Allee

I just ordered a new set of Black Diamond liners for my boots yesterday. I've been using them for the last 3 seasons and love the way they soften up the UPZ's. The current liners are still fine, but my arches have dropped and I've gone up a foot size, so I need some bigger ones. The BD's are thermo, but I never bothered molding them, just put them in and rode them. And if it's any help to Aracan, I got them off Amazon.com for $29USD. There's a fair range of sizes still available on there ... if you want a cheap experiment.

Awaiting the report from Johnasmo's first hike of the season.

"boggles" OMG! Just as well you noticed, or that would have been quite the wake up call!

Fun, where you going this time? I was thinking of you when I was riding through the Columbia River Gorge last week too, hope your trip down that way went well!

If you didn't feel like organizing it, Rice, I can thoroughly recommend heading to WTF. I know you've talked about going to the Fish forever and haven't done it yet. You should. It's sooo much fun, and having a crew from here would be a damn fine time. I've kind of had a wrench thrown in my plans by my parents announcing they're arriving here on Jan 26. So that means that IF I go to WTF (and that's a big if), it will have to be the first weekend (21/22), and I'd have to drive there and back at ungodly o'clock as I'll have to work on Friday and Monday. So NES at home would work for me - but I'm definitely a fan of finding a different venue for Sat or Sun. I'd be up for a visit to KH or LL if the conditions are good - I haven't been to either in forever. Nakiska is groomer heaven. but the weekend crowds can be tiresome. If we stay here, maybe if the out of town visitors want to plan to stay in Banff for a night on Fri/Sat, instead of heading back to Cgy. We could do a mini-après, and head out early morning?

You're getting snow today, and more in the forecast too. Looks like a decent start to the season already.

Nigel, that's awful. As if the robbery isn't bad enough, it's the huge inconvenience that comes with it. So glad you found your board Michelle! Soft boot boards can always be replaced, and usually with something better ... custom alpine boards, not so much.

Please post the name of the shop. Occasionally we locals need to get boards ground, and it's good to know places to avoid. It's possible that the board was really bowed and the guy was just trying his best. I had something similar happened with an old board of mine,. It was centre high due to being stored in a bag for years, and the dude was only trying to make it flat again. But in doing so he took it down to basically nothing. Aggravating for sure. The fact that it's an old board and not worth much isn't the point. I'd point out that he's basically ruined a collectable, and if he'd been having problems the right thing to do would have been to stop and call you, not carry on like "not my board, not my problem". You asked for it to be tuned, not ruined. I'd be holding out my hand for at least at $100 gift card for that little cockup. If nothing else, to make the guy think the next time he's grinding the hell out of something.

Ha, I'm hopeful that they elect Trump as president and the whole thing goes to hell in a handbasket by next January :-) (j/k) Whitefish isn't awful $$$ wise, but the prices are about the same as the Canadian resorts, just marked up by the exchange difference. Which last Jan was almost 40% (ouch). I randomly checked some airfares and there isn't actually as much difference as I remember between Kelowna and Kamloops - both in the low $400 range. I've seen seat sales to Kelowna for 300-ish, though, I've never seen a cheap fare to Kamloops. And yep, they sock you an alarming number of points to fly there on a twin prop cigar tube. Hmmm, feeling some love for Sun Peaks though ...

I would love to go back to Sun Peaks, but Kamloops is just that little bit harder to get to ... expensive to fly, and then a 45 min drive out of the city to the hill, which means accommodation wise you're pretty much stuck out there. I was thinking more along the lines of something road-trippable, and further than Kelowna is probably not. I'd love to get back to Red too, but same problem. Of course, everyone heading to WTF is a great option. With half a dozen Alberta carvers, we could certainly keep the mountain photogs busy :-)

I was thinking random thoughts today, and among them was the idea that maybe we could change the location of the NES next year. With the cheap season pass deals likely to come back again for 2017, Nakiska is getting super crowded on the weekends, and while it's always fun, the terrain isn't super challenging. The lack of grooming on Red Crow and the fact that they're always racing on Whoop Up is definitely a problem hill-wise. So, if we changed it, where would we go? Sunshine - "yawn" Lake Louise - expensive, also crowded, limited good carving terrain. Both Sunshine and LL mean stays in Banff for visitors, which is expensive. KH - steep and challenging, limited carving, could definitely make for a fun weekend. Accommodations In Golden aren't too pricey. Revelstoke - reasonable drive on a Thursday night and back home Sunday, or a short flight to Kelowna. A Kelowna base would mean that we'd have options at Silver Star and Big White too, and hotels are cheap in the winter. Fernie - short drive, but not carving terrain, also pricey for lift passes and accommodations. Kimberley -same driving distance as Revy, cheap accommodations and a very fun hill. (I have a soft spot for Kimberley, and there's some stellar carving runs there). Also the option to hit Fernie on the way home on Sunday. Thoughts?

