The STW Ski and Snowboard thread – 2011/2 Edition

Your lucky, I’m not going until March. Where in Austria?

Schladming.

We love Austria. It is our default choice when heading to the Alps.

Schlad is fairly small compared to some places, but the pass covers multiple different hills, including a glacier. We liked it enough last year to go back this year. Reasonably priced beer was a major factor 😀

Oh and they have fairly top notch facilities at the mountain (tons of snow cannons, fast lifts, changing facility and ski lockers) thanks to the Ski World Cup visiting there.

We’re also currently looking to see if we can squeeze in a cheeky lads holiday as well this season.

Anyone been to Slovakia???

http://www.chaletslovakia.com

however I was really impressed by the friendliness of the Austrians and not being ripped off for beer and food

I’ve made my bed, in that I own a chalet in Morzine; I love the place winter and summer, and will probably semi-retire there in years to come. That said, Austrians really know how to do mountain food and drink, far more so than the French, and the prices are consistently more reasonable.

FWIW I have been to Ellmau twice with the family and enjoyed it greatly both times. I would certainly go back.

nickf

Is your chalet for personal use or do you rent out?

There’s a load of the girls from work out there right now and I think they go every year and love it.

Anyone been to Slovakia???

Three times in the last five or six years and kinda know Paul who runs http://www.propagandasnowboards.com which was the first Brit chalet in Jasna.
It’s a pain to get to now there’s no direct flight to Proprad. I can give you some tips if you wish.

Beer is only 2 or 3E on the slopes. Maybe only 1E in town. Around 5 years ago it only around 40p/pint

jamiep: yeah I was looking at Propaganda too. Their accommodation website is: http://www.snowboardslovakia.co.uk/accommodation.html

Both chalets are regulars on SCUK threads about cheap holidays. They both suggest flying to Bratislava and transfer from there?

Any tips you think would be useful would be most interesting. Just at the chin-stroking phase at the mo and still to get past the wife-begging phase.

Beer is only 2 or 3E on the slopes.

Yeah and £229 for a weeks B&B in a chalet ain’t bad either!

still to get past the wife-begging phase.

That’s always going to be the hardest part! 🙂

Not being one of the landed gentry like CFH, I’m not sure I would go back to a French ski resort tbh – I prefer not to feel violated if I want to stop for a brew.

In St Johann even at the top of the mountain you could buy a large beer for 3 euros, or a gluhwein for 3.50, and it was tasty and came in a big mug. Compared to a minimum of 5 euros for a pint down in the village in most French resorts

Fits my thinking…

Italy has always been my preference, based on food and drink quality & value.

Not tried Austria – will have to address that failure.

Not tried Austria – will have to address that failure.

Try Mayrhofen if you like your apres. 😀

Woody,
Kirchdorf is a great base to ski the local area. You’ve got the whole of Kitzbuhel, Waidring and Sankt Johann to go at. More than enough for a week.
.

GrahamS

Try Mayrhofen if you like your apres.

or Ischgl or St Anton.

Italy has always been my preference, based on food and drink quality & value.

Ski through espresso bars FTW! 8) I did a Christmas trip to Sauze a few years back. Loved it, especially the food!

^^^ yep CFH, Italy for Family hols at half term.
and Austria for a lads trip in March.

Ski through espresso bars FTW!

I remember a mountain hut (might be in the ‘hoff) that had whole roast chickens slow roasting on a big ass grill outside. You could smell them from the top of the piste and they tasted awesome.

Being Scottish, roasted meat appeals far more than roasted coffee. 😀

Any thoughts on these boots? Overkill for a piste rider? Marketing BS? Any better just for stomping between chalet and ski lift when carrying all wife’s kit and mine…? I’m consider buying some boots for the first time but don’t know what to get. Salomon seem to have a whole range of these hike/ski boots that seem to be able to unlock for a bit more flexibility when out your bindings but still lock and act as a normal boot skiing.

I’m not sure if it’s a genuine improvement in tech or just marketing. The all mountain tag is all too familiar and makes me cringe but if it’s still nice and stiff for skiing it doesn’t seem a bad idea.

The blurb on them is this:

The Quest 10 is a dual-role adventure boot for confident all-mountain skiers. Built for accessing harder to reach areas without compromising piste ability, it’s perfect for skiers who mainly ski in-bounds but maybe hike occasionally to find fresh turns. The 110 flex is firm, the 55mm Energyzer strap adds power and the PU shell is precise.

Being Scottish, roasted meat anything deep fried appeals far more than roasted coffee

FTFY! 😈 😉

We went to Italy this year because I’d never skied there before. Loved it.

Loved Ellmau too when we went, hence why I’m keen to try Kitzbuhel at Easter (but been conditioned to think I must go very high late in the season).

Grostl, Kaiserschmarrn, Gnermknoddel, Gulaschsouppe mmmmmmmmmm

JAL, I looked at Quests last year and decided against. For the hobble to the lifts, normal boots and a silly walk are fine. I’m not really doing anything that involves longer walking (getting to those secret stashes on foot) so I decided to go for a “normal” boot.

If you’re likely to do more backcountry stuff, off the beaten path (and also, more importantly if they fit your feet!) then have a look at them.

One other minor point I found with them, and other three buckle boots, was that I couldn’t get teh fit quite as comfortable around my beefy toned, muscular cyclists calves.

JustAnotherLogin, forget the blurb and the branding. Get the boot that fits best.
Generalising here but for example Atomic are built on a wider last and Lange on a narrow one.
Skinny feet here = Lange.

Ecky

I think you might mean Kirchberg. Kirchdorf is much smaller and without links.

Grostl, Kaiserschmarrn, Germknoddel, Gulaschsouppe

Food of the Gods! Every one of ’em a classic, especially the Grostl (proper man food)
Easy to make it at home too.

I think you might mean Kirchberg. Kirchdorf is much smaller and without links.

Oops 😳
Yep

Same as Ecky – I have skinny feet = Lange boot wearer.

No worries Ecky – a good mistake to make as I’ve now added Kirchberg to my list of ‘possibles’ for March 😉

Grostl, Kaiserschmarrn, Germknoddel, Gulaschsouppe

Again, for some reason my Scottish genes prefer the Currywurst.

😀

GrahamS, you utter son of a bachelor! Currywurst!

Hungry now! 🙂

Graham, Grostl has a fried egg on top though, what Scotsman wouldn’t like that?

Hmmm… as long as I can scrape the green stuff off. I don’t do green.

I don’t do green.

I once stayed in Edzell for a wedding. Lovely waitress would come round at dinner and serve you your veg. Poor lass always had to say, “Would you like any………..er………..um……….Green stuff?” when she was serving anything that wasn;’t a carrot! 🙂

LOL Spoken like a true Scot!

Gnermknoddel,

Gnermnoedel- ah yes, also know as Dolly Parton’s pudding.

We also tried Austria this year (I’ve been several times) as hubby had never skied there.
We were so impressed with the lovely warm hospitality, good, inexpensive food and just all round friendliness of the Austrian folk.
Although the down side for me is the flat section around the resorts and having to bus everywhere with the inconsiderate lack of queueing.

CFH – We’re off the Serre Che in March, save some snow for us please? Oh and don’t eat all the cake.

take Profeet off the list of good bootfitters.

Sounds like you didn’t have a very good experience with them which i’m surprised at because mine was a god send and the best money Ive ever put towards skiing. I have weird shaped feet and was in a lot of pain with my boots before going there.

Did you buy your boots from there or just try and get the ones you had properly fitted?

Also who worked with you? I had Michelle, small dark haired girl. Very good.

JustAnotherLogin – Member
Any thoughts on these boots? Overkill for a piste rider? Marketing BS?

As said above, don’t buy boots based on the marketing, buy boots that fit you – and that doesn;t means boots that feel comfortable! Go see a reasonable bootfitter and listen to what they say. A good bootfitter will send you away without boots if he doesn;t have something in stock that will fit your foot – a bad bootfitter will just sell you whatever yo say feels ok.

Where are you based? Then we can recommend someone to see

I’m London. I will naturally check fit. It’s like bike helmets, some I can’t wear at all.

Italy= best food and hot chocolate but I’m going to Andorra for my second time. A long transfer but nice cruising slopes for the wife and spa to keep her happy while I get in a few more runs.

Did you buy your boots from there or just try and get the ones you had properly fitted?

Also who worked with you? I had Michelle, small dark haired girl. Very good.

Booght the boots there and custom insoles.

It might have been her as the description sounds right. She used to work at Snow and Rock at Chertsey as she fitted some Langes there for my wife, and a year or so later I go to Profeet and get her again – obviously just after her training.

