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Mine were 3 year old Blizzard Brahmas - in a couple of places there were gouges out of the top sheet. When looking down the edges you could see gouges in them and the bottoms had plenty of scratches.
When I asked them to service them they said no but they would swap them for something else but they had very little in the shop other that very piste oriented stuff in my size and I was keen to try and progress my off-piste technique from falling over immediately to standing up for 30 seconds.
Found it hilarious when the shop assistant started inspecting them for damage when I returned them - I think she noted a raised eyebrow and said they were fine and shuffled off to put them away.
The best skis I've ever used came from a hire shop in Chamonix (south), whereas with normal hires you stop and just remain in a single place, these just wanted to keep on moving, all the time.
I'm torn on the purchase front as obviously ski tech ages quickly and they'd only get used for 1-2 weeks a year so it's a lot to spend for something you then have to service and transport. But on the other hand you get used to those skis, know they are serviced and get to spec them to your skiing, or your intended skiing.
£40ish every time you want to fly with your skis (except on Swiss Air).
I think it's been worth it for me - I like having my own board as you get used to it.
Hire boards, you never know what you're going to get, or what's available at the time.
I wouldn't worry about the ski tech becoming outdated, there was a quantum shift in ski tech about 15-20 years ago when carvers came in, now its very much incremental (and getting fatter). For reference I took out a 2012 pair of Movement Source skis last time I skied and they were far, far better than the rental stuff I tried which was new that year (2018)
There is also something fundamentally cool about owning skis / boards and picking them up at baggage reclaim 😉
As there's two of us we can save 200 euro minimum per trip so in 3 years they will have paid for themselves as we tend to go twice per year and I'm not looking to buy anything spendy - just something not trashed.
With buying skis, I mostly buy used of eBay. Bought a pair new from ekosport Nordica Nrg which are great in anything soft, piste or off. They were heavily discounted season or two old model. Ski Barn (eBay) have come up good for me too. All ex hire but good condition. Possibly been through the base grinder a bit but if you are only getting a few weeks a year our of them they should be fine for a few years.
For smokey jo
I've used both Glisshop and ekosport and they were both fine although my skis from ekosport didn't arrive in time due to New Year.
We have a pair of K2 all terrain rocker skis about 180cm long going spare. I can guarantee they have been looked after, my other half didn't have them long before he started venturing more off piste. Let me know and I can email photos and more details about them if you're interested.
Cheers both, unfortunately.@sprootlet they would be a bit long for me, need something 165-170 ish.
Will check out ekosport and ski barn.
I've bought a few pairs of skis from Ekosport and they've all been spot on. Just make sure you are careful with communicating the boot size if they are fitting bindings for you.
Starting to get excited. Driving to Aosta with the family for half term (Pila, Courmayeur, La Thuile, Cervinia). Weather has been very weird this last week as already commented so hopefully going to cool down a bit and get a top up. After using my now v old carvers I've decided to hire skis for at least the first few days to see how much better the tech is these days so reading the above mixed experiences of hire skis, hopefully I get something that is decent and recent.
A foot of snow in the PDS yesterday, temperatures below freezing again, but climbing through the weekend. Pleney has snow cover again for now.
https://www.morznet.com/webcams/portes-du-soleil
Timely! I'm off to Chatel on Friday for a long weekend
Does anyone have any idea how the lower areas of the PDS are looking?
What would you call the lower areas Andy? All the areas have snow, just not always all the way down to the road or valley bottom. At the moment even pleney is white.
Even st Jean d'aulps looks good on the webcams right now. Might not last long but I'm heading out tomorrow so will update at the weekend.
Keep an eye on morznet webcams for conditions
Bob we should see if we can grab a beer this weekend
Cheers Stoner. We'll be spending time on the Grande Terche and Avoriaz from the Ardent lift. We're not going until half term, so hopefully it gets colder and a bit more snow please.
You wont have any problems at Ardent and up to Avoriaz (That's my main way up).
