So, hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the White Out Podcast. I'm Dom, publisher in the Snow and I'm here with our co-host Rob Stewart, ski extraordinaire, ski instructor, ski tester, head of the ski team this year for the in the Snow Ski team.

Out of the test? Mm. Rob Stewart, how are you? Ah, yeah. Yeah. I'm good Dom. You love an intro. Thanks for that. I do love an intro. Well, I'm getting used to these intros now. I mean, the first time, you know, you gave me this Trump top intro. I sort of a bit taken a bath, but now I'm just, I'm just used to them now.

I want more actually. Come on. Enjoy. Give it to,

I'm enjoying them. That's it. Yeah, winter is back, right? So we thought we'd better do another podcast. I know. Yeah. We, we've got another, we've got a packed out episode though. Lots of news still to talk about. Yep. You know, our normal gear reviews and of course your snow report and our usual top jumps, which I'm looking forward to today especially.

Yes, too. [00:01:00] Right, Rob? I mean, certainly days have turned into weeks in this crazy busy industry we've had. Droughts of snow. We've had piles of snow. We've got people complaining about too much snow. , and I've been, I've been getting emails asking, when's the next podcast coming out? What have you got for us?

I didn't realize how popular we were. Well, I think probably mainly me, but, you know, , I mean, obviously listeners are only interested in you, Dom, obviously. Of course, of course. We know that, of course. No, I, well, I, I'll tell you what, I've never complained about too much snow and No. Oh, quick, quick, random story.

Once, many, many years ago in veria, they, it snowed so much that people couldn't open their doors because the snow had piled on the shall roofs, and literally the wood had sort of stuck together and they couldn't open their doors, and people were complaining about too much snow at that time. But it was good for me cuz I got paid to go up on roofs and clear snow for days on end.

It sort of set me up for the beginning of the season. That was great. So I, I wasn't complaining about Those are the days, eh, it'll, it'll, yeah. Well they, yeah, I suppose they [00:02:00] were. But yeah, it has plenty of snow. Plenty of snow at the moment. There's some good stuff. Well, there is, we'll hear about it's, yeah.

And it's been an incredible season when you think about it. I mean, not, not one for the snow records here in Europe, but you know, equally, nobody came out to ski. That didn't actually go skiing, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean we've got to, we've got to remember that, you know, the first full winter season. Okay.

We're not quite there yet, but since 2018, right? Yeah. Because of, cuz of the C word which is amazing to think really lots of successful ski racing competition's taking place across the world. Yep. Britt's doing incredibly well in those, in, in many competitions, which is fantastic to. Tore operator bookings looking really healthy, especially at the beginning of the winter.

And maybe the nicest thing of all is being welcomed back on the slopes again as a Brit. Right. , you know. Okay. I really, I know they really only want us for our money our booze spending. I'm sure booze and food. [00:03:00] Yeah, that's it. But hey, it's nice to be wanted. Right? Even if it, even if it's only for the money.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, it has been incredible. It's despite the massive interruptions, the financial crisis, covid, they hit on people's pockets at the moment and still bookings are up and there seems to be good reports from tour. Operators of demand being high resorts are busy. And the ski world continues to spin despite all of its challenges.

And there's a bunch of and and anticipated snow at the moment, and it's looking like that's gonna compound demand because, you know, as soon as people see more snow coming, which there is at the minute, everybody's gonna wanna go skiing. Yeah, I think that's, I think that's true. I mean, obviously, you know, we've got a few challenges as an industry as well.

Longer term snow reliability. You know, we, we know that that could be a challenge, will be a challenge making travel more sustainable. At the end of the day, when you look at the data of carbon footprints of skiers, A huge percentage of that, you know, between 60 and 90% of that is, is within the travel [00:04:00] side of things, not within the skiing itself.

Right. Yeah. So making travel more sustainable, ensuring skiing in the mountains remain financially reachable for a large amount of people. Yeah. You know, we, this is a, a big, big challenge for us right now and to, to. To, for skiing not to become that kind of, you know, it's already got the image right of, it's, it's, it's, it's a rich person sport.

And, and we, you know, that we don't want that image to become complete reality. And and, and also, you know, safety on the slopes. This has been highlighted this winter and. It's, it's, it's something that we've, we've really got to consider, you know, and people have to take responsibility, right? Yep. But yeah, I mean, sometimes I think we forget the privilege of being on this amazing.

Mounted normally full of snow, normally and being able to travel down on some wooden planks. Right. It's amazing. And I think I think most people that go skiing do appreciate that they do. And we mustn't, we [00:05:00] mustn't forget it. Yeah. That's me off my, off my soapbox. Absolutely agree to that. Rob. We we are in a very lucky position indeed in in, in every case and, and, and especially us Brits, because having it right on our doorstep in Europe, It makes you realize how incredibly lucky we are to skip across the water there and, and have such a plethora of fabulous world, world class Leading resource right on our doorstep is incredible.

It is very lucky.

So on that note, Dom I think you have an exciting snow report to give us this week, , well, certainly a snow report that I've been scrambling away trying to change every 30 seconds of the day up until recording this podcast. , but I'm gonna call it where is good to ski right now, which comes straight out of in the snow.com, where we do a regular update on snow conditions.

Because trying to forecast at the moment is being particularly tricky, but let's see how this goes. It's probably been one of the snowiest weeks of the season so far in parts of the outs with some big weekend accumulations on high slopes. The snow is falling right now. Which is all good. [00:06:00] Most, but if not all parts of the Alps have seen fresh snow over the last 24 hours and it's still snowing across many regions today, especially in the northwest, like the grand massive port sole young fra Engelberg Alberg where the rain snow limit is around 900 of 1300 meters.

And by the end of today, obviously this podcast will go out in a couple of days. This is Wednesday. You know, the likes of Shaman. Could well see 36 hours of snow of between 40 and 60 centimeter. That's a couple of feet to you and me, Rob, above 2000 meters. So I am becoming ambidextrous on that front.

Actually. I'm quite, I impressing myself. Are you? Yeah. I've gotta be honest. I think more in meters these days, I'm afraid to say, yes, you're a convert, you're a convert. So flues will continue to relatively low slow levels in some northeastern areas tomorrow, mostly in Austria. Otherwise, most regions will be dry and the best of any sunshine the further south and west that you are.

