skategoat

Sounds to me like you're rushing things. Reminds me of some ambitious dads I know who rushed their kids into golf or hockey and ended up regretting it. Usually, if a kid gets pushed into something he/she is not ready for, it totally backfires. Teaching a 5 year old to snowboard is very difficult. Teaching him in hard boots is a guaranteed disaster. Get him comfortable on snow first. That means skis. Much, much easier for a little kid to handle. Then move to the snowboard but don't expect him to start carving. For your sister, can't really say if she's ready since you don't state her age. But, finding boots in that size is going to be a challenge onto itself. Lots of threads here on teaching kids to board.

Russian defenceman Viacheslav Fetisov took in his first major league baseball game in Arlington, Texas, this year but didn't stay long: "Two innings. One hour. I leave." A similar story unfolded when another Russian, Alexei Zhamnov, took in a minor league ball game in Winnipeg. Midway through, Zhamnov asked incredulously: "Do they shower after this?"

I had about 60 days on my Prior 4WD and had Bruce V. put it on his stiffness measuring device. I don't have a baseline from when it was new but Bruce thought the stiffness was exactly what it should be for that size and type of board. I think it's got a lot of years left.

Looking for skis for those days where it's too choppy to ride my alpine board. Would that length work for me? 190lbs? They seem awfully short.

I remember reading a story in National Geographic about a guy who bushwhacked his way across Africa (coast to coast) wearing Teva sandals and using duct tape as bandages and moleskin. It was something like a 2000 mile walk.

Kip: Last time I checked, in your neck of the woods, you could get a suit made up for the price of a Starbucks latte. HK P.S. When you coming to North America for some snow?

Anyone have any good ideas on DIY board sleeves? What kind of material, closure, straps, etc.? I have pretty good sewing skills (worked a summer in a men's clothing shop as the "fine tailor" who hemmed your pants) and would like to tackle the project before the snow flies. I'm thinking of single board sleeves, not multi-board bags.

Freddy: Good job on the site. Self-marketing is a good thing for a young up-and-comer. I like the media clips. You might want to make sure they are all properly dated though. A blog's a great idea but keep in mind it's a lot of work and if it gets stale, it's worse than not having one at all. Hope to see you at some of the Nor-Ams. Henry

Intrawest - good rep? They are reviled in Quebec where they have turned an affordable local mountain into a bloated corporate "destination" where it's all about selling timeshares and filling overpriced hotel rooms. Mammoth regulars should be thrilled that Intrawest is out of the picture. Now if only they could unload Tremblant.

Okay, a little OT but I know a lot of you guys ride and if anyone has the upgrade bug, I'd like to talk about taking a good condition, all mountain type bike off your hands. I'm nervous as hell about buying a bike off eBay with the amount of money involved and the high possibility of it being stolen. So, who's got one? Medium size (17" ish). Willing to consider hardtail or full suspension. Looking at $800 range but willing to go up or down depending on condition, quality and components.

Gabe: Westjet is status quo for now but rumour has it that they will impose same restrictions. It's all about fuel cost. Fuel is the #1 variable cost for airlines. I guess it makes sense that if you pack 200lbs of luggage and I bring on just a carry-on, you should get dinged for the weight. When are you going to Kelowna? Email me with some details. I might come along. I have friends there who would love to ride with you. Henry

I don't recall ever seeing curbside check-in at a Canadian airport. The skycaps take your stuff to the regular airline counter. One thing they don't do is weigh passsengers. If it comes down to it, I'm gonna look funny wearing my snowboard boots and helmet on the plane.

Air Canada has dropped it's free baggage allowace from 32kg to 23kg (that's 70 to 50lbs). Anything over 23kg gets charged an extra $35.00. Now, here's the worst part - if you bag weighs more than 32kg (70lbs), Air Canada will try to direct you to the cargo division. And that 32kg bag will cost you $170. And to guarantee that your luggage gets to the destination on time, you have to get to the airport 3 hours in advance. I just weighed 2 snowboards with bindings, a pair of boots and a travel bag - typical gear for a trip. The scale hit 20kg. That gives me only 3kg wiggle room. If you pack your gear wet on the return trip, I'll bet it weighs more than 23kg. Pack carefully and weigh your stuff before you head to the airport.

