Pat Donnelly

Check out the "RIVA" model from the founder of Bolle . . . www.habervision.com Enter code LC1231R for 50% off + free shipping through Nov 15th

http://www.sportube.com/pages/skis_two_pair.html The model I have is the two ski which will adjust to 207cm and my 184 Coiler fits just fine.

1) Bomber Bag - I use mine to and from the slopes and it has held up well. For air travel I use a Sportube (double ski size). 2) Durable gloves - http://www.thundercloudmarketing.com/Page17.htm 3) Clear Cut stompad (thin) http://www.testpilotgear.com/webcat2004.pdf

THIS WEEKEND - go out and buy either a 4 day ($179) or 7 day $239) Aspen Classic Pass and ride Buttermilk. But if you do,you may not want ride the Summit County areas again. I know I don't, unless you long for crowds. <TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=9 align=center border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>Colorado Ski & Golf 7715 Wadsworth, Arvada 303-420-0885 </TD><TD> Saturday 10 am - 6 pm Sunday noon - 5 pm </TD><TD> October 28-29 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> http://www.aspensnowmass.com/classicpass/ Search your thread from last year - PCOGAN gave you the lowdown on Lovelande. Sorry Mario;)

Joining a ski club might give you a benchmark for budgeting to a specific destination? http://skifederation.org/councils.html I agree with Tiledog, Salt Lake has a lot to offer in the way of accomodations and areas to choose from. Non-destination areas tend to be less crowded and provide easier access; Powder Mountain, Snowbasin and Brighton. Request brochures from www.skiutah.com and/or http://visitsaltlake.com/ If your dates are early / mid Feb then the SES might make sense too. Flying direct into ASE could avoid a rental car.

Ryan, I tried a pair on one day late last season at Buttermilk on blue-bird day and the optics were excellent. Six or seven others also tried them on and I believe all those who tried them ended up ordering. Reading the testimonials http://www.habervision.com/Testimonials.aspx it sounds as if they excell in low and flat light conditions as well. I did find the original white strap model "Riva" frame is smaller than I would prefer. When they sent an announcement for the new larger frame "Prima", I decided to place another order which will arrive next week. Hopefully the Prima will fit larger faces better.

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=451

From the man who developed the Bolle brand, Steve Haber. Enter code LC1231R for the 50% off discount + free shipping through Sept 30th. Check out the carver in the snow gallery - Larry Castruita in action. http://www.habervision.com/

I noticed a new "Pro Back Guard" in Ski Press (link updated 9/30/2006) http://www.sixsixone.com/Products_661Snow.aspx OR http://www.sixsixone.com then link from SNOW and then UPPER BODY ARMOR

Yes, they are transferrable but must be purchased in advance. Sales end Nov 20th and the on-line price appears to be $99.

Here's a bargain and probably the best early snow in the area: http://www.skiloveland.com/ShopNEW/page/4pak.htm

Feb 4 - 15 http://www.carving-session.com/pureboarding/index.php?id=anlaesse&L=1 http://www.pureboarding.com/pureboarding/index.php?id=176&L=1

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=305 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD vAlign=top width=300></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> By The Associated Press August 28, 2006 LEWISTON, Maine - Americans shouldn't expect Mother Nature to help with their heating bills this winter because it's going to be nippy, according to the venerable Farmers' Almanac. After one of the warmest winters on record, this coming winter will be much colder than normal from coast to coast, the almanac predicts. "Shivery is not dead!" declared editor Peter Geiger as the latest edition of the 190-year-old publication hits the newsstands. The almanac, which claims its forecasts are accurate 80 percent to 85 percent of the time, correctly predicted a "polar coaster" of dramatic swings for last winter, Geiger said. For example, New York City collected 40 inches of snow even though it was one of the warmest winters in the city's history. This year, predicts the almanac's reclusive forecaster, Caleb Weatherbee, it will be frigid from the Gulf Coast all the way up the East Coast. But it'll be especially nippy on the northern Plains - up to 20 degrees below seasonal norms in much of Montana, the Dakotas and part of Wyoming, he writes. And, he says, it'll be especially snowy across the nation's midsection, much of the Pacific Northwest, the mountains of the Southwest and parts of eastern New England. The chilling forecast comes at a time of near-record fuel prices. "Because of energy costs, nobody wants to hear that it's going to be cold," Geiger said. On the other hand, "for those who enjoy the outdoors, it's going to be good news," he said. Weatherbee makes his forecasts two years in advance using a secret formula based on sunspots, the position of the planets and the tidal action of the moon. Ken Reeves, director of forecasting operations for Accuweather Inc., said there's a "thread of scientific logic" behind the almanac's secret formula even though the conventional wisdom is that local forecasts lose accuracy beyond 15 to 20 days. "The concept or technique is different from what is done by the scientific meteorological community, but that doesn't mean it's without any merit," Reeves said from State College, Pa. "It's not like someone throwing a dart at the dart board." Last winter was the fifth-warmest on average in the lower 48 states. Forty-one states had temperatures above average, according to the National Climatic Data Center. That reduced energy demand by an estimated 11 percent, it said. The Farmers' Almanac claims a circulation of 4 million. Most copies are sold to banks, insurance companies, oil dealers and other businesses that give them away as promotions. Retail versions are sold around the United States and Canada.

