Mike T

Jim - if it snows a bit tonight I'll join you at Meadows tomorrow morning. I've gotta leave by noon so I'll try to get there for 1st chair. I'm also planning on riding Wednesday. FRS channel 5/12.

The DIN interface on ski boots makes for a longer sole length than on snowboard boots. Notice on snowboard boots the parts that the biding grab onto are underneath the boot and on a ski boot they protrude a bit. This means you'd need a wider than normal board with ski boots.

If you've had any injuries and knocked a hip, knee, or ankle around it can affect you in the way you mention. I slipped on the ice in the parking lot at the mtn a couple of years ago, and didn't know it at the time but screwed up my right (trailing) hip. Ever since then I've needed ridiculous amounts of heel lift and inward cant on my right binding. Well, until recently that is, I've been getting it treated by my "ever so gentle by incredibly effective" chiropractor over the summer and fall and it's coming back to normal slowly but surely, and so is my stance!

Definitely the rock board. I took out a "good" board last Sunday and while I dind't ding it up, I had to be really , really careful. They've lost considerable base since then.

My wife has had one dislocation and two fractured clavicles. She said the less severe fracture was actually the most painful (not a full fracture, so bone hitting bone with even the slightest move) followed by the dislocation followed by the more severe fracture (full break) BTW fractures were most likley the result of starved bones due to nursing the baby... moms, if you ride while nursing, pay extra special attention to post-natal care esp. bone strength... she's really bummed to be off the snow right now.

The best carving terrain at Mt Hood Meadows IMHO would be the runs off of Cascade Express, probably followed by the main drag on Hood River Meadows on weekdays. (On weekends it's often a "slow zone" with speed patrol on ytour case) Cascade has yet to open this year and HRM has very sketchy cover as of last Sunday, probably worse since then. You can always do laps on North Canyon but it's pretty flat and often littered with beginners. Over at Timberline, Palmer is where it's at, but probably closed all winter unless we have an extended drought (it's mostly a spring / summer / fall thing - too far above the timberline to keep de-iced in a winter with even average snowfall, so they just shut it down). Magic Mile is not bad either if its open, visibility is good, and the wind hasn't screwed it up. Given the snowfall situation, expect a lot of rocks on Mile right about now, and with no sun in the forecast for this weekend, expect it to be closed as well. There are a couple of runs at Ski Bowl that are good for carving - Lower Bowl is again a bit flat but very wide, usually something on Uppoer Bowl is groomed, and while to osteep for me to carve on, it might work for you igf you're more advanced than me. I personally enjoy doing laps on Lower Bowl. Cover is thin there as well and it's probably too low to pick uip any snow this weekend. If you can change your plans and head to Bachelor, you might have better luck there this weekend. If you do go to Hood, *bring a rock board*. P.S. Hey Beavis - I'm a full-fledged Member now! Heheheheh

I spent a good chunk of time this summer and fall training for this season, and in the few days I've had on the snow I've noticed a huge difference. I've sessentially been rotating my gym days between lower body, upper body, and cardio. Lower body: Squats Dead lifts Leg Press Leg extension Leg curl Adduction Abduction Calf raise Upper body Bench Decline bench Incline bench Seated military Dips Lat pulldowns Seated rows Tricep extensions Bicep curls "standing dumbell raises" (bells at side, arms straight, lift up ad out keeping arms straight) Shoulder shrugs Cardio 1 hour on an elliptical trainer, vary the incline throughout, *no hands* Much of the reason for the upper body workout is to reduce the chance of serious injury in a crash. Liftig improves bone strength as well as muscle strength - both are needed to ride away from a crash. The adductions (or is it abductions? - the one where you push together as opposed to push apart) seem to be improving my knee stability greatly in addition to the groin area. Two seasons ago I was plagues with weak knees all season. Adding this exercise seems to have licked that problem. I don't do a lot of weight on squats or deads, I really concentrate on form. I do as much weight as I can with leg presses. Elliptical trainer w/ no hands is good for balance, posture, and lower back as well as cardio workout. I'm hoping that and the dead lifts will strength my glutes / lower back so I'll break at the waist less when carving.

