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There are some good eBay shops in the EU flogging ex hire kit. Had some good skis from them. Most likely will have had a heavy grind on the belt sander to make the bases look new so check what edge is left. Most of them will have hire bindings so whatever size your feet’s are you should be fine. What kids stuff have you got? Need some 140 kids SL.
Wup!
Hello the STW ski and snowboard thread and all that sail in her!
My 5-year hiatus is coming to an end this year. Can't believe it's been that long. Last trip was 2 months before eldest was born - last day involved a getting down the SE face of the Aiguille d'Entreves in a different way than I'd planned. Going to feel funny getting back on planks!
Just been invited on a hut to hut trip with a couple of mates and guide called Babar they've done a bunch of trips with. Destination is "somewhere in the Hautes Alpes". Last time I saw Babar he pointed me towards the Vallée de la Clarée. Had an amazing few days with my wife, so I'm hoping we'll be going there.
I never really got on with my Venture Zephyr split for 3 or 4 decent reasons. Reminiscing over Clarée photos made me realise it's over 10 years old so I could certainly justify getting a new one. Tootled about online for a bit and found a half price Amplid Milligram! Jumped on that. Happy Friday to me!
The Milligram is a rad board, been riding one for 3 years now. It's worth getting a few piste runs in on it to get a feel - the carbon core has a "snap" to it which feels a little different to a wood core. Not better or worse, just different. It can feel really poppy out of the end of the turn which can be off-putting if you're not ready for it or can lead to powerful, snappy turns if you are!
Given how light they are, I think they're actually pretty robust, but you need to be a little careful when touring not to "bridge" the ski across a gap with your full weight on it and not go out of your way to abuse it on the way downhill.
I did break one of mine, but it was pure rider error and I have no complaints. Had an invisible (under the snow!) rock at full compression in a high-speed toeside turn. Blew the edge out! Amplid were great and helped me out.
Hey Stevo! I found your insta from the link you posted up the thread - saw you're an Amplid test centre so I figured you'd have some time on the Milligram. Heard nothing but good things about it, glad you're not the first to say you hate it! 😀
Happy with the comments about pop out of turns. I like to load the tail and the rockerflatrocker profile on the Venture Zephyr never did anything for me coming out of turns.
Had an invisible (under the snow!) rock at full compression in a high-speed toeside turn. Blew the edge out!
Sounds like it wouldn't have been fun on any board! Would you have expected a more standard weight board to shrug it off?
Nah, it was a big hit, any board would have taken damage.
I haven’t been on skis since I left Canada 20+ years ago, but I would love to go again.
The way you all talk though makes it sound slightly more complex than I am used to.
If one skipped the booking, and just rolled up in the car park of a mountain, is it not possible in Europe just to buy a lift pass on the day and ski?
/sorryformyignorance
Yes @saxonrider, you can do exactly that. In fact it’s not uncommon for me to have done that in the past.
Logistics mean you’ll need to hire kit too I’m guessing so give yourself time to do that too. And obviously if you’ve not been on skis for 20 years go easy on the first few runs, maybe pick a resort with some nice long greens to get your eye back in.
If one skipped the booking, and just rolled up in the car park of a mountain, is it not possible in Europe just to buy a lift pass on the day and ski?
Yes, very much so. Much easier than in Canada, in fact (where day pass prices are generally ludicrous and everyone buys cheap early-buyer season passes).
The main difference is probably that most European resorts have loads of accommodation and very developed resort villages right at the base of the lifts, which is often not the case in Canada, so it's much more common to stay somewhere ski-to-door than to drive to resort each day. Parking is a nightmare in some places, easy enough in others.
Flights booked to INN for new year. Kids keen on St Anton again ( me too) and it has the advantage we know it reasonably well.
Missus wants to go somewhere new, which I guess means Ischgl, unless I'm missing something.
Any recommendations for good off piste sans guide in that area? ( ie not too committing)
From Ishgul you can ski out the back to the Heidelberger Hut (I think). I've got a ski map somewhere if you want to borrow it.
Plenty of day tours from the top of the valley too.
@thegeneralist
Link below is to the ski map of Silvretta which is from the S. of the Ishgul valley and West into Switzerland. I think map 28/2 in the series covers further down the valley.
The area is very popular for touring so should be easy to get info. The tracks marked with solid lines on the map are regular skiable routes, snow permitting, the dotted are more variable and conditions dependant.
Plas y Brenin used to run their off piste and touring courses from Galtur. There's loads to go at. If staying in huts they are generally large and busy.
If it's cold the pistes as Kappl further down the valley face South, are quieter and catch the sun.
Definitely do at least day from Galtur at the top of the valley. Ski bus links the villages.
