Snow for the Euros.

[freak]

its called skiing once you put your skis on your backpack.

freak~[&]

[Orash111]

Come on people, is nobody skiing? I have met xyz, he is nice, help him out.

I wish I was. Too much work finishing this damn PhD and bad luck being gone on the weekends when we get good weather.

Though as soon as I saw this photo I knew where you had gone this weekend. If only I had been in the alps this weekend, I would have been up there to and met you.

My buddy Marc went and snowboarded the face that same day (sunday). He was the guy I did the eiger with in dream conditions.

http://www.camptocamp.org/outings/43...spitze-face-ne

I am hoping it will get plastered with some snow this week and clear up this weekend so I can give it a go, but it is looking grim.

[klar]

too bad you couldn't make it! would be fun to meet up some time. we saw your friend of course, he was with another skier. they were quite a bit faster than us, we had various issues. they skied down the glacier and got down really far on snow, that seems the way to go. we avoided the stupid ridge walk from the hut but had to walk a bit further. the face is in ok condition but some new snow would help. i skipped the top third because there was not enough snow for my tastes. it would ski fine though. (i would have skied but didn't want to climb.) lower part was really good but there are some runnels that will only get worse. let me know if you want high resolution pictures of the face.

edit: I just read the camp to camp post. Looks like their route down the couloirs by the glacier might not go much longer. We skied directly from the hut, traversing a fairly steep SE facing slope and slipping through a rockband into the bowl below the approach ridge. that should be possible for a while, although you might have to take skis/board off at the rockband soon.

[Orash111]

^^^ They were really fast to climb the part after the bershrund in just 1.5 hrs. I'd probably have climbed to the summit, just because I'd not want to put my board on in the middle of the face (snowboards are hell to get on in the middle of a steep face).

[rrmiller]

Well, the days are getting shorter, so it's time to start thinking about skiing.
Here are some highlights from Nendaz last season.

[verbier51]

Verbier will officially open the Mt-Fort to ski this coming weekend! 13-14 July

[geo039]

What is the schedule for the rest of the summer? Park?

Verbier will officially open the Mt-Fort to ski this coming weekend! 13-14 July

[geo039]

I guess what is cooler is that the bike park will stay open to late October!

What is the schedule for the rest of the summer? Park?

[Xplorer]

Here is some edit from the Euro season 2013:

[klar]

hyvä video!!

I was in Val Senales on tuesday to check some instruments and brought skis, turned out to be a reasonable tradeoff of carrying and being able to move more easily higher up.

[Marius]

sfte-thread on page 3? seems like winter's over.

cant deny that for myself. some summer impressions from work:






break from studying


this should be count as leisure time




oh, and btw: gresat skis with great prices to be found on geo's and simens presale at http://www.downskis.com/
so excited about the Carbon 3 (just imagine, one can eat now 700gramms more each morning because of the weight saving! )

("4 days left until our Annual Pre-Sale!

So Sunday usually is the day of rest, but we here at DOWN never rest in our mission to deliver more value to our skiers. Today our post is about price...plain and simple. (see our previous posts on how DOWN saves you $$$).

Below are the official prices for our 13/14 pre-sale. As noted these are a once a year pricing and like last year we expect to sell out the whole line-up again. Again, like last year returning customers get 10% off the already great pre-sale prices!

13/14 Pre-sales Prices:
NEW: CountDown Carbon 0: 379E
Updated: CountDown Carbon 1 Carbon: 379E
Updated: CountDown Carbon 2: 349E
Updated: CountDown 3 Original 299E
NEW: CountDown Carbon 3: 359E
Updated: CountDown Carbon 4: 329E
Updated: CountDown 5: 309E
Updated: CountDown Carbon 6: 339E
NEW: CountDown Carbon 7: 349E

Flat rate shipping: 10E (In mainland Europe)

Delivery time: Shipped before December 1st (and we will work hard to make that deliver date earlier!)

*Quantities are limited so we may sell out of specific models before the end if the pre-sale.

So all that being said we are here to answer any questions you have about DOWN. Contact us anytime.

GET MORE, GET SMART, GET DOWN!
-G
Founder, DOWN FREE Sarl (CH)")

[cramp]

[QUOTE=Marius;4034150]sfte-thread on page 3? seems like winter's over.

cant deny that for myself. some summer impressions from work:


@hi Marius,

seems you have quite a nice job for this summer. Did you shepherding this crowd all over the alps?

Concerning these Downskis i am pretty much tempted. At least i didnt buy any skis for the last 3 years ...
Do you have any beta on the Countdown Carbon 4?

[Orash111]

A question for you euros who have been in the alps way longer than me.

