Phil

To the best of my understanding, John A. was going to do this, but he cannot make it, so I am assuming that the plate will not be there either. :( Sorry.

Hey Greg, I cannot for the life of me figure anything out for parking. That event is overbooked. They don't even allow staff to come unless they are specifically being used as event staff. There is even a cap on spectators. As far as houses, I have no idea. Have you looked into a loft at the Hotel? We stayed in one over Christmas. Ours slept 12 very comfortably. I am not sure if there are setups with more or not. I would think that it would be reasonably priced if you split it 15 ways. If you are going to kill yourself on the mountain, you might as well pamper yourself the night before (and maybe the night after?). I would think that the hot tubs and pools would be popular places after the race. Sorry I'm not much help. I look forward to riding with you next week! Oh, and on a side note, I will be back on the bike for sure this year. I will probably get a season pass to Spring Mt.'s bike park, since it is only 15 minutes away. I would like to get to Blue as well. I've heard that their downhill trails are decent. I think my knee is ready for it. How is the dirt jumping coming along?

In case you missed it: http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=314127#post314127

In case you missed it: http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=314127#post314127

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Purchase your ticket at Guest Services. Meet: 8:45 AM in the Lodge (Mountain Eatery), on the slopes at 9:00 AM Activities: <!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Race Clinic <!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Circle Carving Contest <!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Limbo Contest <!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Clinics <!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Novice to Intermediate <!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Intermediate to advanced <!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->After Party and random swag All events are subject to change. Here is a link to our site: http://www.bcmountainresort.com/winter/ The hotels are first rate. I stayed in them for three days last week. We had a loft that slept 12 and the whole place was fantastic. I highly recommend staying there if you come to MAC Tracks. <!--EndFragment-->

For those of you in the Mid Atlantic, here are some links to the discussions about the older events that we had. These will give you an idea of what it is about. http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=10081 http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=8508 http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=14376 http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=17514 This year I have stepped down from being the official organizer. We hired a new events coordinator that is a hardbooter and he asked me if I would help him put it together again. Without having the full responsibility of the event on my shoulders, I didn't have an excuse. ;) Hopefully you guys can all make it out.

Hey ice coasters! After three seasons off, it looks like we will be having MAC Tracks again this year. MAC Tracks is the carving event for the Mid Atlantic Carvers and will be held at Bear Creek Mountain Resort and Conference Center in Macungie, PA. Plans are definitely in their infancy, but I will be sure to bring back updates as they become available.

Gotcha. Very understandable. I would encourage you to let them know that, while it is not your preference, an accomplished rider who rides a lot of switch will still be able to do so on hardboots. Like it did for me, that may make them more interested in trying it. One thing that I always say is that they are still high performance setups - even when going switch.

I hope that was a joke. I loved carving, but held out on race equipment because I like riding switch, riding bumps, and doing park and pipe. One weekend I had the pleasure of riding with several hardbooters who were doing everything in the park regular and switch and doing bumps regular and switch. I was sold. The next time I was out on the slopes was on all new race gear. That was all I needed to see in order to be sold. Sorry. Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

About five years ago, I was working on the mt. and I came carving down a trail to see two kids (18 yo?), about 15 feet apart, laying sprawled out in the middle of the slope - not moving at all. Of course, my first thought was "oh $#!+, they are not moving at all, this collision must have been bad" I signaled a co-worker to come with me and we stopped next to them. Once we were there, the one kid's eyes were closed and I thought he might be unconscious. Then I noticed that the other kid was on his phone (I assumed he may be calling for help). I asked if he was alright. He said "yes" and went back to his convo. I asked if he needed help. By this time, the other kid had opened his eyes. The kid on the phone was like "We're fine. Would you mind? I am on the phone." I then realized that he just thought that this was a good place to sprawl out, lay in the middle of the slope and make a phone call. I asked the other guy - "OK, so what are you doing?" The reply? "I'm just waiting for him." Of course, I asked as politely as I could "Would you guys mind moving to the side of the slope until you are ready to move again, and DON'T lay down - nobody can see you from above."

Thanks for the input, guys.

Yes, SBS, a good carver can do more on a soft setup than a poor carver on a HB setup. Now that I have given you your pat on the back, may I have some positive input to my question? ;) It probably sounds like a loaded question. It is not. I am not a photographer and I just wanted to hear the opinions of the photographers on this board.

I know there are a bunch of decent photogs on here and I was wondering what you thought of this statement: "A good photographer can do much more with a modern point and shoot than a poor photographer can with an SLR."

Boostertwo?

188 SL's? Who makes them - or are they straight? That is just not a slalom length. I can't see why anyone would ride a modern slalom ski that is that long (if it exists). If you guys have not tried modern SL skis, I highly recommend them. They are a blast. I ride Volkl racetiger SL's - my favorite of all that I have tested. They are as close to a race board as I have felt. They have the camber profile of the newer race boards as well. I have found that most snowboard carvers can make the switch to race skis pretty easily.