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All Prospect Snowboards offer bamboo sidewalls and longer effective edges for better overall control. The Bamboo sidewalls offer multiple benefits. Specifically it is lighter, stronger, and adds stability to the overall ride. Without getting too technical, bamboo is 25% lighter and its tensile "burst" strength is 2 times as strong as regular core material meaning more pop. Being set at the sidewall, the stiffer bamboo offers torsional stiffness and natural vibration dampening, leading to a faster, more stable platform. Bamboo is being used more in snowboarding not only because it of its high strength to weight ratio but it also lasts because it is continuously strong even when temperature drops. Neil Henderson, the owner of Prospect snowboards says "My goal was to make the fastest, hardest carving true twin snowboard available".

To accompany the benefits of bamboo sidewalls, Prospect's geometry stretches out the effective edge, aka contact points as far as it can go. This adds to the ride stability andactually provides the performance of a longer board. According to Neil, "It's like adding 2 to 4 cm of length without having to ride a heavier, longer board." The longer effective edge puts the contact points closer to the tip of the board giving your edges more surface contact to grip in turns. This means less washing out of hard carves and smooth, stable turns for maximum control. Together, bamboo sidewalls and the longer effective edge Prospect's boards offer harder carves and a ride smoother than other freestyle decks. Neil believes this sidewall and effective edge combination are the most underrated manufacturing techniques that contribute to his goal of making the fastest and hardest carving true twin available.

Also underrated in the design of snowboards is rubber dampening, carbon fiber beams, and even more so their placement inside the construction of the board.

Prospect uses rubber in sandwich/sidewall snowboard design to reduce shock and vibration in turns and while landing big hits. According to Neil, rubber stripping is placed around the outside of the board and in the middle sections to act like a shock absorber. He says “Rubber placement is key to a boards ride because it turns the overbearing rigidity into smooth fluid movements.” His smooth ride philosophy on rubber dampening also contributes their boards lasting ride and overall durability. The way snowboards are ridden they are continuously flexed over and over again. Without sufficient rubber dampening the epoxy bonds break down leading to a lifeless board with no pop and it will eventually break. The rubber Prospect places inside the board allows small amounts of flex between the layers reducing wear on the epoxy bonds.

The Carbon laminates Neil puts in Prospect’s boards are common among most snowboards, but he believes his carbon “X-beams” also add to the boards ride. “Our X-beams are placed from the feet to the contact point at the edge. This allows Prospect to have lighter cores with added spring back. The carbon placement also contributes to their tensional stiffness, adding to the overall stability at high speed. Neil’s take on carbon fiber is: “We tried different carbon patterns, stringers, an “A” pattern on each end, Inverted “A’s”; the X pattern is the only thing that directly transfers power from your feet to the edge. There is a small sacrifice in low speed carving, but who rides slow?”

Also on the top of Prospect’s priority list is making bombproof boards. While no one should condone using a snowboard as a bomb shield, the fact is Prospect has developed 2 more ways to ensure Prospect is known as a brand that makes premium snowboards that perform and last. Neil’s philosophy is “I’m a product guy. I believe that the best products are better than the best marketing. Prospect isn’t a statement in style as much as it is a statement in quality.”

There is a few steps Prospect has taken to assure they achieve that quality. First, the Premier Special Edition Models have “Seamless edges”. Their edges are high carbon, hardened steel with no cut seam; a real 360 degree edge. This was developed to reduce edge failures from hard hits against rocks, trees, and rails. Second, the Two-part flexible epoxy serves as a dampening system, increases flexibility, and prevents delaminating. Neil’s take on Prospect’s epoxy system: “Our epoxy mixture adds a rubber like characteristic to the compound. It makes the boards tough as nails. “When we do Prospect Demos we always tell riders Hey, go break this board. We’re still waiting.”

