[bigtuboflard]

You going to make it up here this year? I've upgraded my touring boots, need to justify the expense!

You got a splitty Chris?

Cheers Tim but I reckon it might be a bit small for my bulk in powder

Seriously, I would be well keen for a cheap 156 if you want shot of it bigtub.

OK then, its a full on twin tip park board, as I said, needs a wax but other than that, in great condition as bought a Burton Nug soon after which better suits my riding. PM me if you want to sort out looking at it. Just had a look on eBay and seen a few going for £80. don't want anywhere near that for it. Probably £50 should see you right.

[bigtuboflard]

the guys at Decathlon have all the gear; worth asking/showing them as a starting point

Good call - they can't fix the damage but they didn't think it was too bad and said it might be worth just using epoxy and a clamp to fix.  I'm getting an edge service and wax done there anyway for £18.

There used to be a snowboard shop down at Shalesmoor/Infirmary road, not sure if it is still there though since I moved out of the neighbourhood. If your board has had it, I've got a Burton Dominant 156 in great condition that I can pretty much give you as its just gathering dust at the moment. Needs a wax but otherwise in perfect nick.

Cheers Tim but I reckon it might be a bit small for my bulk in powder   I've heard that shop is shut but I'll try ringing them tomorrow.

No problem bubba hope you get it sorted. When and where you heading? Did a week over new year and heading to Arlberg in March for a week too. Would go more but work gets in the way...

[Johnny Brown]

Cool, I'll pm you.

[Bubba]

When and where you heading?

Not much left but we got a last minute deal to La Plagne / Les Arcs. I've not been for ages so that'll be perfect for me to relearn.

[bigtuboflard]

 

When and where you heading?

Not much left but we got a last minute deal to La Plagne / Les Arcs. I've not been for ages so that'll be perfect for me to relearn.

nice area, have a good one and hope you get back on it quickly

[SA Chris]

You got a splitty Chris?

No, I'm an ambirider; prefer skis for touring, or when conditions are shit for a snowboard (i.e. most of the time in Scotland).

[Bubba]

Quick La Plagne report:

• General: reputation as easy/intermediate resort means crowded blues but with much barely touched off-piste to play with. Strange mix.
• Bizzare, complex lift layout with some bad queues...though it was a French half-term.
• On-piste: Lots of flat blues required to navigate the hill; would be a nightmare for a beginner but fine if you're happy flat-basing at speed. Some runs have horizontal rope tows on the flats! Some good reds but not many, most blacks mogul hell but dealable with. Lots of dodgy intersections.
• Off-piste: Amazing possibilities. Glacier area best and we were lucky to ride it when it opened after 2 days of closure due to snow/vis so had a few proper ecstatic powder moments. Took 2 days to get tracked out and can find good powder close to blues. Many other possibilities if you know the area or are guided. Quite a few hardcore lines being done by the good folk..nasty couloirs, big drops, etc. North Face of the Bellecôte with proper gnarl is easily reached from the top lifts. Reckon the best trip here if I went again would be to get guided but this trip I was just re-learning how to ride.
• Night life: we stayed in 1800 which had the rather good La Mine bar but not really a party resort.
• Extras: Can get a pass that links Les Arcs for a small extra. We had a day there on-piste - superb long empty reds and some equally empty, wide and non-mogully blacks. Off-piste looked amazing but it's an hour of lift bashing from La Plagne so time is an issue; we missed the last lifts home but luckily there was a shuttle bus for the last bit.
• Would I go again? Yes for the off-piste but there's better resorts if it's your only holiday. Perhaps Les Arcs would be a better option but I hear it's very spenny.

Good end of season bargains to be had - I've just bought one of these beauties from the epictv.com shop for £348. They price matched a cheap Paris shop and cut another £25 off as well. Nice.

[SA Chris]

Souinds like a good trip Bubba. Not been to La Plagne since 1989, but sounds about right.

Looks like Azores HP in place for my trip on Wednesday. No powder fix for me

[Muenchener]

Go wide or go home? That is the question.

I'm contemplating a new snowboard, in the probably vain hope of keeping up with my twelve year old son for another season or two, and I've seen a cheap deal on a last year's model Nitro Team. Seems to get good reviews as a decent all rounder, and I'm wondering about sizing.

I'm around 85+ kilos dressed in boarding kit with - here's the crucial dimension - size 45 feet. Currently on a 159 board and thinking a bit bigger might be a good idea, so 162, but I'm wondering whether to go for a standard or a wide board. A lot of people, e.g. Neil McNab, seem to recommend wideish boards for my size feet, but from the specs it seems this particular Nitro is *really* wide - 270mm waist.

Opinions?

[lagerstarfish]

the board that brought me the most joy was a wide Nitro Hazard (possibly 162) - I think it was the 1993/4 model

size 45 feet and I used home-customized Koflachs some of the time which were even longer than my soft boots

nothing like the disappointing feel of your toes dragging and ruining a good carve using a narrow board with long feet

a wide board also floats better on the soft stuff for the heavier athlete

[Fultonius]

Depends what you mainly do piste or pow? I'm 45 and u was suffering a load of drag in heavy fresh snow. Light pow was OK. Piste fine. If I ever bought  another board it would be a big mountain wide pow thing,  but I mainly ski now.

Sent from my XT1039 using Tapatalk

[SA Chris]

For the best ride, go wide! I've got a fairly stiff 167 midwide (Burton Baron), and it carves brilliantly, fast as fuck on piste and is amazing in powder. I'm about 85-90 kgs too and 45 feet. Wouldn't want to try and get any big rotations on it in the park or pipe though, but I'm not into that at all.

[bigtuboflard]

Agree with the above. Just be cautious with the flex on a big wide board. Whilst you'll want it stiff to be able to hold an edge and speed well on the groomers, you can go too stiff and end up with a board which is unforgiving when you just want to ease off the gas a little. Been bitten before buying a big mountain board only to find that it was mentally exhausting riding it in anything other than slack or backcountry terrain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SA Chris]

Everyone sorted for the season?

Just booked flights, going to be in Les Gets area 3-8 Feb. Riding on my own on 3rd before mates turn up so if anyone is about and fancies doing some riding, give me a shout. Will have a car so can hit up Portes du Soleil, Grand Massif or share the delights of Praz de Lys.

[bigtuboflard]

Just arrived back from five days in Courmayeur. Never considered Italy before as a place to go as thought I was happy with mostly Austria and France. But, I'd gone and won a charity auction trip before Christmas here so thought it would be good. The resort is actually a very cool area, with a small but nice selection of red and blue groomers with a couple of blacks. But, for those of you used to the bun fight for powder at places like Grand Montets, this place is a dream. Mid-week and it is pretty much deserted, and those few that are about either don't like going off piste, don't like riding trees, or don't like bad visibility. Hence, had all the little off piste stashes untouched for hours on end, getting fresh lines well in to each afternoon.

And, the bonus to top it all is that the standard of both on mountain and resort centre dining is amazing. I knew obviously that the Italians are generally renowned for their cooking but this was better than I was hoping. One mountain restaurant was probably up in the top three meals I've ever had. A final YYFY too, decided to get back on skis for the first time in 25 years (and when I was 15 I only did about 5 or 6 hours of lessons) and ended up skiing blues and a couple of reds by the end of the second morning of lessons. Result 

[SA Chris]

But, for those of you used to the bun fight for powder at places like Grand Montets, this place is a dream. Mid-week and it is pretty much deserted, and those few that are about either don't like going off piste, don't like riding trees, or don't like bad visibility. Hence, had all the little off piste stashes untouched for hours on end, getting fresh lines well in to each afternoon.

I know a few spots like that! Awesome, sounds like a good trip.

[Fultonius]

Just arrived back from five days in Courmayeur. Never considered Italy before as a place to go as thought I was happy with mostly Austria and France. But, I'd gone and won a charity auction trip before Christmas here so thought it would be good. The resort is actually a very cool area, with a small but nice selection of red and blue groomers with a couple of blacks. But, for those of you used to the bun fight for powder at places like Grand Montets, this place is a dream. Mid-week and it is pretty much deserted, and those few that are about either don't like going off piste, don't like riding trees, or don't like bad visibility. Hence, had all the little off piste stashes untouched for hours on end, getting fresh lines well in to each afternoon.

And, the bonus to top it all is that the standard of both on mountain and resort centre dining is amazing. I knew obviously that the Italians are generally renowned for their cooking but this was better than I was hoping. One mountain restaurant was probably up in the top three meals I've ever had. A final YYFY too, decided to get back on skis for the first time in 25 years (and when I was 15 I only did about 5 or 6 hours of lessons) and ended up skiing blues and a couple of reds by the end of the second morning of lessons. Result 

^^^  Shhssshhhh - this is the Chamoniard's local secret!  We used to go through the tunnel regularly on cat-4 shitty weather days to hit the "safe" stashes and eat good pizza!  Did you try the Bombardino's? Certainly lowers your afternoon inhibitions 

[bigtuboflard]

Just arrived back from five days in Courmayeur. Never considered Italy before as a place to go as thought I was happy with mostly Austria and France. But, I'd gone and won a charity auction trip before Christmas here so thought it would be good. The resort is actually a very cool area, with a small but nice selection of red and blue groomers with a couple of blacks. But, for those of you used to the bun fight for powder at places like Grand Montets, this place is a dream. Mid-week and it is pretty much deserted, and those few that are about either don't like going off piste, don't like riding trees, or don't like bad visibility. Hence, had all the little off piste stashes untouched for hours on end, getting fresh lines well in to each afternoon.

And, the bonus to top it all is that the standard of both on mountain and resort centre dining is amazing. I knew obviously that the Italians are generally renowned for their cooking but this was better than I was hoping. One mountain restaurant was probably up in the top three meals I've ever had. A final YYFY too, decided to get back on skis for the first time in 25 years (and when I was 15 I only did about 5 or 6 hours of lessons) and ended up skiing blues and a couple of reds by the end of the second morning of lessons. Result 

^^^  Shhssshhhh - this is the Chamoniard's local secret!  We used to go through the tunnel regularly on cat-4 shitty weather days to hit the "safe" stashes and eat good pizza!  Did you try the Bombardino's? Certainly lowers your afternoon inhibitions 

Didn't try the Bombardino's but only because egg nog makes me quite sick 

Pizza at Christiana's and the Tunnel were both super, but yeah, anyone else, don't bother going for the mountain, nothing to see here, move along...... 

[bigtuboflard]

Sounds like a great day out. Wish I lived both nearer to the mountains to be able to get out and also had enough willing people to commit to doing trips like that. I realise that b) often follows committing to a) though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SA Chris]

Well in spite of living relatively close to the mountains it's all fucked here. Warm weather has destroyed most of the snow cover in the space of a week.

[bigtuboflard]

Where exactly are you Chris? Heard reports of low altitude resorts getting very warm in the Alps the last few weeks but didn't realise it was so bad? Off to Samoens in a few weeks time so could do with a cold, and snowy, snap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SA Chris]

Aberdeen! Snow in Scotland looks to be a fickle beast this year, I was touring at Ben Lawers two weekends ago in excellent snow, then in the last week the mountains have just about been stripped bare, but it looks like winter has made a bit of a comeback and hopefully we'll get good late season conditions. I'm off to Les Gets on Tuesday, but will have a hire car so looking like we'll be spending most of the time at Flaine and Avoriaz. All accounts the pistes are in pretty good shape, but off piste is a bit of a mixed bag.

You been to Samoen before? Grand Massif is good and varied, top of Flaine has some good off piste, just don't get caught on the wrong side of the mountain late in the day with that one critical lift (Corbalanche) to get back across as queues can be horrendous.

[Fultonius]

Samoens is lovely!  Apparently there's some good tree skiing down to Les Carroz but we didn't find it when we were there.

[SA Chris]

There's the massive Cascade run off the back all the way down to Sixt, which is apparently ace, but I've never done as you need to get a bus back to Samoen. Maybe one to do as last run of the day and stop in Sixt for some food, cool little place. There's a new high speed lift from Verclan as well which cuts down queues.

[galpinos]

There's the massive Cascade run off the back all the way down to Sixt, which is apparently ace, but I've never done as you need to get a bus back to Samoen. Maybe one to do as last run of the day and stop in Sixt for some food, cool little place. There's a new high speed lift from Verclan as well which cuts down queues.

Cascade is a lovely scenic run but the skiing is average and it can get quite icy. A nice way to break it up is to eat at the Gite du Lac du Gers. My last season there was in 2005 so this might be a little out of date but……here’s a phone by the piste, give them a bell, they come down with a skidoo, grab a rope and they tow you up to the Gite. Lovely three course set menu lunch then ski down all the way to Sixt. The skiing in Sixt is actually quite good if the snow’s there.

If the snow is good the Gers bowl is the jewel in the crown of off-piste. The best runs in aren’t form Tete Pelouse but form the Tete de Verte. Take the Veret drag up, walk along the crest and there a multiple entries in to the Gers bowl. The first two are the most popular and par a concied entry, are the easiest. Further along the ridge gives increasing challenge of access and run (cliffs to avoid, the odd no fall zone).

I’m not sure if you like touring/hiking at all but the Tete du Colonney makes a nice little morning outing.