Blog

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I had a crazy spring/early summer.  Following a full World Cup Dh and Super race season in Europe,  I made a stop at US Nationals in Colorado, and then headed home to Tahoe for a week before heading off to Alaska to go film with Warren Miller Entertainment! It was an awesome trip up to Points North Heli in Cordova and it was super fun working with Tom Day, Danny Day (who I grew up with in Tahoe), and Court Leve.

After Alaska I joined my girlfriend Marie Michele Gagnon, and her teammates Marie-Pier Prefontaine and Eve Routier, as well as Federica Brignone and her boyfriend in Mexico for a few days of surfing and summer in Sayulita! Then I came back to Tahoe for a few days, drove up to my home for the summer, Canmore, Alberta, and then flew to Mammoth for our annual spring ski camp with the US Team.  Then I finally flew back to Canmore after that month and a half of craziness and I am settling into the summer training routine here! It has taken me a month to recover from all that travel,

August 31-Sept 3, 2012
Hours: 9:00-6:00

 How it works....

For the buyers:

Start Haus staff will be on hand to help you with purchases, we are here to serve you.  We will assist you with sizing and making sure the equipment is appropriate for your needs. If we don’t think it is the right item for you, we will let you know.

For the sellers:  

We will begin taking in your equipment on August 1st. Start Haus staff will help advise you on pricing for the gear you wish to sell.  We recommend that you price your equipment aggressively so it sells, of course you will have the final say on what price the ski equipment will sold for.  At the time of listing the items, you have the choice of either 100% store credit -or- 70% back to you in the form of a check.

Items accepted:

Skis:

Race, Powder, All-mountain & Kids

(skis sell better tuned and with bindings)

 Outerwear:

Jackets, Shells, Speedsuits, Armor

(Clothing MUST be cleaned and in sellable condition)

 Items not accepted for resale:

Spring is the time of the season that we begin testing skis and boots for the following season. Here are some key reasons why we stress testing now opposed to the summer time:

Snow: When testing products you should test it on a condition that is most similar to what you will be racing on during the season.  This all revolves around the feel of the ski or boot.  Depending on the condition you will find that there can be differences that will/can eventually add up to a time difference in the course and that can be the separation between you winning or losing.

Tune:  Having the ability to test multiple different brands of products with the exact same Start Haus tune.  This will result in you being eliminate the tune as being a variable in the test and making it easier for you to feel exactly how the ski feels.

Product:  Ultimately you are testing skis or boots to see if you are faster than other brands.  When you have the ability to test multiple different skis or boots in one

2 Years on the Rossignol S7:

As some folks may recall, I was on board with the Rossi S7 pretty early. I got a sample pair in the spring before the ski was in general release and then kept it in my quiver for the next two seasons. Initially, I was stunned by the quickness and maneuverability and I found it to be stupid easy to ski in trees and tight spots. Eventually, I skied it a bit more in wider, more open areas and in heavier snow and started to discover a few limitations. The S7 tends to get knocked around a bit in rough conditions and the narrow tail can tend to “wheelie” out from under the skier in a sharp downhill to flat transition. At first, I attributed those issues to the soft tip and tail and the rather abrupt rocker profile. The S7 also skis very short and I suspected that I was slightly undergunned on the 188. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that the tapered tip and tail profile also played a part. For all that, the S7 was and is a remarkable tool in untracked snow and

For Tahoe spring races, there are some consistent tricks for speed.  Our Spring snow changes from 1st run to second run; and there is dirt, oil, tree sap as well as pollen mixed into the snow.  We are also dealing with some dusting's of new snow.  You will need to use some form of antistat to keep the dirt, oil and tree sap from adhering to your wax mix. Graphite plays a key role in the performance of your antistat thus why we also carry high fluoro graphite to use as an additive to any base wax.  The best is Start Haus Warm Antistat by Dominator or Dominator FG88 or SRB32.  These should be rubbed on the dry base before you iron your wax in.  It is also effective to mix these antistats with your overlay to help repel dirt.

Base:

• Dominator - Race Zoom Old Snow/SRB32 or HF Pink/SRB32 50/50 Mix
• Holmenkol - Hybrid Red/SRB32 50/50 Mix
• Swix - LF8/SRB32 50/50 Mix
• Toko - LF Red/SRB32 50/50 Mix
• Note: Dominator SRB32= Start Haus Warm Old Snow

Overlay:

• Holmenkol - Wet Speed Block
• Swix

The Rahlves Banzai Tour kicked off this past weekend at Kirkwood Mountain Resort. There is no doubt
that this is the most exciting race series in the US today. The course was set by Daron Rahlves and it
showed; technical, fast and above all fun. This particular course ran from above tree line and then dove
off the Pop Chips air into the Snake Gully. The lack of snow only added to entertainment of the course,
with more features such as jumps and the necessity of technical skiing. This Banzai stop will certainly go
down as one of the more exciting stops of the series.

