172: The Haute Route, Off-Piste in Verbier & Les 3 Vallées Enduro

We discuss the famous Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt, plus we look in detail at Verbier in Switzerland. Iain was joined by ski journalists Katie Bamber and Tristan Kennedy.

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SHOW NOTES

Katie was last on the show in Episode 168 talking about #VanLife (0:30)

Read Katie’s piece about Jackson Hole, Wyoming here (1:00)

Tristan was calling in from the Hotel Suisse in Champery, Switzerland (2:15)

Please vote for The Ski Podcast in the ‘Best Wilderness’ category in the Sports Podcast Awards (4:30)

The Ski Podcast is sponsored by Les 3 Vallées - the largest ski area in the world

Winter Legacy event in Courchevel is organised by Alexis Pinterault (5:15)

In Episode 98 Emily Sarsfield spoke about the AJ Bell Challenge (5:30)

Olivier Desaulty and Tom Herbst from Les 3 Vallées joined us to discuss the ‘Enduro’ (6:00)

The Les 3 Vallées Enduro takes place on Sunday 02 April

Alex Irwin from 150 Days of Winter reported from Courchevel (14:45)

Betony Garner was in Courmayeur in Italy (15:45)

Simon Burgess was skiing in Yad Moss in England on 11 March (16:45)

Find out more about Yad Moss in Episode 88 of The Ski Podcast

Sian Grigg from Pyrenean Odysseys reported on the current situation there

Iain travelled to Verbier by train (18:30)

Intersport Ski Hire gave Iain some Rossignol BlackOps Sender skis (19:30)

Read Al Morgan’s review of the BlackOps (19:45)

There were several major avalanches the day Iain arrived in Verbier (20:00)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tcENVVgHJrY

Robin Shah has reported for the podcast from Verbier on several occasions (21:30)

Iain and Robin skied the Three Fingers Couloir from Attelas (28:30)

Listen to our in-depth interview with Warren Smith in this special episode (29:00)

Can all ski resorts be categorised as either ‘fur’ resorts or ‘Goretex’ resorts? (33:30)

The final of the Freeride World Tour takes place in Verbier on 25 March (34:30)

Iain ate at two excellent restaurants: Le Rouge and La Nonna (35:00)

Dr. Michel Payot made the first ski crossing from Chamonix to Zermatt in 1903 (38:00)

The Patrouille des Glaciers race goes from Verbier to Zermatt (39:00)

Katie's trip on the Haute Route was organised by Adventure Base

Tristan travelled a new variant of the Haute Route (46:00)

Tristan recommends earplugs if staying in a refuge! (50:00)

There was double gold in the World Cup Snowboard Cross for Charlotte Bankes (56:00)

Mikaela Shiffrin has set a new World Cup skiing record with her 87th win (56:30)

Feedback (56:45)

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Thanks to Les 3 Vallées for sponsoring the show