John Bell

How much camber is a Prior 4x4 164 supposed to have? How much does it begin with new? Thanks!

Oliver--Erstmal, herzlich Wilkommen! I am fairly sure that they do not distinguish between hard and soft boots. You could call the resort to make sure, but I am pretty sure. Also near there is Park City Mountain Resort, which I have been to. It was fantastic. Very deep powder. The town of Park City also has lots of restaurants and nightlife, and there is a free bus that runs between the town and the slopes. Good luck, and enjoy your trip!

I think we all have read these signs at the resorts, and yes, I realize that one has implicity agreed to abide by these rules by buying a lift ticket. But I'm sure that rule wasn't intended to relieve everyone downhill of anyone else from all responsibility and common sense. When someone who is stopped downhill of you suddenly starts moving into your path, without looking, when you are 15 feet away, are you really at fault if you hit them? I have a feeling that the answer (at least in the USA) is probably yes, unfortunately. And what about people who let their snowplowing children take up an entire narrow run, bumbling back and forth as you try to pass? Are they truly in the right no matter what happens? Something I do to warn people in these situations is yell at them. I just kind of go "Hep hep hep!" to let them know I'm there. I think it's averted a collision a time or two. Of course, with iPods on the slopes, this may not do much good anymore. (Which is why I think they should be banned. How often have you known someone was in your blind spot only by the swoosh of their displaced snow?) I'm no lawyer, but I know that negligence is defined as failure to do what an ordinary, reasonable person would do in a situation. I think we'd all agree that on a ski slope, that means looking before moving suddenly in any direction--and that includes looking uphill.

Dshack, isn't housing super-expensive in Frisco and Portland? I'd suggest you consider federal-government internships in DC. Housing is expensive there, too, but there are cheap places for interns to stay. There are so many agencies looking for interns. (And a lot of NGOs, too.) With your econ and IT background, foreign-language skill, and writing ability (evinced by your correct use of a semicolon), I think there are several you'd have a good shot at. Good luck!

The guy on the phone had me leave a message for the group-sales director, who'll be back in the morning. Will post the info he gives me.

Right. This guy who e-mailed me implied he'd been hit with a brokerage fee even when using CP/USPS.

This is a video posted on the Videos forum. There's a person skiing from a hang glider! Wildest stunt I think I've ever seen. (Edited because I originally posted the wrong link. This one is in a thread titled "Cool as all get out!")

You have a point. But who knows; maybe there's some fine print somewhere in the shipping agreement that you implicity agree to by accepting the item. Although I would think that such would only apply to the person who purchased the shipping (i.e., the seller). Still, it would get real annoying to have them bugging me all the time, even if I know I'm not gonna pay them.

Someone (an American) who seems to want to remain anonymous e-mailed me and said this: "No duty. However, I have bought dozens of boards from Canada. You DO occasionally get hit with 'Brokerage' or 'Inspection' fees from time to time. It is typically between 25-75$ charge. This happens up to a month after you have recieved it. They are VERY aggressive about collection." I asked this person if this was the case with boards bought from private sellers and shipped via Canada Post: "All of the above. ... from anyone and everyone. It is their crossing the boarder that is the issue. Some get directed to an inspection service 'Brokerage'; you never know when. Just get a bill in the mail a month or so later. I consider it when I buy from anyone in Canada. I ask myself 'Will it still be a good deal if I get nailed an extra 30-50$ in a month?' If the answer is 'Yes,' I buy it." In case anyone searches this topic in the future, I'd feel remiss if I didn't include this info.

I read on the ECES site that the rate for a couple is $150, which pays for both Friday and Saturday nights. Has anyone heard from them what they will charge for just one weekend night? (We're thinking of driving up Thurs and staying that night and Friday night, then driving back to NY Saturday night.) Thanks if anyone has the answer. (I e-mailed the inn but haven't heard back yet. Will post any info I receive.

BadBrad, do you mind if I still the photo for my avatar?

I think Scott in this thread has exemplified the quote from Thucydides: "Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most." (I only know that one because I think Homer Simpson also said it at some point.)

And Scott, I don't blame you one bit. I hate crowds too. Some people don't mind 'em; some do. I only have so many weekends that aren't devoted to something else, so I too want to get the most bang for my buck. (Plus I smacked into a skier once--his fault, of course. But it's made me even more crowd-leery than before.) I'm the odd duck who vastly prefers Bolton Valley (VT) over Stowe. Now shoot me if this is obvious--but re. your question: what about Snowshoe? I see you're in WV, so I'm sure you've been there a lot. I've been there just once, but it seemed very uncrowded to me. My only beef was that none of the restaurants were open midweek--and OK, it's not huge, but for the mid-Atlantic I think it's gotta be the best. Certainly better than Canaan Valley, I think. I haven't been to the Poconos, but a friend from CT tells me it's full of insufferable a-holes from NY. (I just moved here from DC, so I get to diss on NYers.):D BTW, cool avatar! I worked at Kitty Hawk Kites for a summer. But hang 1 is as far as I got. Best wishes to your wife in a quick recovery, and welcome to BOL! It's a great group of people. (I'm pretty new here myself.)

