r/skiing

Hi all,

We have a trip to Meribel booked at the end of December this year/first week of Jan and because we didn’t know of the Saturday/Sunday thing when we booked it, we are arriving on a Wednesday, leaving on a Thursday.

We will have our daughter going to the ESF kindergarten there, but on their website, it says Sunday to Saturday. Does this mean if you arrive mid week, you can’t book anything with ESF? They won’t allow you to book for mid week dates?

Appreciate the input - I’m freaking out! We managed to get accomodation for mid week arrival but now I’m worried about our daughter’s care being difficult now

Thanks

Pretty sick day on Saturday (5/16) skiing Maroon Peak from the summit via Bell Cord Couloir! Pretty good amount of survival skiing and suffering but such a cool line. Figured I’d share the footage here in case anyone’s interested!

Just found out I need to be in Los Angeles on Saturday night for a meeting. Have a hair brained thought of flying out Thursday and doing a bulldog trip to Mammoth on Friday. Anyone have insight as to whether or not this is worth it? Any snow worth finding? Too crazy an idea? I'm an east coaster and generally always up for a wildcard trip to find snow. Any help/insight is appreciated! Thank you!

Hey ya'll! I'm doing a bit of research on cheap and / or vintage "pencil shaft" ski poles, but I can't find much info. I'm looking for poles that no one will miss to make into bike polo mallets for my club.

So far I know that Goode exclusively makes them, and there are a couple Exel poles that lack taper, like the Exel Nova.

Can anyone name some more brands or models off the top of their heads? Alternatively is there a wiki somewhere for this sorta of thing? It'd be nice to have a list of names to look out for at the local goodwill or on eBay.

Thanks for reading!

Hi all,

We are going to Meribel in the last week of December/January and are arriving on a Wednesday, leaving on a Thursday. We have accommodation booked in Meribel for mid week dates.

My concern is, I know that most people stay Saturday/Saturday which we didn’t know when we booked the flights. We had planned on catching the train from Paris to Moutiers and then getting the bus to Meribel. Is this going to be possible on a Wednesday/ Thursday or have we cooked ourselves? Do they even run these trains mid week?

Can we get from Meribel Central to Moutiers on a Thursday?? I was hoping to book an altibus.

Thank you! Would appreciate the advice.

Hi all,

We have an apartment booked in Courchevel 1650 for December/January this year. We are taking our 2 year old. However, I am wondering if maybe Meribel is a better choice for first time in Les 3 Vallees? We want family friendly, with some good alpine charm, restaurants and decent skiing.

Have we made the wrong choice and should we book Meribel instead? Really keen to hear peoples opinions.

Thanks!

Hey everyone — my partner and I are planning our next ski town move and would love input from people who’ve worked/lived at different resorts.

A little background: we both have several seasons of mountain ops experience (lift ops, lift maintenance, trail work, general resort operations) at larger western resorts. We’ve loved the mountain lifestyle and career growth, but we’re hoping to find a better overall balance this time around.

What we’re looking for:

• Strong lift ops / lift maintenance departments with room to grow
• Good work culture in mountain ops (how are mechanics/lift ops treated?)
• Realistic cost of living or decent employee housing
• Minimal commute (don’t want to live an hour away just to afford rent)
• A real town/community, not super isolated
• Legit nightlife / social scene
• Ideally some kind of electronic music scene (house, UKG, bass, local DJs, venues, etc.)

I’m also involved in DJing, so being somewhere with actual opportunities to play or even just be around a good electronic scene would be huge.

We’re mainly looking at western ski towns (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, etc.) and trying to find somewhere that balances mountain career growth with actual quality of life outside work.

A few questions:

• Which resorts treat lift ops / mechanics well and have solid department culture?
• What’s cost of living actually like vs pay? Is employee housing realistic?
• How bad are commutes for employees?
• Which ski towns actually have legit nightlife/social life?
• Any places with a real electronic music / DJ scene?
• What resorts feel like the best long-term lifestyle balance for people building careers in mountain ops?

Would really appreciate honest feedback from anyone who’s spent multiple seasons in the industry.

EDIT: It is NOT a pouch, it turns shell chest pocket (uninsulated), into an insulated pocket.

Hey y'all! I'm in the early stages of developing a product aimed at solving a problem I've personally run into on the mountain and I want to make sure it's actually worth pursuing before I go any further with it.

The problem: cold temperatures drain phone batteries significantly faster than normal. The chest pocket on a shell jacket has zero insulation, meaning your phone sits at essentially outdoor air temperature all day. In an emergency situation where you need to make a call or send a location, a dead phone is a serious safety issue.

The solution I'm exploring is a simple insulated pocket liner that sits inside your existing chest pocket and keeps your phone warm throughout the day. No new jacket needed, no bulky case, just an insulated sleeve that drops into the pocket you already use and is universal between jackets.

Before I invest any more time into this I'd love honest answers to these three questions:

1. How often does your phone die or get critically low during a full day on the mountain?
2. Do you currently do anything to protect your phone from the cold, and if so what?
3. Would a product like this genuinely solve a problem for you, or is it something you've never really thought about?

All feedback is welcome including negative. Trying to figure out if this is a real problem worth solving or just a personal experience I'm overvaluing.