Prospect Snowboards is on a mission to bring some killer decks to the table. They aren’t well known and they don’t dump their cash into marketing. Instead they stick to their mission. To drive home their point they gave all Prospect Snowboards a 2 year warranty and Neil Assures they stand by their warranty; if you break your board riding we’ll fix it free or you get a replacement if we can’t fix it. Good points, and Neil concludes by saying “Hey, ya know, we’re putting up a true effort here to bring out boards that pushes the accountability of a snowboard company. We listen to what each individual rider wants and we work to build that into our boards.”

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We've been seeing some rad ideas coming from independent designers and its important for us to offer. This concept, designed by Lane Lederman remains nameless at the moment, so we're calling it the bush whacker for now.

Lane submitted his design to us through our Co-op and within a few weeks we will publish his board on our site with a chance for people to reserve their board in advance.

The point of our Co-op is to give guys and gals, like Lane, the chance to have their artwork published with a snowboard company.

Screw design competition where you will literally be one in 1,000 to win. Our Co-Op is natural selection. If you design kicks ass people will want it and we are here to help you make it.

If you are interested in creating your own board for our Co-Op then here is where to start.
1. Put together the most rad artwork you can think of, just don't copy other people's designs.
2. Submit your artwork and create a bio. What is your artwork about?
3. Tell all your friends about your board so they want to buy it.
4. Your friends reserve a spot to purchase your board.
5. Once a few reserve orders come it we'll print your design.
6. When it is time to print we'll call to complete the reserve orders.
7. We then invest in your design and publish it into our line of boards.

This is your chance to be a snowboard designer.

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-Alex

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I am going to talk to you about affiliate marketing or what is most commonly know as MLM – Multi Level Marketing.

For those of you who have not heard of MLM it is considered the best way to make money online although I have to say this method has received a lot of stigma over the years namely from those people who never made money from them and quit.

The fact is that 70% of people that TRY MLM programs usually quit within 2 months of joining and are usually for the same reasons, that they never made any money.

Truthfully those people were probably told they would make a small fortune in a very short period of time but sadly the person that introduced them was only interested in signing them up and failed to explain how to build a successful business.

To build any business successfully will require hard work and should be treated as a full-time job although this is not permanent it is necessary to build a solid foundation in the early days.

Sadly most are not presented with these facts so I guess you cannot blame them for quitting or even giving the MLM opportunities a bad name.

There are 3 main reasons to be able to succeed in any MLM program which I am about to share with you and in my opinion are key to success.

• The Right Program - You need to find the right MLM program that is low cost and offers the best compensation plan.
• The Dream – This has to be one of the most important ingredients because if your dream is big enough you will do whatever it takes to achieve it.
• Support – You need support with anything that is new especially from those who are already successful and are willing to help you succeed.

Ok now let’s look at these 3 key reasons in more depth to help put things in perspective.

The Right Program

Now although there are a lot of MLM programs on the internet it is important that they are an established company, offer an excellent compensation plan, provide tools to help you build your business and have a product that most people want and need.

GDI or Global Domains International are in my opinion the only MLM company that offers all of this and for only $10 a month.

Now one thing you have to realise is that if you want to work online from home and be successful in any business there will be some cost attached to it. Although GDI offers you your own business, product and unlimited income opportunity for only $10 a month plus you can try it for 7 days free.

So lets break it down and see what you get for your hard earned $10 a month.

• Web Hosting
• Your own domain name
• 10 email addresses
• Web site building tool
• Access to the GDI Forum
• Tools to promote your business
• Unlimited income opportunity

As you can see you get your own website, the tools to build it and can be active online within a few short hours but what’s more incredible is you can earn money too.

So who are GDI and how do I make money?

