Now we are skiing!

I finally got to slide on snow! I went up Wednesday with employees Peter and Becky. We were joined by friends John and Amy. What a blast! Perfect timing! A great champagne powder dump the few days before with bluebird skies for us. We left at 5:30 and were on the mountain early. Great grippy snow on the groomed. Light powder every where else, but caution was needed off piste. The light snow let you sink to whatever was underneath, so we were mainly on the groomed runs.

I started out on my Fischer Race SC's to see if I remembered how to carve a turn. That worked out great so I did some runs on a Fischer Watea 94. Super fun and I was overly tempted by the powder and dinged 'em up a bit. I switched to a Watea 84 and WOW what a great ski. Tight turns, no problem. Let 'em run, no problem. Super fun and versatile. What agreat ski! We saw a few customers, and had a chance to chat with Jim from the Start Haus in Truckee as he was also stealing a bit of "fun time" while others toiled away at the shop. We all had a fantastic time. Get up there! I recommend it highly!

Since then it has been two days of very active retail. The hardcores are all getting their first turns and are coming by for last minute needs. Families are gearing up for Christmas skiing and buying gifts. Rentals are suddenly a part of our lives again. Racers are coming in for the next round of race prep work. New ski packages are lining up in the shop for mounting. I delivered a new ski to a customer in Lafayette this morning before work. It is a non stop torrent of diverse wants and needs. For the most part we are able to accomodate all. Part of the gig this time of yeare is that everyone needs it now. The ski packages are being used asap. The racers needed their gear for this weekend. Renters are wanting to have us set up and reserve their skis. Boot ditting must be done by their ski day or plane reservation (typically "tomorrow"). Tonight John and I were at work until 11:30. We mounted some skis for pick up in the morning, I did a custom insole with an electronic boot heater integrated.

Then we had some fun. JT is a regular customer that has a pair of Atomic SX-9 skis. Loves the skis but feels they are too heavy. He asked today if there was any way to replace his heavy bindings with a lighter pair of Salomon units. Yes! Or at least Mabey! I ahve been dying for someone to request this for a while now, as it is a common "complaint" about the Atomics of a few years ago. The problem is that the skis came with a plate that only accepted the Atomic bindings. A super light ski that is only compatible with a heavy binding should lead, in my mind, to us getting this request. It has been tumbled around in my brain more than once that there must be a good way to make this modification and I had some ideas. I told him I would work on it when I had the time. He wants them for a late January trip. So at about 10 o'clock I finished up my "need it now" work and rustled up a ski with the same system and John and I tore it apart and brainstormed. Very tricky to get the loads distributed safely on the extremely "not flat" Atomic top sheet with its "beta" profile. But we have some ideas. I will pick up some aluminum stock, and we can start fabricating our idea into a prototype to test. This will be interesting, and as soon as I have some free time again between dawn and midnight I will get back to it. I am thinking I may be able to grab a few hours here and there over the next month and if things go well, JT will have the trickest Atomics on the mountain. Stay tuned and I will supply a photo if it works out great.

For now, I am turning in for the night. Happy Holidays to you all, and get up and enjoy the white gold up in the Sierra!