ak_rider

sorry about the damage. that is majorly f-ed up. let us know how the claim goes. i had a board severely damaged by alaska airlines a few years ago and when i tried to file a claim they said they were only responsible for loss not damage.

thanks for the good thoughts guys. i thought about the possibility of breaking my leg above the boot. and having broken my leg before i would much rather deal with that than a torn achilles. broken bone is less painful and heals faster. my doc has already flexed his sewing skills and says i can start rehabing soon. i think the worst part about the injury is that i was initially somehow misdianosed. was told i had bursitis. don't know how you mmistake the 2 but have since found out the person i went to is pretty hit or miss on their diagnostic skills. should have gone into anchorage from the start. oh well, live and learn. hope you all have a great season. i'll just conitnue to read the message board and carve vicariously through you guys, and keep on my mission for 3 strap bindings.

if only our carpet had a cool tunnel over it.

i wear a wmns US 7.5 in softboots, so i don't know what size i would need

i can't teach in hardboots, so i'm looking for the 3 strap for teaching for next year. also plan to get a new softboot that's a lot stiffer and sturdier. my sb bindings were waay soft. if i do the third strap conversion it'll be on my old salomon sp5's from 2000. super stiff.

so i'll admit, i'm not the greatest hardbooter when it comes to steeps, so when i ride the double diamonds at alyeska(anywhere from 45-60 degrees depending on what's open) I ride my softboots. well, about 7 weeks ago, before our crazy freeze and thaw, I was on about my third day of enjoying a nice 50" dump. i start go down about a 45 degrees slope, hit an icy patch, i know, how do you get an icy spot after a 50" dump, but anyway i hit an icy spot, lost my edge and started to slide head down on my back. i manage to get myself almost right side up, meaning my feet are downhill from me, as i slide off a cliff. i manage to get my feet under me just as i land. then disaster. as i hit the snow, my lower body compresses to absorb the impact, my boot folds underneath me as well as my ankle strap, this forced my leg to flex more than is advisable for a non-contortionist, and pop goes the achilles. if i was on my hardboots i seriously doubt this would have happened. I'm pretty sure i will never be able to flex my raichles so that the cuff touches the toe. so my season is now over thanks, in part, to some craptastic softboot gear. my boots had approx 30 days on them and my bindings, about 20, and they're both about to go up on ebay. stick with a winner guys, go with plastic.

i've had some experince teaching little mini riders like yours, 3 yr olds were aloud at the places i worked in CO as well as up here in AK. Basically the things i work on with them are how to ratchet and unratchet the bindings, this can be an all day affair, possibly several days, getting them to keep their balance when going straight, and making slight direction changes basically by having them put their arms straight out and then point the front arm where they want to go. other than that it's jsut about keeping them happy and excited about being on snow. fun is the key with any age, but especially with the little ones.

sorry to hear about your injury man, that really sucks. that's some major bs with your insurance company. usually the docs will just go ahead and do what they need to and you all deal with insurance later. but hey, atleast you have insurance. I'm currently out of commission with a ruptured achilles tendon, did it about 7 weeks ago, and no insurance. let me just say MRI's are friggin expensive. and since my job is a snowboard instructor, my new "injured" job is sitting at the top of the magic carpet all day. If one more person says "working hard?" i'm gonna kick em with m y cast.

it may not be practical, but it sure is fun:biggthump

i'm in the market for some 3 strap bindings. it's a long story, anyway, if you know where i can find some, let me know. thanks

from my experience living in CO they close the roads when too many idiots slide off or crash, so just hope people aren't being stupid that day and you'll have no problems.

I'm looking for a pair of those old school 3 strap bindings, in good working order. If anyone knows where I can find some, or if you have some you'd be willing to sell, let me know. thanks

I know the step in your talking about, we used to have them here at ALyeska until we became a burton ltr resort. I saw the same crazy amountof play in the rental step-ins. I wish I could say things were better now, but when I'm teaching I often get people coming out with rental boards where the bindings are on the wrong feet, or better yet, a 6 yr old kid with tiny feet walks out with a board with large bindings on it. I think if resorts want to stop this crap from happening, they need to step it up and pay a decent wage to people who work in rentals. Really, would you care if someone was set up correctly if you were making minimum wage and could barely afford to eat?

