The Best Ski Helmets & Goggles of Winter 2024 (plus what MIPS & VLT means)

Welcome to this special 'Good News' episode of The Ski Podcast. Regular listeners will know that in our 'normal' episodes we cover the latest travel rules and so it is absolutely a pleasure to report on some good news for a change. I know it's been possible to travel to Switzerland, Austria, Italy and other ski nations - albeit with various restrictions - but more British skiers travel to France every winter than any other country and for that reason the travel ban that's been in place since December 18th has been hugely depressing. It affected many family ski holidays (let alone family reunions that would have taken place) over Christmas and New Year and businesses as diverse as large tour operators to cafes, restaurants and even individual ski instructors. But here's the good news - the travel ban will be lifted on Friday 14 January. You'll have to pass through the now usual hoops of vaccination and testing, but French ski holidays are now back on. https://twitter.com/skipedia/status/1481553508063141891 Was there ever any justification for the ban in the first place? Probably about as much as when the UK created the 'Amber+' category for France last summer. Undoubted 'tit for tat' policking, but from this weekend, it's over and let's hope it stays that way to the end of the season. And here's your bonus good news - it may not mean as much to you as it does to me, but I'm so pleased to let you know that The Ski Podcast has been nominated for 'Best Wintersports Podcast' in The Sports Podcast Awards. The Ski Podcast has grown to become my full-time, part-time job and, quite frankly, got me through last winter when we couldn't ski at all. My mental health was a mess, but the podcast kept me, more than anything, connected, in a winter that never happened. There's now 134 episodes available and I love the fact that around 100 get listened to every week, all around the world. I'd like to sign off this good news special by asking that if you've enjoyed listening to The Ski Podcast, whether it's just this episode or since we first started over four years ago, that you consider voting for us in the Sports Podcast Awards. It's very easy and only takes a minute: simply to go sportspodcastawards.com, register, go to the 'Best Wintersports Podcast' in the Categories, click the 'Vote for your favourite' button and vote for 'The Ski Podcast'. Thank you so much, I really do appreciate it.  Our next regular episode will be out on 24 January, so until then, thank you for your time and goodbye. -----   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.

