234: Courmayeur, Ruanua Skiwear, Whitestorm Rental & Dave Ryding interview

We finding out about driving to the Alps in an electric vehicle, discuss Courmayeur in Italy, plus we have an entrepreneur focus talking to the founders of two snowsports companies.

We also have our regular snow reports, your feedback, news on more World Cup wins for Team GB plus an update from Dave Ryding ahead of the World Champs in Saalbach.

Iain was joined by Erin Flynn, founder of the clothing company Ruanua and Simon Hooper, founder of Whitestorm, the ski hire company in Courchevel and Meribel.

Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code
Don’t forget that if you want to help The Ski Podcast and save yourself some money this winter…all you need to do is to use the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ when you book your ski hire at intersportrent.com.

That applies to any ski hire booked in their massive network across France, Austria and Switzerland – that’s hundreds of resorts. You’ll get a guaranteed additional discount, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied.

SHOW NOTES

Iain was in Les 2 Alpes in April 2024 (1:30)
Catherine Murphy reported on the new Jandri 3S lift in Episode 232 (2:30)
Iain reported on snow conditions in Chamonix last weekend (4:30)
Before that he was skiing in Courmayeur, Italy (5:00)
Mike Richards reported from Erciyes in Turkey (5:30)
Floss Cockle reported from Tignes (6:45)
Mia Brookes won the Slopestyle at the Laax Open (8:00)
Jasmin Taylor took a gold and silver in the Telemark World Cup (8:45)
Dave Ryding was talking about the World Champs coming up in Saalbach (9:00)
Regular listeners may recall I took the Flight Free UK pledge in 2024
Iain is taking the Flight Free Pledge again in 2025 (12:15)
Iain founded Ski Flight Free in 2019 (12:00)
Iain drove a BMW iX M60 electric vehicle to Courmayeur and Chamonix (13:00)
For charging, Iain used the Ionity network all the way (15:00)
For more advice on EVs in the Alps there’s an excellent page on SNO.co.uk website (16:00)
Ruanua is a new resortwear brand (18:00)
Erin worked as a ski instructor in Saalbach (19:30)
Ruanua uses stock fabric which is already made and unused (22:45)
Garments are made PFC-free with RDS certified Down (24:45)
Ruanua launched in autumn 2024 (27:00)
Simon founded Whitestorm in 2012 in Courchevel 1850 (30:00)
He now employs 21 staff (33:00)
The trend to ski rental as baggage fees have increased (34:45)
Iain reported on the new Courchevel Saulire cable car in Episode 229 (36:30)
Watch Iain’s video about the Skyway Monte Bianco lift in Courmayeur (37:00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V055PF5enZA
Join The Ski Podcast WhatsApp channel (41:00)

Feedback

I enjoy all feedback about the show, I’m always interested to hear what you think, so please do contact me on social @theskipodcast or by email theskipodcast@gmail.com

Jack Kelly: "Love the show!"

Kosta: "The equipment specials have been very good this year and Al communicates the nuances of design very well. The interviews also have been interesting and have shown the work that happens behind most people’s one week holiday. Keep up the good work"

Helen Keast (Spotify): "Really enjoyed Episode 232 with Mark Smith”

There are now 244 episodes of The Ski Podcast to catch up. There is so much to listen to in our previous episodes, just go to theskipodcast.com and search around the tags and categories: you’re bound to find something of interest.

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You can follow Iain @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast