More Fun

Everybody wants to have fun. I want to have extra fun. More fun can be achieved with preparation. When opportunity knocks, you won't have to knock it. Take today, for example. It was a powder day, a bluebird powder day. My skis were waxed. My laundry was clean, the vehicle was sufficiently fueled. I ate right, not only in the morning but all throughout the day before to assure maximum performance for the expected day's skiing. I got lots of sleep.
About sleep; I have noticed that like that last song you heard on the radio before getting out of the car, the last tv show I watch before bed influences my sleep. If I watch kung fu or James Bond then I thrash all night fighting my nightmares. I have also noticed that when I fall asleep watching comedy or a show with a laugh track that my night's sleep is restful and i wake up in a better mood.
We are victims to our lifestyles. My machines train me. My phone taught me to do a new trick called 'making sure the phone is in the charger correctly every night'. My skis have taught me to wax them. My body... Chores suck but life sure is easier when you get them done when they are supposed to be done. That reminds me, gotta switch the laundry.

Powder to the People

I have to force myself each year to remember why the ski areas close with more snow than they had at any time during their open season. It has some things to do with migrating game and migrating employees and sports enthusiasts who venture off to their high-water sport locales. It also has to do with the fact that no matter what phrase they use to describe the lightness of the snow where you live, it all turns to cement by 1pm on a 50 degree April day. Your best hope is for a good corn season if it snows hard in Early April and gets warm by tax day for May Day corn. This weekend is the last blast at many areas or a bookend to the last week of skiing. It has been a tough season for me to be able to get out skiing. Today represented day 72 for me this season, well down from the usual 100 days or more I would normally have by now. Get out there and enjoy the last blast of winter whether you want it to end or not.

Life is Camping

Life is camping. How long are you really going to be here anyway? Practice a trend toward low or no impact living.

Why don't they make windmill blades out of solar cells?

How much does Won Ton Soup weigh?

Never break more than one law at a time.

I'm from Earth. Where are you from?

The Past, Present and Future

When you sit in one place on Earth, everything you see on Earth has happened in the past. The farther away the sighted object, the more in the past is your vision of it. When you move across the Earth you begin to live in the present. The things you see ahead of you are much less in the past when skiing or biking toward them. Those things may become part of your future. You have foresight when in motion. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest. The same could be said for humans. If I were to bet that you are vitamin D deficient, I could be a rich man. Get outside. It won't get done if you don't do it.
And on the nature of Fun:
I have come to believe that there can be an equation for Fun. Though not yet fully completed, the chief descriptor for Fun is the Slope of the Learning Curve. It seems to me to be reasonable that if you are getting high returns on a small investment in a new endeavor, you will be smiling. In other words, if you take up snowboarding for the first time and find it simple to learn you will be having fun. Lots of great riding without much effort, how could that miss? If you take up tennis and after a few lessons you can play a game without hitting the ball out of the court you will be having fun.
The important thing is moving forward, participating in life because it's the journey, not the goal that means the most. For however great what comes after it is not this life, which makes this life special, not the prize later that lasts forever. This is the heavenly time. Don't waste it. Why do think they call it 'the present'? Let your knows be your guide.

A Smile-a-Day

Don't forget that you live where you live on purpose and that humans are children of the sun. You won't get the best performance out of people by locking them in a windowless cubicle everyday. If a little sunshine on your face brings it a smile, it will probably do the same for the other people who live where you live.

A Perfect Seal

Staying warm starts at home. Other-than-cotton underwear and socks go on first. Then the next-to-skin upper layer followed by the lower layer overlapping the upper layer at the waist providing you with a perfect seal. Kneepads, if you are so inclined and I like to wear a pair of polar fleece shorts for on-the-chair warmth over that. A mid layer for your upper body tucks into the shorts on colder days. Pants and jacket complete the ensemble. Only your foot and single sock go in the boot. The elastic cuff at the bottom of the pants is a powder cuff meant to go over the boot to keep out the powder snow. Hat, goggles, gloves, lift ticket, smile.
*For extra warmth add a balaclava.
**Don't forget your mp3 player.

Have a Seat

The lift is easier to load than most people make of it. Ski up to the 'Stand Here' block imbeded in the snow. Have your poles in hand unstrapped from your wrists. When the chair arrives at your butt, sit down. There is no need to grab the chair with a hand. The llifty is there to hold the chair for your. Just sit down.