After recently upgrading my home theatre, I can throw in a few lessons that I've learned. - my expensive subwoofer (Monitor Audio) has the annoying habit of going into a sleep mode when not active then suddenly popping to life when the low frequencies kick in. There's an audible pop as it does this. Watch for this. - my Samsung DLP TV has the dreaded video lag problem. That is, when you pump the sound through the AV receiver, the video lags a microsecond behind the sound. My receiver has a time delay feature but I can't get it dialed in. I read that this is a problem for some DLP chips. There is a processing delay in the video. The TV is going back as soon as I figure out what else to buy. - HDTV is a disappointment. The only thing that gives you that eye-popping visual clarity that you see in the showroom is the NFL broadcasts. Most other sources look a little bit better than SD and that's it. Golf on ABC this weekend absolutely sucked. - TIVO is an absolute must. It will change the way you view TV. For instance, I start watching my sports broadcasts about 45 minutes into the actual start time. I then ffw through the commercials and other delays and by end of the game, I am caught up and watching live. I can watch a hockey game in a little over 1 hour this way. - the best part about home theatre is shopping for the components.

A bit 'o trivia: One single sporting event drew more viewers in 2004 than the Super Bowl? Hint: this is a hockey thread.

How about just posting a price instead of playing the "make an offer" game?

retro, I can tell you that it did sell. I bought it.

skatha - come on man, look at these pads. He never suffered a puck related injury as far as I know and last time I saw him, he was walking just fine. Now look at these monsters and tell me things didn't get a little carried away. Speaking of goalies, here's my prediction. The backup goalie will become a shootout specialist. His job will be to study the opposition's top shooters and practice nothing but breakaways with a special shootout coach. The regular goalie will get pulled and the shootout goalie will get inserted. You heard it here first folks.

True story - a consultant at my company was having trouble moving some files from one directory to another. I told him "just open a command prompt". He responded, "what's that?". This guy was a Lotus Notes developer. A developer.

Don't understand hybrids. You can never recoup the extra cost. I guess it's a statement vehicle like SUVs. If the idea is to reduce our energy footprint, you're best off buying a used Civic, Echo or Tercel.

Randy: That was supposed to be a joke. Went over big.

I felt the same way about the lockout. It didn't bother me at all (well, maybe a bit around playoff time). I actually vowed to boycott hockey when the lockout ended. I was sick and tired of the greedy, millionairre players badmouthing the greedy, billionairre owners. And Gary Bettman? I'd like to put him on skates and take him out to my Saturday night shinny games. They wouldn't be so gentlemanly with Betts on the ice. Then, something interesting happened. The rules committee stopped talking and decided to make some significant changes that might make a Paul Kariya suddenly more valuable than a Darius Kasparitus. Chris Pronger got signed by a small market team. That woke me up. Then Iginla signed. And Forsberg moved. Then Heatley got traded to Ottawa. They now have my interest. Game on. Allee, I love Jerome but I think the Oilers are going to take the Division. Calgary's luck ran out last year. Wait, make that 2 years ago.

Placed my order. I just want to get some of that Bomber Butter for which I can think of much more creative uses than lubricating your bindings. Now, does anyone need a roommate for SES?

I think the lockout was the best thing that could have happened to the NHL. It opened up a lot of eyes and minds. The league is desperate to win back its fans and I think for once it's serious about the obstruction rules. Most of the new rules, are good things - with one exception. The no-red-line rule is, I think, a mistake. It will cause defencemen to hang back in their zone to guard against the big pass. It also does not reward stick-handling defencemen. Time will tell how the teams adjust. Leafs are looking like the creaky old men that they are. Can't get too excited about the addition of Allison, Lindros and Marius Czerswhateverthehellhislastnameiski. Oilers are looking good. Pronger is going to be a killer on the powerplay. Vancouver is going to be a force with Hit Man Bertuzzi back in the lineup. Game of the night is Toronto-Ottawa. Watch for McCabe to get burned so many times his shorts will catch fire.

I have fairly normal feet but I had a real problem with UPZ boots. They hurt like hell and I couldn't finish my day with them. To his credit, Dan Yoja took them back with a 10% knocked off because I had used them. I thought that was pretty fair. So my advice is to really make sure they fit before taking them on the hill.