The STW Ski & Snowboard thread. The 2015-2016 season

7 sleeps to Whistler.

Woop. Conditions are pretty good out here at the moment. We’ve been getting a fair few storms rolling through but luckily the freezing level has stayed pretty low.

If you’ve not been out here before, or have but are looking for more detailed maps with runs that aren’t on the official maps check out Whistler Mountain Mapping[/url]. The maps are high res and geo coded so you can get a GPS marker of your location and use it to track your runs. As I said, it’s also got a lot of zone and runs marked on there that aren’t on the official maps and until recently you might of struggled to find, or not gone head down due to not know where you’d end up.

Flaine in 16 days for me. Off piste guiding / instruction trip with UCPA via action-outdoors. bit excited…

Good week in Morzine / Port Du Soleil . very busy as expected – my top tip – get out of the middle of the resorts to the outlying Reds, a lot less busy. Snow not bad but could do with another dump now. Final 100m of Morzine/Les Gets a bit of a mess.

Chatel is worth the long ski/lift around, barely anyone on the runs over the back.

whatnobeer – Thanks for the tips. I know it pretty well to be honest and have spent a lot of time there. Half the time we’ll be in bounds, the other half hiking. Hope to get to a few areas that I’ve not got to before. Friends tell me the temp is dropping so hopefully the stability is improving.

GrahamS/Digby/stevomcd – I will have to check that book out. I had my riding ripped apart in a brilliant lesson about 12 years ago in Whistler. I was your classic 90’s euro snowboarder, all high stance angles and tucked in back knee. It all focussed on a centred stance/weight over the edges, but some body rotation was still OK. I remember at the start of the lesson the instructor saying, “Well you guys can obviously ride, it’s just that we don’t ride like that anymore.” In 3 hours he completely rebuilt the way we ride.

classic 90’s euro snowboarder, all high stance angles and tucked in back knee

Aye .. that style was still really popular when I had my first lessons at Sheffield Ski Village.

I watched ‘Let it Ride: The Craig Kelly Story’ again recently and that whole dropped/tucked in back knee seems kinda ‘kooky’ now, but it was obviously incredibly effective with the boards they were riding at the time!

Yes, those old videos look a bit tame compared to the stuff being put out now. My first board was asymmetric, my front foot was something like 45°. How things have changed.

Well Winter finally rocked up last week but won’t be hanging around. Don’t forget the sun cream and +6°C wax.

BBC Sport have posted a nice 360 POV video of Graham Bell doing the Kandahar.
https://www.facebook.com/BBCSport/videos/1002407333179633/

Very nice being able to look down at his skis chattering along or just admire the view 🙂

@Edukator 🙂

Jnr has returned home from a week in Kuhtai with school. He has enthused about the conditions, which for him to enthuse about anything is a miracle.

He returned with a certificate for best skier of the week, but more impressively with one for best flirt of the week – dunno where he gets either qualities from!?

Last day in the office, then off to Whistler tomorrow. Just want the temp to start dropping over there now. How’s it holding up whatnobeer? Would like to see the Avy risk drop a bit.

Rone – good to know. We’re out in Chatel for a week from 5th March. Which runs are you referring to? Was the snow still holding up?

Love old fashioned v modern technique stories

I learnt first in Austria in 70s – all shoulder position and legs locked together, then France in the 80s – angulation, dynamique and legs a little wider and then along come carvers and its legs wide apart like a cowboy with the squits. So fun to mix it all up, except in the deep whet the old tried and tested techniques suit me best.

I have to consciously imagine a beach ball between the knees to avoid slipping back into good old Austrian style though!! Not the best for carvers!!

Gapping a helicopter, nice.

Brilliance. Utter brilliance.

Last day in the office, then off to Whistler tomorrow. Just want the temp to start dropping over there now. How’s it holding up whatnobeer? Would like to see the Avy risk drop a bit.

Freezing level has dropped right down over the last few days, and it’s a beautiful clear day at the moment, but it’s meant to start creeping back up over the next day or two. Snow conditions are decent though and we should be due a bit more snow around the weekend.

liked the tree bonk in that ski vid, thanks for posting.

That Candide clip is, as usual, absolutely mental.
Seeing that they put the birds in using a bit of trickery last time around, would it be too much for them to stick a shark in the lake for him to jump at the end of this one to round off his trilogy properly? 😀

Thanks whatnobeer, we’ll be there this time tomorrow (sort off with time difference). Can’t wait, it’s been a couple of seasons since we were last there.

Rone – good to know. We’re out in Chatel for a week from 5th March. Which runs are you referring to? Was the snow still holding up?

Don’t know the names but the runs from the Morgins direction.

Snow was great apart from last 100m or so.

3.5 sleeps (bloody stupid early flight) til Avoriaz. Woo hoo. New area for me so quite looking forward to just cruisy exploring this year.

Strandafjellet today.

Candide Thovex has single-handedly almost made skiing cool. Almost.

Duuuude….

Glen Plake was so cool it made his hair stand up on its own with no help whatsoever 😉

Met Plake once. Lovely chap.

Massive hands.

Me too – he signed my videos (yes that long ago). Very nice bloke and loved the two falls (1) at Grands Montets over the crevasse and (2)down the gully on the Aiguille de Midi – the good old days of K2 extremes (I think??)

I wonder how his knees are now?

How are conditions in the Alps shaping up? might try and sneek a quick trip out in next few weeks…

I thought no. 4 was may favourite until I saw no. 1 😯

I think the term is…..’hang time’! 8)

How are conditions in the Alps shaping up? might try and sneek a quick trip out in next few weeks…

I’m based in Montriond outside Morzine in the Porte de Soleil. It’s been a frustrating season so far… no snow, snow, rain, snow, rain etc. If the temps had been consistently a few degrees lower it would have been an epic season. As it is every time we have good snow we seem to get a thaw and rain immediately after. Consequently the off piste base is fairly thin with a lot of sink holes about.
Last Friday was a lovely powder day over in Linga, Plein Dranse and Lindaret. Sunday was heavy crust over porridge in the Vallee de la Manche. Last night was heavy wet snow and today it was raining most of the way up the mountain so snow was heavy, wet and slow. A lot of slides in the off piste areas too.
So usual advice for a spring trip out – go high.

thanks – was thinking 3V, Espace Killy or Peissey (club med) or take THM mini to Chamonix for V Blanche – but not sure on timing conditions for that this season

Schnullelieber, where are you in the village? I’m back out in a couple of weeks to L’Orée. Are you working out there?

Yeah those fancy freestyle crashes are good Rockape, but you’ll never beat this classic:

OUCH!

Stoner,
I ski (board) bum for 3 months a year. Two doors down from the Marmotte d’Or towards Morzine.

Aha.
I know just where you are.
I’m to be found in Fleck and Aisha’s company most nights when I’m in the area.
PM me if you get a chance, would be fun to meet for a pint of ibex.

Rockape63 – Member

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRPTF_nRLlk
I thought no. 4 was may favourite until I saw no. 1
I think the term is…..’hang time’!
#9 He broke his back, you know

89cm of snow forecast in the next 9 days in Grimentz where I’m doing an off-piste/touring instruction week……

IN 9 DAYS TIME!!!! GET THE **** IN!!! 😀 😀 😀 😀

where are you getting 9 day forecasts from 😉

http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/snowreports/snowreport.aspx/Grimentz#.Vs7gtMfdvgo

Don’t care if it’s not accurate, it’s what I’m choosing to believe!

#9 He broke his back, you know

No..Thovax? Surprised he hasn’t broken his neck by now!

As for crash no. 8…..that was just **** mental! Just asking for disaster. 😯