Andrew Commander

The mountains have always been a part of my life living just outside of Boulder, Colorado. My parents got me involved in hiking, sledding, skiing, and biking at a young age. We would always take trips to the mountains to see the scenery and play.

At the age of 3, I was on the slopes at Eldora carving it up. On my alpine ski’s at the time, I was always thinking either “pizza” or “french fries” to turn or go straight.

I was able to get down the difficult slopes before I switched over to snowboarding at age 8. Most of my friends were snowboarders and I wanted to be one of the gang. I picked up snowboarding quickly and fell in love with the powder on the steeps. Nothing can beat cruising down a tight chute surronded by two feet of fresh.

Last year I had gotten to the point in my snowboarding where I could either start attempting tricks in the terrain park or I could switch sports.

Telemark turn in powder

My Dad and his two brothers all Telemark ski and love it. I decided to try telemarking last year and started picking it up fast. The transition from snowboarding to free-heel skiing is big, but ski’s were not foreign to me. This made the switch easier having alpine skied at a young age.

I used my uncles old equipment for about 8 days last season, enough time for me to try and experiment with the sport. The rest of the days I snowboarded in the powder. I made the desicion to switch mainly to Telemark this year. Shopping online can pay off sometimes when looking for good skiing equipment. My searching for a ski, led to the G3 Rapid Transits. I can’t wait to hit the powder this season on my new stuff.

Yesterday I went to Arapahoe Basin and skied the two open runs on my old ski’s. Still a great way to spend a Sunday!

With our first snow of the season here in Colorado, the mountains are looking perfect! The snow capped Rockies are the mountains I have been dreaming about all summer.

Recently I got new telemark ski’s. I shopped around online for what type of ski I wanted. I also needed a good price, and found a local Boulder company called “The Gear Movement” I followed them on Facebook and Twitter after dealing with friendly customer service and a great deal.

The money that I saved was incredible, I spent $300 on some brand new 2008 G3 Rapid transit powder boards(128, 91, 116). The same ski had a suggested retail of $650, and was “on sale” at Boulder Ski Deals for $450. However, the people at Boulder Ski Deals were helpful when heat-fitting my boots and mounting my bindings.

The main feature that I like on this ski is the asymmetrical cut. This means that the inside ski turns slightly quicker than the outside, allowing for sharper more controlled turns. I got ski’s slightly bigger than I need so I can grow into them and use them for years to come. I can’t wait until some serious snow starts falling in the mountains.
Here are pictures of my boots and binding as well.