Great pics, guys. Hoping to maybe make it down to the Fish this summer. We'll probably make the late season motorcycle trip again, but I still need my revenge on Runaway Train in the bike park.

Kurt ... I want to try that next season :-) I'll bribe you with a six pack. That looks like a super fun board!

Accidentally taking a rockered Burton down a boardercross course was the thing that put me off rocker for life. There were times during that run when I wasn't convinced I had much life left. I'm sure it's great in the powder and all, but I wouldn't know because my cambered Rome Anthem does just fine for that too.

All of this. You learn, when you're a carver and the slopes are busy, to have your head on a swivel at all times. You learn to go when the slope is empty, and pull off and wait when you can see or hear people behind you. Learning how to safely play in traffic is part of the skill set. There are always going to be entitled straightliners who think that they own the mountain, and everyone else needs to get the hell out of their way. While technically being in the right is a good thing, technically still being in one piece at the end of the day is better ... discretion being the better part of valor, and all that.

Pull the liners out of your old ski boots, throw them in the UPZ's, and see how they feel then. Buckle them on, walk around some, and watch TV in them for half an hour. Could be that the Flo's just don't work with the shape of your feet, which is a common complaint. "shrug" If you're leery about spending $800 on boots that might not work (and let's face it, it's an expensive mistake) and you want to ride in ski boots, then get yourself a comfortable pair of modern boots and use them. SB boots are usually going to be better, because of the specific flex and lean, but I rode ski boots for my first three seasons and they worked just fine.

I agree. That's a fantastic site and just needs some updates.

No winter in Calgary either. I don't think we even recorded a -20C day this winter, and we had no snow in the city for 27 days in February (only a skiff on the 28th and 29th saved the weather record), I've had the motorcycle out for three weeks, and mountain bikers on the local downhill mountain are posting videos of runs that look like mid-May. Up at elevation, the Banff ski hills are getting topped up with snow pretty regularly, but the city has nothing.

If you see someone crash, you usually think "ouch" and carry on. If you see someone lying in the middle of the run and didn't see them crash, and they're not moving, then the first thing you should do is stop and check. What's wrong with people? Good for you for helping him out, and I hope he's OK ... it doesn't sound good :-( I had a friend in my early 20's who was paralyzed after he tripped and fell down the stairs. If your number's up, your number's up. Might as well have fun in the meantime.

^^^ It costs the same to go skiing, and everything else being equal, people are taking up skiing in numbers. Fair point, but it doesn't apply only to snowboarding.

Yep, doesn't sound like it's going to be a long season for you guys. I think the best riding might be local, so I guess I'll see you guys next year!!

Hey, enough of your cheek. Coming from someone who enjoys being beaten with a stick ... The truth ... I'd sunk almost 2K into brand new gear (I lived in New Zealand at the time, there were no cheap options), and my ex husband saw it as a repayment on his investment when he dragged me to ski school in the morning :-) Honestly, when I find something I want to do, I do it all guns blazing. Neil is actually right - I haven't been a natural at any of the sports I love, but sheer bloody-mindedness and a willingness to bounce off the ground hard go a long way. I'm sure a few others here had a similar learning curve.

This is the kicker, I think. Even if you're a competent softbooter, if you're strapped into hard gear and thrown on to the hill, you're probably going to have a miserable time of it. I certainly did - I fell in love with watching carvers on my local hill, bought all the gear, and then proceeded to beat the snot out of myself for pretty much three seasons. It wasn't until I met a former hardbooter at Whistler and spent the day with him, and then met a local crew a couple of years later, that I even started to get a clue about how to carve. The best thing that can happen for a new carver is to spend time with someone who knows what they're doing. Even more so than good gear, that's the thing that makes all the difference.

Well, it's good to see that after how many years? of us sessioning there, at least they know what they're talking about ... I think I got questioned about my gear by my lift buddies on every ride at the Nakiska session this year, and there was always a lot of chatter in the line behind us when 8 or 10 of us rolled up the chair together.

I've never used it, but a bunch of my friends have when travelling. Nothing but raves from them.