[Closed] The STW Ski & Snowboard thread. The 2016-2017 season

Whitelines stopped printing only a year or so ago, but exist online.
You can still get Onboard, I think

Just bought a new jacket online from TK Maxxxxx . Anyone had one , seen one , tried one on?
Its an O'Neill Jeremy Jones Schoeller Shell

[url= http://www.oneill.com/gb/en/variation?pid=550008&dwvar_550008_color=5500 ]Maxxx Jacket[/url]

£70 , which seems silly cheap. As far as I can tell its a reasonable spec fabric , with what appears to be a slightly longer length body than alot of shells which are 4" shorter than the arms.

I wouldn't expect it to be water resistant / water proof. it will be breathable.
As a general rule, if the blurb says
"highly breathable" = not waterproof
If it says "highly water proof" = sweaty, not breathable.

Schoeller make some great fabrics. And some shit ones.

HTH.

Schoeller C - Change . Their product to rival Gore- Tex .

Schoeller C-Change

But there are some other technologies also competing with Gore Tex, namely Schoeller C-Change out of Switzerland. This is also based on the same technology – a polymer membrane. The C-change story though is based on weather changes, as you heat up, the pores ‘open’ , enough for a water vapor, but not droplets. When you’re inactive, or if its cooler, the pores ‘close’ to keep heat in. This model is based on nature, for example a pinecone. As it sun hits it, it opens up, during cooler weather, it stays closed. Many have found this technology preferable over GORE-TEX as it tends to be more breathable, and offers stretch, for a more flexible comfortable fit. Schoeller C-change fabrics can be found with Mammut, Perfect Moment, and KJUS.

10k /10k rated . Whatever that means and DWR , snowskirt . We will see when it rocks up in a few days .

10k will refer to the waterproof rating

http://www.evo.com/guides/outerwear-waterproof-ratings-and-breathability

To be fair I may have been a bit hasty.

10k/10k is low....

Sorry!

Does it look all of teh sexeh, though?

im off to morocco at xmas...might check out theyre resort whilst im bimbling about...anyone been?

10k/10k is the best I've ever had. Cold blooded though.

Fruit booting is back!

[video] http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FDXfc80eXdU&ebc=ANyPxKqUSwpdiyhaiclQzdRcPkHEXI8mOTZcICFDKM6yezISo0KTR_g9P8N6Ohzy9lbku3jcqKubl3C5yq_t-VfvtgzAK59Hdg [/video]

Experts, eh?

that still looks like Val d'Isere, Grand Pré piste. I'm going to have to watch the video now to check

Nope. Fierberbrunn.

Olympic sport in ... Um .....

Found this web site recently...for all info on every ski resort.

[url= http://www.skiresort.info/ ]Clicky[/url]

im off to morocco at xmas...might check out theyre resort whilst im bimbling about...anyone been?

We tried but couldn't get up there as road was a total jam, first snow of the season (mid Jan) and it was the weekend. Had wanted to ski a few runs. Turned back half maybe 4km from resort, cars on way down said car park was full so no stopping anyway. Will dig out some photos, quite cool to see the white snow against the dusty red rock and the locals having fun throwing snowballs ! Definitely spend time in the mountains, beautiful and less of an attack on the senses (patience) that is Marrakech. Private car and driver is cheap, the slightiy cheesy touristy stop at a locals house for mint tea was surpringly wonderful, slight chill in the air looking over a valley with red mountains, a ribbon of green by the river and apple orchards.

Fieberbrunn? I'll be skiing there in two weeks time.

Are those boots just like... http://sleddogs.com they're used on the celebrity death trap that is Channel 4's The Jump. We went to a Crashed Ice race last year and they had a stall there, didn't see anyone buy any.

Well, me and the bump (and the husband) are off to Tignes tomorrow and we can't wait! Got a great deal on what looks like a fantastic chalet, so hopefully it works out fine.

Can I ask a quick question about skis? Despite having skied since I was 4, I have no idea about what sort of ski I need to ask for in the hire shop. I learned on long narrow skis (the last pair I owned were 185cm - I'm 165cm tall!) and have never quite got to grips with the "new" technology skis.

