Advice for Perfect Father Son Alta Experience?

On Tue, 2 Dec 2003 15:04:22 CST, lal_truckee
wrote:

Wait - let me try to understand. Are you suggesting we guide the
inquisitive to your side of the hill?

Hah!

I suspect that you will probably get the typical response of "not in
my back yard" from that one.

-Astro

Bob Lee wrote:

The ease and the quality of an experience are often inversely
proportional.

Is that why usenet posts maintain such high quality prose?

AstroPax wrote:
Hah!

I suspect that you will probably get the typical response of "not in
my back yard" from that one.

Actually, given the situation here, I've never really had a problem
with the folks I meet up there. The only real anomoly to the whole
scene is when Alta runs their snowcat to the top, since that tends to
bring in somewhat different clientel. Well, that and the endless
photogs in Wolverine mislabeling their shots as being at Alta or LCC.

But, in general, the people that are up in my backyard are friendly,
considerate, and looking for a different experience than what they
would get in LCC.., which is, of course, why they are there. And as
long as the access is not changed, that's how it will stay. But that
experience isn't what people, in general, want. And that's fine by
me. Just like I'm sure it's fine by you that people prefer Park
City. At the same time, I'm sure you wouldn't want Park City type
development in Alta.

-klaus

In article , wrote:
Well, that and the endless
photogs in Wolverine mislabeling their shots as being at Alta or LCC.


Yeah, or that continuing to drone on calling it the "Brighton
Backcountry". Why not call it what it is?

cheers,
john

lal_truckee wrote in message ...
Monique Y. Herman wrote:
On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 at 20:00 GMT, Chester Bullock penned:

Monique Y. Herman wrote:



ObSki: at what point is base damage too severe to be repaired?

If parts of the core are falling out or gouged horribly, then you may
be at the limit. Otherwise, just go to Reliable or Tognar's website
and get a ptex gun.

Really severe core shots might benefit from some epoxy filling before
ptexing. In fact I had some fav powder skis which I gave up on the base
and just every once in awhile filled every deep shot with polyurethane
glue, filed it off, and waxed it. Worked fine till I finally broke the
last Emory binding toe piece I had in the junk box.

Ouch, that would be scary. Nah, just some gouges in the base. I guess
I'll bring them to a ski shop and see what they can do =) Maybe I'll
wait for a few more snow storms first, though ...

Ptex candle for $1.00 - much cheaper than a ptex gun. Give you an idea
if you want to deal with self repairs before you invest in a gun.

Speaking of, how do gouges actually affect skiing? Will I find myself
suddenly dragged off course or something?

Gouges right along the edge undefoot will give you a severe case of the
rails making the ski feel weird and hard to turn. Just swapping ski
sides so the gouge is on the outside edge will make a great improvement.

Monique:

If you have a digital camera, maybe you could take a couple of photos
and make them available to those of us who know about DIY repair. We
could look at the photos and give an opinion if they could be done by
an amateur(sp?) or would need professional repairs to be done. My
experience with gouges is that home repairs usually work ok if the
gouges are cleaned out carefully before the ptex is dripped into the
gouge. There is no way to color match, if the skiis are bright
yellow, for example, but who cares as long as the bottoms are
reasonably smooth. I highly recommend getting the Tognar catalog, or
at least viewing it on the web. It will give you a good idea of what
tools are available for making repairs, and you can get somewhat of a
feeling for what repairs might actually cost the shop doing the
repairs.

Hope this helps, stay away from the rocks at Keystone and Breck. :-)

H. R.(Bob) Hofmann

"Monique Y. Herman" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 at 20:52 GMT, Chester Bullock penned:

Buy Seth's book and learn to do it yourself. I bought that book back
in the late 80's and it helped me immensely. I still do all of my own
repair work.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...010467-2915010


I'd be pretty worried about flubbing it. But I may take a look.



Jumping in a little late here, but I have to comment. Some gouges in your
bases is no big deal for Colorado skiing. Since (ideally) the snow is kind
of soft and you're not racing, it's very unlikely that you would even
notice. As others have mentioned, it's when you have core exposed,
especially near an edge or sidewall damage that things should be addressed
immediately. Or a base wound that allows you to catch the edge with you
fingernail in the same direction that a rock might hit it (going from the
center of the base toward the edge). If that's the case, you may want to get
it fixed (or switch skis so it becomes an inside edge - that's the quick
fix). That little catch could tear off or at damage an edge under the right
circumstances.

