⛷️ ❄️ The STW Ski and Snowboard thread : the 2024-2025 season

Few black Friday things in this snowheads thread

https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=171033&highlight=

Code BF24 will get you 20% off at eurotunnel for trips before end of march ( excl school hols and flexiplus). Log in BEFORE you start the booking process

has anyone one here run a Burton step on set up?

Yeah, I have them. I like them for the sort of riding I do (basic, mostly with skiers) and I’m pretty inflexible and unfit so it means I don’t spend a lot of time sitting down and getting up.

Control wise, they are no different to the regular bindings I used to ride – at least I can’t notice a difference.

Plus, being able to step in straight off a chair is pretty nice.

20 days until Tignes…

Boarders – has anyone one here run a Burton step on set up? Worth it over a conventional set up??

Yes, I’ve had a set of step ons since the year they were first released, must be 6 years or so ago.

They’re really good, would not go back to regular bindings. Just the ability to be clipped in when you get off the lift and not have to faff about is brilliant. I tend to clip in just before I sit down on the chairlift at the bottom, but you can also clip in mid chairlift or at the top as you slide off.

Edge to edge repsonse is better than regular bindings too, a more direct feel

Thanks both. Appreciated.

 has anyone seen any Black Friday ski/snow bargains? Looking to pick up a few bits of gear for myself and some for the kids if anyone has seen some good sales to trawl through.

This week I have mainly been using snowleader as they had a fat 25% BF on top of sale prices. Bought ice screws, Sportivas, 80 m rope, poles and a set of Volkl Mantras for the kid.

Code BF24 will get you 20% off at eurotunnel

No it won’t. Code 24BF might though, till the end of today

Booked for Tignes in January this weekend at last. Glad to be heading back there and hoping for plenty of snow to fall in the run up to the 18th!

Has anyone booked Eurotunnel without a roofbox then turned up with one fitted? What happened? We’ve got a 3 series estate and when we’ve booked with a roofbox they always measure use and wave us onto the booked section, but I reckon we’re on the verge of being able to go in the lower height section and they might be lenient…

My ability to do anything other than think about piste maps, look at snow-forecast and think about skiing are gone. I’m usually like this anyway, but is anyone else particularly done with the work year and ready to head to the mountains now?

I hope to get some degree of focus back shortly, but in the meantime, perhaps it’s time for another procrastination enabling coffee!

Just had our Patrol training kick off this weekend past and I redid my adv emergency care stuff. Just need some snow now.

Flaine is looking pretty good down to resort level already. fingers cross for low temps throug dec

@Scaled, I went in March this year, I’ve never been as warm in the mountains, so hope it stays nice and frosty for you. Enjoyed the brutalist architecture even though it’s not for everyone and the little funicular between the higher and lower part of the town was ace.

Jade as a run back into the village was hideous in the afternoons though, chopped up and narrow, not my favourite way to ski.

We’ve done flaine in March before, my wife (who’s half African and costs us a fortune in heating bills) was sat out in the snow in a t-shirt.

Up top is normally fine but down at resort, yeah it’s a bit sketchy at that time of year.

I’d rather Jade in afternoon snowy, mogully porridge than Faust first thing in the mornings as a massive wall of solid ice!

I’m not sure it was cold enough all week to have much ice, Faust was a lot of fun given the lack of snow we had, I think it was probably my most used run all week.

Anyone got any experience with Les 7 Laux? Going as a family but a toss up of a nice small resort aor a bigger resort that we have been to before where my other half and myself can raz around all morning while the kids are in ski school?

But seen some good deals for 7Laux but never been nor know anything about it. But a little sceptical that cheap usually equates to poor snow, think highest point is 2000 ish meters? Going over Feb half term.

The upside to 7 Laux : it’s  close to Grenoble city centre

The downside to 7 Laux: ditto, so Wednesdays get the local school kids and the weekends are busy as.

What about skiing is it any good? Worth it?

Never been myself, but some people I know absolutely love the place. There’s quite a high proportion of reds and blacks, which may or may not be what you’re looking for.

No personal experience but from the where to ski and snowboard book

Les Sept-Laux

Family resort near Grenoble with pretty slopes and a modern lift system, these days promoted more often as Les 7 Laux. The main resort, with quite a bit of accommodation, is Prapoutel in the woods at 1350m; across the mountainside is another lift base at Pipay, at 1550m, and on the back of the hill is a third entry point at Le Pleynet. There is easy skiing at resort level, but the mountain as a whole is challenging. We’re very sceptical of the resort’s claim of 120km of pistes.

Text copied from an image via Google lens, so may have some slight inaccuracies.

@ffati hope this is helpful.

Kvitfjell or Hafjell for a few days in January?

This excellent report from Denfinella over on snowheads covers Les 7 Laux avec several other nearby resorts. Denfinella’s trip reports are usually very detailed and accurate

https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=158109https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=158109

Les Arcs in two weeks. I’ve bought snow chains, booked the eurotunnel, and am obsessively checking the snow reports.

Sounds pretty good! Though have since found a good deal in st gervais which i love but 7laux sounds pretty awesome.

