I've been skiing on Rosignol Mega Bangs for three or four years now. Love the ski. But I've put about 250 days on them and they were starting to feel a little dead. The Black Diamond Verdict caught my attention when I saw it in a shop and picked it up. This ski is unbelievably light for such a BIG ski. One reason I kept using the Bangs was that I couldn't see getting anything wider due to the weight penalties. Because most of my skiing is backcountry, weight is definitely a consideration.

Bruce Trempers's Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain is an excellent book. I saw this book in a ski shop at the beginning of the season and thought, "I should read this book." But I'm cheap and somewhat lazy when it comes to learning about avalanches, and the thought of reading a technical book about avalanches and how to survive them made me think of root canal surgery. So I put the book down and bought something a lot more fun: new skis.

My trusty old ski boots, Dynafit Tourlite All Terrain, started falling apart during x-mas week. Too bad because Chuck Bird, resident pedorthist at Neptune Mountaineering, had adjusted them over the years so I could walk in them all day with NO PAIN. Suddenly I was faced the daunting task of buying new ski boots. And because we were in a big snow cycle in the Tetons, taking days or weeks to choose a pair of boots was NOT an option. I needed new boots immediately.

I broke my old Life-Link adjustable poles and needed new ones right away. I was going to buy the Life-link adjustable poles without even shopping for others, but the only Life-Link poles I could find were around $95. First, let me say this: you DON'T NEED TO PAY MORE THAN $60 for adjustable poles. You will see all kinds of light-weight poles made from carbon fiber, titanium, non-obtanium, etc. And if you were to believe Backcountry and Coolwar, you'd think pole "swingweight" was really important and worth spending $180 to get it. I seriously doubt that you have ever thought, "If I just had lighter poles, all my skiing, or rather falling, problems would be over." Ski pole swingweight is the least of your problems!