[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Dom. I'm a publisher at In the Snow magazine, and our YouTube channel and Instagram, podcast, YOW! Podcast with Rob. And Rob is I am Rob, from Ski Press. I run a company called Ski Press. We're basically a media and PR company in the snow sports industry. been working in the industry for about, oh, I- I won't even say how long. 

I was a ski instructor for 10 years, blah, blah, blah, lots of other things, and then started Ski Press 'cause I loved writing about skiing and talking about skiing, and I've been doing that for almost 20 years now. 

really our podcast focuses on quite a few different things. We have a news section where we'll go through all the latest news, 'cause we're bombarded by press releases from journalists all the time, so we know what's happening.

we also talk about the latest snow conditions as well or what we think is gonna happen with snow. We talk about gear and our favorite bits of gear or maybe the, the latest bits of kit that's coming out. And we also have, like, a big topic that we discuss. And maybe sometimes we debate that topic, sometimes we argue about it.

And that's kind of the format today. We're gonna have a quick-fire session. This is [00:01:00] not gonna go on for our normal sort of hour-long podcast that we might record. but we're gonna kinda cover those bases today. And the big thing, Rob, is, is the ski week dead, or do people still do those ski week holidays?

Yeah, so that's what we're just gonna discuss, today, like, because there's a lot of evidence and a lot of data out there right now to say that people are taking shorter breaks. More and more people are taking shorter ski breaks, and more ski breaks. And actually, you know, is that true? What are the benefits of doing that?

why would you do that over, say, taking a normal ski week? Well, winter's coming.Some of the glacier resorts almost opening. El Niño coming. El Niño here. Is it gonna change the winter? Yeah, so a lot of questions about the weather. You know, we've had obviously a very hot summer in the Alps.

we are seeing, the glaciers almost disappearing in front of our eyes, which is one thing, but I think what people think because of that's happening, does that mean the winter is somehow gonna be, not very good? and the two things, they're not unlinked, [00:02:00] but they're not specifically linked.

So people are talking about El Niño. I think that's gonna make it a great winter. We had an amazing winter last winter. I think it's gonna happen again. Yeah. So the experts I've been speaking to recently have all said El- El Niño is likely to have... Even though it's happening in the Pacific Ocean, it's likely to actually impact the Alps as well.

What it normally does is it brings more precipitation- So the question is, will that precipitation, at what level will that fall as snow or fall as rain? What the experts are saying is that they think that most of that is gonna fall as snow because of the way that the, the airflow comes round from the northwest.

And the Alps, especially the northwestern side of the Alps, the French Alps, the Swiss Alps, are gonna have a great winter season. You know, maybe the eastern side won't get impacted by El Nino as much, so it's a, it's more of an unknown. But it's looking like as far as the weather experts are concerned, it's gonna be a great winter this season because of El Nino.

Are you [00:03:00] saying I'm a weather expert? I haven't, I d- Yeah, well. You normally predict things pretty well actually, Dom. Not really ta- Well, I got it wrong last year. I decided to go America and Canada last year, and all the snow was in Europe and I missed out on all that great snow, but we'll hear probably a little bit more about my whingeing a bit later on about that.

Yeah, you did spend a lot of time in North America last year. And unfortunately I was in Europe, and However, I predict this winter's gonna be even better because of what's happening with the weather patterns, and it's gonna be a dry, dry-ish autumn, and then it's gonna all go crazy.

Um- You can't, you can't really tell from the autumn though, do you think? No. I mean, it means nothing. I mean, it's warm here at the minute, but I do think the winter's gonna be good. I saw last year Europe had such a good time, 

So it's always been the same. Couple of years ago, a few years ago, I was chatting to Konrad Bartelski, if anybody knows that name, legendary ski racer, and I said, "Konrad," it's like, it was this time of year and it had just dumped it in the Alps, and I'm going, "It's, isn't it fantastic?" And he looked at me and he went, "Nah, doesn't mean a thing.

It's all [00:04:00] gonna melt next week. Trust me. And then you'll forget about it." And he was right. It all melted, and I was like, "Oh." and then of course it snowed in November. Happy days. have you started looking at snow reports? Is it too early? Is it too early to look at snow reports?

I mean, put it this way, I start, I start looking at snow reports in May. May. Right. the- It's never too early to look for a snow report ... I am, I'm a bit, I'm a bit sad like that. so the big stories this season, we think is gonna be the chat about the snow leading up to the season, what's gonna happen.

