Podcast 14 – January 19, 2024

DOM: welcome to the 14th edition of this seasons White Out Podcast and we are well and truly into the heart of the snowsports season now. the snow is certainly in decent shape as we head into the Alpine skiing world cup blue ribbon downhill weekend, Kitzbuhel of course.

As always I am here with my trusty co-host Rob Stewart, a man that if he was the right age in the 1980’s, could have eligible for appearing in the Milk Tray advert.

ROB: ha thanks Dom, but contrary to what you might think, I don’t need rescuing from a snow bound turret.

DOM: no I meant the Milk Tray Man Rob, not the lady.

ROB: I’m more of a Lindt man myself Dom, in fact on my last trip to Switzerland before Christmas I was 4KG’s over my baggage limit coming home due to excess chocolate. Fortunately I was flying with SWISS and they understood.

DOM: well I am sure your ladies loved the Lindt Rob.

ROB: yes they did, although fortunately they didn’t need rescuing, because it’s 2024. Saying that, I so would have liked to have been in those ads…

DOM: Just imagine….so Rob what have we got in store on today’s podcast? I know you’re out in the Alps right now too.

ROB: sure, yes we have got ski news, in the gear section we are specifically looking at helmets and goggles, then our snow and weather round-up, resort focus and our epic bucket list destination

But yes Dom I’m currently in Les Gets after staying in Chatel and then skiing across the Portes du Soleil area on a dual destination trip where my luggage was taken across. It’s a really cool way to see two places and ski between them. Right now I’m in a brand new British owned chalet hotel called Blythe, right in the centre of Les Gets. It’s very cool and even has its own underground car park accessed by a car lift – very James Bond.

DOM: where the Milk Tray man would stay then?

ROB: yes exactly. But actually anyone can stay here, just check out summitspecial.co.uk! Later I am heading to the Montreux Comedy Festival, well the mountain version here in Les Gets for a whole evening of British comedy with the likes of Masie Adams.

DOM: why don’t you get a few sound bites from them for the podcast? Could help your jokes…:)

ROB: we don’t need them Dom…ha ha. No that is a good idea.

Anyway onto this week’s news, what’s happening out there Dom:

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DOM: Dolomites Dirndl ski day

Yes, that’s right Rob…Dirndl’s only so not for us but the Italian resort of Val Gardena is celebrating Women’s Day on the 8th of March by hosting a women’s only ski race where participants have to wear a traditional South Tyrolean ‘dirndl’ dress. All ages are welcome from 18 to 99. Imagine a 99 year old skiing in a dirndl, she would deserve a bloomin medal

Competitors meet at the Baita Sanon where they start off with an aperitif with DJ Simon (lucky them, or maybe lucky Simon). At the finishing line at the end of the racecourse there’ll be a dice game to play and the event will conclude with a prize giving ceremony at 2.30 p.m.

ROB: a dice game? I think the only dicey thing about this is skiing in a Dirndl! Okay it sounds great, but I would like to see a men’s version where skiing in Lederhosen is compulsory so congratulations Val Gardena but let’s see this mens race and please invite me, I have always wanted to ski in a Dirndl.

DOM: you mean a lederhosen Rob

ROB: ah yes sorry I always get them confused. Got me into a lot of trouble in the past, especially late at night.

DOM: that’s that Milk Tray gig blown out the window now Rob.

ROB: don’t care, Lindt will still take me on…

ROB: anyway onto the next news story.

DOM: yes I saw some of the ski racing from Wengen last weekend and of course we have Kitzbuhel coming up now. a 12th place for Dave Ryding and 18th for Billy Major in the slalom, solid results don’t you think Rob?

Rob: yep absolutely I mean they are probably a bit disappointed by their second runs but still that good and consistent and who knows what might happen this weekend, it’s actually Dave’s second best result in Wengen so it’s super positive and we all know what he has done in Kitzbuhel. It’s great to see the two downhill races and the super G too, amazing conditions in Wengen. There were a few crashes, it’s a tough place to race and we wish Alexandra Aamodt Kilde and Alexis Pinturault well following some injuries they sustained but overall an amazing weekend of ski racing.