And then later this week it will be mostly fine across all alpine regions with increasingly mild temperatures and a moderate front [00:07:00] developing across some of central and northern parts. We have seen just to cover a little bit, so that's more along the sort of forecast front to what we're expecting.

Just for people who are heading out. There has been great snow in the last week, 10 days. There has been some rain at lower levels, so we've seen reports of people arriving in resort to rain at the lower levels, which it sometimes is often to be expected. Temperatures haven't been as cold as they'd like them to be.

So while it's snowing up the hill it's potentially raining slightly down slope. But on the plus side for skiing depths have been increasing over the last week or two. There has been quite a bit of a drought of ski of snow across the alp, so this is a welcome break in the forecast and seeing, seeing some snow back on the hills.

It is great news and you know, some of those high up resorts are showing some really big depths and some great photos coming out of the likes of Vals Air and Teen and all those big high up resorts and kits, sport and places like that. So that's really encouraging to. Elsewhere in Gearon. What were you gonna say, Rob?

No, I was just gonna say, you know, we, [00:08:00] it's, it's often the way that in, in March we get hit by the the snowfall in the outs now, and, and people often say to me, oh, can you ski in March? It's like, actually it's, it's normally, it's normally. Pretty much like the, the best month of the season in terms of snowfall.

Yeah. And, and you know, we've come to, we've come to expect this to happen and, and of course the lower, the lower slopes can start to deteriorate a little bit, especially towards the end of the month and into April. But yeah, it's, it's great to see that. Yeah, absolutely. It's great to see. And then elsewhere in Europe, good snow conditions continuing Scandinavia.

The Scottish ski areas have had a little bit of a boost with some cold weather and a little bit of snowfall, although more is needed still to really allow the resorts to reopen terrain. And on the southern side of the continent, Piran and the Balkans have seen less fresh snowfall than further north, but remain in pretty good shape.

So overall it's relatively mixed news for Austrian ski areas, although we have had this recent dump that's covered a lot of the Alps, but most have seen a bit of a boost in their snow debts. [00:09:00] Some including kits reporting rain in the resorts on those lower slopes as we discussed earlier, but high up, it's still looking good.

Solden has been posting some pretty deep snow conditions up the top there. And counter tell the Tyrian glaciers joining in the two meter club. So they've got, you know, bundles of snow up top, so they're accumulating some good snow depths. What else have we got after missing out on snow showers for the best part of a couple of months?

As we talked about the French resorts, they have seen some better snow over. Sort of week to 10 days, and over these next 48 hours, they're seeing a good dump. So that's really helped them, which is really, really good news for a lot of our counterparts in this industry. So that's good to see. Italy's seen some decent snowfalls for the last week.

The likes of t Travenia looking pretty good. Still another couple of months of the season still to run there, so that's pretty good. Less snow towards the further east in the Dollarmites, but less stormy weather. Everything's open there. And it's still looking fine. Obviously it could always be better there.

What about the pares? Cuz I'm, I'm aware that right now the World Cup finals are on in Andora. In fact, we're missing, yeah, [00:10:00] we are missing the downhill racing as we speak. It's live right now actually, but what's it like over there? Is it apparent the best of snowfall in mainland Europe?

February and early March. Mm-hmm. But has seen some small, more spring-like weather and fewer snowfalls over the last few over the last week or so. Strong winds have been an issue at times. Closing some of the higher slopes. Soldier hosts the big World Cup finals, you, as you just mentioned.

And the biggest of the per aids reports, 95% of the slopes are open, but the weather's not perfect. You know, when is the weather ever perfect? Let's face it, if you go to Spain and your holiday, the weather's not perfect, is it? So you know, there's always gonna be either gonna be too much, too little or too cloudy, too sunny.

There's always gonna be some something to moan about. We do have weather. That is true. Yes. Exactly. Yeah. Especially when you're a Brit. We always moan about the weather. What else have we got? Scotland, we've talked about big snow in the US this week. Seeing. Massive snow storms moving in from the Pacific as they have generally several times a week [00:11:00] for pretty much three or four months now.

They have got some massive snow depths 12 and a half meters 500 inches to me, , you know what, it's, it's insane over there at the moment, isn't it? And I I, I, you know, they will be ski in California in Mammoth. They will be skiing until June and. Easily. Yeah. And right now they can, you know, they, they can ski down to the, the sort of desert floor.

They have been able to this winter all the way down to the desert floor which is not, you know, is, is not something they can do every year. But the depths, the depths up there, if anyone's seen those pictures coming out of You know, mammoth and, and, and the Tahoe area of people's houses buried.

Forget about cars being buried. Yeah. Their houses have been buried. Yeah. Like literally it's just, I've never seen anything quite like it. No, it's a few years since I was out in Tahoe, but not that many years. Maybe three or four years. But, and I've still got contacts out there and seeing some pictures that they're sending me.

It, [00:12:00] it's literally like they've been photoshopped chairlifts buried in snow. You know, you couldn't, you know, you. You can't even sit on bad things cause the snow's right over the top of the chairlift. It's incredible. Yeah. So yeah, they've had some fantastic conditions and good conditions persist across Canada as well.

We're generally good Snow conditions dominating right across the country. There has been some more snowfall there, mostly like to moderate showers, but still in good shape across BC over to Quebec. The season still has over a couple of months left to run the big name resorts like Ban and Whistler Conditions.

Currently looking still good. Obviously I was out in ban for not long ago. They'll likely be skiing into mid-May. So as you say, some of these resorts have still got a lot to come. We're talking as if It's not far till it's all over. But actually if you still fancy some spring skiing, let alone Europe, if you fancy skipping across the pond, there's some great conditions to have.

It is quite amazing. So that is my s now round up sn my sn roundup. That is my snow round. Easy views a new word. I like new words, my, my snow roundup for this week. Like sn, sn is a good word. It's kind of like sn snow and [00:13:00] now combined together. Right? That's, I like that. Snout was nice. It's sn . I, that's quite, I'm, I'm, I'm exhausted after hearing that.

