[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to episode 96 of the Whiteout Podcast. I'm Dom Killinger from In the Snow Magazine, and of course, I've got the best co-host anybody could ask for. It's Rob Stewart. How are you,

Episode 96. that's gone quickly, hasn't it? It's a bit like one of those weeks where you're so busy you never notice it's, it's gone by. And episode 96.

It must be

Have we actually been talking each other for that long and we're still talking? Blimey.

not had

It's longer than a marriage, that, 96. Letter from the Queen.

exactly.

King now, obviously,

after his umbrella escapade this week. 

Very good. Well, this week's episode, we're gonna do this our winter hit list later on where we're gonna talk about...

where would you go skiing pre-Christmas, New Year, January, February half-term, and for spring skiing. I love it, don't you? I just love talking about where you enjoy going skiing, where I enjoy going skiing, hearing listeners talking about where they love it as well

it is interesting, and it's our opinion, and it's your opinion, and we might disagree a little bit on where to go at different times of the [00:01:00] season.

Where would you go in December compared to April? And I think they, then it's not necessarily always the same kind of spots

Exactly. So what else have we got coming up in this episode?

Well, we've got our usual news roundup. we're gonna have a quick look at where, is there any snow around at the moment? Where's the snow?

any

And,

it delivered yet, has it delivered yet?

it delivered?

don't think it's delivered a lot yet. Come on, El Nino, get going. Get going. No, it's, the,

some snow.

I think it's delivered something. and then, and then we're gonna also look at, some hot bits of gear for this season.

Some new kit, from our sponsor, Ellis Brigham. and some of those essential items you might wanna pick up before the season starts

note, we've got our 2027 helmet reviews, goggle reviews, sunglass reviews, jacket and pants. You should see what I've got going on in the other room. I am stacked out with the latest gear. I'm so excited to get down there and start reviewing that. So we can get some of that on the podcast as well, and we've got one of the, chief buyers from Ellis Brigan coming on the [00:02:00] episode later on this season to talk to us about why would you go out and spend £600 on a ski jacket when you can buy one for 150?

Is it worth it? What do you get? What's the difference between a £300 helmet and a £60 helmet? All those great questions that people ask us

Anyway, we digress. Let's get

Yeah

of what's going on this week. What's caught your eye?

Well, Dave Ryding, and we know

our eye.

Yeah, he's taken on a coaching role,

Very

just recently, with SnowSport England as their lead alpine consultant, and he will actually be the first national squad coach announced under its alpine pathway. And, he'll... That, that's developing athletes and coaches, at different sessions through the season.

So, it's a really interesting appointment. Does it mean that Britain could build a clearer route from the dry slope, obviously, 'cause that's where Dave Ryding has come from, 

I hope it's a productive role because, sometimes when you join these organizations, you go in with great gusto of what you want to deliver. Let's just

Sure

productive and that he feels, he feels like he [00:03:00] can, he can make a difference.

So, 

Yeah, I hope so too

great ambassador for sport. And, what else we got? what about the

Indeed.

Carrick, Freddy Carrick Smith the other weekend? I

Oh.

making complete, history. 19 years old, 12th in the So- I can imagine you were playing tennis at the time.

Yeah

doing? I bet you were jumping over the net, weren't you? He came 12th in the So- Solheim

I had to keep going back to my phone to watch the race live because just-- I knew Freddie was in the race obviously, and then he... I saw he got a second run, and I had to, I had to make sure I was watching it. And then he came, when he did his run, came into second place, at the time, which was incredible really.

obviously it would've been, he would've like... But no, no, like, amazing. And, at that point I was like, "Oh, I think I might have to leave tennis a bit early. I might have some work to do," because wanted to write a press release about it, which I did.

Ja

I did some research at the time.

he, that's the best result we've had in [00:04:00] GS, in giant slalom for a British male, since 1968, which was around the start of the World Cup as it is now. and Jeremy Palmer-Tomkinson at the time got a ninth place.

But Freddie at 19

been talking about these boys, Carrick Smith trio, if you like. You've been talking about them since, well, I feel like they were tiny. They were like little beetles flying down the slope at 100 mile an hour. Like, they were like eight, nine,

Yeah.

kept on saying

Yeah.

you kept on saying, "Dom, I'm telling you, you need to watch these boys.

This,

Yeah

are gonna be something." And 

Yeah.

that age. You should've put some money on that.

