Helmets...
The helmet debate has raged on for years. On the one side you have people saying that it's a no brainer to wear a helmet during snow sports. On the other side there are people who feel that they are invincible and that a toque is more than sufficient to protect their noggin in case of a fall. Well I belong to the train of thought that if you have a ten cent head, wear a ten dollar piece of head ware. You only have one head and if you break it, it doesn't always heal back to it's original condition.
Now there will be a few people who know me and will say "Sean, you've never worn a helmet in your life when you would ski or ride", and up until recently that was true. So what changed my point of view? First of all my kids, I don't want to become a vegetable or worse stemming from a helmet-less ski accident. I want to be able to watch them grow and love the sports that Jackie (my wife for those of you who don't know) and I enjoy. I've always worn a helmet when I (attempt) to play hockey...why should skiing be any different? I also didn't want to be a hypocrite, if I am going to make Paige and Hannah wear them, I will also.
Recently the Nova Scotia government enacted legislation requiring the mandatory use of helmets during the use of any snow sport activity at a resort in Nova Scotia. This comes into effect November 1st, 2012 and has been mostly received with positive enthusiasm from the snow sports community as well as retailers (D'uh!!). There are a few rumblings of "nanny-state" and things like that and personally I think that there are a few things over legislated, (side note: don't even get me started on Political Correctness), however I feel they have it right on this one. It's interesting to note that only New Jersey has a similar law in the US, and that's only for Juveniles (the "utes") and you can read about it Here. I know, my first reaction was "they ski in New Jersey?!?" as well. Of course, some westerners probably say the same about Nova Scotia. It seems that most US ski resort operators want their customers to be able to choose if they want to wear one or not hence the reason more states haven't passed law.
Skiing or snowboarding is a hazardous sport, no question about it. Let's strap a sliding device to our feet, hurtle down a snow covered mountain where the only things to contain us are trees, rocks, or drops. Let's not wear pads or anything...yeah they really thought this through didn't they. But with the rise of concussion awareness (getting your bell rung as they used to say) it was only a matter of time before laws started to be passed. I haven't heard or read how the CSA might come into play with this from a testing standpoint, as they approve hockey helmets for use in Canada. Ski helmet manufacturers rely on CE and ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materiels) for their products to be tested before being released to market.
So how to choose a helmet? Everyone makes a decent quality helmet (mostly) but finding the one that suits your type of activity is key. Do you ride in mostly colder climates where it's usually -10C or so? Or is it -2C or even +2C? Are you just casually skiing or riding? Or do you do Frontside Double Cork 1260's for warmup? What type of features do you want in your helmet? Audio? Customizeable venting? Removable ear flaps? This all comes into play.
It's pretty easy to size yourself for a helmet. Take a cloth measuring tape or string and wrap it around the widest, meatiest part of your head, which is usually about an inch above your ears and just just above your eyebrows. most helmets have a sizing chart that gives you a good starting point, however it's only a reference point. You could fit into anywhere from a medium to an extra large size depending on the manufacturer and the style of helmet your looking at. Once you find the right size you should wear the helmet so that you have a finger's width between your eyebrow and the bottom lip of the helmet. It should be snug but not tight, if it's tight now it wont be any better later, they don't stretch. The only thing left is how the helmet looks to you, does it work for your "look"? I can't help you with that.
SIDE NOTE: Goggles NEED what's called an outrigger to properly fit on a helmet, it allows the goggle frame to snugly sit on your face without stretching the sides and allowing air to seep in while your moving.
It's always best to shop early for the best selection, but the downside to that is the prices usually aren't discounted like they are after Christmas when retailers panic when the realize they are sitting on WAY too much inventory. Spend the money, get the helmet that fits you best, and suits your riding style the best. So what helmet did I choose you ask.....
SALOMON BRIGADE AUDIO Helmet..
Looks great (My Bucket) feels great, removeable earflaps for when it's +15C at Sunday River this March. Great padding, especially around the ears. Lower profile with a removable visor. And surprisingly clear and loud audio capabilities. Audio cord was included with on/off and volume control and it is a good length as well. You can remove the cord at the helmet so you can take the helmet off and not have to worry about the wire getting tangled. It also comes with removable badges so you can pimp your helmet to your taste.
So that's my helmet blog, I hope you found a few tidbits that might help your search for the perfect helmet a bit less daunting. If you ever have any questions you can always pick my brain for help.
Ski boots....some people seem to think that the ski boot is this clunky, uncomfortable, heavy, vice that is not pleasurable to wear but a necessary evil if you want to take in apres ski activities. Nothing could be further from the truth. If properly fitted, a ski boot can be extremely comfortable and give you years of enjoyment on the snow.
First thing to do is have your feet looked at, not sized ("throw your foot in here....oh your a 9 1/2") because everyone has differently shaped feet. You also have one foot that's bigger than the other. It could be your left, it could be your right. You might have hammer toes, or your second toe may be bigger than your big toe, etc, etc, etc. You might pronate, or suponate, and if your asking what the heck does that mean, ask the sales associate next time you buy shoes, if they don't know, go buy them somewhere else. There are 27 bones in the human foot, as well as tendons and veins and muscles and all kinds of other stuff. What I'm trying to say is your foot moves, a lot, and not always the same as someone else's. Picking a boot that matches your foot is critical....DEFCON 1 critical if you want to have happy feet when you ski. If your feet ain't happy....you ain't happy!
So your standing in front of the boot wall in your local ski store (hopefully mine) and you don't have a clue where to start. Don't pick by color, or brand or price. ASK someone. Nothing ticks me off more than someone says "can I try THAT silver one with red buckles in a 10". I haven't looked at your foot, I haven't sized you, I haven't even started to see what your foot does weighted and un-weighted. I can count on one hand then number of customers who have picked the right boot first time...and I've been doing this for 20 years.
