OhhhhVANdoh

You might have heard of moon beam aka ohhhhhhVANdoh. You might have had the pleasure of a ride in this luxury motor coach. But for those of you not familiar with this fine automobile, here you are my pride and joy. A 1991 Toyota Previa. OhhhVANdoh has a mere 219 k on it. It also sports a futon mattress, 2 large pull out dawers, a picnic table, a bench for 2, a dash board for cooking, a full kitchen, a library, and a spice cabinet. Pretty sweet eh? Jealous? I bet you are.

Recently the catalytic converter go clogged and luckily I have a helpful neighbor with a welder. Made this job easy, about 1 hour of cutting and welding. I put in a new oxygen sensor today and am looking for a used oil pan now. Just a little spring maintenance before I head out on the road for the spring/summer/fall.


I bought OhhhhhVANdoh for $1100 and a batch of buttered chicken about two years ago from a friend of Purple Man Woman. Put about $1000 in parts into it and shes been running great since then. New radiator last summer, now a new cat/flex pipe for around $150. Big whoop. Hopefully she keeps running well this summer. Fingers crossed.

Being the happy owner of a mobile home is the essence of being a ski/climbing fanatic and feeling comfortable about not having much in the terms of fancy material goods and other things that don't really matter in the long run. Having the ability  to play in nature with your friends more often that not, no better feeling. I feel really fortunate to live the life I live and be a part of such a great organization, SKIER BOYZ!!! So if you see me cruising around in OhhhVANdo, honk or stop by to say hi.

Lar's Big Win and New Bindings

When Lars isn't travelling the globe competing and winning big mountain ski comps, he is hard at working getting his company off the ground.  Most recently Lars won the FWT in Kirkwood.  And in 2013 alone, Lars and his business partner / brother, Silas, have competed in Revelstoke, Courmayeur (Italy), Chamonix, and Kirkwood.  And Silas is no slouch either, having won at Snowbird last March.  You also might find them in South American, where they compete and win there too.

I was fortunate to witness the madness at Snowbird last year from the Green Mountain Freeride VIP booth. Lars was injured and couldn't compete, but Lars took as much joy watching Silas as if he had won himself. As did all of GMFR and the Skier Boyz. Si was mobbed and all shared in his triumph. 


The VIP Booth

So it's obvious that these globe-trotting ski VER-Monsters know what they want out of high-performance gear. They're not lycra-clad "faster on the way up than on the way down" "sacrifice weight for performance" ski-mo racers. The CAST founders are decidedly faster on the way down, and can take more air in one run then I'll get in a month. So whether in the backcountry or at the top of a FWT run high in the Alps, they need gear that is predictable they can trust for big sends.

Despite their grueling schedules that take them from continent to continent, they have found time to design, create prototypes, and test a new backcountry binding system. The Chickering-Ayers brothers like gaps, and when they sussed out a gap in the market, they pointed it. Along with Matt Cherouny, the brothers have poured their heart and soul into this project.

The CAST system aims to meet the high level of performance demanded by top athletes while shaving weight from the touring set-up.  The CAST SI&I touring system meets these goals. But going from prototype to production is a big step; so enter kickstarter. CAST is ready to ramp up production and is looking for help, but they are not looking for a handout. This is your best chance to get your hands on the CAST set-up before anyone else.

The bindings are tough to explain, so check out the video on kickstarter to see the ins and outs of this system.

Congrats on the CAST system and good luck with the campaign!

 - U.K.

For more information, please visit CAST at:

• http://www.facebook.com/CASTtouring
• http://casttouring.com/
• http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/299047004/siandi-alpine-ski-touring-system