Steve Wood

Sold off-forum for CAD 215 plus shipping. Board is on its way to Vermont.

This is now also listed on eBay, but in the case of equal offers forum members will get preference.

Additional notes: There are a few scuffs on the topsheet of the kind that are light enough as to only be visible at certain angles. One small topsheet chip on the right edge and two tiny ones on the left. The base is in near perfect condition, with one tiny pock mark < 1 mm. If people would like photos of the base with the storage wax scraped off, I am happy to do so.

I am the original owner of the board which was bought circa 2000. I also bought a GS 173 at the same time which I prefer because of my height and weight, and so this board has not been on the snow much at all. I would estimate about a dozen days. The edges have never been sharpened and the base never ground. Stored waxed. There are some marks on the topsheet from where the bindings were installed. Price: USD 150 / CAD 200 Buyer pays shipping, or Local pickup available in Toronto, or I will be in Collingwood the weekend of March 4/5. Photos and measurements forthcoming. Volkl, Voelkl

I was you. First of all, don't give a second's thought to the fact that you've never snowboarded. I spent the morning on a softboot setup getting a lesson from my hardboot-riding instructor friend and hated it. In the afternoon I put my ski boots back on, switched to his board, and never looked back. Coming from skiing, riding a hardboot setup with forward-facing angles felt so much more biomechanically correct to me. By the end of the weekend I had bought a used board from a consignment shop. My racing boots were really too stiff for snowboarding but I used them anyway for a dozen or so days before springing for a pair of snowboard hardboots. I think it's a great idea. Are ski boots ideal? No. Maybe. Sounds to me that getting into the sport at minimal cost is your definition of ideal for now. Some ski boots will be better than others. Can you get away with it for a little while? Absolutely. Will it hinder your progression in the sport? Not if you're aware of the issues, keep them in check, and adjust when you're ready. Look for a bail-type binding. (Your ski boots won't be compatible with step-in models.) Keep in mind that bindings play a role in flex as well and a flexier binding is going to be more forgiving of user error. If you're in Lange RS130s on TDs/TD2s/TD3s/Cateks life will be a bit harder starting out than if you're in Full Tilt Classics on Race Plates/F2s/TDSWs.

just switch to Mozilla altogether. It supports multiple user profiles, so you can select your identity each time you start the browser. This will get you seperate cookies, history, bookmarks, passwords, and IMHO a better browser to boot. (Perhaps Opera does this too?)

Sportube makes a snowboard hardshell case that unfortunately only extends up to 183cm. Their double ski cases are longer (207cm) but only 11" wide. Doesn't look like they have anything too suitable for the longboard crowd. Anyone used one of these or seen any alternatives? Links: http://www.sportube.com/new_site_final/snowboards.htm

Hi Big D: Interested in the Burner. I tried to e-mail you through this site but you have it turned off in your preferences. Drop me an e-mail or post. Thanks, Steve

Chris, I couldn't flame a fellow Torontonian carver! We have to stick together up here... :) Vern: I have both the RT 173 GS and the RT 163 SL. My short answer is yes, the SL would be better. For my long answer you'll have to wait; I'm just on my way out the door... More soon. Steve

Wow, you are right. Until you pointed it out I didn't realize how misused this term is in my industry. Software applications that are difficult to master are so often said to have a "steep learning curve". In fact used so often in that way that no one ever questions it... "A graph that depicts rate of learning, especially a graph of progress in the mastery of a skill against the time required for such mastery." (American Heritage) So Adam, you're saying it made the process faster; I agree.

I did. On my first day I spent a couple of frustrating hours in softboots, then in the afternoon went straight to hardboots. The difference was night and day, and I never rode softboots again. I attribute it to the fact that I was a skier beforehand, so it's interesting that for you being a skier made things more difficult. My experience (in hardboots, at least) was definitely the opposite. The stance and mechanics were much closer to what I was accustomed to. SW

I did my CASI Level I last season with Alpine168, and we had a Jolly good time. I took the course on my Renntiger. It was a little trickier to do some of the teaching demonstrations in the hard setup. If I were going to actually teach I'd need to get a softie setup, and so I don't really expect to teach much either. It was an excellent way to refine my own riding.

Drat, no possible way I can go... I have four exams in six days next week. How 'bout we make some plans for somewhere on the 14th? SW

Yes, the erg is great! I mostly do longer sessions. What kind of stroke rate / split times would you target for the 3 on/3 off sets? Right now I'm at around 1:50 / 500m on a low damper over 6K. Thanks Steve

Jus to add to the growing list of complaints about UPS and FedEx: A USD15.00 replacement part for my Thinkpad ended up costing me around CAD65.00 once UPS slapped their outlandish brokerage fee on top of everything. I would caution against using FedEx for anything you really care about. I have had to file claims with FedEx on two occasions for smashing video displays clearly labelled fragile and in their original packaging. They had been shipped back to the manufacturer for warranty repair and came back to me in little bits. On another occasion I was shipping a high-end workstation and the FedEx agent watched me fill out the waybill for a declared value of USD25,000.00. Then, upon discovering that the package was just a little too large to fit in the passenger elevator, used the full force of his boot to shove the computer through the doors. I had to look away... Since then I have only shipped sensive gear by Airborne Express and they have a good track record so far. SW