You know, unfortunately the glaciers have struggled a little bit, Pintux is opening up now. Saas-Fee's opening. Saas-Fee opened today actually. and we are seeing the gradual- Ooh ... opening of the glaciers, which is great news. Of course, Solden in the World Cup's coming up on the 24th, 25th of October, so they have to get Solden ready for that race, which it will be.

I guarantee it will be, and they'll, they'll chuck a load of artificial snow on it. The point is It's nothing to do with the snowfall that's gonna come when El [00:05:00] Nino kicks in. It's gonna be massive. So what are the other big stories this season? we think, obviously if we go back to the ski racing, Crans-Montana hosts the Alpine Skiing World Championships in the first two weeks of February.

Crans-Montana last held the Alpine Skiing World Championships in 1987, so exactly 40 years after, And they're really gearing up for this, 'cause it's a massive event for them, and it's gonna be a huge showcase. They've built new courses. They've got a men's course, a women's course.

Men's course is brand new. they used it last season for a World Cup event, like a test event. but this year, two weeks of s- of pure Alpine ski racing in February, which is gonna be televised on TNT Sports, if you subscribe to that, and I think highlighted on the BBC, I believe. Not on Ski Sunday.

But not on Ski Sunday, which is another big news story, that's happening right now. Little sad face. Little sad face. And we could debate this for hours. it's not really the topic that we're gonna discuss too much today, but obviously Ski Sunday has been canceled. Put your hands up if you're not happy [00:06:00]about that Right.

Basically, everybody's not happy about that. And, and it is really sad, 'cause it inspired me to start skiing when I was a kid, and a lot of other people as well. Um, but watch this space. There's lots of things happening behind the scenes, uh, that, we think or may... We might be the new face of Ski Sunday.

What do you think? I like- which, which one's Shammy? I told you, Gary- Don't all look at him. That's not even fair ... I told you you'd get a laugh. I did say you'd get a laugh out of him. Well, it's like you wasn't even in with a chance. Like, you didn't even look at me. Just 'cause he talks more. But just to finish off with the big stories this year, linked to ski racing, I think one of the big stories this season is also gonna be the Carrick-Smith boys.

but these boys are incredible. You know, three, three lads, two twins, another brother, Freddy, Luca, and Zach. Now, now in their early 20s, now starting to hit World Cup, which they did last year. They're skiing World Cup again this year.

Red Bull came along this summer and went, "We think you're gonna be big, so we're gonna chuck a load of money at you." That's never happened to a British [00:07:00] skier at that level, at that age before, with someone like Red Bull to come along and support them in that way. They're hitting all the top marks of their age group through the years.

I, I don't s- I think the last time that ever happened was Graham and Martin Bell back in the '80s, that they were really at the top of the game as junior ski racers. But they were racing downhill. It's a totally different game. These guys are racing slalom and GS mostly. Rob, tell us what you did this week With ChatGPT 

So did a little exercise, This is, this is how much fun Rob has on his own. Are, are you ready for this? So I asked ChatGPT, putting a load of data in, but also looking, asking it to research a bunch of data on the Carrick-Smith, brothers and comparing that to every other ski racer at this level over all of the years since the World Cup started, the modern World Cup in the, early 1970s, and to give us a prediction based on all of those results from where they are now of the chances that one of them would win an [00:08:00] Olympic alpine skiing gold medal at the 2020, '30 Winter Olympics.

And ChatGPT came out with a bunch of stuff, but what, what it said was it predicted a 10 to 15% chance that one of them would win an alpine skiing medal at the Winter Olympics in 2030. Don't tell them I said that, 'cause that's gonna just stress them out massively. A- and an 11% chance that I will. And I, and I am, I'm very good friends with their parents, and I had a long chat with them this week, and I certainly didn't tell them that.

So don't tell anybody that. Yeah, don't tell anyone that. Anyway, moving on. We digress. So, a lot of new, hundred-million euro lift developments in resorts and that sort of stuff, and I guess one of the things I was thinking, Rob, but is that something that drives your decision to go into a resort as to whether somebody's just spent 185 million on a new, 10-person gondola with Wi-Fi and electric heated seats?

no, probably not. are you [00:09:00] interested in that, like having new... No. It doesn't influence your- or influ- oh, wow, look, we've got one person that's super keen on a new lift.

Um, for me, I don't think it drives my decision. I think I'm more thinking about snow record and prices and- I mean, I think I wanna feel like I've got a decent lift system, and I wanna feel safe, right? So, like, I was in North Macedonia two years ago, and I got on this lift, and it was an old chairlift that they'd bought from Sarajevo after the 1984 Winter Olympic Games, and they'd stuck it up in this place in North Macedonia.

