This week, Iain is joined by Stephie Dijkman from Tignes. We discuss the challenges of this ‘saison blanche’ and plans for summer glacier skiing.



We find out more about the new National Snow Show, Charlie reports from Murren, we learn how to become a pisteur and discuss the impact of Brexit on UK tour operators.



Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code

Save money on your ski hire by using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ at intersportrent.com, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied at the checkout.



SHOW NOTES






Stephie Dijkman is Sales & Marketing Director at Tignes 
Buses in Tignes are operating fine, not like in Meribel (listen to Episode 68 for more on this)
Walking and snow shoeing have both been very popular with the lifts closed 
Would you try ice diving in Tignes?! 
Tignes have seen occupancy around 25%, compared to 95% usually for vacances scholaires - 55% of their clientele to come from outside France 
Tignes have announced summer skiing on the glacier from 19 June to 01 August
Zermatt charges considerably more for race training

Research from the Mountain Trade Network suggests that more people are looking for longer two week holidays
Workations are becoming more popular, both Courchevel and La Clusaz have had special ‘teletravail’ offers
Joe Ponte is CEO at Hotelplan includes Inghams, Flexiski, Esprit and Ski Total

SBIT are campaigning to try and help employers of seasonal staff
You can listen to the full version of this interview in our Special Episode released last week
Friend of the show Katy Dartford was in Les Menuires
Catherine Cosby from Mountains 4 All reported in from Gstaad in Switzerland
Jim was reporting from Bulgaria
Charlie Rees has been in Murren
The Bond film ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ was filmed here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrkerh77MYY
Tom Greenall has trained to become a pisteur in France. This will be released as a special podcast next week

The National Snow Show will take place at the Birmingham NEC from 23-24 October 2021

Ski Sunday prompted a lot of discussion after a feature on diversity in their last episode
We interviewed the founders of Mount Noire in Episode 61

Listen to our ski podcast special about Benjamin Alexander


 

Feedback



Janet Barnett: "Thanks again for continuing to keep us informed & entertained on all things skiing"

 

Jonny Goldsborough: "Long term listener, tks for keeping the ski vibe going in challenging times!"

 

Nicky: "You are keeping me going whilst working from home"

 

Pete: "Been a listener since the beginning. Great podcast entertaining and informative. Keep up the good work."

 

I'd like to thank all of these guys, who also bought me a cuppa. If you enjoy The Ski Podcast, you can buy me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/theskipodcast

 

 Question: Jonny G asked about our 'least favourite resorts' 



Coming Up

 Interview with Martin Bell and we'll have more from Charlie in Murren about the Inferno

69: Tignes, Murren 007, Joining the Ski Patrol & The National Snow Show

Want to know more about the world of skiing?

The Ski Podcast is an award-winning podcast with over 200 episodes covering all aspects of the world of skiing and snowboarding, from resorts to racing, Ski Sunday to slush.

It is hosted by Iain Martin, who is joined by guests from the world of snow to chat about wintery stuff and probe around the avalanche of ski news.

The Ski Podcast was voted 'Best Wintersports Podcast' in the 2021 Sports Podcast Awards and nominated for 'Best Broadcast Programme' in the 2023 Travel Media Awards.

Iain is a freelance journalist and digital marketing consultant (https://www.skipedia.co.uk/) specialising in snowsports. He is also the founder of Ski Flight Free (http://www.skiflightfree.org) - a campaign to encourage skiers to take the train or drive to their ski holiday.

Before The Ski Podcast, he spent six winters working in the Alps, then founded and managed the season worker community 'Natives' from 1999 to 2011.

Listen to all our back catalog at http://www.theskipodcast.com

If you want to get in touch or take part you can email us: theskipodcast@gmail.com

Music: http://www.purple-planet.com Logo: http://www.vexels.com

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Hobbies

Games & Hobbies

Sports

Wilderness

Leisure

This is a special interview with Stu Brass - co-founder of ‘The Brits’, snowboard advisor to film & TV (including ‘Chalet Girl’ and ‘The Jump’) and ex-pro snowboarder. 



If you have followed skiing or snowboarding in the UK in the last two decades you will have seen Stu’s work. He co-founded ‘The Brits’ – the British freestyle championships – and his expertise in running events has meant that he worked on the movie ‘Chalet Girl’, the Channel 4 series ‘The Jump’ and has built pretty much every kicker you’ve seen at a UK ski show.



