Snow Sports Thread 2017-18

[DereksDontRun]

Tignes is ace... well worth a visit. Massive area with Val D, which gives you access to 2 glaciers. Even just sticking to Tignes side, it's pretty cool.

 

[richyfingers]

Nice! Never done Tignes, is it any good?

Yeah I love Tignes, not the most picturesque compared to some other resorts but the whole place is just so easy to get around and some brilliant runs and some easily accessible off piste. We get the pass which covers Val d’Isère so plenty of variety.

Wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. Done a few places in Austria, and most of the big French resorts and Tignes is the only place I've been back to multiple times.

 

[Alex_6n2]

So what are Sunweb doing about it ?

They've managed to find us new accommodation in ValThorens but across two separate apartments, which means the group is now split.

I've pushed for free ski pass upgrades and some booze for the inconvenience

 

[McBain]

Just seen this on another forum, terrifying

 

[Scam]

Jesus. The thing is if I was on that lift I'd assume it'd be ok to stay on and that you'd just go round again. Not be flung off like a ragdoll Mental note; jump off! How the heck does that happen?

There's a girl who sits behind me who is going skiing next week. I really want to show her the video but it would be mean...

 

[Jokester]

And that's how we remove the chairs at the end of the season.

Can't believe they weren't able to shut that down

 

[D.P.]

It was shutdown but something went wrong with the braking system. Chairlifts normally have multiple redundant failsafes because this is the obvious major catastrophic failure.

Any idea where it was?

Edit: Georgia, figures. Highly unlikely to happen in the Alps or US. What can happen is a severe and unpredictable gust derails the cable, so a few chairs plumber to the ground but most will stay up between the other towers. Or a detachable chair becomes deteched and flies back to the chair behind. Both horrible but not as severe as a complete reversal

 

[Jokester]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-43422186/skiers-jump-from-speeding-lift-in-georgia

Gudauri in Georgia.

Aye, apparently the emergency brake failed and gravity did the rest.

 

[McGray]

Spent a week in Courchevel recently. Probably the best resort I've ever been to.

Already itching to go back.

 

[Furyus]

Spent a week in Courchevel recently. Probably the best resort I've ever been to.

Already itching to go back.

Its a great resort easily in my top 5! Already bookes for next year! Just everything works and so much to board and explore!

 

[Sao_Sin]

I went to St Anton this year, first time in Austria and enjoyed it, though there were a couple of pretty bad bottlenecks on the way over to Lech with two 2 man lifts. Looking at Going UCPA with the family next year as you get food, lessons and gear hire which will be nice for the beginners. Has anyone been with them before?

Also managed to break my snowboard bindings, they are about 8 years old though so due an upgrade! Any recommendations?

 

[Weazle]

Also managed to break my snowboard bindings, they are about 8 years old though so due an upgrade! Any recommendations?

I recommend Union and Flux bindings .... I've had friends who bought Burton and broke them easily, although they may have improved the last few years.

 

[Sao_Sin]

I recommend Union and Flux bindings .... I've had friends who bought Burton and broke them easily, although they may have improved the last few years.

Thanks, Unions are top of my list at the moment so good to hear positive things about them

 

[Weazle]

Thanks, Unions are top of my list at the moment so good to hear positive things about them

I've had the Union Contact Pros for the last 3 years and love them. First pair of bindings I've felt comfortable using from the beginning in a long time.

 

[Furyus]

I'm rocking the Flows and absolutely love them! Strong and just easy to use!

 

[Sao_Sin]

I'm rocking the Flows and absolutely love them! Strong and just easy to use!

Those the rear entry ones? Always been a bit skeptical...

 

[DereksDontRun]

used Contacts and Contact Pros for at least the last 7 years and they've been faultless... But, for the sake of change, I've gambled with Salomon Holograms this season, and I've not got a bad thing to say about them either...

 

[Furyus]

Those the rear entry ones? Always been a bit skeptical...

Yup! I found the ones with the toe buckle are amazing! They just so easy to use! And saves you so much time with chair lifts etc.

 

[Sao_Sin]

Yup! I found the ones with the toe buckle are amazing! They just so easy to use! And saves you so much time with chair lifts etc.

Nice to hear some positive reviews. I should look into them a bit more! Think I'm gonna try and go to Snow center and sweet talk snow and rock into letting me demo some various ones over the summer

 

[DereksDontRun]

the high-end expensive Flows aren't too bad, but the cheaper models are either heavy or dont have a good fit around the toes (your choice of either it being a bit relaxed to enable easy rear-entry, or nice and snug for heel-edge sensitivity, when cranking those toes up) - so, as soon as you've talked yourself into the ones with the toe-straps, you might as well just have normal bindings . They're great and easy bindings for beginners and people happy to cruise around the piste or a dome with frequent clipping/unclipping, but as soon as it's deeper snow they're a pain to use the rear entry, or trying to maximise performance from the board. Personally, I prefer something light weight without costing a load, and occasionally I'll mess about with riding highback-less, which is obviously a problem with rear-entry...