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

I did love watching the womens Olympic downhill race in 2010 though. Lots of nail biting finishes and crashes on the hot air jump at the end, including Anja Parson’s crash which was immense! Nearly every 2nd woman crashed in that race as far as I remember. Would love to watch that race again but can’t find it anywhere :(.

I need to get some new lenses for my Oakley goggles.

Any recommendations for online vendors?

A few years ago, we went to Whistler – it was a couple of seasons before the olympics (in fact checking up it was actually 2006), but we knew which pistes were going to be used for the mens and women’s DH races so we made sure to try to ski them. We met up with an Australian friend, who asked if he could bring one of the girls from his Triathlon club. “Of course”, said we”, “the more the merrier – but as you know we’ve all been skiiig a while and we’re ok at skiing so she may be on her own if she’s in lessons and we’re playing in the trees”.

Bastard didn;t tell us until we arrived that his “friend” had skiied for the Australian team for a few seasons. Blimey, she put us through our paces. I only saw her struggle for an hour or so in the entire fortnight, and that was when we went out in powder – as a racer who grew up in Australia then raced in Europe, she just wasn’t used to powder at all. Didn’t take her long to get the hang of it though.

ANyway the point is that we did indeed all ski the DH courses – although not together, we all set off together and she’d finished her coffee by the time we got down – and she explained that in most cases the women’s DH course is actually technically harder than the men’s course. The men ski a lot faster, so they can’t put in the same degree of technicality that they can on the women’s course, apparently. Makes sense to me, though in fairness she was faster than all the men there. A LOT faster. Great trip, though

michael
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-PhtxIWD_M

Wallop, I have to say my preference is always bricks and mortar shops. (Or buying some uber-pimp custom stuff from Oakley directly when I’m in the US…!)

What lens are you after, though? My pick at the moment is Black Iridium (Snow) for the sunshine, and Persimmon for the bad stuff. Both in Crowbars.

Cheers greg big thanks to you!!!

Wallop try freezeproshop. When I bought some A Frames 6 weeks ago they were very good value.

On another note…Bought some of these today and got them fitted…

Very comfy out the box, bit of molding and they seem good to go. Skis are in the shop having bindings mounted and then I’ll be testing all the new kit at Tamworth soon 😆

Very comfy out the box, bit of molding and they seem good to go

Footbeds done as well? Well worth the while, I’d say!

Nice boots!

Flashy, I already have black iridium and was thinking of getting a persimmon lens for the grey days. Is it worth getting a clear lens too? I fancy a go at night skiing.

What are Crowbars? 😳

These beasties!

For night skiing, do you mean under lights? If so, persimmon is perfect, IMO. If not under lights, then;
A – You’re mental. In a good way.
B – High Intensity Yellow would be my lens pick.

Yep all done and dusted, ready for the season. Going to be playing at Tamworth and the nearby dry slope to bed them in a bit and make sure any niggles are ironed out before the season starts.

Really impressed with them, one flick of the latch at the back and boot position changes to make walking a doddle.

They are nice goggles!

Praps I’ll just get the Persimmon then. I don’t think I’ll be night skiing unless it’s lit!

On another note, been to Les Arcs twice this year (once to ski, once to ride). On both occasions we’ve noticed these funny metal poles at the side of the piste – they kind of look like lifted car park barriers.

What are they?

I have blue for night skiing and they are the dogs danglies! Find I also use them in really bad cloud/snowy conditions as they leave great visibility, add great definition!

Just have to make sure I have spare lens when the sun comes out otherwise my retinas do not last long!

Wallop – sounds like it could be for hanging crash netting up to!?

mbydmt – lovely boots, did they come from Freeze Pro Shop? They have some bargains there (thanks for the suggestion) but the nice ones seem to be for “expert” skiiers (which I am not :cry:)

The poles are only on one side of the piste. I think they were about 10-12 feet high. Will carry on googling….

Wallop, no, not local to freezeproshop, just used them for goggles before. Didn’t even realise they did the boots – coincidence!

I got a pair of ‘oakley a frames’ with persimmon lenses for grey days for £60 odd quid, they’re still for sale on the site.

here

I’ve got some oakley frogskins (sunnies) for brighter days and will probably get another lens for my a frames for bright days too.

Found these bad boys:

http://www.surfdome.com/oakley_snowboard_goggles_-_oakley_o_frame_snowboard_goggles_-_dual_vented/persimmon-69788

Thanks for all the help, everyone – I have several shiny new online stores to browse through on a daily basis while I dream of snow!

Wallop, do you wear a helmet? If so, get to a proper shop, helmet in hand (Stop it…!) and try goggles on. They need to “work” with both your head and your helmet.

I really wanted some Splice goggles, but Crowbars fitted way, way better.

I heard someone knocking Technica boots a page or so 😛

Here I mine. I thought they were a bit too stiff after I bought them, but now they’ve softened up a bit and Ive got much better too 😀 .

I heard someone knocking Technica boots a page or so

Not really knocking them! 😉

I just have Salomon shaped feet. Which was jolly convenient, given the nice people at Salomon offering….! 🙂

I’ve already got the goggles – it’s additional, different coloured lenses I’m after.

But just to flip things around, I don’t have a helmet, but I’ll be sure to take my goggles with me when I go to buy one.

so this sports pursuit, is it legit? anyone actual got or not got their stuff? sorry for the slight hijack

fwiw i’m going to valmorel for a first time ski

first time ski

WOOO! Welcome to a world of smiles and expense in equal measure. Like bikes, but on snow. And with added Tartiflette.

🙂

dobo – get on to snowheads forum, they’re always buying kit from sportspursuits 😉 it’s legit, just can take a few weeks to come.

Welcome, prepare to surrender your wallet 😆

Like bikes, but on snow. And with added Tartiflette.

And vin chaud.

And Jäger bombs.

And vin chaud.

And Jäger bombs.

Oh yes…!

excited and a bit clueless about kit, i seem to have in my basket more HH base layers than the cost of the ski jacket/pants haha but i can use them on the mtb, so thats ok right

i doubt i can afford a jager bomb out there, i might take my own though 🙂

CFH going back to you talking about Japan… powder looks deep!

Dobo, the folks on here will be more than happy to share all sorts of info/advice re kitting out for your first time.

You don’t have to start out spending too much. That comes later! 😉

Top tips for noobs;
Gloves. Good ones. Don’t skimp!
Merino is your friend. Less need to wash it!
Helmet. Start as you mean to go on.
Gloves. Did I mention gloves?

😉

Will type more at some point, but as above, am sure we can all help out!

+1 merino – two tops last me a whole week!

Buffs. Pack your buffs.

thanks, i havnt got any gloves yet, going to try a load on this weekend. if anyone knows of some decent but great value gloves for men and women then i’m all ears.
i have buffs and also 1 merino top and probably get ones of these HH warm tops.

hm wasnt sure if i needed a helmet, may sound silly..

I got my gloves from the HH outlet store at Gloucester Quays. £20 and kept my hands toasty warm.

As for gloves keep an eye on TK Maxx – they should have decent brand £30 goretex gloves any time soon. with their other gear – YMMV.

OK so if I decided to broaden my horizons after about 12 weeks of snowboarding…. Are there any ski boots worth buying around the £100 to £140 mark or should I just try and get over my disgust of hire boots? also are there any that aren’t like ice skates for walking in?

After going on my first trip in January And wearing old handmedown kit. I have to agree with flashy, get some good gloves. All my kit got soaked through very easily, which as a learner isn’t great as I kept on falling over. I now have some dare2b kit and some rather lovely Oakley Factory Pilot gloves. Despite my gear being crap all I wore underneath is pants and a l/s merino top and I was bloody hot. That was probably just me as everybody else wore full thermals.

dare2b kit

bloody hot

falling over

Could be the breathability of the kit or too much insulation, however once you get a bit better you will go higher on the mountain, go faster and expend less energy getting up after falling so you might find it okay. Unless it’s black, black jackets are always hot.

No my old kit was crap. I got some dare2b stuff in the sale, I havnt tried that out but it is much better quality than my old gear.

I’m sure your right about me being crap so sweating more however I am always hot. Still wearing shorts and have been since Feb.

Gloves – you chaps may not suffer from really cold hands, however if you do I recommend mitts.
I’ve been wearing them since skiing in temps around -28 (including wind chill factor) in Canada many years ago (skier not a snowboarder) and with full fleece finger inners they are great, not good for picking your nose, though, which I know you boys like to do (as witnessed at many traffic lights – yuk).

Oh and all my skiing clothes are years old 🙁

Isn’t that what traffic lights are for?

😉

V valid point re mitts. Super toasty warm! Hestra make some really good ones, and not too expensive either. Unlike their lovely heli gloves…!