Freddie was seven the first time saw... I was on, I was in Tignes and I bumped into Freddie's mum, Emma Carrick-Anderson, who I've known for many years. And, "Hello, hello, Emma." And then she was with the kids, and I-- we went skiing together, and it was hilarious. because these three brothers were just, like, all over each other, just racing down the hill like crazy [00:05:00] things.

And I was just laughing 'cause it was funny.

got yourself

I was like

shop and, stuck yourself

Oh,

a rich man. The odds would've been pretty low at that point

yeah, well, let's press on. next up, Crystal Ski Holidays. They're adding eight new resorts this winter, which is unbelievable. I'm sure every winter they add eight new resorts. It just means that they must have such a massive offering now. including Le Grand Bornand, Valmorel, Ponte di Legno, and Canillo in Andorra, which I've not actually heard of. Scott Britton, the, 

OK

Ski, he's, said they wanna increase their whole customer choice, and, by the looks of it, that's definitely happening.

So nice. They're offering those better value and those good family options. Nice Yeah, funnily enough, out of all those ski resorts, the only one I've actually skied in is Canillo,

Oh, right. Yeah.

Canillo, I guess, in Andorra, once. Really lovely little place. Lovely place. Great skiing.

Very

Really good.

What

Well, the London Snow Show, which obviously happened a few weeks back, 

it's [00:06:00] celebrated its 50th edition at Olympia. the venue said that there was more than 10,000 people coming through the doors over the two days, 130 plus exhibitors, and over 100 speakers, which we were one of them, spread across different stages.

two

I'm just gonna add, we were on the big, we were on the big stage, weren't we?

we were on the big stage. I was gonna say that. Not everyone was. next year's dates have just been announced, so put 16th and 17th of October in your diaries. once again, the brilliant venue of Olympia. The Snow Show is home. plays home- hosts the event. So yeah, 

Very good

but good. Yeah, really interesting

a few news items this week of stuff that's going on. what about the holy grail, the white gold that drops from the sky? Is there any snow yet? Have we got anything exciting to talk about?

Well, if you, if you read some of the media articles, about every- El Nino, it's like, or whatever, we aren't gonna see any snow at all. However, they're all wrong 'cause it is snowing, it is gonna snow. there's been some [00:07:00] fresh snow in the southwestern Alps over the last few days, which is quite interesting

looking at

because,

phone

yeah, I think it's an interesting one because the predictor, the predicting thing before with Al Ni- El Nino was, the northern Alps are gonna get all the snow and the southwestern Alps won't get so much.

But however, it's snowing more in the southwestern Alps, so that's just completely thrown that one out the way

forecast, in parts of Southwestern Alps by Friday morning. Wow, that's just about when this podcast is gonna go out. Wonder if they're gonna be all right. Southern Piemonte and the French resorts near the Italian borders, including Prato Nevoso, Limone, and Isola 2000 all expecting 20 to

Right

40 centimeters of snow by the time this podcast goes.

That'll be exciting.

That's incredible, isn't it? so yeah, some-- we know that can happen sometimes, so there's that split and the Southern Alps can get it.

La

And,

it. La Plagne's looking pretty nice and white. I saw some nice pictures from their

Okay

morning. That's looking very cool. I'll put those pictures.

Yeah

this on YouTube, you can get a chance to see some of those [00:08:00] pictures. So things

been cold.

will be

It's been cold,

and they, they can make a lot of snow, right now, 

North America has had some snow. Mammoth Mountain is opening right now, eight days earlier than planned. They got around 9 to 15 inches of fresh snow. Sorry I couldn't be bothered to convert that into centimeters when I was doing the research. 

I

that's quite a lot though, isn't it? 15 inches, that's like more than 30 centimeters of snow.

What about Japan? Everyone's, you know... is it, are we full on Japow there?

Well, the predictions for El Nino was Japan was gonna have a terrible season. But I, as the snow gods, know, that could be complete and utter rubbish, and we might very well see, the biggest powder season Japan's ever known. they are getting some snow. It's not huge amounts at the moment but, they are, they are getting some natural snow.

They are ma- making snow as well. So yeah, let's see. It's gonna be really, really interesting. just don't believe any of those predictions. just think, it snows in Japan it just doesn't stop, and once those storms come over they're gonna get dumped on. [00:09:00] So yeah, 

if you had money, there is always somewhere snowing. So if you had the right amount of money, you could just sit there and just surf the web and just find out where is the snow right now. actually do that on our website, just in case anybody's know where is the best snow right now. 

