The Ski Podcast

• 256: Nova Scotia, Saint-Gervais, London Snow Show & Ski Touring in Tromsø

  Today we find out what it’s like to ski - and surf - in Nova Scotia, Canada. We discuss the new Valléen lift in Saint-Gervais, learn about Tromsø in Norway and we have all the latest news about the London Snow Show. There’s also snow reports from Down Under, your feedback and we exciting news about a new sponsor. Host Iain Martin was joined by Betony Garner and James Gambrill, CEO at SCGB and organiser of the London Snow Show. SHOW NOTES Betony was last on the show in Episode 65 (0:45) James was based in the White Haus in London for the recording of the show (2:45) Miss SnowItAll, Rachael Oakes-Ash runs the Snowsbest.com website (4:30) Guy Beatson reported from New Zealand (6:00) Tirol in Austria will be sponsoring The Ski Podcast this winter (7:00) Find out more about Ski Launch 2025 (8:45) Peak Retreats is now employee-owned (11:30) Is season four of The White Lotus going to be filmed in Megeve? (12:00) Find out more about Le Valléen gondola – the new lift connecting St Gervais (13:00) Find out about the spa – Les Thermes – in Saint-Gervais Le Fayet (15:00) The Thermes lift is powered by wastewater (17:00) James visited Nova Scotia (18:20) How about surfing in water that’s zero degrees? (23:00) Find out more about the London Snow Show Look out for Dave Ryding on the Saturday and the Carrick-Smith brothers on Sunday (26:30) Equipment expert, Al Morgan, and Iain will be talking about this year’s new kit (27:00) Iain will also be presenting on driving an EV to the Alps and what it’s like to ski on a live volcano Listeners to the podcast can get free tickets for the show using the code here (27:45) Betony went ski touring in Tromsø (28:00) Feedback I always enjoy listener feedback and I love to hear what you think about the show. You can leave a comment on Spotify, Instagram or Facebook – our handle is @theskipodcast – or drop me an email to [email protected]  Joseph Childs: "I also caught up on the Bladon Lines episode and really enjoyed it. Seems like it was an amazing time to be in the industry." There are now 271 episodes of The Ski Podcast to catch up with and 143 of those were listened to in the last week. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, then why not go to theskipodcast.com, have a search around the tags and categories and you’re bound to find something you’ll want to listen to too. You can follow me @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast. You can also follow us on WhatsApp for exclusive material released ahead of the podcast. Look in the Show Notes for that link. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help the podcast, there are three things you can do:  -          Follow us, or subscribe, so you never miss an episode -          Give us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a comment on Spotify -          Save yourself some money on your ski hire by using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ when you book at intersportrent.com 

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• 255: Walking to the Alps in Ski Boots, Montane’s Repair Claire & the Re-Action Collective

