skategoat

Neil: What did you think about the guy on CBC who said this whole DART thing is the wrong way to go about it. I tend to agree. Where is the ROI in having this military unit standing by, ready to lend "disaster assistance" when there are no disasters to assist. Then, when they are finally needed, they sit there mired in politics and redtape for 2 critical weeks. I heard an interview with one of the soldiers who has been with the unit for 3 frickin' years and this is his first deployment. The DART budget could be better used by funding existing agencies, IMO. Or, just pay private contractors to do their job as needed. It doesn't take a soldier to operate a water purification unit. I think it's around just for optics. Display the big maple leaf, justify the defense budget, make people look good. Henry

I had problems with the toe box on my Raichles. I fixed it by molding some Intuition thermal liners. The key is to put some sort of cap over your toe then put on the liners after baking them. This will form a small void area inside the toe box to give the little piggies some wiggle room. Good instructions at www.yyzcanuck.com

I measured the effective edge, found centre and then centred my stance equidistant from that point. I'm going to try moving both bindings one insert back. As for angles, the main problem is my back foot. I find I can set my front foot at anywhere up to 60 degrees and feel comfortable but my back foot is not comfortable at anything steeper than 45. I find my leg trying to twist back to a shallower angle. Good think I bought Cateks for my back-ordered Coiler. That will allow me to play with cant and lift.

After 3-4 hours of riding aggressively, my rear leg thigh starts to burn and eventually cramp up. I'm talking about a really bad cramp. I feel it most on the outside of the thigh. I'm wondering if it might be caused by improper setup. I'm sure I am not leaning back. I really work to drive the knees into the nose of the board. Right now, I'm riding TD2s, zero lift and cant. 47 degrees front, 42 back. 19 inch stance, centred on the board. I'm 5'10" with 31" inseam and 190lbs. I also enjoy long walks on moonlit beaches and I'm turned off by mean people. Oh wait, wrong forum. Any thoughts?

Rob: I'm not kidding you when I say you looked way smoother on the Coiler. Maybe the longer length was able to absorb the bumps better. On my Prior, I have step-in TD2s. On my Volkl, I have regular bails. I use the same boots for both. Mondo point 27.5. I also have a pair of brand new Cateks waiting to go on the Coiler that Bruce will get to real soon now (no complaints. I knew about the backlog when I ordered). I might take you up on the offer but actually prefer to try out someone's Coiler Race Carve or Free Carve. I ordered a Coiler without having ever ridden one. A little preview demo ride might be nice. My only problem might be binding angles. I ride 47/42 right now since the Prior is pretty wide. See you on the slopes. Henry BTW, I can email you the larger copy of the video. I did it with my digital camera so it's only VGA quality, not broadcast.

Set it up brother. I'll be there. To reduce the risk and save you from sitting around waitng for people, have people Paypal you for the lift ticket in advance. Remember to add whatever service fees Paypal dings you with.

They had a local kid in Whistler who fell into a tree well during a school trip. Got separated from the group. Since then, they equip all kids with Fox40 whistles. Fleaman, glad to hear you're okay.

Chris: I think in the video, Rob was still on his Madd. I saw him later on his Coiler and he looked a lot more comfortable. I think he needs to sell me his Madd. See you next time.

Crowds - ya. I heard there were 9 busloads of students there. When I pulled in at 9AM, the parking lot was already half full. By 1:00PM, the runs were really choppy. I was getting thrown around pretty good. Still, Gabe and Rob and Kevin (?) were still carving smooth turns. Those guys can ride. I packed it in a 2:00. We need one of our private club friends to invite us to Osler or Alpine for an Ontario Expression Session.

Must've been kids. Pros don't want computers unless they are laptops. One thing you could try is to to the seediest bar within a 10 mile radius and tell them you're loooking for computers and cameras. This worked for a friend of mine. He got everything back for $500. Another thing to be careful of - sometimes they will target your house again in a month or so. That's cause they know you replaced everything with insurance money.

Ran into a whole pile of hardbooters today at Mount St. Louis/Moonstone (not literally). Luckily, I had my digital camera and captured three of them. I'll let the individual riders identify themselves. Movie (3.5MB)

Peter, see if you can get over the St. Louis side. Apparently, a bunch of hard booters will be riding Timberline. I also like the two peak runs - Stretcher and Turkey Shoot. Both have to be abandoned by late morning since they get a ton of traffic. Going to bed now to get first tracks!

