Dom Killinger 00:04
So hi and welcome to the Whiteout, your ultimate guide to skiing and and the best ski podcast., Dom Killinger here from in the snow magazine and I'm here with Rob Stewart
Rob Stewart 00:12
Yeah. Hi, Dom. Rob Stewart here. As as always, I'm sort of deep in some kind of winter sports news story at the moment, one way or another. You wouldn't want it any other way. Would you Rob? Definitely not. We live for winter. Right, that's why we love THE WHITE OUT - the best ski podcast.
Dom Killinger 00:23
exactly. It's right here. So just for any new listeners out there, we're going to come every two weeks with a brand new podcast, which we'll cover where can we ski now. So where the best snow is right now, what's hot in the news, which we're always great at Rob always comes with some great stories for us. And I didn't know you could ski there places we wouldn't have associated with going skiing.
Rob Stewart 00:42
Yeah, that's right Dom. We will also have a gear spotlight where we look at the gear that's caught our eye recently skiing on a shoestring, you know, trying to find ways of skiing without busting our budget, and then blow your budget. And finally, yeah, we look at anything amusing and nice that we've found in the last couple of weeks. We'll also be doing our bonus episodes.
Dom Killinger 01:03
Last week we talked about how to buy your first pair of skis, which is always nice getting people out buying their own skis and taking those on holiday with them.
Rob Stewart 01:10
Absolutely. And yeah, next week, we have ski Scotland special episode, which is your ultimate guide to skiing in Scotland got to do it.
Dom Killinger 01:18
It's certainly something that minute we post anything about Scotland on YouTube or on social media is so so popular. I wonder how many of those people have actually done it. And I wonder how many people are just intrigued and fascinated by skiing around the United Kingdom.
Rob Stewart 01:32
I think it's time we both go up to Scotland together. I mean, I've skied in Scotland a lot over the years try and i try to go up every winter for sure.
Dom Killinger 01:39
I'm impressed. I'm impressed. One thing we can't carry on without talking about we are both just out of the snow show from last weekend at the NEC. So that was was a good event. How did you feel?
Rob Stewart 01:53
I think it was a great event, possibly a little short for my liking. You know, there's plenty of positives though. Overall, I thought it was a great event.
Dom Killinger 01:59
Yeah, being two days long, it does feel short. And those days were quite short, I felt made, especially on that Saturday potentially for that to go on to sort of eight or nine o'clock at night, there was potential for that kind of a bit more at pray for people to really take part in it.
Rob Stewart 02:12
I mean, those guys know what they're doing. And they know how to run events. So I personally enjoyed that that to see set up in the fact that you could do what you want to do in the day. And then it was extended into the evening. And you could kind of go upstairs or outside and have a drink with you, with your friends catch up with those people and sort of chill out and have some good conversations.
Dom Killinger 02:30
Yeah. And it was good seeing some of the big brands back seeing Norway, France, Montagnes and Inghams, crystals or some nice big, big name ski brands as well. Solomon had an nice stand there. And it's good.
Rob Stewart 02:44
seeing those big names back at the shows it's really good seeing those brands there. I was there on the Saturday with my family and my 13 year old daughter, and she took to the slope. And she took to that skateboarding park that they had set up there. And she did all of that. And she loved all of that. That was brilliant for kids these days. If you're into skiing and snowboarding, you get to be into one of those skating or scootering as well.
Dom Killinger 03:06
don't you think they'll bring back big air indoor and that sort of thing? Do you think that'll come back?
Rob Stewart 03:10
Yeah, it's a great spectacle, isn't it? And it's a big debate about what a show should be what a ski show should be. I think for the consumer, they want a bit of both of those things.
Dom Killinger 03:20
And of course, that was a pretty big announcement. There wasn't that about starting a London version of that same show. So they're doing a whole week long. So we're starting with the NEC at Birmingham and finishing at London Excel. So that's pretty exciting for not just the industry but for consumers as well as I think I think it's great that they're launching that London show. It'll be interesting to see what goes on during that week. Yeah, definitely.
Rob Stewart 03:40
So Dom, where can we ski right now?
