Almost enough to ski in York tonight. Just need some hills.

Recommendations please for premium chalet holiday companies catering for the larger French resorts, eg Val, Courcheval, Meribel. Friends asking for 2018/19 season. Thanks

Scott Dunn are always in demand.

Posh Chalet companies – VIP ski, Oxford ski company, le Ski. Alternatives look at the signature range of Skiworld, we stayed in a 6-8 person chalet in 1550 Courchevel-it was lovely but not Scott Dunn lovely

Thanks, Scott Dunn is a bit too premium (as is Powder Byrne who don’t do Frabce anyway). Asked them to quote Zermatt once, arranged my own trip at same hotel for a much lower price.

Anyone else not make it out to the alps this morning due to cancelled flight? Managed to rearrange for Tuesday flight but having to drive to Serre Che from Milan. Hoping Italian roads are not as bad as their reputation suggests!

I completed the 21km circuit of the Loch Leven Heritage Trail on XC ski yesterday. It took about 5 hours and was brutal on unprepared and very variable snow. Despite being essential flat the accumulated height gain must have been in the 100s of metres climbing over endless sizeable drifts. I was fully gubbed by the end.

DD did I see you on the 12.50 out of Brizzle yesterday?

my Sweet Protection Sport Pursuit special turned up, i was disappointed that its basically a gore-tex shell, no thermal properties at all. but it looks cool and fits really nice so am gonna keep it. I have been told its all about the layers, last few years ive just worn a base layer under a north face jacket, was either too cold, or if i added a fleece – too hot.

just deliberating what to run underneath it now, i have a montane featherlite down jacket i could use, but i also picked up one of those £30  x-light hiking jackets from Decathlon. that slots under the sp jacket a treat and the hood fits over my helmet, but im dubious about how it will perform in the cold?

A shell is much more useful than an insulated jacket. You can layer appropriately to the temp, insulated jackets are less versatile

My current jacket is the Westbeach Backcountry and it is just a breathable shell too (20k/20k – made out of some weird Goretex infused with coconut fibre).

As per Tiger, I like it a lot. Much more versatile that way. Allows you to add/remove layers or even just unzip some layers while keeping the jacket closed. Generally speaking I layer:

Warmish weather: long-sleeve base, cotton t-shirt, micro fleece gilet, jacket

Colder weather: long-sleeve base, t-shirt, thick hoodie, jacket

You do need something between jacket and skin if it is windy, as even though the jacket is windproof it does suck the heat.

*( yes I know I shouldn’t wear cotton but I’ve never found it to be a problem to be honest).

yeah, thinking long sleeve base with a micro fleece rab hoody under the jacket for milder days, but swap the fleece for one of these on colder ones… just unsure whether than deacthlon thing will be warm enough when it really cold!? not that im expecting really cold in March, but it was last week!!

I have a Nike down thing pretty similar to that Quencha that I sometimes wear under my jacket when I’m wearing it casually. Pretty toasty, but I wouldn’t want to board in it as it can get a bit sweaty.

Booking up a few days in Chamonix at the end of March now, getting excited all over again! Won’t be same as Les arcs ski in/ski out, but will be nice to go somewhere different for once!

You can layer appropriately to the temp, insulated jackets are less versatile

Absolutely.

On a really cold day in Fernie B.C:

1 x Merino Shortsleeve

1 x Merino Longsleeve

1 x Arc’teryx Fortrez Hoody (with handy intergrated hood and neck gaiter)

1 x Arc’teryx Proton Hoody (breathable low bulk synthetic)

1 x Arc’teryx Alpha SV Shell jacket

On a less cold day in Fernie B.C:

1 x Merino Shortsleeve

1 x Merino Longsleeve

1 x Arc’teryx Alpha SV Shell jacket

So that’s pretty much every temp from minus 20 to zero celcius. I don’t think you can get that flexibility with an insulated jacket.

Double hoodie Digby? Blimey! Never had to resort to that. Brrr.