Nirvana

A day off is a day to clear up all of those tasks nagging at the back of your mind. Not until they are tidied can you relax enough to reach Nirvana, that blissful state of feeling caught up enough to take some time out for yourself. It might be zoning out in front of the tube or getting an afternoon massage. The more you got accomplished, the more you can relax. You've earned it. Time to ourselves is so precious. I would like to maximize my time, in general. I would like to always perform at a high level. In an effort to achieve these aims, I have studied the components of good performance. After all the factors were weighed, a pattern emerged. High performance, for example, on the race course was a result of at least two days of preparation. Having a good run means you have to be having a good day. And after studying the components of a good day a pattern emerged. A good day is when you are able to fully release each of the five human energies in the same day.
The five human energies are:

• Physical Energy; the energy of the expression of the joy of movement.
• Emotional Energy; the energy of being a social creature, sharing
• Intellectual Energy; the energy of solving puzzles
• Creative Energy; the energy of art and building
• Sexual Energy; the energy of the libido

Partake in the release of the five energies and you will have the best chance of having a good day. Your performance on the race course will improve because not only is the laundry done but your personal health has been attended to so you are free to reach Nirvana.

Demo Gear

In the last three days I have had the fortune of being able to test out the $1,300.00 Denny Hanson designed Apex Ski Boot, 2011 Hart F14 Skis and an Atomic Banger Snowboard from next year's stock, as well. And although after years of experience, someone can walk in off the street and with two or three questions I can select an ideal ski for them. My accuracy improves greatly if I 've seen them ski at all. But, still, sometimes I don't get it right.
I cannot overstate the importance of trying new equipment. As good as your old stuff feels, there are advances in gear technology that can actually improve your skiing instantly just by getting on the new gear. The money they want for ski gear these days should prompt every potential buyer to carefully seek out the gear that is right for them. Time spent trying gear in an A/B comparison way skiing each ski on the same run under the same snow conditions (read - the same day). Pick a day and test out three or four likely candidates for your new gear before you buy. The day lost skiing will enhance every day thereafter in gear you are happy with.

Animal Sightings

I want to be sure not to take for granted the fact that on any given day I might see at reasonably close range (read - ran out in front of my vehicle) elk, moose, deer, bear, coyote, wolf, puma, bison, big horn sheep, bald eagle, and a host of smaller mammals. Today it was deer, yesterday it was elk and moose the day before. Many days lately it's big horn sheep in front of the house I used to rent. How many wild animals do you see on any given day?

Friends

As beautiful as this planet can be the best things on it are your friends.

Be the Wax

During the time I spent in NZ, I met a man whose son designed the hull to one of the hopeful craft to race in the America's Cup. He imparted to me that the key to his son's success was his ability to empathize with or 'be' the hull of the boat in his mind in an effort to understand how the water meets the bow and how the two interact.
Ski wax is not too dissimilar. Understand how the sharpness of ice crystals or snowflakes at different temperatures want to interact with the ski base and wax. Gloppy applications are going to hinder not help a smooth glide. Uneven application will lead to uneven ski response.
Ski wax has a couple of jobs to do. It has to reduce the friction of the ski to the snow with regard to the base. The wax will also protect the base not only from moisture exchange but also some amount of physical damage.
Waxes come in different hardnesses. The harder wax is for harder snow with sharper crystals. Softer wax is more about breaking the surface tension of a rounded snowflake or water molecule. It has always stood to reason with me that if the wax truly permeates into the ski base, then I want the hardest wax at that level. As I layer wax away from the ski core I soften the wax until the desired hardness for the day's skiing has been applied.
This may take three or more coats of wax for one day of skiing. And by the end of the day you'll need to do it again for tomorrow. Try to wax carefully. It is the final step in a ski tune and follow through is not to be underestimated. Pay attention until you have both feet out of the project. Be the base.
The difference between not waxing and waxing for a day of skiing is the difference between having fun and having a lot of fun.

Boot Fit

Boot fit is a process. My personal story is that I went from a 28.5mp boot last year to a 27mp boot this year. When I first put it on I was wondering whether I would ever feel good in the smaller size. After working with the boot for a while I wasn't sure if I couldn't go down another size comfortably.
I had been sloshing around so comfortably in my old boots, I'd forgotten how much more solid I feel in a performance oriented fit. I like to describe it by referring to the 'bell curve' noting that under the bell are the great days when the boot feels perfect and under the end of the curve are the days you've crushed the liners out to ultimately an unbareable size. Under the first part of the bell are the days when the boot feels brutally tight. You have to go through them to get to the good days. If the boot starts off feeling great you have nowhere to go with it. It will pack out and you'll be bumming.
There are reasons you can get into such a smaller size than you think you can at first and not the least of them is that you ought not be buying boots in July north of the equator at sea level. If you do nothing other to the boot than buy it you'd be foolish not to spend the $35 or so for a pair of decent drop-in footbeds or better. In most cases these footbeds will provide greater arch support than the factory versions. The slight lifting and support of the arch shortens the overall length of your foot in the boot hence the second reason for a smaller boot.
Often skiers too soon reject the feel of a boot on their foot purely on the basis of a 'hot-spot' of pressure upon its first wearing. Forget not that most liners of quality ski boots made today have a moldability usually through a heating process to mold the boot not only to your foot on the inside but also to the boot shell on the outside of the liner. Aftermarket liners of higher quality are also available from makers like Zipfit. The custom molding often eliminates hot-spots and uneven pressure spots.
I went with a custom moldable cork footbed from DownUnder and even with my considerable experience, it took a couple of grindings to get them even. The key was being able to discern what isssue was the footbed and which was my turn. It took some experimentation but I finally was able to work out how to grind the footbeds to even out my turns.
Boot fit is a process. The key to it is your ability to communicate to your boot fitter just what is gonig on in the shell. It takes skiing it a couple of days and going back for adjustments. That's another reason to buy the boots near the hill. Don't worry about sounding like a pain to the salesman. He's expecting you to come back and wants you to give him feedback so he can help you get it right. There is no reason your boots shouldn't be warm and comfy with great performance once they are broken in.

