So since getting the board down from the loft, Im getting double excited to be heading to the hills. All be it, in the knowledge, that the Holiday and boarding will be different with a wife and kids to look after.

I know the joy will be to see them improving, especially the kids,  but how have you guys still enjoying the boarding for yourselves. The odd stolen morning/afternoon to have a charger or does generally going slower, with the family, allow all the little on/side piste stuff you messed about, on when you first learnt, open up to you again ? See Digby’s Tripod above … 🙂

And will I see a difference in the board/terrain/features parks since I last went 8 odd years ago? I’m hoping, in general, there are more of them ?

Ro5ey – wrap around childcare. It’s the future – and the price of a small car.

http://www.skifamille.co.uk

That said the 11 year old out paces me easily these days. We’ll be needing wrap around parent care soon.

Each season I tend to do a snowboard trip with the missus and quite enjoy carving & cruising the groomers, riding switch and generally messing about.

And then I try and do a couple of backcountry trips with a guide.

Since I’m 50 this year I’m aiming for 50 days on the snow. – I did 6 weeks in Canada (for the first 10 days a couple of friends joined me) and then the missus joined me for the last 3 weeks. I usually ride on my own in the mornings (especially if it’s a powder day) , join her for coffee and then do a few laps together in the afternoon.

And then I’ve got a splitboard touring trip to Norway and a late season trip to the Alps planned as well.

will I see a difference in the board/terrain/features parks since I last went 8 odd years ago?

depends where you are going. Some resorts have invested in terrain parks with rails, boxes and kickers, whereas others have got rid of them.

I wouldn’t worry too much! I’m sure you will have fun where ever you go!

Oh … and since you’ve not been for 8 years, I have the following pointers:

– Hardly anyone rides with a leash anymore

– Brits on the snow still ride with a massive backpack even when staying in-bounds/on-piste. Don’t forget to keep it on when riding the chair-lifts! 😉

– Helmets are now [thankfully] really popular, but be careful not to have a ‘GORBY’ gap between Goggles & helmet! Which reminds me. It’s goggles and helmet – not sunglasses. And don’t be tempted to wear a full face helmet either!

– Toe caps now go over the end of your toes … not over the top of them

– try and avoid sitting down to clip in – it stops you getting snow stuck to your bum and helps avoid those awkward moments when you can’t get up and have to roll around like a goldfish flapping next to the bowl

But above all – HAVE FUN! 😉

Brits on the snow still ride with a massive backpack even when staying in-bounds/on-piste

Or a credit card and a knowledge of where the good bars are.

Leashes ….  its only 8 years since I was last on the snow not 18 !! LOL

Helmets … Honestly, I was one of the first people you saw wearing one, after i was flow down the hill in 98 after whacking my nogging.

Toe caps … yep, will still be riding my Cartels.

Back packs…. Grrrr they were always my pet hate…. people riding around with the kitchen sink on their back… However it’s only going to be me who’ll be carrying around all the extra clothes the kids have peeled off. 🙁

Ha… Sitting down … I hadn’t thought of that.. good tip.

As for the kids out pacing us, I will very much be looking forward to that day …. “C’mon Dad” … it’s kind of the reason Im asking….

While we’re all going slow thought it might be an idea to ride a smaller twin tip, to mess about on. Then as they get faster than me, go back to a stiffer directional All Mountain.

I’m basically puffing myself into a new board and this way I’ll justify getting two ??

thought it might be an idea to ride a smaller twin tip, to mess about on.

Sounds to me like you’ve made you mind up! Well …May I present … only released earlier this week:

Der Otto by Korua Shapes

https://www.koruashapes.com/shop/korua/otto/26/otto

I’ve been riding the Korua Shapes TrannyFinder a lot this season and it is Sooooo much fun!

I thought your board looked directional from your pic back there.

Korua ?

Why not …. gotta say completely uninspired by the mainstream manufactures… Have you been on the Burton website recently ? It’s like a web site from BOSS or Audi or something.

I thought your board looked directional from your pic back there.

It’s the ’57 Tranny Finder and the ‘shortest’ board I’ve every ridden but it’s such fun and surprising easy to land/ride switch despite the really short tail. The fat nose gives plenty of float in powder and it carves great!

I know what you mean about the mainstream board companies … hence me looking at the like of Korua Shapes … and I wasn’t disappointed!

Good discussion!

