Red Tree Lodge, Fernie : Review
Thursday, March 13, 2008
I've looked into NonStop Snowboard quite a few times; they're a company that specialises in providing instructor courses and improvement courses in Canada. One of the resorts that they operate from is Fernie.
While we were out there I received a couple of emails from Tom Gordon-Walker at NonStop; it turns out he was reading my blog, sweet! Nice guy actually, and after chatting some, I figured it would be worth checking out the Red Tree Lodge, seems as though it's run by the NonStop peeps and he asked if I could let him know what I thought...
The Red Tree lodge offers both a restaurant and accommodation. Given that we were already sorted as far as digs go, Ciara and I were there for the food and drink only.
The first thing that I noticed was the atmosphere; a fairly young vibe, fresh and relaxed. The service was prompt and friendly, and continued to be so throughout the meal.
The food was good and there was a selection of local beers on offer. What was refreshing with the Red Tree Lodge was the menu itself - a little more varied than can be found elsewhere in Fernie.
To top it off, the price was nice. Nothing expensive, simply a fair meal. It's often the case that when new restaurants open they get some of the simple things wrong. Not so with the Red Tree. I was impressed throughout and would definitely recommend a visit it you're in Fernie!
As we were leaving I took a little look around the place. Having not stayed there I can't say much about the rest of the lodge - so here's the official scoop from NonStop:
Red Tree Lodge:
We are proud to be the new owners of a 40 bedroom ski lodge in the centre of Fernie. The ski lodge in Fernie, has undergone £500,000 and has a comfortable welcoming atmosphere with numerous social spaces and fantastic facilities.
As the owners of our own ski lodge and restaurant we can be confident that NONSTOP Ski is the only training company to not only offer first class ski coaching but also fantastic accommodation, meals and recreational facilities.
Bedrooms:
The ski lodge has spacious bedrooms each with brand new modern furnishing, queen size beds and ensuite bathrooms. Bedrooms have stunning views of the local mountains and some have private balconies.
Communal Sitting Rooms:
We wanted to ensure there are plenty of communal social spaces in the lodge where our clients can meet and socialise, chill out playing cards or watch a DVD. There are four communal sitting rooms spread throughout the lodge each of which has:
- Comfortable sofas and armchairs
- Cable TV & DVD player
- Wireless internet
Swimming Pool:
Yep, that's right... no ski lodge would be complete without its own indoor swimming pool and spacious hot tub and ours is no exception. So after a hard day riding powder you can loosen your muscles with a few lengths of the pool and a sociable soak in the hot tub.
Restaurant:
The lodge also has its own 100 seat restaurant and bar. We have designed this space with a really comfortable homey feel so that it becomes as popular a space to read, play cards and socialise as it is for eating. With a wood burning stove, plenty of comfortable sofas, dining tables, a well stocked bar and fantastic food this is the heart of the lodge. The restaurant is open to the public and serves dinner and breakfast for all our course participants prepared by our team of professional chefs.
Movie Theatre:
Films are good - especially after a hard days exercise on the mountain. We have therefore dedicated a whole room for watching movies. With an overhead projector and rows of comfortable chairs this is the place to sit back, unwind and enjoy an evening in with a good film.
Tuning Room:
If you want high performance it's important to keep your equipment in good shape. We have a room dedicated to tuning your skis or snowboard with tools and supplies for waxing, edge sharpening and gouge repair. Each of our courses includes a training session on how to tune your gear so you get the most out of your skis or snowboard.
Labels: fernie trip, review
ATC 2K Helmet Cam: First-Tests Review
Sunday, January 06, 2008
On Friday evening I used and assembled the helmet cam for the first time. The thing that I'm most interested in with this camera is how well it actually attaches to a helmet. Is it going to be practical on the hill? Will it be steady enough for usable video? This is the main subject of this early review.
I do however have some other observations. I won't go into much detail, but I will list them here at the top:
- The video quality is actually ok, as good as I'd hoped
- The sound quality is aweful, almost a waste of time
- Connection to the pc and transfer of files is very easy
- It's not difficult to start and stop recording while the camera remains helmet-mounted
Here are the contents of the ATC-2K package:
The batteries (2 AA), SD card and connections are all at the back, which has a well sealed cover.
Mounting the camera on a helmet
Stability:
A rubber strap is used to wrap around the helmet. The strap is held in place by a plastic buckle, which also acts as the female part of the camera-to-strap connection. It's a slot and click connection.
