DOM: welcome to our 12th edition of this seasons White Out Podcast, my name is Dom Killinger and I’m joined by my co-host, the one and only Rob Stewart
Happy New Year Rob, how are you?
ROB: good Dom and Happy New Year to you too. the One and Only, that was a song by Chesney Hawkes who I actually went to school with – maybe that’s where he got the idea of the title from then! Ha ha
DOM: ah and think where you could have been if you had joined his band ive seen you playing almost every instrument known to man.
ROB: well yes not skiing probably, or come to think of it, maybe I would be!
DOM: Rob maybe it’s time we invited some of these celebrities we know onto the podcast. We both know a few right?
ROB: yes and some of them have interesting stories to tell, but do they have interesting skiing stories Dom? That is the question.
DOM: not as many as you Rob (or you Dom).
ROB: maybe not but the point is, they are celebrities and therefore obviously incredibly interesting people.
DOM: Okay well let’s get one of those celebs on before the end of the season then – maybe Chesney?
ROB: why not, I’m sure he’s a skier. Chesney, if you are listening from your Malibu home give us a call – even better, put your sister Keeley forward, I once danced with her at the school disco, highlight of my life up to that point at the age of 16.
DOM: but she’s not a celebrity Rob.
ROB: who cares...
DOM: right down to business Rob, we’ve got a bit of a special episode on this week haven’t we? Fill our listeners in a bit..
ROB: Yes Dom we have our usual news round-up, weather and some gear to discuss but this podcast is going to take a look back at some of the highlights of 2023 and a look forward to 2024 to see what might be in store for us in the world of snowsports.
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DOM: great so let’s start with the latest news…
NEWS:
ROB
Snowcamp AJ Bell 3 Valley’s Rally Val Thorens, April 13-16
Our friends at Snowcamp that help turn young lives around are gearing up for their charity event in Val Thorens at the end of the season and they still have places available for 6 teams – they already have 14. Each team consist of 4 people and the idea is to raise money and then compete in a series of challenges across the mountain including biathlon and slalom skiing. They always draw some big names too, I know Graham Bell will be there (I mean he’s not at all competitive right!)
They set up a 5* hotel for the accommodation – it’s a great way for skiers to have fun and give something back too. Snowcamp have been running the challenge for several years but Val Thorens is relatively new, but obviously a great location for that time of the season. We caught up with Dan Keeley from Snowcamp this week and he said this:
“6 snowsports challenges, 5* accommodation, 4 team members, 3 snowsport celebs, 2 non-stop days over 1 long weekend at the end of the season… what’s not to love. With last years Rally raising the bar, Val Thorens laying out the red carpet and the extension of Les Menuires, the 2024 Rally promises to be something special; all to help turn many more young lives around. Hope you can join us!”
What do you think Dom/Rob? Up for it, maybe we can recruit a couple more and take it on?
You can find out more by visiting…
snow-camp.org.uk
Dom
Dave Ryding takes bronze
Got to mention this because although it was now two weeks ago, it’s still big news in my opinion…Britain’s David Ryding secures his 7th – yes that’s 7th, podium place on the FIS Alpine skiing world cup with a third place bronze under the lights in Madonna di Campiglio. Just a few years ago the thought of a British skier standing on that podium was almost unthinkable and now we are coming to expect it. there’s Billy Major and Laurie Taylor pushing for those top 15 places now too. this Sunday, Dave and co are back in action at the Swiss resort of Adelboden and then onto Wengen the following weekend. Even more exciting is the fact that Dave is now ranked number 3 in the world in slalom racing. Number 3….take that in for a second…and you know, just maybe, we can dream of that number 1 spot. I’m sure he is.
(Very exciting stuff and where can we watch these races then?)
Eurosport covers all the races live and then BBC Ski Sunday will be bringing highlights of the Adelboden and Wengen races too.
Rob
Green Les Arcs
Earlier this year, the French ski resort of Les Arcs became the first ski resort in Europe – and only the second in the world, after Taos in New Mexico – to be awarded the internationally recognised ‘B Corporation’ certification.
Reducing their carbon footprint has always been a key part of this. The resorts’ lifts already operate on 100% renewable electricity, but their entire fleet of snow groomers are now powered by biofuel instead of diesel. On its own this has reduced emissions for slope maintenance by 83%. Another significant way Les Arcs has been able to bring down emissions is via the futuristic funicular that connects Bourg-St-Maurice with Arc 1600. The funicular is free for anyone travelling by train and is also powered by renewables.
And few short news items Rob:
Chamonix has reported the most snowfall in the world over the first few days of 2024, and is also the first to reach a 4m (13.3 feet) base this season.
A ski chalet above Cervinia with views from the Italian side of the Matterhorn, has gone on sale priced at €24m with luxury property agents Savills having been a ruin in 2015!
Tragic accident in St Gervais leaving 2 members of the same family dead, a harsh reminder that if you are going off piste then please take your responsibilities very seriously whatever the situation, ensure you have the right equipment and knowing exactly how to use it before you venture off piste whatever anyone says.
GEAR
DOM: right Rob, so next week we will be attending the SLIDE OTS Winter trade show in sunny Telford, where we get to check out all the gear for next season, including skis and boots, clothing and accessories from all the major brands and some new independents too. As always, it’s an exciting week where we see friends and colleagues and play with all that new kit.
ROB: yes looking forward to it. Obviously it is inside a large shed but it’s still great fun and so cool to get to see all this kit very early on. We’ll be bringing some of the highlights to you out there in our next episode.
DOM: This week we’ve got something slightly different for our gear section because one of our listeners, (Dan Fox from SkiWeekends…do we name?) emailed in asking about our opinions on Avalanche Backpacks.
Now I don’t know about you Rob, but I don’t tend to take many off piste excursions these days and prefer to stay inbounds, but an airbag is certainly something that has been proven to work if the very worst happens.
ROB: Yes Dom, I don’t own an avalanche airbag and although I have worn them, I agree that really it’s for skiers and snowboarders that might be freeriding in steeper off-piste terrain and ski touring. It’s worth pointing out at this point that in Europe, if you’re on the marked runs the chances of getting caught up in an avalanche would be, well let’s say exceptionally rare. In North America again if you’re inbounds in the controlled area and it’s open for skiing it’s basically the same situation.
DOM: Right, but if you are thinking about an avalanche airbag, which let’s face it, aren’t cheap, then there’s a few things to consider, such as weight and whether the bag is powered by a gas canister or the more recent electric versions.
ROB: absolutely, and before considering an airbag, if you’re heading off piste it’s also worth pointing out that crucially it’s essential to wear a transceiver and have a probe and shovel in your backpack – all of that for another time, but the airbag is then an add on to that.
DOM: Yes absolutely – right so we looked at three different airbags that might be best for certain skiers doing certain things. So best for ski touring, best for lift accessed freeriding and best for travelling.
ROB: let’s start with Best for Ski touring…
If you’re looking at day tours only then the 25 litre Scott Patrol Ultralight at under 2kg’s is perfect. £1,100 from scott-sports.com
the slightly larger ORTOVOX Avabag :iTRIC Tour 30 litre pack at £1,250 is a good bet. ortovox.com
Both are electric powered
Best for freeriding
Again you can tour with this pack it’s just slightly larger = the Mammut Pro 45 removable airbag 3.0 costs £650 it’s 45 litres in size and has a removable airbag system with carbon cartridges. Check that out at mammut.com
Best for travelling
The Deuter Alproof Lite 30 pack comes with loads of tech and a battery that is easy to travel with. £1,300 from deutergb.co.uk
WEATHER REPORT
This weeks weather round up is brought to you by SkiWeekends, The flexible ski holiday experts, choose form 10 fantastic catered chalets and over 100 hotels in over 40 resorts. You can stay as long as you like with SkiWeekends.com”
DOM: so Rob onto our regular snow and weather report, things are really ramping up properly now for the winter across the Alps, North America and Japan. It’s looking like we have a decent winter season out there.
ROB: it has been a bit of a shaky start in North America but things are changing and fast. Same in Japan too and yes in Europe it’s a very positive situation right now and although some areas have suffered from warmer temperatures lower down, the snow at altitude has generally remained in good shape and with the cold, snowy weather coming in now, any little bits of green will soon be long forgotten I think. Do you want to take us away with the situation in Europe Dom…
DOM: well I have just returned from the Aosta Valley and Chamonix over the New Year and whilst conditions on-piste were already good, it started to snow heavily the last couple of days which was very welcome.
If we look at Courmayeur then they are expecting around 40-50cm of snow in the next week on top of a decent base (nice, so powder and gourmet food, what more could one wish for!)
Ha…and it’s a similar situation in Chamonix and our friend David Robertson from Action Outdoors posted a nice video from there a few days ago showing fantastic powder conditions and there’s just more to come.
But in that northern French Alps region it looks like Avoriaz is expecting the biggest dumps, with up to 1 metre in the next 7 days, aren’t you heading there soon Rob?
ROB: yes Dom, week after next when…the sun is forecast to come out! I’m actually in Chatel and then heading across the PdS area to Les Gets right through Avoriaz and staying in different places but yes, timing not too bad.
DOM: nice, okay but if we start heading seriously east to Davos in Switzerland then the picture is basically the same, 60 cm expected over the next week. St Anton in Austria, 50cm, similar in Kitzbuhel.
So the next week we’ll see lots of snow followed by a few days of sunshine, followed by more snow.
ROB: yes interesting, I read a recent report on a website called severe-weather.eu talking about a complete shift in weather patterns driving colder front across north American and Europe caused by El Nino and a stratospheric warming event across north America that is now pushing away.
That warm weather did impact the Rockies and places such as Whistler suffered because of it but that is now all change…wait for it (drum roll) whistler is expecting well over 1 metre of snowfall in the next few days and it shows no sign of letting up through January.
Cold snowy weather across the American states of Montana, Colorado and Utah will bring powder conditions to most places over the next week too.
DOM: before we move to Japan Rob it’s worth pointing out that Norway has had a stormer of a season so far.
ROB: Stormer, I like that. Yes word on the ground there saying things are as good as they get right now in places such as Hafjell, close to Lillehammer. But same across the whole country, and Sweden too.
I should just do a shout out for Georgia too because our mate Scott Hammond just arrived there and reported powder dumping conditions, sent me a little video from Gudauri and wow, it looked impressive.
DOM: so Japan – it really is looking like a classic case of Japow right now with around 1 metre of snow forecast for Niseko over the next week and no sign of any let up after that either.
ROB: right classic Japan Dom, I don’t think it will stop now and anyone heading there for the end of the month or into Feb will be in for a treat
DOM: looking the best season in years Rob?
ROB: I think so, maybe too early to say for sure but can’t remember it looking so positive going forward since say 2017-18, I think that was a good year.
DOM: lucky that we are both going to be in the French Alps in just two weeks time then Rob.
ROB: looking forward to bringing the snow report live from the slopes with you Dom.
Looking back on 2023 and ahead to 2024
DOM: this is our chance Rob to take a look back at some of our highlights from the past year and then to take a look forward to what we think 2024 will have in store for us.
ROB: that’s right Dom, and what a year 2023 was. When you think about it, 2023 was really the first full year back to normal after Covid.
DOM: yes that’s right but it wasn’t all plain sailing.
ROB: ha no. a shaky start to the season around the NY period saw some tricky snow conditions across the Alps, but I have got to say, some of the national media coverage around this weather event – shall we say – was rather extreme in itself. I mean I got pulled onto radio stations, spoke to scores of journalists, many who thought there literally was not a flake of snow in the Alps. The truth was that despite it being challenging…
DOM: for sure Rob, I remember it was not ideal…
ROB: Right, but not one person I knew on a ski trip over that time didn’t get to ski. Maybe the lower slopes in some resorts were closed, sure. But if you believed some of the reports in certain parts of the media, you might have well of not bothered going.
DOM: I agree and whilst lets face it we do have climate challenges (absolutely), it’s really important to be accurate about what is really going on.
ROB: Dom, I turned up in the French Alps a week after the warm weather and skied powder down to 1,000 metres. It was a short lived warm spell but it just got a lot of attention…
DOM: so let’s look back at some of those highlights of 2023 then – I mean in the news there was a lot of good stuff…
The London ski show back again
Read Hastings, founder of Netflix, becoming the majority shareholder of Powder Mountain in Utah (they should make a film about that, ha ha)
Helly Hansen doing that free ski pass deal again (very cool)
Crans-Montana being bought by Vail Resorts and of course our very own 24 in 24 launching….
ROB: yes so much happening, but ok we are going to take a look back at our own personal experiences – our best trip, best après experience and favourite bit of kit…
DOM: yes, a bit of indulgence from our side but why not?! Take it away Rob…
Best trip/resort
ROB: for me it has to be Big Sky in Montana. I got to spend three days with the legendary Dan Egan on Lone Mountain peak. Imagine one stand-alone mountain where the easiest descent is marked double black diamond and it even has triple black diamond runs on it too. wild, hairy and consistently steep, you really can’t relax for a second but it was exciting and three days in I was even finding those 45 degree angles fun…ha ha. Yes great place and was a proper bucket list destination for me so box ticked. Worth saying there’s a lot of really cruisy skiing there too and a great village to stay in…what about you Dom:
DOM:
Rob i'm a different beast, i think for me my highlight was my colorado trip (albeit ski big 3 banff lake louise ) was a damn close second. BIt we had a constant delivery of fresh powder daily in Beaver Creek, Vail and Breckenridge, meaning skiing through the trees in deep powder conditions was just really a truly memorable ten days of skiing. And coming literally within 6 feet face to face with a moose in the high street of breck is also a massive hit for me.
But i do also have to mention the snowmobile safari in golden often these things you find yourself racing around a track and it being boring after 5 minutes, but this was a truly exceptional safari in golden where you felt like you were tracking off to the middle of the steep forest up and up until the views were totally breathtaking, so i have to mention that too…
And your best après Rob, I mean come on, you have got to be the authority on this one!
Best après
ROB: ha thanks Dom. Well it’s true I have done my fair share over the years but you know, it’s about the people, the timing and the moment, not always the big name places. But in late March last year I ended up in Interlaken, Switzerland, and up to Grindelwald for the Snowpenair outdoor music festival – a chance to soak in some spring sunshine whilst partying to some – I must say, pretty cool, Swiss rock music. I was pleasantly surprised. But, instead of sun, we had snow and a lot of it. how those musicians got through it I really have no idea. But we had a lot of fun, VIP area, lots of warm wine, a fantastic dinner on the top of Mannlichen and then down to the new Terminal building in Grindelwald for live DJ action and we even made it to my favourite little Swiss craft beer bar – the Husi Beerhouse – for a late night IPA.
What about you Dom…
DOM:
So totally agree its not always about the big names, mines not sounding quite as glamorous as yours this time, but it was actually new year 2023/24, a huge firework display outside our apartment window in tignes staying at the YNYCIO and then cocorico which was banging, earlier we had some impromptu wine and pizza outside a bar gathered round a flaming table it was just one of those relaxed but great apres with great friends and you kind of thnk, this is just great…
And gear wise Rob, I mean we both get to try a lot of stuff out but if you can pick one highlight from last season what would it be?
Best bit of kit
ROB: ah, so much gear, so much time to try it all out! Ha ha, but it makes this one a tricky challenge.
But I’m going to go for the Armada Declivity 102Ti – a freeride ski that I have used a few times and got my hands on for the Big Sky trip. I just really enjoy these skis. They are great on and off piste, super smooth, so well balanced and what I mean by that is some skis tend to either under steer or over steer, some…but not the Declivity’s they just seem to have the perfect balance between ease of turn, edge grip and stability. There’s a 92 version as well which is a fantastic all mountain ski. I’m looking forward to getting back on them again.
DOM:
I think a couple of things for me, a new sweet protection helmet which is the igniter RRP is £230 2 layer mips Fidlock magnetic buckle, im not 100% used to that yet but potentially great, Audio drop in compatible, i dont use that as i prefer normal sound when im skiing, but i tried it and its great,. Occigrip turn dial fit system with height adjustment similar to boa feels really smooth and stable, and Variable Elasticity shell, just a lovely lovely bit of kit for a helmet, i woudlnt say its the fluffy comfy cruisy helmet like some produce but i really like the sturdy feel of it, its just nice and i looks great in it too 🙂
But im also really into the helly elevation ski gear too, debs was wearing the shell and insulation layer in aosta and also tested this in whistler in december when conditions were good out there, and i have to say everything about this gear is great, the cut and shape looks good, the quality of the materials really looks and feels and functions very well indeed , i really do feel helly is right up there in the top brands and im really impressed with this line and they have the ski free deal so thats really icing on the cake too,
Looking ahead to 2024
ROB: so Dom, with your crystal ball because I know you have one…what do you think is in store for this year and what are you plans?
DOM: well actually I don’t have a crystal ball Rob but what I do have is a ski magazine and a lot of people telling me what is happening all the time. better than a crystal ball, highly reliable and relentlessly regular (??)
Ha ha, well im thinking
> its gonna be a historically good snow season, long cold and deep (like i like my beers)
> i think we will see great continued development in the eco credentials of skiing both in resort and the gear around the sport,
> on that note i think its a great season for a new pair of skis as my black crows camox’s are looking a bit beaten up now, with a lump out of the sidewall and i was thinking the new camox or the mirus cor both by black crows, or do i do to the declivity dark side? Maybe im not an aggressive enough skier for them?
> id like to think we see people be more conscious in the way they travel (not just booking the first flight) but considering all kinds of travel as you know i only drive down by electric car often with 4 people in and ive been doing that for almost a decade now longer than anyone i’ve come across, and its easier now than its ever been and extremely economical. And maybe that transmits too thru to the way they buy gear too, i think we have to be very aware of what we are doing and the way we are doing it…
Finally i predict i will be in La Clusaz, Revelstoke, Sun Peaks and Whistler this season (and yes im aware that does not fit with my eco credentials) but tourism is vital to these areas and i am already planning travel by train when there!
ROB:
I echo all of that Dom - i must admit that I feel the need to travel in a more eco friendly way but right now that’s not always the case. Last winter i took the train to the Alps but this season I don’t currently have that option booked but will make a conscious effort to look into it.
I see a growth in winter holidays that don’t necessarily involve skiing or perhaps involve skiing alongside other activities. This is not new but resorts and operators are really improving their offerings to cater for a wide demographic.
I would like to see some kind of action on getting British seasonal workers back to the Alps again. It’s very sad for me to hear so many stories from Europe about the challenges in this area post Brexit. It’s still very hard for young Brits to get certain types of work in the EU and Switzerland, i mean you can forget becoming a ski instructor right now and despite what some people might think, that was possible for British skiers a few years ago. Of course still take the qualifications and there are other countries that will take you - EG: Japan, but it’s a long way away. Crazy situation, actually insane.
On a more positive note - I’ll be visiting Chatel, Les Gets, La Clasaz, back to Avoriaz with former rugby star Mike Tindal who is running a charity event this winter in Saalbach, Crans-Montana, Carinthia in southern Austria, Saalbach, and then planning on Tignes in April, Grindelwald for Snowplenair this March with Simply Red…oh yes and then hopefully Norway in Feb with my daughter, maybe the Snowcamp Rally Dom but the diary is getting tight!
…
Rob thanks for a great year of podcasting, a statistic that i recently received from spotify and apple as well as our podcast hosts, , we are in the top 25% of podcast globally when ranked according to downloads within 7 dayts of launch, we have been listened to in 74 countries, yes 74 countries!!! Top of the list being the UK and usa, surprises on the list Kazakstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Kenya and Egypt so i really want to say on behalf of us both, thanks for listening please leave a review, it really makes a difference and rob, see you in la clusaz