  We find out what it’s like walking to the Alps in ski boots, plus we have a focus on sustainability, looking at how different ski businesses are working together; what the UTMB are doing to reduce their impact; plus we have an interview with ‘Repair Claire’ from Montane. Host Iain Martin was joined in the studio by Heather Davies from the Re-Action Collective and by Reuben Gray and Matt Brinkley from King of the Hill, and down the line by Rachael Oakes-Ash in Australia.  Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code If you’re booking ski hire this winter, don’t forget that you can help The Ski Podcast and save yourself some money on your ski hire by using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ when you book at intersportrent.com. That applies to any ski hire booked in their massive network across France, Austria and Switzerland. You’ll get a guaranteed additional discount, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied.  SHOW NOTES Miss SnowItAll, Rachael Oakes-Ash runs the Snowsbest.com website (3:30) Details of the apres ski bands for the London Snow Show have been announced (5:15) Iain and our equipment expert, Al Morgan, will be talking about this year’s new kit on Saturday Listeners to the podcast can get free tickets for the show (6:00) Iain took part in the OCC ultra marathon (6:30) UTMB have introduced some impressive new policies on sustainability (7:00) Iain spoke with Fabrice Perren, head of sustainability at UTMB (7:00) Find out about The Green Runners (7:45) UTMB are introducing a new system of compulsory offsetting (8:15) Iain used a Minimus Lite running jacket from Montane at the OCC (9:00) Listen to Episode 218 for more on Arcteryx’s repair work (9:45) Iain spoke to ‘Repair Claire’ from Montane (9:45 Heather is a co-founder of the Re-Action Collective (13:15) One Tree at a Time was set up by Gavin Ferney-Jones (13:30) Check out back catalog for interviews with Cirkel Supply, Montagne Verte, EcoSki and Whitestorm Find out about Tentshare (21:30) Find out about the new film ‘Actionism’ (23:00) Reuben and Matt walked in ski boots to the Alps (25:30) Look out for their new app King of the Hill (27:00) The boys used Sidas Boot Traction to protect their boots (31:30) It took them 50 days to walk 690 miles (32:15) Follow the boys on Instagram(36:30) They have raised money for Snowcamp and McMillan Cancer Research (37:00) Feedback (37:00) I always enjoy listener feedback and I love to hear what you think about the show. You can leave a comment on Spotify, Instagram or Facebook – our handle is @theskipodcast – or drop me an email to [email protected]  Lynsey: "Always listen to the podcast and it's been a lovely escape in the recent hot weather! Bring on the winter!" Adam Fisher: "Keep up the good work!" Dennis: “I'm a big fan of your podcast and I thoroughly enjoyed your appearance on Stuart Winchester’s Storm podcast.” Comment on Spotify: “Hi, I'm 13 and love skiing. This podcast is helping me get through the summer. I’m from Germany by the way!” David Musson enjoyed my interview with Mark Smith, The Man in Seat 61, in Episode 233 There are now 270 episodes of The Ski Podcast to catch up with and 136 of those were listened to in the last week. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, then why not go to theskipodcast.com, have a search around the tags and categories and you’re bound to find something you’ll want to listen to too. You can follow Iain @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast. You can also follow us on WhatsApp for exclusive material released ahead of the podcast. Look in the Show Notes for that link. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help the podcast, there are three things you can do:  -          you can follow us, or subscribe, so you never miss an episode -          you can give us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a comment on Spotify -          (both of those actions help other listeners to find us) -          Or you can book your ski hire at Intersportrent.com using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’

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• Flashback: Warren Smith, Celebrity Ski Instructor

  In this ‘flashback’ episode, Iain speaks with ‘ski instructor to the stars’ Warren Smith, from the Warren Smith Ski Academy.  We talk about how Warren got into skiing and his journey to Verbier via the Hemel Hempstead dry ski slope and Seefeld in Austria. There’s plenty about the early days of the UK freestyle scene, working with many of the youngsters who have now become Olympians, as well as the celebrities that he’s taught over the years, including Laurence Dallaglio, Prince Harry, Princess Eugenie, Louis Smith, Bradley Wiggins and more. Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code As we are looking ahead to this winter, don’t forget that if you want to help The Ski Podcast and save yourself some money this winter…just use the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ when you book your ski hire at intersportrent.com. That applies to any ski hire booked in their massive network across France, Austria and Switzerland. You’ll get a guaranteed additional discount, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied.  SHOW NOTES   Warren learned to ski at the Hemel Hempstead dry ski slope, before it was recreated as The Snow Centre – an indoor snow slope His first snow experience was on a school trip to Saalbach in Austria, when the coach broke down Phil Gordon presents the ‘Legends of the Brand’ podcast (3:30) Warren’s first qualification was as a UK dry slope instuctor (4:45) He first taught on snow in Seefeld in Austria, before moving to Verbier in 1994 (5:00) Joyce Read from Ski Verbier was an early mentor (6:00) You can watch ‘Blizzard of Aaaahs’ – the famous ‘extreme’ ski movie – on YouTube Jamie Strachan designed top sheets for Volkl and brought Warren on their team in winter 1998/99 (8:45) Strachan also designed many of the legendary ChamJam posters (9:30) Listen to Iain’s interview with GB Snowsports coach Pat Sharples in this bonus episode of The Ski Podcast (10:15) Stu Brass and Spencer Claridge were behind the AIM Series of events and built the freestyle features for events like the London Ski Show and The Jump (11:00) Iain launched Natives.co.uk in April 1999 (12:00) Other early freestyle projects that Warren set up were the British Freestyle Camps and the Ride Series  Pat talks about the impact of the Salomon 1080 on the freestyle scene in this interview, as does Jim Adlington (founder of Planks) in our bonus episode with him (14:00) Paddy Graham came out of the Sheffield dry slope scene and is still producing award-winning movies with the ‘Legs of Steel’ crew (17:30) Warren also produced movies such as the ‘Snow’s In The House’ series and ‘Snow Odyssey’ featuring a 16-year-old Candide Thovex (19:00) Warren’s ‘Go Ski’ technique book and DVD is available online (25:00) Rob Sawyer from the Farinet Bar in Verbier recommended Warren to England rugby player Laurence Dallaglio (28:00) Other celebrities that Warren has skied with or instructed in Verbier include James Blunt, Princess Eugenie and Prince Harry (33:00) Listen to Peter Hardy’s anecdotes about James Blunt in our special episode Louis Smith, Spencer Matthews and Jason Robinson were among the quickest learners that Warren coached for the wintersports reality show ‘The Jump’ (35:00) The Warren Smith Ski Academy now has a team of 15 instructors with key focus on biomechanics (39:00) Find out about the Carv device here (45:00) The Academy also offers ‘Gap Year’ Instructor Qualification courses, having changed from BASI to the Irish IASI qualification in 2013 (45:30) The Warren Smith Ski Academy will be at the National Snow Show at the Birmingham NEC on 15/16 October 2022 (48:00) Courses start in Cervinia from 06 November for five weeks, then on to Verbier. Warren will be leading a trip to Japan in February (50:00) Listen to how Iain got on in Verbier in March 2023 in Episode 172 If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help the podcast, there are three things you can do:  -          follow us, or subscribe, so you never miss an episode -          give us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a comment on Spotify -          ‘buy me a coffee’ at buymeacoffee.com/theskipodcast

