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Tree taps are the new trend in 2018, make sure to tap a tree daily Skiing and Snowboarding thread 2018-19. Nobody cares about your van. Thread summary: snow is good. Babby's first day on the mountain A lot of people ask what they should do for their first day on the mountain, how to get into the sport, etc. The simple answer is to go to the mountains and take a group lesson. Prices vary, but you will get all the equipment you need, you will be guided through appropriate and safe terrain, and you will have someone to tell you how to suck just a little less. Be positive, embrace the challenge, appreciate the scenery, and feel for the magic that is sliding on snow. Equipment rental covers boots, skis, and poles or snowboard and boots. You can also rent a helmet for $5-10 if you do not already own one. The rest of the stuff is on you to buy, list and guide below. What do I buy Buy this stuff, then read below to see how it works together to keep you warm.
Layering for warmth and fashion Perhaps the biggest turnoff about skiing and snowboarding is the cold. That is pretty understandable considering that most newbies have no idea how to properly dress themselves. Lucky for you, it is not hard. Step 1: Baselayer. The purpose of a baselayer is to wick sweat away from the skin and convert it into vapor. An upper baselayer can be a t-shirt or full sleeved and should be either merino wool or a synthetic fabric like Nike DryFit or UnderArmour ColdGear. Bottom baselayers should be ¾ length—stopping below the knee like yoga pants but ending high enough to stay out of boot. Ski socks should be thin—their purpose is once again to wick away sweat and keep your feet dry. Fluffy ski socks will actually cut off circulation to your foot and make you colder than a thin sock. Ski socks can be purchased quite cheap online. There are many ways to set up a base layer system. Some are okay with a single, thin layer of synthetic material. Others prefer a synthetic tee and a loose poly-cot quarter zip pullover. As long as what is between your body and your midlayer is wicking/quick-drying, feel free to use whatever setup is most natural. Step 2: Midlayer. This layer is what traps warm air around your body. A very lofty material like down traps a lot of heat, a thin fabric like flannel traps less. Fleeces are a good in between. Having several midlayers allows you to choose the right one for the temperature. Cold winter days call for down while flannel is good in springtime or during a heat wave. Most of the time a midlayer is not needed for the legs as the majority of pants have some amount of insulation. Since the legs do most of the work, they are also naturally the warmest part of the body. If your legs are getting cold, cut off sweatpants, track pants, or yoga pants are a good option. Note that in ski boots, this is where the liner comes in: the liner of a ski boot is what keeps your foot warm, not your sock. Step 3: Outer layer. Your defense against the elements. Both the jacket and pants should be waterproof and windproof, which keeps you dry and prevents the wind from stripping away that hot air stored in your midlayer. However, both the jacket and pants also need to be breathable, which means that they allow water vapor to move from inside to out. Simply put, all that sweat from your body needs somewhere to go or else you will quickly end up soggy. Look for outerwear that specifically states it is both waterproof and breathable, oftentimes evaluated as two ratings (eg. 5000/5000). Avoid the temptation to get an insulated jacket. If you are still cold, add another layer or buff up your midlayer (for instance, move from fleece to a thicker down jacket). In a ski boot, the plastic shell is the outerlayer that keeps wind and water off your foot. Step 4: Regulating your temperature. While a base-, mid-, and outerlayer system is the best way to stay warm, it also offers many options for regulating temperature. If you get hot, you can start by opening the vents on your jacket, pants, and helmet. Still warm? Open the front zipper of your shell jacket. Warm again? Open the zipper on your midlayer. Still warm? Ditch the midlayer or swap to something thinner. Additionally, it saves space and allows you to be ready for almost any conditions with one set of gear. You could have a warm start to the week and be okay with a flannel midlayer, but when it cools down later in the trip, you don't need to search for a second jacket, just swap out that flannel for your down jacket. Advice for your trip 1. Wait to book and, if possible, be flexible. Booking a January trip in October is a bad idea because nobody knows if there will be any snow for the trip. Waiting until mid-November to book a January trip will allow for a good guess as to the conditions come January. If possible, it also means that if the original destination lacks snow, the trip might be changed to an alternate resort in a different region with better snow. For people with powder as a priority, having flexible dates is even better. 2. Look around for deals. For lodging, check VRBO, AirBnB, etc. for condos if going with a large group. It is also a good idea to call the resort lodging desk as well as the town tourism bureau to look into lodging, airfare, and lift ticket specials. For lift tickets, be sure to check Liftopia. Also consider whether or not destination passes like the Epic Pass or the Ikon Pass would work considering that they cover a wide variety of resorts per pass. Good poo poo to watch Salomon FreeskiTV Real Skifi https://instagram.com/jerryoftheday - Mostly pics and vids of posters from the thread GNAR - Perhaps the ski movie to watch Places to buy stuff https://www.backcountry.com - Huge selection, excellent return policy, slightly more oriented towards backcountry equipment (duh) but has full variety https://www.evo.com - Huge selection, a bit more oriented towards resort riding https://www.levelninesports.com - Discount retailer https://www.powder7.com - Sells lots of old inventory for dirt cheap https://www.steepandcheap.com - Daily deals https://www.whiskeymilitia.com - Daily deals Useful sites for weather, other places to post, or just for fun https://www.opensnow.com - Resort specific forecasts, bunch of useful features, primary purpose is predicting snowfall https://www.weather.gov - Point forecasts and weather graphs extremely useful for determining wind and temperature for up to 7 days, not as accurate about snowfall as OpenSnow https://spotwx.com/ - Point forecasts with ability to look at several different models https://forecast.io/ - Animated weather and forecast map, big picture style http://www.avalanche.ca/weather (Canada only) https://www.tetongravity.com - Tons of professionally edited videos, articles, "interesting" forum https://www.newschoolers.com - Tons of semi-pro videos, hilarious forum https://www.blistergearreview.com - Pretty reliable gear review site Best posts u dont want 2 miss Disinterested posts a bunch of videos of how to ski bumps DON'T WEAR JEANS SKIING!!! Never don’t go full send