Don in a good way. You know, it's, there's a lot of happening, there's a lot, lot of things happening on the weather front. Yeah, it's, it's, like I said before, it's, it's not unusual for, for us to see these of big dumps in March and towards the end of the winter. I think it is interesting to see how weather patterns are changing.

You know, that's highlighted by, The ski racing community that has written to the international ski ra ski Federation. Fisk. Yep. And fys and, and sort of said to them, hang on a second, you need to rethink the schedule and the calendar for the ski racing season because we're seeing patterns change where the patterns change and, and things are shifting more towards.

The later part of the season. So that's, yeah. It will be interesting to see, you know, how that shapes up in the next few years and where the resorts, I can identify that as well and maybe stay open a bit later. You [00:14:00] know, when there's a load of snow and they shut down and, but people need to go there of course.

And I understand that, but it's, it is interest. Yeah, of course. It'll turn a all on its head next year when we get massive dumps of snow in December and January, and people will speak each other saying, yes, of course the weather fronts are changing and things. Yeah, that's right. That's it. That's it. I know.

So Rob, what else have we got next? Are we, we've got some news popular news section. Rob. People are saying we need to hear more news cuz people seem to like these pockets of news. I think it's sort of, people go to the appro bar, stand over the point and did you know that snow cramps prize draw at the moment?

I think people like to have that additional information. So what have we got in terms of news for this week? Well, funny you mentioned snow Camp Prize draws Don I mean, we have got a lot to talk about and, and you know, with all that snow, we still have. A lot season ahead of us. Yep. So, yeah.

So here's some, here's some news for everybody. Snow Camp, the Snow Camp Prize draw. Let's start with that. Because [00:15:00] Snow Camp has announced they've been selected as a beneficiary charity to the 2023 Sporting Chance prize draw. And it's snow camp's 20th year as well. Wow. So for those listeners who don't know about Snow Camp, they're one of our charity partners.

They're a national youth snow sports charity that focus on taking less privileged kids off the streets, divert them away from their troubles, and focus them on snow sports. And in some case, Even turn them in. Ski instructors. What? Epic Charity partner. I thought I'd just get that in there, Rob . Absolutely.

Well done, Don. That was, that was good timing. Yeah. Well, you know, there's a chance to win a selection of prizes, including a ski weekend to Salzburg, a Salzburg area. Of course not the city, I suppose, or St. Maritz. Very, very smart joining Team GB at the Paris Olympic Games. Wow. Mm-hmm. , that'd be amazing.

Front row tickets for world class sporting events or personal training sessions with elite athletes. Tickets cost 10 pounds each although that goes down per ticket. When you buy more and every penny goes [00:16:00] straight to snow camp, and the draw runs from the first to the 31st of March. So we're still plenty of time and winners are gonna be drawn randomly by midnight on the 1st of April, 2023 obviously.

So check that out. That's sporting chance prize draw.com, and you can go forward slash charity slash snow dash camp as well. A bit of a mouthful on the on the R URL there, but Sporting Chance Prize, draw Snow Camp, you'll find it. Definitely worth checking that out for sure. Oh yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, there's some, there's a few deals around at the moment.

You know, I think, I think that's really interesting. I've got an Easter deal here with Inghams and yeah, I think with snow conditions shaping up some of these deals will be snapped up, but, you know, there's still plenty of opportunity out there. An Easter. You know, might very well end up being the prime time for a ski trip this season.

I've spotted a few great deals here, and Inghams have got up to four hundred [00:17:00] and sixty, four hundred sixty pounds per person off a ski trip over the first or second week of April. For example, flying out on April the eighth. There's a seven night, half board hotel offer. It's now 849 pounds per person, and that includes flights from Gatwick or Manchester.

It is a saving of 460 pounds per person. Incredible. And there's, yeah, and there's quite a few more of those. They've got, they've got offers to teens and Anton Maribel, so, you know, high altitude resorts? Yeah. You can check them all out. inghams.co uk. Wow. And yeah. Yeah, it is especially given the conditions that we're seeing at the minute.

So I'll be all over that. Yeah, some great deals out there. And, you know, inghams also give a snow guarantee as well, so in the very unlikely event, I think it will be very unlikely there won't be any skiing in those resorts. It's not gonna happen. But you'll, you'll either get taken to a place where there is more snow or get Lyft Pass refunds.

As I said, it's just, it's just not gonna happen. But anyway, they, they [00:18:00] have got that guarantee in place very. Yeah. I like this. This is a nice little story. You know, 97 year old skier retires, , right? , and we get these stories sometimes, but 97, I mean, 97 diamond still skiing. Amazing Herb odell from Massachusetts has finally hung up his skis and boots after more than 90 years of ski.

He started as a young child in the 1930s. Apparently he skied at Bradford Ski Area, not Bradford, here in the uk. Obviously it's in Massachusetts for many years. And a resort spokesperson, spokesperson said, Congratulations, herb. It has been a great run. . I mean, you know, I'd give that man a medal. I mean a great run.

Love. I mean, that's something that happens in my pants, not after 90 years of bloody skiing. , great run. Sorry about that. That was, that was a bit there's a, there's a great photo of him and it's a hundred year old wife. I've gotta tell you, she looks rued to [00:19:00] me, I suppose, if he's been hanging out at a ski resort for half a century and now he is loitering around at home.

Yeah. Rued wife. Anyway, herb, herb. Herb, you've had your time. Ah, Rob, you must write jokes for Christmas crackers, surely . Yes, it's about my, it's about my level. Very good. Not a nice story. British school kids lose passport and stay on. I love this. It's a great story. What a shame for a bunch of 42 in total British school kids that their passports mysteriously got shredded in the Loon Mountain, New Hampshire Ski Resort hotel they were staying in mysteriously got shredded, not to be kidding, 42 of them.

I'm not suggesting that for one second the kids. From Barbie and school in Warsaw had anything to do with the shredded passports, although who decides to shred 42 perfectly decent British passports from a [00:20:00] bunch of guests. That does sound odd. Anyway, , but it did work out rather well for the kids who were spotted shopping in New York City, following the extra days in the country before the British Embassy could sort it all out.