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• 254: Les Arcs in summer, Tour de France, new lifts in La Plagne & the Flocon Vert

  We look at Les Arcs in summer, find out about La Plagne’s new lifts and the ‘Flocon Vert’ – the sustainability award for ski resorts in France. There’s snow reports from Australia and New Zealand, as well as a special report on the new Soho Basin area in Cardrona from Ski Sunday’s Ed Leigh, plus we find out what it was like when the Tour de France came to the Alps.  Host Iain Martin was joined by La Plagne expert, Jen Tsang and Claire Tollis from the Mountain Riders association in France. Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code We haven’t quite started up winter yet in Europe, but I know people are booking their holidays, so if you want to help The Ski Podcast and save yourself some money on your ski hire this winter…just use the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ when you book at intersportrent.com. That applies to any ski hire booked in their massive network across France, Austria and Switzerland. You’ll get a guaranteed additional discount, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied.  SHOW NOTES Find out more about SnowCamp in Episode 249 (2:15) Miss SnowItAll, Rachael Oakes-Ash from Snowsbest.com reported from Down Under (3:45) Guy Beatson sent in his snow report from New Zealand (5:45) Listened to Iain’s interview with Ed Leigh in Episode 236 (7:15) Ed has been riding the new Soho Basin ski area at Cardrona, NZ (7:30) Alex Irwin from 150 Days of Winter was in Courchevel for the Tour de France (10:15) Stage 19 went from Albertville to La Plagne (12:00) A new gondola has been proposed from Aime to La Plagne (19:15) The 2030 Winter Olympics will be held in France (20:00) The new Roche de Mio gondola will open this winter (24:30) Iain was in Les Arcs for ‘Le Trail des Arcs’ (27:30) There’s a lot to do in Les Arcs in summer, including chilling at Nama Springs (28:30) Find out about the ‘Hero Pass’ and ‘Hero Camp’ (28:45) Everyone loves the sound of cow bells (30:30) Iain stayed at the Refuge du Mont Pourri (32:00) 25% of all visitors to Les Arcs come by train (33:45) Les Arcs is the only ski resort in Europe with B Corp status (34:00) Visit the 'Mountain Riders' website (34:30) Find out more about the 'Flocon Vert' (36:30) and Montagne Zero Dechet (38:45) Feedback (42:00) I always enjoy listener feedback and I love to hear what you think about the show. You can leave a comment on Spotify, Instagram or Facebook – our handle is @theskipodcast – or drop me an email to [email protected]  If you haven’t listened to Episode 252 yet, I strongly recommend that you do. It’s the story of Bladon Lines – in my opinion it’s the best episode I’ve ever produced (42:30) Thanks to all of the following for their kind words about it: Nicola Anderson, Debbie Marshall, Jilly Hooper, Nico Stanford, Victoria Clay, Kirsten Nicholl, Matt Hayes Lesley Glass, Fiona Parkhurst, Colin Barnett, Craig Mayhew, Giles Helbert, Diane Palumbo, Joanna Yellowlees-Bound, Martin Carver, Alex Irwin, Andrew Brannan, Mike Greenland, James Buist and Snowheads MikePow and Kenzie. I was most touched to receive this message from George Lines, son of co-founder Mark Lines, who tragically died in a car accident in 1990: "I very much enjoyed this, Iain. I still ski each year in my dad’s parrot onesie and regularly get pulled over by people keen to share fond BL memories. A couple of years ago in Val D’Isere, one group told me that they are all friends because their parents had met doing seasons with BL and they still all ski together now. You and the contributors captured that sense of community so well." There are now 268 episodes of The Ski Podcast to catch up with. If you enjoyed this episode, then go to theskipodcast.com, have a search around the tags and categories and you’re bound to find something you’ll want to listen to too. You can follow Iain @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast. You can also follow us on WhatsApp for exclusive material released ahead of the podcast. Look in the Show Notes for that link. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help the podcast, there are three things you can do:  -          Follow us, or subscribe, so you never miss an episode -          Give us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a comment on Spotify -          Book your ski hire at Intersportrent.com using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’

