Everyone's backgrounds

Yak away here, please! This category is for random discussions, comments, and anything but the topics shown above.

Moderators: Head Monkey, kelvin, bigKam, skidesmond, chrismp

sivart7208
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 6:56 am
Location: franconia. NH

Post by sivart7208 »

im a seinior in highschool in st. johnsburry vermont.. i live in franconia NH though. im doing this thing for my capstone and just for fun.. i ski cannon, burke, and anything else around it that has good snow. i winter camp and do pretty much anything out doors.. (madriverglen)-- who are you.. im good freinds with nick and alex from stept.. known them scince i was about 8.?
Mart
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:49 am
Location: Sherbrooke, Qc , Canada

Post by Mart »

I'm a physicist currently studying magnetic resonance imaging for a master degree.
Mart
Buuk
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:49 am
Location: The Netherlands

Post by Buuk »

I am already a mechanical engineer and at the moment I am doing a master degree in biomedical engineering.

Buuk
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mattman
Posts: 265
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:22 am
Location: NH
Contact:

Post by mattman »

I am obsessed with composites! I grew up in northern NH, but studied...you guessed it...mech. engineering at clarkson university (near whiteface) for a couple years, then left to start my own business building composite longboards and other bizaare sports products (www.illusion-atc.com). the ultimate product has been the RockSki, a summer ski that has been under development for literally 6 years now. we are on probably the 12th completely new prototype...and we are getting close. i am currently studying engineering again in southern NY, but can only do college a couple semesters at a time...its just too aggrivating to do all at once for me. working on a pair of skis right now; tried to in the past but the edges always torqued our bases, so we are going to only edge the running length to hopefully prevent torquing for our own skis.
oh, and i am planning to move out to either oregon or washington in two years (when my gf's job contract ends), so if anyone is familiar with these two areas, i would love to hear which is better. i really liked the small town, laidback atmosphere of NH and cannon mountain. i could care less about the powder honestly, i dont mind ice at all. any pointers would be super...
Alex
Posts: 105
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2005 7:41 am
Location: Munich (Germany)

Post by Alex »

I've got an engineering degree in aircraft construction. Working with composites was allways my passion starting with model aircrafts about 20 years ago. During my studies i've been working with a company building gliders from composites with all kinds of fibers.
Greg
Posts: 225
Joined: Thu May 26, 2005 11:41 am
Location: Sweden but home is NW Washington

Post by Greg »

Well, I figured I have been on this board long enough that I should give some background about myself. I got my BS in Mechanical Engineering (surprise) from the University of Colorado, Boulder a couple years ago. I went to school in CO because I heard the skiing was amazing there, but in 4 years, I had one good 18" powder day. So after graduating, I moved back to the Seattle area, and had many many good poweder days at Mt Baker during the epicly bad year of 2004-2005. I worked as a civilian for the navy for a couple years but decided that I was too young to be "having a career" so now I am back in school getting a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering at Lulea University of Technology in the far north of Sweden.

I don't remember my first day on skis, but I think I couldn't have been older that 3 or 4 years old, and to date, I have built 7 pairs of really rad skis. My skibuilding is on hold for a couple years though because of the whole Sweden thing. I managed to sneak 2 pairs of skis on the airplane for the price of one when I came here, so I will be rocking the love in Scandinavia as well.
G-man
Posts: 600
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: northern sierra nevada

Post by G-man »

Okay, my turn.

I just like to make stuff. I did a stint as a mountaineering equipment designer, then 12 years as a custom racing bicycle frame builder (stopped because of a bout with cadmium poisoning from silver soldering), then heavy equipment operator (while I went back to school), then 16 years as a registered nurse and mobile intensive care nurse in a small rural hospital, all the while building my house (cut every board from bug trees myself). About a year and a half ago, I decided I needed a break from health care, and soon after, I discovered skibuilders.com. My wife has a great job in cybertech, so I get to spend quite a lot of time building and 'testing' skis (can I say 'sugar mama'). I am also currently beginning construction of a new ski building shop and another house (I still have piles and piles of lumber stacked in the woods that I should do something with).

I still don't know where I'm going with the ski building thing... just going to go slow and see what happens. I basically live for being in the mountains by myself (or with one or two friends) in the winter time. Being there on homemade skis makes the experience that much better.

I'm not an engineer, but I'm sure glad to be hanging out with a bunch of them at skibuilders.com.

G-man
iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

Grew up in Boulder, CO. Basically spent my youth skiing Beaver Creek and Vail since I was 3, and have been obsessed ever since.

