Mouse Turds, Misura?

Aaron contacted Hansi Johnson, one of MN's premier skiers and movie makers, to get his input on a ski set up for the trip. Hansi suggested a pair of Karhu XCD GT skis and a pair of Scarpa T3's for a light tele set up that would allow us to get our ski on if the wind died down. Only one problem, they don't make T3's anymore. Moorhead, MN doesn't have a lot of used tele gear, none actually. So I started looking on the web and there are still some new boots around, but not my size, go figure.

Then I was looking on E-bay and came across a nice lady in Louisiana who just happened to find a pair of boots in a storage unit. The box from Skinny Ski said T2 - Misura 11, but I was pretty sure I had just found a pair of elusive T3's that were in the wrong box. Some quick research with an English to Italian dictionary and I was able to figure out that Misura was Italian for Women's. Hopefully it was the pair of men's 10's I needed. I sent an e-mail and suggested she pull out the liner to help verify the size and she was able to find some additional info inside the boot - "10/11." Double Fist Pump right there. Men's 10's.

She also disclosed on the product description that a mouse had done some minor damage, but I figured that would only help keep the price down. After hanging out with Manger the last couple of years I am ready to bring back the FUNK and few mouse turds will only give the boots some character. I put in my bid on Tuesday night and I was sitting on top at $0.99. Now I just had to hang on until Sunday.

I fired up the computer about 45 minutes before the bidding closed on Sunday. After watching a couple of small bids I put out a confident bid to let them know I meant business and they weren't going to be able to run me up $1.50 at a time. I was back on top again, but grew worried as time ticked down that there might be a last minute bid that I wouldn't have a chance to counter so I grabbed a PBR, settled in and bumped my max bid with eight minutes to go. Just as I anticpated, some shady character snuck in a bid with just a few seconds left, but the bidding closed and I was still the top bidder. Who Hoo! One Guitar Kick and another PBR to celebrate my small victory! I am now the proud owner of a pair of size 10 Scarpa T3's, maybe.

Edit - It turns out they were T2's, they were size 11, and the lady underestimated the amount of damage done by the mouse. On the plus side I was able to trade them straght up for a pair of Asolo Extremes that fit with a guy from Winnipeg at the Ely Winter Camping Symposium. The quick exchange called for a couple of PBR's. I saw the guy a couple of hours later with the boots still on. He really liked them.

Matti