Miltie

I bought one over the summer and have used it on a few older boards that were base high. Seemed to work pretty well although I need to re-order more blades - the fine blades tend to wear out. It leaves a pretty nice structure but I still went over the base with a brass brush when finished. One thing I found is that you need to use moderate to light pressure otherwise you can overpower the magnetic force which holds the blade and the blade will pop out of place. I did most of my edge tuning before using the skiver. Technically, I should have probably flattened out the base first. Like you, I was concerned about the edges damaging the blades. The key is moderate to light pressure. Honestly, it was not as nice as a base grind but good enough clean up some of my early season boards. Overall - decent product for $35-40.

FYI June fans. According to their website they are closed for the rest of the season at the conclusion of operations today. http://www.junemountain.com/home/ Bummer! :( Tom

Thor, Email sent for split board. Will take if still available. Thanks! Tom

FYI - The Addicted-R17 alpine board and bindings made for the Japan market by Burton were dropped for the 05/06 season. Nothing is planned for 06/07. Bummer! I think they held out for as long as they could. They had a difficult time selling some models so many shops still have them in inventory over there. Was in Tokyo last week and saw a few lingering in the sale racks.

Bernhard, Nice work! Lots of cool stuff on your site. Tom

Email sent.

Want to say THANK YOU to Neil and Jackie for organizing SNES!! Had a lot of fun! It was very cool to see so many riders who share the same stoke (or addiction?) for alpine snowboarding. Had a great time meeting everyone and finally being able put some faces to the BOL member names. From my mental notes there were about 15 people at June over Saturday and Sunday. From Reno/Tahoe area - James, Gary H, Rob, Paul, Randy and Russell From So Cal - Neil, Jackie, Gary, Erwin, Jake, Jay, Tim, Glen, myself and another rider from Valencia (sorry I didn't catch your name). Thanks again Neil!! Looking forward to next year! Tom

Yo Neil, I will be heading up for Saturday and Sunday. Might be interested in a Saturday/Sunday ticket deal if it is available. Also have a few small carving related items that I could offer for the raffle on Saturday. Let me know! Will give you a call at work on Wednesday. Tom

Frank and Neil, Jake and I will be up for the weekend. See you guys on Gunsmoke!! Tom

Mrjamie, What was the name of the resort? Royalhill and Echo Valley are near a place called lake Shirakabako have tons of apine riders. I lived in Japan for about 3.5 years and visited many resorts in Gifu prefecture and Nagano prefecture. You could generally find atleast 10 more alpine riders at most places. Eventually I joined a snowboard club with about 30 alpine riders who were mostly racers. Did a lot of gate training and a few races for fun. There are few companies that make some really nice boards - Yonex, Moss, Gray, Ogasaka and BC Stream. Also, there is a binding company called SHR that makes really nice bindings. Most stuff is really spendy though. Never made up to Rusutsu in Hokkaido which is supposed to be a great mountain for carving. Glad you had fun in Japan. Wish we had as many alpine riders here.

Just wanted to says thanks to all those I met over the weekend at June. It was really cool to see so many carvers. As Neil stated in his post, Gunsmoke was pretty rutted up by the end of Saturday. Haven't seen that many people laying ruts in a long time. Frank, Terry, Tim, Thomas, Gary, Erwin, Neil, Tony, Jake and everyone else were all tearing it up. Was cool to see many different riding styles. Most of all, it was great to feel the positive energy and stoke everyone had! Thanks again!! Tom

Will be heading to June on 21st and 22nd with one other carver. See you guys up there! Tom

Peter, I have a set of Burton Race Plate bindings you are welcome to borrow. Can't help you out with boots since my feet are much smaller than yours. Might be able to hook you up with a loaner board depending on what length you are interested in. Many of us prefer June over Mammoth because of the better grooming and lighter crowds. Not sure if this works with your family but you may want to check it out. Take care, Tom

These are made by Narasports which is a ski and ski boot company in Japan. They are specifically designed for the Japanese people's feet which have a higher instep and wider width. Had a few friends who used them in Japan. They complained of the weight. They do have a step-in system with fixed heel pins. See attached link. http://www.g-style.jp/GS-STEP%20IN.htm Prices are insane though. about $900 for boots and $300+ for bindings (depending on options). Ouch!

