Doorstep Skis

Gender Labels on Skis Are Meaningless For a lot of gear, having male or female body parts matter. But not when it comes to skis. December 20, 2017 By Sierra Davis PHOTO: Steve Lloyd A former racer who grew up in Government Camp, Oregon, Keree Smith, 25, likes to ski fast. She wants to rail turns and feel the energy explode out of her ski. She is an aggressive skier and, at 5-foot-7, she's looking for a ski between 179 and 182 centimeters long. The skis Smith is looking for exist. In fact, she skis on them. But they aren't women's skis, or at least they are not skis expressly marketed to women. By industry standards, Smith skis on men's skis. "I'm not an extreme case--there are a lot of women charging out there--but no, I can't find that in a women&#

Preparing for your lesson Before you turn up for the lessons you’ve booked, it’s worth having a think about a few things which can help prepare you and your instructor. You may even like to drop the ski school a quick email or add some relevant information to the  booking details , to save some time at the start of the first lesson: A little about your previous experience and ski schools you’ve used (if any). Where you like to ski and on what type of runs or terrain. What you would like from your lesson/s. Any previous injuries or medical conditions. This information will help your instructor to start build a picture and work out which are the best slopes for your initial lesson. A good instructor will know their way around the mountain really well and be able to quickly select suitable terrain for you. Whether you’re a complete beginner or an accomplished skier or snowboarder, it’s useful to know what other sports you like (if any) but we may be able discuss these things on

Ride the Dang Bus, Already Public transportation is a part of the solution to traffic, climate change, and wellbeing in the mountains December 13, 2017 By Matt Hansen For a pastime that was built around the notion of escape and freedom in the mountains, getting to the ski hill now feels like we're lurching in the opposite direction from those ideals: stop-and-go traffic, idling cars spewing exhaust, drivers angry at one another as they jockey for position. Though this is nothing new for Colorado skiers trying to navigate I-70, bad traffic has coughed its exhaust-laden tentacles into even the most isolated Western ski towns. The parking lot at Bridger Bowl, Montana, overflows on powder days; the ski area even shut it down once because there was simply no more room. Ever tried driving into Aspen or Jackson or Br

5 ski exercises that you can do at home © Dustin Snipes/Red Bull Content Pool 1 October  Written by Heather Snelgar Make sure you make the most of your ski holiday this year by getting in shape before you head off. A regular ski holiday is just a week long and there is nothing worse than spending that precious time with aching limbs , feeling hideously unfit . A certain level of cardiovascular fitness and strength will be required if you want to make the most out of every day on the slopes and still have the energy for the all important après ski at the end of the day. It’s a really good idea to do some light exercise before you head off – the odd run, walk, or even opting to take the stairs over the lift will make all the difference to your overall stamina once you arrive in resort. There are also a couple of really easy exercises that you can do to strengthen up your body too

Mountain Spaces  have 10 years in the ski holiday business and a choice of five  catered chalets  sleeping up to fourteen people, so they know a thing or two about organising group ski holidays. So if you’ve agreed to organise your group’s ski trip, we hope you’ll find these 5 top tips useful. 1. Know your group We always ask our customers lots of questions prior to their stay, it’s the only way we can provide the perfect holiday where everything is thought of. Ask your group to share all their needs upfront. This makes your, and our, job a lot easier. It will also guarantee a holiday which matches, hopefully exceeds, your group’s expectations. First and foremost what’s your budget? Catered or self-catered chalet? On the slopes or in town? Any specific dietary requirements? Ages of children, any non skiers? At Mountain Spaces we’ll happily accommodate pretty much any special request but it’s a lot easier for us to achieve this is if we have advance warning! 2. Book your ski acco

Snow reports: European ski resorts set to celebrate the whitest Christmas in years with more snow in the forecast 21 December 2017 • 12:30pm T he leading European ski resorts are more than ready for Christmas this year thanks to substantial natural snow cover. The Alps benefitted from excellent early winter snowfall and skiing now at all elevations is on dry groomed cover. The Pyrenees also are in good shape with all runs open whilst Eastern Europe is preparing to offer almost all uplift for the week ahead. Across Scandinavia resorts are preparing for the arrival of heavy snowfall through Christmas week. The North American winter has so far not delivered the very large volumes of snow they experienced last season but skiing conditions are still decent in all the major resorts with the freshest and deepest snow through this weekend to be found in British Columbia and also across New England. For a specific resort, check our full snow report

by  Joe Mahon ,  travel writer B ig news for budget-conscious travellers – according to a new report this week, the Slovenian resort of Kranjska Gora has the lowest prices in Europe, knocking  Bansko  in Bulgaria off the top spot for the first time in seven years. Produced in partnership with Crystal Ski Holidays, the 11th annual ski costs survey from the Post Office compared prices in 22 European resorts – five  French , five  Italian , five  Austrian , three  Swiss , and one each in Andorra, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Finland. Acclaimed as Europe's  best-value family resort  in December last year, Kranjska Gora has now been confirmed as the cheapest resort overall, followed by  Bardonecchia , in Italy. Of the 10 cheapest destinations on this year’s Post Office report, four are Italian, providing an alternative to the  Eastern European resorts  which are usually seen as a good bet for a lower-priced winter sports break. The biggest decrease is  Morzine  in Fra

Backcountry Etiquette 101 A 13-step guide to being a respectable backcountry skier December 04, 2017 By Matt Hansen 1. First thing’s first, bring your brain. Making good decisions is more important than any piece of gear. 2. Avalanche beacon goes on at the car, off at the bar. Make sure you pack your shovel and probe. Airbags are useful, too, but they are not an excuse to take risks you wouldn't otherwise take. 3. Know the forecast. Every avalanche center in the country has a website and each offers automatic daily email updates. These centers have also started to spread their message via social media. The Utah Avalanche Center and Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center are particularly effective in highlighting daily messages with photos and video on social media. 4. At the trailhead, don't park like a jackass. Keep it tig

The International Ski Federation (FIS) produces a set of guidelines to help keep you and other skiers/snowboarders safe on the slopes. It’s important to understand that these ‘common sense guidelines’ are regularly used for insurance and legal purposes, where an accident has occurred on the slopes, so we highly recommend reading and adopting them. Most of the guidelines are common sense and things you probably already adopt in your skiing. There are however a few rules of the slope which we regularly see people ignore, so we’ve highlighted those in RED below. Rules for the Conduct of Skiers and Snowboarders 1. RESPECT for others  READ ON

The Experts at Ortovox Shed Light on Avalanche Beacon Functionality and Stress the Importance of Three-Antennae Like most of your avalanche rescue tools, the transceiver, otherwise known as a beacon, is a device that you hope to never use in the field—except in a training scenario. Having a solid understanding of how your avy equipment works is paramount, and there’s hardly a tool more difficult to truly understand than this minuscule device. Read up on the intricacies of the avalanche beacon, below, and above all else, remember that nothing is a legitimate substitute for practice, practice, practice. What is an Avalanche Beacon?  READ ON..

So, you’re no stranger to hitting the slopes come winter. This time, you’ve taken the step to buying your own skis and you  can’t wait to get out on the snow . But wait, it’s not that simple. You’ve got to get your equipment to the resort! What’s the cost of  flying with skis ? This varies from airline to airline – and if you don’t plan ahead, you’ll get stung. Here’s our ski equipment flight carriage cost guide for the 2017/18 season. Note: Some airlines will accept ski equipment instead of baggage with no extra charge. This sounds like a great deal but let’s face it, we all take baggage with us on a ski holiday. In these instances, we’ve listed the additional charge of travelling with both baggage and ski equipment. All prices mentioned below are for flights to and from your destination.   READ ON...

Your First Trip to Morzine – The Mountains In More Mountain's first blog in this series they gave you a little bit of information about the Village of Morzine. This is to give you a head start for your arrival. In this blog they give you a quick summary of the Mountains. This information should help reduce “first day faff” and get you to the best slopes for your group as easily as possible . It is really easy to get to the ski lifts from all of their  properties in Morzine . They are within easy walking distance to the lifts or bus stops. Our chalet hosts will even drive you to the lifts from your chalet and bring you back at the end of the day. The five main lifts you need to know about are Nyon, Pleney, Super Morzine, Prodains and Ardent. These lifts are the telecabines and bubbles that get you off the valley floor and in to the various ski areas.  READ ON..