The STW Ski & Snowboard thread. The 2012-2013 season

400! 🙂

Lovin’ yer steeez, braw!

Regardless of whether it is cool or not to ski/board depending on your age……
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Having skied for a long time before boarding, my daughter started boarding a year after I did (she was 14 by then) and was pretty competent very quickly. She hadn’t had a pair of skis on again until 2 years ago (at 22!) and shocked herself at how she was able to keep up with reasonably good skiers.

Moral is – get em to do both as young as possible and they will have the best of both worlds 😉

I assume instructors will insist kids are potty trained?

The word on the street is that the ESF instructors reckon it would take up too much lesson time trying to let kids have a pee when they need one. So they just tell them to pee in their ski suits.

Having helped get a few soiled ski suits washed and dried between morning and afternoon lessons, this may not be a myth…

Nice. Maybe nappies are not such a bad thing then !

Two concerns: I assume instructors will insist kids are potty trained?
And am I going to have to learn to ski to help her??

As I said earlier ESF want them to be three. And we were told they insist that they are potty trained. I don’t know about what stevomcd says as we never recieved a wet child. Other schools might be different with rules. I did see what must have been a child of 18 months max having a private lesson with an ESF instructor at the top of Le Pleney.

I really liked that ESF have a private compound in the village at the bottom of Pleney with a tow rope and a conveyer to get them up the hill.

I’m surprised that they will teach under the age of 3, as the young child’s pelvic bones are still developing according to a ski instructor friend of mine.

Wish I’d started young.

Just thought i’d ask, can anyone suggest a good way to get to Zermatt?? Using plains and trains only. I know the train goes right up to the village, traveled there before from Pila, never from home though!

Two ways to Zermatt, fly to geneva get the train or the way the cognescenti go, fly to Zurich and get the train because there is a dining car on that one. I don’t know whether anyone is running a flight to Sion this year because that significantly reduces the time on the train, but flight tends to be very expensive.

Alternatively drive and park your car down the valley for a week.

However whatever you do when you get there you will love it unless you are on a budget.

Thanks for all the replies! I think she might be wearing some pull-ups for her lessons. She’s been dry for a year but when she gotta go she gotta go…
I’ll take the opportunity to ski, in all my gnarr boarding gear, looking like a right tool no doubt : )

Let’s face it, we all look stupid when on snow! Regardless.

🙂

Self, rocking the loud trousers/subtle jacket stylings that are oh so last year now….
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Top of Grand Serre[/url] by CT663[/url], on Flickr

They’re very bright orange really. Will try and find a better pic somewhere! 🙂

rocking the loud trousers/subtle jacket stylings that are oh so last year now.

Bugger, I just got some bright blue trousers and a black jacket in an attempt to look cool. Well that and my old stuff wasn’t waterproof.

I meant to say earlier that I starters to learn how to ski partially because of the kids. I had done a full snowboarding course at the snowdome but like graham figured that its better to ski when the kids are skiing.

Bugger, I just got some bright blue trousers and a black jacket in an attempt to look cool. Well that and my old stuff wasn’t waterproof.

I still reckon that’s a good shout. The bit you only wear on the slopes should be nice and lairy, the bit you might wear in real life should be subtle enough to mean that you don’t look like a total douche wearing a “LOOK AT ME! I SKI!” jacket around town. 😉

Usual attire for the last two years: bright red jacket, green and white strides…

Probably dont wanna dress like this:

OMFG! Tecnicas? 😯

😉

Nice jacket. Peak?

Haha yeah Diablo 150’s. We were sponsored by them a few years ago so only cost me £140 and now they have softened a bit so no need to swap them now i’m not racing anymore.

Yep Peak jacket – good spot! Was last seasons purchase in the sales in Whistler!

blue trousers and a black jacket

Oh dear…

😀

Yea your right Dez it looks shit. 😆

150s? Bet you’re glad they’ve softened a bit! I ski pretty hard on 120s! Anything above the is race territory, IMHO, and not really what you want for a nice day’s play! 🙂

My boots cost quite a lot less than yours though……. 🙂

Impact 120CS. Moulded shells, custom footbeds. Natch.

But then, I was working for a well known ski-related company at the time! Pretty much all of my current ski gear was ridonkulously cheap! Or free. 🙂

Where should I look to go skiing over new year?

ianpinder – Member
Where should I look to go skiing over new year?

Budget? Group? Skiing style?

sooooo much choice out there!

New Year’s still a little early for some resorts, so I’d be looking for some altitude..

Glitchymogul*

*See what I did there?

Ian – regardless of where you think you should go, you should be booking it NOW, if you haven’t already left it too late.

We’ve been booked out for over 6 months, everywhere else around here is also fully-booked.

Having a look at some new ski gear and Eleven stuff is with Sport Pursuit today. Some of it looks good with a decent tech spec. They also have THIS 😯

Some of that Eleven stuff is bloody awefull. I’m an attention whore but even I wouldn’t be seen dead in that.

Ooh yeah. 80s shell suit vibe!

Holy crapola, that’s awful! Needs more….

I love the old French men that are still wearing their 25+ year old ski gear. They are generally bloody quick, but then I would be too if I wore that. I wouldn’t want anybody to recognise me.

I love the old French men that are still wearing their 25+ year old ski gear.

Swiss too:

😀

Didier – A true legend of the sport! Will miss him from this seasons WC races!

Just out of interest, anyone on here follow ski racing much?

My jacket will celebrate its 20th Birthday next year.

Just out of interest, anyone on here follow ski racing much?

I try to. Childhood memories of Rugby Special, Ski Sunday and lashings of toast on wintry evenings drive me to it!

How about a nice video to get everyone dreaming of the snow:

Just out of interest, anyone on here follow ski racing much?

I love watching men’s downhill, and woman’s slalom. I think woman’s technique in slalom looks more graceful and stylish than the men’s, but I prefer the way men attack the downhill course.

I prefer the way men attack the downhill course.

Especially like watching Bode attacking….It really is win or bust, isn’t it? Balls out racing!

Aksel Lund Svindal for me everytime.

Used to be the Herminator for me. Anyone read his book? It’s very good.

Feel like I have an allegiance to the Swiss skiers like Janka and Feuz as my parents have a place there and we have been going for 10 years now.

Overall king of the slopes has to be Ivica Kostelic though, incredible technical skier!

I’ve read the Herminator’s book

It was a good insight into the professional ski world

I did find his ego a bit grating though

Possibly my fav Bode moment.

Well I usually go to saalbach and have book a week there in march. However my Christmas plans have fallen through so will now have a free week over new year.

I’ll be on my own. I comfortably ski all the blacks in saalbach/leogang and hinterglem