Holly

We did have a good time carving this past Sunday morning and I look forward to being able to get back out down a Snowshoe next month! Oh... and I'm not sure if I shared my pretty pictures from the accident... lol...I still have some numbness in my face and have some corrective surgeries to look forward to later this year.. They're talking about having to take the hardware they installed back out, but my fingers are crossed that they *won't* have to since it took them 15 hrs for them to install it and bone tissue has likely healed over all the plates and screws <sigh>. Here's the before: and the after: (you'll only want to click on this link if you have a broadband connection.... I haven't gotten around to resizing the image... its about 1.1MB.... sorry:() http://4elementsinaction.com/hanggliding/dental_panoramic.tif and the lingering issues: Thanks again for all the good karma you guys sent my way! Oh... and get this... I had a motorcycle accident last summer... a truck with no brake lights slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting a young driver who decided at the last minute that she needed to make a left turn *right now*.... I got to work on my stoppie skills and had I not clipped Scott (yea... I was likely following too closely), I might of pulled it off. Alas.. I ended up dismounting my Duc748 by flying over the handlebars and doing a not so graceful forward roll... yep... I landed head first *again*. No worries though... just fractured my C6/7 vertebrae! Imagine you are superman and are lookin' down my throat:) I'm looking forward to having a fun summer with no negative excitement this year!

Granted... I have not gone through a whole tank of gas yet to figure out the real MPG, but I did do the math and I think I should come out ahead. In addition to the $2000 credit I can take on my 2005 federal taxes, this is what I came up with: Ave Monthly Miles...............2500 (believe it or not, I've been averaging 30,000/yr over the past 3 yrs ) Ave Cost Per Gallon of Gas.....$3.00 ........Ave MPG.|.Gal.Gas......|.Fuel Cost/Month..|..Savings/Month..|..Savings/Year..|..Savings over 4 yrs ..................Per Month Prius...40........62.5...........$187.50.............$253.68...........$3,044.12........$12,176.47 Tacoma..17........147.0588235....$441.18 Now I do agree that it would have been better to get a used vehicle from an environmental standpoint. Buying something new means one more nonbiodegradeable thing being produced that will ultimately end up in a landfill (less whatever might be harvested from it to be recycled). :o

Last year's haunt was Whitetail Mountain Ski Resort in Mercersburg, PA: 39º 44'58.32" N 77º 55'57.45" W I just accepted a job working in Manhattan. Any recommendations on a decent place to board not too far from Summit NJ (which is where I'll be living)? Holly

It seems to me that both skiers choices/observations played a part in this accident. How many times have we all read the right of way rules . The skier/boarder below has the right of way. Then there is also the rule about looking up the hill before merging from another trail or crossing a trail. We all assume a responsibility to ski/snowboard safely and to not put other skiers/boarders at risk. It is everyone's responsibility to exercise due diligence. So long as we're able to show/explain what we did to avoid a collision, blame/liability should not be levied on us. Yes... out of control skiers/boarders who ignore the right of way rules should be held liable for putting other people at risk. For some reason this got me thinkin' about my parents. They used to throw parties at our house and serve alcholic beverages from time to time. When folks started suing party throwers for liability when one of the intoxicated party goers was involved in an accident, my folks stopped hosting parties (afraid that they could loose it all in a court battle). Could the risk of liability with regard to downhilll winter recreation pursuits, cause me to reconsider my participation? Possibly. Holly

Thank you for all the concern and well wishes! I just wanted to drop a quick note to y'all and let you know that I am home and healing nicely (the docs are all very pleased with my progress). Scott has been absolutely wonderful! He's also been a great physical therapist (making sure I don't assume a sedentary lifestyle). Last weeks, we went out for a quick open canoe paddle and a brief hike. Earlier this week, I did some flat water paddling in my whitewater kayak. We hope to get out for a bicycle ride (or two) this weekend. It feels soo good to be getting back to normal. Now if only I could feel my upper lip!... lol... (They say that should come back in a few months). Thank you Fin and crew for the gift! Holly

Though I'll be starting a new job this fall, my fingers are crossed that my employer will be good to me and let me take some time off to go to ECES and/or SES 06. I know Scott's really looking forward to going as well! Thanks for coordinating this! Holly

Hey Christian! Hang gliding got a really bad reputation in the early years... back when folks were making gliders in their garages based on plans in Popular Science and when folks were teaching themselves. Equipment has come a LONG way (CAD and wind tunnel testing) and U.S. Hang Gliding Association certified instructors make learning the sport much easier and safer. Most accidents are associated with folks doing acrobatics (gliders are not designed/certified to handle the stresses associated with doing loops and such) or flying in bad conditions (using poor judgement and launching when the weather is deteriorating or when the winds are too strong and/or gusting). I've only been in the sport for 4 years and in that time, there have only been a handful of deaths nationwide. Folks do incur minor injuries from time to time when they land less than gracefully, but launch and landing skills can (and should) be practiced regularly in benign conditions at training hills (analogous to green beginner slopes) where you don't get much more than 5-10 feet off the ground for your total flight. Awesome bike! If you're up for a road trip, you should head down to Mt Airy, NC at the end of this month and do the US Desmo Ducks Along the Blue Ridge ride. Its a GREAT event. Folks come from as far away as Canada and Texas. I usually ride my bike down there from VA (about a 7 hour trek, but the back roads I take are gorgeous). There's usually about 60-80 folks riding Ducs from all eras.I've done it the last 3 years. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go this year because Scott and I are joining some friends for a week in the Outer Banks of NC that same weekend. Would be great to join you for a ride and check out some new roads. I'll be sure to drop you a note if I'm going to be up in that area... likewise, drop me a note if you ever find yourself down here! Holly

