The STW Ski & Snowboard thread. The 2016-2017 season

White tie and tails, all present and correct. And steeze for days

I stand corrected … you are right CFH … he is indeed rockin’ the coat tails – I bet they are quite handy for keeping your bum dry/warm when sitting on a damp chairlift! 8)

For anyone interested in the German mitts howsyourdad1 linked, they’re available for £13 on amazon with free delivery (similar prices on eBay with postage and/or click & collect. (The Euro site was cheapest but wanted €10 DHL plus €3 shipping so was working out around £20.)

Howsyourdad1- I have the Titan gloves. It is indeed a pocket – a most excellently sized for lift passes pocket. No more wriggling oneself around trying to get the lift gate to let one through.

Just yesterday I was stitching up a tear in my 14yr old Level Pipe Mitts. Then a dowsing in Nikwax. Good to go.

Tempted to replace them, as they have been fantastic, but at £80 I think not.

level mitts will go for ever! I lost mine. The level gloves that replaced them did pretty well for a good long time, but more edges and seams to wear out (knuckledragger) meant they spent some time wearing duct tape reinforcement. Still, looking at them thinking “£80 or another week in these?” meant they lasted quite a while longer before I treated myself.

the wrist protector that comes with it and kevlar finger pads were fantastic when I was learning on the board.

Off to Le Fornet for the last week of Feb. Wouldn’t be my first choice, but old friends’ friends place, good deal for fully catered, and the other plan fell through. Not been there since first snow holidays 19 (erk!) years ago with Uni, so looking forward to seeing those mountains again!

Looks like we’re driving down. One pair of Weissenfels Tecna M30 11 for the fronts (FWD only) should do, right?

I had level mitts too, very very good for 3 seasons or so but the ends of the ‘fingers’ frayed badly and got ripped. decent gloves though.

some people in the snowboarding community don’t like mitts as you can’t give anyone the finger with them or point and laugh at Jerry . not me of course!

you can’t give anyone the finger with them

You can, you just have to tell them that’s what you’re doing; specifying one finger or two…

Dexterity required for the “you masturbate” sign is unaffected.

So Sweamrs, Sweajnr and I are just back from a week of backcountry skiing at Mistaya Lodge[/url] in the Canadian Rockies. The first 3 days were cold (-25C) and clear before a monster storm rolled in leaving some fantastic powder conditions in resorts near the border and Northern USA. It’s still snowing now and some Canadian resorts are reporting almost 1m of storm snow (Castle is at 90cm).

I know there are some backcountry tourers on this thread and I can’t recommend the lodges in BC enough. There is everything from child friendly, guided & catered luxury to self guided, self catered huts. The one thing that is common across all of them is that the skiing is fantastic.

A follow up to the informal survey.
Age 37

Kit – well it varies hugely but for the above photos….
Black Diamond Carbon Convert 102mm underfoot with Dynafit Radical FT bindings
Scarpa Maestrale boots
Patagonia Guide Pants with caprilene thermals.
Patagonia Caprilene base
Rab Vapour Rise (The original weight) top.
PHD Down jacket
Black Diamond Mercury Mitts

Swearman, that looks great.
Nice pics, I would love to go back to BC with my kids when they can ski powder, or Kootanee smoke as the locals call it!
I can almost smell that boot room and the aviation fuel in the hangar!

Nice, Sweaman2, close to zero avalanche/stone fall risk in all those pics

Depending on the age etc then you might be pleasantly surprised and if you can fill the lodge then some (like Mistaya) can be very kid friendly. This is one of our friends 10 year old daughters on another pillow line.

@ Edukator – Thanks. Conditions are certainly touchy over here (A mix of 4’s and 3’s depending on location / elevation) so we didn’t hit any big slopes all week. The nice thing about using a helicopter to get in means you’re not really competing with anyone else for first tracks and so have the luxury of skiing as mellow as needed.

Although suffice to say we didn’t hang around long where the 10 year old is standing and you access it from the side where I’m taking the photos.

Nice pics!

Right, I’ve finished Alto’s Adventures, so what other good tablet ski/board games are there?

great pics indeed sweaman2 ! Very nice!

