The STW Ski & Snowboard thread. The 2018-2019 season

It’s here! Rejoice!

So, what’s new, what’s planned, what’s hoped for?

Montana is on the cards again for me, and still angling to get the family out as well. Japan remains that great white whale I’m desperate to tick off. Maybe this year…!

Oh, and these K2 Marksman skis in all of their retro glory….!

Wooooo!

Awesome.

No new toys for me this year after the purchase of a salomon huck knife for playing last year.

This year is les gets at the end of jan.

Hoping to get my riding up higher again, freestyle is fun if a bit painful.

Looking to get at least one day off piste in pow if possible. So will be hunting for a guide

First season that the little one will be able to go on ski lessons! Woop woop! Probably back to Ardent and a lads week at some point.

Still trying to find some Norrona trousers on sale to replace my 12 year old westbeach’s!

On the hunt for a new Bern hard hat.

2nd season on NTN bindings so no hardwear required.

Woooohooo! Big family trip to Les Arcs2000 at Easter so a long wait for us. Looking forward to Easter it’s going to be 3 generations of us and have always enjoyed skiing with my dad and the kids. Maybe a cheeky trip without the kids in Jan if we can find the cash. I hope we get as much snow as we did last season.

Kit, need new boots as I have given my Garmont to dad as he was finding it hard to get into his Nordica nxt’s. looking at touring/alpine crossovers and that’s now a “standards” minefield with binding compatibility.

No new gear this season. Hoping to get 2 trips in before Brexit, just in case the economy tanks and we can;t afford to go for a while. Not booked yet though

Bindings?

These look a bit clever;

http://www.skiessentials.com/Chairlift-Chat/2019-Salomon-S-Lab-Shift-AT-Ski-Binding-Review/

About bloody time too 🙂

2 trips to Italy already booked. If I meet my weight reduction target I’m booking a week solo either learning to board or some serious off-piste stuff on planks. I’m also going to do all the Scottish resorts this year.

Gear wise I’m up for some new skis. I bought Head Monsters, season before last, but I’ve not really got on with them. BUT if I do learn to board, I’m gong to look at the step in (on) Burton bindings.

Oh and I’ve bought some avalanche stuff (transceiver, probe & shovel) which I need training in how to use – maybe a course at Glenmore lodge.

Edit – I forgot I did buy some new Smith goggles in the Ekosport sale.

http://www.ekosport.co.uk/smith-vice-klein-blue-split-grn-sp-cp-evrda-18-p-9-35211.html

Those SLabs are v clever.

Les Gets for new year and first week Jan, probably back Feb school week as well. Might try and bag a week at easter but v late, might be a Scotland campervan mission instead !

will pick up some new all mountains for this season and retire the Qsts to touring duty , they had a hard season last year.

and I’ve already had my first turns 2 weeks back on the Zermatt glacier ⛷

Like those SLab bindings. Pair of them and some QuiverKillers and I’m sorted. NZ col how do you find the qst ‘s. looking at a pair of last years on Sale with Ellis B?

Old tennis shoes, Ellis brigham do Ava training in various parts of the country. Have a look and see what is on near you. Did it last year and it was v good. Got odd looks from dog walkers while running about with transceiver.

Let gets back end of Jan and obergurgl again later season – think the wife liked the instructor. After my first off–piste day last year I think I’ll get another one booked this year too,

Got my boy (4) skiing last year. Fair play to SMT in Mayrhofen. He’s a stubborn little mule, but came away each day bouncing with joy. Topped the week off by being able to ski with my dad (77), my sister, her daughter and my son all together for our last run. My eldest daughter (3) is desperate to have a go.

Will be back in Mayrhofen in half term no doubt.

First season ticket booked. OK it’s for Nakiska in the rockies which is nothing to write home about but hoping sweajnr continues his excellent progression. Have brought some Scott “the ski” in anticipation of spending more time on groomers.

This year the money will be spent on trips not kit. Honest.

Les Gets, Courmayeur (eldest only, school trip) both booked.

Calgary/Banff still to book.

PS – those are some narrow snowboards in that picture at the start of the thread.

As well as surfing the white wave here in sweden , i will be purchasing some new xc skis. I got into last winter and it was brilliant. Superb fitness training and nice to learn something new at 36 years young.i also get to wear retina searing awesome tight trousers

TheDTs – I like them, I’ve got QST 92s and as all rounders they are fantastic. Have skied them in everything from crud to 2 foot fresh and while they weren’t amazing in super deep they were ok. Good all rounders and held up well to some abuse. Prob best suit strong skiers to get the best out of them as you can drive them quite hard-in back teaching and I used them on my assessments as well. I think the 99s would be good as well, I only managed an hour on them but they were pretty capable too

not intending to go anywhere this year – first time in 18 years and I’m kind of glad in a way

The DTs – Arcs 2000 will have a couple of new lifts this season. Pre Saint Esprit is already done and Comborciere is underway 👍🏼

There will be at least a couple of days at Idre in north-western Sweden, but I do need to get my shit together and sort out my own boots and some better, newer skis. Something all mountain that can deal with powder and piste.

The big discussion is how long to go fo and whether there will be a southerly migration in the early new year to spend a week skydiving as well.

howsyourdad, XC is the way forward; I have been told I need to buy a pair as well.

