It's all about your smiles per hour!

How is your ski year going so far? Mine is going well, thank you- much better than it had looked a few months ago. I had personally about written off my ski year as a bust. I had only skied one day before January 20th. That put me about 12-15 days behind a normal year to that point. It was just so busy at the shop that I could not take a day off. As a seasonal business owner having a fantastic season, I really could not complain about that.

But it was still a bummer! Typically if I have a slow start to the season, it means I catch up later. I had promised myself at least 40 ski days per year when I bought the business. Most years that comes easily. Some years are tougher. One year it took a week at Mammoth in mid May to get to 39 days and then a June Shasta trip to get it done.

In mid January it was looking as if I was to be doomed to failure on my 40 ski days plan. I was way behind schedule and catching up would probably be impossible. The main reason was that on May 1st I take off on a three month 4600 mile bicycle tour. That means no May skiing for sure. The annual spring staff ski trip will be without me this time too. That could have been at least three and up to ten days of skiing.

Skiing in March and April had to yield minimal ski days too. By then, skiing should have given way to training on the bike so that I am prepared for my trip. Not a bad reason to not hit my ski days I guess, but still… Then I started to get some days in. I got six Demo days in late January and early February. Then there were a couple of two day Tahoe trips. This was followed by a fantastic trip to Utah (where I got my new vacuum boots). Then a one day trip to Homewood that was magical. I was hooked! What a great sport! I wanted to ski all the time! It had suddenly become late March and my bike was still in the garage...

Now it is late March. We have been getting hammered with a series of winter storms! When will spring come for good? I need to train on my bike and pass on the skiing, but the weather is simply not cooperating. Too rainy to ride, and too snowy not to ski. Oh well, what is a poor boy to do but enjoy it!

For April I have another Utah trip and then off to Austria courtesy of Fischer Skis to tour the factory, eat sausages, drink Schnapps, and ski Alps. I leave in about four weeks and three of them will be spent skiing! I am going to be a bit short on the bike training but I will get my skiing in!

Speaking of enjoying it… This is typically the time of the ski year for fun and frivolity. Festivals and fun events abound. Do you have plans to have some fun this spring? I hope you do! While skiing for many of our customers is serious business, for others it is simply fun. I am with the latter group. I like to ski hard, I like to ski fast. I like to work on my technical abilities. I like to say that ones skiing should not be judged by miles per hour but by smiles per hour. And this means having fun above all else.

Spring is maybe the best time for low key but fun sliding down mountains on sticks. So get psyched for spring skiing. Put on your neon and go up for an 80’s ski day. Do a long board day where any ski under 200cm is frowned upon. Go pond skimming. Or just rock a day in shorts and sunglasses. After a huge powder year like this one, you owe it to yourself to let down your hair and relax in the sun. Keep in mind that we may get a few more killer storms with insane powder available. So if your spring ski day turns into a powder day don’t be disappointed. Just roll with it. Sunny spring days are around the corner.

The season will be long this year. Squaw has announced that they will be open through the end of May. As we go into the last eight weeks of the season, look to enjoy it with style and conviction. Ski hard. Wear weird clothes if you want. Rock your vintage shades and enjoy. Unless you are off to the Southern Hemisphere it will be your last chance for a while!

Me- I’m heading for Northstar this weekend. Got my Vuarnets in my bag and I am ready to slide around in the sun. I will ride my bike all summer. That can wait. Why not see how close I can come to 40 ski days this year?

You are gonna love your boots that suck!

Every now and then something comes along that changes things in a big way. Fire and the wheel come to mind as big changers. In skiing, metal edges, PTex bases, plastic boots, and shaped skis are a few of these things. What will be the next big thing in skiing? I think I know. It is an easier way to achieve comfortable boots for all, and it starts next year. You can thank Fischer now. You certainly will at some point if I am not wrong about this.

At the Denver industry trade show Fischer announced a revolutionary new boot. Called the Vacuum Boot, it features a shell that is molded to your foot. As those of you that have purchased boots from us already know, we feel that matching the shape of the boot to the shape of your foot is the key to a great ski boot. Heat molded liners are great, and we have embraced them, but we do not rely on them. We first shape the boot to your foot before we mold the liner.

To do this we use expensive tools to modify the shell. We mark it where we want to make the changes and then we use heat and pressure to effect the shells shape and try to match it to the architecture of your foot and lower leg. We are pretty good at it.

Unfortunately, there are typically some irregularities left over that don't exactly match perfectly. In most cases that is OK. The liner can help even things out and after a bit of "break in" most customers are very happy with the outcome.

But what if the shell matched your body exactly? Oh yeah! That would be the ultimate! So Fischer figured out a way to do it!

Yes, the Fischer boot shell is heated and becomes pliable. Then a machine is used to vacuum fit it to your foot and leg. It accommodates bowed legs, adjusts to the forward lean desired and is an exact replica of your lower leg and foot. I saw it done at the product unveiling in Denver. It seemed awesome, but there are always doubts. I was extremely interested in being involved in the vacuum boot project but had one reservation. I needed to experience the process and the results for myself. There is only one machine in the USA right now so I flew to Salt Lake City and had a pair made for me.

It was very cool! Chris is the race boot tech for Fischer in the USA, He fit me in between two athletes that flew in from the World Championships to get their new vacuum boots. I felt very special! After about an hour Q & A session with Chris, he formed my boots. Quite an experience. A half hour later I had molded boots that were ready to ski. The next day I skied with Peter Keelty from http://www.realskiers.com/ and a friend of ours at Deer Valley. Dang! A half hour boot fitting yielded a boot that was as comfortable as my current Dalbellos! Keep in mind that I am a hard to fit foot and my current boots had a number of ski days and about seven hours of work done to them to get them perfect. The Fischer vacuum technology achieved it on the first day!

I will tell you all more about the boot at a later time but suffice it to say that I am elated to be one of a very few dealers to be able to sell the Vacuum boot nationally next season. This will be very good for our revenues next year as people will be coming from all over to get the boots. If you are in the market for a new boot next year, it could be very good for you too! In the end the technology may spread to all ski boots sold and make ski ski boot pain a thing of the past. Get ready for boots that suck!