Double hoodie Digby? Blimey! Never had to resort to that. Brrr.

Aye – first time for me riding whilst wearing a double hoody – twas pure baltic for a while… I didn’t even ride with double hoody in Greenland!

I have to say I like my insulated jacket but agree it lacks flexibility… luckily it’s still -20C in Calgary this morning so I also use it to walk to work.

Rockies at -30C. To be honest though even with this lot it’s still a bit of an exercise in endurance and extremities start to chill.

Midweight base layer.

Rab Powerstretch fleece.

Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket

Patagonia Primo Down Jacket

I usually just ride in a T shirt and insulated coat, on really cold days I’ll put a long sleeve on too.

I mess around a lot off piste and on piste try lots of little 180s etc so warm up pretty quickly.

I reckon a heated gillet could work well, give you control without having to add/remove layers.

I have never been anywhere colder than Fernie. (Although Zermatt was close.)

It was warmer stood still than skiing, which is rare.

The wind chill was extreme, one of the party got frost nip on the cheek, we called it a day and went for hot choc then beer…

Also, good news, were off to Serre Che on the 24th, woooohooo! I can’t wait.

I reckon a heated gillet could work well

Great until the batteries run out at the top of the mountain or you get stuck somewhere and need to stay warm.

My gloves last all day, no reason a gillet couldn’t do so with higher battery capacity.

http://happyhotfeet.com/heating-jackets/

When I lived in the US (East Coast) I had to buy all new kit to ski in. Conditions there are very different.

Quite a sobering video

https://www.facebook.com/groups/101999475272/permalink/10160085246230273/

Yeeesh nasty! Looks like it is the convex slope that goes first then pulls the rest with it.

Do we know if the skier made it out?

I have never been anywhere colder than Fernie

To be fair there was only one week and another weekend out of the entire 6 weeks that I was there when it was super cold – the rest of the time is was the usual -4 to -10 or thereabouts (and it only rained twice this time – once to the top of the ski hill!). Although I didn’t see the sun for the first 3 weeks!

Like most continental mountain ranges, the East Kootenays where Fernie sits will have a few cold spells each season when a ‘modified arctic air mass’ sits over the Lizard Range … and when it does it’s bone-chilling!

Looks like it is the convex slope that goes first then pulls the rest with it

Aye – it looks like a ‘remote trigger’. The skier appears to be on a concave section just below the large convex area (skiers right), that slides first before the whole slope goes from the top as it propagates … fortunately the convex area that goes first, appears to be a relatively slow moving slab avalanche … the slide from the top is much faster and catches up with the slab. Hopefully the skier was well clear of it and could exit skiers right and there were no terrain traps.

DD did I see you on the 12.50 out of Brizzle yesterday?

Hey wallop, sorry, not been reading the thread much but yes, you would have seen me. (And Stoner – the giant hairy thing that EasyJet only allow on the plane as long as I have him on a lead.) He was very well behaved on the plane though. You should have come and said hello! Where were you off to?

The skier was well out of the way, GrahamS. It was his lucky day. a few seconds from being in the middle of it.

Yesterday we saw some skiers taking a totally unreasonable risk on a well-known high risk slope on which one skier died a few years back. Most of the nutters get away with it.

30cms of fresh brought the slopes to life yesterday. Not quite as busy now the locals are back at work but junior said one of his clients had been waiting since Sunday for her first lesson as the ski school is fully booked.

ski – an – Duro, at  Fort William this weekend looks interesting. Spotted on the bike thread.

Boarders …. Will i notice a big difference in a new board compared to my 10 year old one.

The new rocker/camber/hybrid goings on… whats that all about?

I dug my odd board out yesterday morning and still love the shape of it compared to the modern angular tipped boards … although swing weight is of little interest the longer effective edge, I’ve been lead to believe a newer board gives, might be…. your thoughts please.

