tangaloor

let me just insert here that for comfort, well-fitted boots make a world of difference. I just started hardbooting this season, and I first got my boots fitted (thermoflex liners) at a place that does mainly ski boots because, well, that's all that exists around here, and i didn't want to wait for a trip to whistler and fanatyk co to get on the hill. what a mistake! pain, pain, pain. they didn't fit the boots properly at all (i think there might be some basic differences between fit principles). i ended up with pressure points all over the place, toes that were too cramped, etc. i ended up getting them redone at fanatyk co (they really know what they're doing). turned out that the ski people hadn't left any kind of spot for the intec cables, so they were really pressing into my heels--ouch! they also relieved the toe pain, the instep pain... anyway, the result is that now my hardboots are at least as comfortable as softboots ever were. I can go all day for days in a row without feeling any foot discomfort at all. they are, however, less convenient for walking. trade-offs.

zaphod: might try for saturday 13 *if* i get my gear by that point. where/how do you all meet? k

waiting for my new gear to arrive in the mail after a season of freeriding... i feel just like christmas eve when i was a kid. anyway, looking for some instructors in vancouver, bc or whistler. anybody have any experiences: good, bad, indifferent? any internet resources that can help out? my plan at the moment is to contact fanatyk in whistler & ask them, but i thought you all would be the ones to know... a listing like this might be a good idea in the welcome centre, too... cheers k

They use some company called PBB logistics to deal with the customs fees---what happens is that you pick up your equipment with no duty/tax charged and think "what a deal!" Then, about a month later, you get a letter from PBB charging you for the customs duties and taxes they "paid on your behalf to expedite your shipment". This is fine, I guess, unless within that month you returned something, and, thinking that there was no problem with duty, you didn't keep sufficient proof of return to satisfy customs that it was returned! This happened to me, and now I'm fighting over a $150 duty/gst/pst assessment, which they 'paid on my behalf' with no notice to me, on goods i've since returned.

Don't know what I'd do without the internet. Wouldn't even know about carving, likely.