I purchased some gear through Yahoo Auctions when I lived in Japan. There is a lot of interesting stuff for sale. Got some smokin' deals on boards that were over 1 year old. Some still in the plastic. My wife (who is Japanese) set up this search for me. I still drool at all the gear every once in a while. http://list4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/2084032367-category-leaf.html This is probably similar to what you found Dan. Most sellers will not ship internationally so it may be more of hassle than what it is worth. Also, most sellers will only accept a bank transfer (like a wire transfer from your account to their account) for payment. The banking system in Japan is set up to do this easily. From the USA it would be a hassle and cost you about $30 per transaction. Shipping a board from Japan could probably be handled by Kintetsu Express or Yamato Transport for around $100. Now I am back living the American Dream in L.A. No more Yahoo Auction deals for me. Now just saving my extra cash for runs up to June Mountain.

Looking for a shop in the LA area that does a decent base grind. Anyone have any suggestions?

Started snowboarding in 1984 and bought first set of Koflach hard boots in 1988.

Fin and the Bomber Crew, Just wanted to let you know that I am praying for a positive outcome to this situation. As a member of the automotive industry (engineering, evaluation and quality assurance), I have been very impressed with your products since I received my first set of Trench Digger 1 bindings 5 years ago. Bomber products are not only well engineered, they are also very high quality. It is obvious a lot of passion has gone into the design, materials selection, fabrication and testing of these products. Everything works well with great reliability and durability. Adjustments are precise and can be made easily. I will not use any other bindings on my alpine boards! Bomber customer service is second to none. You guys have always taken great care of me (even when I was living overseas). Everybody at Bomber is stoked on carving and treats me like a friend. I appreciate that!! Most important is what Bomber has done to support the alpine community. We all are grateful for this fantastic website (that I visit everyday!) and the resources you provide to keep this sport progressing. Thanks for all you do for the alpine community!!! Again, I hope this situation can be resolved in an amicable way. Best regards, Tom

Yo Nekdut, Have an extra set of TD1 Standards that I would be willing to trade. I run the same set-up on my bindings - TD1 Standard front and TD1 SI rear. Works good for me. An extra set of SI's would be great. Give me a call at work to hammer out the details. Take care, Tom

Yo Nekdut, I am in as long as my remodeling is done! One other dude from work will probably join. Take care and thanks for putting this together. I am sure it will be a lot of work. Tom P.S. Let's go grab lunch sometime next week (I'm in KY through this Fri.)

Yo RJ-PS There was a company in Japan called Hasco that was selling Burners up until 2002/2003 under the Sims license. There was even the Burner club which went away around 2003 or at least until their website went down. I lived Japan for about 3.5 years and had hoped to find some longer Burners to bring back to LA with me. There were the ocassional few on Yahoo Japan Auctions (more popular than Ebay there) but the prices were insane (over $500) even for damaged or heavily used boards. There were a few in the SKI-Snowboard Distrct of Tokyo (Jimbocho) on the sales racks. Mostly 167 and 162 lengths. I gave up on the Burners and went after Japanese boards (Gray and Moss) and Nideckers. The Burners are definitely cool boards and I love my Austrian made 167. Would agree with others posting here that if you have to spend $600 - $800 for an older Burner, I would rather put my money into a newer custom board. Shipping would also probably be a pain. FYI - Shipping used boards through Customs would be easier than new ones. My 2 Yen Tom

Nic, There is Magazine called "Carve" which usually comes out in early November. Please see link below from Snowstyle Japan which produces it. http://www.mpcy.co.jp/ Click on "Snowstyle" and then "Carve" There are some Japan book stores in the U.S. (like Book Off in Costa Mesa, CA) that can probably get it. Book Off also sells Japanese mags from SBN (Snowboard Network) that have segments on Alpine riding. Tom

GaryJ, Will probably be heading up to June for Saturday and and half-day Sunday. There will be 2 of us on alpine gear - most likely on upper lift. Tom

Anyone else heading up that weekend? More than likely will end up at June to catch the early groomers. Tom

Found this today when on Sigi Grabner's website. Looks like his company is finally making production boards. http://www.sgsnowboards.com/start.html Another positive step for alpine!