13 Jan 20223min

In Episode 86 of The Ski Podcast we discuss when the French travel ban might end, favourite apres-ski bands, Team GB’s prospects for Beijing 2022 and we go inside a ski factory.  Iain was joined by Richard Lett from ApresSkiBands and regular guest and Olympian Emily Sarsfield.   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 The next announcement from the French government is due on 05 January Steve Angus is a private ski instructor based in Val d’Isere. Find him on social at @SteveAngusSnow For access to Austria, you now need to be triple-vaccinated with a PCR test within 48 hours Some holidaymakers were denied entry at Innsbruck airport due to the new rules on PCR tests  Italy will require a ‘Super Green Pass’ from 10 January for access to many areas/services   You can listen to snow reports from all of the following in our special episode https://audioboom.com/posts/8005740-latest-snow-news-from-the-alps-31-dec-21 This episode features: Simon Burgess - Saas Fee, Switzerland Dave Burrows - Villars, Switzerland Andy Butterworth – St Anton, Austria Keith Webb - Kaprun, Austria Alex – Les 2 Alpes, France Steve – Val d’isere, France Betony - Chamonix, France Alex – Courchevel, France Find out more about Apres Ski Bands on their website Iain’s favourite Alpine band was Superfly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sJ3MDPITQI Dan Gillespie Sells was lead singer of Superfly and wrote the hit musical ‘Everyone’s Talking About Jamie’ Emily’s favourite Alpine band was ‘Bring Your Sisters’ Rich’s tips of bands to watch out for this winter includes Coco and the Butterfields; The Dominos and The Trends  Emily’s Top 3 Tips for Medals at Beijing: Charlotte Bankes, Izzy Atkin, Kirsty Muir Kirsty Muir took at 7th at the Dew Tour   Listen to Iain’s interview with Izzy and Zoe Atkin: https://audioboom.com/posts/7980266-izzy-zoe-atkin-freestyle-skiers-bonus-episode-22 Ollie Davies is competing in Skier Cross Katie Ormerod has a great chance in the Snowboard Big Air Zoe Atkin picked up 6th place in Calgary in the Skier Halfpipe https://twitter.com/GBSnowsport/status/1477564363955396608 Andrew Musgrave took a superb 4th at the weekend  You can listen to Iain’s interview with Andrew Musgrave and Andrew Young here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7995551-andrew-musgrave-andrew-young-cross-country-skiers-bonus-episode-23 Laurie Taylor took his best ever World Cup result of 25th last week Reece Bell is Martin Bell’s daughter and Graham Bell’s niece and finished 43rd in her first ever World Cup Ski Sunday starts on…Sunday 02 January Jamie Barrow is attempting to beat the snowboard speed record  Jamie previously told us about his trip to North Korea a long time ago in Episode 6 He also told us about his snowboard speed record in Episode 49 Most Intersport stores have a BootDoc in the shop (watch this video) Rob Rees reported from the Stöckli ski factory near Lucerne Emily skied on Stöckli at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics    Reviews UnboundedContext: "Definitely the best ski & snowboard podcast i've come across"   The Snowboard Instructor Podcast: "Such a great podcast to listen to"   Ben Davies: “I just found your podcast. I was a part of the UK ski and snowboard industry back in the late 1990's early 2000's (iglu.com, St Anton, Mottaret, never summer snowboards) & your chat with Tony McWilliam reminded me of those times.  Thanks for the memories and your hard work, it's great to listen to the UK perspective from here in BC. Still in the ski industry, now ski patrolling (12 years!) and managing a small hotel in the middle of some of the best skiing in the world.”  Thanks to Simon Edgington for buying me a coffee. Don't forget you can always buy me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/theskipodcast. All cuppas are much appreciated.  I also enjoy all feedback about the show, so please do email to theskipodcast@gmail.com  Don’t forget that we have 132 episodes of TSP and 88 were listened to in the last week. You can listen on your smart speaker (try ‘Play The Ski Podcast’) or Spotify (where you can rate us now as well).  And we are listened to around the world, so if you’re one of listeners in Latvia, Barbados, Iceland or Singapore then thank you for joining us.

3 Jan 202257min

Our last podcast of 2021 is a snow report special. Our contributors bring you the latest snow and resort news from across the Alps.  This is our 37th episode of 2021 and our 132nd overall – make sure you never miss an episode by subscribing now.  Thanks to Switzerland Tourism for sponsoring The Ski Podcast – we couldn’t produce our podcasts without their support. SHOW NOTES Simon Burgess reported from the Saas valley in Switzerland Find out about the Magic Pass here Dave Burrows is from SnoPros Ski School, based in Switzerland Andy Butterworth owns Kaluma Ski and is based in St Anton, Austria Keith Webb was in Kaprun, Austria. Find out more about his apartments on Instagram Alex Armand runs Tip Top Ski Coaching in Les 2 Alpes, France Steve Angus is a private instructor in Val d’isere, France. Find him on social at @SteveAngusSnow Betony Garner was in Plaine Joux, France Alex Irwin is presenter of the YouTube channel 150 Days of Winter and is based in Courchevel, France

