marz

Just remembered Rossi made the Alpine version of the old blue & silver Melhuse race boards. Alpine was a wider/freecarve (~21cm?) version of the Race, same construction without the VAS. The originals were blue & silver, sandwich construction 4x4 inserts. Later ones were a red/black satin fabric graphic, went to a little softer cap construction. Both came in 159cm, see 'em on ebay often enough. Might be a cheap "Swordstitute" ?!

I'm going out to get a case of Slimfast! Gotta lose 60lbs. & I'm in :D

You don't have to wait. BUT you do need lots of time & patience. My daughter's been on skis since 18mo. & on a snowboard since 2yo. The key is to make it FUN . If you haven't noticed, their attention span is a wee bit short. We spent lots of time sliding around/playing on the family room carpet. After 10-15 min. when she was ready to move on to something else that was ok. The key is the stuff is there to play with whenever & however long they feel like. When you have snow you can go outside, walk, slide, step skis around, etc. When they want to go inside, go in even if it's only been 5 min. By 2 my daughter was able to put on/ take off her boots, skis, snowboard. We would go to the local area just so she could watch, get a feel for the sights & sounds, MAYBE walk & slide if she felt like it. At 2 1/2 we were on the bunny slopes, sometimes for only 15 min. A couple times by the time we got there, she changed her mind & we went home TIME, PATIENCE & . It pays off though, last year at 3 1/2yo she could ski any where we wanted to & would usually last most of the day. Snowboarding she can skate on the flats & was starting to make direction changes riding down hill tethered. Many times we'd have to drag her off the hill :D ! This year she's already psyched about sliding! Hope to go out West with her at end of season. Equipment: She's used Nordica Nordy boots. If you can find them on Ebay, they're great because they allow ankle flex to develop better balance, unlike the typical kids rear entry boots. They also work well with her Burton Chopper 99 & junior plates, no need to change boots when she wants to play on her board. Remember limited attention span ;) . Skis, anything cheap, short (chest/ chin high), with binding is fine to play with. Once you start sliding down a ski hill it's time to invest in as shaped ski as you can find, SCX etc. Kids will quickly figure out when they press on that outside ski in a power wedge, they start to turn. After that, LOOK OUT! Toward the end of the season I got her some jr. Overlap boots, the pencil lines she was leaving with her outside ski blew my mind . I'll try her with step in softies this year on her board. now that her feet are big enough to fit in size 1 K2/Rossi stepins. The piece of equipment that helped the most was tethering her at boot/binding level, instead of the waist/chest harness, Hula Hoop, Bamboo/Ski pole. Once they're ready to slide down hill, VERY GENTLE terrain is key. When used for speed control, the harness/hoop/pole pulls/pushes their center of mass back, off balance. Whereas if you run a loop around each boot or binding heelpiece, you can control speed & direction without pulling 'em of balance. It works to pull 'em around on the Flats, in the yard, & even back uphill when they first start sliding short distances downhill. Works great for the snowboard too, looped through the back binding. Good Luck & Have FUN!!

Back in the day,(way back :) ) that board rocked. If it was $25 w/$15 to ship it'd be worth it just to have the name & graphic on the wall. D-sub's right, for a $100 you can get a much better, more modern ride.

If you're in Albany,there should still be some good HB instructor/coaches around Killington, Stratton, Okemo, Stowe, Smugs. Used to know lots of rippin' hardboot instructors MANY years ago there, must be some left! A good instructor could have you on your way in a couple hrs./ 1/2 day . Did you ride softies before or new to riding all together?

Sent mail

interested, sent mail

1987, DRILLED BESSER PLATES INTO MY GRAY K2 GYRATOR (166? wish I still had it!) SALOMON SX 90's What a rush compared to the Burton Elite / Fastex (wish I had that too!) combo I started with a couple years before.

STOP thinking about driving the knee toward the front boot & jacking up the back heel. All that pressure at the tip engages the the nose and the tail pivots around it. That is why you're skidding on the heelside. As Jack suggests with the NORM focus on pressure along the whole edge & even towards the back heel at the end of the turn. Comfortable terrain is the key. Start first by setting up a comfortable base from which to move. You need to align your stance so when you're standing on your board on the floor you're balanced, comfortable, & your Center of Mass is centered between your feet. NOT over the front foot, NOT over the back foot, but RIGHT in the middle. Stand on a hardwood or kitchen floor in your ski boots at the angles & stance width you ride. How's it feel? Now take a small notepad or 3/8" stack of Post-its & put it under the toe of your front boot. You should feel better balanced & centered, it also allows your hips/shoulders to comfortably line up perpendicular to your feet. Experiment by removing /adding paper 'til it feels best. Having Cateks makes it easier to transfer this to your binding set up. Set up the boot shaft alignment (cants) first, then play with canting the bindings. LESS is MORE !! The goal is balanced/comfortable NOT twisted/contorted. Now GO RIDE!! :D I dare you to have FUN with all the info spinning in your head!! :lol: Seriously, it would only take an hour or so with a good instructor/coach to SHOW you all this good advice from everyone.