Quick PSA. SportPursuit has a flash sale on Level Gloves until the 12th

sweaman2 – I was coping OK with my season being cut short and having to cancel one of my trips. Until I saw your posts that is. That trips looks amazing.

Off to Morzine this weekend, and looks like the weather will be very good. We have been lucky. So, what’s the best restaurant in Morzine?

Right, I’ve finished Alto’s Adventures, so what other good tablet ski/board games are there?

😯

Good work!

Geoff, I blame a lot of time in the air! Lots of time to kill.

Off to Morzine this weekend, and looks like the weather will be very good. We have been lucky. So, what’s the best restaurant in Morzine?

Les Marmottes, Lindaret.
Last building on the right as you leave the lindaret bowl heading down the piste to the Ardent bubble. Highly recommend sunday lunch when they do rotisserie ham on the bone with dauphinoise potatoes.

Excellent value for money.

Also, surprisingly good value is the assiette for a lunchtime snack at les Trappeurs at the bottom of Intret in Avoriaz. A ridiculously cheap €3 per person, for a chopping board with a perfect selection of cured meats, cheese and bread.

For “best” restaurant in the evening, check out La Chamade and le Coup de Coeur opposite (same chef/owner)
http://www.lachamade.com/en/

not forgetting le Bar á fromages underneath.

Cheese, glorious cheese

So jealous of those pics sweaman2 – looks incredible.

Here’s a nice “People Are Awesome” video of some seriously impressive snow-biking:
https://www.facebook.com/peopleareawesome/videos/1222093384506504/

(Apologies for FB video – it’s not on their YouTube channel yet)

Cheers Stoner. Will check them out.

Flashy – Are you cabin crew? 😉

More photos please 🙂

Those photos are brilliant! I’m rather envious of that 10 year old’s ability to ski…

sweaman – Looks epic!

Got back from Colorado a few days ago. No fresh snow while we were away, but always fun to ski a few new places. 2.5 days at Breck, 1 at Vail and 1 at Keystone. Sunny with a warm sun nearly all week. Good beer too. Typical North American service everywhere apart from 1 German/Austrian style place in Vail where we had the rudest European waitress I’ve met out here. Normally you’d be pissed but this was almost too rude to be taken seriously. We all just had a great laugh about it. Anyway, here’s some photos.

The view from the top of Breck. We were surprised at how small the mountains felt, but with only 1000m between the top and bottom, we shouldn’t of been surprised really, even if you are 4000m.

One of the steeper lines at Breck.

Sunny skies

Vail wasn’t busy

Neither was Keystone.

Then back to Whistler for some sweet sweet powder.

Love that tree splash pic whatnobeer. Nice work!

Looks OK. I suppose.

😉

Bunnyhop – Member
Flashy – Are you cabin crew?

More photos please

Ahem – After a minor distraction above let’s get the thread back on track with a couple more photos of the 10 year old in the mushroom field…

Brilliant!

Ace trews as well!

Sick photos. Would love to ski a nice pillow field like that

Glenshee is open today – doesn’t look that appealing though http://www.ski-glenshee.co.uk/Webcam

Another vote of thanks to howsyourdad1. Those mittens have arrived. Very nice indeed – especially that furry feeling as I plunge my hand into the darkness. Only drawback is no stitching to smugly proclaim the gore-tex within. 🙂

great stuff deadlydarcy!

On the Morzine food recommendations… I personally think le Coup de Coeur is over-rated. Never had great food there but nice spot for a beer in the summer. La Rotunde up near pleney is awesome if you fancy a great cote de boeuf! Petite Linderets in goat village (just down from Marmottes mentioned above) is also very good for typical savoire food (tartiflette etc, and highly recommend the crotes soufflé with mushrooms!)

Great pics Sweaman2!

Only 3 weeks to my long awaited (32years) return to Serre Che along with nine mates. We are staying in Briancon and need to book restaurants for ten each evening. Got any thoughts Captain?

Afraid to say I’ve never dined in Briançon! Only been to the bottom lift a few times as well.

Loup Blanc, in Chantemerle is lovely though.

Edit- the prix fixe menu at the Plein Sud, also in Chantemerle, has always been truly exceptional. Not sure if they could accommodate a big group of non hotel guests though. Worth asking Lynne, either way.