I have skied at Les 7 Laux, although it was only for 1 day and it was maybe 15 years ago. It was fine and we skied all over the area and skied all day. 1st lift up, last lift up too. I remember there was a nice bowl to drop into at the very top with along run down that was not pisted when we were there. We parked at Prapoutel, had a nice quick breakfast, and then went for an explore. I would go back, but a week might be stretching it without kids or with older kids. If I still had younger kids it would be perfect.

Might have to start a seperate thread for this as its a bit ‘off piste’ so to speak…

Has anyone here had experience of the their kids choosing skiing as one of their selected sports for GCSE?  Advice for the school is vague as no pupils have gone with this option before.

We have to submit videos for a selection of skills, some quite simple like putting skiis on and off again, schuss, wide parallel turns etc.

However, there is a competitive element to it, which is where advice is not overly helping.  The guidelines state slalom for example is acceptable and that the competitive aspect could be related to racing others or just the environment.  We can video her at a timed slalom at the resort but would this be enough?

For clarity, she’s a competent red run skiier but nothing more i.e. she’s never raced and skiis just one week per year.

Any thoughts appreciated

@cb are you near to an indoor Snowzone or something like that? The often have a slalom club that let kids train / race weekly my daughter did this and it improved her overall technique greatly.

When you are at a resort also ask if there are any open kids races, we’ve stumbled across these a couple of times, nothing serious put on a bib and have a go affairs rather than something serious.

2 things.

1) Most likely the accessor won’t know what they are doing.  Simply due to it not being a very common choice. (I was told that by very experienced accessory)

2) Racing / competition is a major portion of the grade. You need to have footage.  It’s can be tricky to get out on the real snow if you are just a holiday maker so maybe do a few nights in a dry slow race training class and film that.

Very best of luck to your kid. Have fun.

In Flaine the ESF arrange a weekly Fleche race that anyone can enter. It’s timed and depending how close to “their skier’s” time you are, you get an award of gold, silver or bronze. Other resorts might well do this

There’s also a small ski school that only use the race piste and focus entirely on race technique

For clarity, she’s a competent red run skiier but nothing more i.e. she’s never raced and skiis just one week per year.

This is not the definition of a good sport to be choosing for GSCE PE. I’m assuming you’re picking this as the third sport?

FWIW, here’s the mark scheme for the AQA board exams –
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/physical-education/gcse/physical-education-8582/specification/scheme-of-assessment

The full context assessment is essentially a competitive environment, so she needs to start doing that.
She’ll need to demonstrate skills too – so some coaching to get some drills to demonstrate would be useful.

source: wife is a PE teacher. She gets a lot of students picking PE as they think it’s easy. It’s not.

@ffati Les 7 laux is a great ski area. Never stayed there. But it’s one of my local ski areas. The off piste is good, and plenty of variance in orientation and difficulity of slopes. It does get all the local kids….because it’s the best.  It’s  just as big as many other popular resorts, that I just don’t get the hype for: Couramyeur for example. It’s subjective, but if it was new to me, I wouldn’t want to ski there for more than say 3 times in a row. Other good resorts though….Correncon en Vercors for example, part of Espace Villard can be absolutely sublime with a completely different feel to typical alps skiing.

Perfect thanks for that would be there for atleast a week so possibly not the best fir us

There are a few threads on Snowheads re PE : Skiing. If it hasn’t already been said.

Also habitually checking weather and webcams and not doing any work.

Off on 27th La Plagne. Looking okay at the moment.

Kvitfjell or Hafjell for a few days in January?

@thegeneralist – neither really on my radar. Hafjell has a rep for a good park, Kvitfjell for lift access off piste (but not epic). Decent snow common, access to either and not far between them so could do both fairly easily if you’re in the area. What’s the logic of those over other areas in Norway?

Looking pretty good for early December.

Kvitfjell for lift access off piste (but not epic).

Ooh, now we’re talking. TBH lift served off piste is all I’m interested in.

Decent snow common, access to either and not far between them so could do both fairly easily if you’re in the area. What’s the logic?

Good question. I should have added the relevant detail that it is mainly an ice climbing trip but that we’ll probably do some skiing if it gets all fresh. Looking at Gudbrandsdalen area for ice.

We have booked a last minute NY week in Val d’Isere. a relative bargain on an apartment, so plus passes is about £2000 for a week for 4 of us, but the real stinger is there is no parking available to book anywhere in the resort. I have booked a space in Tignes Brevieres! I will have to park and get the shuttle bus if it is running, or a taxi. We’re driving from Scotland so don’t fancy any unnecessary hassle.

I have emailed chasing up a Val d’Isere parking spot. Fingers crossed…

The youngest sent this picture this morning – she’s in Sestriere (Italy) — has to be better than being in school / office

@troutwrestler the Tignes app suggests the bus has started (as of 30/11). But not very frequent. If you download and install it you should be able to see the same.

Thanks, I can see the bus details. As it is we will arrive at Tignes Brevieres late morning, leave the stuff in the car. Go for ski, ski back to the car, take the car out the car park and drive around to check in/unload. I’ll then drive back to TB, dump the car, and try to bus it back. We will probably leave after skiing on Friday, so will have everything packed up. We’ll ski to get the car at the end of the day, drive back to Vd’I, fill it and bolt.

I am a little bit incredulous that there is apparently no paid parking available.