Snowboard Bindings

I went snowboarding today and I was reminded that the lead foot needs to be in the binding with a toe closure and the back foot needs to have a heel closure. This makes getting rest on the lift more easy. It makes putting the board on at the top of the slope easier. It has so many benefits for ergonomics and safety. The rear toe won't drag so much and you won't have to sit in the snow if you don't want to. Plate bindings, of course.

Going on Record

I've said it enough as early as Sept. 29th 2009 but this snow year is a lackluster one. Still, March may have come in like al lamb but my prediction is that it will begin to snow heavily on a regular basis starting March 26, 2010 and snow consistantly throughout April.

More Telemark

By the way, the turn I described yesterday is not a legal FIS turn. It is a correct turn. I happen to use the Garmont Prophet Boot in my NTN bindings. Curiously, I also use my Garmont Prophet Boots in my Marker Duke AT Bindings and also in my Catek Snowboard Bindings and in my Verts Ascending Snowshoes and in crampons all with excellent results. This ends a quest I've had for decades known to me as the Unified Boot Theory, one boot for any slope tool.

A Bold Assertion

It's time I went on record with this. I claim that I currently have one of the most unique telemark styles on the planet and that in the future everyone will ski like me. There, I said it and now here's why I think it to be true.
In the earliest days of skiing it was all tele because the only binding you had to hold you onto the ski was a leather thong. If that's the most complex binding you have and you are just a beginner you are going to start off with snowplowing. Once you improve and bindings get better the natural trend would be to do a sort of tele stem-christie turn to move along a little faster.
That is the predominate tele turn now. It hasn't changed much since then. Now with the new NTN boots, bindings and modern skis the new telemark turn is a parallel one. Not alpine parallel but telemark parallel. Skis together, carving on both edges new school style.
The result is that your feet are rarely furhter apart than they are on a bicycle crank. No deep knee bending necessary. The skier remains upright and in the fall line with his skis together carving two perfect turns with the inside heel lifted and the inside toe by the heel of the leading ski.

Rest

Rest is an important element to life. Humans asre rechargeable batteries and sleep and rest are when you recharge. Get a balance of activity and rest. Both are important.

Global Warming

Make no mistake about it. Everything humans do from breathing to trampling paths into highways and making fires in every place including under their range hoods and under their car hoods heats up the planet. The more people there are with 98.6 degree water taken out of the water system, warm the planet, take water out of the cycle and use it to heat the place up. People are warming the planet by our mere existence. So what are you going to do about it? Adapt! Educate. Don't legislate.

Wild Conspiracy Theory

I can't help but pass on the wild notion that pacifists are globally feminizing males by introducing estrogen mimicking drugs into the water tables. It's too absurd to take seriously, or is it?

Buckle Up

Today's tip is to loosely buckle your ski boots immediately after you take them off. It's the least painful time to do it and your feet will appreciate that the boots kept their shape all the while they aren't skiing. I suppose it works for shoes as well.

Howdy, folks!

This blog is my place to record those little notions I'd like to pass on to everyone so that they can learn from my mistakes without having to go through some of them for themselves. My hope is that someone gets some value from it, someday.

My first tip is that life is good and that it's even better when you are healthy enough to enjoy it. I have repeatedly noticed that injury makes you older. In the time it takes to heal an injury, the rest of you goes stale. Recovery to pre-injury levels of performance takes even more of you precious life's time.
I have also noticed that injuries tend to happen at moments of small lapses of attention.

Therefore, my first tip for you is that when you are participating in life, pay attention until you once again have two feet on the ground. The faster you go, the more attention you need to be paying. You can rest your attention once you have stepped out of both bindings or pedals and have both feet firmly on the ground.
Don't be looking behind you for things that don't matter. Fifty miles per hour on skis or a bike requires complete attention to what's ahead.

Which reminds me that I usually find it to be good advice to look as far ahead as possible. That't good advice for driving, skiing and life. (Does that mean that now that I've stopped growing I should be building my own casket?)

Let's keep this first one short and sweet and I'll return both my feet to the ground.