 Poster: A snowHead
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And let's not forget Event - seems to recall even some ESF outfits were Event branded !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Weathercam wrote: |
under a new name, correct !
Probably early to mid 80's when the likes of O'Neil, Quicksilver were still surf brands and not high street, also the same time as Marin brought in the first MTB's into the UK, the importer was the same company that brought in Mistral Windsurf boards and back then a small unknown brand, DaKine.
The early UK MTB scene was very much driven by the existing windsurf business (Orange / Tushingham) with importers and retailers handling both.
And then along came snow boarding and many windsurf shops jumped on that as well !
Interesting in that windsurfing in the UK has dwindled from the hey days of the mid 90's with kiting now far more popular (especially along our stretch of the coast), we use to think it was similar to snowboarding vs skiing when snowboarding looked like it may take over, now it seems less and less boards on the slopes each year ?
And who remembers Chiemsee !! |
I have a DaKine ski bag, and had a boarder tell me, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, that skiers were stealing all their good ideas....
He didn't realise that DaKine's origins were in surfing, and snowboarding had stolen all those good ideas 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Weathercam, Event, is, I think a breathable membrane, and is still in existence/production. I think Chiemsee is too?
I think those Nevica pants date from no later than 1989 - possibly a year (or two) earlier. Just cos I knew a few folks with them.
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Chiemsee have an outlet store at Bernau just off the A8. Very strong brand here in Germany still.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Samerberg Sue, funny I googled Chiemsee to see if the brand was still around and came across a German site http://chiemsee.com/?___store=chiemsee_en I'm pretty sure the brand was bought by one of the big Corps that swallowed up a whole number of other fashion / sports brands and hardware co's a number of years ago, and there must have been a buy out when it was dropped ?
under a new name, like I mentioned I think that photo was early mid 80's - Ali Ross at the time when I did some of his clinics was sponsored by them, and there was the Nevica one piece in the same style.
And Event back then was a clothing brand in it's own right (pre Nevica) not too sure if the fabric we now know as Event came from that or it was just the name of a brand and it was using Goretex, maybe someone with better grey matter than me might recall ?
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Weathercam, I'd say your photo is mid-late 80s. I bought a (rather odd) Nevica jacket in 1984/5 and it came in a red or turquoise colourway with matching (or contrasting ??) pants. The fluo yellow red flash as shown in your pic there wasn't being used at that point as far as I can recall or maybe it was, just not in Scotland oy maybe for a more expensive range. (How terribly sad am I?)
But ... now you have me scratching my head over Event. Did it exist as a clothing brand or not? oooohhh I don't know and my memory isn't good enough!!
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Weathercam, Event the brand used Gore-Tex, it was bought by Speedo and quickly closed down. I still have my Blue/Yellow/Orange Event jacket.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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rjs, with the Speedo link you now have both mine and the OH's grey matter going - we're pretty sure that Event and Speedo was owned by a holding Co - Portland - the OH was a scribe on Drapers Record (the trade bible for fashion / rag trade manufacturing etc) and we're pretty sure we went to a Portland PR "do" back long ago which is bringing memories back about brands.
Though over the years we have seen many go from almost a "cottage industry" brand to becoming a Global brand and then go the "high street" route a la RAB / O'Neil - though has to be said RAB still do great gear, but from ten years ago when I was wearing RAB and no one else was in France it's now quite a common brand.
Don't think the same will ever happen to Paramo which I now adore!
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Weathercam, if Paramo see that image, you will no longer be their best friend 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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After 20 odd years we consigned Mrs GF's purple SX82's to skiing history this trip. Had to prise them from her grasp, however she did say that her new active fit boots with custom footbeds were nearly as comfortable.
Couldn't quite bring ourselves to throw them out straight away so they remain in our cave for the time being.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Went on my first ski tour 12 years ago with a group of friends, one of whom was wearing SX91s. They exploded into several pieces on the Argentiere glacier, and he had to stay in the refuge the next day while we climbed Amethyst 
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Chamcham, to be fair, that can happen to any ski boot if it's old enough. My wife absolutely refuses to give up her SX83s, and still skis circles around most people, but I am working on her with (true) stories of exploding ski boots and being left up on a glacier in -15°C with just a sock on your foot! I think I'll get there. Question is, is there anything out there which is even remotely as easy to put on and as comfortable to wear as the old rear entries? My Strolzs are great boots but a complete nightmare first thing in the morning...
