Monthly Archives: February 2013

Best Ski boots in the World

From day 1, the Non Stop instructor course added value to my skiing experience!!  After the technical session with Jens Mende, I realized that my ski boots were not ideal, and it was causing unnecessary knee pain.  Topshelf was recommended to help me out, and boy did they just do that!  These guys specialize in building custom ski boots called the TS1.

Donny and Ryland evaluated my 8 year old ski boots, my feet and lower legs;  I could tell from the look on their faces that my feet and leg dimensions did not match up with my current ski boots at all.  Luckily I didn’t buy boots of the shelf on our arrival in Fernie, so the option of getting customized ski boots was open.  I grabbed it with both hands!!  After a short negotiation in our native language, and Justinus getting new powder ski’s out of the deal, we agreed for the process to begin.

They have all kinds of machines and tools to custom fit a boot, and lots of experience in the field.  Pointing out that I have a bunion on my right foot, they just smiled and said “no problem, we have a tool for that!”.  I thought they were joking….they do not joke about feet problems, they only have solutions!  If they have all the ingredients available, it will be about a day or two to get your boots out the door for testing, but you don’t want to rush it anyway.

Raptor 115 RS Race Ski Boots - The Shell of my new boots!

Raptor 115 RS Race Ski Boots – The Shell of my new boots!

The first step was getting the right shell for my feet.  They had a look, consulted and decided on Head Raptor 115 RS Race Ski Boots.  Here the client doesn’t have a lot of choice, but to trust the experts.  The next step was customized foot beds.  The foam injection was the last step before testing and tweaking, here I had a say on the colour of the socks that I prefer.  I appreciated the fact that Ryland prepared me for the process, as it was a bit uncomfortable to stand in the boots while the foam was compacting my feet within.  Throughout the process, Ryland’s experience and expertise on boots and skiing was making me more and more comfortable with the process and I knew I was in good hands.  The glass of smooth French red wine welcoming me to the TS1 gang was the cherry on top!

Having a nice Red wine while fitting the best ski boots in the world!

Having a nice Red wine while fitting the best ski boots in the world!

In the days to follow the main focus points would be comfort and alignment.  I needed to work out the air in the foam and my alignment would be tested continually.  The alignment is tweaked by sticking strips of wedges with duct tape. Ryland said that I should keep on coming back, until I am of opinion that it is the best ski boots that I’ve ever worn.

The next week, Ryland worked somewhere else and Donny continued the process.  Monday afternoon Donny tested the alignment intensely and the results started to become consistent, by the next day we had the best stance!  The duct tape were taken of the final result was made permanent.

I walked out with the best ski boots in the world!

If you ever need custom fit ski boots, look them up in Fernie!

5369 Fernie Ski Hill Rd  Fernie, BC V0B 1M4, Canada

http://www.top-shelf.ca

 

 

Curling Rink – Ice, Rocks and Brooms

While watching the last few winter Olympic Games, I was fascinated by Curling.  This week Ankie and I had the opportunity to experience Curling first hand.  There is a Curling rink in Fernie, with a club running drop in evenings every week.  At first glance the game definitely seemed to be related to bowls, which we are more familiar within South Africa.  I must say we had great fun playing about 4 ends. I guess, like many other sports, it was a little trickier than it looked.

Curling in Fernie - Ankie is clearly better with a broom!

Curling in Fernie – Ankie is clearly better with a broom!

As usually Ankie and I were a little early, so we started chatting to some of the club members hosting us at the Curling rink.  They were very friendly and helpful.  The Fernie Curling Club has about 8 teams that play regularly.  The city of Fernie also supports the club to keep this popular sport in Canada in Fernie.

As we chatted we quickly did some research on the game of Curling. It originated in Scotland more than 500 years ago!  In the last Olympic Games in Vancouver the Canadian teams won the Gold in the men’s and silver in the women’s competition. There were only 10 countries competing.  What was very interesting to me is that the team that represent their country at the Olympics is not the combination of the best individual players but rather the team who won the national championship. For example: 4 club players from Edmonton won the gold medal in 2010.

Another of the club members gave Ankie a little help learning the game before the other NonStoppers arrived.  The sliding to release the Rock was a lot trickier than I expected.  We had to put on a special plastic slider underneath one foot to help with the sliding.  The power control was not easy as I tended to slide the rock to fast, which would make it go over the target.  Sweeping the ice to help the rock go further did not come as naturally to me as to Ankie.

If we ever find ourselves in a country where they play curling, I might well take the time to learn to play it properly.  With only ten countries competing in the Olympics the odds are better than most other sports once you get in. Have you ever gone Curling? Tell us below:

Getting Real – Review

Getting Real is a Great Read!

After reading Rework from the 37signals.com, I could not wait to also read Getting Real.  I was not disappointed, it is another practical and inspiring read.  This book was actually published before Rework, so some of the ideas were a repeat of things also mentioned in Rework.

True to there own philosophies of leaving out everything possible, the book is relatively short and broken up into short chapters with mini chapters sometimes added.  Throughout Getting Real the authors supplement the book with inserts from other people reinforcing the point they are trying to make.  It was great reading somebody else articulating the idea a little differently.

==> Click here to buy: Getting Real <==

Getting Real is all about taking action rather than talking about taking action. It is about not writing documents about what you are going to do and just doing it and learning as you go.  One of the fundamental ideas behind this philosophy is that many of the problems you anticipate will happen never will. So stop worrying about them and get going.  Then solve the problems that do occur in a JIT (just in time) manner.

The book applies the Getting Real way of thinking (or doing) to almost all aspects of getting a web application going.  This includes interface design, feature selection, coding and promotions among many others.

It ties in very nicely with the Lean Startup methodology.  I suspect some of the ideas in the book will help when I get to start my next business.  Most of the idea would have already come in handy if I had read the book a few years ago. I think I would have approached many conversations and discussion we had at Private Property in a different way if I had read it back then.

==> Click here to buy: Getting Real <==

If you find yourself in software, internet or mobile startup, you would be well advised to read Getting Real. If you have read Getting Real, tell me your thoughts below: