ak_rider

i agree that something should be put in writing, just to protect you, but maybe add a clause into the contract stating that larry needs to get a job in x amount of time otherwise they can't live there. It could be any job, f/t, p/t, even if it's bussing tables for minimum wage. perhaps it'll be the wake up call he needs and will finally learn that working=shelter, not working=homelessness.

have you looked at pro-tec? not sure if they still make it but they used to have a ff helmet that was pretty reasonably priced. not sure if they're still making them, but worth a try.

a bit of a correction. about 99% of flu cases(any type of flu) a fever is present. a general rule of thumb is that if you don't have a fever, you don't have the flu. many people confuse a cold and the flu. i would say, if you have a fever, get to the Dr. a symptom they look for when people come in is a fever. they won't suspect h1n1 without a fever of over 100F, and i htink it might be a bit higher, like 102f or something. i think there are far fewer people who have actually had h1n1 than the media and the general population would make you think. the media got people scared and paranoid, which translated to people running to the Dr. because they sneezed, sneezing is not a typical symptom of the flu. when i had h1n1 the doc told me his office had been packed with people who thought they had h1n1, but the majority of people didn't. just a cold, or seasonal allergies mixed with some media enduced paranoia. if h1n1 had surfaced a few months earlier it would have been included in the regular seasonal flu vaccine.

I won't be getting the vaccine, since nature beat me to it. I got the H1N1 back in the end of August on a flight to seattle. i've been told that since i already had it i didn't need to be vaccinated. I boarded the plane in anchorage and felt fine, went to sleep, and 3 hrs later when we landed in seattle i had a sore throat and headache. our final destination was CT. byt he time i finally got there, i felt like i had been hit by a car. it wasn't a horrible illness, a few days of feeling really crappy, but by far the worst thing was the cough. it lasted for weeks after i felt better.all other symptoms lasted only about 5 days. i wouldn't be able to get vaccinated even if i wanted to. AK only got 2000 vaccines. we're waiting on more.

thanks for all the info. i think i might look into arcteryx a bit more. didn't know what the sv and all that stood for. i tend to be weary about general gore-tex labeling, since i too have been victim to the old ski school goretex jacket that does little more than filter the rain before it hits you. i'd be willing to go with sailing gear, but just from my experience with my kayaking stuff, after about a week of sweaty activity, i can be smelled before i can be seen. that stuff seems to hold odors pretty well. the pants i end up buying will be put to the waterproofness test more than usual this season. damn el nino

I'm trying to find some snowboard, or ski, pants that are super waterproof. As much snow as we get up here, we also get a lot of rain, especially towards the bottom of the mountains. i'm looking for a pair of pants to keep me dry. price isn't too big of an issue, although if i'm dropping several hundred bucks, i would like a lifetime warranty. i'm not too picky, color is the last thing i'm concerned about. i would like vents, preferably mesh lined, i tend to get snow accumulating in my pants when i ride with non-lined vents open. also non-insulated, layering is much more practical up here. i've looked at some arcteryx stuff, i love the jacket i have by them, but have no experience with their pants, and don't want to drop $300 on something that doesn't meet my needs. any info, advice would be greatly appreciated. but no burton, even their AK stuff falls short in the conditions up here.

only the handguns. one on the left is a taurus tracker 44 mag. on the right we have a ruger super redhawk alaskan 454 casull.

When I joined I was living in New England attempting to ride as many ski areas as possible and slowly makin gprogress on an accounting degree while teaching snowboarding. Since then, I moved to CO, and then finally back to AK(basically drove in a big 12,000mi loop), have finished said degree, have started working on another degree-quickly realized accounting was way too boring for me. I got engaged, and most recently threw off the shackles of ski school, only to pick up new shackles of nursing school. I ride slightly faster than I did, and fall slightly less-on a good day.

my fiance has a pair of old burton pants from 98 that seem to fit the bill. full side zips, relatively snug feel, i think they were made just before the ganster movement, built-in knee pads and i don't know what the fabric is-the tag is too faded- but they feel like the fabric used to reinforce the inner cuffs on ski pants, so pretty heavy duty. these pants are 11 years old and have no signs of holes or anything. these were the pants he bought when he first learned to ride, so lots of falling and then dragging on VT ice. the only thing i don't like about them is that they are insulated. i prefer the versatility of layering. i would only add a little more fleece in the butt area, for cold chair lifts. maybe these pants can be used as a model for a newer pair. i would pay a lot of money for a pair of pants that don't fall apart halfway through the season.

yup, this is my second major injury. tore my achilles like the second week of the season. i was back riding for about a week when i did this. maybe this just wasn't my season

Here are some pics of Alyeska from 3/29/09. Just incase anyone was wondering what it looks like when volcanic ash falls on a ski area and then said ski area makes it's employees come in and ride on the ash. the ash fell on 3/28/09 after the mtn closed for the day. I also threw in a pic of the ash after it got covered with some snow. The ash made it EXTREMELY difficult to read the snow and tell what was soft and what was hard. If anyone is ever faced with the decision of whether or not to go ride on a volcanic ash day, do yourself a favor and stay in bed. I'm sitting here with a torn acl and a tibial plateau fracture thanks to the ash.

if you like powder reports from mountains with big dumps, check www.alyeskaresort.com

just wondering if anyone else out there is experiencing crazy weather. for example, right now I am under a blizzard warning as well as an ashfall advisory. snow and ashfall? what is that like? oh wait, it sucks, i experienced that yesterday.

i would recommend going for the teles. if your a good alpine skier you'll be able to make alpine turns when you need to and can throw a tele turn in every now and then. plus, without your heels locked down, it's easier to bend down and help a small child. my fiance is a good alpine skier, and his first day on teles last season he was making tele turns down blues, so i'd say it's pretty easy to convert from alpine to tele. although when i try to wedge in my teles my heels tend to fall towards the inner edges of my skiis, but this may be due to bad technique, i never alpined before tele. if you decide to go with snowblades be aware that they have a high risk for broken legs because the bindings don't release. i'd say approach skis would be better since they have releasable bindings.

don't ask me how i know this, but i do. if you spray Pledge-that dusting stuff-on your topsheet it will help the snow not stick to it. it doesn't last all season but it'll do for a day. as was stated before, don't spray on the stomp pad

i've never worn a football helmet but i suspect they don't act the same as a ski helmet because they have different intended purposes. a football helmet is designed to be hit over and over again, where as in skiing or riding, it's assumed that you don't spend all day smacking your head. the helmet is more intended as a safeguard, just incase. snowboard helmets are designed to protect your skull from cracking incase your head comes into contact with a solid object. the foam inside the helmet compresses and provides protection. unfortunately, these helmets do nothing to prevent concussions since no helmet can prevent your brain from rattling around in your skull when your body suddenly stops moving.

so what exactly would i be listening for to let me know i'm about to be hit from behind? the first time i evr got hit was from behind, and i don't recall there being any type of specific noise that let me know it was coming. in fact, listening to music helped me get over my fear of being hit from behind again. the first few times i went riding after being hit if i would hear someone scraping behind me i would stop and let that person go by. and most of the time it would be an in control person who was nowhere near me. then i started wearing headphones more often and the music drowned out the scraping noises uphill from me and allowed me to focus on riding andhaving fun again. also, have any of the anit-headphone folks ever tried talking to someone who is riding right next to you. with the wind noise and the board on the snow noise, it makes it pretty difficult to make out what the other person is saying. so hearing abilities on the mountain while going down it are pretty compromised to begin with, regardless of headphone use. just because i choose to listen to music instead of the wind howling by my ears, it does not make me dangerous.

Bird Creek, AK. It has most of what you're looking for. it's affordable in the range you listed. it's totally not a big city-about 15-20 houses total. i'm currently using high speed internet at my house. however, we don't have a good coffeehouse, but we do have a gas station that sells coffee. there are several hundred miles of great biking, riding roads. google seward highway-it's the msot scenic road i've ever been on, and it allows bicycles-its' technically a highway but it only has 1 lane each way with a double yellow line in the middle. i have 4000-5000ft peaks behind my house, to the side of my house and in front of my house. however, if you want to look at the mtns in front you have to deal with a view of the ocean that the peaks rise out of(i know, life is hard;)) alyeska is a sweet carving resort, no crowds and some good long groomers, and only 10 miles away. whitewater kayaking is pretty popular up here, however, i don't think rafting is. the water stays pretty cold and would make rafting unenjoyable without a wet or dry suit-depending on what type of summer we have. now, we here in bird are by no means run-down, no dirty factories, however, we do have red necks, a hippie commune, and several houses without running water/electricity. no wal-mart either, but there are 3 wal-marts in anchorage. i totally live in the ultimate outdoor town, but i also live in the ultimate outdoor state.

CT- Powder Ridge(now out of business), Mt Southington, Mohawk, Ski SUndown MA-Bousquet, Blue Hills, Wachusett NH- Loon, Bretton Woods VT-Killington, Okemo, Mt Snow, Sugarbush, Stowe, Jay Peak, Bromley, Mad River(yes i snowboarded there, they weren't too happy) Maine- Sunday RIver, sugarloaf CO- Copper, Breck, Keystone, Vail, Beaver creek, A-basin, Loveland, Winter Park/MJ, Sol Vista, Ski Cooper, Steamboat OR- Timberline, Mt Hood Meadows, Ski Bowl, Mt Bachelor Canada- Whistler/BC, Sunshine Village, Lake Louise, Tremblant NM- Angelfire AK-Hilltop, Alyeska(the BEST resort, IMO) Probably more, but I don't really remember caring where I was when I was younger, as long as there was a hill with snow

I will gladly cheer you on from the bar at the bottom of the mtn. unfrotunately, i'm out with a ruputured achilles....but if happens to blow in like june or july, I know where to find some sick corn, if that happens to interest you:biggthump

it was a big deal up here a few weeks ago, when it started having bigger tremors, one that shook me awake. but news has since died down and it's basically on the backburner. it may blow, it may not. my opinion is that it won't blow, but we'll all jsut have to wait and see. i think it's become a bigger deal in the lower 48. evryone's prepared but i don't think anyone's really concerned. let's just keep hoping it goes back to sleep, especially since i only live like 70 miles from it

I've found that the majority of people who do stupid things on the mountain, do not take lessons. they're the ones who go out and think they know everything. they think that speed=skill, which it does not. they also think that if your riding greens you suck and if your riding the hard trails you're awesome. as far as suing ski areas, the back of lift tickets pretty much protects the resorts from the stupid things people do at them. although i believe a certain amount of responsibility should lie within the resort. they should be concerned with safety, but unfortunately most of them are concerned with dollars. whetehr it's by allowing too many people on the mountain or selling all mtn lift tickets to people who don't have the skill to be on the whole mtn. i think it basically comes down to conveying to people that skiing and snowboarding are fun life long sports, but can be extremely dangerous. i just don't know how to convey this message, because lots of people have a "it won't happen to me" mentality. perhaps a comprehensive booklet explaining the rules of the hill as well as consequences to certain actions given out to people before they get a lift ticket. make them read the booklet and take a little knowledge test afterwards, to prove they actually read it. i know this won't prevent the "awesome" people from acting stupid, but it will open the eyes of a lot of people to just how dangerous their actions can be.

Our local resort appears to have about 200 employees/volunteers in/on/around the mountain every time I go...but all they ever seem to be doing is teaching or just enjoying the slopes themselves. Seems like a *little* effort could be put into tagging people riding like idiots. I'd really like to hear the "resort take" on all this from anyone who's worked for a resort. Scott well as far as employees tagging people while on the mtn, if they're enjoying the slopes themselves, i assume this is when they're off the clock, and really, who wants to "work" when they're not getting paid. and the ones who are teaching are being paid to do just that..teach. the people in the class paid money to get a lesson, it's really not fair to the clients to take thei rtime to go tag dangerous people. i do agree there should be some sort of way to identify the idiots. if you don't want crowds, you should get up to AK right now. it's amazing how dead things get when there's a volcanic eruption looking.