I’ve not done it myself but I know quite a lot of people who have done.

One of the guys I used to race and train with set the time that people had to get close to a few times when he was living out in france a few seasons ago.

Sorry I cant be more help with specific skis, ive not bought from a shop in years!

Parked up in White Coppice and did Anglezarke, Rivvy, Winter Hill, Belmont, Roddlesworth and back round. Was a cracker and all in pretty good condition.

Ive done 35km around Rivvy, Winter hill, Belmont and Darwen today in absolutely incredible weather. It was just a perfect cold and clear winter day for riding your bike!

Well it sounds like you want as much control as you can get from a pair then. Personally I’d use something shorter for control on the steeps and bumps, just make sure you get a good few days in before your assessment on the skis so you can get used to them.

Don’t worry, it’s only for your speed test for your BASI 4 that you really need to worry! Haha!

You just need one cracking ride and you’ll remember why you love it.

Weather has been crap lately and it’s easy to forget the good bits when it’s slogging through the mud. I was like that then went riding up at gisburn today in the beautiful weather and in hooked again! Heading to Lee quarry tomorrow to hopefully reinforce my rekindled love of the bike!

Hope you get that ride soon!

Just out of interest what kind of work is it you do?

You mentioned that you were reporting to an engineer and as you talk about tools I guess its some kind of civils outfit? After a few years working in the industry I find it hard to believe they won’t do mobile numbers and emails to othe staff.

Cheers, might give Lee and Cragg a go tomorrow! Not been up there in ages anyway.

What you need to ask yourself is what you want to/are going to use them for? What type of skiing will you be doing on them?

Generally if you are going to be bombing around quick doing big open turns then get a longer ski with a big sidecut radius. If you are more interested in nice short turns then go something a bit shorter.

If I remember from the other thread you have off piste skis already so don’t worry particularly about how they cope with deep snow or crud.

FWIW in 5’11 and 70kg and ski on 165cm dynastars with a 12m radius for 90% of the time
And they are fantastic for just cruising about and making some sexy turns.

Do you have his mobile number to ring?

Best you can do is ring and leave a voicemail with him so he knows you are making the effort to find out the craic before your first day at work.

Yeah a good bike size boot will be helpful too. I am going to be based on site up near Lancaster so evening rides in the Lakes will deffinately be on the cards!

Cheers Jambalaya – I’m really happy with this new job!

Id stick with a regular Tdi, much quicker, more mod cons

Yeah but unfortunately the other option is the 1.6tdi 90 S, which i doubt falls into the above mentioned category!

I am only a graduate engineer so I’ve got to start somewhere!

Yeah I’d rather kill myself than take a free car too! :roll:

Cheers for the comments, have heard the golf is nice to drive so that was my thinking.

When I am working on site I can actually claim back some of the fuel costs (whatever the mileage rate is -15miles).

Will keep my eyes peeled on the commute from Grimsargh into the centre. I go through Ribbleton so id say theres as good a chance as any of them being there!

Also anyone driven both the golf and leon? Whats the handling like?

Thanks for all the comments guys.

As mentioned it is a company car so not too worried about the insurance or other running costs other than fuel.

Have ruled out the Toyota as I have had a look on Whatcar and it only rates it 2 stars, the spec is no better than the Leon or Golf and the engine in it sounds woeful (13sec+ to 60 from a petrol!).

The Leon is a the same spec as the Golf (same toys etc) but has the 105ps 1.6tdi engine. Comes in at £42/month in company car tax.

The Golfs both come in at just over £50/month in tax. (petrol is £52/month and diesel is £54).

Turns out there might be the option to pay a little bit a month and go up a car grade in which case I could get the Golf Bluemotion which is £39/month in tax so offsets the extra contribution a bit and comes in with the 105ps diesel engine. All the reviews I have read about these have been good.

Oh, and of course, a 64kg baggage allowance, a nice lounge for breakfast/beers/whatever, and rather pleasant service on board with plenty of leg room!