La Grande Terche is usually OK, but limited if the tour of the Domaine du Roc d'Enfer is not open because of poor snow off the back.
https://www.rocdenfer.com/fr/webcam.php
"Plateau" is the top of the Terche, but bottom of the upper slopes.
"Tetes" is the top of the first area above Plateau and runs back down to plateau, but also links to the Col du Graydon and into the tour route
"Follys" is the col on the way basck from the tour, if there's no snow there, the tour is a problem.
By the way Stoner, my cousin lives in the Essert Romand area across from Montriond. He's lived across the Alps for the best part of 30 years but for the past 2 years he's been managing/setting up/God knows what a company in Morzine.
On the chefs night off we all went to Alba bar in st Jean d'aulps. Haggis bon bons with an Indian twist is my new favourite mountain food.
Not good news from the 4th valley in the 3 Valleys - Orelle gondola is closed for a fortnight
https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=151420&highlight=
I like essert rommand
Mrs S and I will be doing the tour of the roc denfer at St J d'a either this weekend or Monday if the conditions are right so might have to track down haggis bon bons
@boardinbob Ht Chatel looking good this morning. Fresh snow this week is v hard packed but not icy. Pistes are running v fast. Slack is tracked out. Day of carving in the sunshine. Low temps so should stay OK for the a good while yet.
How was the snow? Yes not bad, although I caught a stinking cold on the flight
😷
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51425702
I'm looking to get away with the boy on a cheap long weekend from 20th feb to 23rd feb ( i know , the back end of school hols), flights to geneva are looking cheap, but I cant find any cheap accomodation in any of the ski resorts, its either mega bucks or I have to book a whole week.
Anyone got any suggestions of where we can go for a bit of cheap ,easy skiing? doesnt have to be a mega resort as he's only 8 years old and is only confident on easy blues, so somewhere small off the usual brit ski resort radar might suit as long as there is snow.
I’m looking to get away with the boy on a cheap long weekend from 20th feb to 23rd feb ( i know , the back end of school hols), flights to geneva are looking cheap, but I cant find any cheap accomodation in any of the ski resorts, its either mega bucks or I have to book a whole week
put a wanted ad in the chalets direct solution room?
Vinneyeh - nice one, didn't know about that, have put something up, will see what comes back.
Going to Monterosa in a couple of weeks, staying near Gressoney. First time in the area, any tips?
We just arrived in gressoney- two hours ago. Are you here now, and are you interested in meeting up for some good off piste?
Will be mainly skiing with the family but quite fancy a day where I can ski some moderate gnarr without having to worry about anyone I deeply love.
Assuming you have Pieps etc ....
Just back from a week in Les Arcs, where conditions were a bit mixed
Sunday started with snow, but the temperature soon rose and it turned to rain. It poured down for the whole day, had to stop at around 11:30 as we were saturated
Monday was a bit moody, high lifts were all closed, but managed to get a full day in. Given the rain the day before conditions were better than expected
Tuesday brought a good dump of snow and very strong winds, high lifts were closed and as the wind got stronger more and more lifts closed. They briefly opened a couple up again, but soon closed all but one lift until the end of the day.
Wednesday was a mostly clear day and following the snow on Tuesday off piste was (mostly on). Ice could be found underneath the powder, so some sections were very tricky with the snow having drifted lots. I got caught out coming back onto the piste on my first run down the hill and hit a small solid block of ice. This sent me down onto my front and twisted my knee. Carried on until lunch, but that was the end of my week due to my knee injury.
Thursday and Friday were both clear sunny days and the only days when the highest lifts opened. Hopefully some better luck next year.
@boardinbob Ht Chatel looking good this morning. Fresh snow this week is v hard packed but not icy. Pistes are running v fast. Slack is tracked out. Day of carving in the sunshine. Low temps so should stay OK for the a good while yet.
