Corey

I got the "Do you snowboard too?" comment this weekend. Haha, that's awesome! Timing is everything.

Is that your sock showing in the first picture? You definitely should have your entire foot covered by the liner! No idea how to fix that, sorry. :( Also make sure your foot is evenly weighted for the entire cooling period when molding. I somehow managed to lift my arches subconsciously the first time I did it, that meant that the liner hardened narrower than it should have and left too large of a pocket above my foot. How do your feet fit inside the bare shells without liners?

Nice work Fleaman! Can you or Bruce tell us more about the "flame treat" part of the process? Do you just slightly melt the Ptex before bringing the parts together?

I'm not sure if that's a joke or not... In case it isn't: Make sure there's some kind of washer with the correct angle cut into it to match the pocket that the screws sit in. Bomber bindings are designed to use flat-head fasteners with an angle cut into the bottom, that angle matches the shape of the aluminum so that there's a nice wide contact surface. The screws you have in the picture will have a flat underside, they'll have only a very thin line of contact on the aluminum. They'll gouge the aluminum quickly and loosen shortly after. They'll definitely damage the toe and heel blocks, and possibly loosen or even fail while riding. :(

Just got an email, plane tickets were listed as $79 each way to/from Winnipeg on AirCanada! :D Yahoo! But you have to buy tickets 5 days in advance or the price more than doubles. :( Bummer. See some of you at SES instead!

Just like my fine MS Word drawing showed! LOL! ;) I just rounded mine a bit so it wasn't such a sharp edge. If you removed too much material the receiver would have to slide quite a bit further forward, then you may run into the back of the slot for the pin. Possible fixes for the receiver: 1. Punch/drill the hole after bending ($$ due to extra tooling/time) 2. Move the bend higher (don't think there's room, it already hits the boot plastic) What does F2 do on their receivers?

Interesting. Either way, UPS sucks. :) LOL! When I finally order a Coiler, I'll certainly order a custom topsheet and let Bruce worry about shipping.

I've received about 20-30 packages via UPS ground over the past 8 or so years, I've been able to broker every one here in the city. We're about 100 km/60 miles North of the land border crossing. Call 1-800-PICK-UPS and ask them for the details about brokering in your city. UPS air waives brokerage fees altogether. You do still have to pay taxes/duty though, same as when brokering stuff yourself. It can be cheaper for high-value small shipments than paying the brokerage! EDIT: I should add that the land crossing straight South of us is a 24 hour port with a TON of commercial traffic through it, it's pretty big.

My wife and I ride/ski every second day and rest if we're tired during the day. Our local hills give us one 45-second run every 9-20 minutes or so, depending on line length. You get a lot more time on the board and less rest in Colorado! Hang out at the Bomber tent, there are lots of friendly people to chat with!

I've noticed that the top edges of the hole for the retractable pins in the TD3 steel receivers aren't horizontal, they're folded over a bit from the bending operation where the tops flare outwards. This means an almost knife edge holds the pins down. A real rough cut-away view sketch can be seen here: http://i44.tinypic.com/b4bxvt.jpg. Disclaimer: Not to scale. May cause impotence, pregnancy, or both, etc. They grey is the pin, the yellow is the steel receiver, and the blue is the Fintec or Intec heel. Notice the relatively sharp edge at the top, look at yours to see if it's the same. This edge wears a groove into the top of the pins. If you have upward pressure on the pins while pulling the cable the pins are effectly locked in place by this edge and groove, much like a ratchet strap. Make sure to push straight down on the heel while releasing to disengage this 'ratchet' tooth. I've also filed this knife edge slightly to reduce the ratchet effect, note that you'll have to readjust the spacing if you file anything.

Isn't there a port of entry in every major city? Or is this the one time that living in Weenypeg, MB has an advantage? I try to get things shipped USPS if possible as it's still a hassle. But it's always an option if the seller will only ship UPS.

Search for my username and 'broker'. You can broker UPS packages yourself if you live in a major center. Still a pain, but you can save a TON of money.

Sorry, not selling my RT 178 or my RS 183. Just wanted to add a note: these two boards are completely different! The Volkl has something like a 12m radius and the F2 has around 16m. The Volkl is my favourite board when I don't know what I'm going to encounter. The F2 is a high speed plank in comparison, it rides me if I'm not on my A game and aggressive. It's 100% not fun on a narrow trail. Both are fun boards, but in completely different ways.

Check out the Luggage Deal at the bottom of this page if you're talking about SES: http://www.bomberonline.com/ses/content/pricing.cfm I had more of a problem with the BTS in my carry on than the 3 boards in one bag on my last flight. TSA thought they were some kind of spring loaded weapon of mass destruction. ;)

Google wins again: http://www.dora.state.co.us/tramway/SkiSafetyAct.pdf Looks like he missed it by a tiny little bit. It's hard to believe he'd be arrested, the proper intent was obviously there.

Wow, that's interesting! Is there some measure of how severe the accident has to be before you can't leave? I hadn't heard of this law before... Good info to have before SES!

I think they were SIS. No idea how they could get that much slop in them... How about personal boards getting mounted backwards?

Don’t worry about it Scott. Last year was my first at SES, I had as many questions as you did. Imagine you’re taking a bus to an unfamiliar ski resort with people you don’t know. When you get there you can pretty much do whatever you want, including making friends and going riding with them, or riding by yourself all day. The Bomber tent is always there, waiting for you to demo gear, chat, or buy more goodies. There’s usually a crowd there too. The clinics I went to were very inclusive of all skill levels. Sean gave people tips appropriate for their own riding level. There was never a feeling of being rushed or held up. You talked about something to try, then went down the run for a little ways before stopping again to discuss that action and getting the next one to try. My advice: Put sunblock on your face (this was new for me!), show up at the Bomber tent, and go with the flow.

Has anyone else noticed the questionable softboot equipment on the slopes lately? Maybe it’s just our local little hills, but the rental stuff is horrible. They’re mostly step-in bindings, can’t remember the brand but they had rigid metal pins that stuck sideways out the sides of the boots. Yesterday I noticed that the guy in front of me in the lift line could lift his toe almost 1” before the board started moving. Then I started paying attention and all of the rental stuff had this much play in the step-in system! Then the regular-footed people riding goofy-setup boards and vice-versa. Not only rentals, but also people’s own boards with the bindings set up properly but pointing the wrong way on a twin-tip board. i.e. the tail was noticeably longer than the nose. I noticed about 15% of boards set up this way when looking down from the lift. What the heck? Are people just getting dumber?

True enough, it takes a lot of time. I'd love to do a ProSolo, sounds like a really fun event. The S2000 is amazingly fun but the rear diff can't handle repeated hard launches, so maybe it's a good thing I haven't made it to a ProSolo event. Unfortunately SCCA removed all the 'close' (under 8 hours drive) Tour events, so we're left with Nationals in Lincoln, NE at around a 10 hour drive. Luckily our local series is amazingly competitive, and the guy that finished 2nd in AS will be co-driving with me. (For the record: I beat him in our local series. ;) I predict he's going to beat me in 09 though.) I worked DS at Nationals. It's amazing how quiet all the BMWs are and how annoyingly loud the Type Rs are! It's a tough battle you guys have, and the 09 WRX may shake things up even further. Two weekends ago I was carving down a nice blue run, pulling some healthy G's in a mid-radius toeside turn. I caught a little icy patch with a bump that kicked the tail out into a slide. Pulling that back in line felt EXACTLY like having a little surprise oversteer on the track in a very responsive car. Whee!

Started a new thread for car racing discussion: http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=228113#post228113

Taking the discussion out of this thread: http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=228107#post228107 I can't decide if I like car racing because it reminds me of carving, or if I like carving because it reminds me of car racing. :) Cool! With the Tire Rack stickers I assume you've done some Tour events or even Nationals, true? Me at nationals, finished 8th in a class of 58 in A-Stock: http://gotcone.com/pgallery//images/2008_scca_tirerack_solo_national_championships_topeka__ks/as/img_3562.jpg I did wheel-to-wheel ice racing, but the costs and time required were too much for my level of desire. Plus being in the winter it really cut into my snowboarding time. Although there's nothing like being sideways at 90 mph on ice with standard winter tires - in a pack! Open Studded class was even faster/crazier yet but I got sick of the car breaking all the time... Studded tires put a LOT of extra load into the axles. Autocross is my passion though, I find it much more addictive. I started in 2000 in a Ford Focus. Then a Miata, the aforementioned 500 hp Camaro, and now an S2000. I also run the local autocross school, that's very rewarding both in helping people develop themselves and getting to drive a wide variety of cars. Nothing like hopping out of a Chevy Aveo and into a Porsche 911 to sharpen your focus! I've got a bunch of videos up on www.YouTube.com, search for 'coreydyck'. Who else is into amateur car racing? I know Allee used to race autocross/gymkhana back in the day.

Adrenaline doesn't have to come from fear. Autocross involves you driving between traffic cones, a mistake typically only causes a scuff on your paint. Yet you get really pumped after a fantastic run and are usually breathing hard. Not quite - sold my Miata for an S2000. ;) Do I know you from autocross? PM or email me, you have both disabled in your profile.

Interesting point about racing. From my car racing experience (autocross, ice racing, solo time trials), if you're ever 100% confident and comfortable with your current situation you probably aren't driving fast enough to win. I'm having an 'off' day if I'm not completely filled with adrenaline after a lap. When I started driving a 500 hp beast I could barely form sentences after a run. After a while I grew more comfortable with it and was able to focus more on the technical aspects and less on simply keeping the car pointed in the correct general direction. I get the same feeling after nailing a steep (for me) run on the alpine board. It's a mix of accomplishing what I wanted to technically, scaring the heck out of myself, and elation at coming out standing. I still have lots of fun on blue runs and ride them more often then blacks, but it sure is nice to step up to the challenge when I'm feeling 'on'. Blues build my ego up, blacks tear it back down. ;)

State Industries here in Winnipeg makes a 3-3/8" plug out of polyurethane. We use the 3-3/4" version at work to plug an access hole. They're not pretty, kind of a glossy black thing that's very industrial-looking. http://www.state-industries.mb.ca/cdftp0441/products-p2.html#GROMMETS What about duct tape or Saran wrap on powder days? ;)