11: Drugs, Speed Snowboarding and Ski Boots

In Episode 55 Jim and Iain chat to UK slalom skier Laurie Taylor and ski journalist Megan Hughes about how to get into the industry. There’s an update from Andermatt, news on the end of lockdown in Zermatt and we find out more about this autumn’s possible London ski show. We finish off with Dave (Burrows) and Jim debating what makes the perfect ski run – have a listen and let us know if you agree. Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code Save money on your ski hire by using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ at intersportrent.com, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied at the checkout. Show Notes Jim has been mountain biking and hiking in La Clusaz Lars updates us from Andermatt, where he works at the Radisson Blu hotel Iain interviewed Lars about the history of Andermatt in Episode 52 This photo shows how Zermatt looks almost ‘normal The Portes du Soleil offered a limited number of season passes at half-price The website for this autumn’s London Ski Show is now live and is scheduled for The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead in late-Sep Megan Hughes is Social & Digital Content Manager at InTheSnow.com Laurie Taylor scored his first World Cup points at Kitzbuhel You can view Laurie’s YouTube channel here. ‘What makes the perfect ski run?’ – let us know what you think  Jim and Dave recorded this in Anzere, previously featured in Episode 49 and also the location for our Avalanche Special Thanks to Ster, Mike Pow and Primrose&Blue for your reviews on Snowheads Coming Up Keep tuned to our Facebook page for details of our oncoming Live Q&A with Graham Bell.

2 Jun 20201h

We would like to thank Switzerland Tourism for their continued support Find out more about the Escape to Valais challenge here The recent industry survey by Skipedia had some worrying results On a more positive note Chamonix is preparing to open lifts from May 16 And there is already skiing in Austria Iain interviewed Steve Cross, responsible for creating the super-viral 'garden chairlift'  Thanks to Pablo Rodriguez and Leon Rossi for their reviews via our Facebook page and Mike for his via Snowheads Pedro Davidenko didn't agree, but 93% of our iTunes reviews are 4* or 5* - why not have your say and give us a review or send us some feedback Thanks Andrew for your question about gay ski weeks. We'll put this on the list for next season Dave Ryding is the UK's top Alpine skier with two World Cup podium finishes and four Olympics under his belt already

13 Mai 20201h 6min

This week Jim and Iain go searching for good news in our post-COVID world find out about Aspen's cocaine problem and how Timberline is on the up. There's interviews with Alex from Courchevel and Mark from Disability Snowsport UK and we discover yet another Ski Club of Great Britain CEO has resigned.  Show Notes In Alpe d’Huez, they are using ESF uniforms to make facemasks for frontline staff More face masks has being made in ski as businesses pivot their production Find out more about the Goggles for Docs project Mt Baldy opened for skiing last week, with social distancing in place Just in case you haven’t seen the homemade ski lift in a garden yet Zermatt has been projecting onto the Matterhorn to show their solidarity Zermatt has also been in the news for other reasons The CEO of the Ski Club CEO has resigned. Listen to our look at their travils in Episode 44 Jason Auslander tells us about the cocaine problem in Aspen You can listen to our interview with Jason about ski thief Derek Johnson in Episode 52 We first covered the problems in Timberline in Episode 38 Our competition winner is GJ Harvey Pablo Rodriguez asked about Scotland, where Iain hopes to ski next winter and Spain (we mentioned Baqueira in Episode 49) Jim interviewed Mark from Disability Snowsport UK Iain interviewed Alex Irwin about his ‘150 days of Winter’ project Thanks for all the reviews from Daniel King, Paul Gilpin and Leon, as well as ‘wsirhc’ on Snowheads  with the rest of the world  In the meantime, Dick Yates Smith has a different Covid message: An exclusive interview with Dave Ryding – we’ll be finding out about life behind the scenes and how his barrista training is going!