Global Domains International, or GDI, was founded in 1999 by Michael Reed, CEO and Alan Ezeir, President who both recognized another opportunity that was largely ignored. The dot com boom that was so popular back in 1995 reached its peak around march of 2000. What Michael Reed and Alan Ezeir wondered was if there were other available extensions that businesses could use as a domain name. They ultimately focused on the domain extension .WS, which belonged to the tiny island nation of Samoa, deep in the South Pacific. They were able to execute a deal with Samoa stating they had to produce 15,000 registered domain .ws extensions in 3 years. Well they accomplished that goal in GDI’s 1st month of business and the rest as they say is history. In the 2002 Special issue of Inc. magazine, Global Domains International placed #37 on the Inc 500 magazine’s “List” of the USA’s 500 fastest growing private companies and #5 in the state of California. If you have come across any .ws adresses on the internet you can rest assured that they have been registered through Global Domains International, as GDI has single handedly captured the market share for the .ws extension. But what really puts the icing on the cake is the amazing business opportunity they have incorporated in to the equation.

So now let’s talk about how you earn money.

For every person that you refer to GDI you will earn $1 every month for as long as that person remains a member.

That person that you refer – for every person that they refer to GDI, you will earn $1 every month for as long as that person remains a member. This continues down for 5 levels.

So even if you only refer one person, but that one person referred 50 people, you would earn $1 for each of those 50 people. If those 50 people referred just 1 person each, that’s another $50 per month you’d earn.

Remember though, as I said earlier you only get out of a program what you put into it. You could very easily get someone in your downline that could refer 50 people and that would be great, but you might not, so don’t just rely completely on your downline, especially in the beginning, try to refer a few people.

Let’s look at an example of the sort of income you can earn with GDI.

If you referred 10 people and those 10 people referred just 5 people each, and those 5 people referred 5 people each, and so on for 5 levels. Your monthly income would be $7810.

Sound Good???

Well that’s not all, GDI also offer a weekly bonus scheme of $100 for every 5 people you personally introduce. So for example if 20 people joined your business you would be paid $400 for that week and best of all there is no limit to the amount of people you refer. If you were to do the same every week that would an average of $1600 a month which for a lot of people would replace their job salary.

You may be thinking it sounds too good to be true or how can I refer 10 people, I don’t know 10 people that would be interested in this.

Well its not too good to be true, there are people earning even more than that with GDI.

As far as referring people GDI offer the tools to help with this however as I mentioned previously support in this business is key to your success from those who are already successful.

The Dream

To be successful you need to have a reason or a dream this could be a few hundred dollars a month to begin with or a new car.

What I have found is that people fear to dream because they don’t believe it will happen. It has amazed me being around this business how quickly people underestimate themselves and what started out as being a dream of making a few hundred dollars a month turned into buying their dream home cash.

This business offers so much its about people helping people and the feeling of knowing you have helped others take back their lives is priceless.

Support

Most people that join MLM programs have little or no experience on how to build a successful business and sadly quit before they even get started.

Having support from those who are already successful in this type business is by far priceless and it amazes me that so many people do not grasp this when inviting people to join.

After all the core of all MLM businesses is helping others to succeed which in turn helps you succeed.

Failing to grasp this simple concept and not put in any effort will surely lead to failure and again these types of people will only end up hopping from one opportunity to another but never finding success.

So there you have it an honest opinion on Multi Level Marketing which I hope this article has helped you in your pursuit for financial freedom

Donna Fielding is a successful network marketer with GDI. Click the link below to watch a video presentation on the GDI opportunity and the 7 day FREE trial and see if Global Domains International is the right choice for you.

www.themoneyprospect.com

(copy and paste into your browser)

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Ski or Snowboard Rentals – Whistler

Renting skis used to be a dreaded experience, long line ups for poorly maintained out of date equipment provided by ski bums who didn’t care. Changes have swept across this industry with new companies competing in every resort worldwide.

With airlines charging extra for ski baggage, the inconvenience of carrying heavy equipment and an increased environmental awareness the number of skiers renting equipment has risen.

If you look at ski technology and ski branding a two year old ski can often look outdated, therefore before you leave home do a quick calculation of “how many days a year do you ski?” multiplied by the cost of renting against the cost of new skis. The average cost of renting top end gear is around $50 CDN for two days. If you average 10 days per year that works out at $250 per year. New skis with bindings range from $500 to $1100.

Factor in the cost of tuning, inconvenience, baggage fees and your environmental consciences and renting comes out the winner.