Digby – I have been toying with the idea of Korua since last season. Just can’t decide which one. The TrannyF seems to be the most versatile but tempted by the puzzle for more carving focus. What is the quality like? I have read mixed reports on their durability.

Riding with the kids (who ski for now) has been a revelation. Back on Piste again and riding greens and blues like I did when learning 25yrs ago And it’s flippen great! Just playing around on little side hits, carving a few turns and just messing about. At 45 I have even learnt a few new tricks. When your kids say – Oh Dad stop showing off – you know you are doing something right!!!

Good time of year to look at boards. This year’s kit on sale. Lovely

Back on Piste again and riding greens and blues like I did when learning 25yrs ago And it’s flippen great!

It is isn’t it? I’ve had some of my best days just messing about on relatively mellow terrain!

What is the quality like? I have read mixed reports on their durability.

Absolutely no problems with durability so far – and I rode my Korua Shapes Tranny Finder for 4 of the 6 weeks I was in Canada. (I rode my Jones Flagship 163 for the other 2 weeks when either conditions were more suited to full on carving or the Tranny was getting a wax)

I guess 4 weeks use equates to 4 annual trips for many UK people and I tend to be pretty ‘heavy’ on my boards – including ‘incidents’ with trees, rocks and the entrance to Corner Pocket in Fernie which has old tyres and a rope to get you over the initial rock-band at the entrance. The Tranny also survived the daily shuttle bus up the ski hill where the board is loosely strapped to the outside of the bus.

I’d buy another Korua Shapes for sure, but this time I’d probably go for something with a more radical design. In fact they actually suggest that you buy one of their boards which is totally unlike any of your other boards.

As the French like to say “long live the difference”! 😉

Hey Digby,

I’m thinking about a Flagship for powder day duties, lots of places have them 20% off at the moment.

How do you find it in backcountry/tree stuff?

I dont actually agree about Burton. I think they have really upped their game in the last few years, mainly due to the rise of the smaller companies, interesting shapes , more competition and the re emergence of carving and directional boards. last years skeleton key was a fantastic board.

So many good boards now.  Nitro , spring break/ capita and yes being my faves.

Jones boards , despite being a little Santa cruz and Surrey like, are consistently great and you can’t go wrong with them. I had a hovercraft and it was just brilliant.

I prefer the puzzle from Korua, but if you skid your turns or want to ride switch forget it!

Probably my last day on Scottish snow this year today at Glenshee. 95% of the terrain open including a load of off piste. Junior 2 swapping 2 planks for 1, wall to wall sunshine (should have had the sunscreen on) and soft snow on a firm base.

Healing vibes to whoever we saw getting medivac’d down in the pisten bully basket – but that was a mental looking jump you guys had built.

Roll on the Easter holidays and Cervinia 🏂⛷🌨🎿

Was at Glenshee as well today, conditions were on point. Overheating as we expected the usual freezing wind. Spent the morning over on Sunnyside then afternoon on the Cairnwell side.

Going to Aviemore for the first week of the Easter holidays so we may get some more skiing in then, fingers crossed!

Hey Digby,

I’m thinking about a Flagship for powder day duties, lots of places have them 20% off at the moment.

How do you find it in backcountry/tree stuff?

The flagship is a great board and has been ridden in tight trees both in the Alps and Canada and on epic Backcountry days including the classic Glaciers de Marbre off the Helbronner lift.

I’ve got the 2013/14 Flagship (163W) and the stance is just a tad too small (it’s smaller than my Jones Solution Splitboard and Mountain Twin), so I had the guys at Zero G in Chamonix drill me a couple more holes at the rear.

The Flagship isn’t just a powder day board – it’s also a great board for carving!

[The Korua Shapes Tranny 157 is also a tad smaller in the stance than I would like, but only by about 1cm which I can cope with and isn’t worth getting drilled]

I would buy another Flagship in a blink. the design is based on the Hovercraft (which is ‘race board) but with a bit more functionality as a directional twin.

I dont actually agree about Burton. I think they have really upped their game in the last few years, mainly due to the rise of the smaller companies, interesting shapes

My comment about mainstream manufacturers was a general one rather than directed at Burton per se.

To be fair, I think Burton are stepping up to the plate with some innovative designs and solutions to try and get really young kids into snowboarding – which I think is long overdue since the snowboarding demographic seems to be an aging one.

But you are right – it’s an interesting time for snowboarding. The likes of Capita/Spring Break. Korua Shapes, Dupraz and a handful of others are really pushing the surf inspired concept of having a ‘quiver’ of different boards.

