Skiing

Weird, I've always found Swiss customer service to be superb and when in doubt they normally just let stuff slide. They've regularly put me on earlier flights when I've turned up 6 hours early at Geneva because of awkward transfers and often let mw check my bags early etc etc

The whole 'everything together' thing doesn't bother me much as I throw everything in one roller bag anyway and I like packing light. If my bag ends up heavy I just take my boots on as hand luggage.

That said - I've never tried to take snow shoes on. Maybe chuck them in a snowboard bag next time?

A good review of the 100's here:http://blistergearreview.com/gear-reviews/2014-2015-line-supernatural-100

My OH keeps pressing me to buy a pair (having been once), but my thinking on buying is:

You can get good deals for decent skis (around £50 a week for skis/sticks/boots on a 'Gold' package)
You don't have to transport them to the resort
If there are any problems, the shop will sort them
You don't have to store them in your cramped London abode
You don't have to learn anything new to do with fittings, maintenance etc
You don't need to worry about being overtaken technology-wise as they get older

If you're going one week a year, and are just looking to cruise down reds and blues, it seems to make no sense to buy?

If that's your level then there isn't much point, but only for that reason, not for any of the others you give.

There isn't much to know about fittings and maintenance fyi - once your din is set up all you need to worry about is leaving them in a resort shop overnight for a wax/edge every now and again.

My skis live under the bed all year, not really in the way at all - my boots are more of a problem to store!

Also - technology creep makes fuck all difference at the level you are describing. The only places it makes any difference are: park, touring and freeride.

Agree with buying skis, buying last seasons skis in the sales can be very very good value.
Also I've always found that once Ive found the skis which I am buying you tend to get better performance which suits you and you don't need to get used to a new pair of skis every time you go .

I agree re: line supernaturals, have skied the 92 and the 108 this year, both quite different but excellent skis. The Cochise is also very similar. The Camox as with most black crows has quite a stiff tail, so if you tend to end up a bit in the back seat they can be really hard work. Can also recommend the Faction Candide 2.0 if you fancy a twin tip, I have a pair and haven't found conditions yet where they can't cope. Stiff enough for the groomers and enough rocker in the tip and tail to have some real fun in the powder.

I was at a ski test last week and tried quite a few skis. The new salomon QST (replacing the RCKR and Q series) were very good, not dissimilar to the black crows camox / navis / corvus line. The other standout ski was the atomic backland 109. Its a lightweight, reasonably soft backcountry touring ski. Armada ARV 106 and K2 Marksman were both meh.

Thanks for the recommendations guys and gals. Much appreciated. Which of the supernaturals would you go for if you were planning on splitting your time between the pistes and exploring off piste? I guess my question is: how well did the 108s cope on groomers?

The 108 is a beast of a ski. The day I took it out, there wasn't much powder to speak of but it just blasted through the crud. It feels a lot more solid than the 92, I think the titanal (or whatever) plate is beefier. I liked it on piste, it had impressive edge hold when doing big GS turns, but then again, it's rare for me to ski anything <100. I'd be interested to try the 100 as I think it'd be better as an everyday ski, unfortunately we don't sell it.

Just back from Alta Badia in the Dolomites.

A good area for skiing but less so for snowboarding due to the high number of traverses that sit in the middle of pistes and at the ends. If you go there, expect to do some poling/skating from time to time. A bit blueish but overall, I would recommend it as a resort worth going to. You'll probably get sold the superski pass which allows you to roam into all of the other areas that are linked up by lifts including the Sellaronda route around the massif. Not a lot of snow at the start of the week but there is a lot of snow generation going on to almost all the pistes are open all season. When the snow did come, it opened up a lot of edge-piste/off-piste options (note technically illegal in Italy without a qualified guide) We went with Neilson and the area reps are middle aged and have been in place for years so very good at getting you to places that suit your style of skiing and less interested in trying to flog you cheap boozy nights out. Not too much of that in the area anyway.

First time on touring skis so quite a learning experience. Trail skiing needs some work on the technique. Uphill climbing came to me much easier. We started on the edge of a piste and I ventured into the trees to find out the full capability of the skis and skins. Same sort of effort as fell-running so I'm lucky to have done some of that. Still quite knackering though and being a fat bastard isn't helping. Still need to get used to the flexibility of the skis. The reds and blacks were getting very mogully/lumpy to the end of each day and I found it hard to get out of old habits so ended up getting thrown around a lot. Once there was some powder on the edge/off-piste I was pleased with how they travelled over that. Did face plant into one hidden drift but really it was only my dignity that suffered. Other than that, I almost looked like I knew what I was doing.

Might look at doing a beginners guided touring holiday next year to get some skills/technique coaching.

We stayed in Pedraces (alta badia) in 2001, kids were tiny. The cable car up at LA Villa and world cup downhill course was fab. Also going up the cable car from Passo Falzarego, stunning vast ski region, we hardly covered it in a week though and never made it to Marmolada, with so many of us with different abilities

It's here boys and girls!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1NagZN2kjY

Grand theft auto on skis!

Amazing again. Would love to see it without all the slow-mo sections though.

Does anyone have a ski bag / long enough snowboard bag (165+) that I could borrow for the long weekend?

Beer / gratitude / i'll buy it if it gets damaged / indiscretions offered

I've got a K2 double bag that you can use. Located in Herne Hill.

That's really good of you to offer - Thanks!

I'm afraid I just picked up a cheap bag though, so I no longer need to borrow one.

Thanks again though.

Also: New boots! So excite.

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Those look like snowboard boots?! >>>>>>>

Day up at Glencoe on sunday, bluebird. Great day.

Booked today off to go up again, blue skies and freshies forecast. So busy at work that for the 3rd time in 2 months, have had to cancel my holiday and come into work. Fuck sake.

I may cross over occasionally... Although I've only put on skis a couple of times in the past few years.

The ski bag was for the other half.

don't want to just post vidoes here but...

https://vimeo.com/156254638

Anyone heading to Chamonix right now may want to pack hand sanitiser. There's a rather nasty fever/flu bug going round that's knocking out shitloads of people. We both got it last week, OH to such an extent that she only got on the mountain twice.

The flu epidemic actually spreads all over France ...

Val D'Isere on wednesday.. looks like it might actually be good snow wise!