Ski Logik’s philosophy arouses interest. They are upfront about the fact that the skis are produced in China. But here comes the major difference compared to other ski companies – although the skis are made in China, they are not mass produced, but rather handmade in Ski Logik’s own factory, which was founded by David Mazzarella, together with the Ski Logik brand. Ski Logik states that they pay their workers an above the market rate and that employees receive full benefits including things such as health insurance, retirement, unemployment and disability compensation, something that is not common in China.

David Mazzarella’s and Ski Logik’s reasoning behind this is that the low-cost location is supposed to enable them to produce high quality product at a reasonable price; production at a more expensive location would force them to use cheaper materials or reduce labor times, which would in turn reduce the overall quality of the product.

But do the skis live up to their promise? I’ve had a pair of Bomb Squads for a while now and I’m happy to say that they have not disappointed.

Ski Logik Bomb Squad

Length: 188cm (the only length available).
Dimensions: 148-122-143mm
Radius: 22m
Weight: 4300g (according to manufacturer)
Retail price around $820 USD

Construction: Paulownia wood core, reinforced with carbon fiber and fiberglass, black locust sidewalls

OK, let’s discuss the obvious first. I’m not a guy who usually cares about the looks of skis but the build quality and the inlaid wood topsheets that these skis have are gorgeous. The sidewalls are black locust, which caused some concern for me first since bamboo and other wood sidewalls tend to have a bad reputation (old Voelkl Gotamas, Lotus skis etc), but after several days of use I don’t see anything out of ordinary. The spot where the sidewall connects to topsheet is rounded and not sharp, which should prevent topsheet chipping.

We are living in an era when the sexiest and coolest freeride skis come out with flat profile and usually quite a bit of rocker rocker. The Bomb Squads on the other hand have small amount of early tip raise and a normal amount of camber. Their hand flex is medium with a nice progressively softer feel towards the tip. The ski is not super stiff, but not a noodle by any means. Just the way I like it myself.

So how do they ski? The bottom line: In soft snow and tracked out crud the ski is predictable, easy and fun to ski. The skis have a really nice, quality feel to them that inspires confidence. People who are more into old-school shapes might find the tip shape and size somewhat big and might not like how the tips get moved around a bit in the crud. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t flap around uncontrollably, but they do move around a bit. I myself think that the effect is more visual than real; the ski feels stable at higher speeds also. You can vary your turn size easily and considering how stable these skis are at speed it was really fun to notice how easily you can throw them around in the trees. After having skied the Praxis Powder Boards, which excel in trees, that is not something that I say lightly.

Recommended if your wallet can afford it. However, a big skier who demands planks that can do mach 7 in icy chop will have to find something else. You can see me ski the Bomb Squads in this helmetcam video.

With not much new snow previously and couple of sunny days we’ve been doing some exploring around Whitewater. The area has kept its promises. Here’s a quick few photos from the nearby backcountry from couple days ago. With the bluebird weather we decided to get up to the Ymir Peak/Mountain (I’ve heard it been called both) in the Whitewater backcountry since we hadn’t been there before. It’s the prominent peak next to the ski area, always dominating the scenery on a day with good visibility, and a bit of a must-do for anyone in the area for longer.

The ascent follows the right flank of the peak through snow-covered trees (not seen in the photo above). It is steep enough that I wouldn’t want to do it in any kind of unstable snow conditions.

Going up

(click for a big panorama)
And then we were on the top, panorama from the peak to east

With the last big snowfall having been some time ago already the normal routes that ascend to the Ymir bowl back to the resort were all more or less tracked out, but the run down from the saddle next to the peak to the east facing bowl had been left completely untouched and the snow looked great. The lower angle pow has been the name of the game for us during the last couple of weeks, can’t complain since big turns in perfect hero snow make us happy.

Laura on the upper half of the run

Christmas trees!

Skinning back up to get a saddle for another run down to the ski area and our car, our tracks barely visible behind with Ymir Mountain

Juho is spending the season in USA and BC, Canada, and posts updates from there regularly. Here are the previous posts from the season:

A Season around USA and Canada – Here we go..
Touring at Kootenay Pass
Rogers Pass & Whitewater backcountry

Check back for more trip reports!

