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I am a firm believer in Ray's Way after talking to Ray several times over the phone. I urge you to call or email him and ask him about his white paper on hot waxing. I love his waxer and side edge sharpening tool. Idiot proof.

I got so many comments when I was riding and carrying the Safari around Whistler, I felt like I was dating a supermodel.

Wow, that took a while. Enjoy.

I wouldn't count on it staying that way into March of 2009.

I think my daughter would love to come. My son, alas, has given up racing but he did get his Level 1 and will be teaching at Centennial Ski Hill (90 foot vertical) this season. We should see if we can get a group of Lowriders for the trip. I may retire from the Masters circuit so that I can preserve my perfect record of last place in every race I've entered.

Just be careful with old bindings. Inspect with a magnifying glass. Look for stress cracks or anything bent. If in doubt, discard and buy new.

Dave: I've been playing hockey for 40 years and my slapshot can barely bend the twine. I'm more of a Gary Dornhoefer, garbage goal kind of player. But I get your meaning. I plan to do more riding this year and will try to follow through on some of the suggestions here. I should also get some competent instruction.

Dr. D: What did you end up ordering? A D, D+ or D++?

I strongly suggest we do not meet at Mt. Tremblant - at least not for riding. As Ernie mentioned, it is way too crowded on weekends. A lot of familes, cougars, kids and gapers. Adding 20-30 carvers to the mix is a recipe for disaster. Saveur, Avila, Mont Blanc, even Gray Rocks would be plenty enough vert for us. And we will have no trouble finding room around the bar. They might even be happy to have us there.

Let me be the first to say - "I'm in".

I have a buddy who wants to order one but he has size 12 feet. Rides softies at 30 degree angles. Do you think he will get overhang? Dupraz site says the width at the back inserts is 26.4 cm. I don't think it should be problem but wanted to check with any big-footed Dupraz riders.

I can see that Carve Father is stylin' with the hands, particularly in the first scene but I really like his body position through the turns. Once in a while, I do these turns right and it feels great but, I'm just not consistent enough. Great tips guys.

This season, I'm going to focus on improving my heelside turns. I don't have any video but surfing through YouTube, I found this vid of a Japanese rider and I would say his turns look exactly like mine. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQeIDVmKxGE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQeIDVmKxGE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> You'll notice on his heelsides, he counter-rotates his upper body and never really gets his front shoulder past the middle line of the board. His bum goes towards the snow and not his hip. It looks very much like the kind of turn you would make on softie gear. Now this is what I want my heelsides to look like: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRZka_TymQ8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRZka_TymQ8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> His turns are much more relaxed and his hip much closer to the snow. Notice how his chest pretty much faces the same direction from turn to turn. So, besides talent, what are the key fundamental differences between the two techniques? How do I get from video 1 to video 2? Apologies to the rider in the first video if he is on this board.

That's probably the best of year to go. There should be a 200 inch base by then and you will get mild weather.

Just be careful not to fold the nose when riding like that. I seem to have one bad, board or bone breaking crash every season riding that way. I would say ease into a more aggressive, attacking style.

Nice heelside turn too. I wish mine were just as good.

Looks like Hilton has the hardbooter demographic nailed.

There is a big Whistler crew here but they will tell you the same thing - expect anything from a powder dump to a rainstorm and rock boarding. Often, you get both on the same day depending on your elevation. If memory serves, the last two seasons were exceptional, the season before that was pathetic. For gear, you could actually just arrive with boots and bindings and rent or demo from Prior. It's about the only mountain where you can do that and be confident you can get good rental boards of the alpine variety.

I'm guessing you will love the board but if you decide it's too long, I have a Volkl RT 168 in perfect shape if you'd like to trade.

My metal Coiler has a 9.5m radius. It turns on a dime. Unfortunately, it is much more prone to edge damage than my glass/wood boards. If you own one, you probably know what I mean.

Stephane: Most metal board owners will tell you that they are just not as durable as glass/wood boards. Since you like to keep your boards a long time, you may want to stay with the traditional construction. FWIW, my next board purchase is non-metal but it's a powder board.

Definitely the wrong board for you. I'll offer you $100 for it. :) Seriously though, it's not so much the length but the stiffness. You're at the lower end of the recommended weight range. If you are an aggressive rider, it may work for you. Otherwise, it might hamper your riding since you may have trouble decambering it. In powder, stiff is okay. In crud, I like something a bit softer so that it absorbs the irregularities. I'm not sure how old you are but if you're still growing, hang onto the board. It has no expiry date. If you decide to sell, I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting rid of it.

I have a cousin in Whistler so the really expensive part is taken care of. However, I expect to get jacked big time on airfares and tickets. I'm doing it this way - staying in Whistler for 3-4 days, taking in whatever events I can and watching the rest on TV. I'm not going to do the Whistler - Van run since I expect it to be madness. So, I will miss the snowboarding events at Cypress but Rob says, they are better on TV.

Me on wireless - Airport Extreme base but running g, not n. I can't believe you guys are getting those kinds of speeds. We are throttled big time here in Canada. I don't know anyone getting faster than 9,000.

7000 d/l 500 u/l This is with cable. I was with DSL until recently and it was throttled at 1500 d/l.