Yeah

and just shoot off to somewhere in the world. There's always somewhere snowing, 

thinking about where we would ski and when, let's get onto our winter hit list. This is where we choose which resort, and this time I'm pinning you down. I'm not having you go off on some random 20 resort list of all the different places you might think of going. You get one

got a right telling off, the snow show.

what we're at here is our winter hit list. If you were just sitting there, I don't know, maybe you weren't in the industry and you were having to think, right, where am I gonna go early season, pre-Christmas, hit me with it. Where you going and why?

Okay, I'm gonna go to Crans-Montana. That's simple one for me.

Montana

Crans-Montana in Switzerland, the French-speaking part [00:10:00] of the valley. just to, just to be very clear and transparent, do, do represent Crans-Montana, I do work for Crans-Montana,

this

and I have done for

you

about 10 years

to pick Chrome Montana?

Well, I would genuinely go there in December, and I'll tell you why.

Two

well, The valley region gets great snowfall early season generally. it's a good snow pocket. And because Crans-Montana is south-facing, what you get in December is you also get the light, you get the sun. that's quite unusual at that time of year, 'cause we know the sun is low in the sky.

But you've just got this incredible view, and the sun, if it's not snowing, the sun is out and it's shining, I can tell you that. And I go, I do always go to Crans-Montana in December, and I've never had any issues with the snow. There's always been great fresh snowfall.

this year of course they've got the Alpine Skiing World Championships in February, two weeks of ski racing. And, and you can go and check out downhill courses, the giant slalom courses for the men and women. You can go and ski those 'cause they'll all be prepared and ready to go. And,

it's easy to g- to get to from [00:11:00] Geneva. You can get there by train, two hours. it's just a great early season nice spot to get some sun, and get some good snow.

I like it,

Simple as that

like your choice even though it feels a bit biased, but I'll tell you why I like it. I do love, I do love vista there. I l- I love that is it 180 degrees? It's like that incredible

Oh,

get there. I do

I love the, I love the food there.

I

And I really like the accessibility. the fact that you're straight into the airport, you walk along the concourse, you go down the steps, you get on the train, pretty much arriving Crans-Montana.

Not quite, but pretty much.

Yeah. It's

so

get to.

that is...

Yeah

What about you, Dom? Where would you go in December? Come on, give it to me. Go on.

last, was it two years ago, I went to Saas-Fee. 

And when I first rocked up, I was thinking, "Why does everybody like this place?" And by the time I left, I was, "I can see why everybody loves this place." I think pre-Christmas, when I know that I'm about to go into that rushed season of families, and food, and [00:12:00] money being spent, and all the stresses that go with Christmas, Saas-Fee would absolutely crack it for me. It's probably a little on the, you are surrounded by that huge mountain scape, but I like the rustic-ness of it, the unpolished feeling of it, the sort of, yeah, the kind of real feel.

Great skiing, lovely, relaxed environment, very chilled out vibe. I think pre-Christmas, that would just get me in the right mood, ready to come back invigorated. You know what I mean?

Well, of course it was the, location for Wham!'s Last Christmas, video. 

Last

yeah.

Yeah,

Yeah, well, they filmed it in Saas-Fee.

better reason?

Yes. No, I agree. I've been to Saas-Fee over the years. over 35 years I've been there probably a dozen times, and for various reasons.

And it, it's, yeah, like you say, it's a very, very authentic, rustic car-free resort. it's very close to Crans-Montana actually. It's just across the other side of the valley really. a little bit trickier to get to, just saying, but,

yeah. it

But, you

is a

[00:13:00] yeah, but it ... I get it

you will of course get great snow conditions up there, and it's the high altitude, you're guaranteed snow. So I get it. I get it.

I'd still be in Crans-Montana. Sorry, I would still be in Crans-Montana

so

Sas-Fe want to pay me. No, I'm joking. I'm joking.

you're filled

They're not

and, you're going somewhere for New Year. What's the plan? Where are you taking your cracker?

Yeah, I'm gonna go to Meribel. I know it, I know it's obvious, I know it's obvious, but the thing is, want a, I want a good time. I want a party at New Year. Yeah, why not? I wanna have a, I wanna have great skiing, big ski area, want some, I want some proper après. You know me, I love my music.