We did couple of days at the nearby ski resorts and got to hit Rogers Pass during a bluebird day, something that is supposed to be a rare occurrence over there during the midwinter. But since the area just loves to gather all the clouds to annoy the skitourers we had to endure through one foggy graybird day first. We chose to go to a treeskiing area named Hourglass, even though we knew we wouldn’t be able to spot our run down before riding it. Of course on the ride down there was less snow than expected and we ended up navigating through the cliffbands and from a gully to another.

Laura skinning through the old-growth forest to the Hourglass

.. and riding down after getting through the cliffs

All the good touring at Rogers Pass is accessed straight from the highway. The problem is that the highway needs to be protected from avalanches, and it lurks through some steep, very avalanche prone mountains. The control work is done by the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery using three specifically modified 105mm  howitzers. These designed to blast mountains to release the avalanches preemptively so that traffic is not caught in one unexpectedly.

It is unfortunate that the mountains that get regularly blasted by these howitzers are the same ones that the skitourers would like to ski. Because of that, there’s a permit system in place at Rogers Pass. Before touring at any of the areas near the pass it is necessary to stop at the Glacier National Park Discovery Center to check which areas are open and to get a free permit. Preventing getting shrapnel from a 105mm howitzer in your brain is a pretty good idea. It could kinda hurt. Unfortunately, during the two days that we skied at the pass most of the areas were closed, and brain damage (other than from alcohol consumption) and a hefty fine wasn’t in our plans. We’ll be back in the spring, at latest.

The second day with the bluebird skies still provided though.

Coming from the trees and the shadowy valley into the alpine. First we were going to hit Balu Pass, the easy sightseeing tour that is recommended for first-timers in the neighborhood, but since the weather was great plans were changed and we chose to skin up to the Bruins area instead..

Someone had got an early start and was already riding down from the Video Peak, the snow was great as it was the first bluebird day after the last storm cycle

(click for bigger panorama photo)
1200 vertical meters (3900ft) later, up on the ridge that leads to Ursus Minor.  There was a nice looking chute down from the ridge with two ass-wiggling, euro style tight turns tracks in it. Respecting our European roots we chose to ride down the same thing.

Laura starting the 1200m descent down

Looking up at our tracks, snow was excellent. yum yum.

Then comes the low angle pow, and a lot of it!

If you want to see something else than snowboarding then please convince Laura to switch equipment. How about a monoski?

With the weather turning into worse with grey skies and fog and our time at the nearly-free vacation house ending back to south and Nelson it was. During the drive back we hit a traffic jam at Creston, a 4000 people town in the middle of nowhere.. I don’t know the last time a traffic jam here has happened, maybe a hundred or so years ago when someone couldn’t get his horse to pull a cart on the main street? So this is what we call a once in a lifetime experience. In the end it turned out that the olympic torch is passing through and the city center is partly closed for traffic.

Laura continues our extreme, gravity-defying efforts when we take a quick stop at Kootenay Lake

The elegant white boats, the deep blue lake and the gorgeous white mountains pale in comparison to our shiny & sexy dark green Subaru. 9500 km without a carwash. And be glad there is no sound associated with photos.

It’s been a while since the last big dump in Nelson but we get some really good turns exploring the backcountry near the Whitewater ski area. Today we did a small loop around and I got the camera out a couple of times to try and take photos in the variable mix of sun and clouds.

Osmo enjoying the rewards of the first uphill part of the tour

Osmo a bit further down in the weird light

Coming back up through the burned forest

Osmo exiting a fun chute on the second run

.. and laying the euro style carve a bit further down.

That’s it for now, it looks like there’ll be some snowfall from tomorrow on so expect to hear back from us soon.

Arrived to Nelson at night, woke up at the hostel to blue skies and a beautiful day with some new snow on the ground. Head straight to the nearest sports shop that sells maps and guidebooks and a drive to Kootenay pass for some quick afternoon touring. Its one of the spots here for easy access, straight from the road quick laps with possibilities for longer tours also. At the parking lot we meet Ray, who was just returning to car from touring but he still offered to show us around and offer some local tips. Thanks Ray! We do one quick lap from the Cornice Ridge in the fading sun and the south facing aspect offers great snow. Ray tells us more about the nearby Ripple Ridge cabin that I had already read about and we decide to head there the next day instead of paying to stay at the hostel.