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You know it makes sense.
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| Steilhang wrote: |
| ....Question is, is there anything out there which is even remotely as easy to put on and as comfortable to wear as the old rear entries? My Strolzs are great boots but a complete nightmare first thing in the morning... |
And the answer is "yes". Emphatically! Any correctly selected boot, which is fitted properly, will be as comfortable or better, but much better performing.
"Correctly selected" = taking into account foot shape/size, ability, weight, intended purpose (piste cruising, park, off-piste, race, etc), etc.
"Fitted Properly" = very few people will get a great fit from a boot straight out of the box. A good bootfitter can work magic.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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To me, rear-entry seemed to be a poor engineering solution, ignoring riding performance for things I never had a problem with, like putting them on, or comfort, or fashion. Like any kid who thought he was a "player", I didn't want to "ski" like a tourist, and I certainly didn't want to use toy boots.
But check all the people who used to use "mountain bikes" in the fens, or the vast number of snowboarders riding piste on park boards. Any market where there's a strong fashion / marketing influence seems to lose it's way now and then. Salomon and I would argue that rear-entry was one of those "oxbows" on the path of progress. You'd argue the contrary.
Personally I'd like it best if there was still a choice, so everyone could have what they like. Someone must own the molds, all you need is an old SX-fan with some money and you could start a business... Just don't ask me to do it.
Yeah, I got to MTB from Windsurf - it was briefly trendy to have bikes on the back of the vehicle and boards on top. The full on "toy hauler". Tush made accessories for bikes too - I think I have some somewhere. Chiemsee I still see now and then.
 Anyone who writes "DaKine" as one word was late to the party. They were big in windsurfing. Wikipedia says they were from Hawaii, but I remember them manufacturing/ shipping out of Hood River (well Portland) in the early 1980s, although playing up to the Hawan image. Been bought and sold a few times since then.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| ulmerhutte wrote: |
| Steilhang wrote: |
| ....Question is, is there anything out there which is even remotely as easy to put on and as comfortable to wear as the old rear entries? My Strolzs are great boots but a complete nightmare first thing in the morning... |
And the answer is "yes". Emphatically! Any correctly selected boot, which is fitted properly, will be as comfortable or better, but much better performing.
"Correctly selected" = taking into account foot shape/size, ability, weight, intended purpose (piste cruising, park, off-piste, race, etc), etc.
"Fitted Properly" = very few people will get a great fit from a boot straight out of the box. A good bootfitter can work magic. |
I also wonder how many folk have actually been shown how to put their boots on with minimum fuss. I know quite a few of the folk I've skied with in recent years have been unaware of how to open the shell properly to ease access.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A French group setting of from the Refuge Fond des Fours:
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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ulmerhutte, I did say the boots are great, i.e they fit like a glove and are comfortable. I suppose the chaps at Strolz do know something about fitting boots. The problem is getting the damn things on, especially if they have not been pre-warmed.
feefI've been putting ski boots on since I was four years old. I think I've figured out how to do it in the fifty year interval...
philwig, honestly I think an awful lot of tosh gets talked about rear entry boots. They did a good job and still do for some people. I would welcome their return.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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the_doc,
My thought exactly - and at his age fair play to the guy!!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Steilhang, you do?
I used to have trouble with my 150 rate race boots to the extent of having to drive ~20 minutes with them on in the hot air stream before I could get them off.
My current 130s are no trouble at all.
But in 38(then) years of skiing, no-one had ever shown me the rotated, oblique entry move which makes life so much easier...
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| Steilhang wrote: |
| Chamcham, Question is, is there anything out there which is even remotely as easy to put on and as comfortable to wear as the old rear entries? My Strolzs are great boots but a complete nightmare first thing in the morning... |
Try one of the three piece style touring boots like the Scarpa Maestrale RS; the tongue flaps out to the side, so really easy to slide your foot in.