The only pair of hire skis that I've properly got on with were Salomon BBRs. All the others have felt unstable, like I can't put much weight through them when turning. I pretty much ski exclusively on groomed pistes, and have tended to go late in the season in changeable conditions (although obviously am going early this year). I feel like most skis try to "knock" together when I'm turning on hard snow, and feel unstable at speed. The BBRs were great for doing long sweeping turns on the piste.

I've booked fairly high end skis at the local hire shop but, in my experience, there's usually the chance to guide the shop-people to what I want. Any suggestions on what I should be saying to them?

Tell them what you've said above, basically. Your skis probalby fel like they're "knocking" as you;re skiing old school with your knees and ankles as tight as possible - with the new style waisted skies (especially as you get fatter and fatter underfoot) you do need to widen your stance a bit so perhaps consider an hour or two with a private instructor to work on how you can adapt your technique

Stewart Woodward is a british ski instructor with the ESF in Tignes, he posts regularly on Snowheads (like STW for snowsports but a bit more well behaved - worth asking there too perhaps) and seems to be well regarded. He was very helpful when we had a chat with him in the bar one evening, though we didn't get instruction on that trip

Cheers. Do you think there's a particular property of the skis that I should be looking for (width/camber/rocker/length/weight) or do you think it's mainly down to my 80s style of skiing?

Have thought about doing some private lessons in the past (last did an ESF lesson aged 14) but will probably give it a miss this year due to the pregnancy. Next year!

Well this is depressing. We're going to a ski resort this weekend on a work jolly and we've only packed our hiking boots.. That's a first for early December..

The webcam isn't looking good...
[url= https://villars.roundshot.com/bretaye/ ]Villars Bretaye webcam[/url]

Had 5 cheeky days in Maria Alm, most of the pistes are open and the conditions are ace really.
Until yesterday I was the only snowboarder in the resort I think.

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That is what is known as 'millionaire's snowboarding"

Its amazing. It's normally quiet (never any lift queues) but we've been the only people on almost every piste.

Legolam
Try Newgeneration ski in Tignes
Way better than ESF IMO
Had 3 x 3hrs private lessons with them and learnt alot
Not cheap but better value than ESF

Beanum Villars wasn't the greatest choice tbh for this early. Verbier (Les Chables) is an hours drive.

Legolam - you just want piste skis. As for 80's style that will work but try and keep your feet a little further apart than you are used to and weight a bit more evenly balanced. Have fun, watched this today

Do you think there's a particular property of the skis that I should be looking for (width/camber/rocker/length/weight) or do you think it's mainly down to my 80s style of skiing?

Your height and weight should come in to it a bit. For cruising the groomers, and having some fun, I'd be asking for something along the lines of these as a women's ski;
[img] [/img]

Salomon Astra. Wide enough to cope with some floaty fun in the slack country, but still a nice carver. Obviously, you're at the mercy of your hire shop, but if you've paid for a "premium" package (Well done!) you can try something, then head back in if it's not quite right.

FWIW, I hire skis, and also use the shiny shiny option. Means I can play around with all sorts of stuff. My ski highlight last year was from Nordica, their NRG skis. The women's version is called the Belle, and looks ACE! Nordica Spitfires are rocketship fast piste skis as well.

Oh, and BBRs? Erm....an acquired taste! I demoed them. They were rather fun, if a little compromised. Goodish on piste, and goodish off, but not really great at either. Also, I got bored of answering questions about them at every lift!

Thanks again everyone. I'm so excited, especially having watched that FB video! Hope the baby enjoys it too...

Oh, and BBRs? Erm....an acquired taste!

I think I'll just be a bit braver this year about going back to the shop and changing if I'm not getting on with the ski that they give me.

Also good if the weather changes!

Sorry about this colp

"I am the only tray in the village"

Just jealous

"I am the only tray in the village"

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I apologise. Really. But I couldn't resist the free shot at an open goal.

I have Nordica Wild Belles and they are lovely, responsive, easy to turn. Tend to chatter when you really try on piste but they are great in the fluffy stuff.
I prefer them to the K2 lotta luvs I had before which were probably more piste biased than the wild belles.

Just been looking as some webcams - where has all the snow gone? Grands Massif looks awful. I was planning a quick three days pre-Chrimbo

[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/77/31517728696_700fc4e7d4_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/77/31517728696_700fc4e7d4_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Q27AFs ]Whistler[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75523014@N08/ ]Jamie Carson[/url], on Flickr

[url= https://c5.staticflickr.com/1/181/31517728716_2cf58dc6d7_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://c5.staticflickr.com/1/181/31517728716_2cf58dc6d7_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Q27AFN ]Piste[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75523014@N08/ ]Jamie Carson[/url], on Flickr

Been very cold in whistler the last week or so. Some stunning days for skiing and very quiet slopes. Only problem is I didn't notice my toes freezing and I've given myself frostbite. No skiing for me for a good few days

I've given myself frostbite

'kinel

Pics!

Frostbite or Frostnip (less severe)? Either way take care. Sweamrs got frost nip in some toes a few years ago and it still causes her problems. Having said that -33C in Canmore this morning and she still went for a hike.

[img] [/img]

This view probably doesnt even show them at their worst. The full frontal shot you can see how much they've swollen up. No black or white spots though, so I guess thats a good thing.

Went to the clinic for them to have a look at, advice was just to keep em warm and watch for signs of infection and death

Ugh cut your toenails and heal up fast!

Ugh cut your toenails and heal up fast!

They've already been trimmed to a more appropriate size!

Ouch. That's a good one. From bitter experience the blackness doesn't show for a few while so you're going to have to be careful for the rest of the season I reckon. Toe warmers would be high on my agenda.

A thread full of wonderful alpine scenery and whatno's feet ... on a serious note tale it easy as above you can have long term consequences.

TMH plenty if good skiing about, friends in Val Tho right now. Some nice footage from Val and Tignes on resort facebook. It got warm after the early snowfall, Verbier re-opened the lower bike trails (1650 and down) but still skiing uptop

Toe warmers would be high on my agenda.

As they are on mine now.

on a serious note tale it easy as above you can have long term consequences.

Indeed. Easy to forget that the weather has the same effect in bounds as well as out

Whatno I recall you've been there before but in case no when I lived in NY and skied in NA I had to buy new kit as all my Alps stuff wasn't warm enough. Included a powder mask.

Got to try a few boards today at a snwobkard test weekend here in Åre .

I wanted to try both of these as I want tk add them to the quiver , plus maybe a skeleton key from Burton but they didnt have that.

Spring Break/ Capita slush slasher 147

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Bataleon Camel Toe 158

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Also saw this bold statement car

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Guess it is to tell you whose tyres to let down in the car park?

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The view from our bedroom window to Tignes Le Lac this morning

Very cold all day today, with a mild breeze on the tops. Clear and sunny though, and forecast for similar weather all week. Pistes hard but in good condition, and virtually empty. Great day on the slopes!

Those toes look nasty! I'd be looking at heated insoles.

Had a morning starting at Leogang yesterday, went over to Saalbach and back, nice lunch in Mama T's chicken and fish restaurant at the top of Asitz.
Didn't take many pics but here's one looking down at the bottom of the bike park.
My lad wanted me to hit the cannon on my snowboard but I've pushed my luck a bit much this year already!

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@Howsyourdad1

If you are looking for a short, fun, powder board try and get a test ride on a Salomon Derby. I got a 150cm one last season and it's so much fun. Normally ride 155 - 158 boards but didn't miss the length. Performs amazingly well in the powder and just kept me smiling every minute I had it strapped to my feet.

Quick update on the snow conditions here. Had a blast around above Mottaret and Meribel yesterday. Higher up conditions are good, pistes grippy and fast, a bit like a January during a cold snap between storms. Lower down it's all narrow pistes with cannoned snow. Very surreal riding on a 10m wide strip of snow down the Saulire to Mottaret. Should have more open for Christmas I reckon, looks like they are holding some pistes back for next week. Definitely need more snow though!

Medium term weather forecast for French Alps suggested no significant new snowfall before the end of the year. Static high pressure