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living on a resort was always part of our dream when we emigrated 8 years ago, we are about an 8 minute drive from the resort www.sunpeaksresort.com and then a further 8 minutes to the top! we used to ride Louise and Sunshine when we lived in Calgary, both great resorts. Our favourite in BC is Revelstoke 3hrs east of us, longest vertical in North America with some mental terrain, couple of seasons back it was beyond waist deep in places and champagne powder, that was a day to remember! Snowboarding in deep powder takes some practice as normal edging and toe/heel pressuring rules become less relevant, I usually burn my back leg out within half a day riding deep stuff as you are leaning on it more to balance and turn. A longer rocker board is a great tool when it's steep and deep.

my board has over 100 days on it! not to mention multiple tree/rock encounters. I do use my old board (2009 Ride Control 155) as an early season "rock" board. I do my own waxing and edge buffing during the season but will have the local shop strip and coat wax it (summerize it) and machine edged at the end of season. how often depends on conditions, we have it pretty icy at present so edge buff at the end of every day, rewax every other. when the snow is colder and softer (-15 and below) then you can go longer.

I have this vid from earlier this season.... I ride a K2 Turbo Dream 159 from 2013, all mountain rocker, medium flex. it's awesome in powder and carves great on the groomers. It's due for retirement at the end of this season and will probably be replaced with a 2015 version of the same board. Salomon bindings from 2014 have been trouble free so far, Burton Ruler boots which are pretty stiff. my advice when buying a board or skis is to try as many different ones as possible to feel the difference, it's all about the feel! I tried 10 boards the day I bought mine!

can't really add much to this really, I have tried many different pants over the years, some of them pretty high end and none of them have been 100% waterproof. Minimize your ass to snow time, I often ride with just skiers who are impatient for boarders stopping to strap in so I have learnt to do it straight off the charlift without stopping or at least without sitting down, not always practical though!

Oh and if anyone needs advice on resorts in Western Canada i've ridden at pretty much all of them!

i learnt to snowboard about 8 years ago when we moved across the pond, now fortunate enough to live on a resort, a little edit from a powder day on Jan 5th of this year, serious hurting legs the next day! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSUoq84u9bc

Have not skied up there only over here, very interesting to see how things are done up there. I spent last winter driving a Pisten Bully groomer (pister) on our slopes, they are an awesome machine!

so, after a long search I have finally found a new (used) baby! KTM 400 EXC 2005. she's a wee beasty and got her for a steal! DSCF4453 by downhillgod, on Flickr DSCF4454 by downhillgod, on Flickr she needed a couple of things tidied, rear brake hose, rear wheel bearing and chain/sprockets did'nt have much left in them, but all sorted in a weekend and the fun has commenced! have had lots of experience on road bikes but have had to really lean on my many years of downhill mountain biking skills to keep up with my riding buddies but happy to report that I didn't disgrace myself out on the first ride and my commute to work has now become far more entertaining happy days ahead!

check the toe-in on rears too, my old Jeep Grand Cherokee ate it's rears in a similar fashion, turned out the PO had done a bodge wheel alignment on it. had it reset by a reputable shop and problem solved.

tough to get shots of something moving so quickly so not all of them are as sharp as I would like. love watching these guys dogfighting over the best spot on the feeder! IMG_0767 by downhillgod, on Flickr IMG_0772 by downhillgod, on Flickr IMG_0765 by downhillgod, on Flickr IMG_0766 by downhillgod, on Flickr IMG_0762 by downhillgod, on Flickr IMG_0763 by downhillgod, on Flickr IMG_0773 by downhillgod, on Flickr

nearly bought a KTM 400 EXC today but the guy wouldn't move on far too much money for it , the search continues!

puppies instead of pussy?! c'mon! sorry mods...

