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Time for some light relief.
He has referred to the moderator team using "we". he's made other comments that imply he's a moderator too but I can't remember the detail.
grudge match
😆
No such thing from my point of view. As others have mentioned, your manner and tone on here isn't the best. Look at that before casting blame around at others.
Anyway, back on topic.....onesies. My first skiing trip saw me attired in a green and red C&A onesie. Thankfully not a single photograph of this monstrosity exists.
Marks and Spencer's for me !
CFH those C&A ones where quite the thing.
Oooo, missed all the fun last night 😉
FWIW - I rate Henry. I think he has a good way of breaking down the decision points / risks into manageable chunks that people can get their head around.
At the end of the day, predicting avalanches is hugely complex and not [i]that[/i] well understood. From a skier's perspective, it's about knowing which areas / conditions to avoid to minimise your risk. Henry's ethos it to try and give people the skills to make decisions in a more informed way.
I agree, he makes a living out of guiding and being the avalanche expert so does a fair bit of self-promotion, but I've seen a couple of his talks and had some interesting chats with him afterwards. Very down to earth in person, passionate about avalanches and overall quite an agreeable chap - I'd happily spend a day guided by him.
Anyway, more light relief - Facebook reminded me a couple of days ago that this is what I was doing a year ago 😥 😥
Japow - very nice 😀
TMH - no difference off piste between old straight skis and the new wider AM's ? You must be even more awesome than I thought 😉 extra boyancy is huge in my experience. Don't you remember the old powder skis you'd rent for special days off piste - Fat Boys - they made a big difference
I got myself accepted into this group, does that count as a qualification 😉 !
Very finely judged !
Tandem monoski for the floaty pow funz.
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Noooo
Jambas, never really tried proper fat skiis, so cannot comment. But I ski the same stuff on a whole variety of skiis - SL, GS, AM, freestyle and generally don't notce the difference unless in icy moguls and when blasting down a firm piste. OP? Hardly at all. I know this flies in the face of marketing etc (and is nowt to do with willy waving) but OP is far more about keeping technique very simple and being very relaxed. When skiing I am not even conscious about the skiis - only a very gentle body motion and positions v-a-v the fall line.
The only time I become conscious of skiis is on faster piste basking - I am still unnerved by how short modern skis are - and in big icy bumps. The latter again is probably an excuse for technique. When skiing well, I don't notice the skiis in bumps either. But getting older these days, so that's a rarity!
I actually find this all really odd and would obviously be hopeless as a ski reviewer. But it does make choosing skis a lot easy. Grab anything in the prestige range, clip in and go ski.
As I said, I am the same with MTB and regualrly ride with my forks locked out by mistake!!!!
igm YGM
I saw a lesser spotted monoski on Tuesday!
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has anyone actually been on one? what's it like?
I also saw a blader and of course hurled abuse at him from the lift.
It's been a while. Odd at first for sure and for modern skiers, having you ankles locked right together is a challenge - less so for us oldies who learned a different technique.
Once you realise the monos are not designed for edging and traversing, they are a blast. But you HAVE to stay in the fall line ! Once skied a little bit pissed in Val Thorens in deep powder and it was one of the most fun days ever. Still personally I massively prefer two skis
Jambas I need to look back on skis like the K2 extremes and compare geometries with current ones. I am a bit out of touch with kit - used to be obsessed by it, now much less so.
The odd thing these days is switching between modern carving and old fashioned skiing. It was bad enough flipping between the Austrian and French methods in the 80s and 90s but that was nothing compared with adjusting to skiing like some cheap hooker with your legs splayed out wide 😉 these days!!!
Yes, we did it once 30 (?) years ago. Many many bruises as falls are all hip first. Best in powder I'd say as extra buoyancy meant we floted over off piste chop like snowboarders do
Stoner - ygm back
Didn't recognise any of the photos though. The landscape was obscured by white stuff.
Git.
One of the things I like about Slovakia is that onesies are still very much a thing there.:
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I saw a lesser spotted monoski on Tuesday!
Perverts the lot of them. Almost as bad as hard-booter alpine snowboarderists. 😆
(But obviously not nearly as bad as snow bladers. They are a different category altogether)
They're not snow blades, they just nicked their children's skis...
Discuss
That one at the bar is a truly epic fartbag.
Epic photos of the onesies although the most shocking part is the flow bindings .
sorry I had to!
the most shocking part is the flow bindings
well ... if you are going to use flow bidings, I guess you might as well go the whole way and wear a dayglo one-piece ... at least people might think you are being post-ironic ... 😉 😆
Apart from my old 2m Kastle slalom skis in the 80s,*I have never really got the ski hype. I have skied all types on a whole range of skis and rarely noticed any difference. Skied deep OP two years ago on both Rossie slalom skis and AM - felt just the same. I am a bit like that with bikes though.
