Pat Donnelly

I respectfully back down as my better half, well :-(

Frank, I would describe this as a soft plastic. Not really described on the package but it is a peel and press application.

$15 shipped lower 48 1/4" drive inserts included: #1 Phillips #2 Phillips Flat head S2 square head 4mm allen 5mm allen 6mm allen flat wrench, not sure on sizes?

Thin (clear) stomp pad on a Donek 182 GS

As of yet anyway - many airlines view large and/or overweight luggage as a way to generate revenue. We usually travel with two double ski SporTube's. Two sets of skis in one and two or three boards in the other. http://www.sportsexpress.com/QuickQuote/GetQuote.asp http://www.sportube.com/pages/skis_two_pair.html

Tex - Rossi is available. Sitting with storage wax which I can remove tomorrow and take photos if you would like. Very low mileage, two days of riding since base was ground. Pat

http://www.tognar.com/deburr_tips_edge_polish_repais_ski_snowboard.html

I have a 182 Thorndike GSb in excellent shape, 2nd season, 14.5 SCR OR a 184 Rossi World Cup 15 SCR Both boards are in excellent condition.

I have a used pair of 324's . . . . size 27 may put up for sale this week as I am using the suzukas

I discovered my big toe on my front foot got black on heel turns when in walk mode. In walk mode, I had next to no leverage from behind the ankel and the toe was the last point of pressure. Have since locked in the front boot on #3 and no more jamming; rear boot is still in walk mode. Pat

http://www.aspendailynews.com/article_12264

http://www.alpinecarving.com/tv/

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR><TD class=tvprimetime vAlign=center align=middle colSpan=2>SEARCH RESULTS</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tvtime vAlign=top noWrap>SUNDAY 1/15/2006 4:30PM - 5:00PM </TD><TD class=tvshow vAlign=top>WARREN MILLER TELEVISION () Ski Odyssey For generations of skier and snowboarders, spending a day at the mountain can be as much a social activity as it is a physical one. In this episode of Warren Miller Television, we'll highlight some of the great social aspects that skiing and snowboarding offers. Check out an annual mountain party in Boyne, Michigan, a group of old ski friends (including Warren himself) skiing in Wyoming, and some aerial skiing at Winter Park, where a group of peers cheer their fellow aerialist as he attempts a world record feat. </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tvtime vAlign=top noWrap>SUNDAY 1/15/2006 5:00PM - 6:00PM </TD><TD class=tvshow vAlign=top>10 WEEKS TO TORINO (TV-NR) U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix, Mt. Bachelor, OR Tune into OLN's coverage of U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix #2. </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tvtime vAlign=top noWrap>TUESDAY 1/17/2006 4:30PM - 5:00PM </TD><TD class=tvshow vAlign=top>WARREN MILLER TELEVISION () Ski Odyssey </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tvtime vAlign=top noWrap>TUESDAY 1/17/2006 5:00PM - 6:00PM </TD><TD class=tvshow vAlign=top>10 WEEKS TO TORINO (TV-NR) U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix, Mt. Bachelor, OR Tune into OLN's coverage of U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix #2. </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tvtime vAlign=top noWrap>SUNDAY 1/22/2006 5:00PM - 6:00PM </TD><TD class=tvshow vAlign=top>10 WEEKS TO TORINO (TV-NR) U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix, Mt. Creek, NJ Tune into OLN for coverage of U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix #3. </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tvtime vAlign=top noWrap>TUESDAY 1/24/2006 5:00PM - 6:00PM </TD><TD class=tvshow vAlign=top>10 WEEKS TO TORINO (TV-NR) U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix, Mt. Creek, NJ Tune into OLN for coverage of U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix #3. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Photo by Gerald Saunders . . . Dave Teteak (Custom).bmp

Pat, Looks like you have a combo VHS/DVD player . . . when we purchased our set we also purchased a new DVD player (Sony HDMI) and it is better match for HDTV - both picture and sound.

