Forget about Nordic....touring is the real thing



You do the work on the way up - and have your fun on the way down!

I think the opposite is true. Mind you I am not into gentle slopes and carving....

Most boarders spend half thier time sitting on thier A*!ses which is fine by me as long as they don't block the slope.

I had Flows for a few years which worked great, I could come off the chair, put my back foot in the binding, reach down and pull up the back. Then I changed boots and this was no longer possible. There are lots of step-in bindings but they all have thier pros/cons. The only step in I found that works is the one I have fitted to my Ultra-prime which uses hard boots.

After a bit of practise, the traditional bindings are quick to get on.

We are getting snow-shoes this winter - so might give it a go with the board

Earn your turns!! Those are always the best days, with the best powder turns. Backcountry baby!! Bring a becon or bacon.

Two words. Salomon bindings. The fastest traditional binding. Love them.

Flows are great - no matter what the anti lobby say ....
Wouldn't be with them

It's pretty easy to get into - when you next see a sharp turn in the piste ahead of you, cut the corner and ski through the powder (try and avoid the tracks of people who have done this before). You have then started to ski off piste.

Cut the corners more and more, spending more and more time off piste, and you'll get used to it.

ya know, that always was so frustrating when I had to get up that early to minimize the risk of getting swallowed by an avalanche and to find out that the weather is gonna change after climbing up ....

.... and it wonders me how you go touring after a day in the office, because we have a lightning installation on the Nordic-track

All the cross-country skiing trails in the Jura are now open- and today is a Winter Wonderland - lots of very dry, fluffy snow. blue skies and lovely sunshine. My local areas is Les Cernets-La Brévine - so if any of you are coming this way this winter - meet you on the pistes. The lovely thing about the Jura, is that you cross-country ski on the top of the mountains, with fabulous views across Switzerland, it is much quieter and you can link up all the way from Geneva to Basel. For the best views of the Alps go to Les Rasses/Les Cluds near St Croix (above Yverdon). Enjoy.

Just wondering - how many here enjoy all three?

For those in the Neuchatel area, La Robella in Buttes is opening this week-end- great snow, lovely weather.

California Dreamer - I so admire tourers- they are the real athletes (with the lycra x-country skating/cross country brigade we have here in the Jura).
This is how I learnt as a kid in the early 50s - we would schlep it up to the Chasseron (about 3 hours) with our seal skins (still got several boxes in the barn) strapped to our wooden skis as tight as poss - have a pic-nic at top then ski down (20 mins). In the 60s, as teenagers, we would do the same, but later in the day - a fondue at Chasseron with lots of wine and kirsch, then ski down at about 3am! How we survived??

Any telemarkers here? I would just love to do that now - but as a kid, it was a style we laughed at because it was only done by the very old guys. Sadly a very bad knee (car crash a long time ago) - will just not allow me to bend as required- but it does look so stylish. Jealous!

Hi !

This is all great to read, as I've been wondering if I should try boarding or stick with the little bit of skiing I've done [which is 1 week of skiing in the French Alps 10 years ago.. taught by my sister-in-law, who did a good job, but still..]. Also I am just a naive flatlander, not mountain-minded at all [I brought my city bike with the kids' seats on it, thinking I could bike around here happily just like that :/]

Question to the experienced: where do I start best? I guess with taking lessons at any rate.. is France a cheaper option or is there not much difference?
I live close to Vallorbe [beneath Dent de Vaulion], and there are French pistes close by. We drove past a wonderful white hill where a woman was just boarding all by herself, it looked so free! But I guess it's not that simple

It's a pity that eveything's melting away now..

Anyway, enjoy!

Hey, nice to hear from you, as we are just over the mountain! From Vallorbe the nearest ski resort is Jougne/Metabief/Mont d'Or - only 10 mins up the road. It's also our nearest resort, coming from the other way. The very cheapest lessons you'll find will be at the tiny resort of Les Fourgs, just a 5 minutes beyond. There is a café right at the bottom of the slope, next to the Ski school. See you on the piste one day perhaps? Would you fancy cross country skiing too?

Skiing is easier, you can go faster and all, but let's face it, snowboarding is funner and 1,000 times cooler.

You learn first to ski and when you've mastered that, you go to snowboarding for a different challenge. Snowboarding is rough at first and you get all banged up and bruised. In the end it's worth it. It seems to me that when you hit your early 40s, snowboarding just takes too much out of your body and therefore, it's time to make the switch back to skiing.

When I first came here 15 years ago I had never set foot on a snowy mountain before. With my then-boyfriend's encouragement I strapped on a pair of skis and "had a go". 2 seasons and many lessons later I could just about do an almost parallel turn (i.e. I was rubbish) although I could get around blues and reds without falling down.

I then (with the encouragement of a new boyfriend) decided to give snowboarding a go, and yes, the falls were more frequent and more painful in the beginning. Snowboard falls go "thwack" face/butt plant full speed. But after just one week I actually was able to do it and even (dare I say it?!) look just a little bit cool doing it. I never went back to my skis and had more and more fun on my board.

My personal experience was that I found it hard learning to ski well - more technique is required, whereas with snowboarding it's a lot more about having a go and you need less technical prowess to get about and have fun.

Knee pads when learning to snowboard will save a lot of pain though! Nobody had them when I was learning and I remember clearly having kneecap-size bruises on each knee. We didn't have helmets back then either (nobody did) and in the confident-but-not-very-in-control stage of learning, I knocked myself out on some very hard ice. This is not good - because you tend to keep on going when you are travelling at speed on a slope with a slidey thing strapped to your feet and not making an active effort to stop - I travelled a long way down.... fortunately there were no cliffs or trees in the way and I ended up relatively unharmed at the bottom but not a nice way to get down. Definitely a good idea to get a head protector .

Very helpful stuff. Considering learning either as complete beginner this winter.

I think most people who can do both will say that Skiing is easier to learn as a beginner. It's more logical as in some ways it's a progression of walking. You face forward while on the move and you lean into the turn in a relatively natural way. When skiing as a beginner if you focus on two things it will always work. Lean forward and keep pressure on the outside ski. If you push the edge of the outside ski hard into the snow it will turn. If you have the right location (location is vitally important) almost anyone can start parallel turning in a day or so.

Snowboarding is a little less natural (I come from a boardsports background and even think so!) You stand sideways and you really have to concentrate on which edge is in the snow at the beginning. The falls are also a little more brutal as you legs are essentially strapped together.

Once you have the basics of both it's easier to progress to off-piste on a snowboard then it is on skis.

For someone totally new to snowsports who wants to give it a go, I'd be VERY careful about choosing location and put them on skis rather then a snowboard. I've thought friends from scratch on both skis and boards and it is much easier(and less painful) to get results on skis then it is on a snowboard at the beginning.

The best athlete on the mountain is the one having the most fun. Whether you're a snowboarder or a skier.

I personally think that telemark skiing is the "most natural" feeling that the OP mentioned and allows the most options (piste, off piste, backcountry, even skiing with your heels down). Sold my alpine gear 15 years ago and haven't looked back.

Hope all of you are making some great turns this winter...

All you need to know about the first day on a pair of skies.