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Hi from Sweden. My son skis, I surf the white wave (snowboard:) ) Anyhow, the boy manages around 30 days a season on skis. He is 10 years old and intermediate.
If i was to buy him some skis, what should i be looking for...? The previous ones we have bought have been second hand carving/ piste type skis, not twin tips. He has started to mess around more with sking backwards, spins and so on, plus powder skiing, but he has still not mastered carving.
Should i stick with directional type skis and really get him carving, or twin tips. Or both? He is 145cm , lite as a feather
I didn't buy junior anything other than race skis till he was about 14. He had a set of Slaloms and a set of Giants and that was it. He could do just about anything on them. If you work it out kids at that age have more float in powder with a pair of 63 giant skis than you do on a set of 88s.
At 14 I bought him a pair of K2 Iron Maiden park and pipe "double-spats". They're ace, still in the cupboard and I love them when there's a fall of fresh, and you can carve on them, even do the ESF "virage moniteur" - junior uses them for instructing on soft snow.
Who is "teaching" him to ski? 30 days/year is a reasonable amount of time.
Sweajnr is 8.5 and is on "multi-event" race skis but he's also in a local ski race club. I find that in powder the main issue is a lack of momentum to get up enough speed for the skis to actually plane and I'm not sure something different ski wise would help with that.
@howsyourdad1 - At a guess, whatever you get you won't get much more than a season out of it as he'll grow quite a bit between now and start of next season. Based on my last trips to Swedish ski hills, by 12/14 all the cool kids will be blasting round fakie on twin tips and sending it/jibbing off everything in sight, regardless of conditions. But most of them seem pretty handy at carving by that age too and that is handy for everything else.
If you can find a decent set of both second hand at a good price then I'd go for that, but kids learn fast to do whatever they want on the kit they have available so it's hard to go too far wrong if you go for one or the other. Sizing and condition more critical on race skis than the park end of the spectrum IMO. Any of your mates kids got hand me downs? Or anything local on blocket before the season starts, maybe even try some shops selling off ex-hire if not too abused? New gear is daft money unless you have someone else to pass it on to when he's done.
Have booked ski train to Val Thorens for xmas.
Did similar at Feb half term this year, but Les Menuires instead. Quite rate the Travelski express, it's pretty stress free with everything included.
Most resorts have had snow today, love looking at webcams to get excited!
Kids skis, my two just get used kit from eBay. Got a pair of lovely GS and a pair of all mountain 140’s very cheap a week or two ago. Ok a few years old but ski marketing moves at a faster pace than ski tech (remind you of anything?) Also same as bikes, the kids just get a pair of skis to use, never as a present makes hand me downs easier
I have become aware that the "Foret Blanche" ski area, Vars & Risoul, is not operating as single entity this coming season. Essentially, the two operators have fallen out over revenue distribution, and have suspended joint operations for this winter. It could be a disaster for both of them...
Perhaps a resolution will be found, but the clock is ticking.
Takes me back to when I did a season in Les Caroz, There was a weak agreement in place between Les Caroz and Flain, and you couldn't rely on lifts linking up and lifts ocasionally shut for lunch. Put that with a slightly grumpy head Chef and there were a few tense moments getting back to work in time!
Have booked ski train to Val Thorens for xmas.
Excellent!
La Plagne currently have a flash sale on their website. 10% off skipasses. Ends 18 Nov.
Quick question, do the Burton Step-in bindings work?
Everyone else skis now but my knees are shot so I have no choice other than to board.
I’d like to keep up off the lifts (and need all the help I can get).
And it's snowing 🙂
Unfortunately Val Thorens has delayed opening due to lack of snow. Apparently it is fine at higher altitudes, but there is not enough lower down.
We have booked a last minute deal for Valmeiner for New Year, so a little twitchy. There is time though...
got a lads weekend to Chamonix lads booked for Jan (doing Fri-Tues to avoid Sunday night in Geneva!) And then to La Plagne with all the family in March. managed to find a catered chalet in the end - 20 of us in it!! we have taken non skiers before who can cook but its still hassle of shopping, washing up and appeasing everyone... its their holiday too.