Skinning up, looking back at our tracks from the previous day on the other side of the pass.

Uphill, uphill

Preparing for the run down on top of some small, unnamed peak after leaving our stuff at the cabin

Some of our tracks

Quiet day in the backcountry – until we got back to the cabin. Two school classes; 15 teenagers and their 3 teachers were building snow caves next to the cabin to spend the night in them and using the cabin’s wood stove as a central for melting water and drying clothes. It was a part of their school course, I wish I had had stuff like that at school. Fortunately got tired early from all the digging and went sleep in the caves even before our sleeping time.. The cabin, which could’ve slept 6 (or more in a squeeze), was left for me and Laura.

Next couple days the sky was cloudy and sun wasn’t really peeking through, we just slept in and did a lazy lap or two.

The Ripple Ridge cabin

Yum yum, breakfast!

Melting water in the evening

Eventually we ran out of food (if you can call it that) and headed back to Nelson. Here’s Laura
riding down to the car, carrying a yoga mat, an essential item on every hut tour..

Kootenay pass is a fun spot, the runs are not long (at least by European standards) but sweet and very easy to access.. The pass sits at pretty high elevation (1774m) which should keep the snow nice and dry. Now we are in Nelson, managed to rent an apartment and even got season passes at Whitewater. Just let it snow.

First day at Whitewater

Statistics

• Average snowfall: 300 inches (760cm)
• Vertical drop: 2,353 feet (717 m)
• Terrain: 3000 acres  (15% of that beginner, 35% intermediate, 40% advanced, 10% expert)
• Lifts: 12 total lifts, 3 of them high speed quads

Over the past few years Whitefish has gone through a lot. It has been transformed from a locals ski area to a bigger, more visitor orientated resort with a resort village and real estate developments. The locals can’t make up their mind about if the developments have been for the better or worse.  Some locals say that the day visitor parking lots have been moved too far from the center of the resort to create space for condos, lift tickets have gotten more expensive and that increased crowds are bothering them. On the other hand the new visitors always bring in more money, which has allowed Whitefish to update their lift system with the new high speed quads, making the trip to the top of the mountain a breeze. Even though we visited Whitefish during one of the busiest time of the year, between Christmas and New Year the lift lines were either non-existent or short. And the lift ticket prices are still reasonable compared to many other resorts big resorts, with the adult day pass costing $61.

Skiing Whitefish

One good thing about Whitefish that when all of the terrain is open the entire mountain is truly skiable. The lifts go up the mountain on each side of it, and there’s a network of trails that goes around the mountain. Between the groomed trails there’s terrain of every variety from open bowls to tree skiing. The profile of the mountain is in general great for skiing, with consistent fall lines and just a few flatter spots that might annoy some.  The views are amazing if visibility is good, with the Glacier National Park’s huge mountains looming behind the resort and Whitefish Lake to the south.

The mountain has 3 main areas, Front side, North Side and Hellroaring Basin.

The Front Side is the place to be for the beginner skier

Pretty much all of the beginner trails are located on the Front Side. There’s couple of chairlifts that serve beginner terrain only which will surely keep beginners and families happy. Its nice to have own, separate areas where you don’t have to be afraid of expert skiers wooshing by on their way to the double black diamonds. For those who prefer the green runs there are a good variety of them, also from the top of the mountain, so you don’t have to stick for the one and same run for the whole duration of your holiday.

View of part of the Frontside

The Front Side has some expert terrain too, separated from the beginner terrain, and it’s great for someone who’s looking to do quick, leg-burning laps off the fast chair 1 on a quiet powder day. On the far right side of the Front Side is the East Rim, which has some nice cliffed terrain, but watch out for the 80 feet high ones.. The area holds powder for longer than many other runs if you know your way around, but the traverse back to chair one is long and boring on a green run. The problem with top-to-bottom runs on Chair One can be the snow quality since the base station of the chair sits relatively low.

