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

I guess they’d try and argue that snowy mountains are a generic snow sports motif. I wouldn’t bet on them winning. IANAL

Chambery is Great if the weather is okay.
It’s Bl00dy shi!e if the weather is not.

I have spent an hour circling waiting to land, we did in the end but nearly got diverted to Lyon. (Low Viz.)
Also spent hours waiting for our plane to take us home, (bad weather)
Flight before us got diverted to Lyon.

BUT, it drastically shortens the transfer to loads of great resorts, so on balance I would go for it..

Grenoble is also rubbish.
I have spent more time waiting for baggage than the flight took.
Facilities are next to useless. If there was an airport not to be delayed at its Grenoble.
Simply not enough check in desks for the sheer number of skiers that transit through there every saturday.
people must miss flights due to the multiple queues for check in , then queue again for oversized bags
Its also miles from Grenoble, so limited public transport options going forward
Le French also decided to use a long alluvial plain and build a tiny airport in a massive feild.

Flying into Turin this Jan so will see if thats any better. Did see a Neilson Chalet offer for £349 in Jan in Andorra if anyones tthinking about booking

Excuse me not going back a few pages to check, but what are expectations for early season. Wondering about a pre-Xmas few days in France (somewhere close to Geneva airport) – looked at a Grand Massif webcam for reference but only a v light dusting of snow so far. What are locals saying for Dec skiing?

The weather is looking bad really good for the next week or so with 40-50cm of snow due at 2000m in the 3 Valleys and across the Southern Alps. Depends on what the jet stream does after that.

Check out this report from WePowder. They tended to be pretty good last season so worth keeping an eye on.

http://wepowder.com/forum/topic/231727

The comments on Chambery reminded me of this

http://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/01/the-charming-little-airport-that-ruins-thousands-of-holidays/

Chambéry airport in south-east France. Framed by mountains and fringed by Lake Bourget, it was founded in 1938 and has not grown much. On weekdays little disturbs the airfield daisies save the tinkle of distant cow bells and a cooling Savoyard breeze. You can imagine the Milka girl dating the guy with the ping-pong bats.

Yet on winter Saturdays, Chambéry’s mask drops. There is weeping, wailing and gnashing of middle-class British teeth. Arguments erupt. Profiteers fleece desperate families. Children shiver. Chambéry airport, you see, is one of the main terminals for British ski-tour operators in the French Alps. Some 250,000 passengers use it annually, nearly all on a handful of Saturdays in December, January and February. The place cannot cope.

Yeh I read that too stoner. We have a friend working for the chalet were staying at in la tain who says chambery is getting an upgrade at the moment and Sundays aren’t too bad so we’ve went with that option. Gonna miss tyrolean gristle though…..

The cannons are on at 1000m in Maria Alm, Austria.
Looking good for a late November start.

I have on the on hand strolled through Chambery in January on changeover day. Once.

The difference with Grenoble is that it isn’t stuck in between a bunch of mountains which means the weather isn’t quite as inclement and is less likely to shut down.

We’ve been through on a number of busy weekends and whilst there are bodies everywhere we’ve always got through with no problem. They did a grand job of holding on to Jnr’s Nintendo DS after he left it on the outbound flight. They couldn’t lay their hands on it though when we asked and we were in danger of missing our flight so had to just leave it… Cue helpful handler sprinting across the tarmac with a Nintendo bag swinging around about 30 seconds before they closed the plane doors.

^^GHOSTS!^^

On-piste refreshment ski security

I pick my new skis up this week and with Junior 1 getting new ones too – rather than the conveyor belt of previous ebay and gumtree specials, so I’ve started to think about securing them whilst partaking in a cheeky mid morning espresso (or what passes for that in Glenshee).

So I’m considering a small cable lock to at least fasten them together or to a fence rail. Any other options?

Looking chunky here in Sweden 🙂

Geoff – check out Loqski. Saw it from a distance at the ski show. No idea if it is any good, but it looks better than the usual cable lock – which I’ve managed to break open with my bare hands after forgetting the code!

Flying into Turin this Jan

Flew into Turin in 2003 to get to valle d’aosta … swore I would rather scoop my eyes out with the back of a soup spoon than go via Turin again … following year went to vallee d’aosta via Geneva/MB Tunnel.

Flew via Turin again earlier this year thinking that things must have improved with the passage of time, and they have … checkin was a breeze but boarding was full of the afore mentioned Brits wailing and nashing their teeth – I thought it was really gonna kick off! 🙄

TMH you can’t tell this far out. Been plenty of snow in Val Tho last few days, Val d’Isere also posting snowy resort pics. More due in next few days. Verbier went from lovely sunny MTB closing day last weekend to snow this. Buy cheap retrun flights now and pick a resort later. Have friends who will be skiing weekend of Dec 15 in Verbier and I may join FYI.

Geoff – check out Loqski. Saw it from a distance at the ski show. No idea if it is any good, but it looks better than the usual cable lock – which I’ve managed to break open with my bare hands after forgetting the code!