The strap itself seems good; once in place it's pretty damn tight and doesn't appear to be going anywhere. The major problem with the design is the way that the strap is fed through the buckle. It leaves a gap.
Once attached, the weight of the camera causes it to sag, which in turn causes it to wobble once in motion. As part of the package there are a few rubber strips with sticky backs. I'm certain that these are intended to be used a padding for this gap - to help prevent the wobble.
The padding actually works pretty well. I tried 3 video tests: one with no padding, one with a single rubber strip and one with two pieces of rubber. The difference was cleary visible. The optimum seemed to be a single strip, and it cut out a lot of the wobble.
Side mount vs. top mount:
As per some of the pictures I've seen, it's possible to mount the camera on either the top or the side of a helmet. To facilitate this, the connector that is attached to the camera can be rotated. This means you can set the camera to be level wherever it is mounted.
I chose to side mount the camera for two reasons. 1st, I can't see how the rubber strap will wrap around a helmet to achieve a top mount. 2nd, I think I'll look more of a dork with it in that position.
There are two issues that I've encountered with having it side-mounted. 1st, you can actaully feel the weight of the camera. It's slight, but it's there non the less. 2nd, it really gets in the way of your googles. I'm going to have to wear the goggle strap under my helmet.
Aligning the camera:
I didn't find aligning the camera to be that difficult. After the first attempt of setting it up, I walked around the room looking at specific objects and then watched the video back to see if the camera was looking in the same area. After a few slight adjustments I've made a reference line on the helmet, and it seems pretty reliable.
Robustness:
These comments may be a little premature, but I can't help thinking that a half decent slam is going to smash the whole thing. The camera unit itself seems very solid, but there are quite a few plastic pieces in the whole connection jigsaw, and that seems like a weak link.
What's more, when the camera is disconnected it still has part of the plastic connection wrapped around it. I'd hoped to carry the camera in my pocket as an ultra portable alternative to my video camera, at times when I don't want to carry something larger. Now I'm just worried that I might damage the plastic connector...
Summary:
At this stage, I'm still fairly encouraged. The design of the helmet mount could be better, but it might just work out to be ok. Time will tell. On the plus side, the quality is good enough for what I want and the operation of the camera is dead simple. On the down side, I don't like that plastic connector being wrapped around the camera all the time; it's in the way. I might be able to get it off, but it looks to be a right fiddle.
I'd like to try the helmet cam on my skateboard before I go to Fernie - and see how the footage comes out...
Labels: helmet cams, review
The ABCs of Avalanche Safety: Review
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
This is the first book of its kind that I've bought and read. Most people would agree that when it comes to avalanche safety, a book alone is no substitute for regular practice with avalanche equipment, guidance from an expert or real life experience of travelling in the backcountry. I was looking for an introduction, some background knowledge, things to think about. The ABCs of Avalanche Safety covers exactly what the title suggests - it's a good place to start.
The book is pocket size, say 4" by 6", with around 130 pages. The content is split up into 4 chapters - Snow and Avalanche Basics, Practical Guidelines for Stability Evaluation, Safety Rules and Rescue and Case Histories - each filled with concise information.
Concise should not be confused with simple, however. The book is written with technical and scientific language, especially so with the descriptions of how the snow cover forms. Photos and diagrams are used in places to suppliment the text, and to good effect.
I think the size of the book itself is a plus. Being handy, with a small number of direct chapters, makes reading encouraging; it's easy to dip into any of the sections for a quick read. Its size also makes it portable; weighing you down isn't a concern, so it's easy to take away.
In contrast, I occassionally found the vocabulary a little slow to digest. At this stage, some of the snow science seemed quite heavy, given my lack or practical experience.
So what about the scope of information? This is where the book really scores. Starting with an explanation of avalanche terms, it then provides foundation knowledge about different types of snow and how avalanches form. There are guidelines for assessing the risk, how to avoid avalanches and how to perform a search. It's a good mix of theory and practical advice. Simply put, it's the ABCs of avalanche safety.
Written on the back cover: A respected authority since 1961. I can see why. This is a good book. What's more, at around £6 it's very accessible. At the time of writing, Amazon has it listed with the Search Inside feature - so go take a slightly closer look!
Labels: books, off-piste and backcountry, review
Absinthe's Optimistic: DVD Review
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
I'm a fan of Absinthe films, especially the last two, so I was really looking forward to this season's Optimistic. It didn't disspapoint - I think Optimistic's a good snowboard movie with some exceptional parts... but for me, overall, it didn't grab in quite the same way as Futureproof and More.