My family decided to test this theory with a visit to Whistler in January, we looked online and booked with a company called Affinity Sports. (www.affinityrentals.com)

After breezing through the airport and traveling the sea to sky highway we checked into our hotel around 9pm. Surprisingly the rental shop was still open so despite our jet lag we headed in to pick up our gear. The staff greeted us on the way in the door and our reservation was ready. We tried on the boots and with skis hanging on every wall I picked out a new Pair of Volkl AC50. The binding was adjusted and the staff answered all our tourist questions while helping us feel welcome in Whistler. The kids tried snowboarding had to choose from a selection kids gear.

On the third day the weather moved in so we took a rest day, I dropped the skis back at the store and was surprised to learn I would be credited back the days I didn’t use. I then took advantage of the best reason to rent, trying different equipment. The trend in skis is to have more specialized equipment to suit the conditions so I changed for a K2 Coomba, a powder ski. Each time I dropped into see the staff at Affinity they accommodated my every request without hesitation. The equipment was tuned, it was the latest model and the service was excellent.

Two weeks later back at my desk I thought about the old rent vs. buy argument. I will be renting skis, snowboards and maybe even snow blades every time I go. The image of ski rentals is changing and being driven by companies like Affinity, I hope to go back to Whistler for the Olympics and will be renting everytime.

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Welcome to the first global online Game of S.N.O.W – the Quiksilver King of S.N.O.W. Hampus Mosesson is submitting the first trick and you are pleased to copy it! Switch BS 180° Indy is the trick of the hour which you should copy on every similar kicker on mother earth and with as much style and power as possible. Don´t forget to show your face right into the cam after you did your Switch BS 180° Indy!

This round’s winner will get a nice Quiksilver Package including: Quiksilver Travis Rice Signature Goggle and the Quiksilver Premium SnowPack (thechnical snowboard features, suspensions system, LED lighting system und premium audio components – make the backcountry a whole new experience)

This winter is going to be one giant worldwide session!

From now on every 14 days one of your favorite Pros will present a trick you have to imitate within two weeks and on a similar obstacle. Once you have sticked and – hopefully – filmed the trick you must upload it as video file to the Quiksilver King of S.N.O.W platform. Needless to say that you should try to redo the trick with as much style as possible in order to get as many judging points as possible in the worldwide ranking. Because in every single round – that means every 14 days – the most gnarly and styled trick will be rewarded with a massive stuff package.

We will make you rich and famous!

The top four snowboarders that have earned the most judging points after Round 7 will be invited by Travis Rice and Mathieu Crepel to their invitational-only event in La Plagne, France – called Chromatophobia. Quiksilver will assume just everything – flight, accommodation and catering – no matter from where on this planet you have to travel.

T-Rice will present the final trick in the Quiksilver King of S.N.O.W snowpark the four finalists have to copy. A camera team will capture every single trick and finally upload it to www.king-of-snow.com. Afterwards the tricks will be judged one more week for the very last time. The one with the highest score may be pleased about 5.000,- USD cash and short interviews with all our media partners worldwide.

As a special goodie the four lucky finalists will get a wildcard to compete with Mathieu, Travis and many other topguns at the Chromatophobia.

Sign up now for free!

Get your free account at king-of-snow.com now! Further information you will find there. So just check back regularly to ensure that you will be well-informed and on top of the world from the very beginning!

http://www.roninsnowboards.com/en/quiksilver-king-of-snow/

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Effective April 1 - 30, 2003 the Forest Service will be implementing and enforcing a Supervisor's Closure on Vail Mountain, which will prohibit unauthorized access to the Minnie's Deck area where the end-of-season BB&B event has occurred. The Forest Service issued a directive to Vail Resorts under the terms of their special use permit to shut down the BB&B event on Vail Mountain. Historically the BB&B event has taken place at Minnie's Deck and the event had evolved into a gathering of as many as 2,000 people. The behavior of participants posed serious risks to public health and safety as well as caused resource damage. The Supervisor's Closure will be in effect to ensure protection of public health and safety.