Definitely a recommended place (although it's 15 years since my last visit).
https://www.mapsworldwide.com/maps-charts-atlases-c1811/walking-hiking-maps-c1814/alpenvereinskarte-map-26-silvrettagruppe-paths-and-ski-p11200
Looks like i'll be sticking to Scotland again this season. Glenshee/Glencoe and Cairngorm.
Spent NYE and NYD last year at Glencoe.
Speaking of Cairngorm, any first hand, local update re the funicular?
Finally pulled my finger out at the weekend and booked the annual family ski holiday. Off to Alpe d’Huez at the start of February. We’ve never been to Alpe d’Huez before, has anyone who has been got any useful tips, or recommendations, eg good places for lunch, good areas/slopes to ski as a mixed ability group, etc…
TIA.
Akers, not for many years but it is a nice resort. Lots for most people but possible to do a day at Les Deux Alpes or La Grave if you are feeling adventurous.
Notable things about ADH, my mum did the tunnel run on her arse after being knocked over at the very top, broken ribs only thankfully.
Saw a bloke get cut up by a small child on the goat track at the bottom of the Sarenne. Resulting crash ended up with the bloke, in a onesie, going over the wall on a bridge and doing a full immersion in the stream.
If he didn't end up with hypothermia, I would be surprised! It was quite comical if you were watching. His ski suit kind of filled up with water and was bulging around the legs.
Finally got our act together, Zermatt proved too spendy so going back to an old fave. Serre Che 20th Jan. Now I just need to stop fixating on Webcams and weather prediction and get some work done!
Has anyone seen any good deals on decent ski gloves?
My old Black Diamond Patrol are knackered after 9 years
I use Black Diamond Dirt Bag gloves with a thin liner underneath and they’re bombproof. Current pair have done about 8 years with between one and two weeks a year. Still going strong and can be had for under £40.
Alpe D'Huez - get a lesson with Cookie at ESF (he's an English guy who alternates summer and ski seasons - snowboards and skis). We had a private lesson - 3 different ski levels and every one of us got lots out of the lesson. You can follow him on instagram - he's posting snowy dog walking videos at the moment.
His tuition was the highlight of a mediocre week at Neilsons.
@SSS the funicular at Cairngorm is currently still broken. Unless you're a tourer, that's very restricting at the Gorm and mis-management there is the reason I don't piste ski at the Gorm, ever. Happy to tour though.. And there's quite a bit of that going on now as the conditions are steadily improving.
Has anyone seen any good deals on decent ski gloves?
I got some from https://www.snowshepherd.co.uk/ last year, been fine
@NBT those Snowshepherd gloves are just re branded Kinko 901’s 
bloody brilliant things for snowboarders as edges / tows and general abuse just wont kill them
best value gloves ive ever used and I’m on my second pair, just lather them up with Nikwax glove wax and they’ll take a proper battering and the patina gets better as they age.
As a side benefit they are also great for clearing up Gorse 😉
Well, after four days of snow, it's time to kick off the XC skiing season. Piste: just down the road, getting there by either walking or by skiing.
By Saturday the tracks should be done, prepared, settled in and icy, so it will be fast and fun.
Damn shit got expensive....
In the end we've gone for Stanton again, but thanks for the info slowol.
Looks like this holiday will cost almost exactly twice what the last St Anton holiday cost us. Insane money. And that's staying in some two bit cattle byre 12,km from the actual skiing.
@Sprootlet Thanks for the tip, alas, we've booked all the tuition, ski hire, etc, through the tour company (Crystal Ski), mainly for simplicity.
We've used Neilson for the past few years, mainly for the childcare, but the quality of our experience with them has been declining every year, and the kids are older, we're happy to give someone else a try. As Crystal are the Ski brand for TUI, who we've always had great summer holidays with, we're hoping they're a safe bet.
@generalist, yep, especially if you are looking at half term the prices are insane. We chose to take the kids out of school and go in Jan for that reason
Half term doesn’t bring out the best in anyone ime.
Jan =Cheaper accom, less busy slopes, better availability, quieter roads and potential to save enough for a trip at Easter Just have to deal with consequences of taking kids out of school for a week🤷♂️.
Having bought a board in the sales in April, another one arrives tomorrow. Why? You ask … well, the edited highlights are as follows …
Foolishly, I didn’t immediately set up my new board - a Capita DOA - when it arrived. Then when I did in October, it turned out that the inserts had been so poorly machined you can’t get a bolt in them. So I started a warranty claim and while they state it’ll be sorted in 2-3 days, that was … optimistic.
One month, a lot of chasing and a strop-a-gram to customer services later they gave me a full refund and told me to keep the board. Why that took a month to decide is beyond me but at least it’s resolved.
Funnily enough I’ve not spent my refund on a Capita, got a Bataleon Evil Twin+ this time. Kicker is that in April I paid sales prices and in November you definitely don’t! Oh well.
madhouse - can you just run a tap down the inserts on the Capita?
After ridiculous amounts of snow in California last year, still waiting for the first storms up in the Sierra. May try and get up to Tahoe in early December, but long range forecast still doesn't have any snow so will be on partially open resorts / snow cannon pistes.
on the positive side I’ve only ridden in the wet once this winter
@stevomcd that's exactly what I'm doing, started last night but the tap I got from screwfix is crap and lost it's teeth after 6 uses. I did the warranty thing because it's new and badly machined so didn't want to do anything to it in case I had to send it back, didn't expect to get a free board out of it at all!!
Not sure what to do with it now, it's gone from wall-hanger to probably being usable but unwarranted. Might leave it on the wall till the lad takes a bit more interest and then stick him on it or maybe just swap between the two and have it as a loaner if any mates have board issues.
Wow moving from a doa to a tbt bataleon is a jump.
I have tried tbt several times and hate the vague feeling I get from it
we’re hoping they’re a safe bet.
@Akers are you going through Chamberey with them? It's an experience for sure, I say that having done it 5/6 times, but the last one was THE LAST ONE.
Build an airport next to a lake, because lakes never see fog, especially in winter. Also, take that airport, probably good for 200 people at any point in time, but put 2000 through it in a couple of hours. Mostly it's fine, but when it's not it really goes to pieces. Early start out of resort, had to stop in a service station for a while as we were 'too early' to go to the airport. Then diverted because of fog, head to Nice, no information on arrival, 3/4 hours of sparse information, then a little, then nothing again for a LONG time. Eventually get checked in and rushed through to flight after 6 or so hours at the airport.
Last trip we used SunWeb, their transfers from Geneva were a disaster, in the end they gave us a cabbie from the taxi rank who had only been up into the mountains once before so wanted to film it on his phone while drifting off the edge of the road, my wife nearly punched him, but instead filmed it for him. The return run couldn't have been better though!
Chambery is dreadful. But close to the skiing!
It was rain that stopped play when were there last. Watching the time tick by thinking ffs, could have been in Dijon then Troyes, by now. <br /><br />
Hi,
Heading to Val Thorens in Jan for a week. I think I've done 2 weeks of skiing (plus. Few of snowboarding prior) in total, so very much a beginner still.
I'd like to get a 1:1 ski lesson, maybe a couple hours on my second day. Any suggestions on who to go with or how to find a good teacher/school? Or are they all much of a muchness? Thanks!
It’s looking like a fantastic start to the season in Europe. Lifts opened today in Hochkoenig region of Austria. This is at around 900m at our place.
Winter is go in Tignes….
And Weardale today. Thin but some fairly good skiing. Visibility was good and only about a dozen people on the hill. Feels like winter now. Just see if we get another go up there this year.
@duane we've used instructors in a few French resorts, they've always been great. I'm sure if you pick one of the main schools in Val you'll be fine I think we used Prosneige.
Toby, great, thanks, will go with them!
First trip of the season booked. A long weekend in Les Carroz/Flaine/Samoens.
Question for Stevo- We're thinking about a trip this winter, and I spotted some decent price Airbnb apartments near the funi in Bourg- how big do the funi queues get at peak times?
Also, are you guys still only doing full chalet rentals for Nagano over the winter?
3.5 weeks until we head off to Les 2 Alpes for the first time.
Any top tips for the resort?
As an aside, New Years is Les 2 Alpes is half the price of Val Thorens, and about the same as we paid for Xmas in VT last year( all in MMV hotels, full board).
Both fairly high resorts, so don’t really know why VT is so expensive at new year…
@slowol - your definition of 'thin' and mine are a little different, I think!
Plenty folk out and about in the Cairngorms over the last week - still plenty rocks and heather though, so will need more to really get things going.
GavinBFull Member
@slowol – your definition of ‘thin’ and mine are a little different, I think!
Mine too - I saw the first pic and thought he meant something up there where there was a decent covering but no . . he was talking about skiing on grass with a dusting of frost on it. Maybe on some hire skis - if I were desperate or very bored.
I got some pow turns at Breck this weekend. Not the greatest terrain option, but it was still nice.
I think your tolerance of 'thin' conditions changes when most of your skiing is in England.
Weardale has the advantage of very few rocks or gravelly bits and the mown bog grass skis OK with little snow. Scotland the gravel and rocks tend to come through quicker, killing your skis.
Saturday was helped by being frozen hard and there not being many people. A couple of the runs were a bit tussocky and off piste the bog grass trips you up but I got 17 runs in, didn't need to fly anywhere and even had the luxury of a mate driving so no complaints here.
Definitely wouldn't use skis you're precious about though. My skis are both my best and worst but must be 17 or 18 years old and still going.
Skiing in England is a bit esoteric but if you live close enough it's cheap and much better than no skiing. Here's hoping for more snow.
Unfortunately had to work but Facebook tells me that Yad Moss was really good today.