Click here for the full trail map of the Front Side.

The North Side of Whitefish

Intermediate skiers will find themselves at home here with a variety of blue runs. The North Side is north facing (obviously) and in shadow (just what you’d expect from backside, duh) and coupled with the fact that the base station of the chairlift serving this terrain is higher than other lifts in Whitefish results to usually the best snow conditions on the mountain. Because of small local weather variations the backside also gets a bit more snowfall than the frontside.

There are two gripes though – the skiable vertical here is only about 1000 feet (300m) and the runs tend to be steep in the beginning and somewhat low angle after that. Luckily this is the only area of Whitefish that is affected by this problem. The North Side is served by one high speed quad, and if the Front Side has lift lines then the North Side is a good place to escape them.

Click here for the trail map of the North Side.

Hellroaring Basin – pure off-trail skiing

Hellroaring Basin is where most of the off-trail skiing in Whitefish is. There is only one groomed run down the area, a blue run that is not really worth talking about. It mainly serves the purpose of getting skiers to the Hellroaring chair after a run off the trail. Rest of the skiing is black and double black diamonds.

One can drop into the horseshoe-shaped basin from any point along the cat tracks that circle it. There’s some great tree-skiing here, along with couple of chutes and open areas. It doesn’t get tracked out very fast, partly because to do laps in the basin you first need to ride up Hellroaring Chair to the side of the basin and then ski down to Chair 1 to get up to the top of the mountain again. An annoyance, but only a minor since it keeps some of the crowds away. Those who are comfortable on expert runs will like this area a lot on a powder day.

Laura, fog, and a lot of snow in Hellroaring Basin..

The whole Hellroaring Basin and the chairlift alway close on April 1st to protect the local grizzly bear population and let them have their peace. Obeying the closure is a good idea unless you first want to get clawed by a big, ugly bear and then get fined by big, even uglier Flathead National Forest ranger.

Click here for Hellroaring Basin trail map.

Conclusion

Summa summarum: There are many ways people feel about the recent development of Whitefish. In the end its still not the most megalomaniac resort with thousands of condos, but it’s not the mom-and-pop ski area either. With the lift ticket prices still reasonable and a medium-sized resort town and ski area you can still feel like you’re in the mountains instead of Disneyland. The crowds aren’t as bad either. Whitefish might have lost some of its local charm in the last years, but the fact that the skiing is great along with the views from the top of the mountain can not be ignored.

Lost Trail – no frills, just skiing

There’s basically three main, longer lifts at Lost Trail, Chair 1, Chair 2 and Saddle Mountain Chair, the latter of which despite it’s name does not go up to Saddle Mountain, but rather the one next to it. Chair 1 and Chair 2 access another small peak. Besides of those there are two other chairlifts (serving some easier terrain) and a rope tow that connect the Chair 1 and Saddle Mountain Chair. All of chairlifts are older, fixed grip 2 seat chairlifts. Not that fast, but who cares when there’s not enough crowds to form anything that resembles a lift line anyway.

Lost Trail is not a big mountain, the main lifts serve between 1200 to 1800 feet vertical. But this isn’t supposed to be another Jackson Hole or Chamonix anyway. The small ski area feeling that I like is present, and especially families will feel themselves at home here with the lower ticket prices and plenty of long, blue runs.

The advanced terrain and backcountry at Lost Trail Powder Mountain

For that you probably want to look at Chair 1 and 2. Lookers right side of Chair 1 sports some nice cliffs and short chutes through the woods. Unfortunately for the expert skier, the Saddle Mountain lift accesses mostly flat terrain, with only the very top of the runs being steep, and the lift ride being long. So for quick laps on a powder day we suggest sticking to Chair 1 and 2.

Laura riding powder under empty chairs (Chair 1)

However, if you’re interested in the out-of-bounds options and are properly equipped with avalanche gear and knowledge of the snowpack then the backside of the peak that Saddle Mountain lift goes up to, along with the ridge that connects Chair 1 and Saddle Mountain Chair is worth taking a look at. There are a multitude of options around here if the snow allows it. The only way out though is to skinback to the ski area. There’s a $5 one-way lift ticket offered for those who want to go touring. Fire up that Google Earth and have a look!

