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That's exactly why I find GS turns are easier than SL turns. 'later...

Now that's interesting. I always found the opposite was true. I wonder if it's related to a persons extrovert/introvert temperament. That is absolutely true. Not just in snowboarding either. I remember my driving instructor telling the class that "...we [people] steer to where we're looking.". I know during the race training that's held around here, the coach pushes a similar idea, telling the riders to look beyond the gate to where they want to be after the turn and the body will follow -- it knows what to do. Admittedly, it's not always easy to do. :) 'later...

It just occurred to me, if you're gay or bi, you could use a very enlarged photo of a penis (top view, of course :). Enlarge the photo so that the penis covers the entire board. You could then talk about how you rode a 72" penis all day. :lol: Or you could give the board to your wife. I wonder how many resorts would ban you from showing up with a board like that. 'later...

"Go west young man" Hey all, time for me to heed to that advice. I'll be leaving Sh**town for either Vancouver or Calgary, I haven't decided yet. I'll let the work opportunities decide that for me. I do have a few questions, though, and I could use your help: 1. what's the best way to find a decent apartment in those towns ? Search online, newspaper classifieds, or show up and walk around ? I'm looking for a n unfurnished 1 bedroom or perhaps studio, approx 550 sq.ft. 2. are fridge/stove usually supplied in the apartments ? So far, it seems like most of the apartments I've seen advertised in Calgary do. 3. Are the landlords strict about you having a job before leasing the apartment ? I would prefer to move before finding a job. Keep in mind, I am on UI. 4. Can anyone recommend a good moving company ? I've submitted my info for quotes using http://www.moveit.ca/ and others and gotten a few quotes. So now I'm trying to find out about quality. :) I need one that will take excellent care for my one, relatively expensive, one-of-a-kind original painting (see my avatar). I don't care if they damage the rest of the stuff, but not the painting. :) I'm looking to escape by beginning of June, to avoid the grand old Montreal moving-day, not to mention the hot and humid summer. Thanks-O-Bunch !! 'later...

Yikes ! Sorry to hear about the board. Too bad you couldn't make it. There's always next year. 'later...

Huh ?! What's wrong with my pants ? :)

My first choice is actually the ruler image at the top of those choice photos. Another cool choice would be a photo of corduroy snow. :) Or even better, a photo of some boards on a ski/board rack just like the one you put your board on when you go into the lodge. Now that would be cool camouflage. Stick that thing upright in the snow and watch how many people run into it. 'later...

My experience at Jay Peak wasn't far from that. We almost had to skate downhill in order to get below the tree line. :) Once below the treeline, things were great: no winds, nice cold temps and even nicer powder. At Jay Peak they had closed the tram and were running the quad at a much slower speed as a result of the strong winds. If you happened to have a gap between your goggles and your helmet, then you experienced a feeling of someone driving pins into your head with all their might. We were exhausted by the time I got to the top on my first ride up the lift ! We rode down to the lodge and headed into the pizza resto to rest up. We ended up going out after about 15 minutes and ended up enjoying the rest of the day. 'later...

with windchill: -58C (-72.4F) . It happened once at Jay Peak and once at Tremblant. Without the wind, it was about -26C ( -14.8F). I understand that in a normal winter, Tremblant gets around -60C (-76F) -- with the windchill -- once a season. They close the mountain during those types of temps. I've seen it happen in 2000 and 2001. After those years, I didn't pay much attention to it. 'later...

Ditto. That was my best riding experience without a doubt. Allee and Cory, you both looked unshakable. You gave me more confidence on the narrow connectors. I ended up ripping another hole in the back of my pants. Good thing I bought a bunch of those patches. :) Would definitely love to get together again next season. BTW, it's a good thing you guys didn't go today. It was crap. I could hardly make a turn, although I believe that was partly due to exhaustion. Damn, out of time again. Will post some more when I get home tomorrow. 'later...

