We’ve reduced our previous season stock by up to 75% so whether you want a high spec ski jacket at a fraction of what you’d pay peak season or you’ve got a family to kit out, the savings are massive. Buying off season is the way to go if you’re on a budget but don’t want to compromise on the quality and technological innovation you’d expect from top brands like Peak Performance, Columbia and Smith Optics.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Known as a fitness fanatic, Pippa took on the notoriously tough 56-mile Vasaloppet Cross Country Ski Race in Salen, Sweden, without any experience of the sport.

The 28-year-old and her 23-year-old brother James pledged to finish the challenge to raise funds for the Magic Breakfast charity, which provides a pre-school meal to poor inner-city children in the UK. So far they have raised £7,500 for the cause.

Pippa Middleton skis to great finish

Unsurprisingly, however, the competitive Pippa pulled off a 412^th position out of some 15,800 skiers, despite sub-zero temperatures and very little on-skis training. Her seven hours, 13 minutes and 36 seconds – which was described by veterans as a “very impressive” time – was only 28 minutes behind James.

The sister of the Duchess of Cambridge is already a good downhill skier but getting to grips with the cross-country skiing version took a lot of guts and a high-speed learning curve. However, Pippa was seen to struggle with her balance at times and had to work hard to keep up a good rhythm and style.

After the event, Pippa told reporters: “I have never really skied cross-country before… but I did do lots of fitness training in the UK to prepare for the race, as well as two weekends spent skiing in Switzerland.”

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Britney told Stylist magazine: “My dream holiday would be with my children, of course, and my boyfriend. We’d probably just go skiing somewhere really beautiful and have hot chocolate, in a cabin.

“I’m not a good skier but I enjoy the process of learning. I do get frustrated when I see little kids go really fast beside me but, for the most part, once you get going and you’ve got an idea of how you’re going to ski, it’s kind of fun.”

We’re with you Britney!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Yes, of course, the whole event and all the competitions are extremely exciting but in particular something extraordinary happened in the air.

In the Big Air contest, spectators watched with dropping jaws as not one but two snowboarders pulled off an amazing triple cork – and landed it. For Mark McMorris it was the first time he’d tried a triple cork. He’s reported as saying: “I was trying back 14 double corks and it just felt possible.” So he went for the triple cork. “The first one I landed on my feet, but fell over. The second one I got.”

If you’re not up with the high-speed progression of snowboarding tricks in recent months, let’s give you the lowdown. In the summer, another awesome Norwegian rider Torstein Horgmo pulled the first-ever triple cork on a massive jump in his home country.

Then at the winter X Games, Horgmo managed to do it again, landing the triple cork trick on his final run of the big-air competition. He went on to win gold – and he did all this while nursing several broken ribs from an earlier accident.

After pulling off the trick, Horgmo confessed he “probably shouldn’t have gone for it”. “It’s maybe the stupidest thing I’ve done in my whole life,” he said. But the fans definitely welcomed the impressive stunt.

Sadness amid the highs at X Games

This Winter X Games was tinged with sadness, too. The event was dedicated to renowned freestyle skier Sarah Burke, who passed away on January 19, 2012 after a freak accident during training.

Other notable news form the X Games was Shaun White’s fifth year in a row taking gold in the Snowboard SuperPipe. This time scoring his first ever perfect 100.00 points.

We’re already looking forward to the Summer X Games!

Check out the video below!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Bright and bold skiing outfits

A top ski clothing combo for men, as seen on both skiers and boarders in the French Alps, is bright orange or yellow matched (?!) with bright blues and greens. Orange ski trousers were being partnered with fabulously blue jackets, while so many more men than ever before seemed happy to don yellow ski trousers and partner this with blue, red, green or orange ski jackets.

For women, the skiing clothes fashion focuses on bright pink, turquoise, lime green and some jackets feature several of these colours at once. The most popular look was either black or white trousers and a very brightly coloured jackets or else a black jacket combined with bright pink or bright green ski trousers.

And there was fur everywhere! Fur edged collars, hoods, cuffs, hems, trousers and hats. Seeing as Courchevel is a destination for the rich and famous in top resort 1850 (as well as the more budget conscious in Courchevel 1300), there appeared to be a fair number of Russians sported actual real-live fur clothing too. We’re not in favour of real fur but the fake fur-edged outfits looked pretty smart… until, presumably, they become drowned by wet snow.

Rainbow coloured lift queues

No longer is it dull to stand in a lift queue. Simply look around and count the number of different colours of jackets and trousers. See if you can match trousers with jackets (even if they are on other people) and count the numbers of shades of rainbow hues on display. We can recall years when ski clothing was black, white, pastel or faded out. These days, the clothing offers fabulous splashes of colour and fun, even when there’s a whiteout.

Top tips for wearing ski clothing colours with style

* Pulling off a combo of bright orange trousers and a bright green jacket isn’t easy for everyone. It seems to suit men, and especially boarders, the best.

* Avoid ski jackets and trousers that are exactly the same colour. So wearing bright yellow jackets and trousers is not going to be a winner … and you’ll most likely end up being called a Banana.

* Play it safe with a bold coloured jacket and black trousers or a black jacket and brightly hued ski pants. For women, bright pink and black look fab. For men, black pants and lime green jackets are swell.