31 Dec 202118min

This episode is a 'Resorts' special: we're going to be looking at Crans Montana, Courchevel & Les Menuires, plus we discuss how to choose your hire skis and talk to more Olympians.   Iain's guests for this episode were journalist Katy Dartford and Alex Irwin, host of the YT channel 150 Days of Winter, as well as regulars Katie Crowe Battleface Travel Insurance and equipment expert Al Morgan from SkiKitInfo.  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 Switzerland has the best railways in the world according to Midnight Trains Try the Wham Walk! in Saas Fee France has introduced a travel ban on non-essential travel for UK citizens The lockdown in Austria ended on 12 December New entry rules for Austria – PCR required if no booster The ‘Pass Sanitaire’ is being checked in Les 3 Vallees https://twitter.com/skipedia/status/1471114320205467648 Check out Battleface for your travel insurance Andy Butterworth from Kaluma Travel reported from St Anton Stephen Speirs was in Alpe d’Huez Simon is using the Magic Pass and was in Leysin. Follow his travels on his website Katy was skiing powder in Crans Montana, where she tried out the trampolines at the Alaia Chalet Katy also reported on Crans for Euronews Jim reported on surfing at the Alaia Bay in Episode 76 Iain was in Crans Montana in December 2020 – Listen to his report in Episode 65 Iain travelled to Les Menuires by train https://www.facebook.com/skiflightfree/posts/673423427364768 Find out more about train travel at Ski Flight Free The new La Masse gondola is the fastest in France, taking just 8 minutes [Video] Iain stayed at ho36 in Les Menuires The highlight was ski touring at night to the Refuge du Lac du Lou https://twitter.com/skipedia/status/1471767336537538563 Iain was lucky enough to see the sunrise the following morning The Saulire cable car was damaged in testing in October https://twitter.com/skipedia/status/1446031205976186886  https://twitter.com/candidethovex/status/1313522412156325893 The new Ineos Club des Sports was paid for by UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe    The Eclipse is the new downhill run in Courchevel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkoDuADWKNQ There is a new beginners area in La Tania [Video]  Intersport Ski Hire offers ski hire in France, Austria and Switzerland  Alex and Al are fans of the original K2 Seth Pistol https://twitter.com/150dow/status/1470774894916947968   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFZjxGBounM  Charlotte Bankes took 1st in the Snowboard Cross at Montafon, Austria Katie Ormerod was 5th in the Big Air in Steamboat Dave Ryding finished 5th in the Slalom in Val d'Isère Andrew Young and James Clugnet came 6th in the team XC in Dresden Zoe Atkin was 8th in the Half Pipe at Copper Mountain Listen to our Bonus Episode with freestyle skiers and sisters Zoe and Izzy Atkin You can listen to our special interview with cross country skiers Andrew Young and Andrew Musgrave here Reviews    Robsski1: “My #1 podcast of 2021. Thank you for keeping me company on @Spotify all year long!"  https://twitter.com/theskipodcast/status/1467061118984142848 Pierre-Henri: “Again a great podcast.” Dave Moore: "Good fun and rapport" (in our Bonus Episode with the Andrews) Sam Woodhouse: "I'm enjoying The Ski Podcast very much!" Tom Hunter: “Great content" Gareth Harvey: "I’ve loved listening to the podcast for a number of years. Thank you for the podcast and for bringing the Magic Pass to my attention. Although I’m based in the UK, I have lots of meetings in Geneva. For some reason, these often turn into long weekends. Buying the Magic Pass has caused me to explore a lot of the smaller resorts I’d never have considered. You wouldn’t visit them for a week's holiday, but for a long w/e or even just a Saturday it’s great."  Andie Dalton: "I love your podcast, I’ve not long ago found it and I’m trying to get through them all but not listening to them in order which was probably a mistake. I always find a little gold nugget of information. Keep up the great work." Ruslan: "My name is Ruslan, born in Latvia living in UK. I’ve been an avid listener of the ski podcast for about 2 years since I first discovered it. I love the updates from resorts & it was awesome to get info on MTB in the summer as well"  Don't forget you can always buy me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/theskipodcast. All cuppas are much appreciated.  I also enjoy all feedback about the show, so please do email theskipodcast@gmail.com