I questioned her about the heels of the insoles not reaching the back of my foot but she reckoned it was fine – but it clearly was not. Maybe it was a learning mistake, but the refusal of Hamish to address a clear problem means I won’t ever let a recommendation for them go unchallenged 🙂

In Tahoe they fixed my problem with the heel cup with the simple trick of putting my bare foot with lipstick on into the boot and making me lean side to side to find the contact points, and then gradually dremelling off the offending protusion (from the boot, not my heel).

Michelle, however, seemed a bit flumoxed by it.

Worst thing was all my mates got perfectly fitting boots in Tahoe from some expert bootfitters, and all for a lot less money than I paid trying to support our local expertise!

CFH – We’re off the Serre Che in March, save some snow for us please? Oh and don’t eat all the cake.

🙂 Been before? Or would you like some tips? I have plenty!

JAL, my tip for boots would be Snow and Rock Kensington. Make sure you get either Neil, Amy or Chris. All three are very, very good. Amy did a fit for a friend the other day and she was superb, as are the boots. (If you want, you could try ringing around to see where either Rick or Rob are, the training team. Both great guys, and both superb fitters. IIRC, Rob is in Covent Garden on some saturdays. )

ip the top of the boot forward and your prssure moves forward.

Spoilers between the calf are popular after-market accessories amonst racers. The trainer that asked me to chock my sons boots got as high as 27th in the world ranking when racing – he drills and rivets his own boots in a forward position. Even rivited the boots still flex enough for him (he’s not heavy BTW). Riviting might be a bit extreme for most STWers but a calf spoiler may be just what they need.

As for rolling your ankle, you’re pulling my leg right? Piste boots have canting to adjust the angle but almost no sideways flex. The manufacturers do their utmost to eliminate that as any sideways flex at the ankle means that under high load in tight tiurns you will not be able to hold the ski at the optimum angle.

Thats nice. I’m not being disagreeable, I’m just passing on my experience as a instructor trainer. Canting is there to adjust for your normal biomechanics, to get the boot flat. You might even need to cant bindings gently. You turn a ski through pressure, not by turning your foot. You get pressure on the inside (or outside) edge by effectively rolling your ankle in the boot, of course the part I assumed people would get was that as the boot is a close fit this translates to a pressure transfer sideways and forwards as the process of ankle movement will naturally load your weight forward.
I know all about calf spoilers etc and have done a reasonable amount of GS and slalom racing inc WC forerunning in both hemispheres. If you watch people, and i mean general population of ‘advanced’ skiers. There is a natural point at which if you push them forward they actually fight it and move the pressure back, it’s very interesting. Racers can defintely get away with more aggresive forward cuffangles as they don’t spend most of their time meandering around and they also rely on having very little flexion in the cuff of the boot. For most people i would not put them in that position and/or use a cuff spolier. I would however teach them to use their ankles. All told a well fitted boot, as in the right shell shape for your foot, and a decent footbed with good posting will improve most recreational skiers technical skills.

Been before? Or would you like some tips? I have plenty!

Yes. At least 3 times. Is that awful pinging ‘button’ lift still there? Even seasoned skiers went flying through the air to the amusment of everyone queuing.
I also remember hubby having a loud argument with the owner of a mountain restaurant (he speaks fluent French), who wouldn’t let me use the ladies. By that time we’d been used to the hospitality of North America, where customer is king (or in my case Queen).

awful pinging ‘button’ lift

The one in Villeneuve? Yes. It is.

I’d imagine the restaurant in question was at the top of the Frejus bubble. If so, it is indeed awful!

TurnerGuy

—

Sounds like you had a bad experience there alright. Maybe she was fresh out of training. I have very odd shaped feet though and it was a total improvement for me. I bought my ski boots in italy and a boot fiting process was pretty much non existant where i got mine. I was just told to try on a few and go for which ones felt the best.. so needless to say I ended up having problems with them.
The prices there in Profeet don’t seem bad compared to here in Whistler anyway!

I agree it was poor form for them not to help you out afterwards or get back to you. I’d still go there again after my experience with them!

Also I presume you mean Tahoe in US??

Also I presume you mean Tahoe in US??

yep.

The bootfitter (Brent) my mates went to was also fitting boots to a local who was a USAF pilot and had lots the front half of his foot in an airplane crash.

Brent had made the front half of a foot out of wood and hollowed it out so it fit snug against the guys foot stump. He then cut a boot in half, put the wooden foot into it, and fused it back together so the pilots bad foot would be supported.

As the pilot was a local he was a back country skier, so it needed to be a good job.

Another fitter was fitting a lady who had had her foot sown back on after a car crash.