So which bits didn't work? Mostly, I think it's the case that having really liked Futureproof and then thinking that they took More farther still, Optimistic had a tough benchmark to beat. I do feel that as the film gets going, it kinda settles in. My favourite bits are mostly at the beginning, so it seems to mellow out as the movie goes on. Don't get me wrong, the riding and filming is strong throughout, it just bobbed around my personal that's so good meter, whereas More kept leaping above it.
What about the excellent parts?
Gigi's section really appealed to me. The music's funky and the riding is varied. There are some heli follow-cam shots of Gigi and Danny Davis hitting this backcountry kicker that might be some of my favourite ever. The action smoothly follows the rider showing how big the jump is and you get an idea of what the kicker might look like from the rider's perspective on the run in, yet the rider and the kicker appear small in the vastness of the whole scene; awesome. There's also this sequence of Gigi riding down a side street with steps and rails, how can he make that sequence look so good? It just oozes style.
As well as some pretty sick shredding (I really like the way he rides powder), MFM's part has a true laugh out loud section - a snow-spray assault on skiers. You might think it's a little harsh, you might think some of it's justified, either way you'll probably think it's hillarious. The film is worth watching just for this bit!
Trees. There's some excellent tree action in Optimistic. Trees and deep powder. The section shot in Canada towards the beginning of the movie shouldn't be missed. Visually it looks fantastic, the trees, deep snow, the sun. And then check out the riding, Marco Feichtner and Wolle, it's like the trees aren't there, except when they're jibbing off them!
Perhaps most impressive in the movie is Wolfgang. I reckon Wolle Nyvelt was on a mission last season. Seriously, he has so much footage in Optimistic, so much powder, so many good shots. It's like he owns the DVD. The guy is riding deep pow on a wooden stick with no bindings better than most people when they've got both feet hooked in, it's insane. His riding alongside Matt Beardmore is also top drawer. I can't always tell who is who, but it's all good. Wolle really kicks this film going, he's killing it!
Other parts that I liked
Annie Boulanger is representing female snowboarders and has some really nice backcountry riding, pushing it pretty hard. I found myself liking quite a lot of the urban scenes. Mikey LeBlanc provides a lot of charisma along with some gutsy street moves. Then there's Hans Ahlund putting down some really sweet jibs, making it all look varied. The section with Romain De Marchi and Danny Davis has a handful of hits from a backcountry kicker that deserve to be watched over - super smooth riding/filming and a sick tail grab in there.
If you're into extras you may find the DVD a little thin in this area... having said that, Flipside's The Making of More (part1) is included, and it's really good!
The Soundtrack
I really like the soundtrack to Optimistic, there's some nice tunes in there, the mix is good. I'm not going to try and classify it, I'll just say it's right up my street. The production of the movie's intro is especially noteworthy. Excellent song, it's pretty inspiring. Here's the track list in the order played, with uk iTunes hook-up:
"Rusted Wheel", album "Carnavas", by Silversun Pickups-
"Wolf Like Me", album "Return to Cookie Mountain", by TV On The Radio
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"Season of the Witch", by Donovan Leitch
- "Calling For The Dissolution", album "Criminal Saints", by Scott Sullivan
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"Don't Sweat the Technique", by Eric B and Rakim
- "Frosty", Meka
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"Cadillac Dust", by Elliot Brood
- "John The Baptiste", album "File Under Forgotten", by The Ants
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"C'mon C'mon", album "Pawn Shoppe Heart", by Von Bondies
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"Ain't Cha", album "Hell Hath No Fury", by Clipse
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"Jamna Plagor", by Dungen
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"Spring and by Summer Fall", album "23", by Blonde Redhead
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"The Man Who Came To Stay", album "Killamangiro", by Babyshambles
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"I Love My Bitch", album "The Big Bang", by Busta Rhymes
- "Presentazione Orchestra", album "Stasera Shake! Volume 2", by Rafaella Carra
- "Fragments", Meka
Labels: absinthe films, dvds, review
Hungerpain's Otium: DVD Review
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
I bagged a free copy of Hungerpain's Otium with the November issue of WhiteLines and this sucker won't be featuring on eBay! It's sitting nicely in my collection.
Bottom line: I really enjoyed watching it. There are some nice effects in there with the editting and the production of the DVD, and some good riding too.