Can you imagine? I'll say something loony is happening there. Loony. Loony. Get it. , lean Mountain, loony. It's getting worse, it's getting some, it's getting worse. Somebody get me out. That is incredible. I mean, can you imagine those kids, they must have just had the best time, wasn't they? I mean, as if a ski trip out to New Hampshire wasn't good enough, but actually to end up in New York for an extra few days, brilliant.

That's a great story for the kids back home as well, isn't it, for their school. . Imagine yours and my kids. They would love that, wouldn't they? They would've loved it. . They would absolutely love it. What else? So, well, lockin lockin Outdoor Center, close to Avior place that I used to go to many years ago is an artificial ski slope.

And as part of the lockin, you know, outdoor center, it's looking to crowdfund 55,000 pounds to invest in new facilities on the slope and really [00:21:00] modernize it all. The Center was founded in the 1960s by Clive Freshwater. He's one of the first members of Bay. And, and and BE'S chairman for a while too.

Clive's sons, Andrew and Duncan were both national team ski races. Duncan actually was one of my be trainers way back too. Really, really nice guys. They were well-known personalities back in the day in and around a Moore. Yeah, it's a great place and they're really working hard to offer some fantastic snow sports facilities.

For anyone visiting the area, 55,000 is a lot of money. So far. Last time I checked, they'd raised over 9,000 pounds. Wow. And there's, there's a couple of weeks left for the campaign. So, you know, they could, they could make that up. And obviously if you invest, you do get something back for that. It's not just give us, give us some money.

So to donate to that, go to crowdfunder dot code uk. Slash p slash lockin dry slope again. I'm sure if you just go to crowdfunder.co uk you could find it. Yeah. In that website. Like it so that's, that's nice. Yeah. This one, [00:22:00] another news story, world Telemark Day, I don't think a lot of people do about World Telemark Day.

It's a bit of an niche one, but I think it does deserve some attention. Yeah, it took, it took place on the 4th of March and it celebrates all things telemark, you know. A crazy form of skiing where your heel is free. Yeah. It looks fantastic, but trust me it is. It's technically tricky and physically demanding, which I think, you know, I think it's unfortunately one of its challenges.

You know, if you're good enough to telemark though in the right conditions, it is absolutely amazing and it's great fun. I would, I would recommend any skier. Give it a go. I caught up with a good mate of mine, Scott Hammond. He's a Londoner who lives in Norway. He's represented Norway at Telemark skiing at the Inky Con Congress in the past, although now he actually represents Ireland.

Anyway, he said this is his words. Telemark is the original form of gravity fed skiing, and is celebrated by a few extremely enthusiastic weirdos who love their sport and like to make things difficult for themselves. [00:23:00] Telemarks don't rent. They buy. Telemarketers are knowledgeable about what they use and are very defensive about their sport and choice of equipment.

Telemarks, weirdos, . Yes, that's not my words. Telemarks. Speak to other telemarketers in the lift lines. All right, Scott. Come on, . I mean, come on. We talk. We talk to each other as well. Skiers and snowboarders don't. He says, mm. It's a community in sport like no other. That's true. They gather in tribes and are known one as freaks, punks, and hippies by the masses, and happily accept this description.

Perfect. I love it. Now if that won't put you off ky, then what will Basically, I do sense a little bit as a punk, a freak or a hippie. Certainly not a no, no doubt. Parents. Scott Scott's not . Well, actually Scott did have long hair for years and yeah, he, he [00:24:00] did. And so I think a punk. A freak and a hippie.

Scott, maybe. Yeah. Yeah, I think, I think it fits cool. , but you know, I, I, I sense a bit of anger from Scott there about the whole t mark thing and but you know, I think our listeners will get the idea. Yeah. It's basically a bunch of weird people who actually do speak to each other, doing a sport that not many others can do.

Fairly unique. Fair enough. World Telemark date is so badly publicized that I only found out about it after I, after it had actually happened, . So next year I'll try and find out the date a little bit earlier. . Thanks World Telemark. Not you're not a freak ka punker hippie though, Rob. I suppose that's the only is that an upside?

I dunno. Dunno whether that's an upside or. If I'm offended by that, Dom, I mean, I'd quite like, you know, you know, if I was telemark skiing and I was called a freak, a hippie and a punk i'd, I'd feel pretty good about myself. I think , but no, you're right. It's probably not really me, is it? I like it. Yeah.

Some good news there, Rob. It was [00:25:00] good. I like that. I like the world Telemark day. We'll have to get involved with that next year. Something I've never tried. Yeah, never tried tele. I mean, I've, I've done a bit over the years and I haven't done too much recently cuz it, you know, it is physically tricky. And if you're not skiing a lot of the time, like all of the time, yeah, it can be, it can be quite demanding.

I had to pass my bay le Second discipline through with telemark skiing. Cause I can't snowboard. So I did telemark skiing as my second discipline and I scraped through that. I mean, I really scraped through. And actually thanks to Scott Hammond who coached me the week before brilliantly to, to get me to scrape through my second discipline tele barki.

I love it. But yeah. And, and you know what, and I'm sorry I don't wanna ramble, but you know, whatt Mart skiing in the right conditions. It does feel when you get it right, it's, it is very, very special, I must say. It's like floating in the air. Yeah. It doesn't, you know, it's like that amazing powder feeling.

Yeah. But you can get that [00:26:00] in every single turn. Yeah. You know, it, it, it's, it is a magical feeling and the weightlessness that you get from it. Yeah. It, it's, it's really, it is really special. It looks really special. It does look. It does look it.

So on from telemark skiing onto our gear section. Rob, what have we got this week? So maybe I'll kick off with Yeah, sure. Bits that I found this week. One of which, okay. The North Face downturn jacket, part of a wider collection from the North Face design specifically for ski touring as it goes by the north face.

Mm. They're really producing some fantastic gear. This ultra lightweight layering system with the latest materials all designed to keep skiers and borders warm, dry, moving freely, super light, keeping people out in the cold for longer. On the slopes, really, really nice down jacket. There's 50 50 insulation in the Daunt time jacket pairs, a series of ultra cozy synthetic insulation, fiber approved baffles.