* Accessorise with care. A ski outfit that includes black ski pants and a pink ski jacket only requires a little enhancement. Perhaps choose a white ski helmet with a pink design but try to avoid a full-on pink helmet! You could add a little contrasting colour with a pair of goggles that feature bright green or blue.

* Try not to go overboard with every item in a different colour – unless you want to look like a children’s TV show presenter. Bright is great but only in small amounts.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Great tips for happy family ski hols

Two young for skis? Not at all! The French start their kids on skis from as young as two, so why don’t you? Children in France are not born with special skiing abilities, they just learn from a young age and they pick it up much quicker that us Brits. Yes, we know they have more opportunities for skiing but we can take our children skiing at dry ski slopes and indoor arenas at home. Snowboarding isn’t so easy because of the balance required, but a sporty five or six-year-old will get the hang of snowboarding (probably faster than mum or dad!)

Go at Easter…When the ski resorts temperatures are likely to be higher. A sun and snow holiday is ideal for families.

Book at a child-friendly resort: Plenty of resorts and hotels now offer special care for children too young to ski. There will likely be kids clubs and extra facilities laid on for kids up to the age of 12. But do remember to enjoy some time with your youngsters, too. Why not take the kids out for fun in the snow with a sledge or to build a snowman?

Ski kit for the kids…Is the same as for the adults, only smaller. Essentials include warm ski clothing, good quality socks, sunglasses, suncream and a helmet.

Can you hire? Ski equipment for little ones is available in most ski resorts, but also think about hiring a buggy. It’s easier to hire than to travel with bulky items when you’re travelling with young children.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Organisers of the Olympic Alpine event are delighted that the course is already taking shape. But they are aware that adaptations will be required to create a truly “perfect” downhill course. Bends can sometimes be too tight, or too close together, or not tight enough and so the course will see continual changes to it over the next couple of years.

Big changes for Olympic resort

Krasnaya Polyana is renowned as Russia’s most sophisticated ski and snowboard resort and is often called the “Russian Courchevel”. It’s a resort famed for delightfully groomed pistes  – and overly high prices. The lifts are fast and convenient, the runs are usually in good condition so long as the snow is in abundance and there are a good number of comfortable mini hotels at the village and comfy apres-ski bars.

Today, the resort and the nearby village of Rosa Khutor is evolving quickly into a much larger resort.  There are plans for a great deal more hotels, shops and restaurants. The resort will need to cater for a large number of winter athletes and spectators. There will also be an exciting legacy for the region as the newly enlarged resort attracts holidaymakers post-Olympics.

New rail and road links are also being built along the valley. It’s called Europe’s biggest construction project – and certainly the promise of an Olympics event in Russia is causing a great deal of excitement.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Felicity also set another record: Becoming the first human to ski solo across Antarctica using only her own muscle power.

Her amazing skiing feat took 59 days, covering 1,084 miles pulling two weighty sledges. Felicity started from the Leverett Glacier in November and on making it to Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf, she tweeted: “Congratulations to the 1st female to traverse Antarctica SOLO.V proud”

However, bad weather hampered her immediate return to civilisation and she was forced to wait it out in her tent for a plane ot pick her up. She said she was looking forward to a glass of red wine!

We wonder who will be next for the skiing record books.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The project – which was a joint venture between Signal Snowboards, Surf Prescriptions and Future Fins – wasn’t easy because the board needed to work perfectly on the ocean and in the snowy mountains. While similar style activities, each sport requires a different shape of board, water and snow carving potential and the ability to absorb shock in both environments.

So, the team decided to build a snowboard inside a surfboard. First a surfboard was re-engineered with the aim of insetting a wooden snowboard along the entire length of the surfboard. This took some careful slicing with a knife, a bit of mathematics and a few churning stomachs, racing hearts and sweat. Then a centre fin was added. And after that, the whole snurfboard was coated in fibreglass.

But the test was always going to be in the action. First up was top surfer Rob Machado, who was asked to put the snurfboard through its paces on the ocean waves. “I’m excited. I love the tail, already. It’ll work, for sure,” Rob said when he first took a look at the board.

After waxing it up, the new board revealed its ability on the waves. “I like this real low rocker. It carves really good,” said Rob.

Then came the test on snow. This time it was pro snowboarder Curtis Ciszek’s turn. Curtis rode the board with the snowboarder stabilising centre fin in place so the board would respond well at high speeds. Curtis had a ball on the snurfboard.

Take a look at the board in action on this YouTube video: A Fish Out of Water

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Of course, thanks to mobile phones it has become easier over the years to stay in touch with fellow holidaymakers while in a ski resort, but even then it can be difficult to explain which chairlift you’re at, or the exact café. Don’t they always look so similar?

Now a new app could make life a lot easier for skiers and snowboarders. The MotionX-GPS App for iPhone and iPod touch has been enhanced with a new ski/snowboard mode. The new features allow you to see exactly where your friends and family are on the mountain via live position updates. This is sure to make it a great deal easier for meeting up on the slopes and tracking each other.

Most importantly, however, the app will mean you do not waste valuable time waiting around for each other, and instead get in more hours of skiing and snowboarding!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.