I know, right? It’s still summer, but here we are again! The clamouring for the next edition had begun, so it seems only fair that I spend a little while on a rain dappled evening to kick off the 2017-2018 season of what is consistently one of my favourite threads on this here site.

What makes it so good? Well, it’s you lot. It’s the pictures, the stories, the shared experience, the learning and the humour. Oh, and the fact that we all hate bladers in equal measure.

So, what does the year hold? Am hoping, finally, to get Little Miss CFH and The Boy off to the slopes in January, and finding it hard to see beyond my fave old stomping ground. Am still desperately searching for a work justification to get to Japan to tag on a trip there. Montana is looking fairly likely for another trip (or two) given what’s going on in the paperclip industry at the moment (Ahem. 8) ). You?

And what about all the shiny newness? Anything caught the eye? For me, it’s this lot…

The new Salomon XDR range. Nice looking all mountain planks.

Nordica Navigators, the NRGY replacement. Tidy!

Not exactly my kind of kit, but these look astonishing. Salomon S-Lab X-Alp

In the “Not sure if awesome or awful” category, the Blizzard Spur

Rossi continue with the fugly tips.

About time for this thread.

Courcheval area for us at the end of Jan, hoping for powder again after this year.

Not sure i can justify a new board yet, but want to try a bataleon again as it didn’t work when i was a proper newbie

grahamt1980 – Member
About time for this thread.

Everyone’s a critic…. 🙂

Nope, I’m firmly a follower on this one, but very appreciative that it is here

!!! All hail the Mini Tree Hunter !!!

Glad the thread is back! For next season….

Getting my son shredding the gnar wave , he starts last year and on the final day of the season it all seemed to click and he was doing great. He kept saying ” speed is my friend” haha!

For me, getting my splitboarding game on next season, A) because I’m getting older and that’s just the evolution isn’t it and B) I really enjoyed it last year. Will be staying in Sweden due to house building and money but would love to head further afield, like Riksgransen or something.

I also want to try the step on bindings from Burton

Seems early but as I booked an Austria trip last week – maybe not! Seven months and counting.

I also want to try the step on bindings from Burton

This is one of those things that surely has to be cracked at some point. Someone has to make something work, in the way that Shimano made SPD work, and then others followed on with variants. The Burton ones do look pretty clever from what I’ve seen.

Those Salomon X-Alp are basically the same as Arcteryx Procline (same company) so should be good for the tourers amongst us, only heard good things about Procline from last year, even on the downs which wasnt supposed to be their forte.
The new Scott S1 looks interesting.

Woohoo!

Mini break in Samoëns this year for us, some time in early March. Normally squeeze in a second week but our planned sabbatical next summer won’t allow us the holiday. #hardlifeiknow

Not skied in the Grand Massif before – looking forward to it!

Excellent, the ski thread in July 8)

Having not skied at all in 2016/17 I am determined to get out for a few shorter breaks at least. Given the surgeon said no acl replacements where worthwhile (in his opinion others to be consulted) and I should wait till I can’t walk for total knee replacement ( 🙁 ) I may as well get on the snow and really wear the knees out ! Getting all my grumpiness out in one go the worst news is my friend who has lived in Verbier for 15 years and always put us up for free has moved to Munich 🙁 🙁 🙁 how very inconsiderate of him.

Anyway my biggest wish is for a decent season snow wise and a good early fall to get those cheeky days in before Christmas and a good base for the rest of season.

Last went snowboarding winter 2011, that certainly needs to change! Hopefully this winter!

Woo hoo ! Bring it on, planning another Les Gets family gig and a couple of boys weekends as well as some more logbook time at glenshee if it snows. Up for another set of skis – those nordicas look lovely, ran qst92 last year which impressed. MiniNzcol picked it up well last season and has 2 weeks at the Hillend Alps Ina few weeks to keep learning, says she’s well up for more pizza and chips (she’s 4)! Mrs NZCol took a big step last year and really started to find the middle of the ski and use her ankles, did THE turn and it all clicked. I’m aiming for my re-certification soonish so I can move into career phase 2, the one where I don’t earn anything !!