Looking down at the out-of-bounds backside of the Saddle Mountain Chair in early season (mid-December),
view is towards Saddle Mountain proper

Terrain Park

I’m not much of a park rider myself at all but I applaud how Lost Trail apparently is making the effort to construct to a good terrain park. During our visit in early season the “Frontcountry” park already had several rails and small features set up even though snow was not that plentiful. Along with that there’s a “Powder Park”, its specialty being natural features, aimed at more beginners . I never got to see either of the parks fully finished during our visit since it was early season but the good condition and the number of rails that had already been put up leads me to think that the park is probably in pretty good shape the whole winter. There’s a seperate park crew that takes care of the park.

In my experience it’s not really often that the small areas really invest into terrain parks, and I think it is a good move for Lost Trail to do so. It attracts some of the younger riders  and shows that the management is not stuck in the 70s. For a glimpse into Lost Trails park scene you can check their seperate site at ltpark.com.

Location

The Lost Trail ski area is located right next to highway 93 at the Montana-Idaho border. The area is approximately 95 miles from Missoula, MT, and 100 miles from Butte, MT. In Idaho the closest bigger town is Salmon, 45 miles from Lost Trail.

Conclusion

Lost Trail might not be a prime ski vacation destination resort, but it is something to keep in mind when you’re in the area or driving by. And if you live within a daytrip range, its definitely worth a visit on a good day. Competition on powder days is not fierce. Park rats will undoubtedly enjoy the options at Lost Trail. For those who only want an easy access to backcountry then the $5 one-ride lift ticket is a nice way to get to the back bowls, skinning up the closed runs when the resort is not open is also a possibility.

Links:

www.losttrail.com
www.ltpark.com

The annoying thing at the moment in Montana is that there’s enough snow accumulated on the logging roads so that getting up with our little Subaru is hard, but still there’s not enough at the same altitude to ski. Here’s where our original plan for that Tuesday met its “turning point and how we ended up skinning on XC trails instead:

“Yep, can’t really get up here and even if we do the car will be snowed in during the next couple of hours” – leads to shoveling a platform to turn the car around..

I was able to get a taste of some sled skiing with couple of locals last weekend, getting towed to the spot American style (total of 5 guys + 1 dog hiding in the cat cutter)

A bit more snow up here…

Visibility was bad up high and I didn’t manage any real action photos but here’s a happy dog and a happy skier at the end of the run.

A week ago at Mt Baker was a bit different. We knew that they had got a nice base already and as the next storm rolled in to the Pacific Northwest we had a quick look at the snow report (80inches / 200cm base) and Google maps (only 560miles / 900km drive to Bellingham!) and we were already on our way.

The next morning we liked what we saw on our way up to the resort, pretty tall snowbanks for this time of the year:

We liked the looks of these trees too:

Laura and 21st of November:

What you really can’t see from the admittedly grainy and crappy photos is the thick snowpack that the area already has. With enough new snow each night during our stay to cover the old tracks we had great 3 days of riding at Baker. I’m more used to the smaller European resorts where things don’t get tracked out in the first 20 minutes after the opening though, but that wasn’t a problem after getting used to it. Unfortunately the visibility was bad the whole time so we didn’t have a chance to see the Baker backcountry. On 23rd it looked like the freezing levels would shoot up for the rest of the week and so we made the tactical move of saving some money and heading first to Seattle and then back to Missoula. Thanks to Bill for the couch space!

And finally, here’s what we’re using to avoid paying for an internet connection at the moment. A steel kitchen sieve ($5), a usb wlan dongle ($25) and Petzl Vasak crampons ($150) combined boost the signal and receiving strength of the cheap WLAN dongle, creating a high gain antenna that’ll enable you to use the nearby open wireless network. PS: Use of ice crampons as weight not obligatory, can be substituted by a cheaper item (e.g. a rock). But you’re not hardcore enough for those crampons anyway and they are probably one of the least used items in your house, so that’s a perfectly fine use for them, just admit it. I did.  (also notice the use of ice axe as decoration)

We’ll report back in two weeks at latest! There’s some areas opening in Montana this weekend and a storm is lining up to hit the eastern part of the state, so we might head there and have a look. Enjoy the snow everyone, now is the time to start your season if you haven’t already..