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| Steilhang wrote: |
| .. honestly I think an awful lot of tosh gets talked about rear entry boots. They did a good job and still do for some people. I would welcome their return. |
I don't think you're talking "tosh", although if I did I'd probably be too polite to point it out.
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| clarky999 wrote: |
| Steilhang wrote: |
| Chamcham, Question is, is there anything out there which is even remotely as easy to put on and as comfortable to wear as the old rear entries? My Strolzs are great boots but a complete nightmare first thing in the morning... |
Try one of the three piece style touring boots like the Scarpa Maestrale RS; the tongue flaps out to the side, so really easy to slide your foot in. |
Good advice. I had actually been thinking along those lines for my wife.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Steilhang wrote: |
feefI've been putting ski boots on since I was four years old. I think I've figured out how to do it in the fifty year interval... |
That's pretty much what was said to me just before I showed the chap how to put them on properly
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| But in 38(then) years of skiing, no-one had ever shown me the rotated, oblique entry move which makes life so much easier... |
can you describe in more detail?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Arno, hmm, I think I'd need to film myself. You put the foot in rotated to the inside with the tongue pulled out in the same direction - when I say pulled out, I mean, really pulled out and the two sides of the cuff very well separated.
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Is anyone else finding this all deeply hilarious? Maybe this needs to be moved over to the BZK area; "Skiboot entry techniques: A catalogue and critical review..."
Oh you wacky skiers.
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You know it makes sense.
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under a new name, I think I get what you mean. will give it a try next time I put my boots on, which will probably be next season 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Richard_Sideways, you've clearly never tried to get your foot into a 150 stiffness race boot without assistance.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| under a new name wrote: |
| Richard_Sideways, you've clearly never tried to get your foot into a 150 stiffness race boot without assistance. |
Or out of a 150 race boot.
For anyone wondering what the ell all this is about if you have "normal" flex boots ie upto say 110 flex fasten the bottom two buckles toe one normally second loose but just about with some tension then try and put your boot on. ( not a perfect analogy but should give you a good idea how hard it can be unless your boots are a few sizes too big for you, then at least you know you need to look at changing them).
The only race boot I found with easy entry was the Fischer RC4 Soma 150 pro ( just a shame I could not afford the ^£500 price tag, and the fit was great ).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Richard_Sideways, I guess getting your boots on is the highlight of your day before you revert to moaning about flat bits, traverses, drag lifts etc etc 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Loved my SX91 Equipe's much better than my previous SX90's
Any one remember the Elho day glow jackets from the 80's
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| speed098 wrote: |
| under a new name wrote: |
| Richard_Sideways, you've clearly never tried to get your foot into a 150 stiffness race boot without assistance. |
Or out of a 150 race boot.
For anyone wondering what the ell all this is about if you have "normal" flex boots ie upto say 110 flex fasten the bottom two buckles toe one normally second loose but just about with some tension then try and put your boot on. ( not a perfect analogy but should give you a good idea how hard it can be unless your boots are a few sizes too big for you, then at least you know you need to look at changing them).
The only race boot I found with easy entry was the Fischer RC4 Soma 150 pro ( just a shame I could not afford the ^£500 price tag, and the fit was great ). |
Having worn Lange XR9 Race in -35 in the States and not been able to undo them as the clips had frozen and the plastic got dtiffer as it got colder you have my sympathy
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Noooooo! I had a pair of these tools of torture in the mid-80s. I had to unclip them on every T-bar/chair. My big toe nails fell off and my foot felt numb for a couple of months after every trip. And they were properly fitted (I was told) and I did go to numerous shops in UK/France to improve the comfort. Hateful things.
Now I can wear my current boots all day fully clipped and have shiney toes and full sensation.
Remember the good old days of sending children up chimneys................yeh best consigned to memory!
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| Weathercam wrote: |
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You're the bloke off HUTH!
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FAQ
- but it definitely wasn't GoreTex...