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 21:22 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 09:41 |
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Hold place one
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 21:22 |
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Two place hold, JUST IN CASE
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 21:23 |
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Hey y'all new thread. Let me know if you want to add anything to the OP. Pretty much anything will be better than last year so it's gonna be a good year!
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 21:25 |
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Did you mean to link to an fyad thread instead of this one?
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 21:34 |
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The Glumslinger posted:Did you mean to link to an fyad thread instead of this one? I was very surprised myself!
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 21:40 |
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It's my last Winter before having a kid in May. Hope we get some snow and I can actually travel somewhere this year. Edit: also whiskeymilitia.com got merged into steepandcheap so you can delete that.
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 21:43 |
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pardon my boner, but i'm looking forward to ski season
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 21:54 |
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Let's get some snow.
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 22:02 |
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i think the 0 was stripped from the url in the last thread, took me a whole extra half second to find this one! one last season at Steven's before I'm charged out the rear end by Vail
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 22:25 |
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I like boners but here I am?
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 22:53 |
I like Bogner
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 22:59 |
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The Glumslinger posted:Did you mean to link to an fyad thread instead of this one? oh you goons
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 23:09 |
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Woo, new snow thread. Third year going out west for a ski trip for me. This year it's Lake Louise at the beginning of February. Recommendations on things to do in "town" are appreciated!
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 23:16 |
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frame bindings are dumb
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# ? Oct 24, 2018 23:26 |
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Oh hello there, new thread. Prepare for lots of kid stoke this season.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 00:08 |
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Wife and I got our Ikon passes today.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 00:23 |
Fifty Three posted:Woo, new snow thread. Go eat at Touloulou's in Banff for breakfast, but get there early (like 7:30) or you won't get a seat. I loving dream of that place. If you're willing to go out to Canmore for the best poutine on the western side of the Rockies (or close enough) then La Belle Patate there is amazing and I 100% would make the drive out for it, simply for the true Canadian experience since IIRC you're American. Eat a poutine and a smoked meat sandwich for maximum Quebecoisness.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 01:19 |
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Gettin' in on the first page. Last year living in Japan's snow country for me, going to make the best of it snowboarding in Myoko / Yuzawa / Hakuba area as much as possible. Maybe taking a trip to Hokkaido if things line up.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 05:46 |
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I'm super excited that ski/snowboard season is here again. My kids are ski racing again this season and it's their 8th season of skiing/6th season of race development. Riding with the kids is so awesome especially now that they can ski most terrain. However, that near catastrophic training accident one of the kids had last season was super sobering. She could have died and last season one kid from a team in PA did die Last year we did trips to Quebec and Montana. Not sure we can do much travel this year but we'll try to do at least one trip.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 11:29 |
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Heading up to Tremblant this season (probably February??), as well as the usual local teeny tiny hill on evenings. Hoping to get 50+ days in this time, which will mean I have to not be such a lazy pile of rear end like last season though. Also why are smith replacement lenses so goddamn expensive hnghh
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 15:26 |
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HookShot posted:Go eat at Touloulou's in Banff for breakfast, but get there early (like 7:30) or you won't get a seat. I loving dream of that place. If you're willing to go out to Canmore for the best poutine on the western side of the Rockies (or close enough) then La Belle Patate there is amazing and I 100% would make the drive out for it, simply for the true Canadian experience since IIRC you're American. Eat a poutine and a smoked meat sandwich for maximum Quebecoisness.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 15:27 |
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Top Quark posted:Also why are smith replacement lenses so goddamn expensive hnghh I can get lenses on that pro-form I posted about near the end of the last thread. They're still a bit spendy, but definitely more affordable.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 16:07 |
Fifty Three posted:Awesome! I appreciate the food recommendations, especially since it doesn't look like there's much of a nightlife scene either. You should also get a beavertail when you're in Banff.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 16:40 |
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Yeah there isn't really much in Lake Louise besides the resort and a very few places to grab a bite or drink. Banff is basically the Breckenridge of Alberta, in that it's a well developed, fun ski town.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 18:31 |
We always talk about brands we like for outdoor wear and equipment, but is there anyone you guys won't buy poo poo from?
