Dan

Oops, I should have said 500k CHF, my bad.

My wife and I are big believers in FIRE / Mustachianism. No specific FIRE date in mind, but we have our eyes on that goal. As far as cost, yeah, this sport is pricy and I ride less than I used to, partially because the cost, partially because I'm sick of driving 90 minutes to the ski area, and partially because our local ski areas have gotten so crowded over the last 5-10 years or so. I did the math and found it cost me $20 in gas for every round trip to the ski area, plus tickets of course. I ride the most in the spring when I can get spring passes because I don't get up enough days to justify a season pass, and the day tickets are too steep now for more than a handful of days a season. I bet Brunner is making substantially less than 500k euros a year...just a hunch though, I don't have any data to back that up.

Lots of good info here! I have been screwing around with easy backcountry stuff and for the time being, have settled on my Deeluxe hardboots, approach skis+skins, and a solid board. It's heavy, but I'm just doing little baby excursions on shallow (not steep enough to slide) pitches, and it's all conditioning, right? I do have a splitboard, but I wasn't very happy with its downhill performance. Similarly, I have some old Scarpas, but they sucked for downhill because of no forward flex. Having said that, my wife cleans my clock going uphill, and maybe a lighter setup would be more fun for touring, so I'm interested in the Backlands. I guess no one is selling a replacement bail to fit a Backland, is that right? I'm not against DIYing it, but it's a pretty mission critical part, and I would hate to screw it up. Anyway, I'm following the conversation with interest, thanks for the info on the Backland and the upcoming spring system

My uneducated opinion is "Why use duck stance if you're not going to ride switch?" I only ride one direction, so a forward stance just makes sense to me. Of course, it helps with biomechanics too - a stance that is forward enough means that turning can be more side to side motion vs. front to back. Those duck stance heelside turns can often become the ugly "sitting on the pot" heelside - much less of an issue with a forward stance. No surprise that softie-focused riders don't get it, and if they're riding a lot of freestyle, duck makes more sense anyway. Also, I suspect that many of them don't want to do something different and look "weird".

Great pic! It should be on the cover of a magazine.

Hey! I'm planning to be at Meadows on Sunday, but it's my first day of lift-assisted riding for the season (I know, I know), and I don't expect to have anything left in the tank by the afternoon. We'll see how it goes, if I'm still on the mountain in the afternoon, I will drop by to say hi.

OK, this is Palmer on Timberline, not Meadows, but there's no T-line thread Skinned up with my wife, she kicked my ass in the closing stretch (that's her). I used little shorty approach skis with skins and carried an Osin 3800, but I wished I had carried up an alpine board instead - it has rained at T-line all the way to the top of Palmer, but the groom was actually pretty great - it would have been fun to make some alpine turns on the way down.

Nice! Glad to hear that worked out for you guys, I need to get on it. I'm not sure if I can give him specific feedback other than "my boots are uncomfortable", I wonder if he can work with that

I posted the same question on TGR last week and got some mentions for both Mountain Shop and Evo, but Greg Coulter (www.bootsandmore.ski ) and Bob Olsen (http://www.mthoodarc.com/contact/) got the strongest recs, especially Greg Coulter. I am probably going to make an appointment with him myself - if so, I'll let you know how it goes. If you beat me to it, post your experience.

I'll go one better - if I can find a larger version of my avatar image, I'll print it out and tape it to my helmet

Thumbs up for meet & greet on Sunday night! I was also considering putting my name on my helmet using masking tape...might help break the ice on the hill if many of us do that - I think even those of us who have been around for a long time can't necessarily match that many names with faces.

Nice photos guys!

I was an intermediate carver when I took maybe 5-10 runs on an Easy Jungle and I found it pretty easy to pick up. It hurt my knees like hell so I had to get rid of it, but I don't think you'll find it too hard / different from carving. Personally I would say no poles, unlocked back boot as suggested above is a good idea, and start with at least as much splay as you usually have on a carving deck if your setup permits it.

Oh yeah, sure it would be fun to get the x-ray of your board, but that is a way better idea

There's a chance, right? Maybe you have a friend that works in a hospital and has access to an Xray machine, or maybe your airport security is friendlier than in the US and will put it through the baggage scanner for you?

Well, we got 12 inches overnight. Might have been Cascade cement, and it might be raining on it now, but at least there's base and you can probably ride most of the mountain without worrying about rocks. Anyone gotten up there yet this season?

Yes, that's an awesome topsheet! Who's the artist?

Whaat?! It's awesome! Basically stealth mode - ride it with softboots and blow people's minds

Welcome to the dark side Alec! There _used_ to be a Tahoecarvers Facebook group - it might be worth checking out. I don't know if it's still active or not (you have to log in to see it and I'm not on FB), but it was here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/tahoecarvers/?ref=ts People do tend to have a lot of old gear around, so I expect you will be able to buy or borrow a board and bindings pretty readily. Boots will be the challenge - you might want to post in the Wanting to Buy section with your boot size. As an ex ski racer, I think you will enjoy carving - best of luck getting a setup together!

I voted for Ester! Where's my "I voted" sticker? LOL, I had the same thought.

I think my wife and I are going to be doing some noodling around in the back country this season. It's a mixed marriage - she's a skier, but she only has alpine gear right now. Does anyone have a touring setup you can let go? Probably anything in the 155 - 170 range would work. She's a size 7 foot if you have some boots around too. Thought it would be better to check here before jumping into the shark tank over at TGR.

If you're asking about production quality, the Thirst boards are right up there with Coiler and Donek, no question. The topsheet material is something I've never seen on another board that is supposed to be tougher and more resistant to getting scratched. My own Thirst only has about 5 days on it, but so far so good. On ride quality, there have been lots of reviews in the review section, but key takeaway seems to be "they work!"

Ugh. I understand the need for demand management, but this kind of sucks. Oh well, more riding at Bachelor, I guess.

I'll let the Schweitzer locals give the definitive answers, but on a non-holiday Friday chances are you will ride right up to the chair; weekends will be a bit more crowded, but I think you're unlikely to wait more than maybe 5 minutes in a lift line. There are some terrifying (and fun) groomed steeps at Schweitzer, but that is really maybe 5 or 6 runs - there are a lot of fun blue carvers where you can tear it up without worrying about sliding down the whole run if you lose your edge.

Thanks for the invitation Crackaddict - way to bring stoke to the BOL / ASB community! I would love to accept your offer but I don't think I can make it because I'm already taking off a week for ClearCUT and Schweitzer afterwards. I hope RACES is awesome so you do it again (and I can attend) in 2020! Portland OR? If you'll have some free time when you're in town, post in the local ride board and we'll buy you a drink.