DODGE Boots are #1, Sebastian Vettel style!
And, she’s right, it has been awhile since I’ve let my fingers do the talking. (At least all of them and not just one in particular!)
First of all, Happy Birthday wishes today to DODGE Ski Boot racer Mark George. I noticed we have quite a few other DODGE boot skiers with birthdays in July, as well. Can you identify them?
Anyway, it’s been a busy week, with periods of elation and periods of frustration, sometimes simultaneously! This made for a lot of head spinning kinda like “The Exorcist”.
We received our shipment of carbon fiber laminate material from our supplier. As always, Jochen, Ben and Schirin have come through with flying colors. Dave & I unloaded the pallet yesterday. As we were both straining with the bulk packages, we wondered how material for such a light ski boot could be so damned heavy! But, after moving 800 pounds of material, I started cutting the big sheets into smaller pieces that are used for making the parts.
Today, I’ll finish cutting up enough large sheets for this month’s production, then Dave will be using the laser to cut them to the size used in the molding process.
We’re getting Pre-Season orders from DODGE boot fitters so we can plan our production. Things are looking pretty good and certainly going to keep us busy in the shop. Once they’re all in, we’ll be doing an update on the website so everyone knows where to find DODGE carbon fiber ski boots. Of course, you can always contact us directly.
It’s been frustrating dealing with trying to get a material shipment from another supplier. The bad part is the language and time barrier. For too many nights this week, I’ve been getting up through the night to write emails back and forth to Asia. Hopefully things are moving ahead, but never at a satisfactory pace.
We got some new machinery and tools to make our life easier in the shop and to streamline the process. Most are tools we’ve had to design and build ourselves, so there is a certain satisfaction associated with that. And, it’s a helluva lot better when you have something that works easily for a particular job rather than making do.
Been getting some good reports from Scott Houser out at Mt. Hood. He tells us there are a good number of racers testing the boot on the glacier and we should see a lot of people coming over to the carbon side. Keep up the good work Scott.
Also hearing from racers getting prepped for summer camps in the Southern Hemisphere wanting to get new boots. We’re in the process of trying to determine where everyone is going to be so we might coordinate a major road trip to all the camps to really dial in boots. Let us know where you’ll be and when. Also a reminder that we still have a few boots available for summer camp testing.
By next week, we should have most of our materials, including the soles, and other plastic parts; the liners, buckles, new power straps. So we’ll be putting `em all together and seeing the final product. Nice.
Looking forward to this holiday weekend. Think I’ll do a quick hike to the top of Mt. Mansfield in the morning. Maybe get a bike ride in on Sunday. Planning to enjoy a get together that Ellen & Larry are having at the house. Anxious to hear about the 86er re-birth.
Have a fun but safe 4th. (Oh and Happy Canada Day. Make sure to watch lots of “Chilly Beach” on Hulu.)
Bill