And it's almost two kilometers long, this lift, and it goes over cliffs, and it takes 20 minutes to get up, and there's no bar, and it rattles the whole way. I just wanted to get off it. So that, the- I don't want- So taking it a little further.

So I do like- Well, in some of the Japanese resorts- I do like a nice lift ... you, you sit on a plank in the Japanese resorts with no bar, and it's a bit bumpy and- Yeah, but they're lo- the lifts are quite slow. if you got on one of those high-speed chairlifts now, they're so high, aren't they?

They're really, really high. I wouldn't wanna [00:10:00] not have a bar across it. I know. So I do like to feel safe. Whether it's new, I don't really care too much about that. But Argentiere obviously, Argentiere big story this season is they're opening the first stage of the new gondola, up onto the Grand Montets to the first stage.

And then next winter they're reopening the big gondola all the way to the top of the Grand Montets 'cause it burnt down, what, six years ago now, I think it was. So they haven't had a lift up to the top of Grand Montets for six years, which actually some people are quite happy about 'cause, there's a lot of ski tourists in Argentiere, and they're quite happy to ski tour up to the top of the mountain.

They might not need the lift. But I think by, by next season they are gonna open that. That's gonna be a big story next year. Good. Do you care? That's the question I've got here. Do I care? "Do you care?" is a question I've written down. I think I'm cool with a rickety old lift. I like it. It makes me feel a bit part of the, part of the mountain, you know?

What's your favorite ski lift? Oh my God. [00:11:00] Gotta be the one in Val d'Isere surely. that's fun, isn't it? It's like a rollercoaster. Oh, the, the up and over in Val? Yeah. From the... Yeah, okay. Yeah. That's great, yeah. The one you don't tell your mates about. It's all a bit of a, "Have you done that one where you go over..."

Yeah. But even that's, even that's a new- What's it called? ... that's new now. Back in the day, and I'm talking about, you know, 300 years ago, that lift, you could jump off the top of that lift and ski down. Ski down. Yeah, you could. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah.I think for me it's prices. I'm a little bit pri- He's price driven, we know.

Like- ... you know this man. Like, he's only interested in the price of a beer and the price of a sandwich. Um, but it's the pri- it's the price in resort, isn't it, and the price of the lift pass. Surely that's the most... Good ski area, good snow record, I don't care if it's 100 million pound lift. Price- So bring us onto the drivers that people, that we know through data, 'cause we see a lot of data working in the industry, 

And we know the biggest driver is actually the size of the ski area, which I think is a little bit strange personally. [00:12:00] Um, I, I actually work for the Three Valleys, so that's brilliant, but I personally am not that bothered about the size of the ski area. I just, I, I'm happy skiing one ski run if it's a brilliant run, right?

Um, but that after the size of the ski area, the next one down is, quality of the snow, which basically means that, you know, want guaranteed good snow conditions, and therefore that's sort of, changed a lot in the last few years of how ski resorts, manage things. And obviously altitude has become such a big thing and a premium product, that you sort of pay for altitude at, to a certain extent now.

"We want big ski areas, good guaranteed snow." Those two things tend to go together a bit anyway. And then after that they want value. They want, good value for money.

And I think inevitably that drives when people book and whether they book a whole week or whether they book a few days, all of that. People-- I think people starting to look at, let's wait and see what the snow conditions are gonna be like, and let's decide whether we're gonna do that full week or [00:13:00] whether we do like a four-day break over the weekend or something like that.

And that brings us quite nicely into the conversation we were gonna have about short breaks. So I saw some, really interesting data recently, about people taking short ski breaks, and it transpires that last winter 64% of peop- more people took short ski breaks than the year before. 

there's clearly a driver for people taking shorter breaks, 

inevitably, you know, we're seeing tour operators shifting a little bit.people were used to doing that sort of Saturday to Saturday ski holiday because essentially that's what was on offer, that's all you could do.

Whereas now you've got the tour operators like the Heidis coming out, SkiWeekends that have shifted their model, and big tour operators like Crystal and No Doubt, Inghams, and everybody else is shifting that model to be able to, I guess, pretty much holiday when you want. The three five-day breaks, and it makes a big, big difference.