The coming year will be the worst for snow in thirty years I guarantee. I’m buying a downhill season pass… . ❗

We packed ain’t off on a training camp today. Does that class as 2016-17 or 2017-18?

I’ll go with the latter as he’s already moved up into the U18s, probably one of the only 15yos racing in that category a few weeks ago. Problems of a late birthday!

Where’s the training camp, Hammerite? Junior was in Val for two weeks but the Iseran closed and they had to move over to Les Deux Alpes for the next two weeks. The queues were dreadful. The Italian coaches had kids sleeping in sleeping bags in the lift queues at 5:30. The reamaining patches of snow are under siege. On a positive note the northern Alpes will be getting snow above 2500 tomorrow.

In the “Not sure if awesome or awful” category, the Blizzard Spur

Awesome. Not even a question. Big fat crushers skis. I just wish i had the legs to drive a ski like that.

I think this year will be a year off , not bad considering 18 years on the snow at Christmas around the world

Its been amazing but I felt old last year and didn’t want to go out on crunchy powder shit, I think that’s the way of things

Bugger that I just bought a new board 🙂

Good luck to all of you heading out, wish you a beautiful powder day

Easter 2018 booked.

Met up with my American cousins two weeks ago for the first in years and a Rockies trip with families is being planned for 2019.

Am hoping, finally, to get Little Miss CFH and The Boy off to the slopes in January, and finding it hard to see beyond my fave old stomping ground.

Look at http://www.skifamille.co.uk too

And I thought the Blizzard Spur in your picture was a split board at first glance

Perfect timing CFH … thanks for starting what has also become my favourite reoccurring thread! 🙂

Disappointing July weather means it’s time to start making plans for next season, including trying to make some improvements in fitness and flexibility …

Christmas in Val Thorens booked about 2 months ago.

Going with BIL + wife, nieces and nephew, and a few of their friends.

A few of them first time skiers so should be interesting…

It’ll be the first time I’ve done a week of boarding for years so hopefully I can remember how to do it…

Stiff upper lip and put your best foot forward, jim

Old boots have died ( and did about 25 weeks so not bad) and looking at Touring boots this time – so interested…

I think the Salomon touring bindings did have some early catastrophic failure issues… sorted now

The coming year will be the worst for snow in thirty years I guarantee.

Here’s to hoping you are wrong (and not just because you are Edukator)!

It’s my 40th year next year so planning 2 weeks if I can, one January (probably Les Arcs again) and one March , so please, please please let there be snow, huge, copious dumps of powdery lovely snow.

There was a smiley, Toby. It was meant in jest. If I fork out for a season pass Sod’s law says the season will be awful.

Can anyone make sense of the Eurostar/SNCF sites? I’m looking at booking transport now for an early December long boys’ weekend. Train appeals but flights sure are easier to book!

I managed 10 1/2 days on the slopes last season which is a record for me but one I hope to beat this coming season with a solid week somewhere and a coupel of shorter trips.

Hi Stoatsbrother
My OH ventured into touring boots last year. He has Scarpa Freedom boots and really rated them for both downhill and touring. Our bindings are Marker and they were faultless too (both downhill and touring although they are not light). If you are serious about touring then look at pinlock bindings (scarpa boots are compatible with both).

I tried to get another season off but work refused (****) so we’ll have to make do with 3 weeks in March at the usual stomping ground of Flaine and the Grand Massif. *Waves to Wallop*

There was a smiley, Toby. It was meant in jest.

Ah I thought you were just bringing our regular pre-season dose of doom in! Sorry, as you were.

Hopefully your pass feels like good value by the end of the year because of all the great powder you got to play with.