Dom Killinger 03:47
Well there are a few places Rob, as we talked about last week and a number of the places that are open, October certainly hasn't been the big snowfall month that we're all hoping it might be temperatures are still a little on the warm side but we have seen some positive signs of snowfall being reported in the Alps and across western North America need I tell you rob some snowfall arrived and one of the glaciers is already open for the 20 to 23 season in the Alps. You've just come back from there. Did you see evidence of this new snowfall incidents?
Rob Stewart 04:13
So there was some fresh snowfall on the glaciers that definitely freshen things up a bit above I would say above two and a half thousand metres.
Dom Killinger 04:20
So that saw the the women's GS was due to be staged on Saturday, wasn't it and that got cancelled down and the good news was that the men's race did happen on the Sunday and we got some pretty exciting news about that later. Yes, so a little bit of untimely warm weather has meant that the first ever cross border World Cup Downhill Race in Zermatt for next weekend is currently off. Yeah, fortunately, both of those races are cancelled. That's a shame, isn't it? But there has been widespread winter weather reported across North America which is good news, very heavy in Alberta as well and Arapahoe basin gets Colorado's 20 to 23 season underway already this week. So that's pretty Exciting.
Rob Stewart 05:00
That sounds good to me because I am off to the United States quite early in January. So
Dom Killinger 05:05
yeah, that's good. Hopefully we will hear of some snowfall across the Alps very soon. Some big snow so that we can report on because it would be good to see that kicking into action,
Rob Stewart 05:15
wouldn't it? Yeah, definitely. I have heard it's a bit cooler in Norway in Scandinavia. And obviously they had a decent summer skiing season as well compared to the Alps. So the glaciers were still in good condition. And of course, they tend to get colder weather sooner. Anyway, they have had a little bit of snow. I don't think it's dumping it there at the moment. But you know, I do think it's definitely getting cooler.
Dom Killinger 05:39
Well, hopefully in future podcast episodes, I will be raving about dumping snow, and I won't be able to have time to list the number of resorts with with heaps of snow landing for us. So no doubt. Sorry, Rob, with that as our roundup of snow conditions at the moment. What about news?
Rob Stewart 05:57
Yeah, so obviously the World Cup did kick off this last weekend in Sölden and I was lucky enough to be there. As we said before, the women's race on the Saturday was cancelled due to bad weather, wet snow, and it was causing problems. And there was a big question mark over the men's race for the Sunday just because they were unsure if they could get the slope hard enough for those giant slalom races on the Sunday. But they managed to do it. And it was the weather cleared up. And it was a brilliant race. I was there with Helly Hansen and the Norwegian ski team. The news there is that they've just secured a massive sponsorship with Helly Hansen, Norway team, I was hanging out with those guys. And actually, I caught up with the likes of Henrik Kristoffersen. And I asked him whether he would do better this season. In other words, would he come first instead of second, but I also asked him about Dave Ryding when last winter he won in Kitzbuhel. Because his reaction was quite special. And this is what he this is what he had to say about that.
You're talking to a predominantly UK audience here. So you know, last winter, we watched our famous skier David riding, winning and kids hold course. And the scenes are really nice to see. Because, you know, along with a few other guys, you especially were one of the first people to congratulate him on the winner. Yeah. And that was great. I mean, how do you feel about what does that make you feel when you see someone from a country like UK, we get told all the time that we can't ski and yet someone wins a World Cup.
Henrik Kristoffersen 07:26
I think it's great for the sport. I think it's I think diversity in the people who are skiing is great. But when you have Dave there who I've known for so many years, and I've skied so much with Dave and trained a lot with Dave. I think it was a great thing. If I didn't win, I think it was great. Of course, I always want to win. But being on the podium together with Dave and his first win was was a big, big deal. For sure. Not, of course, for him the biggest deal. But it was also a big thing for me as well to be there on the podium with him. Because we spent a bit of time together on the slopes together. So and he's a great guy.
Rob Stewart 08:10
that was really cool. That was a great interview. So yeah, I also caught up with Charlie Raposo whilst I was in Sölden and had a great interview with Charlie. And you can catch that on a separate podcast about 15 minutes long. But he also talks about the funding and the funding issues that that they're facing, the team is facing at the moment. And he talked a little bit about GB Snowsports and we're just going to hear that section now.
