Too soon? Easyjet have released their 2022 schedule and I bagged some flights Manchester to Basel in Switzerland (to maybe ski Grindelwald) February half term 2022 for £78pp return including luggage.
Often if you land closer to ski resorts the flights go up in price, but I don't mind a bit of a drive and usually hire a car anyway which has the added advantage opening up more accommodation options. Switzerland does have a tourist deal to transfer anywhere in the country by train for a flat fee which is worth considering too.
Some OK deals to Milan, Nice, Geneva and a few others iro £200pp which is still cheap for half term. That's if we are allowed into the EU at least I should be OK with Switzerland!
Might have a look at åre flights in the new year then
Seems like about the right time to start it!!! So.....yesterday my girlfriend finally got her own ski boots. I'd saved a little fund up so treated her....she's got quite wide feet, and ridiculously large calves! She's always been in absolute agony when we've skied as she's never had boots anything like fitting. We were well impressed with the boot fitting service at Ellis Brigham (the 3.5 hours just flew by 😳)
2021/22 plans....well, we recently took delivery of our motorhome so we're looking at doing a couple of trips in that. Originally we were planning Peru in September for my gpf's 30th, but we're thinking that that isn't happening, so yesterday she said she'd potentially fancy another ski trip. We're thinking St Anton over xmas as there's a very well equipped campsite near there, and then maybe something more ad hoc over Easter 2022....Montgenevre/Livigno maybe?
I've only ever done the huge French resorts and Jasna in Slovakia, so fancy something a bit different. Obviously in the motorhome we can take skis and boards each and winter hiking gear too which could be fun.
I really fancy a Jones All Mountain Board of some sort too! The funds are fairly depleted currently though.
The ultra mountain twin is an amazing board.
The flagship is a monster. I demoed one indoors at mk and it was utterly pointless in there. But god can it go fast and its amazingly stable.
That being said I got a yes pyl and love it
That's the thing with indoors innit....I demoed loads of jib/freestyle board before buying my last one as indoors is a fine demo ground for that. Bit of a different vibe on an all mountain board and doing 9 seconds in a straight line to the bottom!
Have you used the mountain twin off piste? That's the board that I've been looking at....
No but would love to try. I ended up with the pyl instead as it just felt a bit more fun. Not a twin though so harder to ride switch (not impossible though)
Yeah we know about the 2020/21 season thread.....it's about as useful as Anne Frank's drum kit though!
I’ve got a Flagship that I use as my powder board, love it. It’s too damn pretty though, scared of scratching it.
Have ridden a mountain twin as an all round board for the last three years. Cant recommend it enough! Poppy, jibby fun whilst still being fantastic in powder.
It is a perfect stiffness so will give support when pushed, but still a really fun board.
I haven’t ridden this years yet, but i am fortunate enough to be able to get some brands at cost, and would happily pay full price for another
Will you guys stop it!!! This thread is essentially making me skint in the future 😂
From the Jones line-up, I'd really recommend the Frontier. Great board. I tested a lot of the Jones range for White Lines last year and the Frontier was my favourite by a long way. I didn't get a shot on the Mountain Twin though, only the Ultra version which I found to be too stiff to be much fun. There is definitely such a thing as too stiff in snowboard world. You need to be able to flex and twist the board to shape your turns and just to enjoy the ride.
Yeah we know about the 2020/21 season thread…..it’s about as useful as Anne Frank’s drum kit though!
Nice analogy!
well....I'm still holding out hope for March! (not much hope mind!)
Ha fairly sure that I read it on here....I'm certainly not claiming any writing credits on it anyhow.
As much as it pains me to say it, I think that there's basically zero chance of a March trip. The cases and hospital admissions over here are basically back at where they were prior to lockdown 2. Safe to say it's still going to be a real mess in March 🙁
@stevomcd a guy let me do a few runs on his carbon Jones in Cham a few years back. I remember that being ridiculously stiff....I definitely prefer a more flexy board. Looks like a Jones of some description is on the 2021 purchase list. They don't seem to be quite as eye wateringly expensive as I'd got in my mind actually.
The mountains were out of bounds here in France for the first big dump of snow but the last 10 days have been perfect for anyone into touring or X-C. We've been out every day with fresh snow every morning.
Having spent about ten years on my Elan Alaska 79 170cm touring skis I've been trying some new ones. They're last year's skis because the early end to last season prevented me from using them in suitable conditions until now.
A pair of Dynastar Mythic 87 in 171cm. Bought for Madame but she doesn't like them. The main problem being they're too stiff for her 53kgs. With my 65kgs they're fine, excellent even, the harder I ski the better they feel. At 2030gm they're 200gm per foot more than the Alaskas to lug up and in hard conditions I think the Alaskas hang on better. A good addition to the ski collection though and a delight in the powder.
Head Kore 93 in 180cm with Marker Kingpin 14 bindings. Bought for junior but I couldn't resist trying them even if they're a bit stiff for me, I'd buy the women's model for myself. Taken out in conditions as shit as you could wish for with difficult snow at every altitude they ploughed through/over the lot with remarakable ease. Junior went out with us the next day and pushed them a lot harder than I can. He started with the bindings at 9 but they were coming off carving hard and he wound them up to 11. If it takes 11 to keep them on they grip pretty well and his style on them was textbook. A very very good all-round ski if you've fit enough to get it up the hill (2500gm per foot).
Even if I'm quite happy touring I'm hoping the lift systems will be open for the February holidays, it all depends on whether the virus levels can be got down to levels where there are hospital beds to spare in the departments with ski resorts.