And my style … well it used to be intermediate/advanced all mountain messing about and was happy to hit kickers (including the bigger ones)

ta

Will i notice a big difference in a new board compared to my 10 year old one

That depends to some extent on the condition of your 10 year old board. Since the core is [probably] made of wood this can sometimes warp or deform over time thus losing its original shape/camber etc. The conditions your board has been stored in can effect its useful life – e.g. damp garage, hot attic etc. whether the ptex base has been stored with wax on it can also impact ‘useful life’.

Not quite sure what you mean by ‘modern angular tipped boards’ – do you mean powder boards with a ‘pointy nose’?

There is a plethora of quite inovative snowboard designs at the moment, with a move away from the standard directional twin-tip, however many of these boards have specific uses such as carving or powder, although to be fair there is often some cross-over and a decent rider should be able to adapt most boards to a variety of conditions … but a pointy nose fish-tail board is always going to be best in powder and perhaps not so suitable for rails and kickers! 😉

If you still want an all mountain board, then there are plenty of directional twin tips still around. In terms of ‘effective edge’ then perhaps ask want you want from a board? Do you want stability at speed? Control on steep/mixed conditions? Float in powder? Is carving important to you? Flatland tricks/butttering ? Side-hits? Spinning off those bigger kickers? (in which case a board with less difference between contact length and effective edge might be considered).

Interms of camber/rocker then [in quite simple terms]when looking at the profile:

Camber is a traditional snowboard shape where the centre of the board is raised off the snow.

Rocker is where the centre of the board is on the snow but the ends are off the snow – i.e. shaped a bit like a banana

Hybrid incorporates both of the above, but the permutations for this are too numerous to mention. the rocker could be at both ends or just one:

Whitelines did an article on this:

https://whitelines.com/snowboard-gear/before-you-buy/camber-rocker-snowboards-differences.html

However if your old board is still in reasonable condition fun to ride then why not use that? Or replace it with something very similar if it worked for you previously – if you are hitting the bigger kickers then you are clearly used to ‘charging it’ on a board! 😉

Not much to add to what Digby said except, if you have never tried any of the newer board profiles and cambers then I highly recommend trying to do a test day somewhere and trying them all out. (If you are in the UK then see if your local fridge is running one).

I did one a few years back, tried loads of boards and found that I loved the Bataleon shape (confusingly a medium/traditional camber but 3BT shaped base which means the edges are off the snow a bit like a rocker). It honestly just brought a smile to my face when I rode it. 🙂

Sweet few days in the PDS with a friend and deadlydarcy. arf.

DD landed this. Well, I say “landed”, but gravity was running the show….

(BTW that’s not a tail grab, that’s a “where the **** can I flap my hands and save this” stance)

Great breadth of conditions last weekend from warm sun and blue skies to fresh slack country. We were bloody lucky to be on one of the first flights out of Brizzle after the cancellations with Wallop. Orsum few days.

Most air ever. It really didn’t deserve what happened next. But as no photo exists, yes, I landed it. 😂

It’s not looking good at that point!

Do you have your bindings +15 +15 ?

Do you have your bindings +15 +15 ?

To be fair the binding angles in the picture above do look very ‘euro-carve’ 🙂

… I’m guessing +24 +18 … and given the amount of upper body rotation and the impending body/ground interface, I’m also guessing ‘faceplant’? 😉

Hope you got up with a big old smile on your face! 🙂

It’s looking a bit like one of my tamedog efforts.

Had a go at a few this winter, at 48, the old body doesn’t seem to want to tuck into the right position!

Managed to bounce off my head and ride a couple out though.

DD is proper duck. He’s just so out of shape in that move that I think he’s dislocated his knees. And brain.

at 48, the old body doesn’t seem to want to tuck into the right position!

Nah! … I’m 50 this year and still like to ‘throw some shapes’ from time to time!

Granted, not as many tricks left in the bag …

Now I don’t want to question your genius DD, but there’s a yellow strap in that picture holding you up by your left hip.  This explains the odd stance too.

🤔

Just jealous. Last time I was that far off the ground the hostess was asking me if I wanted another glass of wine before dinner. ✈️