"Say Cheese"

Hey dudes,
We eyeballed you guys a couple of seasons ago outside the Goatstall in Hinterglemm and I’ve just clocked your site, COOL man. Bytheway tell Briantheboarder DON’T do it man!!!!
Saw your shots and was wondering what camera you used?
Groove on.
Tuboards.
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Hi Tuboards, how long have you got!
I have been hitting the slopes since 1977 "and" trying to take action photo’s that do justice to winter sports in whatever flavour they come, but I have to admit I’ve only had limited success, same old story one good one then 30 in the recycle bin.
To answer your question, in the 35mm days I used Olympus & Nikon low end, point and shoot cameras with some degree of success, but since the digital era things have got worse and I have had little success. The problem with a digital camera is shutter lag, by the time the shutter goes off, the subject (usually Gail) is by then a further 50m down the piste, or the photo is out of focus because of the speed she is going.
I’ve tried compact cameras by Fuji, Olympus & Canon, but I feel compact cameras are just not up to action shots.
I’ve also tried bridge cameras (the ones between compact and DSLR) by Sony and Canon. I feel that the Sony Cyber Shot with X15 optical zoom faired better than the Cannon SX1 Is which had X20 optical zoom and it was lighter to lug around which is an important factor when skiing, but they still did not capture what I’m looking for!
So where am I heading photo wise this year? Well it’s a no boner (DSLR.)
I know they are bigger and heavier than compact/bridge cameras but I’m sure they are the only way to get the true action pictures I’m looking for, and on touring days I will take my trusty Casio 6.0 Mega Pixel compact, it’s not so good for action shots but it’s great for everything else.
Brendan West’s BLESMA photo’s on our website were shot using a Nikon DSLR so that’s the way I’m leaning at the moment.
If you are looking for some good advice on cameras then I suggest you try: kenrockwell.com
Regards Mervyn.
Ps: Any thoughts on this subject by you guys out there are most welcome.