And obviously we joke about you, but at the end of the day you're out there showing people, look, this can be done. You can book it yourself, you can have three, four, five days skiing somewhere, and it [00:14:00] being an absolute blast. And especially how people juggle their work environment as well, it makes a big difference.

Yeah. And I think it started off with the low-cost airlines back in the early 2000s driving the fact that you could go on a Wednesday out to Geneva, where you couldn't before. There was like, you just couldn't. I mean, you might have got a flight somewhere, but much more cost effective with the low-cost airlines, obviously.

The challenge was then getting from the airport to the resort, that, that wasn't really in place. You know, the infrastructure wasn't in place for that. Today, that's completely different. You know, you arrive at Geneva, there's a bunch of transfer companies. You can book a transfer very easy, not very expensive, super easy to get back and forward to all the resorts.

Um, and, and tour operators have had to adapt to that, the independent traveler. And we again see with the data that actually tour operator bookings now versus independent are around 50/50. Mm. Which... So tour operators are holding their own with it, but they're having to offer that more flexible product.

Absolutely. And the, the flexibility of it enabling people to take two days [00:15:00] off work and get four days skiing, if you blag the last day of the sort of Thursday night you're on the plane, you can get those great ski breaks. But I mean, what about you? like, if you were given the opportunity, would you take a few short breaks skiing or would you take one big blast of a holiday?

I think, if I'd stood back and went, "Right- I wanna go skiing this season, I'd probably take a really good quality week somewhere, and then do, if I could afford it, do one or two short breaks around that during, during the season.

And I think that's what people are doing. I think that'swhat I call ski enthusiasts, you know. We know there's more than a million people from the UK going skiing, but if you distill that down to sort of the, maybe the 80 to 100,000 people that are really, into the sport, I think that's what they're trying to do.

Hmm. Yeah, and I feel the same. You sort of, my head sort of says to me that I should be taking multiple short break holidays, but I do love a, one of those drive trips. Like, if you go to North America and you drive around and visit sort of [00:16:00] six, seven resorts in 10 or 11 days. Whatever. It's so good.

You can do it in Europe, drive around Italy and like- Oh, sure ... visit some of those amazing Italian or Austrian resorts. It's very cool. And you get the proper switch off as well. Do you get that same switch off when you're only doing three or four days, do you think?

Definitely not. Um, but what you do get is, the chance to get out to the mountains, have a blast, And, and- What about the price though? Like, when you're traveling away for a weekend, surely by the time you've paid for the flight and the transfer and everything, cost-wise, what do you think?

I like to maximize the cost of the flight. Yeah, you know, so if you go skiing for, if you do a three-night trip, compared to a seven-night trip, you're not gonna halve the cost of your holiday, I don't think. But what, what you're gonna do is You could get four days skiing out of that, those three nights.

Yeah. And if that, you compare that to six days skiing out of a seven-night holiday, suddenly that looks quite attractive, and all you have to do is take three nights [00:17:00] off. Nice. Three nights away. Right? 

And I know, 'cause I do lots of short trips, I come back going, "Wow, I had a brilliant time. I only skied two days or maybe three days, but what a brilliant time I had." You know. And sometimes you can feel like you've had a week away, can't you? Like, if you get the right people at the right place and the right snow, everything falls into place.

You've only had a couple of days off work, but you feel like you've had a proper week out. Trust me, I, I feel like I've, I've had a week away after a day, just like- With you. Yes. I've been talking a lot about après-ski recently and, And someone asked me about a week ago, they said, "Is there, is there a, a music festival in Meribel in the Three Valleys during the winter?"

And I was like, "No, think there is." And then I started to think about it, and I was like, it's like a music festival every single day of the week all the way through the winter, right? There's the Fully Do's up on the slopes. There's live music in about five different venues across Meribel. Then you can hop over to Val Thorens, and there's a bunch of live music going on there as well, or in Saint Martin or even in Courchevel, [00:18:00] there, there's live music happening every single day of the week through the winter.

And, and I think that that is also a driver now for people that wanna go to these places because they want to party. They want to ski, and they want to party. And they... If you like the, like, the Austrian, I don't know what to call it. I just keep calling it the oompa-jumpa music, but it's the wrong thing to say, right?

You know, you go to Austria, and you jump- It's illegal, isn't it? You're on the tables, and you've got the Austrian music. Some people love that vibe, and it's great. It's great fun. Some people want the live music, that are playing your favorite cover songs, all the way through the afternoon.

Uh, and that, that has grown for me so much. I mean, 20, 15, 20 years ago in, in the Alps, in, in the French Alps, there wasn't a lot of apres in the, in the afternoons. You had to be a saisonnaire and go out late at night to, to really ma- really enjoy the, the big apres. But now it's all, it's all in the afternoon.

Anyway, we- It's not about, it's not about the skiing. Apres is all about the apres. We were gonna talk quickly about gear, [00:19:00] just to highlight a couple of things- Yeah ... that we're looking at this season.

Um- What do you think about gear? Is gear higher on your agenda? Like, are you super keen on boots, helmets, goggles, pants, jackets, that sort of stuff, or is that a little bit... Boa, has anybody got Boa on their boots? No. Oh, right. Okay ... you've had it for years. Skiers are only just catching up with you. We've been watching you for years thinking, "How cool is that?

We should do that in 10 years." So we test a lot of ski ge- kit. we go out to a ski test every year, spend a week testing skis What we don't get to test very often is boots because it's so different, it's so personal.

even though I call myself a gear reviewer. I've never even- Oh ... tried Boa boots, which is ridiculous. However, I am getting some Boa boots from Salomon this year. It's interesting. I was a bit skeptical. I'm gonna try them for the first time.

I'm surprised that no one sitting here, here has Boa ski boots, but, you know, it is the wind-up thing that snowboarders [00:20:00] have known about for a long time. the thing that, almost similar to the thing on the back of the helmet when you twist it and it tightens it up. what Salomon have done this season is they've taken the Boa, 

they've kept the two buckles along the foot, and they've put the Boa on the, on the outside of the cuff and that's a new thing for this year. And I'm interested to try it 'cause it's a bit like, right, so the whole point of Boa was to tighten around the foot.

But now you're saying it's not. So, Well, I guess the whole ... I went out to the factory in Denver about three years ago to see Boa being made and how it, where it came from, and obviously it's been used in industry, and of course snowboarders have had it for a long time, and we've been very jealous of the comfort of your boots.

It's all really about tho- that micro-adjustment, isn't it? Whereas- Yeah ... your, your traditional clasp can be quite tricky to get quite right. Whereas with Boa you get that micro-adjustment and very easy to undo and do up, and all that sort of stuff. So I guess there is a little bit of that. It's probably a bit of marketing [00:21:00] BS around it as well about, you know, we need to sell more boots, less

Let's face it, I've been doing this 20 years, it's probably the first time we've had something major in ski boots that the manufacturers can really talk about and go, "Check this out, we're doing what snowboarders have been doing for 20 years." Yeah, that's right, 'cause it's really tough to change a ski boot.

the other thing manufacturers are doing is they're making ski boots easier to get on and off, 'cause that's the big part of the market. And the big sort of gripes people have about ski boots 

So there's, Nordica HF, hands-free. Oh, yeah. So you, you're supposed to be able to put them on and take them off without using your hands at all. that's the idea. what the performance is of those ski boots is, or, you know, is a different question, right?

So obviously a ski racer's just gonna go, "Yeah, it's not for me." for a lot of people they don't care so much about the performance of the boot, they just want comfort and, and they wanna get it on and off easily. So Rob, you could up- you could update one piece of gear this year, what would it be?

Oh, well, I'm, I'm gonna try and [00:22:00] get ahold of the new Ortovox Avalanche transceiver, they're launching this year, which is a brand-new transceiver with sort of voice control on it.

Yeah. Looks very flashy and very interesting. But obviously that's quite a niche bit of kit. You'll be all right out there. I don't think you're gonna need it. 

What about you, Dom? You lo- have you got- I lo- Are you looking out for any gear?

I'm a goggle man. I do love a new pair of goggles. So I really love all the, the Dragon goggles. Super cool. Um, yeah, and I just love a new lens that's not been scratched and knackered and, yeah. Well, I don't know which ones yet. I mean, it's- The Dragon goggle,

Right. Look, okay, we're gonna, we're gonna move on slightly to a bit of winter highlights, Dom. I'm just gonna give you a quick, uh, fire questions here. Um- What destination or trip are you really looking forward to this winter? Mm, destination, well, I think I really fancy Baqueira- Okay ... in Spain. Yep. I just think it's somewhere...

I haven't got it organized yet, but it's somewhere I really wanna go. Okay. And I've not done. Nice. Sounds good. How about you? [00:23:00] Uh, so the destination or trip I'm looking forward to is definitely the SIGB Ski Test in Champoluc- Oh ... that we'll be going to together, so we get to test all the new kit for next season, all the new skis.

It's the best week of the year. It's so much fun. Everyone's different. Every run is different 'cause you're on a different pair of skis every time. Um, and it's just a blast. We've been doing it for a long time, and so I'm always looking- You know about the ski test? Have you heard about the ski test? We go out and test about 

250 sets of skis over four days, five or six testers. They go round in a circuit, test the ski. We record them and say, "You know, what did you like about that ski? Who's it good for? How much is it?" And then they go off and ski on another set of skis, and then we have a round-up at the end. Best piece ski for men, for women.

Yeah. Freeride skis. Pretty good summer- All-mountain skis ... pretty good. It's an exhausting- Yeah ... week. It is exhausting. Such a hard life. Yeah. Um, and what about- We've got a fundraiser page if you wanna- Is there a, is there a race or event that you're keen to follow? 

I mean, obviously I'm always keen to see how the Carrick Smith boys are gonna perform this winter, and that's gonna be a [00:24:00] constant source of excitement. 

How about you? Well, I'm looking forward to the Alpine Ski World Championships in Crans-Montana. Of course. I'm also going to go to Wengen for the Lauberhorn, Men's Lauberhorn races this season as well, so that's really exciting. So- That's very cool ... it's a brilliant event. Switzerland's biggest sporting event.

Um- You were out, you were out in Crans when, Lindsey Vonn had her tumble. I was standing at the bottom of the course when Lindsey Vonn crashed last season, and I was literally standing right next to her when she came down to the bottom- Wow ... and she got whisked off in a helicopter, which was mad. Yeah.

Have you told us where you're excited to ski this winter, or have you already told me that? Um, so like, an off-the-radar kind of resort that I might wanna go to, I was thinking about Serre Chevalier. Ah. You been to Serre Chevalier?

Yeah. I was thinking about going pre-Christmas this year. You're, you're saying no. Really, you're putting me off The only challenge is, I would say, with, with Serre Chevalier is it is not renowned for its- No

early season snow. But I know. And this season- They had a good early season last year- They did ... so I'd bank it on the same. A really good early season last year. Yeah. Yeah. [00:25:00] They... You're right. And I wanted to try out the Club Med. They've got a new Club Med there- Ah ... and that looks very good.

Right. That's right. Yeah, yeah. It's the kind of lavvy I've become. I just don't know what's happened to me. I get it. I get it. Um, no, it's a great ski resort, and it's just a bit off the radar. You know, it's not one of those resorts that people from the UK often go, "Oh yeah, Serre Chevalier." But big ski area, great, great off-piste, great piste skiing, and a very good snow record.

It has, does, does have an excellent snow record. 

I think Spain is quite an interesting one. I think the Spanish Pyrenees, but also, like, Sierra Nevada in the south of Spain. You know, it's just one of those places where you can go to a bar and pay a couple of euros for a beer and tapas and things like that. So I think there is really good value in Spain.

And you said, you mentioned Baqueira earlier. Well, Baqueira, and I think Andorra of course, they fall on the radar- Yeah ... for the really good value for money. there's no- Yeah ... two ways about it. We've looked at some of the prices, even down to the lift pass and the beers. It's all cheaper, isn't it? 

And certainly value-wise as well in Andorra, you get some good accommodation for a decent price. Biggest frustration [00:26:00] you're gonna hear from skiers this winter? Yeah. I mean, just the price of things, right? cost, I think, is a frustration for skiers and snowboarders obviously. prices seem to be going up.

I do think one thing, though, that the, the UK now is so pricey as well. You know, you go to, you go to a bar you're like, "Okay." And actually now, like, when you go to places like Switzerland compared to a few years ago, but you go, "Oh, actually that's no... It's not cheap, but it's no more than it was when I paid for a beer last week or something at, back at home."

It's fair. And I think the prices are sort of leving, leveling up slightly and inflation in Switzerland is much lower, obviously, than it is here. So 

What about the apres ski song we're all gonna be fed up with by the end of the season? What's it gonna be? Look at me now. Sweet Caroline. Surely. Don't you start. I mean, the apres brilliant, isn't it? But I think Sweet Caroline, we have, we have done [00:27:00] Sweet Caroline.

We have done it. We didn't- Saying that, every time it starts off, everybody goes nuts. So what can you do? I've got a lot of friends that are musicians, and some of them say to me, "I just can't, I can't do Sweet Caroline again." 

Literally. I'm like, "Okay, fair enough." Rob, what about If you could ban something in skiing forever, what would it be? Yeah, that's easy. You know those people that go around with backpacks with loud music blaring out of them, the back when they're skiing? 100% ban that. It's absolutely ridiculous.

It shouldn't be allowed. Me- You thought I was gonna say snowboarders, didn't you? I... No, 'cause we know we've got one.

I think mine would be smoking in, like, in those enclosed areas, you know, when you're still in France and people are still doing the big cigars and- I think they're cracking down on that. Yeah. I think, I mean, a lot of ski resorts now have completely no smoking. And they'll - not that everybody, some people ignore it of course, but, Les Gets, for example, introduced that two years ago, is, like, completely no smoking, resort.

but anyway, yeah. No, I, I'm with you. So very quick [00:28:00] rounds round. Where is everybody going this season? Where do you start? Where are you starting? Where's your first trip? Val Thorens, I believe. Val Thoren- yes, you're doing the opening weekend. You going as well? I am. Not going. What about you guys? What are you doing? Doing Canmore for winter. Are you? You flash bastards. That's unbelievable. So- Yeah, we made it.

Whereabouts? Hakuba. Hakuba. Oh, I was there last year. I did a w- I did 10 days out there in 10 resorts. Yeah. Yeah. It was good? Yeah, it was great. Yeah. Yeah. You know Hakuba? You been there before? That's gonna be, that's gonna be very cool. I'll talk to you afterwards. It's cool. I've got my, one of my best mates lives in Hakuba.

He's called Newton. He's a crazy loud American guy, right? If you- Right ... if you, if you find Newton- You'll find him ... the crazy, loud American guy, say hi from me, Rob, okay? And don't let him tell you all the stories he's got. Don't, don't listen. No. They're, they're all untrue completely. How about you guys? Are you going, anything exciting to start the winter?

Not yet. You're leaving it? Are you waiting to see what happens with the snow?

Nice. [00:29:00] Scandinavia, we haven't talked about. You've obviously got money. my friend.

Yeah. 

Scandinavia's got a lot to offer. I love skiing in Norway because there's no other country where... everybody is a skier basically, 'cause the whole country is covered in snow and mountains pretty much.

And so the culture of skiing in Norway is, is very, very different The thing is with Norway, people think it's really expensive, but actually the accommodation side and, and that sort of thing, it's not, it's not particularly- No

expensive. Sure, if you're gonna go out you know, eat dinner every night or something like that, and drink beer or wine, you're gonna ramp the costs up. And more expensive than the Alps to do that sort of stuff in Norway. Have you got anywhere in your sights? Is there somewhere in your sights at the minute?

Okay. Are you all together? You are. So before I ask you where you're going, unless she could be going somewhere different. I mean, for, for me, Norway from the middle of February onwards is [00:30:00] fantastic. You know, the light's amazing. The snow holds so well through the whole of March.

Um, and They're not crowded. The slopes, if you go out of the s- the holi- their holiday time, you know, not busy. If you go when Denmark's on holiday, it can be pretty busy. It'll still be very cool. You're gonna have a good time. What about you, young man? Where are you off to?

What was that? Brazil Bra- Crikey, we're getting more flash. I'll tell you what, you better have a good story. Like w- we started somewhere cheap. I think we're going upmarket. Brazil, there's not actually- Brazil ... out- outside of Africa- Look, look ... and certain sort of Southern Asian countries, I mean, there's not a lot of, uh, countries that don't have any skiing, but Brazil is one of them.

Okay

Yeah, I'm more into wakeboarding, if I'm honest. So, I mean, you know, Brazil is quite close to Chile and Argentina, and they have some great ski resorts. Thanks for letting him know. Just in case you didn't know

Yeah. And Chile had a fantastic season. They've just- there's- they- you can [00:31:00] still ski in Chile now. they had a brilliant season. Argentina struggled a little bit just for various reasons snow-wise, but Chile's had one of their best winters ever, which is a bit of a sign to come, I think, for the western side of mountain ranges.

Just saying. We've got a very cool feature on skiing in Peru in the next issue of In the Snow magazine, so that's worth having a look at as well. Freya, come on, you've gotta top this. Top Brazil.

Come on, you can do this. Cloisters, yeah, that's fairly cool. Quite flash. Uh, she's got loads of money, hasn't she? Cloisters. Right, there's the big drum roll, man. This is your, this is your big chance to shine. No-

Group of lads on a stag do. 

there is one resort that I think whatever question people use to, u- will ask, it fits quite nicely in the middle of that quadrant, and I would say that's Alpe d'Huez. And Freya's laughing 'cause I know she lived there for years, but- She only went there [00:32:00] for the stag dos.