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 19:24 |
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Hi thread, All of my favourite kit have come from recs in this thread. I require your services once more! I'm looking for new snowboard boots. I'm currently using like 7 year old Burton imperials. Admittedly probably sub 20 day seasons on average during that span, but they are starting to cause some issues around the ankle strap since I got much stiffer board last season Fullbag Diamond Blade (THANKS THREAD) So. I'm looking for new boots. The imperials are the stiffest boot I've ever owned so I probably don't want to go quite HYPER stiff, but definitely on that end. All I do anymore is go fast and carve hard, but comfort is still #1 My local shops sell lots of Thirty two, Deeluxe, K2, Ride, Burton and Vans Obviously I'm going to select the boot that feels best to me, but I wouldn't mind some help narrowing things down! TIA
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 19:54 |
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Good to know. If I could do it over again I probably would have booked a hotel in Banff rather than in Lake Louise itself. As it is we probably won't have many options for going out and getting back to Lake Louise at the end of a night. Oh well, still gonna be dope. Edit: Looks like there's a Lake Louise-Banff bus.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 20:38 |
Disinterested posted:We always talk about brands we like for outdoor wear and equipment, but is there anyone you guys won't buy poo poo from? Arcteryx hosed over a friend of mine on warranty for the armpit zipper of a jacket that came apart at the seam. For $500+ per jacket yeah, you better loving fix that under warranty, so I wouldn't buy from them.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 21:04 |
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Disinterested posted:We always talk about brands we like for outdoor wear and equipment, but is there anyone you guys won't buy poo poo from? Burton.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 22:27 |
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highme posted:I can get lenses on that pro-form I posted about near the end of the last thread. They're still a bit spendy, but definitely more affordable.
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# ? Oct 25, 2018 22:38 |
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Fifty Three posted:Good to know. If I could do it over again I probably would have booked a hotel in Banff rather than in Lake Louise itself. As it is we probably won't have many options for going out and getting back to Lake Louise at the end of a night. Oh well, still gonna be dope. Yeah it's worth partying in Banff for a night or two, do it.
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# ? Oct 26, 2018 05:08 |
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Eejit posted:Yeah it's worth partying in Banff for a night or two, do it. you'll get STIs from aussies
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# ? Oct 26, 2018 21:55 |
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Landsknecht posted:you'll get STIs from aussies I recall reading that sometime in the last decade, Banff was the highest for STI rates in all of Canada
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# ? Oct 27, 2018 02:43 |
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Couple of metres of snow forecast in Zermatt over the next week. Shame I'm booked in for surgery on my knee on Tuesday. They are drilling in from underneath to push the top of the bone and cartilage back into place, and then filling the gap left with allograft bone material. Then screwing a plate to the top bit to hold it together. Looks like I'll be getting my ski fix vicariously from this thread!
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# ? Oct 27, 2018 09:10 |
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Cold outside in western Norway, but not winter yet. But I've got a big cup of coffee and there's world cup GS on!
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# ? Oct 27, 2018 09:37 |
Eejit posted:I recall reading that sometime in the last decade, Banff was the highest for STI rates in all of Canada I'm pretty sure that title bounces between Whistler and Banff pretty evenly hahaha.
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# ? Oct 27, 2018 17:10 |
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born on the mountain, raised in a cave huckin and fuckin is all that I crave
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# ? Oct 28, 2018 03:17 |
Also someone made an instagram account called whistler_memes and it's super accurate for anyone who has spent a lot of time up here. Most of them I'm sure you can apply to literally every single other ski town, too, just change the names of the bars/restaurants slightly.
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# ? Oct 28, 2018 06:26 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 09:41 |
Maybe I'll try to write a post about racing soon.
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# ? Oct 28, 2018 08:39 |