I'm a pretty useless skier compared to most on this thread and since my return to skiing five years ago (after 25yrs off) I have only ever skied on carvers. This time, I was given some Head carvers, very narrow underfoot and light and I liked them, even doing some tracked off piste. However, the next day it snowed and Didier from Krakatoa (Briancon) gave me some locally made 'White Doctor' all mountain skis. I was a bit nervous of how I would do, but it was like I was wearing the same skis.....how does that work?
So the End of Season sales are upon us and I think it might be time to send my trusty Vans Cirro boots to the Great Fetid Boot Locker in the Sky as they are now at least 10% Shoe Goo and 15% toe cheese.
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Any thoughts on suitable replacements to look for in the sales?
Looking for something mid-to-stiff and I'm a fan of the Boa laces, as long as they have separate upper and lower dials. (But I did find these boots developed a pressure point where the big plastic bit is that joins the two sections). Also I have fairly wide feet.
A quick Google and the [url= https://www.burton.com/uk/en/burton-photon-boa-snowboard-boot/W17-150861.html?regionSelector=true ]Burton Photon[/url] and [url= https://de.k2snowboarding.com/en/mens/boots/conda/thraxis-1617.html ]K2 Thraxis[/url] have caught my eye but they are both fairly high end so other suggestions welcome.
last week I was having to be held back from fondling deadlydarcy's Insano Focus Boa booties. Excellent double Boa system, and light as a feather compared to my 15yr old Northwaves. Mind you my boots are size 48, and dd's are more likely to be VAT free.... 😉
Graham, ThirtyTwo STW Boa, shirley?
Whatever fits, obvs, but I'm a fan of Salomon. Mainly because they fit me!
They've got some 2 zone Boa jobbies. Worth a look.
Insano Focus Boa booties
[url= http://ridesnowboards.com/boots/insano ]Noted[/url]. They look interesting. Amused to see the liner features a "Tallboy™ Harness" - ideal for DD 😉
ThirtyTwo STW Boa
LOL. That would be amusing, but sadly they are single Boa and I like to run my lower foot a bit loose (due to my wide feet). I do like the ladies colour scheme though:
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😉
Whatever fits, obvs
Yep that's the main battle. Just trying to get a shortlist to try on.
Is there anywhere that gives a nice breakdown of the relative sizing of brands? Some brands are definitely much wider fit than others. I needs Hobbitsy width:
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You could try a shop.
It's a long shot, but it might just work.
A quick snow report from the PDS. Deadlydarcy and I and some chums are just back from a cracking few days. Conditions looked bleak a few weeks ago, but the forecasts were right and there's been a veritable snowmageddon since last weekend.
Several feet of snow has fallen since Saturday evening. The awesome fresh snow days only slightly dulled by some poor visibility and a couple of days cut short by stormy weather coming in and shutting the lifts. But by that point in the day, snow had been ridden into deep, heavy and lumpy piles on the pistes so no great loss. And mornings of arse-crack deep fresh snow certainly made up for a short day.
We did get stuck into some fun piste-edge "side/slack-country", but with a cautious eye on conditions.
All in all, another v fortunate coincidence of our annual trip and a dumping of fresh snow. It's almost as if there were some mythological luck involved....
Snow? Lots of snow.
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Yours truly doing his best "Gallumphing Sasquatch"? styling.
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There are photos of DD, but what with the snow depth, they're mainly of the top of his snorkel.
I intend to CFH - just trying to get some ideas on which ones to look for. I don't want to spend hours trying on every single pair of boots in the shop twice as I have a penis.
Is that DD in white/black number? Or just someone far away? 😉
🙂
Whatever fits, obvs, but I'm a fan of Salomon. Mainly because they fit me!
Same here ... I had needed a new pair of boots in Whistler some years ago and tried on just about every pair in resort ... in the end I went back to the Salomon shop. The very helpful chap said that I had typical 'Salomon Feet' ... or he may have said I had typical 'Salmon Feet' ... 😆
I don't want to spend hours trying on every single pair of boots in the shop twice as I have a penis.
Once for each pair is enough ... apart from the pair you tried on first two hours earlier ...
Alternatively you could have a 'virtual fitting' online @STW and we could all tell you how fabulous you look in this year's color-ways (sic) 😉
In my experience:
Vans/Burton/32 - quite broad
Salomon/Northwave - quite narrow (Italian foot lasts I was once told)
well ... if you are going to use flow bidings, I guess you might as well go the whole way and wear a dayglo one-piece ... at least people might think you are being post-ironic ...
Flow? Check (well my excuse is they're comfy)
Dayglo? Check (Stoner can confirm my end of season whatever's available goretex)
Onesie? No chance. I don't like having to get fully undressed if I want to have a poo
I had needed a new pair of boots in Whistler some years ago and tried on just about every pair in resort ...
Yeah I think I bought those old Vans at Rude Boys in Banff about 6 years ago.
Sadly the boot selection back here in the NE England isn't [i]quite[/i] as extensive:
[url= https://www.ldmountaincentre.com/snowboard-c23/equipment-c89/snowboard-boots-c132/mens-t19 ]Only 3 Dual Boa boots at LD Mountain Centre.[/url]
[url= https://www.snowandrock.com/c/snowboard/equipment/snowboard-boots.html#?q=&size=&page=0&sort=bestselling&filter=%26filter%3Duk_fh_gender:(mens) ]And 6 at Snow and Rock.[/url]
🙁
GrahamS
[url= https://www.absolute-snow.co.uk/V/Flow_Talon_Focus_Boa_Mens_Snowboard_Boots_UK_10_Black_2017-(123042)?Curr=GBP/?keyword=&gclid=CM3v0ML4ydICFRbjGwodXtEJnw ]Flow Talon Focus[/url]
Incredibly good boot, bit stiff at first compared to my Vans Auras but love them now. Totally waterproof, amazing for getting the power down on piste, pretty decent on medium jumps in the park. Super comfy too.
Wallop - great to hear you've enjoyed your jolly.
Conditions this morning were fab. Not so great towards mid day, with the typical ski grabbing spring conditions. We tried the glacier area, which was very crowded. I lost a bit of confidence after tackling a red in flat light and swirling wind (parp).
Heart said ski the black, head said no. Maybe tomorrow when there are fewer idiots around.
Pleased to say my new hip is holding up well.
This is one happy snowbunnyhop 🙂
love my vans sequal boots. lots of adjustments
I need to see deadlydarcy in his mittens!
ride lasso or 32 focus boa are the best boa boots I've tried.
Best fitting boots I've had are nitro. also means you get to say Nitro a lot which is a great word I think.
can we start the 2018 thread yet? I've just put a deposit down on this bad boy
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The Canadian in me thinks that looks like an upside down canoe but I assume that isn't the case 8)
I've just put a deposit down on this bad boy
Isn't that like your fifth new board in this thread or something??
You have a problem. 😆
haha 3rd. just need a splitty and my quiver is complete!
edit grahams just looked at that link get the 32 focus boas, great boot.
Yep, it's on the list, looks pretty similar spec to my Vans.
But reviews say it is very stiff. I was thinking of going a [i]little[/i] softer this time. Maybe the 32 Binary Boa?
Will try both and compare.
Mate spent the day at Cairngorm today on a corporate jolly for work. The git. 🙂
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Limited snow obviously, but soft and ridable apparently.
that looks cool! I think those 32 boots soften up after a week or so. not sure if 32 still means the number of days that they last before they break, that was the old joke anyhowsers
indeed, DD's mitts were a thing of wonder.
My 15yr old levels are not long for this world and I see me kitting out the whole family in DDR finest!
They really were excellent. Still bone dry at the end of a wet stormy day. Excellent recommendation HWD.
Glad you're having fun too, Bunnyhop. My head sometimes puts the brakes on too - there's always another day!
Heart said ski the black, head said no.
A football coach told me there are more injuries in the last quarter hour of a game than the rest of the game. Tired muscles are more easily injured, tired muscles don't maintain joints as well, mental fatigue means you make more mistakes. It's often a vicious circle as you ski badly and use more strength saving the situation or fail to save it. Give up and go back another day - you wisely did.
Never EVER say..."Just one more run"
Ever.
Exactly - always say "two more runs" and then do one! 😆
One more beer
No?
Wallop - That is our motto on boarding and riding.
Only way to be
Sadly the boot selection back here in the NE England isn't quite as extensive
GrahamS - any chance you could swing 'West-Side' a bit and pay a visit to 'The Sick And The Wrong' in Keswick?
They carry 32, Northwave, Burton and Salomon.
haha 3rd. just need a splitty and my quiver is complete!
you should consider a '12 step program' ... 😉
A football coach told me there are more injuries in the last quarter hour of a game than the rest of the game.
My School Doctor had a 30 year pool of data of Rugby Injuries (600,000 player hours) and this showed approximately 32% of injuries took place in the final quarter, 25% in the first quarter.
Ooh thanks Digby. Might head that way at Easter, if I do then I'll check them out.
Just to add a bit of confusion, can heartily recommend the Insanos. 2 trips this year, my first ever experience of days and days of zero foot pain. I had K2 T1s previously.
Few things to note:
They're a bastard to get on when they're cold (think "ski boot hard"...seriously...but if you have boot warmers in your accommodation, that's not a problem...maybe the first day.
They really are stiff.
The Intuition liners are toasty all day.
Having a side BOA where you can actually feel your heel being locked down does the world of good - perhaps just a mind thing but it's a lovely feeling.
