206: Verbier, Saalbach & the impact of climate change on ski resorts

In the first of our special one-off podcasts, Iain interviews UK snowboarding pioneer Chris Moran. Winner of multiple titles at the Brits and cover-star of issue #1 of 'White Lines Magazine', Iain and Chris talk about the progression of snowboarding, the 'bad old days' of snowboarding and Britain's chances for medals at Beijing 2022.

20 Jan 202029min

In Episode 46, we learn how to ski on ice, find out more about the Folie Douce in Les Arcs and Jim meets our podcasting friends from the other side of the pond.   There's a Team GB update and we find out more about the 'bad old days' of snowboarding from industry veteran Chris Moran.  The Ski Podcast would like to thank Switzerland Tourism for their support. Show Notes  The Youth Olympic Games are taking place in Lausanne from 09-22 January 2020 Watch out for Kirsty Muir leading the way for Team GB – our hot tip for a medal Club Med have released another bullshit survey  Seriously, do you eat 2kg of cheese a day when you’re on ski holiday? Watch out for our stand-alone episode coming soon featuring an interview with snowboarding veteran Chris Moran, in which we discuss how he ended up on the cover of Issue 1 of White Lines Magazine, how pre-snowparks they had to dig their own half-pipes and more tales of the early days of British snowboarding Friend of the Show Dave Burrows is back with advice on ‘How to ski on ice’ You can listen to Dave’s (1 hour, 41 minute) interview with Simon Butler on ‘The Ski Instructor Podcast’  Jim teamed up with our podcasting friends across the Atlantic – the High Falutin SkiBums  Iain interviewed Arthur Reversade, manager of the newly opened Folie Douce in Les Arcs Sisters Zoe (1st Half Pipe World Cup, Copper Mountain) and Izzy Atkin (3rd Big Air World Cup, Atlanta) both picked up podiums for Team GB Thomas Gerken-Schofield finished 4th in dual moguls in China – Team GB’s best ever result in this event APNorthfields asked for an episode about avalanche safety, so watch out for this coming up in an episode soon Thanks to Mike Pow on Snowheads for his kind comments  Thanks to Switzerland Tourism for supporting The Ski Podcast Go to theskipodcast.com for timing codes

9 Jan 202055min

In Episode 45, Jim visits Villars while Iain tests the new funicular in Les Arcs. We discuss tips for driving on snow after Iain's experience in Val d'Isère and Jim checks his sweat rate.  There's a Team GB update and we up our shred content with an interview about White Lines Magazine.  The Ski Podcast would like to thank Switzerland Tourism for their support. https://audioboom.com/channels/4995750 Show Notes It’s virtual Christmas time on the pod…Jim has snow new Snowfeet from Iain, while Iain has a new copy of ‘Skiing with Demons’ from Jim We interviewed author Chris back in Episode 20  Jim has been slacklining to improve his balance  Iain tried #Snowga at ‘Yoga Week’ in Les Menuires in Episode 34  Graham Bell sells the ‘Skiers Edge’ in the UK  Jim visited Villars and Les Diablerets  He is using his 2019/20 Magic Pass, which we discussed previously in Episode 35  Iain and Jim swapped tips on driving in the snow Be careful out there  Iain recently visited Les Arcs to test out the new funicular  The new Folie Douce has opened in Arc 1800  https://www.facebook.com/skipedia/photos/a.178908528825764/2572542659462327/?type=3&theater  This is the statistically-impossible ‘bullshit survey’ Iain was referring to Ski A&E was on the W Channel from 09-20 December. It's being repeated in late-Dec and into January. You can listen to our interview with the producers in Episode 43 and Episode 44 Jim found out about the importance of staying hydrated with Precision Hydration You can get 15% off any of their products using the exclusive discount code ‘THESKIPODCAST’ Thanks to Jake Shap for his 5-star review on Apple Podcasts  Also to Ski Bro: “Regular ruminations on all things ski from the experts!”  Thanks also to the team at ‘Where Stags Roar’ for their update from Glencoe)  We interviewed Rod back in Episode 26 Thanks to Max Ellis for his comments via Instagram   Olympic medal winner Gus Kenworthy has joined Team GB You can listen to our interview with Charlotte Bankes (Episode 25) who also moved to Team GB, in this case from the French team  White Lines is bringing out its first print magazine for four years Iain spoke to Chris Moran, who featured on the cover of the first ever issue Chris Moran on Issue 1 This is the Ski Club faux pas at the KK with Mario Matt. Watch it 10:45 in. (Disclaimer - we get loads of stuff wrong too...!)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEFl2paZUVo