Here at the HI Hostel in Banff, it's windy but surprisingly quite warm. It hasn't been that cold on the mountains. It's really only cold on the lifts. I've been wearing my spring gloves since I forgot my winter gloves at home :( (I packed my spring gloves as a backup, just in case. Damn glad I did) and I've actaully been doing OK with them. My hands are only cold when riding the lifts. I rode Sunshine Wed&Thu and Louise on Fri. I would agree that Louise is better for carving simply because, as Allee said, Sunshine gets very choppy quickly due to the softer conditions. Otherwise, Sunshine's runs have much more room for big wide carves. Louise has some pretty hard conditions, similar to what we find in Quebec City area on a good day in the middle of the season. I did find a run or two with some gravel on it. I have no idea where the heck that stuff came from. Louise is also pretty windy, so don't judge the weather by temp alone. The Larch side isn't as windy. Plus, getting to the Larch side is just about the coolest fun you can have not to mention one of the coolest views. Oh, and Louise has a race course set up. It's just a slalom, but should be fun anyways. What's suprised me alot here at both Sunshine and Louise, is the amount of flats and loooooooooong straight-across the mountain traverses. Real calf burners. Frustrating as hell, but you quickly learn how to avoid them. The moguls here are actually kind of fun. Probably because they have actual snow on them and aren't icy. I managed to dammage the base on my freeride board at Sunshine. I discovered (the hard way) that the base can be so thick that the snow sometimes covers frozen trees whose frozen branches are hard like rock and can dammage the base accordingly. Good thing it's old board. I've only been riding my softies for the past 3 days -- I always explore a new resort on softies. Sunday's riding will be only my 2nd time hardbooting in 2 years (the last time was last week at SunPeaks, and I was only on them for about 2 hours), which means I won't be showing anyone up. :) But it should be fun. OK, my 'Net time is almost up. See y'all Sunday. Oh, I'll be wearing a white jacket with bright orange sleeves and black Sims pants. 'later...

:lol: :lol: :lol: 'later...

(with a Paul Hogan accent) You call that bulletproof ? :) Seriously though, in the east we call that hardpacked. But yeah, I did find it. It's quite a shock when you just finished coming down in nice soft powder. Yeah, I had a great time on it. I didn't venture on those black diamonds, though. Did you ? They looked to icy and bumpy for the steepness. Going up the poma lift was an interesting experience. That's the first time I saw a poma lift or even a T-bar that did a right turn ! Fine with me. See you then ! 'later...

I ended up having no problems with Air Canada's handling of my bags, other than the idiots at the Montreal airport who gave me the wrong instructions and took forever to check bags in. I wasn't even charged extra fees. I ended up putting my 2 boards in my boardbag (a soft bag with wheels) with the bindings on and the topsheets facing each other, but staggered so that the 2 sets of bindings weren't aligned. That created a space between the two boards, which I filled in with my Camelback, helmet, clothes, hardboots, tools, etc. It ended up weighing just under 24 Kg (51 Lbs). Allee, I took your advice and didn't tell them how many boards I had in there. I simply told them it was sporting equipment. I guess she just presumed it was one board. I kept the absolute essentials in my carry-on: softboots, goggles, pants, baselayers (top, bottom and socks). Since the bases were facing outwards, I put some stiff cardboard over them and along the edges, to protect them a bit. In fact, for the WCR, I used the same cardboard "box" that it was packaged in when Prior shipped it to me. I don't know if it made a practical difference, but it did give me some piece of mind. :) That did the job. The bag and the contents weren't damaged at all....this time. :lol: I'll test my luck again tomorrow. 'later...

Hey folks, I'll be in Banff this week, landing on Tuesday and leaving the following Tuesday. I bought lift tickets for 5 days and I was planning riding Wed-Fri, Sun, Mon -- skipping Saturday to avoid crowds. I'll be at Sunshine on Wed and probably most of the days. I will spend at least one day at Lake Louise, though I haven't decided which day. I'll be riding with Allee on the weekend, but we haven't decided when...yet. So if anyone else wants to hook up on the hill, feel free to pull me over or call me (e-mail me and I'll send you my phone number). I'll be wearing a white jacket with bright orange sleeves and shoulders, black Sims pants and a grey Uvex helmet. I haven't decided which days I'll be hardbooting and which I'll be softbooting -- I'll let the conditions dictate that. :) I hope that wasn't too vague. :lol: 'later...

Very well said Jack. If anyone wants to see just how bad a forum can get, just checkout the messages in the USENET group rec.sports.soccer from the late 90s. Nevermind, enemies for life, those idiots were spewing death threats ! 'later...

