The Ski Locker thread

[Feanor]

Looking good!
Here's the view over the same resort from Pt de la Masse taken a couple of years ago....


Val Thorens from Pt de la Masse by Ron Lowe, on Flickr

[Jakob]

Gnnrraarrr. We just had a couple of major storms go through, it's subzero downtown and the local mountains have better snow conditions than most major resorts....and my gimpy leg wont let me touch any of it....

[Jakob]

And finally!


New board was weird for the first run, but once I got the hang of it, it was pretty sweet. Wont carve as fast on the groomers, but much much better on the steeps with lumpy/chopped up snow
First exercise of any kind in 2 months, so I burned out quickly, but it was awesome to be back up again. Storm coming through again tomorrow,so may head up again tomorrow late afternoon/evening.

[Feanor]

Heading off to Val d'Isere tomorrow.

Have spent a couple of days doing a ptex repair on one of the Junior's skis, a nasty core shot.
Just got finished up a short while ago.


Ski fettling by Ron Lowe, on Flickr

[Ham]

Back from Val Thorens, I have never seen less snow there at Christmas. Thankfully the dump a month ago plus snow cannons actually provided OK skiing for the whole week (avoiding the popular reds especially in the afternoon). Zero off piste on South facing slopes (100% brown),  and pretty much zero (albeit a bit more white) on north facing. Not a snowflake below 1800. Most runs were open, although many should properly have been closed IMO.

Thankfully, VT starts at 2300.

[Ham]

Heading off to Val d'Isere tomorrow.

Have spent a couple of days doing a ptex repair on one of the Junior's skis, a nasty core shot.
Just got finished up a short while ago.

?? Two DAYS ? Wonder there was anything left to repair!

Hope you're having a good time,  I suspect you may have a few more holes to repair on your return

[Ham]

Heads up if anyone is interested in a pair of skis I'll be shoving on eBay later today

Storm Detonate 168cm - as in https://www.snow-online.com/ski/storm-skis-detonate-2011.htmlp

I bought them about five years ago, skied on them once, excellent nick. They are really nice skis, so why sell? Well, the description in the review is accurate "Smooth and forgiving" - that means they aren't as good as my Salomon's when it comes to the steeper stuff or ice (to be fair, nothing seems to match my Streetracers across ice) so very much an intermediate ski. PM me if interested.

[hatler]

Four days in Flaine. It was dumping when we arrived (and had been dumping all the previous day).  Oodles of snow (but still lots more needed to secure a full season).

The only shame was that the sun came out on Sunday and so the place was heaving, and all the accessible fresh stuff was pretty much skied out by the end of the day.

Hired a guide on Monday and went for a bit of ski-touring. We did one run that the guide said in his 43 years in Flaine (!!) he has only been able to do about ten times. Big smiles all round.

[Pingu]

We had a cold week in St Anton with temperatures down to -18 deg C, though it did warm up considerably on the last two days. it was snowing when we arrived and some more fell during the first three days of skiing. After that it was wall to wall sunshine. Lots of skiing done (including some comedy off-pisting) and some germknoedel and Maisel's Weisse consumed. The return flight was enlivened by the pilots' entertaining commentary 

Here's a map of tracks:


2017 St Anton by The Pingus, on Flickr

And a pic of Mrs P not comedy off-pisting:


IMG_8178_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

And germknoedel:


Germknödel by The Pingus, on Flickr

More pics here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskMoymHq

[Torslanda]

Is that sweet or savoury?


...and is it as nice as it looks?

[Pingu]

Is that sweet or savoury?


...and is it as nice as it looks?

Poppy seeds & custard on a yeast dumpling filled with plum jam. Mrs P likes them.

[Greenbank]

Here's a map of tracks:[/color]

Nice. I spot a Zurser-Taeli in there. [EDIT - no there isn't. My mistake]. But that's one of my favourite ever runs, ever.

[EDIT - looked at photos - and the slide to the toilets at the Hospiz Alm. Love that place.]

I had 4 days in St.Anton in early Jan with Mrs GB and a load of friends - no children - such apres ski - many hangover. First day just a half day (due to morning arrival) sunny up at Rendl, snow day 2 and some nasty blizzard conditions up at Galzig, 3rd day still cloudy but a glorious final day (where we nipped over to Zurs on the new Flexenbahn - including a comedy 200m uphill trudge as the second stage of the Trittkopfbahn wasn't running). -24 deg C at Alpe Rauz but got away with just a t-shirt and my jacket (without the inner liner).

My tracks on Strava:-

Jan 3rd: https://www.strava.com/activities/824878749
Jan 4th: https://www.strava.com/activities/824878819
Jan 5th: https://www.strava.com/activities/824878922
Jan 6th: https://www.strava.com/activities/824878857

Not much distance covered on this trip, mostly as it was a big group (16 people) and a fair mix of abilities. I also skied with MrsGB a fair bit on mostly blues. 36km on day 4 is a long way off my best in a day (89.6km: https://www.strava.com/activities/163216982). My lack of fitness didn't help, my thighs were in agony by 3pm most days!

5 days in Font Romeu coming up at half term (on the cheap), this time with MiniGB so she'll be getting her second dose of lessons. Can't wait.

[Pingu]

...including a comedy 200m uphill trudge as the second stage of the Trittkopfbahn wasn't running)...

That was the cause of our comedy off-pisting. We decided to forgo the trudge because a ski route was posted just outside the exit of the middle station. That was the only ski route marker we saw and it was much fun until we found the red run down to Zurs.

[Greenbank]

Good snow in the Pyrenees. I'll be on the slopes in 6 days...

Can. Not. Wait.

[αdαmsκι]

I'm just back from the school ski trip to Torgon, Switzerland, which is right on the edge of the Portes du Soleil resort.  The trip out on a 87 seater coach full to capacity after missing our planned ferry and going via Luxembourg and Basel took 24 hours, which in SI Units is 1 Forever. The road from the Rhône Valley up to Torgon is narrow, twisty and probably a great cycle route. In a coach it involved a lot of Austin Powers style driving and a rest to allow the engine to cool down.

We arrived just after a decent dump of snow, and there were still snow specks falling on Friday evening. That was the last of the snow we saw as it was bright sunshine and blue skies for our six days of skiing and it was unseasonally warm - it felt like it could be April.  This meant the snow was quickly melting and there was a lot of slush, not helped by the low level of the resort. Torgon is at 1,200m and our maximum elevation during the week was just over ~2,000m. A drop in temperature and more snow is now needed.

The infrastructure around Torgon, Châtel and La Chapelle d'Abondance is old and slow, with a lot of drag lifts and slow 2 or 3 man chair lifts. A number of the runs were essentially links from one part of the resort to another and the skiing in parts felt disjointed, but the target was getting the kids onto skis rather than allowing me to ski 40+ km a day.  In that respect it was a success, and despite being Feb. half term it wasn't busy.

This is what I managed to ski over the six days: click for google map. Not the most skiing ever done, however I spent less than £75 on six days of skiing .

Pippa and I are planning an Easter ski trip, but we'll book that closer to the time when we've got an idea of what the snow is like.





https://flic.kr/p/S9nicm


https://flic.kr/p/ScXV6P



https://flic.kr/p/QXZia6


https://flic.kr/p/RYnrRw

[Ham]

This is what I managed to ski over the six days: click for google map.

Just been looking at the map ... that looks like a fun peak

[hatler]

There's a lovely chap in Torgon (or at least, there was) who ran Torgon Excursions (a coach operator) which I used to use to run transfers. I never did make it up there to ski though. Looks like fun.

[αdαmsκι]

And germknoedel:


Germknödel by The Pingus, on Flickr

We have just booked a deal to Saint Anton for the first week of April on the basis of this photo.

[Mrs Pingu]

And germknoedel:


Germknödel by The Pingus, on Flickr

We have just booked a deal to Saint Anton for the first week of April on the basis of this photo.

Would you like my list of the scale of germknödel?

[αdαmsκι]

There's a scale of germknödel?!

[Mrs Pingu]

So the photo linked to above (with Pingu) is from the Bifang Alm just above the bottom of the Rendle. It is joint first place germknödel. All the other food is good too. Also recommended are the käsespatsle and the Tiroler Gerostle
Käsespatsle by The Pingus, on Flickr
Tiroler Geröstle by The Pingus, on Flickr

Also 1st place is this one from the self service Albona restaurant.
Today's germknödel by The Pingus, on Flickr

Last place is this one at the Rodel-Alm above the Nasserein. It's not a proper germknödel cos it's got blueberry sauce in it instead of powidl. However the other stuff on the menu is good.
Mmm germknödel by The Pingus, on Flickr

You must also go to the Hospitz-Alm in St Christophe and use the slide to the lavs (video)
VID_20170120_121245 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[αdαmsκι]

You must also go to the Hospitz-Alm in St Christophe and use the slide to the lavs (video)
VID_20170120_121245 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Brilliant

[αdαmsκι]

So the photo linked to above (with Pingu) is from the Bifang Alm just above the bottom of the Rendle. It is joint first place germknödel. All the other food is good too. Also recommended are the käsespatsle and the Tiroler Gerostle

They've run out of käsespatsle  . Tiroler Gerostle it is for Pippa then.

[Pingu]

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=78430.0 

[αdαmsκι]

https://flic.kr/p/SiB8XL