provide dampening.
  6. It’s a low volume boot. It has much less volume especially in the heel area of the boot compared to the TM-3.
  7. It’s a fairly lightweight boot. It felt about half the weight as my TM-3’s.

Cons:

  1. It’s not as heavy duty as my TM-3’s.
  2. They are part BOA. Which is fine for some but they give me anxiety that they will break. They have not broke yet although I met a guy on ebay who said the dials on his broke.
  3. Liners are kinda wimpy. They will pack out in 30 days and you’ll gain half to a full size. Probably pretty typical of snowboard boot liners (except TM-3‘s) although they have the wrap instead of traditional tongue which I liked at first although they did cause some light bruising on my shins.
  4. Not very warm. I had a coworker with Ride Insano boots who was always going in to warm up his toes during the season.
  5. They are not very waterproof. I’ve had 2 pairs of these and both in wet snow and rain would get wet and I would have to take the liners out (daily in spring) to dry. I think there was a leak in the seam of the sole.

I tried on a lot of boots before buying these online. And I actually never tried the Fuse on in a shop before ordering online. But I tried the K2 Maysis, other K2 boots, the Ride Lasso, Ride Lasso Pro, Ride Deadbolt, some Northwave boots, Deeluxe boots, Team ID and others, Burton Tourist, Salomon Echo, Salomon Launch, Salomon Dialogue, Rome boots (no articulating cuff) and more.

None of them really stood out however I tended to think the ski company boots (surprisingly) like Ride, K2 and Salomon fit better.

I read about the Fuse and heard good reviews on them and I remember a rep for Mervin boards saying to try on a lot of boots and find a company that has a mold that fits your foot better.

So it seemed like all the ski companies were fitting better and I can tell you to at least size down a half size for these boots and maybe all of Ride boots and for K2 boots too as they are made by the same company. In my experience all the K2 and Ride boots ran about a half size large.

I spent about 10 hours in the Ride Fuse boots and will probably sell them as they loosened up and I even wonder what a size 7.5 would feel like after the pack out or if I could even get into them. I mean in Thirtytwo boots my toes were crammed in the front and hurting but there was empty space around the rest of the foot that was hard to keep tight.

Measure with the Brannock device if you haven’t.

That’s a good starting point. I got one foot that is a 27mm (size 9) and another a 26.5 (size 8.5) and was told my volume is a 7.5 (skinny lower ankle heal area) so it’s complex fitting a boot.

I mean my toe space was good with the Fuse but they were loosening up and getting more spacious and my foot was moving around as mentioned before.

Update 2024 on the Ride Fuse

So I was trying to sell these on Ebay and then the start of this season I wore my old TM-3’s one day and got a black toe so I thought I am not doing that again and I took the Ride Fuse’s back out of the box and decided I needed to wear them.

So initially these were uncomfortable. I put some heel wedges in them to take up some space and another intuition insole under my left foot to take up some more space.

So these are stiff and I didn’t heat mold them and the liner right at the top at my shins hurt for 10-14 days. They got kinda red and bruised.

I also went from not riding to wearing these 8 hours a day almost every day working in the park and riding.

The liner I am not sure I like. At first I thought it looked cool but learned later that it distorts a bit when you flex. It kind of needs an articulating cuff like the shell has so it doesn’t do that. But you can only see this if you take the liner out of the boot and then do some bends.

And my ankles are skinny so it might not distort like it did for me. I got some pressure points in there that were caused by that.

So heat mold them if you can probably. Now they are a little better. My damn left foot is a pain to fit. It’s got less volume and width than my right foot but is a little longer.

I think in the last week or so they have improved some. But for a while there back I was trying on other boots.

They were really stiff at first and I couldn’t ride well, but they broke in. The bigger you are probably the faster they will break in. I am just over 150lbs.

So support is good, traction seems ok. As far as comfort goes not very, but improving ask me later how it went.

Overall I met other people that were pretty happy with this boot and on their 2nd or 3rd pair. So if it works for you it works. Definitely size down a half-size or go to a shop to try some on or buy multiple pairs online.

It’s a lightweight and low volume boot which is a plus. They are pretty stiff feeling which can take some getting used to. They are not a high-end boot but maybe med-high range and still pretty stiff. Like most boots do they will packout and loosen up with time.

Learn more about the Ride Fuse snowboard boot on Evo.com.

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Bern Macon 2.0 Helmet review

I got this Bern helmet for snowboarding because my other helmet seemed a little big. That was a Giro Emerge helmet.

I think I liked the Giro but it looked a little big and it got looser with time so keep that in mind when you get a helmet. It might loosen and then consider if you will wear a balaclava or beanie or not.

So I liked the look of this Bern helmet and it is lower profile than the Emerge. But the MIPS system doesn’t look as sophisticated as the Giro. The Giro has a “spherical MIPS”system which is more than a thin piece of yellow plastic.

The only thing I didn’t like about the Bern macon 2.0 was the thing in the back is hard plastic and I went a little smaller and got a small vs. the med in the Giro.

It’s hard plastic and has no padding over it. If I unbutton one of the snaps where it attaches it will loosen and the pain goes away however it’s a little less tight and more wobbly.

