Made lowers for 255, 265 and 275 DODGE carbon ski boots today. Making uppers tomorrow. Uncaged new Motoman today. Looking good.

Had a nice note from Harald Harb over the weekend.  He’s one of our bootfitters for the DODGE carbon ski boot next year, located in Dumont, CO.

Harald’s been doing some testing for us and had this to say.

“I skied on the boots this week, then I switched back to my (old) boots, I couldn’t find an edge. Wow, tell people if they aren’t going to buy Dodge boots; not to  try the Dodge boot because they will be severely disappointed when they go back to their regular boots. You can quote me.”

Thanks Harald.

BTW.  Have you seen the videos from Jon Olsson’s Super Sessions.  Great Stuff. Check them out. http://www.jon-olsson.com/?cat=1.  For those who don’t know, Jon is an incredible freestyle skier who, on a bet with Jens Byggmark, returned to Alpine racing in the `07-08 season after a 5+ year layoff.  He won the NorAm GS title this year, was 6th in the US Nationals GS and then went back to Sweden to do the Super Sessions. The guy can ski.

Molding some parts tomorrow.

Take lots of chances.

Bill

Haven’t skied in 2 weeks and missing it. Doesn’t help that the weather was lousy this weekend. Back to making boot parts tomorrow.

I’m going way off topic (skiing) but I just had an experience  I can’t ignore.

We just had a delivery of material we use for making Dodge Ski Boot molds.  Ours is not an easy delivery because we don’t have a loading dock and the drive is not a typical industrial drive (it’s a gravel driveway, narrow, etc).  But most of the truck drivers are pretty good about it and are pretty willing to help unload.

Today’s driver was a guy named Danijal. As he was using the pallet jack on the truck to move around other loads to get to our skid, we had the chance to talk.  He escaped from Bosnia when he was a young boy, lived in Germany for 10 years, then emigrated to Burlington, where he graduated from UVM with a computer science degree.  No computer jobs when he graduated, but no problem … he was able to get a job driving a truck and delivering freight.  He’s 27 years old, has a young child, just bought a house in Burlington, has his own computer repair/building business and could not be happier for all the opportunities he has in this country.  He told me this is the greatest country in the world for the opportunities it has given him and is giving him.  It’s there for the taking if you are willing to work.

Thank you Danijal for the reminder of what is right about the United States.  It’s a good place to live.

Bill

We’ve had some testing feedback on the boot from top level racers.  The reaction to the Dodge carbon Ski Boot has been good and encouraging.  We’re already incorporating some of the feedback into boots being made for summer camps, so they’ll be more representative of next year’s boots.

But what’s interesting are the bigger performance improvements that are totally in the hands of the skier.  I’m talking about buckle tension and changing your line.

We can’t emphasize enough about the importance of letting the foot move and letting it do its job as the body’s suspension system.  Overly-tight buckling or even overly-tight fitting with foam liners restricts the foot from absorbing shocks.  The result?  Bounce, shock and a feeling like the boot is too aggressive.  Here’s a simple guide:  If you have to unbuckle the boot on the lift, it’s too tight. (NOTE:  Some racers wanting a stiffer fore/aft flex are getting this by over-buckling, but we are changing the shell stiffness in future boots so that won’t be an issue.)

The other big performance factor the skier controls is their line.  Simply put, the DODGE Ski Boot will let you ski a straighter line and dive deeper into the turn before you put the ski on edge.  If you ski your old line, the boot will hook up too soon and then you’ll have to skid the beginning of  the turn.  And, the DODGE carbon ski boot doesn’t like to skid.  So, ski straighter, dive deeper and hammer the turn.  The boot will take it.  Can you?

Time to do some work in the shop.

Get loose and adjust your line.

Bill

I love this guy!  Dane has been giving us terrific feedback about the boot as well as super results.  Here’s some of his latest reporting from Mission Ridge.

“All in all though it was good testing for the boots, soft but definitely different snow then we had in the East.  There is no question you can take a much straighter line than a plastic boot.  I also notice that for me the biggest difference is in the first 15 gates or so.  I am able to get up to top speed much more quickly with the Dodge Boot due to its quickness on edge, and since it does not boot out at all.  This allows me to push much harder into the snow at slower speeds, generating energy and therefore getting to speed quicker.  I believe this is also true in transitions from steep to flat, I can  straighten the line sooner and carry more speed across flatter sections of a course.  Honestly I have a hard time seeing myself use a plastic boot again, your boot just has a lot more potential!”

Wow!  Thanks Dane.

Dane also has become a believer in buckling looser, something you can do with a DODGE boot that is tough (if not impossible) with a rubber boot.  Here’s Dane again.

“… buckle the boot more loosely which seemed to make it perform better in general (you guys mentioned this to me before, now I see what you mean).”

This all gets back to the foot being a key part of the suspension system rather than used as part of the chassis.  But that’s for another post.

Going to see Gerard today.  Always good to visit the master.

Dave’s also on the way back from an “interview” with MotoMan IV, a new generation robot that will improve our production. Think we’re gonna have a retirement party for MotoMan I, our first “employee”.

Take chances.

Bill

• Yesterday I was thinking about cutting the grass. Today it's snowing. I love Vermont! #

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One racer on DODGE Ski Boots is Dane Spencer.  Dane is a really terrific guy who is super to work with.  He’s always been really good about letting us know what’s happening with the boot.

So, when I got this email from him last night after he’d won the Mission Ridge Elite Spring Series FIS GS, I had to let his words tell the story.

“Bill-
So I just raced the first of my last two races of the season out here in Mission Ridge, Washington.  Snow conditions were western winter snow, very soft and dry.  I firmly believe the boots were a big advantage in these conditions, I was able to go straighter and arc cleaner than everybody else.  I won the race by about 2.5 seconds on a hill known for tight races.  So… thought you guys would like to know!  …
Dane”

Thanks Dane.  You make it fun!

Bill

Yesterday I was thinking about cutting the grass. Today it’s snowing. I love Vermont!

New cuff material. Keep it silver or make it black? Thoughts?

We’re testing a new cuff material proving to be better and likely to be used on next year’s boots.  It cuts better on the laser; the edges are smoother; its surface is better, and; it sure seems to be more durable and less susceptible to edge cuts.  No-brainer right?

Well, yeah, it’s an easy decision to use the material.  But, it ain’t black!  What do we do?  Do we go with the material in its natural silver state as shown? Or do we go through all kinds of machinations to make it black?

So I’m taking a poll.  Do you like it?  Love it?  Hate it? Don’t give a darn?  Let me know.

Thanks.

Bill