Charlie Raposo 08:44
This situation with British skiing and GB SnowSport is very bad. Yeah. We won't dive into too much today because there's not much more to say. There's mismanagement across the board as to how they're trying to sell Alpine and to dodge and move that forward and bringing commercial money, you're hear in Solden. You've seen everything that's going on. You've seen this sport is healthier, and more lucrative than ever. Yeah, right. It's incredible when you've got a five, six athlete team scoring World Cup points. Yeah. At the level that they are in Great Britain and you see the excitement around British ski racing when you're at events. Yeah, you can make some money out of it. So that's all I'll say on the matter. Yeah, I'm super lucky and fortunate to be at Van Deer Red Bull sports where I have a serviceman from the company, right? I have a load of other resources that come my way. Yeah, so my dependency on GB SnowSport is obviously still very much there. Of course still the governing body that run on my programme. Yeah, but I am not drowning right now.
Rob Stewart 09:51
I mean, you know, there's obviously an opportunity right for brands, you talked about how successful this sport is, you know, you can see it here and sold in the press. As conferences, the amount of people the amount of exposure the sport gets.
Charlie Raposo 10:03
Yeah, I don't believe we're being sold in the right way as as an Alpine unit. We have a CEO, that's never come to a World Cup race you can see here for four years. Sorry, that's a statement that I'm just willing to put out there. Now, how can you understand the sport if you don't come and see it? Like the, you know, the hype that exists?
Rob Stewart 10:20
Quite incredible, actually.
Charlie Raposo 10:23
The hype that exists within the sport and the energy, you know, it's it's a mini Formula One, you've seen that? Yeah, sure. Seeing here. This is not like any of the other winter sports that exist, except for maybe the X Games.
Rob Stewart 10:35
Yeah. So it's really interesting from Charlie. And I think he really felt that those points had to be made
Dom Killinger 10:40
great chance for you to get set in front of him. So that was, that was really good news, Rob. So it's definitely an interesting podcast to listen to, for anybody who'd like to hear the full interview.
Rob Stewart 10:49
we've just talked about downhill races and Zermatt. And you've been Yeah, those men's and women's events on subsequent weekends have been cancelled. It's very disappointing for the International Ski Federation, they're coming up with some fire for arranging races like that so early in the season. I mean, it was always a bit of a risk, you know, but this is the worst case scenario. And they, they probably realised that actually there there wouldn't be a lot of fresh snow, but they planned on making a lot of snow. But they had some issues with that, because of the warmer temperatures as well combined with the lack of snow. And I think I think that has really and there's some of there were some other things going on with the glazier and it was very tricky. So they had to cancel those two races, much of the cost as well. Yeah, the cost and an all of the disappointment for those resorts as well. Also on other news, I've seen Graham Bell has signed up with the Finnish clothing brand healthy, healthy probably isn't quite as well known here in the UK, but it's been around a long time. So yeah, let's see how that develops and how much healthier we start seeing the other bit of news, I've heard that some of the indoor slopes in Europe are planning to actually close down because they use enormous amounts of energy, especially in Germany, there's one or two in Germany that have said they're going to close most of them are staying open. And ski resorts are universally saying they will definitely be operating pretty normally. There might be some exceptions to that here and there. But that's the that's the kind of standard thinking right now. If you work in the financial sector in the City of London, you can participate again in the city ski championships, which has been relaunched between February 3 And the fifth in Chrome Montana.
Dom Killinger 12:25
Plenty of men in lycra they shouldn't be in like for their
Rob Stewart 12:28
Yes, absolutely. Well, yeah, there's plenty of people at Worldcup ski races as I saw this week weekend and sold them that like to dress up themselves in lycra go skiing on the mountain and think that they are well cup races. But obviously they're not.
Dom Killinger 12:46
I would have to get one of those muscle body suits underneath mine. I think.
Rob Stewart 12:52
If you have to get a muscle body under yours DOM then I think I'd probably have to have three muscle body suits under mine. So gear wise Dom has anything caught your eye this week?
Dom Killinger 13:07
It has when you say caught my eye, it really did catch my eye in case listeners don't know of the brand. I am talking Oosk, which are one of these fun, funky one piece ski suits, which to be honest, seems to be all the rage at the moment. I've started seeing them on the slopes quite a bit. But I've known these guys for a little while they are a pair of annoyingly good looking young lads that are ex University pals that have suddenly grown up to be serious business partners. And yeah, they probably burst onto the scene. And I think you and I probably saw them in ISPO Yeah, what, three, four years ago, I would guess. But they're kind of that new wave of marketing where it's throw out all the old marketing ideas. They seem to somehow be well known by everybody. They're all the right parties to be seen at but they've also got great a great business head they know exactly what they're doing and what brought them to the front of my mind for this podcast today was seeing them at the National Snow show. They don't turn up with a piece of shell scheme stand and a poster and a pull up banner. They turn up with a bright pink storage container unit. You know one of these big metal containers it's sure you saw it craned in the middle of the show. Massive great offload logo around the back of it DJs on the front of the stand beer ping pong competition. What else would you do on your stand obviously on a serious from grey care very exciting. I saw you tried to put one of the lady suits on it had to be done. But it is cool gear and people seem to love this stuff. You know it's real retro one piece ski so bright colours and look
Rob Stewart 14:49
fantastic. Yeah, I totally agree. I love putting that suit on not not the women's one which obviously I realised as I was trying to pull it over my legs. I wasn't quite Right. But once I got hold of a men's version, I felt really comfortable and actually our listeners of course could check out the video we made at the National Snow show. Luckily for them see me wearing that bright, pink, white, purple multicoloured one piece suit that kind of looks like it should come out of the 80s in some ways, but in other ways, is sort of bang up today as well.
Dom Killinger 15:22
Yeah, absolutely right. And you know what, this isn't just called clothing but it's fully eco friendly, fully sustainable. So by no means of a joke of a clothing brand or a proper UK brand. It's
Rob Stewart 15:32
great seeing that happening. Yeah. And it's very technical. I think they've launched some new jackets this season that are, you know, 2020 waterproof, breathability jackets and about as technical as you need on the ski slopes. So they're not, they're not just a pretty face.
Dom Killinger 15:48
We'll have more information about them in the notes so people can go off and check us clothing. That's my chosen brand of the week.
Rob Stewart 15:56
That's nice. It's a nice one. Yeah, eco ski, which is actually a retailer. It's an online retailer that are sustainable ski clothing specialists if you like they are exclusively selling as a new product from icebreaker jacket and pants that are made from merino wool be taking a look at it. It looks like a technical ski jacket, but it's made completely with natural products. And I know there's no plastic product in it at all. So I think this is pretty unique. It's not a cheap product. The jacket retails for 570 pounds and the pants are 435. Okay, the cool thing is you can also rent it from eco ski for 95 pounds for eight days. I mean, it sounds a lot in a way but at the same time, if you buy a ski jacket and you only wear the ski jacket for skiing, that kind of makes a financial sense if you're going to pay 570 for jacket, but you're gonna rent it for 95 Of course, if you buy a jacket and you use it a lot, I'd probably probably invest in invest in the jacket. You know, I like the idea of the merino wool outer I'm looking forward to maybe seeing what the icebreaker it's a merino wool brand and they are specialists in base layers and now going into the outer market as well. So
Dom Killinger 17:04
keep a lookout for it then Yeah. In the meantime, you always take a look at skiing on a shoestring how people can save a bit of money with skiing. We do like to offer a few budget saving tips. I know that one of the things has been a little deal for over New Year. What do you know about that?
Rob Stewart 17:24
So Inghams are offering an extra 100 pounds off their New Year's Ski holiday bookings. The offer is only available until the 31st of October. Okay, yeah, gotta get on with that. And the 100 pound savings applies to all of the seven night European December the purchase dates across the company's ski products, the Lapland Santa's breaks and only excludes Canada ski holidays, that in itself is fine, but they've got some pretty good prices on when you look at it as well. I mean a price for seven night self catering holiday starts for 449 pounds per person in France based on two adults sharing or 499 pounds per person for a better breakfast holiday in Austria flying from London that includes flights and the accommodation and b&b.
