Omatic Sweet 160 09'

Be wary of how busy and backed up online shops still are, especially the smaller core shops. I placed an order on the night of Monday, November 30th and it has yet to ship. A small place with limited resources and hands can only do so much, but they were honest and up front about, so no biggie.

And since I am waiting on some stuff, I’ll post when I get it. Actually my boyfriend just got his Omatic Sweet (pic above) snowboard yesterday, and it is pretty sweet. Even better, since he was torn about whether to get the Omatic Sweet or the Omatic Awesome, he got stickers that say “Awesome.” I know it is a great board and I did a lot of research, but I really think his final decision was because the boards were called “Awesome” and “Sweet.”

I looked over the board a bit. Nice flex – not too soft and not too stiff. It will be a perfect board for just about anything. We spent some time looking at widths, but ended up not going with the Omatic Awesome wide. The waist is only 25.6cm wide, but with new bindings and boots he has, we hope this board will eliminate most toe drag he had. He loves the risers on his skis and was considering them for snowboarding too.

As Hampus Mosesson’s pro model and meant for big mountain freestyle riding it’s a twin directional. Definitely going to suit his all around riding style. The sidewall angle kind of falls in the middle so it will allow for some margin of error, also good for a skier.

As promised above, here are some of the good left over deals available around the interweb:
Holiday Sale Coupon – 20% off. Coupon Code: HOHOHO

Find Atomic, Arbor, Burton, GNU, RIDE and more of your favorites at Berg’s Ski and Snowboard Shop! FREE Domestic Ground Shipping on orders over $39!

Buy a Burton Snowboard and get a Lift Ticket Free

Free Shipping on everything – limited time only

Evogear.com is holding DailyDeal sales. Today’s deal got you 25% off ALL Outlet Jackets so I suggest checking those out or bookmark the Gear Deals page to get updates quick. That’s all for now, but I will update on the new stuff when it comes in. There is a mash of stuff from park setups to snow pants!

Today I found another evogear.com email advertising a 20% Coupon for any gear in their Outlet section. I’m currently the personal shopper for a few people for snowboards and clothing, so this helps. Even ski stuff, but I mostly find good deals and they decide if the gear is good or not.

evogear.com Snovember Sale

Enjoy it while it lasts, but hurry. Evo has not said when it will end, just that it ends soon. Hopefully for a few days so I can spend time shopping!

Evogear.com

YARD

26% Off at the Evogear.com YARD SALE

I am looking to upgrade the bindings on my old Rome Blue because I’m just not fond of the Salomon ones I have. I was looking for something softer, more freestyle oriented, on that one since I use it for park and teaching. On my new 09′ Blue though, I’m looking for something stiffer, with more high back support for leaning into a heel side carve.

Evogear.com has a pair of Men’s Union Cadet’s for cheap I was thinking of putting on my old board, but they are a L/XL size. A tad bit too big for me. There is a large selection of Ride bindings, but I kind of avoid them since I hated my last pair. And they have no Rome for me either

I’m keeping up my search, but definitely hope to pick up both pairs by October/November and I’m leaning toward Union and Rome bindings. I’m also having a yard sale of my own, via eBay, because I have an old R.E.D. helmet that I wore a handful of times and basically let roll around in my trunk for a year. I’m also getting rid of a pair of old Burton Moto’s that I wore for a season and have let sit in my closet for at least 3 year and 2 other pair of boots. I’m getting rid of the helmet and boots super cheap, the bindings too, I’m just looking for a tiny bit of cash, but mostly more closet space. That is precious in condo living.

Bottom line: Evogear Rocks!

Those already out west have prime location, though there are some companies based on the east coast or locations over here.

Another valuable resource, as you know are job boards and websites for your specific industry. I used and still use Dice.com. It is geared for people in the tech industry but also has web design and development listings. To get even more specific, check out a site called Malakye.com. It’s like Dice, Monster or CB, but for the action sports industry.

Sign up as a job seeker and you get to post your resume, create job searches, use the forums and have access to their insider knowledge. Sign up for their newsletter and you get a weekly update on jobs available, who got hired, a special section just for salespeople and industry profiles on people and companies who are doing it right. The news section is always filled with interesting things as well. View the latest Malakye Weekly here and subscribe to get insider info.

What I really would like to know is how some other companies are faring. I’m a big supporter of Rome Snowboards, 686 Outerwear and Salomon Snowboards. I know Salomon is a huge company with many divisions, but I fear for the smaller companies. The start ups, the grassroots companies who are doing great things, but not at the pace Burton is. I would hate to see them go under.

So I called up Bonfire Headquarters, which is also Salomon in case you didn’t know, and told the nice guy who answered my cry for help. He clarified to make sure it was just a zipper pull I needed promptly took my address. He said he was sending out a few zipper pulls for me, and if I didn’t see them in the mail within 2 weeks, gave me his name and said call back, but that they should leave there in a day or two. Super nice, understanding and efficient. Those guys are awesome and so are their clothes.

Want to see for yourself? Bonfire just launched the 2008-2009 website and it’s sick. I went looking into the Women’s Jacket section since I’m in the market this year again. When you get there the whole collection loads up and shows you color options and a ‘Buy’ button. There was no immediately obvious back button, but you can use the menu at the top. I learned this after hitting my browser back button and leaving the Bonfire site multiple times. What’s cool, is that when you get back to the jacket collection page, or any other, the jackets appear in different colors, so each time you go, it’s a surprise.

But, back to my Rome catalog. I was in the market for a new board about two (2) years ago and had heard some great reviews on a little company called Rome. Now I never got to demo a board of theirs, but I loved the graphics, but mostly I loved what they stood for. And that’s what got me hooked. Yea, I know Burton is a great company and have the same ideals, but I wasn’t too fond of the boards I demoed. They were supposed to be all mountain freeride, but it just didn’t feel right under my feet. So after tons of research, online and in-person, I decided on a Rome Blue 155. Now, the hard part: saving the money, finding the board. The saving the money part took all summer and by October I had enough for a new board and bindings. I found a shop called Catskill Forest Sports in Glenford, NY. They had my board, but it was a second (meaning Rome thought it was not up to standards, though me and the shop guy couldn’t figure out why). So instead of $430 retail, I paid $330! I was stoked. What made me more happy was the fact that I was over and hour away and wouldn’t get there till after close, and they happily stayed open, helped me with other stuff and basically made my day and my season. Props to Catskill Forest Sports!

So now that I’m way off point, let me say that Rome is still sick. I love the board and have lots of time left with it. I’ll probably end up buying another Rome when the time comes. If you didn’t get the catalog, head to Rome’s website and Sign Up for a Catalog! ASAP. Getting mail has never been so much fun.

P.S. Rome’s 08′/09′ Collection is sick!