The 749s are nice and I do wish I had one... I suppose on the upside, my 1999 748 came with the cool dzus fastners and adjustable steering head angle (which I think are only available stock on the non-street legal 749R??). The shot was taken from a track day I did at Mid-Ohio Sportcar Course. The guy behind me is one of the instructors who pulled around me shortly after that shot was taken and totally schooled me. Yea... that was a great day. There were about a dozen gliders in the air and we all got to take our turn near the top of the stack. Probably my most memorable flight was one I took from Slide Mt, NV when I climbed up to 10,200 ft MSL (pretty low for that site considering launch is at about 9,000 ft MSL) and took in a spectacular view of Lake Tahoe.... my only Tahoe experience to date. Hopefully, next year, I'll be able to experience Tahoe from the snow covered slopes. Holly

Either above the ground (me flyin' my Moyes Litesport on aerotow) or around a track (on my 748 @ Mid Ohio Sportscar Course) Its all good :D Holly

Just when you thought this thread was dead, I came across this article in the latest issue of CIO magazine. High-Tech Fashion on the Slopes Are we ready for someone to be both listen to tunes and taking cell phone calls while they're carving? Holly

That's great! Now there are two states I'd consider moving to:-) I lived in California for 5 years before relocating to Virginia and I *really* miss being able to lane split. Thankfully, I never had a bad lane splitting experience while riding in CA. The only minor "oh-sh*t" I had was when I was lane splitting on I-405 (through LA) in construction. Lemme tell you how its not fun to look around and realize you stupidly got yourself between two tracker trailers:eek: Yep... that was my same tactic... Back when I had two Ducs in the stable, I took an out-of-state friend for a ride and he chased me between lanes to the "front of the queue" and he looked at me in amazement asking, "Is that legal?" With a big grin I answered, "Yep! Sure is:D "Holly

Jeff, Thank you for the feedback. I'm 5'9" and 160#. The guy I bought it from is 5'8" and 170#. It sounded like he rides both a stiffer and softer board (he had a quiver of 3 before selling the 166 to me), so I figured that this one might be okay for me. Perhaps there will be other boards @ Okemo that I can demo to see how softer and/or shorter boards might ride. Holly

The boots and board arrived last week... the bindings arrived promptly Thursday afternoon. I spent Thursday afternoon assembling things and last night, I hit the slopes for the first time on my new carving gear. I had pretty much followed Scott's lead... riding pretty steep angles on my soft gear (45º front and 39º rear). To avoid boot-out on my carving gear, I sent the front to 60º and rear to 58º. I was a little worried at how I would react to the steeper angles, but it actually felt pretty good. I managed not to fall on my a** getting off the lift and did three runs down the bunny slope @ Whitetail. Those runs went pretty well, so Scott immediately encouraged me to go to Snowpark with him. Snowpark was great! I had a few "oh sh*ts" as the board sometime started to take me for a ride and I had to do evasive manuevers to avoid other people or to avoid going into the tree line. (I had become pretty used to riding my freeride board right up to the edge before turning back to the center of the slope. I quickly learned that I needed to start my turns a little sooner on the new board:) ) Though the extra speed took a little getting used to, once I started to relax and focus on technique, things went pretty well. My carves weren't exactly pretty, but every once in a while I experience a few glimmers of things yet to come. The board holds it edge MUCH better than my freeride board (a Ride Vista 152). Once, I thought I was going down for sure, but I just leaned into the turn a bit more, the board turned more quickly and BAM... I was back up carving away (vice sliding to a stop on my butt:) ). Scott and I are gettin' read to head back out for another evening of snowboarding. Though I was a little uneasy about going to Okemo next week and riding my new gear, last night bolstered my confidence. I still have a TON to learn, but boy... is the learning going to be a blast! Holly Pic of new board

My boots are 2003/4 model year. I'll see about assembling the plane and uploading an image soon... lol.... Holly

I definitely have some nerve damage (lost a bit of flesh and a few nails as a result). I've gone to see a pediatrist and he confirmed that I now have circulatory issues in my toes. He said he could put me on blood thinners; however, he also said the blood thinners could cause more problems than they solved. Basically... he told me that unless I have major complaints to suck it up. My toes go white when they get cold and if I let it go long enough, there is very little capillary refill. I hadn't heard about calcium channel blockers before.. I'll have to look into that. My softies have a "Matrix 3" liner... even wearing thin polypro socks under my thicker snowboarding socks (both put on just before I hit the slopes), my toes go numb. Though my new boots (Deeluxe Suzukas) have thermo-flex liners, I haven't had a chance to actually test them out yet (waiting for my board and bindings to arrive). I hope to get out on my carving gear this coming weekend:) hangten247, thank you for all the good info. I think I'm going to pick up some of the stick on toe warmers as a stop-gap measure, but it sounds like the Hotronics are the way to go. Perhaps I'll pick some of these up next week in Okemo. Thanks for all the great feedback. Hopefully, I'll be riding with warmer toes soon!:)