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• Flashback: Tony McWilliam, Founder of Faction Skis

  In this special ‘Flashback’ episode, Iain speaks with Tony McWilliam - founder of one of the world's leading snowsports brands - Faction Skis.   We find out what inspired Tony to start Faction, how he smuggled his first batch of 44 skis across the Swiss border to Verbier, meeting freeski legend Candide Thovex when he was just 16 years old and how he grew Faction to become one of the most famous ski brands in the world. Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code If you want to help The Ski Podcast and save yourself some money this winter…just use the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ when you book your ski hire at intersportrent.com. That applies to any ski hire booked in their massive network across France, Austria and Switzerland. You’ll get a guaranteed additional discount, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied.  SHOW NOTES Tony designed my first brochure for my first business, Natives.co.uk You can listen to our Ski Podcast Special with Pat Sharples here Faction skis started in 2003 BoardX took place in Battersea for several years You can listen to our Ski Podcast with Jim Adlington here Other key contacts for Tony in the early years were Phil Martin, Gordy Hughes and Matt Reardon He worked closely with Peter Bauer, founder of Amplid The first range of Faction skis had a waist of 80-110mm Initially the skis were made in Annecy before production moved to Austria Skis like the Seth Pistol were an inspiration Jamie Strachan’s designs for Volkl were another influence The first run of Faction skis was just 44 pairs – they now sell 35,000 pairs every year globally Sam Smoothy is a NZ freeride skier Ski Service in Verbier was the first store to stock Faction Skis Tony first met Candide Thovex as a 16-year-old rider in Les Arcs Check out Candide in China here (he took 27 pairs of skis with him for that shoot!) Tony launched an eco-friendly outerwear brand, GHOSTS, on Kickstarter in 2019 He also worked with Eric Pollard – ex-Line Skis – on the launch of the new ski and snowboard range Season Eqpt Find out about Candide’s outerwear brand Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code You can help The Ski Podcast and save yourself some money on your ski hire by using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ at intersportrent.com. Alternatively, simply take the link in the Show Notes and your discount will automatically be applied.  If you like the podcast, there are three things you can do to help: 1) Review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify – helps listeners find us 2) Subscribe –it every episode will automatically be downloaded for you, so you can catch up at your leisure 3) Book your ski hire with Intersport Rent using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ or take this link  You can follow Iain @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast or WhatsApp

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