Skiing

Nevis yesterday. The Back corries were amazing. Rode Chancer in the morning and lapped braveheart chair then when it cleared went up top and dropped spikes twice (there was a comp on at summit gully so it was closed) which was genuinely unreal, it was so good. Proper steep stuff and just blasting freshies through hero snow. You guys really should get up to the back corries for a ride next season.

Great pistes in Les Arches today - it's so quiet;

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Argh. Don't!

I spent my morning coffee break looking at heli skiing in Canada...

... Maybe I don't need to buy a flat....

This genuinely looks awesome.

Wowowow. So jealous of that Nevis action.

Aren't you in la plagne? Did you go over the vanoise express.

Cheers. It was epic. Skied all the way out with a little hike to braveheart, then a traverse back round out the corries where you could ski down to great glen chair back across/take the path to alpha button with just a wee hike through the mud and peat.

Anyway, to the skiing; fuck me it was good. You have a drop in off some serious cornice action, a really steep entry for maybe 10 metres then it mellows a bit, with this whole empty face full of freshies.

Really recommend adding nevis range/ a guy called 'mark back corries' on facebook and getting the updates as to how the corries are looking, then just coming up for the weekend. My mate sacked dropping in, and I waited at the bottom for half an hour for him, no phone signal, and in the morning it was too foggy to go right over to the summit stuff, so just dropped into chancer - even chancer is an amazing run, really nice and steep, powder and you can lap the braveheart chair for the morning.

Anyway what I'm trying to say is even with the foggy morning, and a half hour wait, and not being first on the hill as we didn't leave glasgow till 7.15, we still got 2 drops into spikes, and a so 2 really good backcountry rides, plus a drop into chancer and loads of laps on the braveheart chair. Was back at my door by 7pm.

Brilliant.

is the second last photo looking back onto the north face of the bellecote?

So, Ski people, shall I buy my own Skis, now that the mega clearances are on? I probably have budget up to 350ish

Im going at least once a year, most likely twice at the moment. I'd describe myself as being able to tackle anything on the mountain, but mostly stick to reds. First trip next year I'm planning on doing 'intro to off piste' type lessons with a guide.

In my opinion, for just two weeks a year I still think renting is the best option.

Once you've factored in ski transport (many airlines charge extra), initial build (bindings) and maintenance then you're not far off paying the same amount in total over the lifetime of the skis (sadly ~100 days with modern skis) as just renting.

Rent from a good shop and you should have the ability to swap your skis around for the right conditions (e.g. swapping for some powder skis for off-piste skiing for a couple of days and then switching back to piste skis). Also less worry about damage/maintenance. You also get access to the latest and greatest skis each year.

But it depends on many other things though. If you have somewhere to leave the skis over there (because you go to the same resort all the time) then the ski transport costs drop.

And you have to factor in the cost and effort of at least one wax per year, and probably a service, which would cost about 30EUR.

Buy your own skis. Just get a pair of do it all's like a Line Supernatural 100 - you won't regret it.

Don't come crying to me when some prick stops on the tips of your brand new skis in a lift queue though.

I'd narrowed it down to Supernatural 100s and Black Crow Ovas,

altho I just spotted this price.. so that may be a swinger - http://shop.epictv.com/en/ski-100-109mm/line/supernatural-100-2016?sku=LIN16SUP100172

Black crows are cool as fuck though :)

shit. That's a bargain. Tempted to bag a pair as a do-it-all ski

Good prices on the line sick days on freeze pro shop. Anyone skied them?

Yeah crazy prices on their, ive asked them to price match the above.. then i get get them to mount the bindings too

Park ski isn't it?

Sick days come in a few widths, like the supernatural and are all fairly different skis. Which ones were you looking at? The wider ones are good for deep tree-run days, as they are fairly soft and have a tapered tail so make for easy short turns in pow.

Why those two may I ask? They are very different skis. The Ova is a fairly narrow, soft-tipped resort ski and the Supernatural is a relatively stiff charger.

Was thinking that - 10mm difference under foot.

To be fair the Ova have pretty big shovels so would float much better than most skis of that waist width.

Looking for something a bit more advanced than my current ability, and both seemed quite suitable, with the Ova seemingly a bit more on piste oriented.

Although i guess I don't quite know enough about the differences

The Supernatural 92 isn't so different to the Ova, maybe a bit stiffer underfoot from memory, although I haven't skied this year's Ova. I would really recommend testing out a few skis before you buy a pair. Test a few in different waist widths, have a look at things like rocker and tail profile and try and work out which combo might suit your skiing best.

I have been thinking long and hard about getting myself a pair of ski boots. Rental boots are make or break for a decent holiday.

Any recommendations for best place to get a fitting in London or just outside?

These guys are good apparently: http://www.profeet.co.uk/skiing
I think you can even buy a pair of boots online, then get them to fit you.

Other than that - steer clear of EB / Blacks/ S+R..

If you want to get them in resort (it will be pricier) - do a bit of research first on who the best fitter in town is.. pretty much every resort has some old dude who is a complete boot ninja.