Miltie

Hi Mark, Welcome to BOL. I too, at 46, feel beat up at the end of a day of carving. Must be all the time I spend stuck behind a desk. My buddy has that same Factory Prime 178 and loves it. He is heavier than you at 190 lbs. and 6’2”. I would say my style is similar to yours (more upright and down the fall line) and I weigh about 160 lbs. My current favorite board is the Donek Metal FC 171 which has a running length close to your board but with tighter sidecut radii at 11-13meters. I also have a new shape FC Glass 175 but have not had a chance to compare since our season was lame last year. Would recommend either the Metal FC 175 or the Metal FC 171 depending on what running length and sidecut you want. FYI - Sean at Donek builds a decent product and I have worked with him several times over the last few years on custom boards with great results. Cannot comment on the UPZ boots as I am a long time Deeluxe user. Hope that helps. Take care, Tom

PM sent for UPM mounting hardware and Silver 4X4 hardware. Please let me know if you don't receive. Thanks! Tom

Theo, Righteous pad there! You are a lucky young man. Make the best of your situation and your proxemity to the mountain. Any luck on the job front? Take care, Tom

Bryan, Looks sweet! Lots of technology and expensive materials in that ride. I have yet to try a plate with softies. Sean at Donek built me a special board with UPM inserts that I wanted to try last season. With the lack of snow, I never made any runs on it. Crossing my fingers that this season will be better. Enjoy your new ride and please give us an update after you put miles on it. Take care, Tom

Yo Theo, I'm jealous and would recommend you "live it up" while you are young and have fewer responsibilities. I was lucky enough to go to school in an area with several resorts within a 1 hour drive. Used to spend my nights on the Sundown lift at PowMow - hardly ever studied. It was great fun and glad I had the opportunity to do that. 23 years later I am working 50-60 hours per week and lucky to get 20 days on snow a season. Please do us middle-age crisis guys proud and get lots of time on the hill. We will be living vicariously through you. BTW - Have something for you when you take your winter gear up. Send me a message and I will fill you in. Take care, Tom

More sad news..... http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/34047/mammoth+lakes+famous+california+ski+town+files+for+bankruptcy/

What a total bummer! Easy to understand from a business persepctive but such a blow to the community up there. The people at June treated us like family and enjoyed sharing the mountain with us. Gonna miss Gunsmoke and the June crew for sure. Have had so many good days at June and was taking my family there because of the mellow vibe. We really like June Lake because of the small town feel as it gives an escape from the LA craziness. Will have to re-think my approach to next season now. Mammoth can be such a zoo most days especially for my kids. Hopefully we can still stay in June Lake and make the trek to Mammoth each day.

Johnasmo, Dude..... you are my hero. You're a lucky man to live in such a cool place and to score so many days. Enjoy your summer. Tom

Nice work!! Cool to see all the smiling faces and everyone having fun - That is what it is all about.

We could see from our backyard. My wife bought some special glasses from a local science store and made some other contraptions to view with. Pretty cool and my kids enjoyed. First time for me to observe eclipse. Good stuff!

BarryJ, Looks like a nice way to end the season. Strong "days on snow count" for you. I was up at Mammoth a few weeks ago and hoped to get back but other responsibilities have prevented that. Coverage still looks OK. Was Stump Alley still open? Glad you had fun. Enjoy your summer! Tom

Purist, I still have a set of Carrier Physics bindings available if you are interested. Thanks! Tom http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?37325-Burton-Carrier-Physics-Bindings

Wintergold, Dude you are on the money. I remember my symmetrical Nidecker Magnum (153 or 156) from 89/90. Got my first Nidecker Concept Asym in maybe 1990 and a Kemper Apex the following year. That was followed by a Lacroix 165 in maybe 1992. I remember seeing a whole bunch of Sims riders with proto Asyms at the Snow Summit PSA race back in 1991. Burned through several sets of Emery bindings before I got my first set of SnowPros in 1991. Those were good times back then. Thanks for the memories! Tom

Conditions and sunshine nice today. Snow was crusty and firm until about 10:30. Slushed out by 1:30. Should be a nice weekend for those heading up.

Was snowing and blowing hard this morning. New snow was pretty wet and mixed with rain. Supposed to be nice snd sunny tomorrrow. Hope the groom is good. Will be starting out Stump at 8:30.

Heading up tomorrow after work. Plan to ride Thursday and Friday before heading home Friday afternoon. Will probably hang around Stump and Gold Rush Express.

Is that the Timberline Lift at Pow Mow? Man I spent a lot of time riding that lift between 1986 and 1990. Enjoy the rest of your season! Tom

Anyone have any updates on how the snow is holding up? Thinking about heading up the middle of next week. Thanks! Tom

Bryan, I tried the new BP lower assemblies on my Donek plate 2 weeks ago. The lower height helps and the feeling between the plate and binding is pretty driect. Nice improvement from Fin. Your set-up looks cool. Have fun! Tom

Heading up to June with the family for closing weekend. Conditions should be good with new snow this week. Anyone else going up? Will probably hang out on Gunsmoke or off chair J6 with my kids.

These came with a used board I recently purchased. Overall condition is good and they appear to have little use. Both bindings have a "built in" inward cant of a couple degrees. Do not have heels to go with them. Will ship with all parts shown in photo. Asking price is $60 shipped to lower 48 states USA. Can take Paypal. Thanks for looking! Tom

Wow!!! Awesome job on the video John!

Hi Brooke, Thanks for hooking Eric and Crew up. Will gladly contribute. You can PM me the PayPal info. Thanks again and see you next season at Mammoth/June. Take care, Tom

Denver or Salt Lake City might be good choices. Possibly Reno. I went to school in Utah and rode almost everyday/night - it was nice. You might also consider what type of IS or computer related jobs there are at resorts. That would get you real close to the mountain.

Thanks for the link George!