Yeah, my jaw dropped and I had to read it several times... But it actually makes sense, the airfare is the same regardless which end you start from and the individual does not incurr the cost of rental cars, lodging and food on the road, or the cost of the lessons and gets virtually unlimited private coaching instead of group lessons. I also can get tickets through the exchange agreement that mt. hood Meadows has with Aleyaska ...I think...gotta call HR. My boss at Meadows had no problem clearing my scheduled and while he now hates my guts...is happy for me and is supportive.
Only problem though is there is still an acute lack of snow...even in Alaska! and none of the big Valdez heliboarding operators are running untill Feb. I am not sure what cat or heli oppotunities I will have yet as I think the weather in December and January usually means lots of dumpage and high avy risk....an Alaskan BC avy has to be truly terrifying...
Even if Valdez is a bust, there is plenty of sick backcountry to be had from Aleyaska. I will be taking 10 days and I will also be going up to Fairbanks to visit for old time sake. I was stationed there in the late 1980`s.
Okay....back to boards....
Ride rep in Seattle called, they do pro form, but not sure of price and whether any are left.
Neversummer has not contacted me yet but talking to Elsnowboardo and Shayboarder who deal with this stuff way more then anyone I know, think I may very likey be past any available pro forms this season...
so I am likely looking at deals like Kill found for $399 or the $474 I found...ouch I want the thing but that is a real budget killer when I also MUST replace my avy beacon this year before I go; not to mention the $289 I have spent to get my Level 1 Avalanche cert at a training clinic at Timberline in a few weeks.
The Atomic rep from Hood River called me and he can get me the Radon-CT (has a split tail) for Proform price plus his ability to deal even more. I am not supposed to reveal pro form prices I hear so I will just say it`s VERY well priced and in my budget range.
The only thing is he only has this in a 164 which is only 2CM larger than my everyday riding board. He can get me a regular Radon in a 172 for even less. I am actually leaning toward this because the Radon is a mid wide and that extra lenght should make up for not having the split tail. Also, this will be better for some backcountry freeystye as the sidecut is radial like my Cold Smoke and it rides well switch. The split tail I think gets a bit weird when you go switch with it.
I find myself drawn to this Radon 172
Backcountry/powder board opinions
Linear Mode