Yeah, could start in the Folie Douce in the afternoon 'cause it's kind of fun. Drop down into Meribel itself, go to, Ronnie's. live music there is always, it's always a good atmosphere. Or you could stay there and go inside afterwards 'cause they'll have another band going on after that, or you could pop down to Jack's.

I don't really know Jack's very well, but it's just down in the, in the, in the town. [00:14:00] more live options there. So loads of live music. 

I'm going there for the apres Well, the s- we know, we all know about the skiing, but I'm just saying, like, the apres, the apres is... I think, I think it's pretty unbeatable

Well, I

If you like live music. It's totally different to Austria. I'm not trying to compare it to Austria or say it's better than Austria, okay?

Just to be clear. So different to that

years, I would think, since I was in Meribel.

Really? 

Yeah.

All right.

isn't

go... Come on, Dom, we'll go there, we'll go there together this season. All right. Maribel, Maribel, calling Maribel So me, New Year, it's a similar thing, isn't it? I, oh, no, maybe a slightly different, but Val d'Isere for me New Year. massive firework display. I know you're laughing at me 'cause I love a bit of Val d'Isere, but so many places to eat, so much

Oh, yeah.

Sure

You could, y- you could start off at Folie Douce at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, that's when your New Year starts, like you do in Meribel, and then come

Yeah

and there's every vibe. you can go to the [00:15:00] underground bars that are, loads of fun for New Year's Eve.

You could go to Cocorico's. You could go... they'll have a huge stage out on the slopes with live music and firework displays. It's got everything for every type of person, even for me. So yeah, Val d'Isere for me, New Year, you can't beat it

Yeah, look, I, I-- it's hard to argue with, and I've got a soft spot for the place. I went there when I was 17 years old with a, with a mate of mine, a very good friend of mine, and ran away from home and a coach down to the Alps and spent a week in Val d'Isère. So yeah, I've always... been back many times since.

it is, it is a, a- an excellent ski resort. 

All right

we've done New Year, we've had a big Christmas. January skiing, so we're getting into the peak of the winter now. What's your plan?

Okay. So I'm gonna go to Chamonix,

Okay.

sticking with France. but the key thing for me is I'm gonna drive there, 

because you've got the vibe of the town, and it's such a historic place. But with the car, it just gives you loads of options. so much [00:16:00] skiing, not only in the Chamonix Valley, but for a day you could pop over to places like Verbier, or you could go up to Saint-Gervais, you've just got tons of options even Grandes Massifs.

I know the lift passes can be complicated, and you've gotta work that out. yeah, that would be, that would be what I would love to do 

What would you do, Dom, in January?

Yeah, Chamonix is such a good vibe there's something about that place that's just tough to replicate. But you know what? My choice, I think, is

Yeah

It's like the Canadian Chamonix. because for January, I wanna go and I wanna catch the real cold of Banff. Alberta. I know

Okay

flash, isn't it? But It's a bit flash.

know, get one of your mates or get your missus if she's into skiing, and you shoot out to Banff. yourself, or base yourself in the town center 

The great thing is you get a beautiful town. It is Chamonix-esque, maybe not quite as cool, but it is Chamonix-esque. Loads of shops, bars, restaurants, galleries, [00:17:00] artisan flashy little shops.

We got very cool bars to chill out in. then you jump on the ski bus and you can ski in three different resorts. You got Mount Norquay, which is like your race around the groomers, like really nice. It's where the local race clubs go. It's 10 minutes

Yeah

15, 20 minutes, or even better, go and stay for a couple of nights up at Sunshine, 'cause you're staying right in amongst the mountains, ski in, ski out, two or three nights up there.

I wouldn't stay there for a week, stay, 'cause you want to stay down in town.

嗯。 嗯。

And then a 20-minute bus journey. Don't let that put you off. Trust me, don't let that put you off. It's, it's so worth it to go out to Lake Louise, or if you've

う

because it's an iconic

ん。いや、しょうがない。 う

you and me, Rob, need to go [00:18:00] out to Banff and stay there for a few days and go and ski Sunshine Lake L- in Lake Louise because you would just love it there. It's good. 

don't... Well, I'm, get it obviously I'd love to go to Banff, there's no question about that. What I'm, what I'm slightly intrigued about is why you would choose to go there in January, 'cause it, it's, it's not the warmest place in the world, is it? Especially that side of the Rockies. 

to say you can get a cold snap. There's no two ways about it. I've been in Banff in, mm, February I think it was, and it hit minus 42.

