Blog

It’s an exciting time in the Start Haus company history. As many of you know we made the decision to become a bike retailer and will transition to a full line Giant Bicycles dealer in the spring.  We are incredibly excited to be partnered with Giant; there’s no denying they make an exceptional product at some of the best prices in the industry.  We also feel they make a tremendous mountain bike for the Tahoe area.  If you haven’t already, take a look at the Reign and Trance models.

The Reign is an aggressive all-mountain machine with over six inches of travel that can take on the toughest Tahoe trails while still descending like a billy-goat thanks to the versatile Maestro suspension.

The Trance is an all-arounder that climbs like a beast and doesn’t give an inch on descents.  With 5.5 inches of travel the Trance is a great choice for all but the most aggressive of riders that will handle just about everything the Tahoe area can throw at it.

If you are looking

When snow is scarce, damage to your ski is inevitable.  When a gash in the base is deep enough to make its way through the base of the ski, we call it a core shot.  Some are big, some are small, but each repair gets the same skill and attention to detail.  PTEX is a repair some can do at home, but without the base grind, its impossible to get a ski back to looking and skiing like new.  Here is a step by step overview of what it takes to do a base repair.

Step 1:  Identify Necessary Repair

Step 2:  Prep Your Wound

Step 3:  PTEX

Step 4: Cleaning Up the Repair and Prepping for Base Grind.

A couple of skis we're excited about here at Start Haus.  Just a sneak peak!  More reviews in the pipes:

2016 Volkl RTM 84

2016 Nordica Enforcer

The heart of the boot story for the 2015 season has most certainly been advancements in ski boot liners.  Several manufacturers have spent significant research and development on creating liners that do three main things; ski well, fit comfortably out of the box, and resisting packing out (feeling too loose) too quickly.

The result of all the hard work is some interesting technology that is sure to trickle down through lines across the board and dictate design trajectories in the future.  First a short history lesson is in order; in the dark ages of boot design vague shell shapes and inferior liners were the obvious issues with performance and long term fit.  Foam injected liners became the primary solution; if you were a serious skier you had to have a serious liner, and spend some serious coin while you were at it.  Foam injected liners still exist and people still use them, however they are far less popular than in years past.

Stock liners have improved by leaps and bounds in

The Scarpa Freedom and the Dynafit Mercury are the two powerhouses when it comes to AT boots. Both make the elusive backcountry become an attainable haven for those desiring well-earned first tracks and big adventures.  However, there are a few key differences that create advantages and disadvantages depending on the users’ specific purposes.

1.  Profile- The first key difference lies in the sheer mass of the boots. Simply put, the Scarpa is bulkier. Don’t let this dissuade you though; the thicker materials create a superior descent giving a more classic Alpine boot feel and flex. On the other hand, the Dynafit is much slimmer, creating a boot that is going to tour and articulate in a superior manner.

2.  Shell Type- The Dynafit is a 3-piece shell and the Scarpa is a 2-piece shell. Relationally, the Dynafit attains 60 degrees of cuff articulation while the Scarpa attains 27 degrees. Again, depending on the desired use of the boot, one will be superior to the other. Are you going

If you've never skied the beautiful Diamond Peak with its stunning Lake Tahoe views, now's a great opportunity. Start Haus has coupons for adult lift tickets at $59 ($64 holiday) and $44 for Youth and Seniors ($54 holiday) available for a limited time - in store only. Swing by the shop and pick one up.

The Anon M2 goggles have been getting a lot of attention this year, thanks to their magnetic interchangeable lens design. They're touted as the easiest lens change on a ski goggle, and playing around with them in the shop, it's hard to argue.

But I decided to put them to the test over the weekend on the snow, skiing in bright and overcast conditions, mild temps and in a cold wind. My normal goggles are photochromatic - which change darkness in response to ambient light, so swapping lenses would be a change of pace.

First off, the fit. These large goggles have great coverage that also translated into a wide field of view. The face foam is comfortable and without any gaps to let in cold air, and no pressure points to make them uncomfortable. A person with a smaller face may find these pushed down too low by their helmet, but that's why you should try on goggles with a helmet when you can.

The optics are great. I'm not normally a fan of a gray base lens, but these are sharp and without distortion,

At the Start Haus we don't bring in new boots lightly, and when we bring in a new brand, we do it after serious testing and consideration.

This year we brought in Scarpa, specifically for their new Freedom SL. The Scarpa Freedom SL (also available in a women's boot), in our opinion, strikes a great balance between tourability and skiability, perhaps better than almost anything else on the market.

Their are backcountry boots that are stiffer for the downhill, there are boots that are lighter for the uphill - but if you want something that will perform in the skin track on the way up, then feel close to your alpine boot on the down, the Scarpa Freedom SL is worth serious consideration.

Start Haus is well known for our World Cup caliber downhill ski tuning and waxing, but what you may not know is we bring the same level of excellence to cross country skis. One could argue (maybe not with a World Cup ski racer) that a proper tune and wax is even more critical on xc skis than on alpine because you have to work for every inch of movement, rather than with the aid of gravity.

First thing on a cross country skiers list should always be the bases - are they flat? A concave base, sometimes caused by lack of waxing, makes the ski slower and harder to turn. A convex base, caused by normal usage and wear, is also slow and makes the ski unstable. A grind will flatten out the base, clean up any nicks or dings, and take away oxidized base material that can make it harder for fresh wax to stick.

The grind also sets the pattern of the base - critical to the glide of the ski in different snow conditions. Using our Wintersteiger grinder, we can set different patterns - two of which are

One of the questions we get a lot in the boot room is, “what is your most comfortable boot”, or “what is your best boot?” The answer to these questions is an infuriating, “that depends entirely on your foot.”  What’s good for the goose may not always in fact be good for the gander, if you have a wide foot a narrow boot is obviously not going to be comfortable and vice versa.

However, one boot we have extraordinary luck with for the intermediate or advanced woman skier is the Lange RX 90W. The Lange RX 90W is 100mm wide at the forefoot, and has a medium instep height. If you truly have an average foot shape the RX 90W is one of the most successful boots we have in the category.

The RX 90W has a superb liner which does a great job of combining comfort and performance, meaning the liner skis well and isn’t lumpy or obtrusive.  Usually when a manufacturer makes a comfortable liner it is too soft to ski well, and many a high end “good skiing” liner is uncomfortable for the advanced skier

Several years ago out in the Mount Rose backcountry I had my first day of real backcountry skiing in Tahoe.

At the time the Marker Duke was introducing a new generation of skier to the backcountry, and I was part of the new class.

For that first excursion I was using my regular Lange alpine boots clicked into the Duke, I was relatively comfortable in an incredibly heavy set up, and having the time of my life. My friend and partner that day had Dynafit bindings on backcountry skis and some super lightweight touring boots.

Watching him come down 30+ inches of fairly damp pineapple express snow, one thing was obvious, the boots weren’t a great fit.

Normally a very aggressive skier, he struggled to find the sweet spot in his boots to drive the ski through the snow. With downsized Lange boots custom fit for me, by me, I was not having the same problem.  However, going uphill was a different matter; with no releasable cuff I got fatigued much more quickly than I would when I got my first pair of touring boots.

I am pleased to say touring boots have improved about 100 percent since that day; companies like Scarpa and Dynafit are building backcountry ski boots with a much more precise fit than ever before, perhaps a trickle down from the major manufacturers getting in the touring game.

At Start Haus, we have some of the most passionate, knowledgeable and savvy customers around - but everybody makes mistakes. Over the years, patterns emerge, and our top ski testers, bootfitters, tuners and experts weigh in on the most common mistakes - and how you can avoid them.

Ski Tuning:
1: "People don't wax their skis often enough - most of the bases that come into Start Haus are dry. That makes them slow, the bases aren't as well protected, and if they get really dry, the bases can get warped. Some people wax every time they ski, but you should at least every 2 or 3 days on the snow." - Collin, ski tuner.
2: "Not drying skis off and leaving them on the roof rack or in the car all night is another big one - the edges will rust and ruin your tune. Wipe them down with a towel and keep them inside. It also helps to pull them apart instead of storing them base to base." - Collin, ski tuner.

Ski Buying:
3: "Skiers need to be honest with themselves and realistic about where and what