Hi mate. Headed straight to Les Gets yesterday and did Les Gets, Morzine and Avoriaz yesterday then headed to Chatel to the hotel.
Up early today and did Morgins, Champoussin, Les Crosets, Avoriaz, Lindarets and finished back in Chatel.
Think we're heading to Ardent tomorrow. Ride until 3 then down to Geneva for the flight home.
Snow and weather has been fantastic. My mates first time riding here and he's now a total PDS convert.
Slightly snow related....
Anybody tried datawax polar x on their dry slope board or ski's?
Applied some to my board today, wondering if it'll be a revelation or hardly noticeable.
Just wondered if anyone has giro goggles in particular lenses by Zeiss? What do you think of them?
I have Smith i/os at the moment and whilst they are a lovely lens they do not seem to be the most robust and get scratched very easily.
Tried on Oakley flight decks and they are huge on my pinhead, tried Cairn Magnetik and they seemed to be low on my nose.
Ideally want a quality lens that is a bit more robust than my Smith, open to suggestions but they need to be a smaller goggle
I've been using Summit Goggles for the past few yars and they now do a smaller range - worth checking them out. Mrs NBT has a smaller head and uses child-szed Oakley o-frames
I have a pair of the magnetic Summits - the normal ones are fairly tall so definitely go for the smaller size. Lenses have held up well over the last 3 seasons.
Bought the new skis at the weekend following 2 years of poor ski hire quality, now need ot find a bag.
Usually fly with Jet2 so we have a 22KG limit so it will only be skis and some gear that go in, not boots.
Any recommendations for a bag that will take 2 pairs of skis/poles and jackets and salopettes?
Thanks Julian, I'll have a look at Summit goggles
For smokey jo - Ellis Brigham have a couple of sale EVOC ski roller bags at the moment - blue in colour and £87 instead of £145.....
We have a dakine roller that has been great if you can find one going cheap. We manage to get 2 pairs of skis in by having 1 pair flat then the other pair along the edges of the bag with the ski brakes in the up position
Looking good @boardinbob !
But no one's going very far today thanks to #stormciara
All but Les Gets/Ranfoilly/Nyon closed today, and they'll be busy, windy and wet in places.
So Im off for a swim now 😉
Back again in a few weeks anyway, so no loss.
Usually fly with Jet2 so we have a 22KG limit so it will only be skis and some gear that go in, not boots.
Don't you have to pay extra for oversize anyway?
With Jet2 (as I understand it) we have to pay for Sports Equipment which is £35 each way. Going to try and get down to 1 hold bag, 2 hand luggage and 1 ski bag next year.
Anyone in the grand massif area?
I was there for all of Jan, currently UK then back in March.
If you want up to date weather we found that snowforecast.com was pretty accurate this year.
Biblical rain overnight and this morning in the PDS
Pleney back to green grass. 150km/h winds up in avoriaz. A huge change from the past 2 days!
Biblical rain overnight and this morning in the PDS
ooh nasty! Was there in March last year. I'm now keeping everything crossed for good conditions at Hinterglemm in 30 days!
Grim in gressoney today. Skied a bit in the rain then spent an hour in the Artva park then drove to St Jean for a couple of Laps there. St Jean was very nice, but God knows what we're going to do for the next 5 days.
Ho hum, at least the family have a reasonable idea how to use transceivers now....
£&+++ a_+_# @£_&--&_£++(()/
Wind
Definitely time for it to move on, stupid storm!
We’ve just booked.
3 days at Val Thorens right at the end of the season, 29th April. Does anyone know what VT is like on their closing weekend? Either completely dead, a big part or just a normal weekend?
And a week in Ischgl on 14th March. Haven’t been to Austria since a school trip about 22 years ago and fancied somewhere different.
VT is mental at the end of the season, it's Dutch Week - the town is completely rammed with coachload after coachload of dutch people
Courmayeur webcams this morning show that some of the muddy slopes visible yesterday have been covered, so some of the rain must have fallen as snow. No more trips booked yet for us but keeping an eye on conditions
Hmmmmmm. 1:45 drive to Courmayeur. Plan b for tomorrow.