SHOW NOTES



Watch Alex’s video on the ice tunnel in Val Thorens (2:00)

 Listen to Iain’s interview with Chris Moran (2:30)

 The 2024 Brits took place at Tamworth Snowdome (3:00)

 View images from the event on the Brits Facebook page (4:15)

 Listen to Iain’s interview with Tim Warwood (5:00)

 The Brits will take place in Mayrhofen, Austria in 2025 (7:40)

 Stu learned to snowboard at Rossendale Dry Slope (11:15)

Stu’s first season was in Les Arcs with his brother Russ, @chrismoran_hbt, Steve Bailey and @markkent35 

 Stu’s cliff drop pic was featured in Transworld, Onboard, Snow Surf (16:00)

In 1998 Stu won the British Halfpipe Championships in Saas Fee (17:30)

 Snowboarding first featured in the Winter Olympics at Nagano in 1998 (18:00)

 Stu met Jenny Jones in Tignes and encouraged her to come to the British Champs (20:00)

 On a career direction change to becoming an agent (22:00) 

 ‘Show me the money’ (22:40)

 Damian Norman encouraged more snowboarding and features at the Ski Show (26:00)

 Listen to Iain’s interview with Jim Adlington (27:30)

Stu created the AIM Series (29:00)

 Creating slopes with real snow at the ski shows (33:00)

 Shipping snow from Holland to Austria for ‘The Greatest Snowman’ (35:00)

 Working on the movie ‘Chalet Girl’ (36:00)

 The TV programme ‘The Jump’ ran on Channel 4 for four seasons (39:00)

 Competitors included Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Rebecca Adlington and Louis Smith

 Find out about The Brits on their website (50:00) 



Feedback 

I enjoy all feedback about the show, I like to know what you think, especially about our features so please contact on social @theskipodcast or by email theskipodcast@gmail.com 

 

If you like the podcast, there are three things you can do to help:

  

1) Subscribe, so you never miss an episode

2) You can review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or leave us a comment on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or YouTube. 

3) You are very welcome to buy me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/theskipodcast



There are now 218 episodes of The Ski Podcast to catch up with. There is so much to listen to in our back catalog, just go to theskipodcast.com and search around the tags and categories: you’re bound to find something of interest to you. 



You can follow me @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast

213: Stu Brass, Founder 'The Brits' & Snowboarding Consultant on 'Chalet Girl' & 'The Jump'

In Episode 212 we find out about Valle Nevado and Portillo in Chile, what it’s like being a resort rep for the Ski Club of Great Britain and check in on a possible direct London-Geneva train.



Iain Martin was joined by travel journalist, Lou Cameron-Hall and artist and snowsports blogger, Martina Diez-Routh.



SHOW NOTES



Katie Bamber wrote this article on summer ski options (2:00)

 Iain skied in Saas Fee in the summer of 2020, covered in Episode 57 (3:20)

 Australia and NZ have had their first snow (3:30) 

 Chalet company Alpine Action has ceased trading (4:00)

 Listen to Episode 180 to find out more about the impact of Brexit on recruitment (4:30)

 In Episode 95, Iain spoke with Diane Palumbo from Skiworld, who is on the SBiT committee (4:45)

 Find out more about the Ski Club Consumer Survey in this blog post on Skipedia (5:00)

 The Youth Mobility Scheme has not been welcomed by UK politicians(5:15)

 The flight represents 60-70% of the carbon footprint of your ski holiday (5:45)

You can find out more about Inghams’ sustainability plans in Episode 185 and Episode 160 (6:00)

 Nadine McCormick set up the petition calling for London-Geneva direct train service (6:00) 

 You can sign the petition here (13:45)

 Eurostar also confirmed last week that they going to increase their fleet size by 30% (14:00)

 The Brits took place last weekend at SnowDome Tamworth (14:00)

 Iain interviewed Paddy Graham in Episode 211 to find out how ski movies like this were made (24:45)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbqHK8i-HdA

 Martina joined us for Episode 87 and Episode 50 covering the Aosta Valley (15:30)