In fact, it's the riding level that's most interesting to me when it comes to watching British snowboard films. For sure some of the tricks stand out as being below the level that's seen consistently in the International films. But likewise, some of the tricks stand out as being worthy of an International snowboard film. More than once I was like: "that was massive" or "his style's really sick". It's this range that makes our films seem feel current, fresh.
To me, the British riders have much more scope for progression, and that's not meant as a criticism. Each year the riding gets better, and seeing people develop is great. Some of the moves that Chris Chatt is putting down on rails are excellent. James Thorne has some sick riding (again); effortless-style. I thought Nelson Pratt was going really big off the kickers with nice, compact style to boot; tight airs.
My favourite section was from Roland Morley-Brown. I was impressed by his smooth operation, but more than that - the variety of his shots. Park hits, some back country hits, urban ledges, rails, deep powder landings. Good stuff.
But Tom West closes it out with maybe the best move in the film: a sick frontside 10 melon... huge, smooth, tight grab and stomped. Two angles on it and the sound is great. He's killing it in the park. Awesome finish to the DVD.
A lot of effort went into the production side of things and it shows. According the interview in WhiteLines, Pete Ellis spent two months working on the invisible boards part. Dedication. The soundtrack is pretty cool too with some original remixing and creative use of sound. I didn't love every song, but hey...
When you consider that the Hungerpain crew probably has nothing close to the budget of international film crews; and given that the season produced pretty poor snow conditions, I think they've created a really good film.
Here's the soundtrack for Otium:
- Introduction: The Roots - Don't Say Nuthin' (Instrumental)
- Opening Montage: Directed, Edited and Composed by Phil Barber and Pete Ellis
- Plumley: Ratatat - Seventeen Years (Remixed by Pete Ellis)
- Wear and Evans: DJ Yoda - Playin' Around (feat. Jungle Brothers)
- Thorne, Purucker and Van Gassal: Contains samples of Incubus - Hidden Track after Calgone; Aphex Twin - Windowlicker (Remixed by Pete Ellis)
- Jackson and Newton: Ellen Allien and Apparat - Do Not Break (Remixed by Pete Ellis)
- Pratt: Skibadee - Tika Toc
- Friends Montage: Ed Enayat and Rich Simpson - Back in Black Remix
- Harington: Reachout - Stimulation of Chaos (Instrumental)
- Campbell and Revill: Akala - Stand Up
- Invisible Boards: Coldcut - More Beats and Pieces (Remixed by Pete Ellis)
- Chatt and Morley-Brown: Aphex Twin - Actium (Remixed by Pete Ellis); Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart
- West: Nikkfurie De La Caution - The a la menthe
- Credits: MCD; The Deckwrecka - Priceless
Dakine Heli Pack: Review
Friday, September 14, 2007
The Dakine Heli Pack is one of the first bits of snowboarding equipment that I bought, way back in 2003. At the time I was just looking for a bag to carry things in on the hill. The bag's still going strong now, but my requirements have changed a little. Here's the review.
Features
The Heli Pack is slim design back pack, with 11L capacity (as per the website) and some handy features:
The vertical snowboard carry works pretty well - I've used it quite a few times. It's dead easy: you put the two straps either side of your bottom binding, one above and one below. Once tight, the board is pretty secure. There's definitely no problem walking around with the board in this position - it works. It's worth noting I haven't had the fortune of trying this feature out in really deep snow - and you can't use the back pack to carry your board horizontally.
The pack also caters for ski carry - but I don't know anything about that!
The expandable helmet carry. Helmets do fit within the external flap, which keeps the helmet in place. However I've got to say that I've never used this feature for real on the hill. Most of the time I've got my helmet on. At the few times that I've been riding and carrying the helmet - I've just clipped it to the bag, rather than using the helmet carry. You see, if the bag's quite full, using the helmet carry can be a bit tight, and clipping it on is real fast. That said, from the pictures on Dakine's sight it looks like the newer models have slightly longer straps for this feature, which should help. If you think you might make use of it, you can always check it out in the shop!
Hydration. There's an internal sleeve to hold your hydration pack and a hole at the top for the tube to extend through. Then, one of the straps has clips on it to carry the tube over your shoulder whilst keeping it in place. The newer design has an insulated external sleeve, which is one better and will help to stop things freezing up when it's cold!
Apart from the main compartment, there's a small pocket at the top and another on the helmet flap. The pocket at the top is pretty handy for stuff like a small camera: it's easy to access and it's a relatively safe-none-squash place.