So sit, relax, take a load off your feet, remove your socks, roll up your pant legs to your knees and lets see what we have, shall we? I'll ask you to walk about 15 steps away from me and then back. this will tell me a couple things, what your feet do and what your knees do, so I can figure out if we'll have an alignment issue (Hello...footbeds) or not. Then we can measure, and 9 times out of 10 if a person thinks they are a 11.5 they are a 10.5. Keep in mind that ski boot manufacturers use the Mondo point sizing system. so a 9 is a 27.0, a 9 1/2 is a 27.5 etc. The easy way to figure it out is add the first 2 numbers together (2+7.0 = 9.0, 2+7.5 + 9 1/2) Once I see what your feet do and look like I can recommend a boot (or maybe 2) for you to try.
After we get the boots out of the box I am going to pull out the liner and have you place your foot in the shell with your toes just barely touching the front of the shell. Ideally you should have a finger to a finger and a half worth of room behind your heel. Reason why is the liner will expand after about 20 hours of skiing, you don't want too much room or your foot has to work too hard to stay balanced and then you get sore feet once the liner packs out. Trust me, it will happen. If you have orthodics they should go into the liner to replace the fabric insole at this point, or a [pair of foot beds for more support and comfort (that's another blog to come later).
So liner goes back into the shell (usually not without a fight) and were ready to try it on your foot. At this point I'll tell you how it's going to feel once it's buckled up, and you'll think in your head that i'm nuts. Most boots have a pull tab on the tongue that makes it much easier to slide your foot into the boot, pull it straight up or slightly to the side. The 2 buckles over the top of the foot are mostly for comfort, so ratcheting them down is only going to make things more snug. It's buckle 3 and 4 on the leg we want to focus on, they give you all the support for your skiing (buckle 2 will help with heel retention however don't over tighten).
Now this is where we have to address the female "Athletic Calf". Some female skiers have larger calves than others and they find boots pinch at the top. There are several cures for this. The first is if the 3rd paragraph of this blog was done. You might need a heel lift (but that can throw other things out of whack so be leery of these right away) but a better answer would be a footbed. Also almost all boots have adjustable bailes (or teeth) that can adjust out towards the buckle. 90% of the time this does the trick.
So it's buckled, your standing and it's too small....hold on there boss! Standing straight up we WANT your toes to touch the end, not curled, not jammed, but touching. Then flex your knees over your toes by applying pressure on the tongues of the boots with your shins. Your toes will come off the end and lose contact with the front, THIS IS THE PROPER SIZE, I'll say it again...THIS IS THE PROPER SIZE!! Not to sound like a Marine Corps Drill Sargent but THIS IS THE PROPER SIZE! You don't stand at attention when you ski, but you usually do when you try on boots (because at this point you aren't going 20MPH in -7C on a 20 degree snow covered gradient).
Leave them on for a few minutes, flex them, get to know them, love them. You should be able to flex them pretty well, If you cant it's probably too stiff as today's skis require the ability to bend your ankles to get the ski turning. After a few minutes if there are any pressure points they will start to crop up. Then we can address those.
So there they fit, you like them, now don't forget to get your ski's bindings adjusted as ski boots have whats called a boot sole measurement, it's the length in millimeters of the sole from the toe to heel of the boot (almost all 27.5 boots will have different boot sole measurement). Any ski shop can do this in about 10 minutes provided they are busy, no butting in line...play nice!
There you have it, bootfitting 101. There are certainly other things that can arise in the fit process, and other things you can do to boots but that's for another day. Hopefully this gives you a sense of what to expect when you go to your favorite ski shop (again, hopefully mine). Stay tuned for my next blog and thanks for reading.....
So here is sit on a snowy Friday afternoon thinking about what the heck can I possibly be doing starting a blog? My wife Jackie has encouraged me for months to do something with the loads of useless knowledge stuffed up in the space above my neck that people always seem to say I don't use to my full capacity. Be that as it may, I figured that one of the ways I can have some fun (and maybe educate people at the same time) is to start this blog.
I'm intending this to help people who are looking at gear/gadgets or just advice in general that I feel might be relevant for people looking to buy new gear, or fit advice or anything else that pops into my head and I decide to put it here. I might blog once a week, once a day, or once an hour. That's the greatest thing is it gives me the freedom to post however often i'd like. Please don't expect Shakesperian prose, or perfect grammar, or punctuation (I should be able to get the spelling right, however)
There will be times I get something wrong, or might get someone's nose out of joint and that"s OK. If it creates a healthy debate and educates in the process then I feel it's mission accomplished. I wont always get it right, but I am quite confident that I wont get it wrong very often, either.
So what can you expect to read on here? Reviews on sports gear, maybe electronics, cars, TV shows, sporting events or personalities. I haven't really tried to limit myself to any one type of product or thing. I'm not paid by anyone, not getting product under the table or kickbacks or anything like that. I'm just a normal guy, husband, sports enthusiast who likes his toys (much to my wife's chagrin sometimes) and sometimes I feel like I need to call attention to something.
You can also expect to find tips and tricks on how things should fit, feel, and perform if you have set them up properly, and also how to tell when they aren't. So your ski boots pinch your calfs? Blisters from your hockey skates? What type of snowshoe should I buy? I'll tackle something each blog and try to help shed some light on it Heck, you could find me ranting about how someone cut me off in traffic this morning.
So all I ask is to bare with me as I get my feet under me and take on various topics. I'll try to help educate as best I can. Thanks.