 Valle Nevado and Portillo are the two main ski resorts in Chile 

 There’s only one accommodation option in Portillo (18:30)

 The sling-shot lift in Portillo takes some practice… (21:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRN9gKUDNak

 Valle Nevado links to El Colorado and La Parva (23:30)

 Mountain Capital Partners have bought La Parva (24:00) 

 Valle Nevado is on the Ikon Pass (25:00)

 Listen to our feature on Perisher and Thredbo in Episode  (27:00)

 Lou went on the Ski Club of Great Britain reps course (27:45)

 The Ski Club of Great Britain celebrated their 120th birthday in 2023 (35:00)

 Find out more about the Les 2 Alpes-Alpe d'Huez gondola link in Episode 93 (39:43)



 Feedback (38:00)

I enjoy all feedback about the show, I like to know what you think, especially about our features so please contact on social @theskipodcast or by email theskipodcast@gmail.com 



Robert Stone: "I recently discovered your podcast and found it very enjoyable. I skimmed previous episodes and was surprised to see you've never covered the Brit favourite of Sauze d'Oulx. It suffered an unfair reputation as a Benidorm-on-snow resort in the 90s, particularly after a very sneering Wish You Were Here episode. It's actually a charming old town and has a fabulous ski area linking to the huge Vialattea"

 

 Paul Bond: "Episode 210 was as ever great listening. I've skied all over Europe and finally skied in Baqueira in March. Plenty of challenge with a unique vibe but also easy for a mixed ability family to ski the same mountains and meet up. My top tip: Hire a car from Toulouse and stay in Vielha in valley: a great old town with lots of accommodation and good value eateries."

 

 Hayder Fekaiki from www.myskibuddy.app: "I hope it’s been a successful season and thank you for a very enjoyable podcast."



If you like the podcast, I’d really appreciate it if you could give us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 



‘Every Nickname is taken’ recently gave us a review on Apple Podcasts: “I like listening to the Ski Podcast when I’m driving up and down the country: there’s a great variety of guests and tons of useful information. It also reminds me of all the places we’ve skied and boarded over the years, while also giving me new ideas where to target next. Keep going and maybe one day we’ll meet on the slopes!”



There is so much to listen to in our back catalog, just go to theskipodcast.com and search around the tags and categories: you’re bound to find something of interest to you. 



You can follow me @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast

212: Portillo & Valle Nevado, Chile plus how to become a Ski Club of Great Britain rep

This special episode is an interview with pro-skier and filmmaker Paddy Graham. Paddy was one of the first wave of British freeskiers who burst out of the UK dry slope and indoor scene into the international arena in the early-2000s. 


Paddy is an extremely accomplished freeride and freestyle skier, but is best known for the incredibly creative ski films that he's starred in and produced, as co-founder of the legendary production company Legs of Steel. 



SHOW NOTES



Legs of Steel started in 2009 (2:45)

Paddy learned to ski at Sheffield Ski Village (6:00)

 Sheffield Ski Village had its own ‘fun park’ (8:00)

 Natives organised ‘The New Breed’ quarter-pipe comp at the Birmingham Ski Show

 Listen to Iain’s interview with Pat Sharples (10:00)

 Stu Brass organised the AIM series (11:30)

 Listen to Iain’s interview with Jim Adlington, founder of Planks Clothing (12:15)

 Paddy went to Serre Chevalier with Ben Hawker and Noddy Gowans (13:30)

He followed that with a trip to the States to film ‘Rad’ (16:00)

 Murray Buchan, James Kilner, James Carr and Laura Berry, Adam Gendle, Ed Leigh, Tim Warwood, Matt Barr and Jonny Verity were also on the trip (17:45)

 Red Bull asked Paddy to go for the Sochi Olympics (19:30)

 The ski movie ‘Same Difference’ in 2017 featured THE kicker (22:00)

 The kicker was created in Livigno (23:30)

 They needed to hit the kicker between 110-117 km/h (26:30)

 “It was like being shot out of a cannon!” (28:30)

 The second attempt at jumping did not go so well (31:00)

 ‘Action Men’ came out in 2020 (33:30)

 Legs of Steel crew produced ‘The Ultimate Run’ with Markus Eder in 2021 (33:45)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbqHK8i-HdA