Saw quite a few folks riding Capita Spring Break in Canada and handful of Korua Shapes. Oh and one guy riding a Winterstick ‘Original Swallowtail … which looked like a work of art in terms of wood-craft!

What’s your plan for Norway, Digby?  And how are you getting on with your 50 days?  On target?

I’ll be lucky to get a week this year.  My usual partner in crime is out of action, gestating a tiny human.  I was fairly relaxed about picking up a week or two with various mates at some point, but time’s running out and the calendar’s getting full!

What’s your plan for Norway, Digby?

Norway is Lofoten with McNab – I’m really looking forward to it!

The ‘Fifty for Fifty’ is coming on nicely thanks! 😉

Sorry to hear you haven’t managed to get on the snow this season – there’s still plenty of time I guess, but congratulations on your ‘partner in crime’s’ gestation!!

btw – did you go down the ‘hardboot’ splitboarding route?

cheers!  Enjoy Lofoten.  And take pics!

Yes, plenty of time yet.   No hardboots.  Still intrigued, but there’s other things I can spend money on that will enhance my various experiences more of the time!   boots + phantom bindings + toepieces = over £1,000.  Then I’d feel like I had to get a Milligram to put them on.

Thanks for your comments Digby.

I will keep my eye on end of season deals on Korua’s, they do tend to run short of stock though I think. Have had my eye also on the Spring Break which you mentioned as well. Interesting your comments on the industry direction to the ‘surf style’. I think it is probably that us old(er) folk are no longer really looking to spin to win off 40ft kickers so they have developed a segment to suite that reflects a return back to when it all started. Certainly appeals to me and will keep the marketing peoples happy because of course we are now older and can afford a ‘quiver’. Not sure it will help boost the ageing demographic of boarding though, which is a shame.

Great idea of 50@50. I am aiming for something similar by doing a 2020 BC Powder Highway tour. Will be a few years short of 50 but it will be 20yrs since I did that road trip the last time. I like the symmetry. Hopefully this time with some cash to add in a few Heli or Powder cat days.

Have you heard of this place Nth of Revelstoke – htt<wbr />p://www.ridevalemount.com/<wbr />sled-skiing/ ?

Hi all,

My girlfriend is looking to buy some new ski boots in the sales at the end of the season. What’s the deal with best place and time to buy? We’re based in London, are there decent shops with good choice and good sales?

Thanks,

Duane.

Duane,

I would say any time from now.  You might find cheaper later, but you might not get the size you want.  I’d head to Covent Garden for starters. Ellis Brigham and Snow and Rock a few minutes walk from each other, both reasonable size.  South of London is S&R in Chertsey, North, whatever it is at Hemel.  Wife bought her last pair there.

dozofoz, 

if you’re struggling to find a korua, the Dupraz D1 is worth a look.  3 sizes (2 normal and a huge!) 3 stiffnesses per size.  I’ve got a big powder board, and I was after something playful and carvy that was good in powder too.  I demo’sd a 5’6.  It’s very playful – I was popping about all over the place when I demo’d one, every transition, every drop and chute, every little pocket of fluff.  My mate commented on how much it looked like I was enjoying it, and I was!  So I bought one.  20% off end of season, and a rebate for 3 days’s demo/hire made it silly not to!

Absolutely love it, and it’s amazing to carve as well, despite the big taper.  I had one of those laid back, smashing about on the piste holidays mentioned at the top of the page last year, following an ex GS racer <span style=”font-size: 12.8px;”>around</span><span style=”font-size: 12.8px;”> VD</span><span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>.  Great fun.. It’s not a half pipe and rails board, but it does everything else brilliantly.  Only thing it’s less good at is really high speed straight-lining – short side cut makes it feel a bit skittish.  Quite fancy a 6′ too…</span>

Hi Ned I had never heard of Dupraz until I saw an instructor on one in Samoëns at Christmas. It looked like a beast.

Would love to demo one. Where did you try?

I am out again at Easter so may do some research and see if there is anywhere in Grand Massif area that stock them.

They cost though! I might need to dip into my new bike fund!

Thanks for the tip, good to hear a genuine review.

Dozofoz …. Your account of your hols with the kids is just what I’m hoping for.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>”Dad stop showing off”…. I’ve now got a target, love it.</span>

Ro5ey – it has certainly changed my attitude to riding. Don’t feel the need to be charging from first to last lift anymore. Of course though….Still bums me out on powder mornings when I draw the short straw with MrsDoz.