What can you fit in it?
The pack will take a two piece shovel no problem. On a back-country day I've had my shovel, my video camera bag, a small still camera, a small bottle of water plus small snack, an extra layer and some warmer gloves. That's quite a bit of gear and it fits... but it is tight. If this is the extent of what you want to put in it, or you envisage taking less, then you're set.
My only problem with the bag is that it's not quite big enough for what I need now. The gear in the above example did fit, but getting things out was a hassle because the pack was right at it's limit. But this is not a criticism of the pack itself: it's designed to be small and Dakine have larger packs in their range. I just need a bigger option.
Overall
The Heli Pack is a great low profile pack. It's certainly durable. Mine is still going strong after extended use on the hill, use as carry on luggage through airports and day-to-day use for work. It's even survived a pavement crash or two from my skateboard. The straps are good, there are two that come around to the front and the shape of the pack fits the back well. If you're looking for a small pack on the hill, this fits the bill. Great.
Snowboarding The World Travel Guide: Review
Sunday, September 09, 2007
I like the Snowboarding the World travel guide. It feels good. It's got that high quality glossy finish that makes you happy when you pick it up. It's a nice book.
But luckily that's not all it is. StW is also a very good travel guide. Here's an excerpt from the introduction, which lays out nicely what the book is trying to achieve:
Snowboarders are, by definition, travellers. Unless you're lucky enough to live at the foot of a mountain, the typical snowboarding trip means planning an overseas journey - and making some important decisions.
So how do you narrow down the options? Unlike surfing, with its rich culture, sophisticated market and detailed guidebooks, snowboarding travel literature lags behind. Such guides as do exist are often poorly researched, badly written and - unforgivably - guilty of propogating the same hackneyed opinions that have been current since the first pioneers decided to decend a hill while standing sideways.
Apart from the aesthetics of the book, there are 3 main things that appeal to me with this guide:
- It's different to the other guides I've read. It has a slightly different format, which works nicely, and it's not repeating previous information
- It's interesting. As well as the resort guides themselves, there are Riders' Tales and Lift Chat sections scattered throughout the pages - and they really add to the book
- It's up to date. The destinations covered and the content reflect what's going on now with snowboarding
Layout of the guide
The guide starts with some essentials. A brief introduction looking at different aspects of planning a snowboarding trip: packages, do it yourself, airlines, are you looking for powder, park or partying... that type of thing. There's also a cool section covering 6 of the best and 6 of the worst, in categories such as underground classics and must do runs.
The rest of the book is concerned with the resort-by-resort guide, covering Austria, Canada, Eastern Europe & Middle East, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scandinavia, South America, Spain & Andorra, Switzerland and the USA. All in all, one hundred top resorts.
And here's one of the bits I really like. Each destination opens up with 8 pages or so of general information. What are the overall pros and cons of that country? How to get there. Traditions, eating, price guide and when's good to go. What's the off-piste policy and what's the scene like? Top tips and star resorts... these sections within the guide do an excellent job of giving you a feel for what it will be like to go there.
Then there are the individual resorts, 2 pages dedicated to each. At first glance it might feel like there isn't that much information here - not a lot is written about any individual aspect. If you're after in-depth descriptions this probably won't appeal to you.
But I think the format used works really well. There's a wide range of small snippets presented that give a good impression of the resort. Little things like Internet access, what to do on flat light days and if you like this resort... try.... My favourite bit, which I read first, is the side-bar summary. It covers: Locals Do, Locals Don't, Pros, Cons, Not To Miss, Remember To Avoid, Snow Depth and Relive A Famous Moment.
Added interest
If you're buying a travel guide, chances are you're interested in the subject. But I think that StW scores particularly high here. There's a long list of Riders' Tales and Lift Chat spread throughout the book; topics such as Cliff drops in Canada, Making movies and The genesis of Tignes. It's all good. I hope that this is the type of content that they can change and update with future revisions of the book.
It's new
One of the key aims of the authors was to produce fresh and up to date information. I think they succeeded here. Looking at the acknowledgements, they used sources from far and wide, and it shows. The information in the guide feels current, and the range of resorts reflects some of the newer thinking in snowboarding.
Overall
I think it's an excellent guide book. Wonderfully produced, loads of great photos, interesting and most importantly it's successful in helping you decide where you'd like to go. Perhaps it's not the cheapest guid book around, but I think it's worth it. Brilliant.
