[red-beard]

In my first year snowboarding, I met a guy that was Burton's first dealer. Burton was selling "snurfers", a mono board with a string tied in the tip. This guy lived in NJ, and worked out a deal to buy snurfers and sell them in the NY/NJ area. He was a teenager at the time, probably 1980-1982 or so.

I met a few guys who were "firsts". One guy was the first to snowboard at Stratton. He told me, back at that time, you had to pass an exam to be able to snowboard there. I find that funny, since there were never "exams" for skiers.

Yeah, in the early 1990's, a guy who was in his mid-20's and snowboarding, was very unusual. I think I was the oldest entrant in Killington's first Bear Mountain Mogul bump-off, in 1992. It was down Superstar and I had the infamy of taking out the Burton sign under the jump.

We used to stay at the "Fireside Alpine Ski House". Sort of a bed and breakfast, with some "bunk" rooms and some private rooms. I think for a private I paid something like $30/night. Bunks were well under $20.

I had a lot of fun those seasons. Not much snowboarding in Houston. Hell doesn't freeze over.

On Topic, get an edge sharpener which will make a beveled edge. I liked a 2-2.5 degree bevel. A 90 degree (0 degree) bevel is bad.