Independent audits scrutinize 'green' programs <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 Scott Condon December 28, 2005 Aspen Skiing Co. officials realized last year that they could toot their horn all they wanted about their environmental programs but still have limited credibility in the eyes of the public. So they took a chance last October and let an independent, third-party auditor assess what they were doing. The gamble paid off. The Skico's environmental management program earned certification last October from the International Organization for Standardization. The Skico learned earlier this month that it will retain that certification, formally known as ISO 14001, after going through its annual audit. The Skico is the only resort in the U.S. and one of only two in North America that have earned that ISO certification. "It's anti-greenwash," said Auden Schendler, Skico's director of environmental affairs. "It's meaningless for a company to say, 'We're environmentally friendly.' This means something." It might mean additional pressure on major ski companies, such as Vail Resorts, to follow suit. Many ski areas in the country participate voluntarily in the Sustainable Slopes Program, which the National Ski Areas Association, a Lakewood-based industry trade association, created in 2000. Industry officials tout the program as a good incentive for ski areas to get involved in environmentally friendly programs. When it is voluntary, risk is lower and participation is higher. Participants know a government entity won't penalize them, for example, for failing to meet a goal. But critics contend Sustainable Slopes is just a way for the ski industry to dupe customers into thinking it's environmentally friendly without taking meaningful action. In a study last year, two professors concluded that the Sustainable Slopes Program appeared to be a marketing ploy. The study authors, professors Jorge Rivera of George Washington University and Peter de Leon of the University of Colorado at Denver, labeled the program a "symbolic self-regulatory scheme that does not appear to effectively improve industry-wide environmental protection." De Leon and Rivera said the industry needed third-party audits - like the Skico undertakes - to be credible. For the Skico audit, Mark Gage, of a Vancouver, British Columbia, firm called KPMG Performance Registrar, spent three days grilling company executives, examining maintenance shops that service snowcats and snowmobiles, and touring ski area facilities to assess the effectiveness of the environmental management program. Gage quizzed Aspen Mountain Manager Steve Sewell about springtime practices to ease erosion and prevent streams of snowmelt from pouring into Aspen's streets. Later, on the mountain, Gage questioned maintenance shop workers about practices like the handling of used motor oil. Gage said one of his interests is assessing how formalized environmental polices are and if a company, like the Skico, has established clear lines of accountability. Gage was less concerned about high-profile, PR-savvy programs like extensive recycling at the Sundeck restaurant and more concerned with environmental risks, like handling of materials after vehicle maintenance, summer wildfire hazards and ability to respond to fires, and water use. The Skico had only "minor nonconformances" with the ISO standards this year, according to Gage. His firm, KPMG, is an accredited auditor with the ISO and capable of granting the certification of the Skico's environmental program. Sun Peaks, a Canadian resort, is the only other ski area with ISO 14001 certification. Gage believes that will change. In other industries, when one leader seeks the environmental certification, others soon follow suit. Gage expects that will occur in the ski industry as well. Other resorts have already approached his company about audits. To some degree that interest is from "the goodness of their hearts," Gage said, but competition is also a motivator. Other major resorts are well aware the Aspen Skiing Co. has its ISO 14001 certification, Gage said. Schendler welcomes the exposure. "I think, hopefully, it's going to create a new standard for the ski industry to live up to," he said. Scott Condon's e-mail address is scondon@aspentimes.com

<TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 width=550 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Aspen Daily News </TD></TR><TR><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" vAlign=top>No boards allowed: four resorts skiers-only From the Associated Press - Thu 12/29/2005 11:00PM PARK CITY, Utah - A handful of winter playgrounds maintain that snow is for skiing - period. While the ski industry has welcomed the evolution of snowboarding and the business boom it has brought over the last two decades, four U.S. resorts are sticking to a policy of ''skiers only.'' ''When it comes right down to it, it's our guests who have the largest say in the determination,'' said Chuck English, director of mountain operations at Utah's Deer Valley. Deer Valley is one of the four remaining U.S. resorts where trails sculpted from the mountains are reserved for skiers. Alta, southeast of Salt Lake City, New Mexico's Taos and Mad River Glen in Vermont are the others willing to turn away potential business because enough skiers seem to like it that way. ''The current situation finds us receiving so many positive letters and comments from guests because we don't allow snowboarding,'' English said. ''That's really why we continue with our policy the way it is.'' The policy: If you want to snowboard, go somewhere else. It's exclusive and not at all apologetic. And as long as there is a market of skiers who support it, change is unlikely. ''There were a lot more,'' Mad River Glen spokesman Eric Friedman said. ''Now you're left with the four holdouts.'' Theories abound about which resort will go next - if any does. ''I still put my money on it being a Utah resort that's the last one,'' said Dennis Nazari, founder of Salty Peaks snowboard shop on the eastern edge of Salt Lake City. Nazari used to personally campaign from resort to resort in the 1980s and early 1990s for Utah ski areas to accept snowboarders. Now, it isn't much of an issue. Snowboarders don't have far to go from any of the skiers-only resorts, so the remaining four seem to have a niche in the industry. ''It makes me wonder. Maybe there is a place for a skier-only resort,'' Nazari said. ''But if there was a snowboard-only resort, how would that pan out with skiers?'' Snowboarding accounted for 28.7 percent of national lift ticket sales last season, said Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association in Lakewood, Colo. Each resort has its own reasons for being exclusively for skiers. Deer Valley always has been skiers-only since opening above downtown Park City in 1981. And with Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons welcoming snowboarders just down the road, Deer Valley plans to keep its posh slopes to skiers, who are willing to pay the hefty lift ticket costs in exchange for things such as ski porters and tissue dispensers at the lift. Taos, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico, is celebrating its 50th anniversary - and is sticking to its ''pure skiing'' mantra. ''We see it as something that differentiates us from other ski areas,'' general manager Gordon Briner said. At Alta, the decision to keep snowboards off the lifts in the early 1980s went largely unnoticed because the sport was still relatively new and there were very few people trying it, marketing director Connie Marshall said. It has since developed into sort of a trademark for the resort, which has been around since 1938. ''We've been rewarded by our longtime skiers,'' Marshall said. ''We feel like it does give us an identity in the market.'' Mad River Glen's policy came more from spite. Snowboarders were allowed on the mountain, but couldn't use the classic single-chair lift, the only one that goes to the top of the mountain in central Vermont. Friedman said the policy was broadened to keeping snowboarders out of the area altogether after former owner Betsy Pratt was confronted in a grocery store by a group of teens who wanted snowboarders to be able to ride the single-chair lift. Friedman said the teens were hostile and called Pratt a name they shouldn't have. ''That was the end of snowboarding at Mad River Glen,'' Friedman said. The policy stuck when the resort went co-op in 1995 and shareholders haven't come close to overturning it - even in Vermont, home of Burton snowboards. The rift between skiers and snowboarders has subsided as snowboarding has grown in popularity and gained more acceptance. But the stereotype that snowboarders tend to be younger and more reckless still lingers - even though teenagers who took up the sport in the 1990s are now well into their 30s. There are still, and probably always will be, skiers who prefer to have the mountain to themselves. Kelly Dudek, a 32-year-old hair stylist from Las Vegas, was loading up her skis at Deer Valley one December afternoon and noted to a friend that they hadn't seen any snowboarders. ''Not that I don't like them. I have many friends that snowboard, but it's just different. A little more relaxing,'' Dudek said. ''If I was a snowboarder, I'd probably think differently.'' </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Wally, See you there in late Febuary.

Not sure what area(s) you are trying to build profile but you might want to look at www.tognar.com for boot fitting supplies. One trick my fitter did for me was to insert a 1/8" thick Bontex shim plate in the base of the boot before we molded the liners. My feet swell at altitude so when we go West, I remove the shim and have more room in my boot; no more pain. The shims are also available in 1/16" thickness.

John, For your size I would stick with the 177, you just may have to be more selective when you can bring the longer boards out. Shoot me your e-mail pdwlc@comcast.net I ride the 4WD 50/45 and the narrower alpine boards are set at 65/63.

Like Mike said and how do you feel on your 167? If you have the experience and abilty and maybe the feeing as if you have outgrown the board then go for it. When I looked at Coiler's site the 177 all mountain's recommended weight was 150+ lbs. The extra length would provide a bit mro float in pow and the SCR are close. Riding out West you may be able to handle and need a bigger board than say here in the mid-West.

http://club-ski.web.cern.ch/club-ski/snowboard/tutor.html

John, was wondering how tall you are and how much you weigh? I am 6' ~ 200 lbs and have been riding the crap out of a 179 4WD on my small hill. Just need to make sure I have plenty of room as we tend to go faster than others on the hill. IMO, for my size shorter boards feel squirrlly and not as stable. Don't go too short to regret it.

http://www.skihelmets.com/ - size & fit details to help you get the best fit for you from all the major mfg's. Clip the mute button onto your helmet strap to keep it reachable and out of the way.

Glad to hear your back!! Is it time to get a knee brace to keep you from falling? ;-) First turn jitters are humbling - just try to avoid going over the handlebars!