27 Apr 202058min

Jim, Iain and group of ski and podcast fans gathered on Friday 10 April to record a live episode of The Ski Podcast online.  Topics ranged from what do Jim and Iain actually do to what are the Alps like in the summer?  Throughout the podcast, listeners post questions to the duo via the Facebook stream or joined them live in the virtual studio.  You can watch the full Facebook Live video on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/theskipodcast

13 Apr 20201h 2min

On Friday the 10th of April at 11 am BST we are going to be live on our Facebook page answering your questions in an ask Jim or Iain anything Q&A session. If you would like to put a question to Jim &/or Iain, you can email jim@theskipodcast.com before the show, or you can ask us in the live stream comments or request to put your question to us live by joining us in the virtual studio. Join the FB event for a reminder https://www.facebook.com/events/2996209590457404/

7 Apr 20201min

This week Jim and Iain interview Graham Bell about what inspired him to take on the famous 'Hausenkamm' ski run. Iain finds out about the world's most prolific ski thief in Aspen, as well as the rise and fall and rise of Andermatt.  There's our ski book group chat about 'Aiming High' and travel advice from Dave Froome about that pesky thing called COVID-19. The Ski Podcast would like to thank Switzerland Tourism for their support. Show Notes Ski Sunday presenter Graham Bell recently filmed his ‘Hausenkamm’ demo run…in his own house! Would you buy this Lego snowgroomer? You might get the chance soon. We first covered this in Episode 40. Many thanks to Jason Auslander from The Aspen Times for sharing his time to tell us about notorious ski thief Derek Johnson Jim and Iain wish to confirm that we have never been involved in any ‘dodgy dealing’ during seasons in ski resorts. Thanks to Doug and Christian for their kind words Thanks also to everyone for our new reviews on iTunes… Don’t forget if you leave a review before 15 April then we will put you in the draw to win all this stash Iain interviewed Lars Werner from the Radisson Blu in Andermatt about the history of the Swiss resort Jim and Iain have been reading ‘Aiming High: The Life of Ski and Travel Pioneer Erna Low’ by Mark Frary You can listen to our interview with Mark in Episode 51 Dave Froome from specialist agent ifyouski.com gives his advice about claiming for refunds on cancelled holidays easyJet might not be flying now, but you can book your 2020/21 flights now Friend of the show Alex Irwin is based in Courchevel 1850 Ed Mannix runs Matterhorn Chalets in Zermatt

3 Apr 20201h 11min

This Ski Podcast Special episode covers avalanche safety in detail as we look into all you need to know to make us safer on the mountain.  Dave Burrows from SnowPros Ski School talks about snow layers; teaches Jim how to use a transceiver properly; and looks at the different types of avalanches you could encounter. Caroline Elliot, an experienced snow patroller talks about working with her Search and Rescue dog, Fjord, who is trained to find people buried in an avalanche.

31 Mar 202054min

This week your hosts Jim and Iain are joined live by Rob Stewart - organiser of the UK's proposed new Ski Show. There's no elephant in the room as we start off with a deep-dive into the devastating impact the Coronavirus has had on the ski industry. Dave Burrows joins us with some avalanche advice, we interview the author of 'Aiming High' and you can win some stuff by giving us a review.  The Ski Podcast would like to thank Switzerland Tourism for their support. SHOW NOTES The big news: yes, we are on the 7 Best Ski Podcasts list by Rad Season Did you hear about this thing called the Coronovirus? We discuss its impact on the ski industry, last week, right now and in the future In more cheery news the Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Festival and Magazine have both been cancelled But the positive news is that a new ski show is planned, to be held at The Ski Centre in Hemel Hempstead in September Iain enjoyed his last runs of the season in Arosa and Andermatt in Switzerland Jim goes into a hole with Dave Burrows in our Avalanche Feature Watch out for our one-off Avalanche special coming out soon Thanks to Pat MacInnes for your 5-star review Would you like to win all these goodies? Simply give us a review on iTunes to be included in the draw Jim and Iain are reading ‘Aiming High‘ the biography of Erna Low in Ski Book Group Iain interviewed Mark Frary, author of the book Coming up in Episode 52… The World’s Most Prolific Ski Thief The Rise and Fall and Rise of Andermatt Iain and Jim review ‘Aiming High’

20 Mar 20201h 1min