Flashy spotted at Heathrow earlier today…..

If you want a company car and a chance to review your salary is coming up then you can always ask/try and justify it to them.

Remember you do get taxed BIK on a company car. You would need to have a think if its worth it.

What length did you go for? 155’s tend to turn quite a bit easier than 165’s.

Good shout – the Atomic factory skis always used to be at the stiffest end of the race skis anyway!

Ive lost a bit of weight and weighing in at 68kg nowadays too, hopefully as ive got fitter my legs might still be ok with my Dynastar 64’s!

Edukator – I agree all skis are powder skis!

I should imagine that the Atomic Slalom skis you picked up aren’t the proper race ski. The proper WC race ski (or whatever they’re calling them this year) often bare very little resemblance to the toned down ones they sell to the general public.

So what was the winner?

I can confirm that flashy got it…….on his second guess

I am in the position where I am waiting for my contract for a new job to come through.

Everyone has given me the advice to always leave on the best terms possible. You never know when you might come into dealings (or even looking for a job again) with your former employer so best not to burn any bridges!

I intend to hand my notice in once I get my new contract and offer up my full month notice (less a few days of holiday I still have banked)!

I mostly wear a helmet, but it does depend what im planning on skiing that day.

If I am planning on skiing any off piste/park, going out on GS skis or skiing with mates then I will wear my helmet. At Christmas/New Year when I am just pottering about with my parents sometimes I dont bother.

I ran my first ever Marathon yesterday!

Preston Guild Marathon and done in 3.37 which I was chuffed with, especially considering the dire weather conditions!

Back to the bike for me now though……..once the legs recover!

No riding this weekend. Running my first ever (and probably only) marathon on Sunday!

Just got back from it and I thought it was great!

Much better than quantumn of solace!

Cow Pie at the George Pub in Keswick! If you get the full cow there is 1kg of lovely steaky goodness in it!!

My best buddy was big into his ski racing. In our house at Uni for his skis alone we had the following:

2 x 155cm dry slop slalom skis
2 x 165cm snow slalom skis (training pair and race pair)
2 x 182cm GS skis
1 x 202cm SG skis
1 x 230ish DH skis
2 x all mountain/park/freestyle skis that he won.

When you added in the rest of us each with at least 3 sets each I think at one point we had about 30 sets of skis down in the basement.

And one board from the token boarder!

Did anyone see the programme BBC4 did about it a couple of weeks ago?

Was very interesting and from watching the programme it seemed most people were for it including the Lake District National Park Authority, they just came up against some stiff lobbying from ‘tree huggers”!

Its a shame the guy whose idea it was is no longer around to see it if it does come to fruition.

In this country not in fridge.

When on holiday in hot places it has to be!

We just got our first mortgage this year.

I am 25 and my fiance is 24. Currently have £119k left to pay over 29.5 years!!

I think that may change substantially in years to come but its a start!

Mrs Crispos dad has a 1971 Jaguar E Type. The sound and smell of this car is rediculous!

I’m running nobby nics front and back on my 2010 stumpy fsr and I seem to get on with them very well.

Flashy – if you like Claim give Push a watch too. Made by the same Matchstick production guys and is another cracker to get you in the mood for the white stuff.

We used to watch them both on the bus to the uni ski trip as we came off the motorway and on to the mountain road, got everyone buzzing to arrive in resort!

http://www.gisburnforestbikes.co.uk/accommodation/%5B/url%5D

Linky to website. Has information and contact details.

Its started snowing in Switzerland!

I have considered donating Verbier to the RNLI. Talks are ongoing.

Pah I am going to donate Austria to The Donkey Trust!

Wallop – sounds like it could be for hanging crash netting up to!?

I have blue for night skiing and they are the dogs danglies! Find I also use them in really bad cloud/snowy conditions as they leave great visibility, add great definition!

Just have to make sure I have spare lens when the sun comes out otherwise my retinas do not last long!