Ok, so I believe I am living through some extreme afftects of global warming. atleast that's how i'm explaining what's happening to our winter up here. This season started as the best in Alyeska's history. We had gotten 200" of snow by Dec. and it just kept coming. Then around chrismas/new years, a cold snap..not too unusual up here, but then it stayed and we had subzero temps for 2 weeks, meaning it didn't get above zero for 2 weeks, at all, not even during the day. ofrficially second coldest winter in AK history. Then our cold snap finally ends, in a msot dramatic fashion. it went from negative 20 one day to literally 50 degrees the next, with a huge storm moving in. total snow at the top of the mtn was 50"+, and then it rained. It's been raining for almost a week now. There's no snow on the sides of the roads, there are literally rivers coming down and accross Alyeska. In all my years living up here I have never seen this. It will rain at bottom every year, it is a rain forest, but not at the top in the middle of january. Where did my winter go? Is this what we all have to look forward to in the future? Anyone else experiencing this where they live? Seriously, the polar bear needs a home and I need powder. I'm starting to think that in 20-30 yrs we'll all be snowboarding in august for a month and wearing shorts by january

..in the most beautiful place on earth. if you're ever in girdwood, AK and are with someone who wants to try carving, go to gridwood ski and cyclery. he has one of rosie's old boards complete with bindings, and he loans it out for free. a great opportunity to expose someone to carving. just wanted to let you all know.

I just got back from a week at home in good ol AK. I have to let you guys know how awesome it is up there. the groomers were amazing, so carvable, you could hold an edge at any angle. No crowds, no lift lines, even on the weekend. i can' talk enough about the quality of the snow, it only snowed once while I was there, but the groomers on the other days were remarkable, they do such an amazing job.And they groom up some steep stuff too. There was also fresh snow to be had a week after it snowed. Alyeska is set to be the next big resort, i've read articles on it, and the new owner has some sick ideas for the place. Get up there now before it blows up like CO. I'm moving back in october, so I'd be happy to be a tour guide to any fellow carvers who make the trip. But do it now, it's totally worth it, just bring the flat light goggles. And lift tickets, only $50, $35 for students.

start doing your snow dance now. if conditions are still less than great just think, atleast you're not here for thanksgiving

this worked. thanks

I just got a pair of raichle sb 324 boots, second hand. they're about 3-4 years old.. what i can';t figure out is how to adjust the forward lean. can someone please help

i must have gotten the tail end of the jacka$$ factor. I only had like 2 runs with idiots everywhere. I even managed to get a few chairs by myself. The conditions were a little icey, i thought, but waaaay better than the basin, and less people.

maybe it's just less stress. Having lived in both summit and grand counties, I'd have to say life is way less stressful than living in a city. No traffic, no long lines in grocery stores, no noise. And no people, so the freedom to do pretty much whatever you want. I'd say it's less to do with money, because most of the F/T residents of both grand and summit counties are far from being the multi-millionaires that own vacation homes here.

STAY OUT OF SUMMIT COUNTY!!!!!!! I'm guessing you've never been here for the christmas/new years time frame. it gets INSANE. 23,000+ people at Breck 2 years ago, last year wasnt too horrible because the blizzard shut down the airport. I would wait about 2 weeks until the crowds leave, or just hit up the smaller places, like mentioned before. ski cooper is fun on a powder day

good luck with the -80F winters and the +90F summers, ha-ha, j/k. anyway, it's pretty flat in the interior, and they don't get much snow, it just stays around for a long time and turns to ice. anyway, there's one small ski area up there called moose mountain.It's cool in it's own way, mainly because instead of a lift it has a bus that takes you back to the top. It's a good "family mountain".The biggest resort in AK is alyeska, but being in Fairbanks you'll be about a 5-6hr drive from Alyeska.

i believe it includes vail if you're a current employee, ie year round or summer. you have to show a current paystub.

I noticed on the Burton website that they have the traditional impact short in black with all the modular pads, but they also have an impact short that looks like a pair of board shorts. Does anyone know anything about these boardshort impact shorts? like, do they provide the same coverage as the traditional ones. they look like they are maybe a little less bulky. Any info anyone has would be appreciated. I'm trying to decide between the two, and less bulky would be good. my curent pair are too big and unconmfortable. I'm looking at burton because i get proform from them, and saving money is good, even if it means buying burton