Plan C is sacking off the skiing completely and driving down to Finale for three days biking. But that would be molto expensive.
Just like being in Scotland at present.
Are there low level MTB trails in Aosta?
Insane lift queues at Vail this weekend
big powder dump, and only that one lift out of the back bowls
Off to Lapland to visit the outlaws on Sunday, so a few days will be spent in Pyhätunturi. Got the kids on skis for the first time in the Pyrenees last year so really excited to cruise about as a family. Snow looks ok, and not too cold at -2c.
Andorra for a few days next week,
Only been once before and don't remember it.
ive been 3 times and dont remember it either
A bit more details, we are staying in Encamp.
Any recommendations for ski hire?
How about ski lifts, is it best to wait until I get there.
Only my 13 year old son and I.
And, is it worth buying bikes spares in tax free Andorra? Tyres, etc..
Commencal bike ?
Does anyone have any info on decent tree skiing at Gressoney or Champoluc?
Weissmatten was great today and I'm working on the basis that there must be some similar stuff on the main area.
So, itslooking unlikely that I can find some accomodation in any of the French ski areas for a long Weekend at the end of half term - no big surprise. So I'm thinking of driving up to on of the Scottish ski areas for a couple of days, Friday 21st and Sat 22nd Feb, assuming there is some snow on the ground to make it worthwhile, is it likely to be mad busy and not worth the hassle?
I went up to Glenshee about 10 years ago, and it was actually decent, even found some powder and it wasn't that busy, but thought I'd better check.
And if it is worth a trip, wheres best to go, I'm in Manchester if it makes any difference.
Glenshee probably easiest to get to if the snowgates are open! Currently closed as there has been a fair amount of snow over the last couple of days.
We are heading up on Friday for the weekend and are staying in the camping pods at the Braemar Campsite.
For Glencoe and Nevis Range stay in Fort William would be my suggestion.
If it's your thing the Travelodge has a Wetherspoons directly underneath it for breakfast etc.
Weirdly enough, no new snow at all on the main slopes at Gressoney, which was a shame. We made the most of it anyway and found some stuff to jump off.
[img] 
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Glenshee, Glencoe, Cairngorm and Aonach Mor all open today and gradually opening more terrain as the move snow around. Forecast for this week remains cold and snowy albeit blowy so wind may be more of an issue. Was at 'shee today and it was lovely.
Thanks all, it it likely to be mega busy in scotland next week given that it's half term (in England at least, don't know about North of the border)
Glenshee, Glencoe, Cairngorm and Aonach Mor all open today and gradually opening more terrain as the move snow around.
Cool. Good to hear. Best of luck to them.
Currently enjoying bluebird skies and excellent conditions in Madonna di Campiglio.
Two things I’ve learned this week:
1. Shorter skis are fantastic fun on piste - currently on some 163 hire skis which are a good 12cm shorter than anything I usually use; and
2. Sunglasses instead of goggles makes you look older.
Loving this resort, some mental blacks, but superb conditions and snow quality despite limited precipitation across the area.
Will defo be returning.
Not looking great for one of the Pyrenees resorts ☹️
https://apple.news/AKw_zlsN0Q_WMDK4DUj7FgA
This year's winter in France has, so far, been the mildest in more than a century, and that has had a direct impact on the ski resort of Le Mourtis, in the Pyrenees mountains.
"There's no snow," said French holidaymaker Frederic Foltran, setting off for the piste this week not with his skis but with a two-wheeled scooter designed for whizzing down grassy pastures.
I've just got my ancient salopettes out of the loft for our holiday in 2 weeks time and they're falling apart.
Can anyone recommend some decent lightly insulated ski trousers for under £100? Must be waterproof and robust as I'm clumsy.
Thanks
Can anyone recommend some decent lightly insulated ski trousers for under £100? Must be waterproof and robust as I’m clumsy.
get thee to a Decathlon.
Or eBay.
Was at ‘shee today and it was lovely.
Saw some photos today and it was looking good. We considered heading up but really needed to spend the day just chilling.
Fingers crossed I can get there over the next few weeks sometime, I’ve had epic days at Glenshee.
So I’m thinking of driving up to on of the Scottish ski areas for a couple of days,
The problem is that it’s so unreliable that we only tend to plan a day or so beforehand. If you get lucky you can have a fantastic day, if not you can end up blown off the hill dodging rocks.
8The problem is that it’s so unreliable that we only tend to plan a day or so beforehand. If you get lucky you can have a fantastic day, if not you can end up blown off the hill dodging rocks.
Yeah, I've booked the travellodge in Perth, on a flexible booking, that I can cancel up to noon on day of arrival without any cost, so will only go if forecast is looking decent.
Or tkmaxx online
@ElShalimo Decathlon's Simond mountaineering range have a pair of waterproof salopettes that are well under your budget.
Designed for climbing and skiing, can also report they are good for dog walking duties as well!
Have worn them in some pretty horrendous conditions in the Scottish hills the past couple of years and they have been excellent!
@thegeneralist - great photo. What are the piste conditions like? We're staying in Aosta with a car this next week and so hoping to visit different areas including monterosa - family in tow so on piste only though.
Pedlad
Piste conditions were quite icy the first two days but quite slushy ice. But its been better the last few days and it's currently puking snow. Which is quite splendid.
Flaine on Saturday for a week. First time with kids although the eldest went last year with school and loved it. My first return in prob 12 years so not expecting too much!
currently puking snow
Splendid indeed. Hopefully across all the aosta resorts😀
Timbog - make sure you visit the Hedgehog snack bar in Morillon and try the duck burger, thought it would be a bit rubbish and it was fantastic.
Try and ski Flaine early then head out to the villages about 11 to avoid the busiest time. Come back about 3 onwards.
The Boarder cross in Carroz is a hoot, watch out for the last bend - full 90 degree left hand turn.
The tapas bar Le Bulout opposite the tourist information office has Goose island IPA and Kwak on draft, great nibbles and Delta IPA (bottle) - all good.
Back in March so leave some snow !
Early March late deal to Kaprun, three and a half days, can’t wait!
Oh my god,
Oh my god,
Oh my god,
Oh my god,
Pleeeeaaaaase
Up at Glencoe yesterday. THE day of the season.
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Thanks to all above who replied.
Decathlon seem to have ran out of tall fat boy sizes. I'll keep looking
@ElShamilo blue tomato?
https://www.blue-tomato.com/en-GB/products/c_outerwearwarmth/medium+insulation/categories/Snowwear-0000004P--Ski+Pants-00003N68/gender/men/price/64.0-64.0-123.0-450.0/v_sizestring/xl/?sort=%2Bmin_price
Oh my god,
Oh my god,
Oh my god,
Oh my god,Pleeeeaaaaase
Phew, after a very windy start the day did indeed deliver. Few false starts heading to closed resort, then getting back on bus to open resort, then getting back on bus to initial resort which had now opened.
Off piste was quite hard work but we got some lovely jumpings.
[img] 
[/img]
@sprootlet thanks for the tips! We just have to get there now - flying from Liverpool 2mo teatime!!
Hi Timbog,
Happy travels !
We're going to book our flights in March today for our sneaky long weekend.
The hedgehog snack bar also does the most interesting chips on the mountain - you'll see what I mean. If a big sit down meal is more your thing then the restaurant below (the bull) does good food as does the Igloo at the top of bergin chair.
La combe right next to the Esserts express chair does great hot chocolate in Milka mugs and the Cashta on the other side is a wee bit cheaper.
The jump park at Morrilon, just to warn you the "Small" kicker is not small ! You can entirely clear the downhill landing if you're not careful.