Currently a Junior at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA on a Pre-med path with (current) plans of becoming a ER doc or Trama surgeon.

Been a total gear junky since I was 14 when I got my 1st pair of Igneous. Since than...have gone thru way way way too many skis. After waiting months for another custom pair to come this last year, and upon recieveing said pair of skis and being extremely disappointed, thought got in my head that I should just make my own.

Sold off most of my skis, and here I am today. Not sure where this could go with school, but currently thinking of taking a semester or two off to enjoy this while I can.
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RoboGeek
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:08 pm
Location: Middle of a cornfield...

Post by RoboGeek »

Hi guys!

My first post so I might as well make it useful..

I own Business Network Solutions - a network security and general IT company for SMB's. I've been building and racing cars since I was 14, and have an ability to create just about anything I need from next to nothing. While I love driving, I only did that to see if my tinkering made it faster. I enjoy the mechanical aspects much more than going fast.

I ski at Chestnut Mtn here in Illinois about every other week and am definitely a newbie. I skied 15+ years ago and just got back on curvy skis this year - I'm having to relearn what little skills I had before. I used to ski Snow Summit, Baldy and some other places when I lived in SoCal, but you had to get me drunk to get me up the mountain. Now at least I wait till I'm down.. ;)
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zachjowi
Posts: 110
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:41 am
Location: WI

Post by zachjowi »

RoboGeek wrote:Hi guys!

My first post so I might as well make it useful..

I own Business Network Solutions - a network security and general IT company for SMB's. I've been building and racing cars since I was 14, and have an ability to create just about anything I need from next to nothing. While I love driving, I only did that to see if my tinkering made it faster. I enjoy the mechanical aspects much more than going fast.

I ski at Chestnut Mtn here in Illinois about every other week and am definitely a newbie. I skied 15+ years ago and just got back on curvy skis this year - I'm having to relearn what little skills I had before. I used to ski Snow Summit, Baldy and some other places when I lived in SoCal, but you had to get me drunk to get me up the mountain. Now at least I wait till I'm down.. ;)
sweet i ski at Chestnut sometimes also. Have you ever been to Sundown MTN? thats where I give lessons
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RoboGeek
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:08 pm
Location: Middle of a cornfield...

Post by RoboGeek »

Say when and I'll try to be there. And trust me.. I need lessons!

I'm trying to hit every wed at Chestnut. I think I ended up with the wrong ski's to learn on though.. Got Rossi Freeride x and paid $29 so I couldn't pass it up for the price. The last few weeks its been groomed sheet ice and I can't learn while survival skiing.

Let me know if you want to meet up there. I might be able to do a 2 day trip to sundown - its not that far.. but its a def 2 day journey. And at last the snow is falling!

PM me if you want to meet up - can't post URL's here until I become a postwhore.. that should be 4 hrs or so..
Chicagoskier11
Posts: 54
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:45 am
Location: Denver

Post by Chicagoskier11 »

well i am not in engineering school as was my plan in high school... i don't know what happened... i ended up moving from the Flint area in Michigan to the much nicer yet less ski opportune Chicago. It's my junior year and i have finally decided on an economics/biology double major. I despise biology but have taken too many classes to not get the major and love econ. I will probably get and MBA and then hopefully a PhD in econ... but if a good offer comes after the MBA i might take it for a couple years. I would like to be an analysts possibly, preferably in the tech sector. Anyways i hope to eventually get out of the city and end up either on the east coast of preferably in MT or CO. This would make it beneficial to have the PhD since teaching at a university would be an option.

I started skiing at 4 and racing at 8. I progressed as far as i could in racing skiing the flat slopes of mid-mich and have not been in gates since my senior year. I miss racing, especially slalom, but have enjoyed getting to know the powder turn on breaks from school in MT. My senior year i skied about 90 days. I think i only missed about 4 days that the local place was open. I have instructed for 3 winters but time does not allow for that anymore. I live for skiing but don't get to do it much now. Thanks god i get to spend a lot of time on the water ski and wakeboard in the summer.