Dom Killinger 18:06
That's fantastic value.
Rob Stewart 18:07
It is right there.
Dom Killinger 18:09
I mean previously, I mean, you know, New Year was a very expensive time to get out to go skiing even just even just a few years ago. I think it's to do with the way the dates are falling this year, isn't it because they go out they can't quite get the flights back in time for school holidays. And I think that's why we're probably seeing some pretty good deals at the moment on New Year. And I think incomes aren't the only ones that are offering that there are some good deals out there to be had over New Year. So they're talking about 100 pounds saving for department on the 26th of December or the 31st of December. It's pretty good, isn't it?
Rob Stewart 18:46
But what about the other side of it though? What about blowing your budget at the moment? What have you found that might might mean to spend your hard earned
Dom Killinger 18:54
cash on this time is not a holiday Rob, I'll tell you. I have followed a brand called PFD, pure freeride design. And this is a guy that makes bespoke handmade bamboo freeride schemes. He's pretty much started out in his in his back shed. He was doing a degree in product designer at university but he was also an obsessive freeride skier. So he started out in 2012 he finished his design degree he was obviously massively into freeride skiing and he started creating these bespoke bamboo skis and then he moved into snowboards as well. And they are just a thing of beauty. I mean it's the sort of thing that I think even if I wasn't a skier I'd probably want a pair to put on my wall that they are 1400 pounds a pair which in the grand scheme of things actually I feel is a bit of a step because if you're going to bind these impurities they're going to be headed on 1000 quid anyway aren't they but 14 underpowered for for a beautiful bespoke made pair of bamboo skis.
Rob Stewart 19:53
Well, you know what, I did see them at the snow show and I saw Rupert that I got to let you know that a few years ago, I even went to his back shed garden workshop to see him making those PFD skis. So that was really cool. That was a cool, yeah, top secret location. Yeah, I could not possibly tell you where it is. But yeah, they are made in the UK. And it's just a such a nice process to see that.
Dom Killinger 20:34
He really is the type of craftsman that that they're just hard to come by nowadays, you know, that that real creative that rural bear hands, you know, it's quite, quite incredible to see nowadays is that
Rob Stewart 20:48
it's got some pretty cool kit and his workshop where he makes the skis. And he basically does it all himself. But it is, you know, is the process of making them is really amazing
Dom Killinger 21:01
PFD skis, we'll put those in the notes of this podcast for people to go and check out well worth having a look at. Rob on the other half, you also often blind us with our ski resorts that we'd never even knew as a ski resort. So what have you got for us this week? In terms of places we didn't know we could ski already?
Rob Stewart 21:22
Yeah, yeah. I'm always gonna think of these places. But I did remember a few years ago, I visited some of the ski resorts in Kazakhstan and Central Asian country. I think it's the seventh largest in the world. Wow. But on Yeah, it's huge. But on that southern edge, it's, it's former capital city of Almaty sits on the Tian Shan mountain range, okay. I mean, it's, it's a spectacular mountain range. It's basically like an extension of the Himalayas. And they are very high, you know, 4000 metre peaks rising up above the city on one side. And it is spectacular. And then from Almaty, you can easily get up to the result of Shymbulak. Like, it's a pretty modern little resort. It's got its own accommodation up there as well. Hotels and apartments, you can start there's about 20 kilometres of slopes there, the lifts are pretty modern, and the skiing goes right up to above 3000 metres, it can get pretty cold in the winter, they don't actually get huge quantity of snow, I would say Kazakhstan is not your powder skiing destination. Really. It because it gets very cold, but it's very dry. So they'll get the snow falls and that snow, they will keep that snow for a long time. But it is quite a dry climate, because you're right on the edge of this huge, vast, sort of always Siberian plane that stretches across Kazakhstan and into to, you know, into Russia. And that is a pretty good base. It's quite a cosmopolitan city, I enjoyed walking around Almaty and I felt very safe there. I wouldn't say the food is for the faint hearted generally. I mean, I was given a lot of horse meat when I was there. I mean, I was to be fair on a quite an organised tour. And I was I think every meal was a bit like, this is our national dish. After a week I'd like yeah, I've had your national dish like seven times times to now. Thanks very much. It's delicious. And I really appreciate your hospitality. But yes, I think possibly that not every meal is sort of roasted horse. I also discovered that on the top floor of my hotel after being there for about four or five days. And there was a brothel. So that, that that seemed quite normal to them. So there was you know, there's sort of interesting things like that that suddenly suddenly pop up well, I just went up there for the view of the city because it was one of the highest buildings in town. The the view I got was slightly different to what I was expecting at the end of the day what about you Dom, have you found anything nice this week?
