Winter sports

I am supposed to work on my slide deck for a presentation next week but I always procrastinate what I should do when I don't want to do them. sigh... anyway, so I have been learning a lot about gears for winter sports and it's pretty interesting. Why do I learn about it? Well, I want to play in more winter sports this year and want to make sure that I am prepared for the cold weather.

I took off work a little early yesterday and went to a sports store (Mountain Hardware in downtown) to ask a salesperson all about it. How should I dress for a winter activity? I should dress in layers for both upper and lower bodies. The first layer is the base layer. It should NEVER be cotton (I wore cotton last time I went snowboarding and I remember it being pretty a horrible experience). It should also be as close to your body as possible as it'll keep you warm. The next layer is the mid-layer. People usually have a fleece for this layer and the thickness depends on the activity you do. The last layer is the outer-layer or the shell. It's usually a waterproof (like Gore-tex) jacket/pants. Depending on what activity you do, you may need one that's durable (for example, if you are going on a backpacking trip).

I only have a fleece jacket so I need to get a few extra items. I started looking at these items at REI and, man, they are pretty expensive (as a side note, I rarely buy clothes and when I do buy, they are almost always on sale, so I really don't know what's normal pricing. How could I get it on sale all the time? Well, it's because of procrastination. I needed winter clothes but I was always too lazy to get it and then by the time I got myself to get it (usually a visit to the outlet with other people), it's already the end of the season and it's sales time. lol...). Anyway, I just got myself a set of base layer from REI ($50). I am now shopping for the jacket. There are WAY too many options. Why couldn't someone just tell me which one I should get.

By the way, I was just thinking about what store I buy non-grocery stuff from in the past eight months and it was pretty much only REI. Maybe I should replace my Amazon.com card with an REI card.

Time to get back to my slides. or maybe I'll sleep and get up early in the morning (it never works for me though...)