20 Dec 202156min

A Ski Podcast Special: Andrew Musgrave & Andrew Young, Cross Country Skiers In this Ski Podcast Special, Iain spoke to Andrew Musgrave (‘Muzzie’) and Andrew Young (‘Youngie’). Both represent Great Britain at cross country skiing and will be heading to the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022 – their third Olympic games. 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 ·       Both learned the cross country skiing at the Huntly Nordic Ski Club in Scotland ·       Huntly has all weather cross country and roller ski tracks ·       Watch out for the reality show about these two British underdogs…if you speak Norwegian ·       Andrew Young fractured his fibula but was racing again in just four weeks ·       ‘Youngie’ has 4 World Cup podiums and ‘Muzzie’ has 3 podiums ·       Andrew Musgrave finished 7th in the 30km race at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics ·       Iain interviewed freestyle skiers Izzy and Zoe Atkin in this Ski Podcast Special Keep up with all the latest Beijing news by subscribing to The Ski Podcast and never miss an episode

12 Dec 202126min

In this episode, we cover all the latest rules about travel, we look at a new way of booking ski lessons and discuss how to get your kit ready for the season.  Iain was joined by Lucy Aspden, Online Ski Editor at The Telegraph and Nick Robinson, founder of Maison Sport, a portal for booking ski lessons, as well as regulars Katie Crowe from Battleface Travel Insurance and equipment expert Al Morgan from SkiKiIinfo.  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 Lucy was on the show a year ago in Episode 60  Austrian lockdown will be until 13 Dec at least Switzerland quarantine for UK passengers started on Sat 27 November and was reversed on Friday 03 December In France, all skiers need to show the Pass Sanitaire to use ski lifts, and the non-vaccinated must show daily negative Covid tests The Super Green Pass (meaning skiing would be restricted to only the vaccinated and recovered) in Italy has been deferred unless the situation worsens The UK has introduced a compulsory PCR test and quarantine onreturn to the UK as well as pre-return negative test requirement.  The definition of what 'fully vaccinated' means is changing by country (and the day) to as little as 7 months before a booster is required  Battleface offer specialised winter sports cover We had so many snow reports this week, we had to put them into a separate episode:  https://audioboom.com/posts/7991317-a-ski-podcast-special-latest-snow-news-from-around-the-alps Thanks to Charlie Rees (Diavolezza), Andy Butterworth (Kaluma Travel, St Anton), Steve Angus (Val d’Isere), Keith Webb (Kaprun), Dave Burrows (Glacier 3000) and Luca Caruso (Cervinia) Alex Armand runs Tip Top Ski Coaching in Les 2 Alpes Lucy has been live reporting on the travel changes for The Telegraph The situation re transit at Geneva airport ran and ran. Don’t forget to follow Skipedia on Twitter for real time updates on big issues such as this https://twitter.com/skipedia/status/1465943758235750400 Lucy interviewed the French Minister of State for Tourism ("Closing is not an option Nick is one of the founders of Maison Sport Maison Sport is offering a refundable deposit on bookings made for this winter Caroline Eliot was on the show in Episode 47 You can find out about her new book here The new London Ski & Snowboard Festival will take place from 27-30 October 2022 at Evolution Battersea Charlotte Bankes won silver in Snowboard Cross in China Jon-allan Butterworth took 3rd in the Para Snowboard event at Landgraaf You can listen to our interview with Jon-allan here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7948841-a-ski-podcast-special-jon-allan-butterworth-paralympic-snowboarder Don't forget you can always buy me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/theskipodcast. All cuppas are much appreciated. I also enjoy all feedback about the show, so please do email to theskipodcast@gmail.com

6 Dec 202159min

We had so many snow reports for this week’s podcast, rather than edit them down, we thought we’d release them as a one-off special.  We cover six resorts in four countries – so it’s time to get excited and hear about the great conditions out in the Alps right now. SHOW NOTES Charlie Rees reported from Diavolezza/Engadin in Switzerland https://twitter.com/theskipodcast/status/1467551739062673414 Dave Burrows from SnowPros Ski School was in Glacier 3000, Switzerland Andy Butterworth from Kaluma Travel is in St Anton, Austria https://twitter.com/theskipodcast/status/1467466717894959109 Keith Webb was reporting from Kaprun in Austria. Find out more about his apartments on Instagram Luca Caruso is  based in Cervinia, Italy Steve Angus is a ski instructor in Val d'Isère in France  We release regular episodes every two weeks, covering all aspects of the world of skiing and snowboarding, from resorts to racing, Ski Sunday to slush.  Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode of The Ski Podcast.