I think I actually, I had my stag do in Verbier, which is a bit posh, isn't it, for a stag do? So flash. my f- So flash ... my friends didn't speak- Benidorm, mate. Benidorm. My friends- Proper stag do ... my friends didn't speak to me for months and months afterwards because basically they, they couldn't even...

They had to give, they had to sell their mobile phones and everything, you know, they had no money left. but yeah, I mean, Alpe d'Huez is, is a resort. It's got lots... it's good value, so you're not gonna annoy your friends by, the s- the- Bulgaria ... crazy prices. there's lots of, there's lots of good bars and partying.

There's skiing for all levels, right? So you're on a stag do, so you've probably got everybody from beginners to experts, so it can handle all of that. Um, and it's, and it's south-facing, so it's sunny. Um, and you've got a good apres. So that would be my answer for, for a stag do. Not Verbier. What about Bulgaria?

Well, no, not Verbier. Bulgaria? Bansko. Bansko. Bansko. Alpe d'Huez, that's a posh stag do. You gotta go a bit lower market, [00:33:00] man. Like- No, I mean- Bul- yeah. Don't you think? Well, I could've said Norway, but that would've been just stupid. That, that's just- Uh, so no, I mean, Bansko is a good call, for sure.

Although I've, I've heard recently the prices are not quite as attractive as they were a few years ago. Prices are going up in Bulgaria a little bit. before we wrap our, Whiteout Podcast Live session up today, do we have any more questions from the audience at all?

Any questions about- know about the best low light goggles. Low light goggles. Oh, wow. Wow. Well, it's the, probably the best low light lenses. Yeah. I mean, you know, like the lenses are the key. there's so many great lenses out there. it, you know- Yeah ... look for the Zeiss lens.

They're always a great lens. Um, you know, look, and the Chromapops, have you got a lens exchange on your goggles where they just- I'm looking to buy. Are you?

Oh, wow. I can send you some good YouTube links that we've done. Um, that will be the best route. There's so- 'cause obviously it does depend on the look that you like. Some people like the [00:34:00] really big, like, really big oversized goggles. Some people like the frame goggles. But I've got a good link I can send you to some reviews we've done from- Hundreds and hundreds of V- Yeah

YouTube views. It's like when people say, "What's your favorite ski?" As I've come back from the ski test and I've got... I'm like, "Oh, my God." Look up, look up in the In the Snow YouTube channel. We did a 2025. We're about to do the '26, '27. But if you look at the '25 one, you'll get some really great goggles with multi-change lenses.

Probably got some I can send you, to be fair. So we've got a lot of great goggles. So I'll give you my card after this and we'll sort something. Um, but yeah, low light goggle lens is super important. Get really good lens, really good airflow. None of that sort of fogging up. Anything else? Anybody else?Phenomenon. Look, I think, I think technology... Uh, ski manufacturers are always trying to improve what they do because they need to, to sell more skis, and they need to have a story. 

they definitely make leaps, don't they? Over- Yeah ... over, over sort of five, six, seven years there's definitely, [00:35:00] But incrementally year on year, tiny, isn't it, really? 

So like you say, we saw in the, in the mid to late 1990s, you know, the carving revolution my skis went from being absolute minimum of 190. 

and then we went from that, and I remember the first time I saw a carving ski. 

And I watched this guy ski, and he was phenomenal. And I was trying to keep up with him on his, in the carve, in the arc, and there was no way.

And he turned around to me and he said, "This is the future of skiing." And it was only two or three years later that we really started to see those carving skis come through into the market. And then of course, we had free ride skis, you know, fat, wider skis.

the point of those was, you can ski powder faster and better with those skis, and that was a massive revolution at the time. 

And what next? You always think, "What more can they do to make them better?" But they all find something.

Lighter, stronger. 

Stability and [00:36:00] dampening, and all of those kind of things. That's easy to do if you've got a weight and a heavy ski, but not so easy to do if you wanna keep the weight down. 

I think that's it for the YL podcast today, isn't it, Rob?

I think that's it, yeah. Yeah. We all enjoyed it. And we're gonna go skiing this year, and snowboarding in Japan, in Brazil. Oh, God, I hate him. 

Thank you very much for joining us today. Good to see you. Enjoy the rest of the Northern Show. Is it, is it the time to go to the bar? It has to be. Yes. Yes, it's bar time. Good. Thank you very much. Thank you.