I just got back from Sun Peaks early this morning. I had a great time. The accommodations were great, the shuttle service was excellent and the conditions were good. Believe it or not, there was still some untracked and barely-tracked snow Friday !! I wasn't sure what to expect since I had never been riding out west. In fact, it was my first time riding in 2 years ! Plus, I haven't been keeping in shape like I used to. So, being an idiot, I decided to start my first riding day going all out with my alpine setup. That didn't last too long. :) I switched to my softboot setup after about 2 hours to save my legs and get my coordination back (riding low angles is very intuitive for me whereas riding with high angles isn't). But I still went all out, and paid the price the next day. For the first time since the first year I started riding, my legs were really sore from riding. I felt so ashamed. :) It's amazing how easy it is to "forget" how to ride even though you talk about riding technique. Especially when you're in a new environment. It took me about 4 hours to realize that I was using my quads waaay too much and barely using my hips. Then I discovered Mount Morrisey. It still had quite a bit of untracked and barely-tracked snow. So I spent Thursday and Friday in the trees. It was great ! I was surprised by how icy the slopes could get. It wasn't as bad as here in the east, but it was pretty hardpacked. Finally, many thumbs up for the Horie Lodge. It was excellent. Great room, great equipment room (with a wall of boot drying pipes) and great location (at the end of the Cruiser run). And it's run by a little old Japanese carver. Next week, Banff. 'later...

Super ! Glad to hear you're having a great time. I can't wait for my turn. I'll be arriving at the resort tomorrow at around 14:00. I tried booking with the hostel, but they could only give me Wednesday and Friday. :( Sure do. My Banff arrangements are all done. I'll be at the HI hostel for all 7 nights. I won't be bringing a laptop, so we'll have to do the arrangements by phone. I'll mail you my number. 'later...

!@#*$ holiday !! By the skin of my teeth, I have managed to get accommodations. I had no idea it was president's week. I wanted to go last week, but I was sick. Oh well, such is life. I did manage to get a place at the Horie, the Japanese lodge. Should be fun. 'later...

Hey folks, I've finally gotten around to booking my snowboarding trips -- it's a long story. This week I'll be at Sun Peaks, riding Wed-Fri., staying at the hostel...unless my reservation doesn't go through. :) Next week I'll be in Banff from Feb 27-Mar 6. I might not ride Saturday, just to avoid the crowds. I'll see. Give me a shout if any of you are going to be there. I can't wait. I didn't ride at all last year. I've had my WCR for about 1.5 years, and I still haven't ridden it. BTW, I'll be bringing both my hardboot setup and my softboot setup. I'll be really easy to spot: white jacket with bright orange sleeves. 'later...

How accurately does Environment Canada's forecast for Banff reflect the actual weather on the slopes ? ( http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/city/pages/ab-49_metric_e.html ) For the past week or so, they've forecasted near-zero temperatures for Banff and they're forecasting above-zero temps for Thursday (+5), Friday(+2) and Saturday (+6). I'll be heading out there some time between now and the end of the month and I just want to make sure I don't catch any rainy days or even spring-like conditions. :) 'later...

Not just any box, how about a coffin ? Now that would be funny...and probably very costly. :) But imagine the look on peoples faces when you show up at the mountain with a coffin. :lol: 'later...

Now here's a timely thread. :) I just looked into it last night. Was worried at first, until I saw they bumped up the allowances for sporting equipment to 32Kg and 292cm. My stuff comes in at 22Kg and 232cm....cutting it rather close on the linear dimensions, but I'm still safe. What gets me is this part: yeah, right. Give me a f***ing break. That's pretty demanding for a company that has had delays due to mechanical problems on 3 of the last 4 trips I've taken and offered no compensation other than an open bar the last time, which is worth nothing to those of us who don't drink. I know that doesn't make much sense, but I needed to vent after getting up at 6:00 and getting to the airport at 7:00 to have the flight delayed to 13:00 shortly after, and the 15:00 about 2 hours after that. :lol: I'll be using a soft bag, but I'm going to try to find something rigid that I can put inside to protect it a little. I basically only have to worry about protecting the surfaces from scratching and the boards from bending to the breaking point. I can cover the edges with clothes or some foam tube to protect them. I should be fine. Another thing to look into is if my travel insurance would cover equipment breakage during transport. 'later...

Hey folks, in my continuing effort to abuse my flight pass as much as I can, I'll be heading out west next week to do some riding (Feb, 7-9). Right now, my short list is Fernie, Banff (mostly Sunshine) and Silverstar. The weather looks like it will be really good -- nice and cold -- but how are the conditions at those resorts ? I've obviously checked the websites, but I would like to hear a more independent opinion. :) How is Silverstar for carving or powder (pretty much the only two reasons to snowboard AFAIC :) ? Thanks-O-Bunch ! 'later...

Unfortunately, it will all go away on Friday when the temperature hits +5C and it rains as forecasted. I'm not trying to be cynical, I'm just stating the facts. :) 'later...