RideMeHigh

I did Elk on Sat and Blue on Sunday last year on MLK weekend. Saturday at Elk was great... no more crowded than any other weekend I've been there. Sunday at Blue was a shitshow.

If they can get BB open before Thanksgiving, I'll gladly wait 3 weeks for JF. Just sayin.

I'll also add this: I like to order from online retailers that ship from nearby. I live in Philly and I love to order from ParagonSports.com, which is actually a brick and mortar store in NYC. My main reason for using them is that the standard "free" ground shipping is overnight for me. If I order by 11am or noon, or whatever their cutoff is, it gets packed and shipped that day, and sent UPS ground - which is delivered to me in Philly the next day. I've got a short list of stores that are within a 1 day shipping radius of Philly... of course if you live outside of the city, it might take an extra day for UPS to sort and deliver to you, but it's still better than waiting 5 days for ground delivery from out west. ParagonSports.com - NYC SEIsports.com - CT Tightboards.com - NC

I have to disagree... I've gotten some great deals from the sites you mentioned. But you have to be diligent about watching them. I got a pair of Oakley pants last year that are the titties. I think they retail for $200+, and I'm sure I didn't drop more than $90 for 'em. I just bought a pair of Burton gloves from SierraSnowboard.com for around $30 that are badass too. They are/were having a big 70% of sale a few weeks ago... not sure how much is left, but it's worth checking out. http://www.sierrasnowboard.com/sales Of course there's always the SAC/WM company - Backcountry.com - which has an "Outlet" section on the website with moderate discounts. These are the items you'll see pop up on SAC and WM, just not quite as cheap. FWIW, they've got a great return policy... if it doesn't fit, or you don't like it, they'll take it right back. As for goggles - that's not something I'll buy online. I just sucked it up and bought a pair of Anon at EMS last year, and I couldn't be happier with them. I want to say they were around $90, and worth every penny.