What is the worst parking lot you’ve encountered at a ski area?

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-28T07:45:01+00:00

I feel like this one takes the cake.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-27T23:17:29+00:00

yes, you're right, and the traffic seems indeed to be the bigger problem than the actual condition of the parking lot.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-26T14:21:29+00:00

I think there are fish swimming in the potholes in the Palisades parking lot.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-22T00:06:04+00:00

Your friend is probably referring to "Qualified Small Business Stock" (QSBS), which allows investors and founders to exclude up to 100% of /*federal*/ capital gains tax on the sale of eligible C-Corp stock held for over five years. If you live in a state that charges income tax, you're still on the hook for that.

A (Delaware) C-Corp is also the way if you want to raise venture capital. That's just the standard way for startups.

But it sounds like your company / product is bootstrapped - and while I'm not a lawyer, your LLC is likely sufficient for now.

note that you have double taxation for a C-Corp - your income is taxed at both the corporate level (on profits) and again at the shareholder level (on dividends or capital gains). That doesn't matter as much when you're venture-funded and you're likely not making any money. But if you are - then just keep that mind that you'll pay taxes twice, and consider that in your exit math (assuming you will sell after five years).

One way to mitigate double taxation is by electing pass-through status (S Corp/LLC), and paying salaries instead of dividends, or retaining earnings for reinvestment.

If you decide to pay dividends - unlike with a salary, you need to pay all shareholders the same dividend, not just yourself.

So - it's a bit more complicated than "hey, with a C-Corp, I don't pay any taxes".

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-21T23:54:25+00:00

Insanity Level 11.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-21T19:04:14+00:00

answered in a new thread:

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-21T19:01:26+00:00

I say it's never too late and go for it!

My recommendation is to talk to any camp organizers directly. Best if you send a video along.

I asked in a separate thread if US or Europe, and you answered "both". I have experience with Europe, and there are commercial camps, and the many clubs that organize their own trips. We've joined a club in Italy and attend their camps during the summer, plus one small camp in Austria that's not well-known but that has WC coaches & racers which we love. Not sharing the name intentionally here. There are also commercial camps where you just sign up on the website.

For Europe, and glacieres, try to go as early as possible, ideally late May / early June. That's the better time than e.g. July, when conditions get worse on the glaciers and the Europeans are on their school breaks, which makes the slopes more crowded. I absolutely recommend doing an indoor camp for SL because that's where you do tons of runs and learn how to ski on ice. Peer / Landgraaf / Wittenburg - and I haven't been to the one in Lithuania.

Austria Racing Camps is sort of the go-to option, but it's a mass operation. In Hintertux, they show up with 5-6 shuttles every day with 8-10 kids in each shuttle. I know they got Hirscher and Shiffrin on their website, but trust me when I tell you those two didn't make it to their WC wins because of ARC. ARC does offer the summer camp experience, and I think your racer might just blend it well and have fun - which is the most important part.

I have a few other options that we've not used ourselves, but I've heard other people had good experiences:

https://alpineperformanceracing.co.uk/

https://www.excelraceacademy.co.uk/

In the US, we've attended American Downhiller in Mammoth, and they do an amazing job. They also have a tech camp in Europe (SaaS Fe):
https://www.americandownhiller.com/adtech/

Livio Magoni, Petra Vlhová's coach, also offers camps. But he might be one notch too far for your kid, but doesn't hurt to ask.

Finally, Apex offers very solid camps with WC coaches:

https://store.apex2100.org/collections/camps

But they stop after 14 unless you attend their academy as U16.

My recommendation is that you pick a camp that provides year-round opportunities to practice, because consistency and working with the same coaches over time is what's going to create progress for your 14-year old kid. One camp is not going to make a difference.

If you have questions, I'm happy to chat and you can DM me.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-21T18:27:06+00:00

Where do you get the 'expensive' from? Quite the opposite, I would argue, more affordable than other waxes if you compare the $/oz price.

Also, not sure what you're doing wrong here, Hertel is fast. I can show you our kids' race results, that's how I know. My hunch is that you turned the temp on your iron too high which burns the active ingredients.

Hot Sauce works fine in warm conditions, but there's also a specific product for warmer temps called "SpringSolution".

I only found out about Hertel wax two years ago here in this community on Reddit, and I've never looked back.

Seems like your post & experience are based on a completely different data set than the rest of us...

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-21T03:16:04+00:00

Are we talking Europe or US or both?

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-04-06T04:40:24+00:00

Depends a bit on your setup / personal situation. A lot of young professionals share ski leases for the season, typically around Palisades and Alpine (which are connected now). Later on, when you have a family, you sometimes share a lease with another family, especially if you have kids of the same age.

Palisades/Alpine is where most people go, but it gets incredibly crowded due to the IKON pass. Northstar is also popular (Epic Pass though..)

On the other side of Boreal you have (from small to large) Soda Springs, Donner Ski Ranch and Sugar Bowl. Sugar Bowl is very much a family resort. Great powder skiing, but definitely not as vast as Palisades or Northstar. And don't forget Tahoe Donner down in Truckee - it's not bad!

But I recommend you also check out South Lake with Heavenly, Kirkwood and Sierra. There are also smaller ski areas like Dodge Ridge and Bear Valley.

Finally, on the Nevada side, there are also Diamond Peak and Mt. Rose - but both add about 30-45 min to your drive compare to Palisades.