Buying ski boots – finding a good bootfitter

The first and most important step in buying ski boots is to find a good bootfitter. They’re professionals who have done a course or have a lot of experience in fitting ski boots. Good bootfitters can normally be found in smaller specialty ski shops, not in the big chain sports shops that sell several types of sports gear. They should patiently guide you through the process of buying ski boots, as it takes some time to find a pair that fit your feet well and are suitable for the style and level of skiing you do. If you run into a salesperson that immediately tries to convince you to buy the first or second pair of boots that you try on it would probably be better just to leave the shop. Not every town has got a good bootfitter; ask about your friends experiences or search the internet to find one.

Ensuring that you get the right kind of a ski boot

One of the most distinguishing factors between ski boots is their flex, or in other words how stiff they are. Each manufacturer has their own flex scale, ranging usually from about fifty to a hundred and fifty, with stiffness increasing towards the high end of the scale. Do note that these scales do not correspond with each other, which means that a Salomon ski boot with a flex rating of 90 might well be stiffer than a Lange ski boot with the same rating. Usually the lower end of the scale is used for kids ski boots, after that the ratings up to 90 or 100 are mostly preferred by recreational, “normal” skiers. Those that like high speeds or are into hard freeriding and demand a lot from their ski boots usually look at boots with a flex rating of  100 to 130.  Boots with a rating of 130 or higher are normally only used by ski racers. Softer boots usually offer more comfort than stiffer ones. When deciding what kind of ski boot to buy, ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly:

• What kind of a skier am I?
• Do I prefer to ski slow or fast?
• What kind of conditions do I normally encounter? (those
• What flex rating did my previous boots have and did I feel the need for a softer/stiffer boot?

Flex your feet forward while they’re in the ski boots and try to feel their stiffness. Are the boots too stiff or soft? Does the flex feel natural with no sudden stop and no hot spots along your shin when you flex the boot? Also ask your boot fitter about the plastic material used in the ski boots that you’re trying on – some boots have plastic that turns stiffer in colder temperatures.

How to get the best fit when buying ski boots

This is the hardest part. You should preferably go to the ski boot shop in the afternoon, since feet have a tendency to swell a bit during the day. Bring a pair of the ski socks that you’re planning to use, although the shop should have some to borrow also. I personally recommend thin sock liners, but some prefer thicker ski socks that have a bit of added padding along the shin area.  The bootfitter should guide you through this part, and an experienced boot fitter should be able to tell you what ski boot brand or model could fit you just by looking at and measuring your feet. Some brands only fit one kind of foot well while some brands offer several models with different fits.

• The first thing the boot fitter should do is to measure the shell fit of the potential boot candidate, that means inserting your foot into the shell of the ski boot without the liner in it.  Then, with your toes slightly touching the front of the boot the amount of space left behind your heel should be measured. If there is space for more than two fingers (more than 1 inch or 2,5 centimeters) then the size is probably too big for you. A two-finger fit is often called a “comfort fit” while a one-finger fit is called a “performance fit”. If you ski a lot and are willing to sacrifice a bit of comfort for performance then you should probably go with the performance fit.

• Next, put the liner back into the boot and insert your foot into the ski boot. Kick your heel to the ground a couple times. This will ensure that your foot is in the proper place in the boot.  Buckle up the boot, be careful not to crank the buckles down too tight. Cranking the buckles can result in deformation of the boot plastic and  the blood flow to your feet can be cut can be affected. If you need to crank down the buckles for the boot to feel snug then the boot is probably too high a volume for your foot. The liner of the ski boot will pack down after usage and thus your boots will only get bigger with time, never smaller.

• After buckling up the fit of the boot should feel snug but not uncomfortably tight. You should not feel any “hot spots”, spots where you feel pain or too much pressure. When leaning forward into a “skiing position” your heel should not rise up. If you can lift your heel easily it means that the boot has got too high a volume at some place. It is OK for your toes to slightly touch the end of the boot while standing upright as long as they are not cramped. When leaning forward your toes should not touch the end of the boot, except maybe slightly. Your toes should have enough room so that you can wiggle them a bit. That won’t compromise the performance of the boot but will help in keeping your toes warm during those cold days.

