Jutta

(and I certainly don't count myself as anything else - yet), fracturing a forum in subcategories makes it very hard to find useful information. Certainly, if you know exactly what you are looking for, scrolling only through the subcategory in question is going to save time, but for newbies just trying to soak up as much info as possible, this multiple forum search is a nightmare. I dabbled a bit in mountain biking this summer and found this site's forum very helpful - once I had spent countless hours trying to figure out if my specific questions were technique or gear related. Oh, and of course I got the occasional: try to get in touch with so-and-so, he's usually hanging around the (some other) subforum, but he might be able to tall you more. Frustrating... Honestly, one of the things I really like about bomberonline is the fact that it's such a close-knit community. Why break that apart?

but it takes 1 hour and 45 min to get to Summit County (via Hwy 24 to Breck) on a good day. I've spent almost 3 hrs one way to Breck and so far my personal best for A-Basin (via I-25/I-70) was just over 4 hrs. It's doable for a day trip, but not a whole lot of fun... I second the SLC thought, though. Where else do you have the chance to have the best of both city and mountain living?

I know I'm by no means well known around here, but I'm going to be in Germany 12/17/05 - 01/02/06. Just thought I'd offer... especially since we still fall under the old 70lbs baggage regulations and we certainly won't have 210 lbs between us.

to taking some time off - I didn't and now I'm stuck in the kids-work-car-house grind. Aargh... I even live in the suburbs!!! On the upside, though: by the time I'm 45 my kids will pe packed off to college and I'll have started my early retirement - location still to be determined but proximity to good snow will be the deciding factor.

which one would be the best model to pack both snowboards and skis? Length isn't an issue, the longest gear in the family is 175cm. What can I say, we're all short :D

I've been verified for about three years now - no problem whatsoever. Occasionally do I get spoof e-mails, but as mentioned above: don't use their links and notify paypal about the "iffy" mail.

One of the few imported chocolate varieties that doesn't seem to suffer from the all too common quality decline. Milka and even Ritter Sport are actually pretty good in Europe, over here they just taste flat. Milka makes a plain yogurt filled one - tastes great right out of the fridge. I've never seen that one over here, though. I guess my all time favorite is the cherry liquor filled Lindt bar. 12 pieces to a bar - heavenly. For some reason I can't stand the filling of the much easier to find raspberry verion, but a few stores in town carry the cherry one, too... PS: I'm spending Christmas in Germany - all the good chocolate I can eat, and I get to take some home, too!!!! :D

If you can get a good instructor - absolutely, go for it!! The problem, though, is that not every resort will have instructors on hardboots. And with the softbooters, even if you specifically request a hardboot lesson you still might end up with a guy who will tell you every time you're struggling that "this would be a lot easier on a soft setup. You really might want to switch." (personal experience, unfortunately...)

because after decades on skis I felt more comfortable in hardboots - and because that's what my hardbooter hubby bought me as a present :D. In no way have I mastered my new toys yet, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. After being totally frustrated with my lack of progress early last year I tried a (click-in) soft setup, thinking that maybe carving just wasn't meant for me but surprisingly enough I actually felt even less in control. I sorely missed the stiffness and responsiveness of hard boots, I felt as if I had no control whatsoever. I have since figured out that I was attempting to learn on runs that were way to steep for me to be comfortable - something mental about refusing to be seen on a green run; I got over it, though - and things have improved quite a bit since. I guess if carving is what you're aiming for you might as well not take a detour and start with a hardboot setup. Maybe some of the instructors here have more input?

Well, you'd be amazed how well some people can get others to move along (or out of the way) with strategic pole placement: a slight shove on the back of a binding will get almost anyone going and a pole placed in just the right spot can keep you stationary long enough for your "attacker" to squeeze by. Along more aggressive lines: Topsheet hits are common (in the late 80s I had a pair of those yellow Voelkl Renntiger skis that ended up being mostly silver after a few seasons), I've had my (ski) bindings opened by others and occasionally you get people who experience something like "lift line rage" who will actually poke or hit you if they don't approve of your conduct. I'm not saying I never deserved it, but even as an innocent bystander you've got to beware...

I guess we're just more used to crowded conditions. Crowded cities, crowded countryside, crowded runs, crowded lift lines. A very crowded spring break day at an American resort is still fairly empty by European standards. The only time I've ever encountered European conditions over here was the first few weekends that A-Basin was open: 30 min lift lines, 5 min run. Across the pond, there is no regulated standing in line: it's a big funnel and cutting in line is an art form. Notes: Always stay on the sides, it's faster than the middle. Do not - under any circumstances - let anyone move past your shoulders. Kids are best picked up and carried, swinging skis will give you more room. Being small is actually an advantage: the smaller you are the easier you can slip into an opening. But is is admittedly rough; poles can and will be used as "weapons", it's certainly not a topsheet friendly environment. Until I learned to simply be patient, I routinely "lost" my hubby in lift lines and had to wait 15 minutes at the top for him to fianally catch up with me. BTW, my dad's mantra is "I'm not cutting in line, I'm simply utilizing available space." On the no-talking issue: yep, it's cultural. People tend to go places in groups and stay with their buddies, "outsiders" tend to be regarded as somwhat suspicious. (And that's not only directed towards foreigners but towards all people.) Of course there are exceptions, but spending a 20 min lift ride in silence is by no means uncommon.