Our ski club is planning a weekend trip in February to Annecy.
Hopefully through the twinning group we will go on a day trip with Cran Gevrier Ski Club.
Maybe even manage a session on Semnoz as well!
One for the Francophiles
Anyone done Courmayeur for the day while staying in Chamonix? any good? worth it?
Yes, definitely. If Chamonix (especially Grand Montets) is tracked out, you’re still very likely to get freshies in Cormayeur. Look at Lorne Cameron blog or on Instagram for inspiration.
It’s also got arguably the best on mountain restaurant anywhere in the world (no, not an exaggeration) in Chiecco.
Check forecasts though, what falls in Chamonix doesn’t mean the same amount of snowfall in Courmayeur.
It can be mild and drizzling in Chamonix, while "dumping teh pow" in Courmayeur.
Love Courmayeur. Done a long weekend and three * one-week trips there over the years, it's been great. Chiecco is fantastic, Maison Vieille is also worth checking out
Quick question, do the Burton Step-in bindings work?
@ign
Yup, very good response, as comfortable as the boot you buy (varying degrees of stiffness)
Only caveat is if you’re likely to get stuck in deep powder they can be a ball ache to release.
Unfortunately Val Thorens has delayed opening due to lack of snow.
The weather has a month to get cold and get some snow dumped up there otherwise it will be a sad Christmas for us.
Webcams looking pretty green still…
We had a stunning sunny day in Courmayeur last year as part of our Aosta trip. Th views across to Mt Blanc were just amazing. For variety and expanse of pistes I would say that La Thuile-La Rosiere just a few miles up the valley are better skiing, but if you're into offpiste there's Val Veny at Courmayeur to consider.
Week away in January with White Room booked really looking forward to it, so the way this year has gone will be green slopes and 20 degrees!
Blimey, shit got expensive!
We used to budget between £2.2k and £2.8k for a family of four all in for half term. It looks like this year is going to be twice that, the prices are nuts.
Question is whether we bite the bullet now and get the flights booked for ~£300 each now or hold on in the expectation that package holidays get reduced substantially once cost of living hits...
Had probably my best day ever on the board in Courmayeur. Think it was 1998 and we were staying in Chamonix. We had a biblical dump. It was almost a metre down in the village. We did the day trip to courmayeur as chamonix wasn't open. Chest deep powder absolutely everywhere. I imagine the only thing that came close to the feeling was pure heroin.
package holidays get reduced substantially once cost of living hits
I'm assuming that the sort of people most impacted are not likely to be the sort of people you'd see booking a ski trip each year.
Also, where were you going to spend just £2.2k on a week in half term? Usually spend that for a week out of half term and there's only 2 of us!
Also, where were you going to spend just £2.2k on a week in half term? Usually spend that for a week out of half term and there’s only 2 of us!
yeah, I used to be happy with 1k all in per person. its looking 1.3 to 1.4k now - not in school holidays.
Webcams in Flaine are looking white today...
Webcams in Flaine are looking white today…
VT looking fairly cold / snowy with less muddy tracks 🙂
Encouraging to see lower temps and precipitation in La Tania. Off on Boxing Day which is much earlier than we usually go..
https://www.latania.co.uk/webcam/
Winter arrived in Austria today.
View from our webcam at around 900m
https://www.apartmentamade.com/mariaalmwebcam.shtml
Hoping for some advice from people who know things about skis...
My brother lives in Jackson hole (yes, I know) and junior and I are hoping to get out for a week over Xmas. As you can imagine, between the exchange rate and the location, hiring kit is eyewatering. I'm already reaming myself with flights and ski passes.
So, my thought was to buy some skis and poles from Facebook marketplace or ebay out there and get them delivered to my brother's ready for us to use. This would save money and mean we wouldn't have to faff for so long on the first day.
Both of us are beginners, with 1 day of intensive lessons and then 3 days each of practice last winter. We can ski blues easily with the odd carve and could get down a red without dying. We generally use an 'i can MTB blacks easily' over-enthusiastic approach to everything gravity related.