• Keep in mind that it is hard to modify a boot to become smaller, but heating and punching the shell at certain points to create more space can be done by an experienced bootfitter. Beginners often buy boots that are too big because they are afraid of getting painful boots and big ski boots feel comfortable in the shop. Do not make this mistake! Ski boots that are too big result in a lot of problems as your foot can move inside the boot while skiing, rubbing the skin and banging up especially your shins against the boot. If the fit is not snug enough and your feet have space to move around, they will get banged up against the sides of the boot. Most boot problems stem from skiers buying too big of boots to begin with.

• Try on several different ski boots. Be honest with yourself about what kind of boot you’re looking for. The general trend at least among my experienced skier friends has been to buy softer boots than what they used before. Since the ski boot technology is advancing you can get the same performance with a softer boot than what you might have been used to. You don’t need a race boot anymore to be the toughest kid on the block.

• Most of the liners in today’s ski boots are thermo-moldable. This means that the liner can and should be heated, which makes it softer until it cools down again. When the liner is warm a foot is inserted into the liner it’ll mold into the shape of the foot. Bear in mind though that this is not a magic trick that would make any ski boot fit your feet. A ski boot should already have a good snug fit “out of the box”. Ask your bootfitter about the model that you’re trying on and if it has a thermo-moldable liner.

• Do not buy your ski boots online unless you’re buying the same model that you’ve already used. It is also not nice to go to a ski boot shop to try a bunch of boots and use bootfitters’  expertise to help you and then buy the boots online for a bit cheaper. When buying ski boots at your local ski shop you might be paying a bit more but you also pay for their expertise and time and in the process you support a local business.

• Do not try to save money on ski boots. As mentioned above the boots are in my opinion the most important piece of ski gear you’ll ever buy. My ski boots cost me more than my skis and bindings combined and I don’t consider that strange.

If you have weird feet like I do it might take couple days and several hours of trying on ski boots to find a pair that fits your feet and your needs as a skier. Remember that you won’t be able to cast the “final verdict” on the ski boots before having skied them for a few days. And if you just spent a lot of time finding a pair of boots that you thought would fit you and then find your feet in a lot of pain on the first day, don’t despair! Try to ski for a few hours to get the boots “broken in”, and if you’re still having problems go back to your shop and the bootfitter. He/she should be able to modify the boot by punching out hot spots or grinding the shell to help you. Most bootfitters offer a “fit guarantee”, which means that if you have problems with your ski boots after buying them then they’ll modify the boots for free. Ask your bootfitter about this.

I hope this guide helped you through the process of buying ski boots!

Virne is not a high budget movie and it does not feature any big Alaska mountain faces filmed from helicopters like some TGR’s movies and its not an in depth documentary like the “Steep”. Virne is rather an action packed flick filled with fun lines and no nonsense, just a bunch of guys skiing great snow and having fun doing it. An entertaining ski movie and you can’t go wrong with free. Just sit back and click “play” below to watch it. For another free ski movie check out the “TEN”.

Here’s a preview of 90s freestyle skiing, starting with summer training and moving on to winter stuff, my personal fave, the ski ballet, starts at 4:30 or so..

Don’t forget the 80s and this awesome “how-to-ski-on-grass” machine? .. hmm

For more freestyle skiing videos go to digitalfreestyleskiing.com for a pretty comprehensive list. Now we’re just left wondering when the pole flip and other ski ballet tricks invade the slopes again.