In my 20 years of riding/coaching with ski boots & every other kind of boot, I've found the easiest fix is TOE LIFT for the front ski boot. Ski boots already have plenty of heel lift & forward lean, which usually is great for the back foot. That kind of forward lean on the front foot at Alpine stance angles can hinder the hip rotation that everyone's suggesting. So experiment with approx. 1/8" - 3/8" block under front boot toe, it should help all the other great suggestions happen more easily. Hope it helps

May have some boots that work for you.Sent mail, let me know if you recieved it. jmzlat@att.net

How about pedestrians LOOKING before they cross, instead of blathering on the PHONE!! Honda's Hybrids are known as partial/mild hybrids, any time the car's moving the gas engine is on, not as efficient or clean as Toyota's Hybrid System. The Ford Escape uses the 2nd gen. hybrid licensed from Toyota. Not as good as the latest Synergy Drive Toyota kept for themselves. Thats why it gets the same MPG as the much bigger/more powerful Toyota Highlander Hybrid! The hybrid Toyota Highlander ROCKS!! Same mechanicals as Lexus 400h, AND cheaper with more space. They're the only vehicles on the market that have an active stabilty control that can apply POWER to either or both rear wheels to help avoid a skid. I could use that on my freestyle board! :lol: It's a 7 passenger midsize SUV, 0-60 in 7 sec. same as the BMW X5 4.4 V8, AND gets 32 mpg instead of 15. The perception that hybrids are slow is wrong. Electric motors have large torque #'s at low rpm. That's why Lexus is coming out with high performance hybrid cars, not just for fuel economy & low emissions. Buy the way, the Prius is MIDSIZE, with more space than a Mazda 6 hatchback & similar 0-60 times as 6, Accord, & Camry. Yeah I could drive a used Echo/Corolla for less, but I have ALOT more space for kid/dog/gear with 90% lower emissions! AND the SAFETY of ABS, Traction Control / Stabilty Control, Side Air bags/Curtains not available on older cars. Oh Yeah I get about 20 mpg better than my Echo! All this for about the price of a Camry or Accord, plus it has Smart Key like the $65K Lexus LS430. ;) I consistently get 60 mpg without driving like my grandma!My customers average 45-55 mpg, most just under 50mpg. The other misconception about hybrids is that you have to accelerate sloooowly. You need to think ahead while you drive; traffic, terrain, stoplights. Holly, best efficency is with quick acceleration to just above the speed limit, off the gas, then eeeease onto it to keep it in electric to maintain your speed. It's known as "Pulse driving". Check out PRIUSCHAT.COM for lots of helpful & geeky info. It's the Hybrid version of BOL. :D Some guys just got almost 1400 mi. on a 12.5 gal. tank, 109 MPG in a stock Prius!

Looking for 27.5 or 28 Furnace or Wind with stepin compatible heels. Thanks

Might use these as spares , sent mail

Hi Brian, Sent a couple emails, let me know if you didn't get them. Thanks, Mario

I totally agree with you & D-sub. Yeah, it takes less effort to trench on my Race gear, but my Softies bring just as big a grin, as do my skis/tele/twin tips . Just wish I had more time to play with all the toys! I love the story with the little girl, reminds me of our 4 yr. old. Two weeks ago she asks "Daddy is it going to snow again soon?" :D She loves her skis & snowboard, (ski boots/ Chopper 99). Maybe I'll chop off the tail & make it an Amp 86 ! It's all good as long as we're smiling.

Hi Kent, Would be willing to risk it if the price was right. :) Mario

:)

Paul, My wife loves the 149 I got from you. She's 5'7 /135 lbs. So much, she didn't bother taking her 160 out West this year. I took it out for kicks for a couple runs, had a blast. Forgot how much fun a turny little board could be @ home! :D Mario

Ride only Trams, Gondolas, Majic Carpets ;)

Thanks for the info Skully, we just got back. Sorry I miised your post, but we had a fun 2 1/2 days anyway. Kirk was at Mammoth that week. We had 3+ FEET! at Canyons Wed. & sun / freshies Thurs./Fri. @ Snowbasin. Never touched the race sticks. WE'LL BE BAAACCKK! :D

Many people talk about Park City, but we were there years ago, didn't like it as much as the other areas. Kinda busy & not as wide open, maybe we didn't find the right runs. Any suggestions? Thanks

Best areas to carve, around Salt Lake? Who has the best grooming, consistent pitch, fewest crowds? We're going in a couple days. Thinking Solitude, Snowbasin, Canyons ( last day, quickest back to airport). Any better ideas? :) Thanks

Sorry, I responded to someone I thought was you :o . Sent mail today.

I have a pair of 3 buckle Raichles I bought for my wife on ebay. Size 24, new, riden once. They're wrong size for her. Paid $35. Let me know if your interested. Mario