As for the kids, I made the mistake of letting my two eldest (12 &8) get too far down the skiing path before getting them onto a board. Not interested now. Working on the youngest (6) she has had a couple of days, and reckon she’ll take to it.

Have you heard of this place Nth of Revelstoke

Nope – I hadn’t heard of that! It certainly looks interesting!

Heli days at Revelstoke and Panaroma etc seem to be increasing common/popular! Would love to do a ‘Powder Highway Tour, however I always end up trying to avoid any additional travelling/driving and maximising my days on the snow. Keep meaning to go back to B.C. in the summer when the long distance driving is a bit easier!

Regarding Dupraz – you should be able to demo one from Zero G in Chamonix. They also stock Korua Shapes

Yup, was Zero-G for me.  They’re French, so should be relatively easy to track down elsewhere.  Le Vieu Campeur chain stocks them.

Driving the powder highway – you can always pay someone else to do it for you!

https://www.nonstopsnow.com/off-piste-snowboard-courses/canada-powder-triangle-snow-safari-2-weeks

Driving the powder highway – you can always pay someone else to do it for you!

Haha! yes indeed – I’ve actuallly recommended NONSTOP courses to quite a few people. One girl I recommended it to did a 2 week improvement course and then did the Snow Safari and she absolutely loved it.

Off to Avoriaz on sat ‘working’ at a festival then a week in the backcountry in Arolla touring with a guide, yassss! Got new Scott Superguide 105s and Plum Yak bindings to try out too. 😀

So after Doz’s post confirming, hopefully, how my snowboarding will change…. I’m going to get new board and bindings.

Found a used for 4 days 17/18 Lib Tech Skate Banana and K2 Lien bindings for £300 … reckon it would have cost a good £600 new, pre xmas.

So Im now full equipped for some modern rocker, twin tip (never had a twin tip before) piste jibbing tom-foolery.

The skate banana is a great board, so much edge grip in hard conditions, and very stable at speed.

you got a good deal there, I just sold a board alone for £280

Dupraz D1 owner here. 5’6″ ++ (the stiffest one). I was lucky enough to demo all the length and stiffness options four years ago in Whistler and eventually bought the ++. Best board I have ridden by far, great carver, robust build quality and lives for the powder. Won’t do parks though, well it wont with me on it because I’m old and brittle, but a great all round board! Heading back to Whistler tomorrow so end of season sales might get a  wee visit, hmm, a new D1!

I’m off to St Anton on Saturday for a week boarding. It’ll be my first ever snowboarding trip. I invited myself along with some friends who go every year and I’ve spent the last couple of months getting weekly coaching sessions at Castleford. I absolutely cannot wait.

Spicy ….

Don’t have too many beers in the Krazy Kangaroo and think you can safely make it down to the town.

Don’t eat yellow snow

And never EVER call last run.

Have fun

Cheers @Ro5ey. I’ve heard tale after tale about the KK and Moosivert. I’ve been trying to get plenty of training in for the apres too 🍻

nothing is ever cheaper in resort! look at reserving your hire equipment in advance too…

I disagree, the past couple of years, hiring in resort has been cheaper than booking in advance online from the same shop. Maybe it’s because it’s late in the season and therefore quieter when we go, but I won’t be hiring equipment in advance anytime soon.

Well, I’ve learned a lesson 🙂 I’ve just looked at Alpineresorts.com for hire prices in Cervinia and they are a fair whack cheaper that we paid last year. In my defence, I’d only looked at Intersport before.

Thanks for the nudge.

Having some great weather in obergurgl this week, plenty of sun but cold at night and the of flurry overnight to refresh the snow. Little bit of slush by 4 but only on the low runs into town.

Getting my first taste of off-piste tomorrow any last minute tips? 😬

Don’t eat the yellow snow.

Getting my first taste of off-piste tomorrow any last minute tips? 😬[/

try to keep your speed, look ahead and plan your route, bindings towards the back of the board if you can adjust them.

Getting better at looking up more  this week, on planks so guess the bindings comment didn’t apply😎

What’s the best way to get back stood up ? might be the most pertinent question but I’ll be sure to pass if offered yellow snow.

One of the benefits of of piste I’m looking forward to is not having to ski to the toilet all the time given my bladder capacity 😳