So they're the little tubes of of insulation within the jacket. Highly permeable [00:27:00] face fabric to to create a groundbreaking, breathable insulation layer. So that's super clever stuff. A temperature regulation to keep you warm and dry. Really, really nice. Technically, very clever stuff. They have this dry vent, which is a trademark, dry vent, 2.5 layer shell.

Gives a reliable outer outlet layer, sorry, keeping the snow and wind at bay. Whilst the mid-layer works to breathe as hard as you do. Obviously working together with the elements and your body heat, so making sure that you are able to breathe at the same time is stopping that cold air and the damp is getting in.

So very, very clever stuff. I haven't tried out one of those jackets, but I'm about to get my hands on one, but I looked at and I thought, That is a really nice piece of kit, especially if you're into your ski touring. It's perfect for that. Mm-hmm. I haven't seen it, so sounds really interesting. Really, really nice.

Really nice. Okay, and then the other thing, I looked at power socks, heat fusion uni ski socks, so these are powered heated ski socks. Okay. So keep your four feet warm while skiing with [00:28:00] obviously a battery connection. So it's called mm-hmm. two SPAC 1400 batteries that provide up to 16 hours of warmth. and fully Bluetooth compatible, so you can be on the lift and think my feet are getting a bit chilly, whack the temperature up a little bit.

Mm-hmm. or my feet are a little warm, now I can turn them right down. So you can do that all from your phone. Right. Super clever technical. Wow. Soft, breathable ski socks. And obviously you haven't got any of the sort of mechanics that joins your boot like some other Yeah. manufacturers where you attach a battery pack and you have to put a footbed in else, at least these you could use in your ski snow boots in the evening and all of that sort of stuff as well.

Microchannel construction for moisture evacuation, so they haven't got any moisture build up there as well. Very, very neat bits of kits. So you can choose from three manual heating levels to suit you. Or they pair them in the smartphone using the Thermic app and has a whole range of settings you can use there.

So I think there's a lot of people that complain about cold feet. It's often when you hear about, certainly, you know, Some of the early stage gears as well that maybe haven't got the perfect fitted ski boots aren't [00:29:00] wearing the perfect ski sock in the first place. Campaign of cold feet. It's often a reason that people never even go back to skiing.

I don't like getting cold. I don't like the cold hands. I don't like the cold feet. Mm-hmm. sure. It's good. They're good solution. Absolutely. If they make sure they're not doing their boots up too tight or they are doing, they aren't tight enough. So that is all I've got this week. A very nice North Face jacket and a very cool, a very warm pair of ski.

I'd like to try those socks. I mean, I, I, you know, I can see the, the moisture, the eva, the evacuation of the moisture that you said. Yeah. You know, that, that is key, isn't it? Because Yeah. Obviously if you get sweaty feet and it's very, very cold outside you, you're in trouble. Absolutely. If you get any kind of sweat when it's really, really cold you can get yourself into a bit of trouble.

Which, which has, which has happened to me in the past, and I know that's key thing. So, yeah. That's really interesting. And I, I get cold feet and I, I, they sound great, so I'd like to try those. But yeah, I've got a little bit of gear to mention as well. Shred it's you know the brand co-founded by the US Ski Racer [00:30:00] Ted?

The shred li Yeah. A nicer, a nicer bloke. You couldn't meet, I must say Shred Grafi goggles have just been launched. Yes. And li is clearly enthusiastic about them. He says Gradi is a game changer in the ski and snowboard goggle market. All right, so what way? Well, so. Carlos Sal Salini, you know, he's the co-founder of Shred and a materials engineer.

He said The frameless, sleek design and unique touches of shred style, combined with the advanced shred contrast boosting lens 2.0 and our new no distortion. Pressure regulation valve technology provides clear vision during altitude change and the no clock. Trademark. Hydrophobic treatment on vents to reduce clogging, help prevent fogging.

Easy feeding. In other words, yes, reduce. In other words, In other words, [00:31:00] this is packed with technology that most of us don't understand at all. But we know they'll be great. Right. So 20 quid or something, are they? Yeah, they, they do need to be at 220 quid. And they will be available next winter.

Check out, check them out@shredoptics.com. I think they'll be available through retailers in the UK as well, but it is something for next winter. Yeah, they're certainly talking them up, aren't they? But yeah, they need to they need to be good. If they need to be good. A slightly more simple and less pricey device here from Goggle Sock.

Our friends that make the, you know the, the, the, the brilliant things that fit over the top of ski goggles to stop them getting scratched, but they've just launched a new sunglasses cord. To help your sunglasses stay on called Sunny String. It's a one size fits all eco-conscious adjustable eyewear retainer made from recycled materials and designed to be both fashionable and functional.

And, and according to sunny string, it's the product you can't miss out on. They say check them out. What is it? What is it? It's [00:32:00] just, I mean, it's nothing. It's, you know what, it's nothing new. It's just, I think Goggle sock. It's, it's one of those little things that fits around just, just to keep, I, I, I, I use them cuz I wear glasses all the time and yeah.

And they are brilliant and they just help your glasses stay on. Yeah, it's nothing revolutionary. You know, it's not like what Goggle Sock did to Goggle Protection covers. But anyway, next season, check 'em out@gogglesock.com. Again, we'll be available through retailers. Yeah, and that's sort of it from, from my gear picks for this week, apart from the fact that I just wanted to mention of.

You know, the ski test reviews that we did, and za, the s i g beats on Snow Test in January are starting to come through, I believe Dom on the, in the Snow YouTube channel. What a great team we had. I mean, you were the elder statesman there, weren't you? Rob ? Yeah, the elder. I'm not sure about statesman.

no thanks. No. You know, kind of the statesman maybe. But yeah, you're right. I mean, Great, a great team this year. [00:33:00] Dom Emily Feld, obviously Olympic skier max Forton British Team Ski member, Elise Ber and Rachel Little, both World Free Tour. Riders free. Free World Free World Tour skiers. Fantastic.

And, and Fin Carmichael. Just a, you know really, really sort of young ripper in the park and off piece and everywhere. So some real, real quality. Some of the videos there are so fantastic and I saw you ski, you ski with Glen play again, of course, which was to see him doing his ski ballet, which was very good fun.

Yeah, we had a whole morning with Glen. I mean, how absolutely Epic was that and what a guy . It was quite funny. He couldn't keep up with our youngsters though. Although, although neither can I, to be fair and But yeah, he's a lot of fun to ski with and he loves his little trick skiing and his ballet skiing, and he's absolutely brilliant at that.

It's a master of it. A master well worth. I'd recommend our listeners head over to the YouTube channel in the snow or in the snow mag, I think where we've got a lot of our videos. But you should see the little run in where you see Glen Plate [00:34:00] o on the intro of the videos. You see him doing a little bit, little bit of a snowball, and it's absolutely brilliant.

It's such good fun. He's such a character. I love him. Brilliant.

Good stuff then Rob some good gear there. We always love our gear roundups, that's for sure. And those ski resort, those ski tests are looking fantastic on the YouTube channel. So as I say, I encourage people to go across and listen to those. And next, on our agenda, we have our top drums of resorts. So it's our Resort Spotlight Resorts, beginning with the letter G.

What have we got, Rob? What were the choices we could have had, Lara? Yeah, there's loads of choice, isn't there? There is loads. Lagree. What else have we got? Starred. Starred. Yeah. Good. Yeah. Or Eve Glen Glenco. JLo. In Norway? Yeah. No. In Norway? Yes. I've forgot not about JLo in Norway. Hmm. Well, what have I chosen?

I have chosen Gram. May not have been something that sprung straight to people's minds. Gram in Switzerland. What about you, Rob? What have you got? Yeah. Grindle. [00:35:00] And you know, I know it pretty well. I've been going to Grindle World for years. I've, I've taught a bit of skiing over the years there.

It's definitely one of my favorite. Very good. And have you been to Gram? Do you know? Gram, you know what? I've never been there and it's ridiculous. Cause I've, I've been waiting for this time. You've not been, sir. I can't believe , I can't believe that. I've never been to So please that I know about somewhere.

That you don't know about. You got no. No, I'm so excited. Right. I'm gonna beat you, . So Rob, let me get clear in my mind. Gringle, valved, what? I do know where it is cause I've been through, but, but for our listeners' sake, and maybe to remind me as well, where exactly is Grundle Valved? Yeah, so Gral is in the j fra region of Switzerland.

It's an area that includes a town of Inter Larkin and other ski resorts of Ven and also Muon. It's in the Canton of Bern or Bernay Oberland. So very, very central Switzerland. Ah, right. Okay, good. And the easiest way to get there, I guess we're talking Zurich, we Yep. Zurich Airport. It's the easiest.

Entry airport, [00:36:00] there's a direct train from the airport now to inter Larkin. Oh, and then you just, yeah. And then you just change, jump on a shorter train journey up to gral itself. And that takes approximately two to three hours, depending on the connection. So it's slightly longer from Geneva airport, but it's also possible to get to interlock and with one change normally at burn.

What's the drive time then? What's the drive time from Zurich to it? It's, it's a few hours. It's about, it's about two and a half to three hours, I'd say. Okay, so the train's pretty compelling then, isn't it? From the airport? The train's great. It's absolutely fantastic way to get to Gral. It's so nice. It's so easy.

It works. You know, you can drive there as well. Gral isn't a car-free village like it's neighbor Vann or Murran. So you can drive all the way into Gral, but still, I'd, I'd, I'd go by I'd, I normally take the train and it's a proper, pretty little hotspot, isn't it? I mean, it's a, it's a really good looking village.

Oh yeah, the village is so pretty and the [00:37:00] scenery is dramatic, you know, dominated by the Jung Fra, the iga and the Monk Mountains and they tower over the village. You know, like sentinels. The railway station sort of cut straight into the town itself. And then from there, you know, the main street heads upwards, number of, there's a number of hotels and restaurants, few bars as well.

It's not a massive at pre ski resort, I must say. There's a couple of bars in the center that always seem lively at night to me. Restaurants are often in the hotels, berries just pick that one out as being one of my favorites. But there's also lots of international cuisine around as well. There's a lot of international visitors.

There's tons to do for non-skiers, you know, winter hiking, adventure activities on the mountain called first, first mountain, zip lines and that kind of thing. Journey up to the jungfrau shop, top of Europe, the highest railway station in Europe. It's, it's pretty incredible up there and the train cuts directly through the IGA Mountain itself.

Amazing. Fantastic. Yeah. Sounds amazing. [00:38:00] Do you know what? I've not been out to that area to ski, so I know. What is the skiing like? Tell me, oh, Dom, right? That's gotta be, it's gotta be top of our priority list together now to go skiing there. Right? Well we know some people out there. , . Yeah, we do indeed.

Yeah, the skiing suits, I'd say it suits all ability levels, you know, especially intermediates. But there's a new iga, they call it the IGA terminal. It's a new, it's almost like an airport terminal. It's a big building and it, it's, it houses the Iger Express ski lift. A new lift is hugely transformed.

The access to the skiing area. It cuts out the need to take a sort of slow train, which was nice, but slow. Or an old gondola up from Grindal. Mm-hmm. . The area is directly linked with. . So you can get to Ski Classic runs such as the larva horn that's used for the longest World cup downhill race of the season during January.

Yeah, any good, any, any good intermediate skier could, could get down that run though. Okay. There's also a separate skiing area called First, which is [00:39:00] mostly south facing. It's where the snow park is as well. And you can actually get over to Murran on the same lift pass, which is definitely worth doing if you're there for a week.

Okay. The p skiing here, it. It's some of the best, you know, there's some, there's some decent off pieced in good snow conditions as well, especially off the IGA North side, which you can access via a chairlift. I wouldn't say it's an obvious destination for off pieced adventurers. But the history here, the scenery, the trains that still run up and down the mountain.

It just all combines to make a, you know, a really, really special area. Sounds, yes. Nice. And what, and what about accommodation? What's the accommodation like? I mean, is it, is it your typical expensive Swiss accommodation? Like, we've come to , come to expect, or not ? I'd, I'd honestly say that that region of Switzerland seems to be a bit softer on pricing than some other regions of Switzerland.