Thanks, looks interesting – I think a cable lock might be lower maintenance (if not as secure) for locking a couple of sets together. I guess it’s about making the thieves pick up another pair rather than stopping the determined tea leaf.

Alpine Elements reposted Les Arcs photos and report that 80cm is due by Thur. Early days and it can warm up bit looking good so far. Stevo from White Room also posting.

I’ll just leave this here for you set as your desktop

http://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/zellamsee/#/2016/11/08/1900

The webcams are looking amazing at the moment. Let’s hope it some of it sticks around even if it’s just the stuff higher up.

Has anyone seen the Saas Fee crowdfunding deal? 222CHF for a season pass, so long as 99,999 sign up for it by the end of Nov. They only take payment if they’re successful. https://www.we-make-it-happen.ch/index.html#shop the local tourist office have confirmed that this is a genuine offer. Good deal if you haven’t yet settled on where to go.

Can anyone recommend a backpack for snowboarding please . Needs to hold avalanche gear and I guess a bladder for water, plus a sandwich and a can of strong foreign lager. Would be nice if I can strap the shred stick* to it. A day pack, if you will ….

* powder plank, mountain missile etc

Tea Tray Tote?

My standard luggage response is Osprey, because they’re good packs from good people. Kamber 22?

*Edit – Not sure you can strap your powplank to it. Might need to be the larger 32 and above.

Not a DaKine, though. Frightfully common.

😉

Can anyone recommend a backpack for snowboarding please . Needs to hold avalanche gear and I guess a bladder for water, plus a sandwich and a can of strong foreign lager. Would be nice if I can strap the shred stick* to it. A day pack, if you will ….

* powder plank, mountain missile etc

I bought the dakine heli pro because I wanted helmet stowage too. Decathlon for budget and some pricier options including Bergans on THAT flash sale site.

Osprey Kode? Choose you size but a nice bag.

I worry about keeping the lumpy bit of the shovel away from my lumpy spine.

What size would i need in say the dakine? 32l sounds little big for a day bag

A shovel, probe and transceiver is quite bulky, but the Osprey Kode or Dakine Heli Pro are around the 23-30l mark.

Ta , went for this bad boy

Quick look at the Serre Che webcams during a conference call earlier. Much snow. Much.

Nice choice howsyourdad1 … clean and simple!

I like a lot Dakine’s gear but I’ve never got on with the ‘ubiquitous’ HeliPro etc … too many straps etc and it’s not stable enough for strapping a long board on your back.

Never quite understood why so many people insist on wearing a chuffin’ great big backpack when they are just cruising ‘inbounds’ … and they can be a royal pain in the butt/downright dangerous when folk insist on wearing them on the chair lifts – especially when they are busy!

Nice sac, hyd1!

Lucky wife. No excuse for slow transitions now!

ned – are those Arcs? Are they a lot quicker to transition, or just a bit?

Cheers yes it is a clean sack 🙂 ta for the tips

bluebird, yup, last year’s women’s arc, slightly discounted from bluetomato.

Not sure about speed. I started with the Gen 2 Spark ignitions, then got the Blaze so mrsrapier could have the Ignitions. Personally, I’d sooner get a new board than upgrade the Blazes. If you’re well practiced, it can’t make a huge amount of difference time wise to pull the pin rather than pull the ramp. Could be 10-15 seconds. But it’s definitely simpler, and if you’re prone to flapping a bit when you’re tired, it’ll save more time.

There are other things that make them worth an upgrade: they’re a load lighter than the ignitions – 1880g/pair > 1250/pair, the highback is easier to flip from tour to ride, the climbing wire is easier to use and has 2 steps, and works with the crampon without needing an additional wire on the crampon.

Most importantly, they’re the right size for her boots. Possibly least importantly, they’re the wimminz version, so they’ve got a slightly lower highback.

Thanks ned. Me and mrsbluebird are both on Burners with the pin system. She’s a little slower than me swapping over, but she’s not a massive faffer. We usually ride in a mixed bunch with with skiers and they’re ready to go in seconds, so anything to reduce the time to swap over would help.

Not worth 2 lots of £375 + £90 for the crampons, I’d say.

2 x 13.50 for these, though – well worth it!

http://www.facewest.co.uk/Coll-Tex-Pro-Skin.html

They’re a neat idea. We use cheat sheets, then roll them up and tuck inside our jackets to help warm the glue.

Yeap, £800+ is a lot of cash, especially when you consider we’re lucky to use our gear than half a dozen times or so a season. I must try harder on the lottery and buy a cabin in the mountains.

Destination suggestions please!

Direct flights from Scottyland

Sub 3hr transfer

Chilled out, reliable snow, not fussed about the apres scene at all, just a couple of nice bars for an evening beer, no mega resorts but at least 130km of pistes. We’re both knackered and are mainly looking to cruise around, so lots of blues and reds with the odd cheeky black run.

Advice and verbal abuse appreciated!