I feel an urge to contribute my $0.02: Helmet: I grew up sking in Europe where NOBODY wore helmets back in the day, but I bought my first one the afternoon of my first foray into snowboarding: caught my edge - bam - and didn't want to repeat the ensuing slight concussion. Now you won't find me (or the rest of the family) without one on the slopes: safer, warmer, and you don't get snow in your ears when you fall. Out-of-control-boarders: I honestly never had a problem with boarders - well, except for those annoying groups of teenagers sitting around and cloggin runs - until my kids were old enough to hit the slopes. All of a sudden there were incompetent people on boards everywhere. I think it has to do with the fact that most of the "problem" boarders are intermediate teenagers who think they're the $#@%. When I'm on a run by myself, I'm way faster than those guys, so they don't create a problem. But they do go faster than my little ones and unfortunately tend to neither have the skill to maneuver around a beginner at their top speed (and as a rule my kids don't take up the whole run-width; we shot for about 5m/15') nor to show the decency to slow down if a crowded run forces them to pass others at close quarters. I've only had my 4 year old on the slopes 3 times this year and she already "met" 4 boarders (teenagers, all of them), one of which managed to cross her 80cm skis between tips and bindings, only to speed away to re-join his buddies. His attitude changed a bit when my hubby caught up with him, though... (thanks for letting me bitch) Conclusion: beginner/slow skiers are often the victim of beginner/intermediate boarders, and the fact that the typical "perpetrator" is a teenage male who has to prove himself to his friends doesn't make for polite apologies, either. I guess the teenagers were always the "bad" ones on the hill, but since they are mostly on boards, the "annoying teenager" has morphed into the "annoying boarder" for many. Trend: yeah, right... that's what they said about mountain bikes, too. Snow: honestly, I think it's almost a non-issue. Is someone suggesting outlawing a skier's snowplow next? And I've seen plenty of skiers skid down a difficult run sideways, too...

I had been skiing for close to twenty years when I met my hubby (a certified ski and snowboard instructor) and told him I was a pretty good skier. We went skiing together for the first time after dating for about two months. He put me through the paces and finally said "yes, you are a pretty good skier". Well, duh, I had told him so. I refused, however, to get on a board. "Why start falling down again and being stuck on the green runs?" I thought. Well, two seasons later I got a very "thoughtful" gift: a non-returnable hardboot set-up which robbed me of any good reason not to at least try it. The result - well, what can I say :D Being compatible in this regard is certainly a huge plus in our book; we spent our honeymoon at Snowbird and retirement planning is done almost exclusively by comparing nearby resorts. Right now, SLC is in the lead.

Keystone/A-Basin are offering their "Liberty" season pass again to active duty military folks and their families: $109/adult and $89/child

please check your mail

for me being on a board isn't nearly as aerobic as it seems it should be. In my case it probably has a lot to do with a lack of technique ;) , but I certainly need a lot of weight and/or resistance training to keep me on the hill all day

I love mine...

One of the exceptions, I know; I've never been on a soft set-up. After 20+ years on skis my SO bought me an alpine board in 1999 - I didn't have a choice but to start on a hard set-up.

yep, another cubicle dweller here...

A-Basin's webcam is down (or, more likely, snowed in...), but here's the link to the one at Keystone

she's cute - I want another one of my own... But then I remember sleepless nights, diaper changes etc. :D All the best to you three!

water or other liquids handy while out and about. I've had a basic (no pockets) camelback for years, mostly for biking, but also used it on the slopes. It wasn't insulated, but as long as I remembered to take a sip at the top and bottom of each run plus during the lift ride, freezing wasn't really a problem, not even during a 0 degree (F), very stormy day at Zermatt. Last year I bought the "snowdawg", less because it's insulation (even though it works great!!), but because I wanted some extra storage room and I got it on sale for $55. I liked it so much, though, that it went right along to Moab a few weeks ago: just take off all the insulation (or simply use another bladder, for some reason we've accumulated a bunch of extras...) and you've got a "regular" camelbak setup. (BTW: nice pic, boostertwo) For me personally this is the only way to stay properly hydrated while boarding - who wants to spend time getting off the board and into a lodge just for a sip of water? :D

Sorry, Steel - I'll have to side with Justin and Skatha, I loved it! I thoroughly enjoyed the Incredibles, too, but I think Madagascar is somewhat geared to a wider audience. I'm a sci-fi/fantasy/comic geek, but for the adult audience without boxes and boxes of comic books at home Madagascar is probaly funnier - my mother-in-law went to see Madagascar with me and the kids and laughed her a$$ off!

...are Warsteiner and Jever. While the first is relatively easy to come by here (Colorado Springs), I've never been able to find the latter. And then there are many, many more "small" brands that even in Germany you won't find in stores more than 30miles from the brewery. My hometown of 15,000 people still supports three thriving breweries, one of them (Fuchsbeck) still is my alltime favourite. They have a full line, and their Doppelbock is to die for... Oh well, I get to go "home" about once a year - that usually costs me about 5lbs per week, but is worth every ounce!!:D

... more than a matter of expertise. After 12 years of snowboarding (the last 7 exclusively hardbooting, lately on an Prior 4WD), my hubby (5'9", 190 lbs) just bought himself an 159 Oxygen to play with. Not because he's still a novice, but simply because, as he puts it, he enjoys turning more than going fast. He's having a blast and the board seems to have no problem at all supporting him. (Yes, I know this thread is over a week old by now, but I'm just now catching up to things :D )