Okay. Generally I'm not, you know, I mean, Grindelwald is, is definitely dominated by hotel accommodation, Uhhuh, there's some really nice sort of four star hotels like the Sunstar and the IGA in the middle of town. There is some great budget [00:40:00] accommodation there too, including the IGA Lodge and, and a very nice Swiss Swiss youth, youth hostel.

You know? Yeah. They do feel the prices do feel a little bit softer. It's often busier in summer, actually than in the winter. It's a very popular summer resort, so, so the sort of lower season weeks of winter can be good value. Yeah. There are Shelly. There are Shelly's there as well, Shelly Accommodation.

They're mostly privately run and, and the UK tour operators tend to use the hotels now. Okay. But they're very, very good. Mm-hmm. , it's quite a, quite a cozy sort of getaway resort. Is it a family place? Mm-hmm. . Is it, is it any good for family skiers? Definitely. It's a great resort for families. Okay. I mean, kids love, kids love the trains.

There's lots of sort of little hot chocolate stops dotted around the mountain as well. And I'd say it's, it's a nice, it's a great place, nice place for couples looking for a bit of a romantic getaway. You know, it's got a bit of charm about the place. Non-skiers have loads of options as I've said.

You know, inter lakas just down the road, burn even is obviously capital City of Switzerland Yeah. Is [00:41:00] easily reached in a day by train as well. Okay. And then sort of keen gears of all ability levels. There really is something for everyone. It's the kind of place that has a scope for a proper luxury holiday experience as well.

All the way to something a bit more on a budget. Relatively pretty good, you know, in Switzerland. Mm. You've sold it. Well, Rob, you've sold it. Well, you should get a job with the tourist board. Yes, that's a great idea. I love that . So, gram, so for our listen, location wise, gram is just just north of zma, so it's near Sea on Sierra, about two hours from Geneva.

Cause obviously you need to go around the lake and through Luanne and all that to get there from Geneva. But it's probably the, it's the closest. But in terms of driving, it's not too bad either. I mean, I've driven down there mm-hmm. , nine hours from Cali. It's not too bad to get there. So as the crow flies, it lies between veria and zma, deep in the Swiss outs, and it's very much an untouched gem.

Very good. I. It's not, it's, it's quite a small resort. Right. And kind of scenic, I guess. That's how I see it. [00:42:00] It's, yeah. It's, it's, it is. Scenic in bucket loads. It's picture postcard, Swiss Mountain Village. It is small. You know, it, it is smaller than the likes of G Gringle valve. It's mainly made up of little traditional Maos sent century old chalets, little tiny sort of wooden buildings, a few to three star hotels.

You haven't got bundles of treatment. No real nightlife going on. You know, you haven't got loads of app prey and, but you have got places you can sit and have a few beers in the evening, little local beers and mm-hmm. Lovely little little old wooden wine shops and yeah, so it's that very, very quaint old, but, you know, quite sedate and quite quiet.

But it's, it is very, very, very pretty indeed. Hmm, sounds really nice. You've skied the place, Dom, so what is the skiing like? It is a, it is a while away since I've skied there. But the skiing, especially if you're in rough piece, is pretty damn good. The top station is just under 3000 meters and I know we'll go into our numbers in a minute.

There's about 1400 [00:43:00] meters vertical. There's plenty of everything. Wow. The north and east facing slopes keep their snow in very good condition. Back country terrain hardly ever gets tracked out, so you can just keep on going up and down all day long with fresh tracks every time. So it is pretty special on that front.

And thanks to the high, high altitude lake above the village it's got an unlimited and high pressure water supply system, which is great. It means the village has been able to install fantastic snow making in the event that they need it. And it keeps the lower slopes in great condition throughout the season.

So yeah, very, very good. Snow record. The piece to terrain in each resort maybe isn't as abundant, so you're not looking at hundreds of kilometers of peace. But the link established between Gram and Zal, which actually got established just after I was there, which I know is quite a few. Wow. Wow. But there are two resorts can both up to about 120 kilometers a piece.

So yeah, it's They have got enough. But if you want most ways of peace, it's not your place. But if you just [00:44:00] want that chocolate box feel and be away from the, the hub up, it's, it is fab. And I have to say that when I arrived there, I was a bit, ugh. What are we gonna do? Oh yeah. Okay. By the time you're leaving, you just kind of don't wanna leave.

So yeah, it's pretty special. It's pretty special. It does sound, it does sound great. And I, I be honest, it sounds right up my street. Yeah. And you know, you, you've mentioned a bit about the accommodation, but is that a bit limited cuz of the size of the place itself? Not really. I mean, there are, there are only a few sort of two and three star hotels and there's a bunch of shalls.

There's quite a lot of shalls there to rent directly from both shall owners and through little Asians and tour operators. So there is plenty of accommodation, but you're not gonna find at the moment who knows what might happen. But I know they're very strict on planning regulations there. There are none of your big five star hotels or high-rise buildings or anything like that, which, you know, is the whole point.

This, this is, you've gotta think of this as a real hidden gem. And the skiing is great and the snow record's great and that's the way you have to think about it. [00:45:00] Okay. I mean, it sounds like it's kind of an ideal resort for a bit of a cozy getaway as well. Yeah, it is. You know, again, along the lines of gringle valve, but I don't think it's big.

It's just that lovely village. Feel very friendly. Locals ideal for that sort of relaxed skiing. You're not gonna get lift cues. It has got a nice mountain crash that. Kids from about 18 months old. So if a couple want to get away for their first ski trip with a baby and they want the baby to be looked after while they go get a few hour skiing, super good for that as well.

Cause it's, you know, it is quiet, rest and relaxation. Yeah. You're not gonna get the bundles of people. So yeah, it can work for, for all sorts really romantic getaway. Perfect for that. When I went outta chale of 10 of us and we had a lot of laughs there and it was very good fun. We went with mountain heaven at the time, so it is a few.

now, but yeah, it was, it was fantastic. So yeah, I'd highly recommend increments if you know what you're going for, you know, so yeah, for sure. Course is all in the stats, isn't it, Rob . Yeah. [00:46:00] You know, but I, I love the sound of it and. It sounds like we've got two very, very special ski resorts here. So the stats as usual will define the winners and losers, but you know, as we know, Dom there's, it's not all about the numbers, but let's have a look at them anyway.

What's your resort level? So Grindelwald is just over a thousand meters in the village. . Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm at, I'm at 15. 1550. Okay. Alright. A little bit higher and maybe reflected by a snow record as well. So what about your highest point? Highest point. In the ski area of the, the, the Jungfrau region, if you look at that, is actually 2,970 meters.

So just short of 3000 meters. But that's if you include the shiho in Muren which is, which is significantly higher than most of the other skiing area. So in the direct sort of grindle, ven sector, the, the highest point is [00:47:00] 2,230 meters. Very good. Well, still a decent height. We're just shy of 3000 meters, so yeah.

Good. Kinda even there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We are right there. And what about Columbus a. Well, Dom, I've got 211 kilometers in total for the, for the, for the area. I guess. I guess that's, I, I guess I'm, I'm on top of that, aren't I? I guess I've, I've got you on that one, haven't I? Unless I take into account the The connected area.

So I'm two 20, if I take into account those connected areas. Okay. And I think it's about 50 or 60 that actually is designated as groment area. So a smaller area, but obviously it's got the linked area, which is, which is great. So yeah, there is, that's 220 linked lift area, is it? So it's pretty big. Yeah.

Yeah. Right. So ski lifts, I've got 42 in that area, 21 for me. So 21, you definitely, you definitely got me there. Okay. [00:48:00] So what about my scores outta 10? What would you give your your resort out of 10 for? A beginner skier? So what would you give your resort for a beginner score outta 10? Rob? For GR ball, I'm gonna give it a seven.

Okay. I give minus six. What about you? Probably more so to somebody who's yeah, bit more experience than enjoys a better free ride skiing as well. And what about for families? Well, our families, I've given it an eight. It is just, you know, it's just one of those family destinations really. I've gone for a six, stroke seven.

I think I've been a bit harsh with six, but it could well hit seven. It's okay, but I mean, there's not lows to do around the town, so it's, it is probably not ideal for proper family skiing. Free ride experts, however, I gave it an eight. How about yourself? Well, I've, I've given, I've given an eight as well, but I think I've, I might, you know, if you compare the free ride terrain of Gramme, and I know it's reputation, you know, and obviously what you've just told me as well, it sounds like, You know, it's a bit unfair and I've given it an eight because there is some great free ride to [00:49:00] reign there, but it's, it's not always that accessible.

So I'd probably be happily downgrade to a seven, to your eight. I, I'd say, Don, should I do that? Oh, no. Sounds like I'm losing confidence in the free ride side, but you know, I'm just com. You know, there is some good free ride trade, but it's not, it's not the resort for, I just don't, it, it, it isn't the resort that you would go to to say, we've got a, you know, we're doing a big off piece week.

Unless you're touring and there's amazing touring there. But that's a different, that's a different thing altogether. And accommodation wise, what about accommodation? Well, I've given it a seven and I think I, you know, there is and, and actually I think I've been being a bit harsh. If anything, there's some fantastic accommodation there.

Mm-hmm. Cool. I've gone for a six cuz there is a little less accommodation. You are, you know, you're fairly restrictive in terms of tier three star hotels and shes, but still great And food and drink. I've gone for an eight cuz there is some really. through the options there, so you know when you're doing it's great food.

That could be a little on the generous side. [00:50:00] Maybe a seven would be a bit more, a bit more befitting. How about you on the phone drink? I've given, I've given it a seven and it sounds harsh because there is such a good choice of food, especially if you go down into inter lakin and the only reason I've, I've given the food and drink a seven is because, you know, it a, a a lot of the restaurants may be, are tucked away in hotels and things like that, rather than being obviously sort of the, we should probably swap our stores there.

I think I should be upset. , you should probably be an eight on that. I was maybe being a bit harsh. There is, there's, you know, there's, there's great options. For food and at Preki. Well, I've given it a six. It's not, it's not a massive at Preki Resort. To be fair, I think I'm gonna go. Probably lower than that.

I think I'm a four. A five. Nothing wrong with with it. You can get a few beers, but there's not gonna be any pumping music anywhere session. No, I'm at around about a 38, 39, 40, somewhere in that region I think. Okay. I'm around about 42, 43, somewhere in that [00:51:00] region. Very good. Well, actually quite two, two similar resorts in terms of the fact that they are, that more sort of chocolate box chocolate box style resorts and, yeah.

It's nice having somewhere a bit different like that, not just your big motorway mall ski, you know ski resorts. It's quite nice to see somewhere a bit d. Ala two, two. Great. Re ski resorts. And and I guess there's, you know, they're a bit different. Gramme is on my list though. Gramme is on my list.

You've sold, you've sold it to me. You've, you've really sold it to me. Dom . Haha. So Rob, so that's everything for this week. What have we got coming up? I know you are gonna tell us a bit about New Zealand next time we meet up, which will be in a week or two's time. And I am you out in Colorado at the end of this month, which is just about 10 or 12 days away.

So yeah. Fantastic. Vale and Beaver Creek and Winter Park and Aspen. I think we're gonna pop into Aspen. Yeah. And a basin. So yeah. Got a pretty cool trip coming up there. Have you got anywhere exciting on the on the go? When it was exciting. [00:52:00] Of course. Well, not quite. I mean, well, it depends. So I mean, it's exciting to go to Colorado, isn't it?

I'm excited. I'm taking the train to inter Larkin actually next week from London. I'm getting on a train and all the way, all the way to Inter Larkin on the train. So that's gonna be fun. And then after that I'm heading to Riaz for a few days. . So that's sort of next week. And then I've got to catch some of that spring skiing powder that they've had delivered, which is perfect timing for that.

You must have ordered that, I'm hoping. Yeah, definitely. Well have a great time out in inter Larkins. Say hello to Remo for me. Safe travel. Thank you. And hopefully I will speak to you before we head out to Colorado. Yeah, you too, Dom. Have a good time. Have a good one. Bye-bye.