Dom Killinger 24:04
I'm always finding something fun and nice. One of the things I heard about this week was the shepherdess of the stars Rob, I mean, Shepherdess. It doesn't come with a better brand than Shepherd so the stars on a French chairlift. So this is the ski resort, probably not particularly well known ski resorts, which is Luckily though located in the Isere region of France, great for people who like their night skiing, not just skiing, but actual night skiing because they have a number of ski runs that are floodlit, which is pretty cool. But you can also use the chairlift for night-time stargazing with the shepherd to the stars, which is a lady called Daesh, who shares her passion for astronomy, her family, so she jumps on that chairlift takes you up to where it's far away from any light pollution And you can find the minute telescope viewing of the stars through the sky. feels fantastic, doesn't it? I'm loving it.
Rob Stewart 25:08
You know, I'm I'm sometimes quite cynical, I'm sometimes quite cynical about the sorts of gimmicky things that ski resorts do and that happen in ski resorts. But actually, that does sound pretty cool, I would do that. I would, I would drag myself away from the app prey ski and you know, the nice meals and the glass of red wine, you know, that you have after a day skiing. And I would, you know, I'd go for that.
Dom Killinger 25:33
Definitely do that. And then you could go and do the night skiing, so you can still have a glass of wine and bear dancing, you can then go and do this and still come back and have an evening.
Rob Stewart 25:41
I'm not sure if I'd have the energy for the shepherd s and the dancing afterwards. But
Dom Killinger 25:47
I know what you mean, have you found anything fun and fun and fabulous this week?
Rob Stewart 25:53
Um, well, very on a very different kind of theme. I did see something this week, but from a company called Coolcasc and they make helmet covers in the shape of fluffy animals.
Dom Killinger 26:06
You gotta love that, Rob, you're gonna look fantastic.
Rob Stewart 26:09
I mean, personally, I don't think I would want to be seen dead wearing one. But you know, they do look like a lot of fun. They do. And there's loads of designs of rabbits and flamingos and dinosaurs and they've even got separate range with things like police helmets or flashing lights on them. There's a lot there's a luxury option with Sofer as well. So something for us can say something for everyone. Maybe not quite everyone, but yeah,
Dom Killinger 26:38
I guess pretty good for spotting kids on the slopes as they are I guess if yours is the one with the dinosaur or the flamingo on their hearts, then you are going to stand out. You're going to spot the kids from a distance. I guess there's a bit of a safety angle there.
Rob Stewart 26:49
Yeah, definitely. For kids, I think they're brilliant. They do market them for adults as well. I think there's probably plenty of adults that want to stand out and wear fluffy things on their head. We find it you know, let's face it, helmets are not always the most exciting looking things.
Dom Killinger 27:07
So that's all for this week. Rob, where are you off to next anywhere exciting on your agenda.
Rob Stewart 27:13
Birmingham, Birmingham on Friday, but I am going to meet up with David Ryding
Dom Killinger 27:23
Ryding, how exciting that's going to be great. Can't wait to hear about that. So make sure you listeners out there. If you're loving what we're doing, then make sure you subscribe. Tell your ski pals and interact with with us in any way you'd like. Check out our show notes if there's anything you'd like to take an extra look at. And you can also check out in the snow.com or at the same bag on Insta Facebook YouTube. Thanks very much for everything this week. Rob It's been good to chat as usual until next time,
Rob Stewart 27:50
absolutely. Thanks, Dom. been great fun as always. See you next time on THE WHITE OUT - The best skiing podcast.
