Danielle Mattiussi

I love the Burton Escapade bindings. I have them on all of my snowboards. However, the last pair of Escapade EST bindings I purchased have the "holed" toe cap versus the "full" toe cap. (This photo shows the full toe cap.) I highly recommend the full toe cap because the holed toe cap slides up and down the toe of my boot. I never have this problem with my other Escapades with the full toe cap. I heard Burton provides superb customer service, so I'm going to check out a replacement with them.

Update: Burton does have excellent customer service and sent new toe straps without hesitation. Great job, Burton.

This helmet does a good job. I previously wore a Giro G9 for about 3 years, and stuck with it. It's warm, and I like the helmet adjustment on the rear of the helmet (my previous version did not have that) that is similar to my cycling helmet. The only down side is that my Roxy goggles don't fit on the brim when not in use for some reason, and they're left to dangle and collect snow.

I'm ALWAYS cold and this year set out to get technical clothing for warmth rather than my usual bulk. This is a great base layer that keeps me warm as the only base layer under a North Face HyVent jacket, so far keeping me toasty down to around 35 degrees. Anything below that, I add a Mountain Hardware fleece pull-over, and I'm good-to-go. It truly does wick the moisture and lock in the warmth. It washes well, although gets slightly fuzzy as all wool does. I have a longer torso and arms and it seemed to shrink slightly but it still fits OK. The torso did not become a half-shirt, so I was happy about that. There's still a couple inches to tuck tightly into my snowboarding pants.

While this is slightly itchier than the SmartWool (this is coming from someone who cannot stand the itch of wool!) but still very wearable. I love the fit even after washing, the finger holes, and the extra tall collar even more so than the SmartWool mid-weight. It wicks the moisture great and looks fashionable to boot! Looks and feels great even off the slopes with jeans if you want something to throw on with a vest. Works wonderfully as the only base layer under a North Face HyVent snowboarding jacket down to around 30 degrees - and I'm the type who is always freezing. Not any more...

These gloves are great. I'm a wimp when it comes to the cold and I love these gloves! It's difficult to see in the photo, but in the top of the glove there is a flap just above the North Face logo. There is a zipper tucked in there that opens up a small pocket to hold a hand warmer. I put them in every time I go on the slopes and it's < 35 degrees or so and my gloves stay warm all day long. In truly extreme cold my fingertips get slightly chilly, but I throw them under the hand warmer in the bathroom and I'm good-to-go another 2-3 hours. I would usually wear a medium, but I purchased large so that the gloves wrist elastic can fit around my wrist guards for snowboarding. My first pair lasted 3 seasons of hard use, and I recently purchased my 2nd pair.

The Burton Feelgood makes you a better snowboarder the moment you strap it on. I took lessons and continued to fall all over the place on my old (non Burton) board during my first year of boarding. I am coordinated and athletic and was very disappointed at how hard snowboarding seemed to me at the time. I purchased my '08 Feelgood based on reviews here, and it did not disappoint. Once I started on this board, I went from clumsy novice to intermediate right away. I know high quality gear can make a big difference, but this was a huge leap in skills for me solely due to the board. My husband and friends were impressed! It's held up quite well, although I find Burton boards overall to crack somewhat easily on the top. I am 5'8" and a sturdy 160 and I went with the 158cm, which is shorter than the recommendations in the sizing chart. If I had to do it over again I would go even shorter - a 156cm. Compared to a 156cm I recently purchased (different make and model), comparatively the 158 feels a bit long now and takes more effort to get into the turn. I use the board mostly for all mountain riding at on primarily intermediate runs.