I bought mine with a significant reduction from The Board Basement.
Exactly - always say "two more runs" and then do one!
I always do one more run, when the rest of my pals are heading in. They leave me to it after a mate went down on an innocous red and hurt himself. This years last run was the top to bottom 3miler above Briancon....legs screaming every 400m so stopped and waited 1m before setting off again. was slow but made sure I enjoyed it, and more importantly stayed healthy!
Did that run early in the day last Tuesday. It's a beaut. No one on it 'cept us. Lovely 🙂
Conditions today - awful. Frozen, hard piste, the type that loosen your fillings first hour or so.
Snow softened a little, later on.
I managed 2 runs of an easy short black, which was easier than the flipping scary hardpack reds.
Persuaded some friends onto the black later on (black virgins), they both skied it well and more importantly enjoyed it, result.
Packing now 🙁
Pleased to hear the new hip worked out for you Bunnyhop (MrsDigby had a hip replacement a few years ago and is now snowboarding better than ever!) and you had a great week despite some mixed/challenging conditions.
In more challenging conditions when tired I often find black runs easier than the red alternative. Usually quieter, less chopped up and a touch shorter.
I'm really bad at saying "just one more run."
Depends where you are, I reckon. In Austria I'll actively seek out the black runs over the reds, as you say they tend to be quieter. I like it chopped up though. In France though some of the blacks are SAF! Much more so than Austria.
YMMV.
Digby - that's great that your wife is back snowboarding.
I purchased some padded (at the hip) shorts, these really helped mentally.
My fear was falling, or being crashed into and taken down. As a slight built woman, I would almost always come off worse.
Agree Wallop, I too feel more comfortable on some blacks than crowded reds, where often the snow is in better condition.
😯
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My fear was falling, or being crashed into and taken down. As a slight built woman, I would almost always come off worse
Completely understandable Bunnyhop - that was MrsDigby's fear as well - it's one of the reasons we have preferred Canada these past few years:
There's a lot less 'traffic', the Canadians are incredibly polite and the ski hills are thankfully devoid of testosterone fueled, one week a year, have-a-go-hungover-faster-than-your-skill-level types.
@ jambalaya - now that's what you call a 'crown wall' ... wow ...
Wallop - I know what you mean. My most terrified moment on skis was probably in Les Deux Alpes when heading down the Valentin black. Not terrifying because it was steep, not terrifying because it was hard packed (solid) but terrifying because half of France seemed to be on it in various states of control. I pulled over at one moment to take stock of what was happening and I think I counted about 10 people sliding on their backs all the way to the bottom at speed.
Just back from a week in Bansko - unbelieveable snow - didn't stop for nearly 5 days! Brilliant conditions, if not a little short on visibility higher up.
Anyway, need new boots & have just realised that my local (Edge & Wax) has closed & moved 100% online, so any recommendations in the South East/Brighton area - Snow & Rock?
John try closed 100%. They're no longer on line either.
They're trading as Glisshop.co.uk
In Les Gets and it's cooking hot, had a beer in shorts ! Snow holding up at the moment but by 2 is v wet. Forecast is milder for Wed and Thu so will be looking the bikini out !
NZ +17 in Paris today
John - Glisshop are a different company altogether, a physical ski shop based in France but with a .co.uk website and pricing in pounds. I've had stuff from glisshop in the past, they're very good and when the £/€ is better the pricing is almost unbeatable.
Ah - E&W appear to have sold them their customer database then.
Seems there's a bit more to it... I think Glisshop have also bought the Edge and Wax domain name.
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=125803&start=240&sid=ad8ddd38f0dcf6b9b15c682760c6fa6d
NZCol - how's Marjorie?
Anyone on here ridden a Jones Hovercraft? On piste?
Some lowlife stole my Jones Flagship last weekend so I've been looking for a replacement. I've seen some good deals on the Hovercraft and some reviews saying it's actually really good on the piste so I'm considering it. I never ride switch and never leave the ground (intentionally) if that helps... 🙂
Might have a large Flagship under the bed at home not doing much...
Four years old but only ridden for a week or so as I got a Mountain Twin.
Anyone on here ridden a Jones Hovercraft? On piste?
Yep - I demo'd one a few seasons ago - it's a great board (and pretty much the basis for a Flagship - sans swallow tail).
It's a based on a 'race' board so it's great fun to lay down massive carves with.
In the end I went with a Flagship as it's a tad more versatile [for me] but if you can pick up a Hovercraft for a bargain I'd go for it.
sorry about the loss of your Flagship - was this whilst in resort?
I have a hovercraft 156 and it's rad. you can get them pretty cheap in sales, 2017 version is better than 2016. designed to be shorter than normal
However what is the point of snowboarding if you don't leave the ground?