Head fast thang

[jim-ratliff]

I learned my lesson last year at Steamboat.
I traveled much lighter to Solvista!!!

But, I understand if you feel its too much of a burden.
Truly, I do .

Wellll, in that case I would be more than willing to share.
On a more serious note, is it better to have a vehicle at SolVista or is there a shuttle from Denver airport like there is for the big resorts along I-70??? SolVista is up by Winter Park??? Is there ski-in/out lodging.? What you found at Steamboat last year was pretty awesome.

Guess we have pretty much hijacked Perry's thread about the Fast Thang for his wife (although he sort of led the transition into the Harb Camp discussion).

[midwif]

Not much around Solvista that I could see. A couple of small towns.
No shuttle that I could tell. I think having a car is helpful.
Actually, the lifts don't start until 9am. We meet at the lodge for pre-ski meet up and review each day at 8am.
While I stayed in a "ski-in/ski out spot, I ended up taking the car each day (and picking up Arothafel since the lifts weren't up and running til 9am.
Other than a trip to the supermarket, I used it for the above purpose and the trip to and fro from Denver. Oh and to go to Winter Park one day.
Also, when I went to pick up the rental car, they had a convertible soft top "available" for me.
My consternation was visible to the guy helping me load up, when I mentioned I hoped shards of ice/snow didn't puncture the soft top. They gave me a subaru forrestor at no extra charge.(hope that happens again).

[ToddW]

I agree that having a car is a good idea.

However, if you really prefer not to drive the Berthoud Pass in winter conditions, there is a shuttle service from DIA to Solvista.  http://www.homejamestransportation.com/shuttle.php or (800) 359-7536.  One of the coaches used this last year; I don't know of anybody else who used it.

[Perry]

Answers to questions either implied or directly asked
Yes, both Gloria and I are going to participate in the camp. 
I hope Gloria benefits as much from the alignment as I did. I know she will be glad there are other women there.
I am really looking forward to meeting all of you and eating a meal. 
This will be our first camp.
 
Jim, you make good points about the vision 73.  She likes them fine.  I was thinking about her benefiting from a narrower ski and actually started looking for the 800.  I will send an email to Harold and see if he would recommend me picking up a pair if I can find some at a good price.

We will have to start a Solvista thread as time gets closer.

Perry

[jim-ratliff]

Jim, you make good points about the vision 73.? She likes them fine.? I was thinking about her benefiting from a narrower ski and actually started looking for the 800.? I will send an email to Harold and see if he would recommend me picking up a pair if I can find some at a good price.

Perry

Perry:
Great to hear, I look forward to meeting you and Gloria (and Todd).? Good thoughts on the narrower ski part, because I have heard numerous comments on the advantages of narrower waisted skis for tipping and carving drills.? I was actually a bit surprised that Harald and Diana put Lynn on the Every Thangs as well as the fact that Peter classified the Vision 73 as good for skills development.? May be possible that greater sidecut compensates for some of the width or something, because both Harald and Peter are a lot more knowledgeable than I.

I will confirm another thing that Todd listed, and that is the focus on the skiing and not on the selling of new boots. There was another guy in the alignment room at the same time as I, and they were going to great lengths to make his boots work even though all acknowledged they were worn out; he was almost asking them to recommend a new boot.? I eventually couldn't stand it anymore, and mentioned how much I liked my Head boots (and especially the buckles), at which time the Harb instructors chimed in with agreement and that the boot wasn't rotary, etc and mentioned some other brands.? Same thing happened with me, in fact.? I had a decent footbed, but the person that built it didn't detect my forefoot varus.? Maria spent a lot more time gluing foam on and grinding it off to make that footbed work rather than just build me a new one. Much better balance after.
Jim

[Ron]

its great to see someone willing to work on your existing equipment- two thumbs up!  It's so critical and so many just don't focus on the boots or buy boots and then skip the beds. Sometimes trying to work with existing gear is a good thing but sometimes it's better in the long run to scrap and run. Billy was going to work on my boots but when you add up the bench time and consider that the boots and beds just wouldn't be better than what he could make new, it didn't make sense. Most shops will fit a new boot for no extra charge (within reason) and give discounts on beds so the incremental cost may not be that much, (remember: shops can make more on labor and beds than the actual boots).  Did HH/diana charge bench time or did they do it for free?

[jim-ratliff]

An HH camp includes an alignment session(s), so it's either free or pre-paid depending on how you look at it..? If you don't already have a footbed I think they charge for creating one, but other than that they strive to adjust what you have rather than it being a selling session. I think Lynn's first alignment session led to quite a bit more boot work and I assume that they charged for that.? ? Of course, they had no idea how much joy you and Gary and Ed would get from the fact that it was so difficult for her to get her foot in the new boots once they were snugly fitted.?

Another good part is that each instructor does the alignment for their assigned students, so it's not unusual for the on-the-snow part of the class to include follow-up evaluation of alignment and the proverbial taping shims/wedges to bottoms of boots and stuff.

Also, since camps may be some distance from the shop they probably have limited new stuff with them at the camp; I do know that some people made appointments with them at the shop the day before/after the class began.

[Ron]

That's so awesome!  You can't learn if you aren't set up correctly and they are proabaly the only ones out there who do it this way. First rate! Good for them.