I made this video comparing the two.

Bern Macon 2.0 vs. Giro Emerge

There were pluses and minuses to both.

The Giro Emerge also has PPE foam which is a little more capable of repeatable impact vs. the PPP foam in the Bern. However the PPP foam is lighter.

Learn more about these helmets on Evo.com

Riding Brundage mt terrain parks 2023

So in Dec 2022-Apr 2023 I worked at Brundage mt ski area in the terrain park which was great.

Here’s a video of me riding a bit in the Brundage terrain park in 2023. “Beat My Line” is my boss’s idea to see if we can bring together some shredder’s and share shred or something.

This is the first one of Brundage’s “Beat My line”

We tried it 3 times this one was probably my second best take. Funny how that can work your best take and something goes wrong with the camera. And the filming could probably be better, but it’s got to be tricky holding a camera (especially over or around those knuckles) and riding.

I did a frontside 360 melon grab off the first kicker came up a little short, a backside 180 and then I hit the rainbow switch and slide a 180 over it.

This video from Brundage contains what’s in the beat my line video and a few other shots.

Hiking some backcountry near Brundage. I was a looking for a place to build a jump and the video is a little shaky but it’s totally beautiful up there.

What’s it like working in the terrain park?

This is my second season working in the terrain park. I love it. I also briefly worked in the terrain park at AZ snowbowl back in the late 90’s before there were rakes!

So if you are thinking of working in the terrain park at a ski area then this is for you. You’ve got options for lots of different jobs, but is the terrain park for you?

Who is this job not for?

If you don’t ride the terrain park and you don’t think you’d like building features and taking care of them then it’s not for you. If you just want a job to get a pass well there are a lot of other jobs you could do like: rentals, waiting on tables, instructing, grooming, mechanics, janitor, hr, lifty, etc.

I’ve done instructing, rentals (2-3 seasons) and waiting on tables. All of them provided time where I could usually ride daily. If you got a night job you could ride all day.

At the beginning of last season at Cannon I had a job in rentals and my boss told me I wouldn’t be able to ride as much as the previous year because of school camps or whatever and in my mind I was like no way. I do this because I love to ride and no ride break sounds lame.

So I quit and moved out west and found a job working in the terrain park where I wanted to be anyways.

So…

  • If you don’t ride the terrain park then don’t work there.
  • If you are not stoked on it then don’t work there.

If you don’t ride the terrain park then you won’t care about the work that you do because you are not a user. If you hit these jumps and features then you will care and want them to be smooth.

I am surprised that where I currently work some of the guys are not that stoked on the work or riding the park.

What?

They seem a bit jaded and lazy. I don’t get it. You work at a great mountain that’s totally beautiful with a good park too and you don’t like it? Probably not for you. Fortunately this year I got a boss that knows what’s up and does good work. We’ve got groomers that focus just on the park.

Last year that wasn’t the case. At Lookout not one of the groomers cared about the park. None of them rode it and getting them to do anything other than groom around all the features was difficult. They would cut out the sides of the landings when passing through and never actually groomed the landings.

You need a dedicated crew for that someone who cares.

This year is a different story we got a good guy in charge, but some folks (rakers) that have been here a long time hanging around that just don’t care that much.

Duties working in the terrain park:

  • Open and close the park
  • Place signs
  • Open and close ropes
  • Set up fencing
  • Carry tools sometimes when riding
  • Raking features (this a big part of the job)
  • Patrol park
  • Block off jumps and call patrol when needed
  • Teach people common sense like clear the landing when you fall and don’t put your ski’s on on top of the jump
  • Radio when needed
  • Set rails and boxes
  • Set brushes or whiskers or paint edges of jumps
  • Test features
  • Rake! Keep jumps and features smooth

I like making jumps

Even when I am not working in the terrain park I tend to find myself building jumps. A few seasons back I built a little park with some shovels on the hillside in the farmcountry. It was fun.

There are a few clips of it in this video:

Snowboarding 2022 at Lookout pass’s terrain park

This past winter I worked at Lookout Pass ski area in Idaho. I worked in the terrain park and it was one of the better jobs I’ve had. Digging in the snow and making jumps is something that I would do even if I wasn’t working like I made this earlier post called Cannon Kicker.

So getting paid to do it was even better. Lookout pass is an area in northern Idaho that get some of the most snow in Idaho. Somewhere around 400 inches a season. The snow was on the wetter side kind of like the PNW. The weather was kind of mild. It didn’t usually get that cold.

But enough with the weather. That’s boring. You can look those things up. Here’s a video I made with some clips from the season.

So last season 2021 was my first season having a pass since 2002. Yeah a long time. And in between 2002 and 2021 I might have done some snowboarding in my parents backyard hiking up some old logging trails and a few times elsewhere.

But it’s coming back. I feel like my riding has improved since starting up last season. And it’s been fun too. I can’t believe I stopped for so long. COVID came along. I was living in Japan and that wasn’t going so good so I came back to the States and started up working at the ski area which was fun.

But the west is the best as far as snow goes in the USA. So I went to Idaho where I wanted to go. In fact I lived in the small town of Wallace just down the road.

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