26 Dec 20191h

In this episode of the Ski, Podcast Jim has been to Val Thorens, Iain talks more about Ski A&E & Dave Burrows drops us a report from Verbier. There is an interview with Chemmy Alcott about getting back to skiing after having a baby, John give us an update on Timberline, we discuss our book club and more.   The Ski Podcast would like to thank Switzerland Tourism for their support.  https://audioboom.com/channels/4995750  Show Notes Exactly how do you pronounce ‘Gstaad’? Swiss Air and SBB are expanding their Flugzug programme There was no trip to Val Thorens, but hopefully Jim will be skiing soon Club Med and the ESF have agreed to open two new ski schools in China  We previously discussed the rise of skiing in China in Episode 36 Friend of the show Dave Burrows reports for us from Verbier Ski A&E starts on 09 December on the W Channel. You can also read Iain’s interview in print on InTheSnow.com We originally featured the story of Timberline in Episode 38 (our most listened to episode) SkiBro are offering surely everyone’s dream job…  https://youtu.be/si7s7UNXqJE  Sir Ranulph Fiennes spoke at the London Ski & Snowboard Festival Iain spoke to Chemmy Alcott about skiing again after giving birth Chemmy has previously appeared on the podcast in Episodes 24, 25 and Episode 42 Dave Moore contacted us:  “I loved the way you and Jim took the 2star in your stride. Great stuff Sure, as you say, you're not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and the tone with which you both seem to look forward to a bad review makes it all the better!” Thanks also to @APNorthfields for the Twitter mentions and enjoy the train out to the Alps Jim and Iain are still trying to find a new book for the pod’s ‘Ski Book Group’ Jim really enjoyed ‘Inner Skiing’ by W. Timothy Gallwey We interviewed the author of ‘Skiing With Demons’ in Episode 20 What’s going on with the Ski Club of Great Britain? They lost a lot of money and you can find out more about it here

4 Dec 201958min

In Episode 43 Jim gets his first turns of the season in Saas Fee, Iain finds out about the new TV program 'Ski A&E', filmed in Val Thorens last winter. Steve Angus reports in with the latest from Val d'Isère and we consider entering the World Fondue Championships. The Ski Podcast would like to thank Switzerland Tourism for their support. Jim looks out of his window to give us a snow report for La Clusaz Sign up for free snow alerts and resort reports at J2Ski.com Jim shocked by all the snow in La Clusaz Iain is on the alert for 'greenwashing' with his Ski Flight Free hat on Definitely not greenwash are the changes made by the Tschuggen hotel group in Arosa, Switzerland Did you make it to the World Fondue Championships? Jim (almost) travelled to Saas Fee Iain interviewed John Quinn and Sean Doherty, producers of 'Ski A&E' - a new TV series coming to British television in December Podcasting is becoming more and more popular Jim interviewed Reuben Krabbe about his Nebula project Steve Angus reports in with the latest news from Val d'Isère We had our first 2-star review on Apple Podcasts :-( On the plus side, there was some positive feedback too... Coming up in Episode 44 Interview with Hannah from Winterized Chemmy Alcott with advice on skiing again after childbirth Interview with the producers of the TV program 'Ski A&E' Feature on White Lines Magazine Thanks to Switzerland Tourism for their support of the podcast.