ROB: Nick Fellows appointed director of FIS TV

ROB: Ski race commentary legend Nick Fellows, who if you have watched ski racing on Eurosport over the past 30 or so years, would be a very familiar voice, has, slightly shockingly, for me anyway, left Eurosport and has been appointed Director of the new FIS TV. FIS being the international ski federation of course an this is its new live streaming channel. Nick said: “It is an honour and fantastic challenge to join the FIS Media & Marketing Team as Director of FIS TV and there are some very exciting plans afoot for winter sport fans across the globe,” (or we caught up with Nick)

DOM: So I guess we need to look out for this channel on fis-ski.com to see exactly what we can be expecting. Ski racing, obviously, but with the Discovery and Eurosport sort of merging I guess they will be in competition with each other?

ROB: yes guess so. I mean Eurosport does cover a lot of live ski racing. I must say I get a bit confused about the TV and the app and how that all works. Last weekend for the Wengen slalom, Eurosport TV failed to show the first run, despite it being scheduled. Just didn’t seem to bother switching it from the tennis. Very frustrating. Yes I could watch it on my phone, but not on my TV. Must be frustrating for the commentators too – new voices joining Ed Drake, who is excellent, but it is annoying when you can’t watch scheduled shows so maybe Eurosport needs to watch out for this new channel.

What else is happening Dom…

DOM: some southern hemisphere news because it is the time to start planning the 2025 season Rob (yes Dom would so love to go back to NZ for a ski, it’s been a while). Right so then head to Cardrona which was already the largest skiing area in the South Island, but it becAme significantly larger again for the 2025 season which generally runs from June to September. A brand new 6 seater chairlift opens up 150 hectors of terrain in Soho Basin, yes not NZ’s version of a red light district but a huge bowl that will offer both groomed and freeride terrain and will make Cardrona the country’s largest skiing area.

ROB: it does sound like a good reason to go back Dom. I spent a bit of time there, but a long time back. There’s some good terrain and this new addition will really make it one of the southern hemispheres top ski destinations. I guess it already is but this is icing on the cake for sure.

DOM: Let’s put a date in the diary for that one Rob.

ROB: Just a quick story from me Dom because recently I heard that Andorra is not bound by the EU 90 day within 180 rule – let’s do a season! What do you think…let’s get the kids through school and if the whole Brexit beep beep hasn’t been sorted by then, Andorra would be a great place for a season. Nice food, not too costly relatively, great skiing, nice vibe, lots of sun and seems like we are welcome to stay as long as we like.

DOM:

IM IN 

JUST THE SMALL POINT OF GETTING THE KIDS FINISHED AT SCHOOL AND THEN IF IM STILL FIT ENOUGH FOR A SEASON…

Rob:  so dom, im here in the alps but whats the world snow conditions looking like…

Rob: 

so yes I’m now in Les Gets in the French Portes du Soleil ski area and have been in Châtel this week. We had rain on Wednesday to high altitudes but it has turned to snow and there’s been a lot of it above 1400 metres. 

Considerable amounts actually and they have been controlling the snow for avalanches. It is getting colder and snow conditions are still good despite that rain. 

That rain snow has been seen across the French Alps so anywhere above 1400 metres will have a lot of snow, below that, pistes have held up well but the villages and towns have lost a lot of snow on the ground. A mix of snow and sun is forecast for the coming week. It won’t be particularly cold but we won’t see the rain that we had last week.

Dom

Over in Austria it has remained colder and they have generally avoided that rain - conditions in Kitzbuhel are currently some of the best in years and we caught up with our friend Heath Judson, a Brit that has been living there for over 20 years and he said this….

Similar for Switzerland where the west has had a lot of snow above that 1400 metre level and some rain below whilst the east has stayed a little colder. 

Rob

And generally a similar situation in Italy where the west has had more precipitation.

It’s a complicated weather picture out there and it has been a messy week in the western alps. Really tough skiing conditions but the good news is that going forward conditions are good and there’s a great base of snow about that sort of 14/1500 metre line

Over in the us and Colorado conditions are good with fairly consistent cold temperatures and snow showers topping up the base. Not their most epic winter but certainly good enough.

Dom

It’s a bit milder of in the Californian resorts but Lake Tahoe has up to 70cms forecast over the next week.

Business as usual over in Japan with Niseko reporting powder snow and more to come. Pretty much everyday seeing about 10cms added the base. A mixture of sunshine and snow showers over the next 14 days.

Rob

And then Norway has had a great season so far and temperatures are mellowing out a bit too, so not so cold. Maximums of minus 4 or 5 in the likes of Hafjell. Snow is forecast too and then some more sun so probably right now Norway has the best conditions in Europe at all altitudes. 

So yes it was frustrating get that rain this week. If the temperature was just a few degrees colder it would have fallen as snow in resort but this foehn wind from the south brought the wet and mild weather which can happen, it just doesn’t normally happen in January and normally not quite this mild. 

Freak or a pattern? Hard to say. But rain does seem to be more a feature that it used to be. The good thing is that the snow holds up well and it gets cold again very quickly and in fact that base gets hardened up too. 

I think we’ll have good conditions for the ski test in La clusaz next week! 

Yep fingers crossed

.

Snow and Weather report:

DOM

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Dom - so rob onto our favourite section, gear - we love gear, we were at slide ots last week seeing all that lovely 24/25 winter gear and the summer gear of course, 

Rob - yep for sure great seeing all that shiny new gear - so what we talking about this week?

DOM: this week Ron we’re going to focus on helmets, one of the most important bits of kit in the skiing and snowboarding toolbox when it comes to both comfort and safety.

ROB: yes agree Dom. Not everyone likes to wear a helmet and I can sympathise with that, I do like to have a choice and glad that I have it. But I see no reason why not to wear one providing you don’t think that you’re suddenly invincible and you can travel at speeds that aren’t within the limits of your ability level.

DOM: I just wouldn’t go out now without one to be honest.  Its tough for me as i wear a hearing aid and a helmet causes all sorts of issues and i was a fairly late adopter because of that but now its like a car seat belt for me…just no option…

ROB: absolutely I generally same for me, plus on cold days they really keep your head snuggly and warm. So lets take a look at some of the different things to consider when buying a helmet.

DOM: Size is key. Getting the fit right is really important, not just for comfort, but safety too. if you’re buying online measure your head – get instructions on how to do this online and then refer to the manufacturers guidelines. If possible it is always better to go into a retail store and make sure it’s a specialist ski retailer, either chains such as Snow + Rock or Ellis Brigham or the many independents we have across the country like finches, ski bartlett, ski exchange.

ROB: absolutely. So the next thing is to consider the type of helmet and there’s basically two main types, with a third hybrid that combines the two.

Firstly there’s a hard shell helmet and secondly, an in-mould. Without going into the technical differences of these types, broadly speaking the hard shells are lower cost and hard wearing, whilst the in-mould types provide lighter, but still as strong, protection and can handle better ventilation systems that are more active – in other words you can control the ventilation. 

There’s then hybrid helmets that combine both the hard shell and the in-mould manufacturing techniques, which can then provide both value and more functionality.

DOM: yes so then we have different styles of helmets right. (yes Dom and that isn’t purely fashion based right but of course part of it is about that). But generally speaking the different styles, that all have a slightly different look too, include race, with a full shell covering more of the face and higher safety ratings, freeride helmets that mostly have softer fabric over the ears, park helmets that generally have that peak at the front and then normal recreational skiers or snowboarders helmets. There’s also full face helmets like the ones from British brand Ruroc that make you look a little like a storm trooper (oh yes they are crazy!). Then, you’ve got visor style helmets that integrate a visor that can be pulled down like a ski goggle across the eyes of even glasses. (Rob: yes right and now there’s a sort of evolution of that with more of an actual goggle that is built into the helmet)…yes right, but as well as the style, there’s some other features to consider right Rob.

ROB: yep the main one is MIPS that stands for Multi-directional impact protection system. (thats the round yellow badge isnt it) yep - indeed,  MIPS is a very established brand now that many helmet manufactures use to build into their helmets. The idea that has been proven to be very effective is to mimic the movement of the brain inside the skull on any impact. One of the main risks with head injury is brain movement, not always skull fracture and when the MIPS system moves it helps to slow down that movement inside the skull, not by huge amounts but it can be enough to make a real difference.

DOM: yes absolutely and it’s something I would normally look out for on a helmet. It’s also worth mentioning the adjustability of helmets and how that works (yes right). so perhaps the most well-known brand that is used for this is BOA, with its round dial on the back of the helmet that can be would up or down to tighten or loosen the helmet by pulling in the plastic exoskeleton inside the helmet.

ROB: yes crucial obviously to get the helmet feeling tight against the head without it being uncomfortable. (yes indeed they say as you pull your helmet up off your head it should pull your eyebrows up with it, but not pull your head off)  NIce info Dom, i like that

Okay let’s take a look at some of the different helmet options to buy right now…

DOM: We’ll start with the Sweet Protection Igniter 2Vi MIPs helmet that comes in at £219. It’s a lightweight hardshell with the MIPS built in, great for freeriders. Ive just got that helmet and you know when something just feels quality, like a quality cra, this has exactly that feel…Check it out at sweetprotection.com

ROB: Then another pretty high end helmet, the Oakley Mod5 MIPS packed full of tons of techy features and again has the MIPS built in. very cool looking as you expect from oakley  and costs £221 from Oakley.com

DOM: On the other end of the scale, Mountain Warehouse have a selection of helmets including Hardnutz currently at around £50 and it’s a perfectly decent helmet and obviously good value. Mountainwarehouse.com

ROB - ok so some good advice there remember, spend as much as possible in your price range, (yep be 100% certain it fits don’t just buy any old helmet and slap it on or its not worth wearing) yep and look out for the tech if you can spend to get MIPS, then its worth looking out for

DOM: Great stuff right Rob what is our resort spotlight this week to look at…

Resort Focus:

Kitzbuhel

ROB: so because we have the big race weekend coming up – the famous Hahnenkamm, we thought our resort spotlight this week should be Kitzbuhel. That classic Austrian ski resort that hosts the toughest men’s downhill race on the world cup circuit.

DOM: yes amazing place, I have been there many years ago - what about you Rob?

ROB: yes I have been there a few times over the years, I love the history there and the skiing culture, it’s totally embedded in the town and the people. The atmosphere in the town centre is great, there’s lots of partying too but it doesn’t need to get too crazy and you can avoid all that if you want to. It has become pretty upmarket and there’s some serious properties around, but there’s alternative villages to stay in close by if the Kitzbuhel budget is a bit too much. There’s even a Netflix thriller called Kitz too, you should check that out…

DOM: ok let’s look at some facts then.

233 kilometres of skiing, with 181 of them being marked and groomed, the rest are left ungroomed and are marked as Ski Routes. There’s 58 ski lifts and it’s one of the world’s most modern lift systems.  You’ve got 60 mountain restaurants across three separate mountain ranges.

Of course this is all linked up to the Skiwelt which means even more ski lifts – 82 in total and marked trails in several resorts including Brixe, Ellmau, Going, Hopfgarten, Itter, Kelchsau, Scheffau, Söll and Westendorf.

ROB: yes incredible area, I learnt to ski in Westendorf and back then it was basically a couple of chairlifts and certainly not linked to anything else but now it’s bang in the middle of one of the world’s largest skiing areas.

DOM: yes the skiwelt is the longest ski circuit in the world, it’s 88 km’s long and takes in 14 villages.

ROB: and what about the skiing in general Dom

DOM: well huge area, lots of nice intermediate crusiy red runs too and despite the famous Hannenkahm race, held on the Strief slope, which is marked black and is very steep in places, most of the skiing is very accessible for good intermediate skiers and snowboarders.

There’s a good nursery slope in town with free lifts and then several long blue runs from the hannankahm and kitzbuler horn mountains, the latter with a family skiing area on the top.

The area has really extensive snow making and despite its relatively low altitude – the town is just below 800metres and the peaks are topping out at around 2000 metres or below but don’t let that put you off because these lower altitudes in Austria do get the snow as it’s further east than the French Alps or Switzerland and that makes a difference.

There’s some very good off piste to be found following fresh snow too. the only thing is that by April things are winding down here on the skiing side – spring does come a bit earlier than the higher resorts further west.

What about the town itself Rob

ROB: yes lots of atmosphere, very old town centre with traditional Austrian architecture, very upmarket shopping, and lots of wellness facilities too. when it comes to eating and drinking, there’s a good mix of traditional Austrian and international cuisine, sushi, steak and pizza….

Nightlife here is pretty full on too but perhaps The Londoner Pub is the most famous bar in town – try to get in here over this weekend when the racing is on. It’s definitely the place where skiers go for a pint.

What about getting there and staying there Dom, you got any tips?

DOM: yep all the big tour operators go here, Crystal and Inghams plus a number of travel agents such as Ski Solutions and Skiline feature the resort. A quick search online finds packages at just under £1,000 per person for half board in a 4* star hotel for a week, flights and airport transfers.

ROB: yes it’s not the budget destination that’s for sure but the standard of accommodation there is very high.

Right one of my bucket list goals to be at the Hannenhamn races one year, not an easy one because it’s so busy on this weekend and as I’m going to be in St Gervais that is a tricky one but maybe next year Dom?

DOM: yes and looking forward to the races although that weather is looking tricky for this weekend.

ROB: let’s see. Okay onto our actual featured bucket list trip for this week, what have we got Dom? 

Bucket List:

Cat skiing

DOM: right Rob this week we are going to take a look at cat skiing, what it actually is, the best bits and maybe the challenges and then also a few spots where you can actually do it.

ROB: yes often cat skiing is called the poor persons heliskiing but I think there’s more to it than that. It’s certainly more eco-friendly although perhaps converting the machines to electric would massively improve that, it’s safer and it is significantly cheaper than getting into a helicopter.

DOM: so yes lets start by explaining how it works – those machines we all see grooming the slopes at night in ski resorts get converted with a cabin in the back that typically take 8 to 12 people. It’s more popular in destinations that have large areas of backcountry terrain and lack ski lift access. You don’t see much of it in the Alps because there’s so much lift infrastructure anyway, but think Canada, America, Japan and some of those lesser known skiing destinations in southern Europe and central Asia.

ROB: exactly and then the idea, pretty obviously really, is to jump in and get driven up the mountain into backcountry terrain. Often the cat tracks are already there, made by previous forays into the territory that is normally very well known to the operators. Of course when it snows they need to cut through all of that but being snow ploughs by trade, it’s not an issue.

DOM: yes and then when you get to the top, grab your skis and off you go. Normally cat skiing operators have their own guides too. Immediately following the drop off -  the cat turns around and heads back down – you’d think it was slow but more often than not, by the time you get down on skis the cat is there or at least not far behind.

ROB: yes its great and of course getting back in the cat means a rest and the chance to have a snack and a drink too. It’s pretty chilled, although it can be a bit noisy and sometimes cramped and that’s where with a helicopter you’d spend less time in it than a cat, but again, the cost is just in a different league.

DOM: so let’s take a look at three places where you can cat ski, starting with British Columbia.

DOM: There’s vast amounts of terrain in BC but an area known as The Powder Highway that stretched from Kicking Horse in the north to Whitewater and Fernie in the south and includes the likes of Revelstoke and Panorama likely has the highest concentration of cat skiing operations in the country. There’s 14 operators listed on the Powder Highway website, but Baldface Valhalla out of Nelson is an interesting one.

ROB: yep I have experienced that myself, it’s quite full on terrain but typical BC open glades, fairly steep and relatively short runs but it means lots of quick turn arounds and it’s a slick operation. Check out baldface.com

ROB: another really cool spot is North Macedonia in the Shar Mountains, bordering Albania and Kosovo. Great value, easy to get to and Shar Outdoors run a 4* hotel with 4 cat machines. Cat skiing is pretty popular here and there’s also operations in Kosovo and Albania too, but I have tried Shar Outdoors and they are a fantastic set up. check them out at sharoutdoors.com

DOM: another one to look at is Japan. I mean so much powder and so much terrain! Japan does seem like the ideal place for cat skiing, to access deep snow with relatively small verticals in terrain that doesn’t have ski lifts. Niseko area is pretty popular and there’s several operations including Shimamaki operated by the Hokkaido back country club, Iwania cat skiing and Weiss cat skiing. But there’s loads of others around the country including in the Nagano region on Honshu Island. Check out Minttours.com for the Nagano side and Hokkaido back country club.com for Niseko.

ROB: that is definitely on my bucket list Dom. I think it’s worth noting that countries such as Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan – there’s a super cool looking area in the Altai mountain range close to the Mongolian border, looks stunning – check out heliski.kz and a few years ago I was also invited to Russian Siberia, I never went and right now it’s obviously not possible but that looks super interesting too.

DOM: all good stuff Rob, I mean obviously all of this cat skiing is suited to skiers and snowboarders that want to ski backcountry terrain so that is to be taken into considering but if you want an adventure and don’t have the deep pockets required for heliskiing then it’s a great option.  

DOM

Rob thats it for another week, catskiing, an awesome snow  roundup of wheres best to ski right now, which you can always find regularly updated on inthesnow.com, a spotlight on kitzbuhel,  the best helmet guide this side of china, what more can anyone ask for…

ROB

Youre right here dom and listeners dont forget to subscribe so you get pinged when the next episode comes out and do us a favour and leave a review it really helps us keep bringing you the best ski podcast in the world 🙂

DOM

Good work rob, ski safely everyone and until next time…