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Bobby: I'd like to buy these for my soft boots. My soft boots are size 10 which I think translates to 27.5. Does anyone know if the 27 expands to fill a 27.5 shell? I would think so judging by the way these things balloon out when heated. Henry

My boots are Raichle 324s. I ride in "walk" mode and I even have the cant screws loosened to allow some side to side movement. Still, when I get into my soft boots, I feel disconnected from my board. Too much slop. It's not about flex, more about responsiveness. I think there is a difference. Your setup doesn't have to be stiff to be responsive.

Sorry man, I wasn't trying to criticise. It was more a general comment. I've had a couple of deals aborted recently because a seller didn't want to deal with the "hassle" of shipping to Canada. It's one 2"x2" blue slip you have to fill out that tell Customs what's in the package. That's the extra hassle. The whole deal with insurance sounds like it could've happened with a domestic shipment. I've had two experiences with insurance claims. One, a paintball gun that arrived damaged (domestic shipment). I sent photos of the damage to the sender, he sent them to Canada Post. A week later, Canada Post sent a cheque to the sender and he refunded my PayPal account. The second was a very expensive set of speakers sent by FedEx. One arrived with a dented corner. FedEx claimed "improper packaging" and refused to cover it. The speaker was double boxed. So there you have it - for me, dealing with Canada Post was far easier when it came to insurance. I don't know if any of that is relevant to your bad transaction though. To me, it sounds like it's an issue with the seller and not the carrier. How do you know if a seller is trustworthy or not? I think we need a feedback system.

It's been said many times here - use USPS and Canada Post. Do not use couriers, no matter what. I have been party to many cross-border snowboard shipments using the respective postal services and never once had a problem. No hidden charges. No brokerage fees. And only once did it take more than a week to get the board. It's such a piece of cake, I don't know understand the trepidation.

I have a pair of Cartels in black missing both of the forward lean adjusters. They're black with chrome levers but I'm not picky about the colour. I never missed the adjusters myself but I want to give these bindings to a friend and would like to replace the parts before I do. Anyone have maybe a broken pair and want to part with the adjusters? I'm pretty sure other non-Cartel bindings have the same part. My local shop has been unresponsive on this. I think it's a problem with the distributor not having the part. I also emailed Burton but got zero response.

Alex/Sean: I would love to see some independent reviews on this board. Perhaps ship a loaner out to both EC and non-EC style riders - guys who ride Swoards, Axis, 4WDs and other wide boards. I think that would be the best way to introduce a totally new shape like this. I can suggest a couple of riders myself (no, not me). Henry

Bordy: Good to know you are around in case a binding breaks or I bring the wrong gear. I'll send you an email. Henry

I'm going to ride it exclusively early season to see if it handles the groom. If so, I'll probably leave the RCII at home. Besides, if I'm jonesing for a race board, I'm sure Bordy will loan me one of his Kesslers.

Mike: Actually, it's a 183. Bought it off Bomber last season and only rode it once in the spring slush. It's 6.7 flex and that's about all I can remember about it. The rest I'd have to measure. Any other Park City/Utah tips are appreciated. I'm watching the weather daily hoping it just dumps like hell out there. Henry

I just pulled the trigger on flights to Salt Lake City in early January. I'm missing WTC by a couple of weeks but I'm hoping I can still meet up with some of you Wasatch riders. I'm psyched for this since I've never skied or ridden Utah. I'm staying at Park City but might try some of the other resorts. So, I have a big quiver and I want to take only two boards. So help me choose. 182 Coiler All-Mountain 178 Dynastar 4807 174 Coiler RCII 174 Prior 4WD 168 Volkl RT GS 164 Volkl Spline 156 Burton Fish Or should I buy two new boards Stick with plates and hardboots or bring along the softies?

Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger were fairly true to Fleming's books. I don't think Dench is that bad really. Now John Cleese as Q (a character invented for the movies), he should've been taken out back and shot long ago.

I want to see you ride that thing at Snow Valley.

I'm with Neil. Bond films got way too cartoony. Death rays, evil, mutated villains. How about the caucasian guy who pulls off his face to reveal he is really a Korean with diamonds encrusted in his cheek? Did you not laugh when Bond entered North Korea on a ... surfboard? Casino Royale's plot was plausible and Craig is probably the best actor to take on the role - ever. The fight scenes were fantastic.

Try the same thing with "surveys'. For every question they ask you, they have to answer one of yours. Ask them increasingly intimate questions and you will soon be rid of them.

bjvirks: Forget your provider. Gmail and Google give you everything for free and it's way easier to use than ftp space, lousy ISP webmail services, etc. Google rules the world of free Internet services. Kent: Send me email and I'll send you an invite.

Get a Gmail account (run by Google). Download Picasa. Upload your photos to Picasa Web Albums. 100% free, dead simple but with dial up, it will still take a long time to upload a large file. If high speed is available to you, why wouldn't you get it? What is it, maybe $15 more a month than dial-up? What's your time worth?

99% sure it will work. I have a pair of Line boots which I think are exactly the same and the Intec heel pieces fit no problem.

You guys should read Chris's book - "To the Edge and Back". Great stories about the World Cup circuit, the history of snowboarding and of course, his transplant and subsequent comeback. One of the better athlete memoirs I've read.

Remember Stemmle almost getting ripped in half at the Hahnehkamm? #1 worst crash I've ever seen.

Watch the site for a couple of days and see if you can resist buying something. You'll get it.

Steep and Cheap has been very good this week. Some great goggle deals and Smartwool clothing. I love/hate SAC. The UPS guy is getting to know me by first name.

We needed a place to meet near Barrie and Snow Valley was kind enough to offer us some space at the last minute after a previous venue fell through. Great people at Snow Valley.

If you plan to dump the car after 3 years, you can buy just about anything. OTOH, if you plan to keep it past it's warranty, my experience tells me to stay away from Chrysler. If I'm asked to pick between a Subaru and a Chrysler, that's a total no-brainer. Especially as a snow vehicle. There's a reason why you see Subie after Subie in Vermont. When my '96 Caravan needed a new tranny at 80,000kms. (off warranty). My brother's '99 Grand Caravan needed THREE transmissions before it hit 125,000 kms. Then one day, the motor decided to throw a rod through the block. Despite my urgings to push the POS into Lake Ontario, he fixed it again to the tune of $3,000, drove it for another 10k and sold it for $1,000. If you want to see a horror story, check out this poor sap: http://www.donotbuydodge.ca/ Ask any Mercedes enthusiast what he thinks of Daimler Chrysler. Henry

I just got off the phone with the GM at Snow Valley and he tells me they might have enough snow to open this weekend. I found that hard to believe but he said they can make enough snow overnight to open a run or two. I'm there for an AOS meeting on Saturday so I'll bring my rock board, just in case. BTW, did you see that Lake Louise World Cup race on CBC? The racers were wearing these stick-on pads on their faces to ward off the frostbite. I've never seen that before. -27 which is just the right temperature for a Canadian boy to take Gold.

I would never touch a Chrysler product again after experiences I have had in the past. My '96 Dodge Caravan and my bother's '99 Caravan both experienced multiple transmission failures. Chrysler is all about styling. Their engineering sucks. Subies, on the other hand, have fantastic reliability records.