5 Dec 202117min

In this episode, we take a look at women’s skis and women’s skiing, plus Graham Bell tells us about his new ski training app. We look at the latest travel news and have snow reports from around the Alps. Iain was joined by ‘Ski Goddess’ Katie Dobson, Graham Bell and Sam Lynch, co-founders of the Perfect Turns app, as well as regular contributors Katie Crowe from Battleface Travel Insurance and equipment expert Al Morgan from SkiKitInfo 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 ·       Alex Hermann spoke about the Swisstainable project in Episode 72 ·       The Swiss flags were out in Chatel last winter ·       Graham interviewed the Gerken Schofield mogul skiers siblings for Ski Sunday ·       The good news is that no Covid pass will be required to ski in France ·       Usefully the NHS pass is now accepted throughout the EU ·       To be considered 'fully vaccinated' you will soon need a booster ·       Quarantine if you don’t have a booster on return to UK looks possible ·       Over 65s will require a booster for the Pass Sanitaire in France  ·       Austria has gone into lockdown until at least 12 December ·       You can buy travel insurance for this winter from Battleface Travel  ·       Val Thorens opened last weekend   https://twitter.com/3Vallees_france/status/1462714564731092995   ·       Dave Burrows, Ski Instructor Podcast and SnoPros Ski School reported from Glacier 3000 ·       Alex Armand, Tip Top Ski Coaching reported from Les 2 Alpes ·       Keith Webb reported from Kaprun. Find out more about apartments there on Instagram ·       Graham talked about his appearance on Dancing on Ice this time last year ·       You can listen to his thoughts on the Olympic experience in our special episode ·       Graham and Sam’s new app is called ‘Perfect Turns’ Katie Dobson from Ski Goddess made an impression at the National Snow Show in Birmingham https://www.facebook.com/skipedia/photos/a.4381176131932295/4381172021932706 ·       Ski Goddess is based in Chatel in the Portes du Soleil ·       Find out more about sophrology ·       And yes, you can practice sophrology with tree therapy too ·       Al Morgan from skikitinfo.com joined us to discuss women’s skis ·       Mia Brookes won the first snowboard slopestyle of the season at Landgraaf  ·       You can listen to Simon Burgess’ report from Landgraaft in Episode 82 ·       Dave Ryding won in his season’s racing debut this weekend in Sweden ·       Kirsty Muir recorded a 4th in the World Cup Slopestyle in Stubai  ·       Greg Rutherford is racing in Bobsleigh for Team GB this winter ·       If you’d like to win a copy of Billy Morgan’s auto/biography, please tag us on social saying you'd like to win the book, or drop me an email https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg9NoHj9TtI    Reviews  richb67 (Snowheads): "Started listening to these and enjoying them"  mikepow (Snowheads): "Another great listen"  sofatoslopes: "Want to get excited for the winter ahead: listen to The Ski Podcast. Gets me through some long bike rides"  Paul Findlay:"Thanks for the kids ski holiday travel advice and of course the continuing podcasts!”  Jonny Goldsborough: “Really enjoyed hearing Henry on the podcast. Getting excited for the season! (fingers crossed)” Nigel Winters: "Do love the show, only started listening just prior to lockdown, has been great to keep up with what is going on in the ski world, out in resorts, the travel restrictions, the interviews, and what’s new in equipment etc" Don't forget you can always buy me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/theskipodcast. All cuppas are much appreciated. I also enjoy all feedback about the show, so please do email  if you can give us a review on Apple Podcasts.  We also have a few stickers left, so if you'd like some for your skis, board, helmet or phone, pls drop us an email or contact us via social with your address.

22 Nov 202152min