"Photo of the day" http://www.snowbird.com/ski_board/photo.php?photo=250

Ski pass prices going up; lift ticket to hit $82 <SCRIPT language=JavaScript>function createQString(s) { return escape(s);}var Heading = "Ski%20pass%20prices%20going%20up%3B%20lift%20ticket%20to%20hit%20%2482";var tempTitle = createQString(Heading);var Title = "&t="+tempTitle;</SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=305 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD vAlign=top width=300></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> By Janet Urquhart August 2, 2006 Sept. 8: That's the date by which locals need to scrape up $1,179 for a full ski pass for the 2006-07 season. The super-early price reflects the discount available to employees of Aspen Chamber Resort Association-member businesses. Without the ACRA discount, the "early-bird" price is $1,649. The cost of the Premier Pass - the one that's good for unlimited skiing on all four local mountains - is going up $50 from last year's super-early, ACRA-member deal. And last season's price for the Premier Pass was up $50 from the prior season. The cost of the pass has gone up in each of the past four seasons. The price of the two-day and one-day passes are increasing, too, as is the cost of a Classic Pass. The single-day, walk-up lift ticket rate will peak at $82 this season, up from $78 last winter. The daily rate generally gets a great deal of attention, in comparisons among various ski resorts, but Aspen Skiing Co. executives have long said that comparatively few people actually buy single-day tickets, opting instead for multiday deals that bring the price down. The Skico unveiled this season's lift ticket and pass prices on Tuesday. Pass prices generally go up annually, but the Skico pays particular attention to the price of the Premier Pass with the early-bird and ACRA discounts. That's the one most locals purchase, according to David Perry, company senior vice president. "We give it the most scrutiny, I think, and try to keep it reasonable for locals," he said. And local skiers and riders feel it's a good deal, according to Perry. "We get a lot of feedback from passholders - that they get great value out of it," he said. Those who bought the Premier Pass at the deepest discount last season hit the slopes an average of 34 days - for a per-day price of about $33, Perry noted. "They're quite pleased with that," he said. "Most people figure out how many days they can ski or ride, and they do the math." The second-most popular pass is the Premier purchased by the early-bird deadline, but without the ACRA discount. Last season, those passholders skied or boarded an average of 33 days for a rate that worked out to $47.84 per day, Perry calculated. Anyone who misses the Sept. 8 deadline can purchase a Premier Pass for $1,459 through Nov. 10 with the ACRA discount; after that, it's $1,629. Without the chamber discount, the pass will cost $1,799 from Sept. 9 through Nov. 10 and then jump to $1,979. The two-day pass (good for skiing or riding two days per week) with the chamber discount is $859 until Sept. 8 - up $40 from last season. After the early deadline, the price jumps to $919 with the discount until Nov. 10 and then increases to $979. A one-day pass with the ACRA discount starts at $649 - up $30 from last season. After Sept. 8, the price bumps up to $679 until Nov. 10 and then increases to $759. Returning this year is the Parent Pass, which the Skico introduced last season, allowing parents with children 12 and younger to share one pass. Once again, it matches the price of the Premier Pass without the ACRA discount - $1,649 by Sept. 8. The four-day Classic Pass will cost $149 this season, up from $139 last season. The seven-day Classic Pass is $239 this season, up from $219. Prior holders of the Classic Pass can renew it online, but new passes will be for sale only at select locations on select dates, locally and around Colorado. Go to www.aspensnowmass.com/seasonpass for details on all of the Skico's pass options and how to purchase them. Snowmass and Aspen Mountain are scheduled to open Nov. 23 and operate through April 15. Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk will operate from Dec. 9 to April 1. When the lifts open, skiers and boarders will find new gondola cars on Aspen Mountain (actually, they're already in use), the new Elk Camp gondola at Snowmass and additional terrain in Deep Temerity, which debuted at Highlands last season. The Skico is glading and cutting new lines in the popular double-black terrain, Perry said.

Hello Sliders! Yes, it's hot enough to cook eggs on the roof of your car, thus, the perfect time to begin planning that getaway ski vacation to Lake Tahoe next season. The Ski Lake Tahoe Six-Pack is on sale, which gives Sliding on the Cheap readers six days of skiing or riding at SEVEN premier Tahoe ski resorts. The cost dear sliders? A mere $249.00! That's less than you're gonna spend on air conditioning this month! The Ski Lake Tahoe Six-Pack offers 6 days of skiing or riding at 7 fantastic resorts, all for only $249. Even better, the lift tickets are flexible, allowing you to go choose one of two (or in some cases three) resorts with each ticket. Lift tickets are also transferable, so you can share them with a friend. The Lake Tahoe Six-Pack includes: - 1 ticket valid at either Heavenly, Kirkwood or Mt. Rose - 1 ticket valid at either Heavenly or Sierra-at-Tahoe™ - 1 ticket valid at either Kirkwood or Sierra-at-Tahoe™ - 1 ticket valid at either Alpine Meadows or Northstar-at-Tahoe™ - 1 ticket valid at either Squaw Valley USA, Northstar-at-Tahoe™ or Mt. Rose - 1 ticket valid at either Squaw Valley USA or Alpine Meadows Holiday Blackout Dates: 11.24.2006 - 11.25.2006; 12.26.2006 - 12.31.2006; 01.13.2007 - 01.14.2007; 02.17.2007 - 02.18.2007 To purchase your Lake Tahoe Six-Pack, visit http://www.skilaketahoe.com/tickets-1.html . Only a limited number are available, and will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis, so don’t delay – act now! For additional information, please visit the frequently asked questions page (http://www.skilaketahoe.com/tickets-faq.html). About Ski Lake Tahoe Surrounding North America’s largest alpine lake, the Ski Lake Tahoe resorts – Alpine Meadows, Heavenly, Kirkwood, Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe, Northstar-at-Tahoe™, Sierra-at-Tahoe™ and Squaw Valley USA - offer unparalleled scenic vistas of Lake Tahoe and the mountains surrounding it. For the latest mountain news and conditions, or to order a winter vacation guide, visit www.skilaketahoe.com. Kevin Tinto Editor-in-Chief Slidingonthecheap.com

Are kite tubes a danger? A 42-year-old woman knocked unconscious on Union Lake on the Fourth of July was kite tubing, a new form of water sport that is both thrilling and, according to some, dangerous. <!--#include virtual="/includes/ads/newsinstory.html"-->The woman, who has not been identified publicly, is expected to recover from her serious injuries. While kite tubes are selling quickly, seemingly a must for extreme water sports enthusiasts, safety concerns have arisen. In an admittedly unusual move, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission publicly announced an investigation of kite tubing. On June 30, a public warning was issued by the commission as a precursor to the holiday weekend about kite tubing injuries, when 12 serious injuries had been reported. Two deaths - in Texas and Wisconsin - have been reported in the U.S. and one in Canada. "We are now up to 28 injuries," said Julie Vallese, commission spokeswoman. "It's very new to us. We started learning about incidents in the late spring. The numbers have just continued to grow." At the Skiers Pier shop on Dixie Highway, Waterford Township, store manager Mark Roberts said people's interest is primed. "We can't keep them in," he said of the devices, which cost about $500. "It's a new product for this year. They're very popular. Everybody asks for the kite tube because they've seen them advertised or see them on the lake." Roberts said there is no confusion about the devices, which come with clear safety warnings. "Everybody knows that they go up, that's why they buy them," Roberts said. Kite tubing involves a person riding behind a boat on an inflatable tube that can be more than 10 feet in diameter hooked to the boat with a 45-foot to 65-foot tether. While the tubes generally go about 10 feet in the air, they reportedly can reach 40 feet in height. "Obviously, it takes a bit of speed to get this thing off the water and up into the air," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, who said Tuesday's crash was the first serious kite tubing injury in the county. "There is so little direct control you have over those," the sheriff said. "You are a projectile subject to the whims of the water, the air, and the driver. Suddenly, a fun afternoon can have life-altering consequences." Bouchard pointed out that someone can get hurt doing pretty much anything, evidenced by a 21-year-old University of Michigan student from Plymouth who early Tuesday morning was critically injured after diving off a dock into an area only 29 inches deep and striking the bottom of Sylvan Lake. Still, he said, users of these lake toys cannot be trained to handle them. "The reality with this is, you don't have a great deal of piloting control," Bouchard said. "Where are you going to learn this?" Capt. Joseph Slawek of the West Bloomfield Fire Department, which handled transporting the Waterford Township woman from Union Lake, said a fall from even a short distance into water can injure a person. "The people riding on the tubes are unprepared for the potential of striking the water," Slawek said. "Striking the water at greater than 5 feet can result in a serious head injury." Slawek said the woman was knocked unconscious in her fall, which reportedly was from about 10 feet in the air. She regained consciousness and did not appear to have suffered any spinal injuries. A co-worker at a Commerce Township catering business where she worked could not comment on her recovery. Nationwide, injuries reported to the safety commission from kite tubing include a broken neck, punctured lung, broken ribs, broken femur, chest and back injuries, and jaw fractures. "We are seeing reports of people being knocked unconscious," Vallese said. "The agency does have an active investigation into the new water sport of kite tubing. We are trying to determine the conditions and what is contributing to the injuries, for those people who choose to participate in kite tubing. "To announce we have an open investigation is extremely unusual for this agency." She said the investigation was announced to allow "people to make an informed decision if they want to participate." And while the commission typically identifi es particular products for safety issues, this is an investigation of the sport, not specific models of kite tubes. "At this stage, we're just trying to figure out kite tubing," Vallese said. While Bouchard does not see laws going after kite tubes, he said, if a flood of litigation occurs over injuries, they could disappear from the market. But Roberts, of Skiers Pier, said he does not see them overtaking regular tubing or water-skiing. "I think it's more of a fad," Roberts said. "I think it will die down." Click here to return to story: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/070706/loc_2006070703.shtml

