Reviews

Reviews of the lastest gear

Friday, 04 August, 2006

Summer Ski Close Outs

Summer is the time to be thinking about getting next season’s skis and there are some great deals around at the moment if you don’t mind skiing 2006 models. In reality it is often just the graphics topsheet that changes from one season to the next although end of line and major product updates can bring deep discounts. There are some massive reductions on some models such as Zag 75s, Atomic Sweet Daddies and Rossignol B2s. Here is a round-up of some of the deals in Europe and the States.

ski closeouts

Posted by davidof at 12:13 PM
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Monday, 26 June, 2006

Géoportail - Google Earth rival is French Fried!

Unveiled in a blaze of publicity by none other than French President Jacques Chirac, Géoportail, the French “Google Earth – but better” was supposed to be a showcase of French mapping and information technology prowess. The site, which has been developed by Institut Géographique National (IGN – National Geographic Institute) at a cost of around 6 million euros contains 3,700 topographical maps and 400,000 aerial photographs with a 50 cm resolution. The IGN is 55% funded by the French tax payer.

geoportail image
Sorry we are closed

Posted by davidof at 09:32 AM
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Thursday, 25 May, 2006

Retrospective on the 2005 - 2006 Ski Season

The smaller mountain regions of France had an excellent winter season with exceptional snow cover in the Vosges, Jura and Massif Central and very good conditions in Corsica and the Pyrenees. Although the total snowfall was not astounding a long period of cold weather meant that the snow that did fall remained on the ground even at quite low altitudes. The season in the Southern Alps was satisfactory and much better than last winter. In the Northern Alps the season was below average at higher altitudes until mid-February.

powder skiing December 2005 Vercors
Skiing in early December

Posted by davidof at 05:15 PM
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Thursday, 04 May, 2006

Summer of SAM

As we reported last week the 17th SAM (Salon de l’Aménagement de la Montagne) exhibition has been held in Grenoble. The SAM is a showcase for 480 businesses from 52 countries. The giant Alpexpo exhibition hall lets them demonstrate their technological prowess in the sector of mountain and ski resort development. Glacier aware lifts, high-resolution web cams, heated chair lifts and ecofriendly snowmaking were all on show. Well the last is a bit of an oxymoron.

sam poma

Posted by redac at 04:40 PM
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Megapixel Ski Webcams

We think resort webcams are one of the best innovations of the Internet age and Annecy based company Trinum have taken the technology to the next level. Even ski tourers can benefit with a check on snow and weather conditions. Gone are grainy low resolution images, instead you get detailed panoramic views. No more domestic webcams pointing out of a grubby tourist office window.

Posted by redac at 04:21 PM
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Wednesday, 26 April, 2006

I want to drive a Piste Basher

It used to be that every boy’s dream was to be a train driver. In the days of steam there was a certain nobility to piloting a Pacific class locomotive, eating a full English breakfast cooked on the footplate while the fireman shovelled coal. Judging by the number of kids at the World Mountain Equipment expo held in Grenoble this week every boy and girl’s dream is now to be a piste basher pilot.

piste groomer
Yikes!

Posted by davidof at 06:16 PM
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Saturday, 22 April, 2006

Nice to Briançon on skis

Even in the deep mid-winter, when Chamonix is blanketed in snow and Grenoble is dull-grey under a stormy mantle of cloud, days can be pleasant strolling along the Promenade des Anglais at Nice. The azure blue of the Mediterranean Sea lapping on the pebbled shoreline. What better place to start an adventure into the mountains of the Maritime Alps and beyond?

nice briancon

Posted by davidof at 09:32 PM
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Tuesday, 14 March, 2006

New Scarpa ski touring boots

There are no major changes for the Scarpa range for the 2006/7 season. The Tornado freerando boots, introduced this year, will once again available in a limited edition (L.E.) model and there are a couple of new touring boots, the Spirit 4 and Spirit both based around the Scarpa Spirit 3 chassis.

Scarpa Tornado LE

Posted by davidof at 06:57 PM
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Wednesday, 08 March, 2006

Dynafit doubles binding range

Dynafit were once the Model-T Ford of bindings, any colour so long as it was orange. The Dynafit TLT binding was super lightweight but its skeletal looks did not inspire confidence amongst some skiers, particularly those looking for a single quiver setup for both piste and randonnée use.

dynafit comfort

Posted by davidof at 11:47 AM
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Monday, 06 March, 2006

Garmont Endorphin and Xena ski boots

One of the problems with touring boots is they just do not have the stiffness needed to drive big mountain skis. The solution for freeriders and extreme skiers has been to use alpine boots but these are uncomfortable and heavy for climbing. Over the last couple of years ski touring boot makers have been eyeing this increasingly dynamic sector of the market as off-piste skiers increasingly climb to find fresh tracks.

garmont endorphin mg garmont xena
Garmont Endorphin Mg and Xena