Jack M

I'm at a crossroads here, all my hard drives are full. Should I buy yet another hard drive or just start paying the piper for an online archive service? I need this for photography - ~25mb per image! I am a smugmug pro user, so I would get smugvault if I go that route. Guess I could start moving the really old stuff to DVD... but that seems like putting all my eggs in one basket, and don't DVDs degrade over time? (not just scratches, but actual material breakdown) Any experiences to share? Thanks.

and the crowd goes...

perfect!

Cross-through and push-pull are very similar. Basically the same, but cross-through does not include the rotation technique of the EC style. On ice, yes, you need to stay very angulated and really finish your turns. Carving round turns controls speed, gliding between carves allows speed to build, which is why you want to do a quick cross-through to minimize time between carves. You're right that when you're very low you don't have room to cross-under, hence the need to rise up a little as if you're starting a cross-over, and then finish the transition with a cross-under. This is cross-through. The point is to move as little mass as possible when changing edges. Move the light parts (board, boots, lower legs) under the heavy parts (the rest of you) instead of moving the heavy over the light. Of course, if conditions are good enough you don't have to do this, and then a big cross-over can be really fun - that's when you get that weightless feeling, or even catch air.

Nice! But seems a little long to do everything? I rode my Coiler Schtubby X2 (171cm, 21cm waist) at Jackson Hole and it was awesome everywhere, including in steep trees. I think if I lived out there I'd get another version of it with a little more nose for the deep untracked, but I wouldn't want to go over 172cm.

What, Dynastar G9's? ;) We'll be up the weekend after next.

Ah, so we're not sure if they're made by Kessler or not, eh? Either way, sounds good, and the price is right. My wife needs new skis, the 155 would be good if I can sell her on them.

160-165cm. Atomic Metrons weigh a metric ton, don't get them. You want something you can skate and kick around with the kids.

I think Erik Beckman at Sugarloaf might be able to help you. He's on here - member name Beckmann AG Err, I mean, the board is trashed, I'll take it off your hands for $200. ;)

Please tell me they weigh half as much as the Metrons or less. I think Metron is a contraction of "Metric Ton". So the Palmers are actually made by Kessler? I wonder if anyone on the World Cup is trying Kessler skis. Gotta admit I'm tempted by Head skis after watching the Olympics!

I think a stiffer SB boot like the T700 would be ok for skiing. I'd love a DIN toe just so I could walk up hills!!!

Biathlon participants should shoot at ice dancers.

I cram my Deeluxes into ski bindings just to ski with my kids. I have to reach down and pull up the heel lever. It's sketchy, but I have released appropriately. I wouldn't do it to ski aggressively at all. I think if anything the combination is more prone to release than not, but YMMV.

unlike.

This is worth a try, but I would recommend moving your stance forward one set of holes first. If that doesn't do it, then move them back, and swap the cants. If that doesn't work, then move the bindings forward again with the 6 in front. When bindings are too far back, you have to lean on your front leg more.

Anybody see Ted Ligety's 360 carve last night? ON SKIS??? That was a first for me!

Why not a 3-strap binding? And/or a Kelly tongue or Elfgen tongue? I think these are the gateway drug to hardboots.

it didn't get above freezing. bring your sugar-on-concrete board!!

haha, actually I'm on a "working vacation" - it's school vacation week here, so we are at the loaf with the kids because their ski school program is on all week. But because the wife and I went to JH 2 weeks ago, we had to work remotely. Somehow this still erased my internal calendar. :D

Come on up to the East Coast Expression Session! Hang out with about 100 other carvers, demo boards and bindings, and bring your spare liver. Click the logo for details.

oh snap! I've been on vacation all week, I had no idea what the date is!!

Go Tyler!! Go Chris!! Go Michelle!!

lmao. seen on bumpersticker: "I Love Cats! they taste just like chicken!"

yeah, I'll get right on that. How many times do I have to spell this out? You're the one who started in this thread with the anti-alpine snobbery. I and others just spoke up in defense. There's no elitism, we welcome softbooters here, but we are tired of the ones who seem to only be here to assert an agenda and insist that softboots are just as good for carving when it is simply a fact that they are not. It's not elitist to state a fact like a Ferrari is a better sports car than a WRX. I love softballs. You have just documented yourself as threatening us with a Denial of Service attack. You are now banned.

oh, I didn't even realize Oxygen ever had a line of hardboots. They very well may have been Burtons. I've heard that the molds for just one shell size of boots cost around $20,000, so it's no wonder they don't change much over time, and get sold when a company is done with them.