At the stroke of midnight Friday, Dave & I arrived back at the shop from our Spring `11 Colorado – California journey, a little tired but pleased with the trip. I was still on West Coast time, so (uncharacteristically for me) I stayed up a while longer to decompress.
It’s amazing how much the grass grew in 10 days. I needed to re-grade the driveway and then put the mower on the tractor and then I was “burning diesel, burning dinosaur bones” until the rain in the early afternoon encouraged me to stop.
What a trip for DODGE Ski Boots.
To recap: Our 10 day boot test/demo trip hit Arapahoe Basin and Beaver Creek in Colorado, then Sugar Bowl and Mammoth in California.
Thanks to Harald Harb, Diana Rogers, Chris Brown & Jay Peterson of Harb Ski Systems for their help during the A-Basin sessions. We were able to pass along some of the latest boot set-ups for DODGE boots with them. Check them out. We had a number of racers, coaches and recreational skiers on the boots, all with enthusiastic results. ( A special note: Harald keeps telling me to emphasize that DODGE boots are not just for racing. A look at how well some of his recreational camp participants skied with the DODGE boots certainly affirms that! So, recreational skiers should definitely get on them too.)
Aldo Radamus was super in making it possible for us to join Ski Club Vail at their early morning Beaver Creek training session. Thanks Sara Radamus, Dan Stripp and Rob Worrell making us welcome. We look forward to seeing a number of Ski Club Vail racers on DODGE boots this coming season.
Arriving at Sugar Bowl for the Western Region NDS and Sugar Bowl camps on Sunday, we couldn’t have had a better reception than we experienced from everyone there. A very special thanks to Guenther Birgmann. Guenther brings more energy and enthusiasm to ski racing than anyone I know. Sugar Bowl coaches Luke Patterson, Devin Gill and Pete Sprock are getting to be “old friends” and really made us feel at home. It was really great to see Squaw Valley coach (and long-time acquaintance) Konrad Rickenbach and have him getting Squaw racers on the DODGE boot. Look for Konrad to have DODGE boots on his feet this coming season as he’s coaching, too. DODGE boot fitter Jim Schaffner and his crew at StartHaus are going to be busy fitting up new DODGE boots.
Mammoth Mountain’s Kevin Francis was really helpful in getting us set up with Race Department Director Beat Hupfer. We were able to set up right outside the Race Department building next to Chair 1 and got a lot of boots out on the hill. Good to see DODGE Masters racer Bob Bennett, who was there for Phil McNichol’s camp. Thanks to Terry DelliQuadri, USSA Rocky/Central Regional Director for introducing us to the many coaches participating in the coaching certification program. It was really good to get with Corty Lawrence of FootLoose Sports, too. Corty will be a nice addition to the corps of DODGE boot fitters this season.
Thanks to all the racers, coaches and everyday skiers who demo’d and tested DODGE carbon fiber ski boots the last 2 weeks. It’s hard to believe it’s been just over a year since the first pair was raced in a high-level event. Things are picking up steam and we’re excited about the coming year.
Now it’s back to work.
Bill