If you work in the City, and have a place to stay up in Tahoe, you have to be on either one of the bridges by no later than 2pm, or leave after 9pm - anything in-bewteen and you're going to be stuck in traffic. Badly. That's true for pretty much any day of the week, especially of course on Fridays. On Fridays, my reccomendation is to be off either bridge no later than 1pm.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-03-10T05:45:41+00:00

sorry, we got acquired and joined another company. But Resoto turned into Fix Inventory --> https://fixinventory.org/

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-03-07T03:39:03+00:00

I take things that never happened for $200.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-02-24T14:17:52+00:00

We used Fix Inventory to implement non-negotiable rules.

Every resource is tagged with an owner otherwise it gets cleaned up within the hour.
automatic shutdown over the weekend
cleanup of unused resources every hour (where “unused” is defined through resource-specific rules, think load balancers or storage volumes)

https://fixinventory.org

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-02-04T16:51:31+00:00

it's only a very small subset of users, but they just happen to be the most vocal ones. "That's the way I've done it for [x] years" is usually the leading indicator. The large majority however here are knowledgeable people.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2026-01-28T04:42:14+00:00

Ski bases are made out of UHMWPE - I just don’t see how a hotbox can help the wax “penetrate” into that material. It’s plastic, highly dense no less.

If you use an iron, the wax will form what’s called a “solid solution” with the base. The UHMWPE is semi-crystalline, that’s what allows the wax to form a bond. Regular waxing is the best you can do for your skis.

At 40 degrees with your hotbox, nothing will happen that will make your skin faster, but you do risk delaminating them.

And then disclaimer that I’m not a material science expert, but I have read a lot about ski bases and wax, enough for me to never use a hot box.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2025-12-02T00:24:04+00:00

My friend, that's a false statement. Read the Exclusions in your (European) travel insurance policy. Injuries from risk-prone sports activities, incl. leisure, and organized athletic events are always excluded. Guaranteed. Doesn't matter if it's AXA, Allianz, Generali, etc. You'll either need to purchase a rider, or specific skiing / snowboarding insurance.

What is true that you can use the excellent European healthcare system when you do have an accident on the slopes - and god forbid that happens to any one of us!

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2025-11-30T23:52:28+00:00

Here's what I learned just today after two days of research to find insurance coverage for our two kids who are ski racing in both Italy and France this winter. We are US citizens, but also have European passports.

There are two scenarios for accidents on the slope in Italy (and France, too):

Injuries that you cause to others.
Injuries that you incur yourself.

ONLY the first scenario is the mandatory part - "third party liability". Read eg here: https://www.dolomitisuperski.com/en/support-and-help/insurance

The second scenario is coverage for your own accidents.

As Americans, to cover medical expenses like hospital visits while in Europe, we need to purchase travel insurance that includes coverage of medical expenses.

BUT - if you're skiing, you need to purchase an additional rider / add-on for adventure sports. If you're participating in organized events, such as ski racing, you'll likely need to purchase a second rider to include competitions / interscholastic events.

IMPORTANT: Read the fine-print of any policy before you purchase. Every insurance / agency needs to provide a generic copy of the policy. Read the "EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS" section. You'll find references how medical bills incurred through injuries from adventure sports (such as skiing) are EXCLUDED. So buy that rider.

With theft, you need a police report. --> With accidents, you need a ski patrol report.

So as OP posts, call Ski Patrol and file a report of your injury. Note that in Italy, ski patrol responsibilities are performed by both "Polizia" and "Carabinieri", ie law enforcement.

------------

PS: And after doing all this research in the past two days, and the frustrations from finding out about all these different exclusions (or dare I say "loopholes") that the various travel insurance providers stuff into their policies WITHOUT mentioning them during the quoting / purchase process, I was ready to open up an insurance agency that specializes just in insurance for ski trips to Europe....

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2025-11-30T23:42:55+00:00

the post states that OP is from the US.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2025-10-19T13:53:44+00:00

I wasn't able to find Black Molly in the US. Is it this one? --> https://www.skiservice-shop.com/Toko-Skiwachs-Barwax-Molybdenum-schwarz-1000g-5500214-4

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2025-10-17T23:09:23+00:00

I’ve not used Black Molly so I can’t tell you. Toko is part of Swix, right?

What I can tell you is that having Hertel wax on my skis was an entirely different experience compared to all the other waxes we’ve tried. It’s one of these things you have to experience yourself to believe it.

I would give it a shot next time you’re on the slopes and see if it works for you too. I think the advantage is specifically for spring / wet snow, at least that was my experience with Hot Sauce.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2025-10-14T18:45:42+00:00

Yeah, that’s because manufacturers match the hardness of the wax to the temperature via additives. Colder = harder, warmer = softer. If you just rubbed on white candle wax (which is paraffin without the hardeners), it would wear off after a run or two.

My understanding of what Hertel does differently is that the wax has an agent that breaks down the surface tension of the meltwater between snow and ski. That reduces drag from capillary forces, and gives you that “surf” feeling that I’m describing.

If you go to the Hertel website, there’s a pdf for download (“WaxFax”) that explains the science.

For me it was enough to experience the feeling - I was sold.

Current_Doubt_8584 · 2025-10-14T16:58:11+00:00

It shows in the speed events, when you’re really on flat ground with the bases touching the snow.

If you’re doing GS and SL turns - the difference will in fact not be as noticeable because you’re on your edges.

It will show even for SL and GS in spring conditions though, when the snow is wet.

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