So, with a stroke of the pen, the US Forest Service ended the infamous end-of-season party on Vail Mountain, ending a 22 year tradition.  Know by many variations, Boobs, Boomers and Beers; Buns, Boobs, and Beers; Boobs, Booze and Brews, etc, (BB&B) was held on the second Tuesday in April as a way for Vail valley residents and employees to blow off some steam at the end of the season.  The event started in 1980 as a small end-of-season birthday party on Minnie's deck. BB&B devolved into an orgy of drinking, snowball fights and raucous behavior. During the last several years, partiers spent days before BB&B building large snow forts, stashing large quantities of alcoholic beverages, and, too often, hauling up more illicit substances.

Historically, the end of season party probably started much earlier with the Great Race.  This season-ender was usually held in Lionshead and People would dress up in all kinds of wild costumes. A photo of Vail local hooligan Packy Walker standing on the winner’s podium wearing nothing but a fig leaf and his gold medal made the front page of the Vail Trail newspaper. After Vail executives and lawyers killed that event people continued to get costumed up and party at Minnie's Deck.  In those days it was called the mountain formal.  Costumes included top hats and suits as well as high school prom dresses, horrible powder-blue tuxedoes and ballerina tutus.  The event grew and was combined with Warren Miller’s Mad Mountain Marathon and the Rubber Legs Slalom.  The race involved 150 or more slalom gates at the bottom of Vail Mountain and the event raised money for local charities.

When I was there in the spring of 2002, my brother Travis, his wife Michelle, Mayela and I went to the BB&B.  We all carried backpacks loaded with beers, booze and buds.  When we arrived at Minnie's deck the atmosphere was relaxed and people were lounging on the deck in the sun enjoying the event.  We set up camp on the deck and in one of the nearby snow forts crafted by a group of Beaver Creek's happyshack community.  We took some runs and explored the other various snow forts in the woods.  It was amazing the elaborate complex of forts and the adornments within.  Some had full Ice sculpture bars complete with barstools carved from compacted snow.  Others were complete igloos with only a small portal in the roof for ventilation.  Another was an elaborate maze to thwart cops and security spies.

As the day continued, there were jam sessions on the numerous rails that had been created in the woods.  One was a 50 foot long triple wave that dumped out into the main area opening.  Eventually the traditional snowball fight erupted with the main focus from the snow forts surrounding the opening at Minnie's deck.  Some forts were equipped with water balloon launchers.  A couple of times I snuck out through the woods with my snowboard to take runs down born free.  After riding the gondola back up to the top, I'd come rolling into the woods with my pants down and flipping the crowd off in my black afro.  The trick was to ride fast and get to the fort as quickly as possible.  Poor unfortunate souls that tried to follow in the wake turbulence of my entry would get blasted into oblivion.  I would stand on the wall and yell out obscenities to the enemy forts.  The response was a furious barage of snowballs.  People were getting pissed because we were getting bombed with snow.  One time, standing on the wall, I took a water balloon launcher shot to the chest that blasted me flat on my back.  Heffe came right up like a  medic with the Jaegermeister bottle to nurse me back to insanity.

In the evening when security starts to herd everybody out of there is a Chinese downhill of sorts.  This race to the pub progresses down the mountain. There is one particularly steep pitch where people who are so f*cked up that they just take their skis off and hurl themselves bodily down the face, laughing their drunken asses off.  I came up to the edge and launched the hand bag I was carrying as high in the air as I could--only to find out Mayela had her camera in it.  We all ended up at the bars in Vail village till the weee hours of the morning.  It was amazing.  I'm glad I got to experience the greatest party on earth before it was over.  Good times

As kind of a sick footnote to all of this, the event has been commercialized in a couple of different forms. Never shy about making a buck off the sweat and toil of the locals Vail Resorts promptly christened Siebert's Mad Mountain Marathon and Beaver creek Blues, Brews, and Bar-B-Que. There is no limit to the depth of slime with Vail Management.

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