The big problem is when moisture gets between the laminated layers of the
ski that it will start to make the ski fall apart. Just about any other
damage is not a big deal. Edge burs matter when the snow is firm and make
almost no difference in powder/chowder. I only repair my skis about once a
year, or more if I have a "ski threatening" wound. Sometimes I'll get a ptex
piece that creates noticeable drag. The fix? cut it off with a knife and
keep skiing.
I think most ski repairs are a scam and totally unnecessary.

Matt

"Monique Y. Herman" wrote in message .. .
On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 at 20:52 GMT, Chester Bullock penned:

Buy Seth's book and learn to do it yourself. I bought that book back
in the late 80's and it helped me immensely. I still do all of my own
repair work.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...010467-2915010


I'd be pretty worried about flubbing it. But I may take a look.


It's really not that difficult. Like Chester said, check out Tognar.
Get them to send you their catalog. There's a lot of useful
information in there. Check out their alpha tune kit:
http://tognar.com/kits.html

For the price of a couple of tune ups, you can do it yourself. I
usually get a complete tune up at the begining of the season then just
do maintenance myself.

The ptex gun is your best bet but a bit pricey. The next best option
is a ptex iron and 'det cord' (see tognar). Candles work fine but
stink up the house/garage pretty bad. Plus, if you have clear/white
bases, it can be hard to keep the burn marks out.

Besides, if you and the fiancée are nice to me and by me a few beers,
I may just let you use my ptex gun.

snoig

My advice: spend the time talking and - more importantly, listening - to
you son. Twelve years is a cusp.



John Smith wrote:

OK, it's a done deal. I'm taking my 12 year old son to Alta in January or
February 2004.
We've never experienced powder deeper than our ankles and only a couple of
times at that.
Nonetheless, my son loves going through the trees and through anything
resembling powder (until he gets tired).
So, this year I'm going to smarten up and get him a helmet.
And I'm going to take him to Alta for a surprise ski trip.

Anyone care to share the who what when where why's and how's of creating the
potential for a perfect Alta ski vacation (just a couple of days).
Does it involve CAT rides, guides, lessons, special ski clothes and gear,
what, what does it take for a first timer, intermediate skier, at best, to
have a great powder experience at Alta?

Looking forward to comments, suggestions, etc.

On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 at 03:27 GMT, snoig penned:

Besides, if you and the fiancée are nice to me and by me a few beers,
I may just let you use my ptex gun.


Where are you, again?

My fiancé is male and probably would prefer to be known as such =) (No
extra e on the end.)

--
monique

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 at 16:47 GMT, H. R. Bob Hofmann penned:

Monique:

If you have a digital camera, maybe you could take a couple of photos
and make them available to those of us who know about DIY repair. We
could look at the photos and give an opinion if they could be done by
an amateur(sp?) or would need professional repairs to be done. My
experience with gouges is that home repairs usually work ok if the
gouges are cleaned out carefully before the ptex is dripped into the
gouge. There is no way to color match, if the skiis are bright
yellow, for example, but who cares as long as the bottoms are
reasonably smooth. I highly recommend getting the Tognar catalog, or
at least viewing it on the web. It will give you a good idea of what
tools are available for making repairs, and you can get somewhat of a
feeling for what repairs might actually cost the shop doing the
repairs.

Thank you for the offer! I just dragged the skis into the living room
to prep them for their first gig as models ... but upon closer
inspection, the damage really isn't that bad; not nearly as deep as I'd
remembered. The S.O.'s are the ones with worse damage, and he says he
isn't bothered by it, so I guess I have nothing to report.

Hope this helps, stay away from the rocks at Keystone and Breck. :-)

I guess it just surprised me that Keystone, tourist mecca and hence
presumably posh and protective (go alliteration, go!) would bust up my
skis, while A-Basin left no more of a mark than would a chamois cloth.

I guess that goes to prove what they say about assumption! It makes an
ass out of me and umption!

--
monique