<TABLE class=headerPF cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=130></TD><TD class=small vAlign=bottom align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=center bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- <headline>Snowboarder to plead guilty for resort death of Mass. woman</headline> <source>Associated Press</source> <teasetext>A teenager has agreed to plead guilty to criminally negligent homicide for crashing into a Massachusetts woman while snowboarding at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, attorneys in the case say.</teasetext> <byline></byline> <date>July 3, 2006</date> -->Snowboarder to plead guilty for resort death of Mass. woman July 3, 2006 JACKSON, Wyo. --A teenager has agreed to plead guilty to criminally negligent homicide for crashing into a Massachusetts woman while snowboarding at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, attorneys in the case say. Greg Doda, 18, of Crownsville, Md., crashed into Heather Donahue, 29, of Shrewsbury, Mass., while snowboarding down Laramie Bowl on Feb. 24, 2005, according to court documents. Doda's planned guilty plea, announced Friday, will avoid a trial set to begin next month, according to defense attorney Robert Horn and Teton County Attorney Steve Weichman. Doda hasn't appeared in circuit court yet, but Weichman and Horn said they planned to have Doda, who graduated from high school this year, appear in court for sentencing. He faces as much as a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. A sentencing date was not set. "I think what is going to be extensive in this case is the sentencing hearing," Horn told Circuit Court Judge Timothy C. Day. Investigators said witnesses told them Doda was going 35 to 60 mph when he crashed into Donahue, knocking her out of her gloves, skis and hat and throwing her 25 feet downhill. Doda told investigators he wasn't out of control, yet had no way of avoiding the collision. Donahue died the next day. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/07/03/snowboarder_to_plead_guilty_for_resort_death_of_mass_woman/ http://www.jhguide.com/article.php?art_id=639 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

PREVIEW season 2006/07 <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Livigno - Warm-up / Biking </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top>7.-10. September 2006 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Kaunertal - Clinics & Carving </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top>20.-22. October 2006 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Livigno - Clinics & Carving </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top>7.-10. December 2006 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Wolkenstein - Carving-Week </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top>13.-20. January 2007 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Aspen, USA - World Carving Session </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top>4.-15. February 2007 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Davos - Carving Session </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top>10. & 11. March 2007 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>USA Tour - Carving in several Resorts </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top>18. March-29. March 2007 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Aspen - Easter week, after USA Tour </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top>30. March-8. April 2007 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Dates may change. </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE class=imgtext-table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=530 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top> A european carvers life </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2006/04/06/state/n165002D73.DTL

except me when the 184 was mine ;)

I use plain old parafin wax for cleaning and summer storage - it's cheap, readily available and easy to work with. Next fall, warm scrap then apply a couple of coats of your regular wax. For cleaning my scrapers, I use Kingsford lighter fluid.

Ken - great to have met you earlier this week at Buttermilk! Check these gloves out. Pat http://www.thundercloudmarketing.com/Page17.htm

http://alpinecarving.com/tuning.html

Time for gray hair Pow Wow - Sat 2/23. Tiehack chair good for rest, smoke peace pipe and converse with friends!