 Paddy shot in Sheffield in 2023 after Storm Larissa (38:30)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb9lZlLMLUk

 Watch Paddy’s ‘How To’ features for Red Bull (45:00)

 'Skiers Jump over chairlift' was filmed for Red Bull at Mammoth Mountain (45:30)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1P0SeYt2TA 

 Listen to Iain’s interview with Kirsty Muir (48:00)

 Paddy has been on some very long bike rides! (49:45)

 Find out more about Stance Ski Socks (52:00)

 Advice for aspiring filmmakers and skiers (57:00)


Paddy wears a range of Stance socks which all feature Freshtek and Infiknit™ technology; Sargent Snow, Flynn Snow and Baron Snow. Freshtek Performance Mesh keeps you cool with maximised airflow and breathability, whilst Stance’s Infiknit™ technology never rips, never tears. 

 

FEEDBACK



 I enjoy all feedback about the show, I like to know what you think, especially about our features so please contact on social @theskipodcast or theskipodcast@gmail.com 

 

Tim Boyse: "I think I was “that guy“ you recently mentioned who listened to your very first episode. I retired to the Swiss Alps in 2017 and have listening since then. I loved the early episodes with Jim, but I have to say the podcast has gone from strength to strength since you took it on alone. Keep up the good work - you keep giving me so many ideas I can’t keep up."



rms1765 (Apple Podcasts): “I love the mix of guests on this podcast and everything you are doing to raise awareness about issues facing skiing.”



If you like the podcast, there are a couple of things you can do to help:

 

 1) Review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 

 2) Subscribe and every episode will automatically be downloaded for you



There are now 216 episodes to catch up with, and 91 were listened to in the last week. 50% of our listeners were in the UK, 18% in the States and the remaining 32% across the world, including Portugal, Taiwan and Brazil. 



You can follow me @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast.

211: Paddy Graham, Professional Skier & Filmmaker

We discuss Baqueira Beret in Spain and finding out about skiing in China – the fastest growing ski market in the world. 



Iain was joined by freelance journalist, Gabriella Le Breton and Justin Downes, President of Axis Leisure, who specialise in resort development in China.



SHOW NOTES



Gaby last skied in Andermatt (1:30)

Listen to Iain’s interview with Mike Goar, CEO of Vail Resorts in Andermatt (2:00)

 [Video] Things Americans find shocking about skiing in Europe! (3:30)

 Justin was last on snow at the indoor slope in Wuhan, China (4:15)

Andy Butterworth from Kaluma Ski skied in St Anton and Ischgl (5:00)

 The Black Eyed Peas are playing at Ischgl’s closing party (6:45)

 Susie Burt reported from Chamonix (8:00)

 Alex Armand from Tip Top Ski Coaching is in Les 2 Alpes (9:45)

 Listen to Iain’s interview in Episode 209 about the new Jandri 3S lift (11:00)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz0hrmQgVGg

 Les 2 Alpes will remain open until 07 July 

 Huge thank you to Messy Weekend for replacing the ski goggles I lost in Verbier (14:30)

 Take a look at the Vallon vizors here (15:15)

 Gaby visited Baqueira Beret in the Spanish Pyrénées (16:14)

 Heliskiing is possible in Baqueira (25:00)

Gaby stayed with Emerald Stay on her trip 

 Justin previously worked at Whistler and Kicking Horse in Canada (28:00)

 He then managed Hotham in Australia (30:00)

 Justin is now President of Axis Leisure (31:45)

 China has more indoor snowdomes than the rest of the world combined (32:15)

 There were around 30m skier days in China in 23/24, compared with around 50m in the USA (33:30)

 Justin expects China will become the biggest snowsports market in the world in 2025 (34:15)

 Eileen Gu and Su Yuming are huge influences on the growth of Chinese skiing (43:15)

 

 Feedback

I enjoy all feedback about the show, I like to know what you think, especially about our features so please contact on social @theskipodcast or by email theskipodcast@gmail.com 



Oliver Rutman: "Really great episode with Xavier De La Rue" 

 Quin Rescigno: "I found your podcast recently and have enjoyed listening." 

Darren Jer: "Congrats on getting the new Vail Resorts executive of Andermatt on your show." 