I was going to give you a bit of grief for talking about skiing so early in the year, but I was talking about finding some slopes last week, so it is probably well timed.

After three years of Canadia (and despite loving it there), I am sorely tempted to try and get to Japan for a week, maybe with a week in the city to follow/start with. I have heard tales of deep, fresh powder and it sets my heart racing. It will mean I have to learn how to ski again though, after five years on a board. I will _not_ be buying new skis for this. No. Not the nice all mountain ones I saw in the local ski exchange.

No.

After a thoroughly crap 2017 season. 1st trip hospitalised with DVT and PE, 2nd trip cancelled (obviously). I’ll be treating myself to one of these and hammering the crap out of it in Europe and North America. I might even get myself some skis too. What a year!

looking at Touring boots this time

I really like my K2 Pinnacles – good blend of in bound and out of bounds if you’re after an all rounder ( and if they fit).

Here we are again! Cheers CFH!

No big plans for trips this year. Japan, sets my pulse racing too, but I’m wary of big trips on the grounds of snow quality – difficult not to get your expectations up, and easy to have them dashed if you don’t get what’s in the brochure!

Some of my favourite trips have been the surprises. We had to can a touring trip last year and, to replace it, we jumped on a last minute friends of friends “Any takers to fill up a chalet in Le Fornet?” post on fb. It was a great trip, and perfect illustration of the saying “Expectations reduce joy”. We went there with none: we only had a week to get used to the idea, we didn’t know the people, the snow wasn’t that great, resort wouldn’t have been my first choice. But the people were lovely, we spent a couple of days touring, found some fluff, and I really enjoyed getting my carve on on the piste.

Only plan so far is to finally sit myself down and edit the go-pro footage from Norway 2 years ago!

I picked up this beauty in the sales

Wanted something a bit more park friendly than my skate banana.

Kitsteinhorn will be open in October, can’t wait.

My Scarpa F1 boots won’t fit Marker touring bindings, Sprootlet. Some touring boots are now asymmetric, mainly race orientated ones but some all-round boots such as the F1 too.

As the weight of Marker and Fisher bindings comes down there’s less incentive to go for pin bindings unless you’re racing and prepared to sacrifice downhill control and consistent release for ease of climbing. The Markers are every bit as good as the Look bindings on my slalom skis when used with my Head RS boots. Check the boots you buy really will fit both.

Edukator – Jnr has no need to worry about long lift queues. He’s at Landgraaf! However, like the Italian coach his has them on the slope at 7.15am.

Today they were sharing the slope with the Kenyan ski team. I knew they had a couple of skiers, but didn’t know they had a whole team.

My other 1/2 can take the sole off his boots and change them (the alternate soles made a great christmas present). This can’t really be done up the mountain though, more a sit in a nice warm chalet with a beer job…..
I used my marker touring bindings with ordinary downhill boots, I tried to think of the touring as resistance training!

Flights booked to Munich 1-5th December for an very early season trip! Bound to be something to keep a group of mostly beginners happy I’m hoping

That is quite agressive, most resorts if open are weekend only that early. I have my eye on 18-23 Dec, should be priced attractively.

No skiing for us today 😡

We have an Olympic winter games coming up.
Let’s hope the Brits can up their medal tally.

I was elated this season to get back on skis after a break of 3 years. Looking forward to the 2018 season.

I am more worried about getting any in this year than I have ever been..
Extension and New Kitchen seems to be swallowing more than expected, Damb you, Kevin Mcleod.
I have a 36 year unbroken record so would be a real shame to break it now.
Flash, you don’t need me to tell you about Serre Che, but we found with little kids it is all about convenience and distance from slopes.
We stayed in Chantemerle (Snowmonkeys) and it was lovely but getting kids up the main lift to the nursery area was a bit of a hassle. By comparison La Rosiere was a breeze in comparison and they take younger kids in Ski School than most resorts.
But like you I have a soft spot for Serre Che.
Have they sorted that road out, by the way?