Engineering/building: I built a robot controlled by a flashlight beam at a camp once... that is all the engineering experience i have. I have restored a few slot machines. I just like to tinker with stuff and the whole ski building process has been extremely satisfying. Next project will be making some crude batches of wine this summer. I hope to do a lot of "research"

keep livin' the dream everyone, hope you to see you in the mountains someday
plywood
Posts: 499
Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2006 2:13 am
Location: wilen, switzerland
Contact:

Post by plywood »

time for my backgrounds!

first to the school stuff etc.:
i tried to study mechanical engineering 2 years ago...but i horribly failed :D i had to realise, that the studies weren`t really what i imagined - the things i had in mind would have been more orientated to industrial design. i really much liked all aspects of product innovation, designing and creating new things, but the calculations were a pain. so i quit.
now i`m studying economics - basically because it offers me a wide range of possibilities after the studies.

i always liked to craft something. a few years ago i discovered slalomskateboards as an alternative for snowboarding during summer. i wasn`t very satisfied with my first boardi bought, so i thought that i could do it better myself. and so it was. step by step i improved my building skills and began to sell some boards. actually custommades. www.plywood.ch.vu and now in my forth year of building...well...the thrill of doing some new staff disappeared. with my experience everything is pretty much predictable, it got kind of common for me.

so i had to do something new. i reconvened skiing last year - it was really fun, but skiing the powder was way harder than with a snowboard. so i had a new task: the quest for the ultimate powder ski :D

and so i`m on my way to learn the art of skibuilding
plywood freeride industries - go ply, ride wood!
hafte
Posts: 204
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:40 am

Post by hafte »

OK, after 50+ posts guess its time to introduce myself. I’m a civil service computer tech by trade. Not much good at it, but I’m still the smartest guy in the room when it comes to PCs and the network here (at work not out here in virtual land).

I’m a third generation skier and first generation snowboarder and I have been skiing for 38 years and snow boarding for 25 years. Started tele skiing in ~83 on really skinny skis and leather boots and don’t have any alpine gear (that works), accept for skis with 3-pin bindings on them. I started kite skiing about three years ago and have been doing that on the days when the powder sucks (and this year its been hard to kite due to lack of snow). Its great skiing at one of the only ski areas in the nation were you drive to the top to start. Makes getting to the kite skiing areas much easier.

I love to make toys. I started building kayaks about 9 years ago, because all of the current boats were too small for me. I just couldn’t get in them without pain, and the boats I could get into were not playful enough. Then paddles followed and I’ve been hooked on making stuff with composites ever since. I have also made backcountry ski toboggans, surfboards, foam core skateboards, kiteboards for water and now skis. I have yet to build any molds, (until the ski bug bit) but I am getting good at carving foam of most types to create forms and cores for my stuff. There’s nothing like being able to say you ran that river or skied that mountain with gear you made yourself.

I learned to vacuum bag last summer, so that is my press of choice for skis for the time being. I’m very pleased with how it works so far. If I could figure out where to put it I may build a pneumatic press someday.

And if I haven’t said it before great site Kam, Kam, Kelvin!! Glad I found it. I really didn’t think skis would be this easy to make, and wouldn’t have given it much thought if I hadn’t found this place.

Here’s to NEVER having to buy skis or snowboards again.

Hafte
mattym
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:15 am
Location: Fernie BC, and Falls Creek Australia

Post by mattym »

So it's probably time for me too...

I finished school and went straight to university to study commerce, with a double major in accounting and marketing. After my first year in uni in Australia I decided to go do a season somewhere - I ended up in Vail/Beaver Creek. After that season I realised i needed to finish uni ASAP and get back to doing skiing - I also adjusted my major from corporate finance to marketing because I decided I wanted to do marketing for a ski company!! So i finished uni at the end of 2005 and went straight back to Vail/Beave. Once i finished that season I moved back home to work the season in Falls Creek, and once that was over I moved to where I am now for the season - Fernie, BC. I'll be back home in may for a june start at Falls again - I'm basically doing seasons and meeting people/reps and what not, hoping for a rep job and eventually a marketing job. Im much more in tune with ski design and what all the manufacturers are doing etc as opposed to the engineering side of it - working out epoxies, building stuff, working with tools etc!!

I have skiied since I was like 3 or something, pretty much going for a week a year kind of thing. After my first season I was sold on skiing year round, and so now thats what I do - and work in ski shops around the world to support my skiing habit ;) I'm also a full blown gear freak - especially from working in ski shops season to season. I'm definately a bit of a newschooler as opposed to old schooler - I love skiing park, pow, and love finding natural terrain to ride like a park (Fernie is amazing for this). It is the rockered ski revolution that has got me into the idea of ski building - after riding the pontoons for the first time I realised there was a whole new world of skiing that can be opened up with this kind of ski. So I'm hoping to get a pair made this season, but not in my own rig - with a guy from just outta town who is making skis. Then when I get back home I'm planning on setting up my own press etc when I have my own area and am in my own country haha. I'm going to start with a couple skateboards just to get some much needed practice working with resins and composites etc.

Big thanks to everyone contributing on this site, and the Kams for making it. I think everyone is on track to building their perfect custom ride!!

Matty
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