20 Nov 201954min

In Episode 42 Iain visits the London Ski & Snowboard Festival, while Jim checks out the Annecy 'equivalent' at the High Five Festival. There's interviews with Chemmy Alcott on racing weight, info on motorhomes, new lifts from Porsche and much more.  The Ski Podcast would like to thank Switzerland Tourism for their support. Show Notes We are delighted to announce our new partner: Switzerland Tourism There are new lifts by Porsche this winter in Gstaad and Arosa There is a Hublot lift in Zermatt Iain was at the London Ski & Snowboard Festival Sir Ranulph Fiennes was a bigger draw than Iain (who presented in the TalkZone about Ski Flight Free) Iain in the Talkzone Jim visited the High Five Festival in Annecy Iain interviewed Jamie Barrow at the London show about his record-breaking plans for 2020 We've previously interviewed Jamie a couple of times. You must listen to Episode 4, which covers his experiences in North Korea.  https://youtu.be/csoP8Didoi0  Iain spoke to Chemmy Alcott about the challenges for a professional skier in trying to hit 'racing weight'  You can listen to previous interviews with Chemmy in Episodes 24 and 25 Jim spoke with Hannah from Winterised, about motorhomes in ski resorts, a topic we covered in Episode 40 Frank Saffery kindly gave us this review (after listening to our feature on Japan in Episode 41) Having gone back and listened to all your backcasts. Also having lived my entire adult life in Japan it’s good to have some exposure here. Thanks to 'sdstarr' from across the pond in the States, who gave us this 5-star review on Apple Podcasts:  Michael Bury kindly send us this, also about Episode 41: Just sent the link to my son, Jack Bury he's off to Niseko for the season   We were also delighted to hear from Frankie at Inghams after Mike's comments on their Japan package:  It was really great to listen to your Japan expert though – fascinating! Do note that our trips to Japan are of variable durations, so they can be longer that a 7-nights should guests prefer. In our 'Ask Jim & Iain' feature we tackled the question 'How do I spot a good looking helmet?' Safety and fit is more important than how it looks, but there was a divide on whether sunnies should be worn with a helmet!   The 'punter gap' issue was more clear cut Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode You can also catch up with old episodes - in the last 30 days all 57 of our podcasts have been listened to, with over 30 people listening to Episode 1 Iain's favourite episode remains the feature on wolves in the Alps Thanks to all our listeners from around the world, including the Maldives, Japan, NZ and the USA ---- Coming up in Episode 43 - Part 2 of Jim's interview with Hannah from Winterised - Iain finds out about Laax, baby - Lots more…

6 Nov 201950min

In Episode 41 Iain finds out a women-only snowboard camp in Méribel, Jim talks to Mike about his adventures in Hakuba, Japan and we discuss why you should never ring a specialist travel agency if you're travelling on your own.  Show Notes Iain was at the winter edition of LISTEX We’ve chatted about Brexit in detail previously in Episode 8 and Episode 20 James Gambrill presented his research about UK consumers. You can view his slideshow with all the stats here The ‘Zuke’ was one of the products pitched in the LISTEX Dragon's Den Iain interviewed Corinne Matthews (‘Cozza’) about Ticket To Ride’s Womens’ Only Snowboarding Camp in Méribel This week’s ‘Ask Jim and Iain’ feature is a question about single travellers Neither of us recommend you ring a specialist ski travel agency Try Skiworld or Solos Holidays, or maybe join one of the Snowheads trips Hannah James enjoyed our feature in Episode 40 about motorhomes in ski resorts, especially as she’s done a lot of it herself. You can check out her blog at www.winterised.com and we’ll be interviewing her in a later episode. Jim interviewed Pod regular Mike Richards about Hakuba in Japan, which is now an Inghams destination Mike has previously been on the pod discussing skiing in Montenegro and Georgia  Frank Saffery asked on Facebook 'if you had some Japan features' – we did also cover Niseko in Episode 32 Danny Mayes asked if he could hear something about Andorra or the Pyrénées – we have featured the French Pyrénées in Episode 9 and Episode 33 and Iain is travelling to Cauterets in February Thanks to Zeid for his kind comments: "Thank you so much for creating this podcast" The London Ski Festival runs from 24-27 October Jim and Iain would love to read ‘My Story’ by Eddie the Eagle, but only if it’s less expensive than £100

9 Okt 201957min

In Episode 40 Jim goes summer skiing in Saas Fee, Iain finds out about the Warm Up Weekend in Val d'Isère, it's Ski Book Group time, plus we discuss motorhomes in ski resorts.

18 Sep 201953min