Day one at Kirkwood was all about qualifying to determine who the best skiers were. The course was
running fast to say the least and having the right tune was key. There were skiers from all different
disciplines of skiers within this competition be it big mountain, freestyle or race all of which proved to
have certain advantages. Topping the Men’s qualifying was Toby Lamar with a time of 1:27.55 followed
by Greg Lindsey at

(Photo Credit: Marcus Caston)

By Lesley LeMasurier

Former World Cup Skier, National Champion, and Rahlves' Banzai Stop Winner.

Only two athletes hold these multi-titles, one male and one female.  Funny thing is, the latter looked up to the former when she was a kid.

Montana Girl

For Keely Kelleher, skier Daron Rahlves is the man.  “I loved going off jumps pretending to be him when I was a kid,” she reflects.  “I tell all the kids I coach now, Just Daron It!"

Just Daron It! is something Kelleher has been doing her entire career.  As a young ski racer, Kelleher was on the smaller side of the field.  “All my coaches called me birdlegs.  I could create these outrageous angles, but I was not fast. I developed so much later than most the girls I was racing against,” Kelleher reflects.

Her first year of FIS racing, Kelleher was a mere 95 lbs and pushing her birdlegs to compete against fully developed phenoms, like fellow 1984’s Julia Mancuso and Lindsey Vonn. Kelleher’s road to

This article has been sitting in my queue for quite sometime however after receiving the sad news of Sarah Burke's passing I felt this to be a wake up call for all of us spending time on the mountain.

Just as your old skis have lost their energy and edge, your ski helmet may have loosened up and have become unsafe.  It doesn’t take much for a helmet to lose its fit or protective qualities and depending on how old your helmet is, it may not have some of the important safety features we see today.

Within the recreational ski world we have seen huge improvements when it comes to helmet safety and technology.  Safety is ultimately the number one goal of wearing a helmet; I know it’s a big surprise that it’s not about making a fashion statement. For a helmet to be accepted into the US market the helmet must meet a certain level of criteria to be called a helmet. Some key factors are impact absorption, penetration resistance and rear head protection, all of which are imperative for you to

Nothing is better than waking up and seeing 2 feet of fresh at lake level or the valley floor; especially this season! We’re all pretty comfortable with the light and fluffy stuff but sometimes when the "Pineapple Express" hits, the fresh snow can be dense and heavy. How do you approach these types of conditions? Here are three tips to help make your day more enjoyable if its not as light as you hoped:

1. Allow your skis to plane out of the snow, you may need to aim straight down the hill or at a diagonal to get some speed built up. It will help keep your skis on the surface.

2. Steer your feet and legs progressively, spend just a little more time in the fall line than what your instinct directs you to do. Big, aggressive twisting moves will bog you down and throw you off balance.

3. Shrink your turns to go slower and stretch out your turns to go faster, read the terrain and scope out your line, so you know where you will need to make adjustments to maintain fluidity and control.

And don't

The MX 88 is the ski that single handedly built the formidable reputation of the Kastle brand. Some brands may have a ski model that become a hot seller for one year, but almost invariably, they feel the need to tinker with it and change success. Fortunately for all concerned,  Kastle does not work that way. The Kastle MX 88 has been the flagship of the collection since its inception, has not really changed at all and yet it still sells out early every year. There are some very good reasons for this with the primary one being the construction and feel that sets Kastle apart from other brands.

Most ski companies tout their technology and construction and of course they should. A lot of times the new “whiz bang” tech that is “going to change everything” is just smoke and mirrors. With Kastle it is a different program. Kastle utilizes design and construction techniques that give their skis a unique and highly desirable feel, they tune the build and flex for the target customer, put on a

Dynastar has been a major player in the race world with many Olympic and World Championship medals as well as World Cup titles in their long history. This racing pedigree really shows in the Dynastar Speed Course TI. The Course TI wears race graphics, carries a racing binding plate, and shares the wood/metal construction characteristics of the World Cup skis. Despite this, it is in fact a pretty different animal than a pure race ski.  A wider waist width and rounded tail are the first visual clues that this is not just another race ski. The Course TI has a tight 15m turn radius in the 171 size and it is available in sizes as short as a 159 and as long as 183. This is a very good dual event race ski for non-FIS level competitors and also makes a great “cheater” GS ski for Masters racers. The Speed Course TI is even more than this though. This is a very good ski for someone that doesn’t race at all and is looking for a hard snow biased ski for everyday use.

The first runs I took on the