I've been here for 4 seasons, but was thinking of doing next season in BC. Resorts are more crowded, but it snows tons, there are a lot of pillows, and touring is much less crowded there, which I hope to do a lot of.

But I am torn if I should do another alps season, cause if it is good here, it is the best place to be with the lift service, no closed backcountry policy and the vastness of it all.

Compared to the last 2 winters we had in the western alps, how is an average winter, and how likely is it that we will get a crappy winter?

Thanks for any advice in advance!
Arash

[Alkares]

In my experience, in the pnw/bc area, even a bad season is at least on par with an average season in the alps, and a good season blows the alps out of the water in terms of snowfall.
The thing you have to consider when thinking about seasons out west is the length of the season and the amount of snowfall during it. Seasons generally start earlier over there, sometimes they are ready to open beginning to mid nov, and go through mid april at least. Also it stays "wintery" much longer there, and isnt so prone to the crazy march warmups that I've seen happen here in the alps.

The terrain and access in the alps is definitely amazing, and is generally way easier to get to. In the pnw and especially in bc you will drive for hours to get to where you want to go, and touring approaches are generally longer. Overall the area in the north cascades is simply way more remote than anything in the alps, but that also means you will find areas much less spoiled, and less crowded for that matter...

But if you leave to NA, whos gonna post more Eiger stoke?

[Marius]

seems you have quite a nice job for this summer. Did you shepherding this crowd all over the alps?

jep (2guides for this group )

Concerning these Downskis i am pretty much tempted. At least i didnt buy any skis for the last 3 years ...
Do you have any beta on the Countdown Carbon 4?

see here.
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ight=countdown
some others might have some opinions, too.
didnt ski them the last season cause the CD3 was fine for the small austrian skitours i did.

[Marius]

more summer stuff


more pics here

[McDee]

Order placed for some tasty cd3 carbons oooohhh can't wait for winter

[rrmiller]

Goin' back to Nendaz next season....WOOT!

Nendaz Snow Report

[Orash111]

In my experience, in the pnw/bc area, even a bad season is at least on par with an average season in the alps, and a good season blows the alps out of the water in terms of snowfall.

...

But if you leave to NA, whos gonna post more Eiger stoke?

Tough choices yes. Looking like I may just spend Jan to March in the alps again though, cause I likely don't have anyone I know already in BC, I know way more people in the alps and I still have a car here for travel.

Hoping it snows a lot still otherwise I'll have to start doing more alpine climbing.

[BerettaRacer]

Boss hasn't told us where we'll be stationed for the winter yet, should know in next few weeks. Right now just got back into SanRemo Italy for some maintenance, but Barcelona is being talked about along with going back to US for long term.

This is my summer gig, humping this beast around Euro and N.A.

[davidof]

Some fresh up top after the weekend cooldown and storms for anyone motivated

[ChowdahRidah]

Is it too early for London Mag beers????

[Hugh Conway]

The terrain and access in the alps is definitely amazing, and is generally way easier to get to. In the pnw and especially in bc you will drive for hours to get to where you want to go, and touring approaches are generally longer. Overall the area in the north cascades is simply way more remote than anything in the alps, but that also means you will find areas much less spoiled, and less crowded for that matter...

The Alps have the most accessible great terrain on earth, the combo of road/rail/lift infrastructure is unmatched and the variety of options that are available to you for everything ski related isn't approached anywhere else. Except sheer volume of snow.

The Cascades (at least the WA ones) have great terrain, but crappy access - next to none above treeline, particularly in mid winter particularly if coming from the west. Getting to the east from the west is half a day, or more. Which means decent access spots are crowded. Somewhat similar in my limited experience in BC as well (at least Vancouver area). Popular spots can be as crowded as I found in the Alps - at the same times (weekends). There aren't many ski areas relative to the population so they are crowded. On the flipside if you've days, and the motivation to drag a tent and camp, you can disappear in a way you can't in the Alps. But - in midwinter - you don't have nearly the variety of places to chose from for quick touring, unless you invest in a sled and all that entails (or like to devour 4-10 mile shitty forest road approachs).

Yes, there's can be early starts to PNW/BC snow (or not) but it's often an access issue to get to the snow (same with the tailend of the season, look at the leghumping on regional boards for road openings). Differences in terrain also mean a fair bit more base is necessary. You certainly can get dry spells in the winter (not as long), and there's the even worse Pineapple Express which can decimate the snowpack.

Guess it's always a grass is greener thing; BC is also a huge place.

[Ripzalot]

the turn is here!



pic courtesy of wepowder

[Mike Pow]

Yabbadabbado