Never behind a snowmobile, but my Shepherd mix has towed be before!

I've only ridden Donek and Liquid. Liquid bad, Donek good.

...very cool. Catek gives you more adjustability w/ cant and lift, but none on stiffness; TD2 gives you less (continuous) adjustability on cant and lift but stiffness adjustability as well. Choose which is more important to you.

Might be a bit later than 8.

I heartily recommend the Axis 172... as long as you intend to ride it with hard boots. It's definitley a go-anywhere board. I've ridden mine on everything from ice to 30 inches of fresh. It won't handle as nimbly as a narrower alpine board on ice, and it won't float like a Tanker in deep powder but when ridden completently it will serve you well in all of it. (I actually did pretty well in that 30 inches of fresh, *despite* the fact that I had never ridden in more than 8" of snow in hard boots and realized I had to figure out how to do a powedr teoseide at those angles!)

I've seen three different stiffnesses but many more colors. My wife's 225's have red (stiff) and yellow (medium) My 325's have black (stiff) and gray (medium) that appear to the the same stiffnesses as the ones on the 225's 224's and 423's have tongues that match the shell color and both appeared to be the same stiffness (soft)

That was one of the better 1st days of the season I've had. See you on Wednesday!

Bonnie and I will be there. I'll be on an old Donek freride with plates... there's sure to be lots of rocks underneath. Channel 5/12

Yeah, I'll have passengers so will be able to take advantage of carpool lanes. Looks like the whole NW is getting dumped upon... can't wait to start carving! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I'll be driving from PDX up to Sun Peaks for the Snowperformance Carve Camp in December. How early in the AM does Seattle area traffic get bad? I'm trying to figure out what time I need to leave in order to get through before it gets backed up. This would be on a Thursday morning.

I can't make any promises but I would love to come up! I'll have a better idea around XMas.

Sounds like your chiro is a lot like mine! I have to admit I think her more as "the great masseuse/personal trainer in the sky".

No way, how how. It's bull****. My chiro only works on fully clothed patients, and I've often been amazed at how much she can tell by watching me walk into her office. Treatment has been much like physical therapy - after she manipulates something she gives me a list of exercises to do to build stength in the area and prevent slipping back to where I was. Like I said before you;re throwing the dice with chiropractors. I tend to think there's a pretty high quack-density among them but a good one is a great find.

I think the effectiveness of downsizing probably depends on your foot shape (among other things). I've got low-volume feet and my toes tips form a straight line sweeping back at about 30 degrees ... I'm swimming if I don't downsize. For those with a more squared-off line of toes downsizing has got to be agony on the outer part of the foot!

If you get ones with Thermoflex liners you should be fine. They'll feel too small when you put 'em on before molding them... that's normal. See http://www.alpinecarving.com/, I believe there is a list of bootfitters in various areas. FWIW My feet measure 26.5 and 26.7, and I have no problem fitting into a 26 - I actually prefer a 26 liner in a 25 shell (Raichle 423, 325)

Wow, I must be pretty boring - I don't have a cool nickname for my new Coiler. It's just a plain old PR 184 :D Although, my red Axis was dubbed "Red Rocket" by my wife. (Yes, Red Rocket from South Park)

The key is to find a *good* chiropractor. I'm sure there are a lot of bad ones who can do more harm than good but there are also some very good ones out there. Mine has worked wonders on the rotator cuff I tore boarding last January and also some hip problems I didn't know I had. (I no longer need 9 or 10 degrees of heel lift on the back foot!) In both cases joint trauma and pinched nerves were taking away part of my range of motion. (Pinched nerves don't always hurt or make you numb - sometimes they just take away strength or range of motion) If you're in PDX and want her info, let me know...

I've always wanted to ask - how much did those things cost brand new?