Hmm.

that can happen.

That's cold.

that

I've, I've, I've been in minus 35

Yeah,

Norway, but minus 42, wow.

42. So yeah, 

But you know, this is a cold snap that happens probably once a year. It

Yeah.

in January, so I know I'm, I'm

Sure.

of a risk. There's just something about Banff that offers me that big Chamonix feeling. It's got so much on offer, and I love the three different ski [00:19:00]resorts and how different they are and the three different options. January, I'm there all day long, Rob. You can take your Chamonix and you can stick it up your Chamonix. I'm in Banff

All right. 

half-term ski holidays. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be somewhere where I've got busting loads of queues, and too many people, and people bumping into you on the slopes.

So where are you heading in Feb half-term?

So, am I allowed to give two options and one quick one and then one longer one here? just

Come on

bear with me.

on then

'cause I did, I did a holiday a few years ago with the family to Sierra Nevada in the southern Spain over February half term, and I got really cheap flights because no one goes skiing there.

It was, it was like we were the only skiers on the flight to Malaga. Rented a car in Malaga. That wasn't expensive either, and then drove up to Granada, did the Alhambra Palace thing, which was really cool, and then went up to Sierra Nevada for four nights. Stayed in a hotel there, great value for money, sort of all-inclusive place.

value for money-wise, ' cause [00:20:00] I, when I looked at how much we spent and things like the tapas. Anyway, it's really good value, okay? So that's my small one. Sianova, a little tip. However, if I was just going skiing myself, I would go to Mestia in Georgia at February half term 'cause it's not affected at all by the February school holidays in Georgia, right?

Whatever the Georgians are doing and that sort of thing, it's, it's not the same as us, right?

taken care of, they're going on a, they're going on a school

Wow.

during half term,

Yeah.

you're gonna go to Georgia.

Lucky them. Yeah, no, I would, I would definitely head to Georgia. Best note. So you've got the Caucus- Caucus Mountains or the Caucasus Mountains there. Mestia is a hard place to get to, for sure. You can fly to Tbilisi, you can then take a, another, from another little airport you can take a light aircraft flight.

Say light aircraft, it's a commercial plane, it's not... But, it is, it is weather dependent and I would say in February it's 50/50, literally 50/50 whether that f- plane will go when you schedule it. But you book the plane. You have to have a backup option of a vehicle [00:21:00] as well to get you to Mestia.

would take the plane because it's an hour and just saves a lot of time. It's an incredible flight. You are hugging those mountains for quite a long time, and it goes right over the top and it's, it's just amazing. And then it, landing's interesting. they, in this valley and land in this little airport.

It, it's all very crazy. However, the drive is nine hours and it's even crazier, right? So try and book that plane. If it doesn't work, you've just gotta have that backup option of the vehicle to get you there, and there will, there will be, like, transfer services and small minibuses and things that will take you there to Mestia.

But it is a, it is a trek, so you don't wanna... It's not a short break destination. But when you're there, it's like the mountains look like Chamonix. They're even bigger. They're huge. Glaciers. Mestia is an incredible place. It's, it's like, it's a, it's a world, it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the whole valley is.

you've got Tetnuldi, which is a ski resort. Very modern. [00:22:00] it's, you've gotta get there by vehicle. It's about 30 minutes from Mestia itself. And then you've got a small ski area ar- Mestia as well with chairlifts. Couple of chairlifts. Very pretty, like scenic, like you can't believe. Like alpine-type scenery, forests, glaciers.

But then you've got this medieval-looking valley. Nothing looks modern there. You could be there a th- like a thousand years ago. All these towers that go up that were medieval s- houses and towers in the valley. the food's great and it's... Mestia is not expensive. it's really cheap.

Like lodging is varied. There's some new hotels pro- popping up there now, and there are more people going there. When first went there about 15 years ago and there was just, like, nobody there. And it has become a little bit more popular, a bit more well-known. But because it's so isolated, just sheer trickiness of getting there just means that you don't get the volume of people going.

It's just very hard to get there.

good.

And shout if you're a good skier

uh, on Georgia skiing, so definitely worthwhile going back in the library [00:23:00] of podcasts and have a look. My choice for half-term, I'm gonna have two as you had two. I'm gonna have, if I'm

Oh

and I still wanna take the family, 'cause I have got the kids and they wanna come skiing during half-term, I'd go to Sun Peaks.

OK。Yeah

outside of Whistler. It's the lesser-known resort. A lot of even American skiers don't even know about Sun Peaks.

But you are

Right

at two fabulous mountains. really great skiing. You never queue for a lift. S- it's one of the biggest resorts in British Columbia, so you're not talking about any limitation on, on numbers

Yeah, it's crazy that.

never get a lift, never get a run, lift line. and it's almost like being in a little Austrian resort of painted buildings, loads of restaurants, loads of cafes, loads of bars. everything's ski in,

Как?

100% ski in,

М-м-м

doesn't matter where you stay. All sorts of accommodation, right from condos through to apartments, through to, cheap [00:24:00] hotels, through to quite nice expensive hotels. Not super high-end, but quite nice hotels. 

Okay

on offer there,

Very easy to book yourself. You can drive up there from, flying into Vancouver, so it's nice and to. I'm not gonna be flash and I haven't quite got the budget for Sun Peaks, am gonna head to Baqueira. but a- along the same lines as you there, Rob. Along the s- along the same lines as Sierra Nevada. Nice and easy to get to. Little bit softer prices when I get there. Not quite so busy during half-term. Great snowfall at that time of the year. It's got all the great things, all the great ingredients for some half-term skiing.

So, two great options there. I think my options are way better. Georgia, schmorga. Little planes, bumpy

That's what you want, doesn't it?

Of

Yeah. Well, obviously you're just a bit flashier than me. but but Sun Peaks, yeah, I can see that Ski Safari and Ski Independence, both do, package holidays Sun Peaks, or certainly holidays to Sun Peaks. So yeah.

very...

I would love to go there. You've always, you've always talked really [00:25:00]highly about the place 

so the final time to go skiing is spring skiing, Rob. Where would you go for spring skiing?

Yeah. Well, I'm gonna throw something out there. there's plenty of places for spring skiing in the Alps. I'm gonna head to northern Sweden, to Riksgransen, which is in the north.

IThey've, they've just started up again the overnight train from Stockholm up there. Whether it runs in April or not, I d- I'm not entirely sure. you would have to at least fly to Stockholm. You would then probably fly to Kiruna, and then it's a couple of hours from Kiruna in a car.

Something like that. I first went up there in, mid-1990s 'cause I had a friend working up in a, in Abisko, which is just outside of Riksgransen. And, it's just incredible at that time of year because the light, the sun just sets for very little time. It never really gets dark.

you have this incredible light, but there's still tons and tons of snow, in Riksgransen. It's a ski resort. It just opens all the way [00:26:00] through, April, into May, I think. And it's just a really chill place. There's a big hotel there. There's lots of other sort of cabin-type accommodation, very Scandi style.

And you can also, if you've got a vehicle, you can go and drive over to Narvik

Allez

well, which is on the Norwegian side. Con- totally contrasting scenery. and Narvik has got a pretty established ski area now. When I was there, it was quite small, but they've really developed Narvik. And the scenery's incredible.

You can see over the Lofoten Islands, and it's just an incredible place. And then back to Riksgransen. very different scenery. more like fjell-like. That Swedish big fjells. But yeah, some great skiing there. Some heli-skiing on the Swedish side as well in Riksgransen if you wanna do that.

yeah. What a place to go to. Yeah, a really cool place.

compared to yours, Rob. I'm looking at Corvara in Italy.

Okay.

late in the season

Ta-ra mates

it's such a beautiful place. You've got, really nice quality restaurants, really nice quality skiing, and really nice quality accommodation. I just feel like at [00:27:00] that time of the year, I'm tired, I've done a lot of skiing, I've done a lot of traveling.

I want somewhere that's just gonna deliver, and Corvara just beautiful. I love that whole area. I love the food. I really do feel like the quality is

Yeah

not paying super premium prices. You're gonna get some lovely spring skiing there. it's

Как?

it's just good quality. It's just nice

Yeah, don't know it, and I, yeah, I'd love to go to that part of the Dolomites, and obviously I love the food. yeah, it's a good option. I think it's definitely a good Easter option.

Yeah

I'd be wary of... I don't, I don't know if, Easter's early this year, so it's a brilliant Easter option for this year,

Easter

for sure

you could run into trouble there. But I'm gonna

Yeah.

year. I think Corvara's where I'm

Okay.

this Easter. It's gonna be

Cool.

So there

Nice

our winter hit list. How good is that? Some great destinations there, some super exciting places to visit, 

So last thing on

All right

for this week is our gear buyer's guide, which we do in association with Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports, those great people that you'll find all over the country, [00:28:00] and especially that beautiful store in Covent Garden where you can go in and pore over all those gorgeous new ski jackets and pants and helmets and gloves and goggles, all that great stuff. Very cool. Well, yeah, just for this episode, Dom, we've just picked out five useful must-have items really, if you like, for the season. So we've got... We're looking at a jacket, we're looking at a helmet, we're looking at goggles, we're looking at gloves, and a ba- and also a base layer. and we're looking at different options.

the higher priced option and a lower priced al- alternative as well, to compare, what those, what those things might be. I was looking at The North Face Shackle jacket. This is all new stuff, and that's 360 pounds at the moment in Ellis Brigham.

But it's a new season insulated jacket. It's got, it's waterproof, breathable, with dry vent fabric. It's got underarm vents. It's got a helmet compatible hood. It's that practical all-round jacket. North jacket, if you like. That's that brand, it's, it's, it, it's been...

It's a really interesting brand because I think it's got so much history around it, [00:29:00] and you do see a lot of it around. But however, North Face have come back recently, haven't they, with this more technical stuff. It's proper technical ski wear.

Absolutely

a skier's, skier ski jacket. A real skier ski jacket, this one.

it's one of their top of the range ones

as you say, and North Face have gotten through that period. although they've got decades of, history behind them, they went through that phase of being very streetwear, and now they've gotten super technical again, which is fantastic. the other one that

Yeah

that, on the Ellis Brigham site, was the Salomon, Highland jacket at £270.

So it's a little bit, it's like

Right

yourself nearly 100 quid. know, you do ask the question, is it worth paying the extra 100 odd quid? you talk about waterproofing and breath- breathability and that sort of stuff. We are gonna have the buyer from Ellis Brigham be on the show in a couple of weeks' time to talk to us about whether you need to be spending that extra money or whether you can save yourself a few quid.

the Highland, it's, it's a solid resort jacket, but the shacke-

Yeah

from Nor- the North Face, it does offer that super technical package. [00:30:00]It's just a question

Ja

what you really want out of a jacket, and I guess the other thing is how often are you gonna be using it? If you're just gonna go for ski trip a year or whatever, you have to question, do I need those extra technical details maybe you're gonna get out of that extra 100 quid?

What about a helmet?

yeah. So I checked out the redesigned Giro Neo 2 Mips helmet. It's £140.

Okay

mean, a helmet really is basic piece of protection now, isn't it? It's normal piece of kit. But this new version, they've added Mips. 

a good solid helmet, £140, so it's higher end with the Mips in, you know.

But yeah, I think it's a good helmet for this year

looking at the more affordable, which generally don't attach to the name Oakley, but the Oakley MOD.1, superb helmet at 85 quid. It gives you 360 degree BOA fit, which is the adjustment at the back. It really

Yeah

it's clamping your head in, which is really nice. It's got a magnetic, chin buckle, which is really smart because you can do that with your gloves on and off. the Giro

Yeah

for the Mips technology, which is obviously

[00:31:00] Yeah.

reduce those rotational forces like you talked about, 

Ja

angled impacts. Plus it's got the ad- the adjustable airflow as well. In the end of the day, it's all about fit and making sure they fit great and maybe go with either goggles that you're gonna buy or go with goggles that you've already got. Again, head to ellis-briggen.com, take a look. I think either of those helmets are great buys. I do love the Oakley

Yeah.

It's a really, really

Yeah

fitted helmet. So it's worth a

Great looking helmet. obviously you've got the brand of Oakley on there. 85 quid, that's... It's a good buy.

And what about goggles?

I sure, back to Oakley again, for goggles here because the new Flowscape, wait for it, £325. Um-

for goggles? Are you kidding?

Yeah, 

Come

it's got like, well, it's got a conical lens apparently. Close

needs to have a

close-fitting frame. It's got a second lens. You get for one for cha- for, different light lenses, which [00:32:00] to be fair, a lot of goggles, a lot of higher-end goggles give you, don't they? Obviously. But, but yeah, it's all in the lenses, isn't it, with Oakley?

the brand, yeah, they know what they're doing. They do make great goggles, but obviously you are paying the, paying the cash for them, for sure.

expect a whole ski outfit for that. Well, I went for the cheaper option, I went for the

Cut

Dragon goggles. I love Dragon goggles. I'm a massive fan. These are called the Slain Mag, S-L-A-I-N, for 140 quid. also comes with two lenses, I don't mind adding in. and it's got the magnetic lens change system, which is super cool. the

Ja

costs more for that distinctive lens and frame design, which is built to expand that whole pera- peripheral view that you've got. But the

Right. Yeah

such a cool goggle, and don't wanna be seen wearing an Oakley anymore. I want Dragon on my, my goggle band 

I think Dragon's, yeah, it's the way to go, I think

anyway

gloves then, I went for a very obvious make for gloves. I found some Hestra Army Leather GORE-TEX gloves. They're 165 quid, so

brilliant.

in. even [00:33:00] at

Yeah

quid they feel good value. They're a new stealth black colorway. And we all know if you've got warm hands, you've got dry hands, it makes a massive difference.

And Hestra,

Yeah

that GORE-TEX layer, hard-wearing leather. Honestly, you've got to invest. They are so good. What about you?

they'll, they'll last you 10 years, those, Hestra Gog, gloves. And £165, so that's £16.50 a week of your week ski holiday every year for some really amazing gloves. but I've gone for something, like, about half the price of that. The North Face again, Montana at £59. it is ... It's, it's a decent all-round glove.

it, it's waterproof, it's warm, it's breathable. it's, it's a reliable good glove for that price point. it's, it's not the Hestra in terms of, the premium leather type stuff, and your Gore-Tex, and all of that sort of stuff. But, if you just want a glove that you can rely on, that's gonna be warm, that's gonna be breathable, 'cause that's really important.

Gloves need to breathe, right? Otherwise, you get sweaty. If you get sweaty [00:34:00] fingers, big problems.

exactly. So,

Right

base layers, I went Icebreaker. they've got the 260

Угу

Neck Crews, 96 pounds, it's currently reduced from 120. Icebreaker's just

Cool

It's just such nicely fitted, skin layer. It feels good, it doesn't need washing too often. I'm one of those people, I like to go with

Yeah.

you know what I'm like. it just feels good next to the skin. You stay super comfortable, even when you're having those big days, and even when you're on those super cold lifts after you've built up a bit of sweat. So, the lower priced Icebreaker Bodyfit 200 Oasis is only 51, just under f- well, it's 51 pounds, reduced from 85.

So

S-- okay.

260 Zone Neck

Yeah

uses that matte ventilation. makes it the warmer choice if you're having those super cold days. But you can't argue with an Icebreaker, can you?

No, I've, I've had ice- loads of Icebreaker stuff over the years. It's lovely stuff. It just looks good, feels good. Yeah, love... Great brand. Great brand. Originally from New Zealand, I think. New Zealand [00:35:00] Merino wool. yeah, it's grown into an international company, hasn't it? But yeah, very, very cool brand

So there we go. We've had our top list of where we're gonna ski this winter. We've had our top gear that you need to buy this winter if you're gonna go out and buy a jacket, a helmet, a pair of gloves, and, A pair of goggles. where else do you need to listen, the s- the Whiteout Podcast just gives you everything

Gives you everything. We'll give you everything you need for your ski trip. Go back through those 96 episodes. You'll find something there. You'll find a ski resort.

Yeah.

up to 100,

know.

Dom.

do something for our 100th anniversary. But thanks listeners for joining us this week. Do send us your resorts of choice so we can share them with our listeners, of places that you would ski during New Year and, excuse me, during New Year and February half term. We'd love to know where you're listening, where you're skiing even, 

We'd love to know where you're listening as well, wouldn't

we'd love to know you're listening. Tell us where you're listening

And next week we have a special episode. 

brought to you in association with Peak Retreats, the specialist French ski tour operator, and we are doing [00:36:00] Pralognan-la-Vanoise.

So a fantastic little resort, 26 kilometers a piece, well worth listening in to. This place is absolutely It's well worth listening in next week. So Rob, have a good week. Look forward to seeing you next week Yeah, brilliant. Looking forward to it. Thanks, Dom. Cheers. See you. Bye