A lot of people down here use the roller variants for commuting, so that could be something to consider if you have not already got them. If you are down this way in winter, bring your skis and head to Gärdet. They set up a short XC course for people to practice on in the city. It lasted until well into April this year.

@willard if you ever catch me bin lining  ( roller skiing) put a bullet in my head. No way!

My home town is like Sweden’s national training centre for xc. They have tracks set up by november with saved snow from last year. Winter is coming and it is loooong, hence switching to skis for fitness.

Japan remains that great white whale I’m desperate to tick off. Maybe this year…!

Japan has been on my list for years as well, but I’m hearing numerous reports about how busy the resorts and backcountry trees etc have become in recent years. Seems like a long way to go for a busy resort … when I can go a similar distance West to the likes of Bristish Columbia and have completely empty runs mid-week.

Still fascinated and keen to see and experience the culture of Japan though!

In terms of trips for next year, I think I will struggle to beat this years grand total of 50+ days on the snow, however I’ve got Lofoten Norway, the Pyrenees and Italy all pencilled in!

This recent hot weather has left me craving zub-zero temps … as the French [might] say ‘long live the difference!’ 🙂

Did Japan, Banff, and Garmisch last year – dont think I’ll get as lucky this year, but I’m hoping to get a week somewhere.

@digby

Don’t be put off going to Japan by the crowds – the big resorts are pretty horrible (Niseko) and do get tracked out quickly, but the smaller resorts have arguably better terrain, no crowds and lift accessed deep powder, with a shit load of touring/skinning ops. If I was to go back, I would be in Niseko for no more than 2 days.

@gingerbllr

Interesting – thanks for that! 🙂

I have to work this Xmas, so won’t be getting away then. Have an inkling of a boys weekend away (probably Morzine) in March but that will probably be it this season. Sob.

Last bit of kit was replacement lenses to last a lifetime on my Smith Turbo goggles. Sweaty head loves the fan.

Howsyourdad, noted.

Are you planning to enter the Vasaloppet? I was tempted by the bike version, but there was no way I could get enough fitness in time.

Digby, look up John Falkiner, Aussie guide living in Switzerland for 30 years, trips to quiet places, getting into the c<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>ulture always part of his trips. Greece, Lebanon, Kashmir, Iceland… Been spending a few weeks a year at least in Japan for a good while. He’s on fb, or ping me a mail if you want me to put you in touch. I’ve probably only got the same email as he’s got on his website, though! </span>

Planning Christmas back here in the PDS. Jr mk1 was promised I’d teach him to be a social pariah (snowboarder) as soon as he’d passed his 3rd EDF star… Which the cheeky blighter did in the same session as passing his 2nd star at Easter! So hiring Diddy board and boots for an 11yr old to come.

Easter is v late this year so we won’t come back out for that (and Mrs S has qualified for the world Duathlon Champs in Spain so we’ll go there instead) but annual lads trip in March and a few other long weekends with Mrs S should mean a good 20+ days or so over the season.

@gahamt1989 look up Nicolas Tricou for guiding in Les Gets – would unhesitatingly use again. Lovely guy who lives in LG and knows PDS like back of his hand – his son also guides.

And would agree with Japan – avoid Niseko and the place is amazing!

Just want the snow that last season brought, to be the norm.

Just want the snow that last season brought, to be the norm.

Yep, putting the chains on to get out of Serre Che at Easter was not what we expected. More of that please.

Risking a stoning here maybe…but what’s the logic of buying skis when you have to pay to transport them and service them?  I like shiny stuff as much as the next…err…shiny stuff buyer but it doesn’t make sense to me unless you live local.

@nedrapier – thanks for that – greatly apreciated! 🙂

Local to where? We try to ski in Scotland every weekend when possible.

If you want standard kit then little logic, but we have touring kit with quiver killers and a couple of sets of skis for different conditions – huge luxury and doubt it ever comes close to cost of hiring, but we love our touring and want kit that allows us to maximise enjoyment of conditions, whatever they are!

Depends on how much you ski really and where to an extent. Having your own kit means no queueing to pick up rentals, you get to ski on them a lot and really figure out how the ski feels and how best to ski it. Maintenance isn’t a big job, waxing is super easy and edges are pretty simple too. Plus, skis don’t have to be mega expensive, ski hire for a high end ski is what, £100 a week or so? 5 or 6 weeks and you’ll be getting close to breaking even.

cb – good question. We have our own because we ski in Scotland (1hr from Glenshee), but rent in resort to reduce faff. We take our own boots and helmets though.

Whatnobeer if you fly, you need to consider sports equipment carriage costs and maybe car hire size upgrade if you don’t use transfers.

I have a few of my own skis and share a couple of pairs with my dad, he gets first choice! Always had my own kit, it was cheaper to buy in Tax free Livignio when I first went as a kid and got lots of hand me downs.  Never bought this years kit always last seasons or more or second hand. Tonnes of good used kit on Ebay. Never used boots though. And we tend to drive for one trip a year and fly for the other. I take three pairs when We drive. I declare that I only have one pair when we fly. I have loads of old skis knocking about, some frighteningly long! Would make a nice garden bench one day. Also been known to do a few circuits of the golf course when the conditions are right.