Tonja--I have a pair of black CB brand Gore-Tex pants with full side zips. They are size 32 (waist), and the inseam is 29 inches from crotch to the bottom of the leg. I got them 7 or 8 years ago. Now that I think about it, that waist size is probably a bit big on you, so they might ride down a little bit (onto your hips). They do have a sort of built-in cinch belt with a metal-loop buckle, though. They have one zipper pocket. They're overall in good condition, but they do have a small area that could be repaired; it's the fuzzy part of the velcro closure above the zipper fly--not the hook side, but the loop side. It's come loose from the pants on two edges, and I never bothered to get it mended. It'd probably be $5 or so if you had a shop do it. Or you could do it yourself. It still attaches OK, but you need to use the belt thingy with it. Made in USA, if you can believe that. Anyway, I haven't worn them in a while. (I'm too fat, and my butt gets too cold on the lift, so I wear a ski bib now.) If you want them, I'll ship them out from the NY Manhattan 10017 post office tomorrow. Priority mail on the USPS website says it would be two days to zip 02114 (Back Bay Boston--first zip I found on Google). I wouldn't count on that, though; there's a chance they might take longer. But if your trip isn't till Wednesday, then I'm sure they'd be there well before that. Friday arrival would be likely, I think, but I can't guarantee it. I'm thinking $50, including shipping via Priority Mail (which should be $5 based on 1 lb. weight). If you want them, just PayPal the money to my e-mail address (belljohnr at yahoo [dot] com) before 10 tonight (and send me your address), and I'll get them sent tomorrow.

Thanks, Jose! Yeah, I'd definitely be up for riding with you sometime. I would probably slow you down a lot, being a newbie, but we could always do a couple runs together and then meet up later so you can rip it up at your level. Feb. 9--I think that would work for me. Hope you're all patched up by then! Re. Okemo, my wife and I are gonna stay at an inn with another couple (so the ladies can go shopping at the outlets in Manchester). For any board trips I do, I'll probably just drive; I have a car here parked just off of FDR. (BTW, I posted a reply to your ride-board post a couple months ago.) So how's the shoulder? I blew my ACL out a few years ago, and they gave me some pretty hi-octane schedule-3 happy pills. Sounds like you got some good medical care, though. I mean, whenever they put metal in you, they must know what they're doing, I figure. Mott Street--I actually know that one. The wife and I did Thanksgiving at Peking Duck House. Fantastic! There's one up here in Midtown too, but the prices are way better at the one in Chinatown. I'll have to make a trip down there for New Wonton Garden, though. Alright--heal up quick! John

And for your great advice as well.

Hey, thanks! Nothing I love better than a good old-fashioned cabal. If I get time to head up there soon, I'll shoot you an e-mail. See ya!

You and Buell were great sources of advice (and boots!). Can't wait to dig more trench than a doughboy.

I just bought on eBay a black 2006 Prior 4X4 164 from Muymal, a BOL member. So you can all breathe a sigh of relief now--no more tedious requests for help from my direction! (Unless it's on the slope.) Big thanks to the many folks here who have generously shared their insights with me. There are just too many to name. But the biggest thank-you of course goes to Fin Doyle and his Bomber crew for providing this site, free of charge, with no advertising. Can't wait to hit the slopes as soon as I can. A trip to Okemo is in the works for February; maybe I'll see a few of you there. (I'll post on the ride board when I go.) See you in the "area under the carve"!

Tool Can, I'm interested. Please send pics and asking price. Thanks! John

Hopefully you haven't sold it yet. It looks to be light gray in the photos; is that the case, or is it white? Never mind about the "gift--used" notation I asked about before. I found out via our trusty BOL compadres that us Yanks won't get charged a duty. So I'll probably have you insure it at my cost. Hope to hear from you.

Fantastic. Glad to know the answer for certain. Hopefully this will help others with the same question in the future. As for our weak dollar: At least we still have Australia.

I just searched the forum a few times and have been reading and reading to find the answer to this, but all the discussion is for slightly different situations. If an American buying a used (Canadian-made) board from a private individual in Canada has the seller send the board via Canada Post and insure the board for its actual cost (thus precluding a "used gift--no value" notation), will the American be charged a duty, tax or other fee by anyone (US Customs, USPS, etc.)? If you have firsthand knowledge, that would be great. (Previous posts dealt with which carrier to use, shipping to Canada, or buying from a Canadian company.) Thanks as always.

Lonerider--You just named like, all my favorite foods. But wow, that's amazing to lose that much weight. Yeah, I gotta summon some of that will-power stuff. Hard to resist when such fatty, delicious food is so readily available. Here in NY, it's arguably cheaper (and easier) to eat out than to cook for oneself--and those gyros are the cheapest, quickest, deliciousest thing there is, at least for me. The treadmill calls!

Boris--Yeah, I know I've been taking forever. But lately I've been outta town on the weekends (sometimes longer) anyway. But I don't mind a little second-hand motivation. Jack--Thanks for the succinct yet useful reply. QQ: Thanks for info--and the offer! I may take you up on that sometime. Hope you're recuperating without too much pain. (Saw your posting about the injury.) Yeah, I just now went and scarfed a chicken gyro because they were out of lamb. (When it comes to meat animals, the cuter the face, the sweeter the taste.) But the chicken was great nonetheless. And dumplings! Right on, brother! I am all about the steamed seafood dumplings at Mee Noodle (2nd Ave at 49th). E-mail me if you're ever out this way and feel like meeting up there. I work at home, so I can always take a lunch break. All this talk about food makes me wanna gain another 10 lbs.