[galpinos]

Nice. Terrain looks like halfway between Alpine and Scottish.

Keen for a good winter, scored a golden duck in Scottish skiing last winter, compared to the great winter before..

Back Corries last year:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/dbpage.php?id=325739

[SA Chris]

I had great days that winter, highlight, as above, plus actually doing some amazing stuff in Glen Clova!

I have now mountain biked, bouldered, winter climbed, skied, road biked, trad climbed and done a hill run there. Doing a road race there in November, all that is left is to get the SUP out and do the river.

[galpinos]

I had great days that winter, highlight, as above, plus actually doing some amazing stuff in Glen Clova!

I have now mountain biked, bouldered, winter climbed, skied, road biked, trad climbed and done a hill run there. Doing a road race there in November, all that is left is to get the SUP out and do the river.

Sorry, I meant last winter, as in this year, 31/03/19!

[SA Chris]

I think I was wading in waist deep snow in Italy. IIRC it didn't last long..

[lagerstarfish]

Not selling it to me!

it's cheap

[lagerstarfish]

Same chute, different day.

This was the first day of my trip in March 2019.

The crust was a bit firm at the top of the gully and further down (around 2 mins at a guess) my tail got stuck under the crust on a turn, which caused a moment of excitement - I thought it would be more obvious on the video, but it seems that I kept the scared yelp in my head and didn't let it out.

[lagerstarfish]

(I'll be using a gimbal next time)

[SA Chris]

(I'll be using a gimp ball next time)

Your more usual video fayre.

[SamT]

Anyone been to Bulgaria - been looking at Bankso as a bit of a cheaper (lot cheaper) option than France this year..

[SA Chris]

For who? Family trip? Mate went with relatives and got bored shitless in a week. Said snow wasn't great and so one or two major lifts weren't running, so not a lot to do and was pretty crowded. Food on mountain not great either.

This is all second hand mind, and about 10 years ago.

[SamT]

Hmm - yeah, family trip. 

interweb seems to hint at massive queue in the morning as its just one gondala to get you up to the slopes from the town with no queuing etiquette.  Can't say its being sold to me.

[SA Chris]

Yep, can't remember exact details, but that was one. Base is pretty low too, i think they had to download a lot of the time.

You considered Italy? Went for the first time ever last year. Small resort, but slopes almost deserted, on mountain eating excellent and crazy cheap, and instructors were brilliant with the kids. We stayed in Gressoney with Esprit, but they are no longer running that as their base, and are opening another hotel in Champoluc. Some slow and strange lifts, but made up for by almost no queues.

[lagerstarfish]

I've always preferred a wider board and have always suffered with toe and heel drag when carving with a conventional softboot setup

I was gobsmacked when my mate Graham gave me a Donek Twin with a 30.5cm waist for my birthday last week

I've had 3 hours on the indoor slope at Castleford with it today - I didn't get spanked as badly as expected and had a great time leaning it over into previously impossible angles

Obvious limitations of being on a small slope, but I was grinning a lot - lift operators pointed out that I was clearly having the most fun

I've looked at Ryan Knapton's style and wondered whether I would get on with his sort of setup and now I know. I would never have bought one for myself, but am glad that Graham has more sense (and money) than me.

27cm wide Pathron Carbon Gold next to the Donek Twin for comparison

now... I wonder how it feels on steep stuff...

[SA Chris]

That is seriously wide! I've always compromised with a really stiff midwide with what looks like a bit more sidecut. Not sure of actual width and can't measure, it now lives in the Alps..

[lagerstarfish]

It took a lot of concentration to maintain control, but was really rewarding in terms of that g-force fun you get on well carved turns. Same feeling as my old race board on hard boots, but nicer when skidding turns.

I guess it's the opposite to choosing one of the forgiving rocker boards to make boarding more relaxed.

My legs feel it today! Back and glutes less than I expected - possibly due to being forced to be stacked in balance all the time.

previous session a few weeks ago was on a K2 Double Wide that I got for £15 off Ebay - much softer than I'm used to - I have been enjoying adapting to the different boards.

[gollum]

I had to buy small bindings to sort out my stance, but they seem to work well.

Struggle to find boards as like to ride a twin, as suits me.

Wide boards always feel like hard work to me as feel like turning a tanker.........maybe I’m just lazy.

[SA Chris]

Same feeling as my old race board on hard boots, but nicer when skidding turns.

I miss mine. Day after a big dump of snow, when the fresh snow has been groomed and is like sorbet, carving on that stuff is too much fun. Bindings were a crap design and after being fixed half a dozen times i had to abandon it, as they couldn't be replaced.

[lagerstarfish]

Same feeling as my old race board on hard boots, but nicer when skidding turns.

I miss mine. Day after a big dump of snow, when the fresh snow has been groomed and is like sorbet, carving on that stuff is too much fun. Bindings were a crap design and after being fixed half a dozen times i had to abandon it, as they couldn't be replaced.

I had the same problem - ended up getting the main frame of one binding welded (twice) after snapping it

[lagerstarfish]

Great run!
Has he been doing much exercise/training in preparation for winter?

[SA Chris]

If he doesn't get in he could probably blag a place in the GB team riding like that!

[lagerstarfish]

proper mountain terrain in deeply unsuitable soft boots that couldn't kick steps,

I got a pair of second hand (hardly used) Burton Driver X boots - decent Vibram sole -  In March, I kicked steps in hard snow going both up and across. I didn't use crampons, but am confident that they would work fine with strap on crampons.

You are welcome to come and have a look at mine (probably not your size)

[lagerstarfish]

For crampons, I prefer steel so that they can be bent to fit the boot and feel safe on rocky/mixed stuff- stainless like the BD Contact Strap so there's no issue with protective coating coming off when bending the frame. I've only used alu for harscheisen/couteaux.

I'm going to take a pair of microspikes with me next year to see how that works out

[Johnny Brown]

You are welcome to come and have a look at mine (probably not your size)

Cheers. No idea when I'll be going again so happy to wait for your review. And no, they wouldn't fit 

[lagerstarfish]

I used the Driver X boots for a week in March 2019. I went out of my way to scramble up the summits of Derese and Chopok via some more-tricky-than-necessary routes, including bare rock and rock with soft rime or hoar.

Best softboots I've used for kicking steps and scrambling. Not quite as good as proper mountaineering or ski boots in the harder packed snow, but that's because they don't have the rigid narrow lip sticking out at the front.

As good as proper mountaineering boots on rock and soft rime/hoar type stuff (without crampons)

Johnny Brown would probably be limited to E3 and below with them (with a snowboard on his back)

They work great for snowboarding.

[Johnny Brown]

Sounds good.