I meant to post this last year but procrastinated on scanning it. This was the cover of the trail map for Blue Mountain in Collingwood, Ontario. Anyone we know? And what kind of board is that? Full Tilt? Never heard of it.

If I could do only one mountain, I'd do Big White. Just for the sheer size of it and for the open bowls that you won't find at either Apex or Silver Star. The Putnam Creek face of Silver Star is mostly black diamond but there were a couple of blue cruisers that I really enjoyed. Also, it was practically empty on that side and it was a weekend. Also, there was a cool little restaurant at the peak on that side that had great food and atmosphere. Even if you never head over to Putnam, there is plenty of runs on the Vance Creek side. I don't think you'll tire of them.

Rob: I'll be looking for you ripping it up on the bbaM. I ride a Prior 4WD with Whistler graphics. Blue helmet, grey jacket, black pants. Two kids in tow. See you there. My kids are 12 and 9. They both ditched their skis are are snowboarding exclusively. Not yet on carving gear but they are definitely interested.

Both my kids started out skiing but have switched full time to boards. My son is 12 and ditched his skiis when he was 9. I'm slowly planting the carving seed into his brain. He already has nice carving form with his softies and likes to ride fast. My 9 year old daughter started last winter because Dad managed to bring two mismatching ski boots. I had just bought her snowboard boots and didn't think she was ready but I had no choice. She took to it right away and loves to catch air. She could turn into a jibber. The problem I have is deciding when to take the plunge into hardboots. Do I drop $300 on a pair of boots only to have my kid outgrow it in one season? I already do that with golf shoes, skates, rollerblades and soft boots, not to mention street shoes and boots. Do I want to add to that headache? And there's no half-back trade-in programs on carving gear. In total, I must have at least 100 pairs of various footgear in my house.

I'm planning to be at MSLM by 9:00AM but with two kids in tow, it might be closer to 10 when I get there. Where do you ride, Moonstone or St. Louis peak chair? In Quebec, I've been to: Mt. Ste. Marie - not recommended. Too narrow. Mt. Ste. Anne - highly recommended. Lots of choices of runs with it being a broad mountain. But, it gets dang cold. Bromont - recommended due to low cost and nice cruisers. Can get crowded on weekends. Mt. Tremblant - auckh! Can't stand the place except for very late season. Most of the Gatineau hills - kind of smallish. Only go if you're staying with in-laws in Ottawa and you just gotta get out of the place. Never been to Le Massif but I hear it's the best of the bunch.

Anywhere but Mt. Tremblant.

FYI, the No Gomers are now made by Auclair or at least have the Auclair name on them. I saw a single pair at Skiis and Biikes in Mississauga. I've always wondered why the No Gomers were so hard to get. I guess distribution was a challenge for a coupla doctors. Maybe Auclair will make them more available.

Your profile won't allow email. Email me at skategoat25 AT yahoo DOT ca

Peter: As you know Microsoft doesn't build, they just acquire. Their anti-spyware code came from an acquisition of Giant Software which had a good reputation.

Guys: Microsoft is pulling a Netscape on the anti-spyware vendors with their own, free solution. It's available as public beta here. http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/default.mspx I, for one, welcome any effective malware countermeasures even if it is part of the Evil Empire's plan for world domination. I've been testing it for a few days and it looks very good. It picked up adware that was missed by Ad-aware and Spybot. I also like the "Cover your tracks" feature in the Advanced Tools area. If you're skeptical, check out this review: http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/ms_antispyware_preview.asp Recommended.

I definitely did not see all of Big White. And I wasn't looking for steeps or cliffs. I'm a blue square/black diamond kind of guy. Double blacks out West still scare the sh*t out of me. I have two kids to support.

Good idea. I need chains anyways. Last week, I managed to get my 4Runner stuck with two wheels in soft snow and two wheels on ice. I suffered the indignity of calling a tow truck. A real blow to my manhood. I already booked the Motel 6. I'm headed to Mammoth come hell or high water.

Do rental agencies offer chains? In Southern California? Is the guy at the LAX Hertz counter even going to know what tirechains are? I guess I'll find out.