Stubai Glacier offers a lot for a piste skier

The Glacier offers a wide variety of pistes, mostly aimed at beginner to advanced skier. There are only a few black pistes available. Compared to a lot of other resorts the pistes are usually well groomed and taken care of. Piste-carvers will be happy to note that the pistes are also nice and wide. The base of the resort is at 1750m while the top lift takes you to 3200m. Here’s the slope map for a general idea about the area:

The offpiste area in Stubai is fairly easily observed from lifts. There are not many runs that won’t be easy to spot from the lift. The terrain is not very steep, it’s a glacier after all. A very serious offpiste skier might want to look into other options such as Chamonix or Verbier but for a normal skier Stubai Glacier will do just fine. On a powder day it’s usually best head straight up to the four-seater chairlift “Rotadlbahn” and have a look at the options around and under the lift. If you’re more into mellow glacier-skipping then the new “Daunscharte” T-bar is worth checking out. Be aware of the hidden crevasses lurking below the snow, especially in autumn, early winter and late spring! There are plenty and falling into one wouldn’t be nice. Consult locals or hire a mountain guide and carry proper equipment and know how to use it. For the experienced the touring options around the resort are plentiful, including the highest mountain of the Stubai Alps, Zuckerhütl. There are also many alpine huts that offer great skiing (see photo below) within a days tour.

Getting to Stubai Glacier resort, accommodation & best times to visit

Stubai Glacier is some 25 kilometers away from Innsbruck and its airport. The flights to Innsbruck can be expensive so another option is to fly to Munich, which is 2 hours away from Stubai if the roads are clear. From Munich you can get to Stubai valley by either renting a car, getting a flight taxi or taking the train to Innsbruck and a bus from there.

The busiest times at Stubai Glacier are the European school holidays but especially the last weeks in the end of November and beginning of December when other resorts normally haven’t opened yet but people are already getting into “ski-mode”. The lift lines during this time can be very long, and if you do decide to come during the high autumn season then take my advice and take the lift down from the glacier before 3pm. This will save you a long wait in a line. But really the best time to ski Stubai would be during the late season, the weather is usually great and snow still plentiful. Crowds are also non-existant during the late season.

The base of the ski area is not in a village. There’s just a big, ugly parking lot and one hotel. Most of the guests skiing Stubai stay further down the valley, in villages such as Neustift or Fulpmes. There’s a free skibus running from the villages to the glacier quite often. The ride takes about 20-30minutes depending on which village you stays in, but during high season the bus can be very packed. If you’re staying in the Stubai valley there’s couple other resorts that are included in the Innsbruck Superski pass and are close by, such as Schlick and Elferlifte. Stubai Glacier is also part of the Snowcard Tirol.

For more information about the Stubai Glacier click here. For an article about skiing close to Innsbruck check Ville’s Resort Review of Innsbruck Area and more information about the villages and accommodation in Stubai Valley check out the tourist information site Innsbruck and its holiday villages.

Got questions about Stubai or was something not mentioned? Drop us a comment!

I personally like the this new pass since it includes some of the better resorts that were left out from the old Tirol Regio Card. The Tirol Snow Card is valid in nearly all of the Tyrolean ski areas, some of the most well known ones being Mayrhofen, Zillertal, Hintertux Glacier, Kitzbühel, Fieberbrunn, Obergurgl-Hochgurgl, Pitztal Glacier, Stubai Glacier and Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis. The resorts near Innsbruck are also covered by the pass. (Check out Ville’s great article on them here.)

The Tirol Snow Card costs 590 euros for non-Tyroleans and a bit less for Tyroleans, making it an alternative also for those who are planning on doing a one longer or couple shorter ski-vacations in Tyrol. That’s about two hundred euros more than the Tirol-Regio card which has been available to locals for some time but does not cover as many areas as the Tirol Snow Card. There has been a lot of critique especially from the Austrian families about the season passes getting more and more expensive. For skiing enthusiasts this might be a good tradeoff, getting more ski areas but paying more, while the Tyrolean families might still stick with the older alternatives.

The only big resorts missing from the pass that I could spot are Sölden and Ischgl, which are not included in any regional season passes. There are many little and less known resorts in the pass for someone who prefers less crowds. Achtung freeriders, some of the smaller areas are great for getting pow turns off the lifts days after the storm.. For someone who regularly skis in Tyrol this card is a great alternative, the biggest upside of course being freedom of choice in where you want to ski on a particular day.  If you ski a lot and can spend the extra money it makes little sense to pay  over 400 euros for a season pass to a single resort.

For more information and a full list of resorts included in the ticket check the Tirol Snow Card webpage.