If you like the podcast, there are two things you can do to help: 

 

1) Review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 

2) Subscribe  (find all the links here at PodFollow) 



There are 215 episodes to catch up with and 134 were listened to in the last week. In the last week, 56% of our listeners were in the UK, 13% in the States and the remaining 31% across the world, including Turkey, Vietnam and Japan. 



You can follow me @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast

210: Baqueira Beret in Spain & the growth of skiing in China

We discuss Les 2 Alpes in France, Trysil in Norway and find out more about a great new way of travelling to the snow on your ski holiday.



Iain was joined by freelance journalist, Rebecca Miles and Tarrant Anderson, founder of Vans For Bands.



Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code

Save money on your ski hire by using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ at intersportrent.com, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied at the checkout. 



SHOW NOTES



David George joined me to discuss the impact of climate change on ski resorts in Episode 206 (3:30)

 Simon Burgess was in Flaine (3:45)

 Steve Angus reported from Val d'Isère (4:45)

 Alex Irwin from 150 Days of Winter reported from Courchevel (6:20)

 Iain took part in the X3 Triathlon in Courchevel in 2022 (7:00)

 It was the warmest start to April ever in France, hitting 29C in Grenoble & 27C in Albertville (8:15)

 This winter was already the third warmest winter in France (8:30)

 Lobbying is underway for a direct Train from London to GVA (8:45)

 Take a look at this year’s ski April Fools in this Skipedia blog post (9:15)

 Vail Resorts themed April Fools including Disney buying Vail Resorts &  Vail buys Alterra(12:30)

 Les 2 Alpes is a great trip for older teens looking for apres-ski! (13:30)

 Highly recommended is the Umbrella Bar (14:00)

 Anthony Guzman is Sales & Marketing Director at Les 2 Alpes lift company AEON (14:15)

 SATA has rebranded as AEON (15:15)

 You can find out more about the new Jandri 3S lift here (17:00)

 Iain drove to Les 2 Alpes in a 9-seater luxury splitter minivans from Vans For Bands (23:00)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tYRSizJYAE 

 Vans For Bands was founded in 2006 (23:15)

 The VFB coaches are like ‘hotels on wheels’ (26:30)

 Listen to Iain’s interview with Bode Miller (27:00)

 There is SO MUCH storage space (31:00)

 Vans cost from £145pd to rent, including insurance, breakdown cover & snow chains

 You can drive a splitter van on a regular driving licence (33:15)

Read Bec’s article about Trysil in The Telegraph (34:30)

 Becs flew into Scandinavian Mountain Airport (35:30)

 Find out more about Trysil ski resort (39:00)

 Have a look at the piste map for Trysil (40:30)

 Is Salen the closest ski resort to an airport? (42:15)

 Find out more about train travel to ski resorts at Ski Flight Free (46:00)

 Becs booked group train travel with Eurostar and SNCF at a good discount (46:45)

 

 Feedback (43:30)

I enjoy all feedback about the show, I like to know what you think, especially about our features so please contact on social @theskipodcast or by email theskipodcast@gmail.com 



Adam Fisher: "Really enjoy listening to the podcast, you're doing a great job. It helps me out with a bit of research. I'll just let you know that I am your English but Mexican listener as I spend a bit of time over there"

 

 Michael Hart: "Enjoyed listening to The Ski Podcast as usual. I appreciate the work you do both on sustainability, but mindful of the difficulties that skiers in the north/Scotland have with train travel. I have taken the decision to offset my carbon to mitigate air travel, but the lack of economically viable train option from Manchester and similar areas remains a problem."



 Andy Aitkenhead: "I found the recent episode on Andermatt and Vail Resorts of interest - I was in Andermatt just before the deal was announced. I'm heading to Engelberg in just over a week. I'm currently wrestling over travel - given my concerns around climate change. Currently my calculations are that it will be cheaper to fly. I wondered whether you have any tips for reducing the cost over the Eurostar and SNCF published prices. Keep up the good work with the podcast."

 

If you like the podcast, there are three things you can do to help:

  

 1) Review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

 2) Subscribe

 3) Book your ski hire with Intersport Rent using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied at the checkout

  

 You can follow Iain @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast 

69: Tignes, Murren 007, Joining the Ski Patrol & The National Snow Show

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