He's 12 years old. 165cm and 50kg. I'm old, 175cm and 75 kg.
I'm expecting to rent boots so they got our hobbit feet.
So, stupid idea or not? If it's not a stupid idea what on earth do I buy?
I fully realise that the equivalent question rephrased into MTB speak would result in a stream of that's a stupid idea' answers. Please feel free to respond in that way, it'll save you typing!
@i_like_food first of all, what a great place to go. Skiing stateside is very different to European skiing, with much less in the way of apres ski piss ups, fewer on mountain eating options and generally much smaller ski areas.
But they’re usually very quiet in the week and outside of public holidays so lift queues are a rarity. I was at Timberline earlier this year and the entire resort had no more than 50 people on it one day.
On buying and renting, rentals are actually reasonably priced in the US, it’s the lift passes and ski lessons that are eye watering. If you can, see if your brother has options for discounted residents passes or knows of any places selling them cheap. Buying them at the resort window is the highest price, again in Oregon this year we paid nearly £200 for two of us just for one day at Mt Hood Meadows. Ouch.
And renting just boots might be a challenge too. Sure, I’m sure shops will rent them to you but they’ll be discounted with skis (not much use for one without another). I’d be doing some internet research before heading out.
Edit. Just looked at the JH website and lift passes are being limited and they’ve already sold out for 28, 29, 30 December and passes either side are $225 a day 😳.
Blimey, shit got expensive!
Just received an email from our electric supplier in Austria. From January electric prices going up by a factor of around 2.3
Our place is all electric, no gas, so the bills are going to be eye watering!
Can't your brother help with some of this? Does he know of any families etc that might have spare / old skis in the basement? I'd be somewhat leery of buying sight unseen ski gear off facebook market place. You've no idea of the condition of the bases, edges or bindings. If you're having to rent boots anyway then the incremental cost of getting a set of skis that are going to fit the boots and have been serviced recently shouldn't be too much extra.
Just looked at daily rentals at JH, $47 just for skis and $52 ish for skis and boots. Don’t take that to mean you can rent boots for $5 a day unfortunately.
@tuboflard and @sweaman2
Thanks. Yes, will ask my brother for help, although he knows about as much about skiing as I do!
Given the boots cost Vs skis I reckon I'll just go for everything and suck it up. I'll remortgage soon anyway 😂
Absolutely cannot wait. A week with junior and adventures, am very lucky and intend to appreciate every second.
The good thing about rentals is if you don’t like them you can go and swap them for a different set of skis. And they’ll be properly maintained with decent edges and base on them. Should be a blast, how many days are you there for?
@i_like_food when I was out in the states in the summer there was tons of snow sports gear in all the charity shops and ridiculously low prices. I’m sure it’s not great stuff, but for the sake of a beginner just getting out there, maybe your brother could do a bit of shopping for you and pick up some key bits of kit?
I’ve just discovered there’s potential for me to get a week in Salt Lake City in mid Feb. It could be my chance to learn to snowboard… wasn’t planning on another flight out there but it’s very tempting!
@stwhannah you should jump at the chance, SLC resorts are great for boarding (apart from Alta, pah), they don’t say “The Greatest Snow On Earth” on their plates for nothing.
Snowbird is probably the best resort for intermediates and above, so much terrain to go at and some great stuff you can hike to. I really like Brighton and Solitude too though, probably Brighton edges it for boarding. And Powder Mountain used to be great but think it’s gone a bit corporate in recent years, it used to be a really low key resort with just a small mountain hut and almost no one there.
@i_like_food Maybe buy boots and rent skis. Skis will affect your day less than boots. Rental boots may very well suck badly. They're usually more on the high-volume side. You can draw around your feet to figure out size and width and then see what's available near your brother. You can usually remold the liners a bit with some hot rice and an old sock to get a better fit.
I have just bought some new skis and bindings. I got the Season Nexus skis. I wanted something in the 108 waist area to use on medium-deep days. I'm going to get them mounted with Pivot 15s on the weekend after Thanksgiving.