me and the wife recently took the plunge with a 2004 MX-5, absolutely love it! not mega fast but down a twisty road it's immensely entertaining. we looked at many of the cars mentioned above for similar money (boxster, s2000, rx8, bmw conv, audi conv quattro) but found it to be far and away the most fun and rewarding to drive. I liked the S2000 but found the engine tiresome after a while, the boxster was a close 2nd but ownership costs were worrying and after driving the MX it felt just a little, well, dull, as did the Audi and the BMW. I liked the RX8 too, but the durability of the rotary motor was a concern, as was the MPG and a convertible was always the preferred option :sun: The MX is head and shoulders above all these on pure ownership costs as well as smiles per mile, they give the true 50/50 RWD experience without having to worry about big power biting you in the rear. The wife used the car throughout the winter with Michelin Xice 3 tyres on and ploughed through just about everything a Canadian winter can throw at you (ours has an LSD), she had never driven RWD before but we found a deserted, snow covered car park and within an hour she was drifting like a boss! https://www.facebook...63&l=2450160487 she's a little dirty here and yes that is my snowboard on the rack I have the winter tyres mounted on boring steel wheels so the nice alloys keep nice. we're taking her down the Oregon coast all the way to San Francisco in August, taking in the Reno Air Races and a stop at Laguna Seca, should be fun!

passed my test at 17 on a battered dt125, then progressed to a nice Kawasaki KR1S for a couple of years before moving onto a '96 Fireblade. That one was sold after 18 months after I lost a good friend on a ZZR1100 to a drunk driver, kinda lost my nerve after that. Hadn't ridden a bike for well over 8 years until last month when a friend of mine went and bought a 2005 KTM 525 EXC and let me take it for a spin, that was a bad move! I'm now in the market for a Yamaha WR450f or similar.... We have hundreds of miles of fireroads and trails to explore round here, can't wait!

+1 Rob. yes, please elaborate.

Don't know TBH, although I would suspect it would increase the premium as you say. we were asked at the time if any "inexperienced" drivers would be driving the cars, my reply was "not as long as I have my strength they won't"

Canada has the vehicle insured system as other countries mentioned. Here in BC all car insurance is underwritten by the Provincial Government under a scam, sorry, scheme called ICBC which gives you basic third party cover which can then be optionally topped up to fully comp through them or other insurers, as we do. Our cars are insured for any driver provided they have had a valid license for 10yrs +. total premium on the wife's MX-5 comes to about 400 quid a year equivalent, that's with 500 quid excess and $20,000,000 of third party liability...my Audi is about 460 quid equiv. we also have a stipulation on our policies for winter tyres. our postcode falls under rural location so between 1 Oct - 30 Apr our cars must have them fitted, you crash without them fitted, no payout, end of. Mark

Whiskey

Over here First Aiders are protected by the Good Samaritan Act http://www.bclaws.ca...ide/00_96172_01 I was in the insurance fraud investigation industry for 8 years prior to emmigrating and was involved with many petty claims such as this, it is unlikley that even if the claim makes it as far as the courtroom that she'll get more than a couple of grand out of it. The claim will be filed under "occupational hazard" and compensation will reflect that, from my experience (many cases of which were petty claims from claims direct vultures) the "negligence" claim would have to prove that the landowner was "deliberatlely negligent", as long as his premises was correctly lit and relevant hazards marked, of which regular kerbstones as pictured are not generally included, to industry standards then there is little chance of a successful claim. Not to mention that it could take months or even years for her claim to get that far and in the meantime the insurance company will use that time to "collect evidence" , which is where I used to step in.....

a British World Champion, otherwise known as How To Ride A Bike Down a Mountain In The Pouring Rain... the commentators get a bit excited..

always been a huge Pink Floyd fan from early teens but my formative years were spent in the company of Soundgarden, Faith No More, Dinosaur Jr, Sisters of Mercy, Pantera, Stuck Mojo, STP etc...

Just scored some tickets for Fleetwood Mac in Vancouver in May, if they don't play The Chain there will be much sulking!

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