J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

Nice photos Trencher, see you treated yourself to some Avengers. Snow looks good despite the poor season, not many people about. What's the vertical range? Both resorts look like they are a bit limited in that respect. The changing room certainly beats putting your boots on in an icy car park. The food doesn't look very appetising, I like my meat joined up!

Filetto di manzo caramellato al Gamay, 22 Euro in the guides hut at Testa Grigia

Saas Fee is closing on the 22nd of April this year (much earlier than in the past) and will be open for summer skiing from 14th July until 31st October.

I don't know if the opening / closing dates for the 2012/13 season are known yet.

The lift company has some financial problems; turnover was down 7.5% last year. The largest share holder has recently replaced most of the local directors with outsiders and is about to embark on a cost cutting program. Personnel costs are 20% more than they should be.

I also don't do anything special with my skis over the summer, but it is very dry here. If you live somewhere damp it might be worth protecting the edges. The wipes Pavelski mentions also seem to be sold as gun wipes http://www.midwayusa.com/find?&newcategorydimensionid=4108 which are used to clean and prevent firearms corroding, should be easier to find than ice skate wipes. I don't think they will do any harm to the bases; UHMW PE is very tough http://www.uhmwpesheetrodtube.com/uhmwpesheetrodtubechemicalresistance.html

I wouldn't store them for any length of time with masking tape (even the blue UV resistant tape) on the edges as it might be difficult to remove, it becomes brittle with time. It is very useful for preventing rust during transit.

The most important thing is to keep the bases (and your ski boots) away from UV light as it makes the brittle.

There seem to be lots of this type of video camera coming onto the market at moment. The CamOne infinity http://www.camonetec.com/ has a built in screen and interchangeable lenses. £209.96 from Amazon

More often than not, shin pain is the result of the boots being too large. The boot fails to contact the shin with evenly distributed pressure from top to bottom. So first do a shell check to see if this is the case.

1 Take the liner out put your foot in the empty shell and with your toes brushing the front of the shell how much space is there behind your heel? 8-12 mm race fit, 12-16mm performance, 16-20mm comfort, 20-25mm extreme comfort, >25mm plant pot holder. Try and get someone else to estimate how much space there is, a torch and something round (marker pen, dowel, thin pipe, etc.) of known diameter will help with accuracy.

2 Find the centre of the shell and move the front of your foot side to side at that point, how much space is there on either side of your foot? For performance 0-3mm each side of the foot, for comfort 3-5mm each side

From what you have posted so far a performance fit would seem to be what you need.

If the shell check is OK check if the cheeks of the inner boot that go over the tongue meet when you close it round your leg. If this is the case your skinny legs aren't big enough to fill the boot. This can be fixed by adding padding to the inside the tongue using an Eliminator Tongue (I think Ellis Brigham sells them) and / or sticking (double sided carpet tape works well) some non compressible padding to the spoiler and if necessary to the plastic inner boot cuff. You should be able to get suitable padding from Algeos in Liverpool.

You could try sticking a doughnut shaped pad around the callus.

If this doesn't work then you need a really good boot fitter.

Be very wary of the Head Peak 12 bindings, they have a massive 9mm delta, the biggest of any binding on the market. Forget the Movement Jam, it's an old design. If you could get the Blizard Bushwacker with a Marker Griffon for the same price then that would be a really good deal. Failing that buy them flat (don't pay more than 250) and have them mount your existing bindings.

As regards cheap boots remember the old adage of "buy cheap, buy twice".

bandit wrote: back to Switzerland in July with a Guide booked to summit the Breithorn.:D

Via the north face? :wink:

That's fine, but you will have to spend time in the UK and be able to show that the company really does operate in the UK as well as in France, or you could be liable for a big French tax bill.