The Penthouse, Morzine: Accommodation Review
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The Penthouse is a luxury chalet situated in Morzine, France. It's not cheap and there are one or two inconveniences inside; but the location is central, the chalet itself is excellent and the service from the owners ranks highly too.
A group of us stayed in The Penthouse, Morzine, earlier this year in January. It was a good holiday despite snow conditions and the accomodation really added to it. Here's the review.
I'm gonna start by getting the minor annoyances out of the way. To begin with, there was only one standing shower. The other three bathrooms all had the hand-held style where the water kinda goes everywhere. Secondly, there wasn't a great deal of storage in the bedrooms: only one of them had a set of wardrobes. Finally, there were only two keys for the chalet, which spread between 6 to 8 people can be a bit of a stretch...
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Inside the chalet. And now the positive things. The comment about the showers should be balanced against the number of bathrooms: 4. That's right, there was one bathroom per bedroom, which is a luxury in my book. Likewise, with regards to space/storage it should be noted that the ski locker was big and there was also plenty of general space around the chalet, which is usually where you need it when in a group.
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The living space was comfortable and well finished, with fire, tv and dvd player. The dining table was great, with plenty of room for all and the kitchen was fully loaded to match. The living space was all open-plan, which was good for the social atmosphere and generally pretty sweet.
Location. The chalet is situated in old Morzine, at the bottom of the hill near the church. It's a really nice area: great views from the chalet's balcony, good shops right on hand, an Internet cafe and two good bars just across the road - Robinson's (I think) and Dixie Bar, both are good hangouts.
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The supermarket was within comfortable distance and, if it's your type of thing the chalet sits above a pretty good delicatessen, great for cheese and such like. There's also a bus stop right outside so if you want to head to the base of Avoriaz it's super easy - excellent! All in all the chalet has a lot of great amenities right on hand.
The only downside is that it's a ten minute walk up into the newer part of Morzine. It's here that the base ski-lifts are found: on one side of town there is the Morzine area (and Les Gets) and on the the other there's the Super Morzine lift, which takes you up towards Avoriaz. There's probably a bus that takes you up the hill, but I never used it. In this instance I don't think a walk up the hill is such a bad thing; kinda like a warmup :) That said I've got snowboard boots on - not ski boots!
As I mentioned above, if you are heading to Avoriaz there's a second option: take the free bus to the Avoriaz base area, Les Prodains. It's a quick option for getting up there and the bus stop is literally right outside the chalet.
On the evenings though, we found the main restaurant selection to be in Morzine centre, which meant a brief walk. It didn't bother us, but it's something to think about...
Price. 6 of us paid £1500 at the end of January, for one week. I think that's fairly expensive, but it should be balanced against the quality of the accommodation, which was high. What's more, if you were to look for a similar style apartment/chalet that's central in the majority of French resorts, you'd struggle to find something in this price range. If more luxurious accommodation is one of the things on your list, The Penthouse ticks a lot of boxes!
Service. The owners provided good friendly service, taking time to answer all questions before hand and the transfer from Geneva that we opted for was very smooth, with friendly local knowledge given on the way. Add in a bottle of wine as a welcome drink and it all stacks up pretty nicely.
Overall. It's not easy to find this type of accommodation in central town locations. To me, given the quality of The Penthouse, this justifies a higher price. Personally, I was most looking forward to riding in Avoriaz, but I wanted the type of accommodation on offer in Morzine. In this respect, the chalet is excellent. Given the pros and cons mentioned above I still feel the location is spot on.
For sure I don't want to spend this amount of money on all of my snowboarding trips, but for those times that you do want to spend a little more - The Penthouse is a great option.
Labels: accommodation, review
Panasonic NV-GS300B: Camcorder Review
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Although I wasn't knocked out by the "3 chips", image quality is good for the price, it's simple to use and excellent to hold on the hill. However, I don't think I've really benefitted from some of the expected key features and lack of AV-in may be a problem for me.
A while ago I made the decision to buy a new MiniDV camcorder, rather than a camcorder with a hard disk drive. With MiniDV in mind, I chose the Panasonic NV-GS300 with the Sony DCR-HC96 being in second place. Since then I've used the camera fairly extensively over a two week period in Laax, a little bit during a trip to Avoriaz, and a handful of times in the UK. This review will look at my experiences of using the camera to date. If you want a more detailed review of the cameras technical ability, I'd recommend this review.
Handling
How the camera handled was a key consideration when choosing which one to buy. I wanted something that was easy to grip with one hand, from above, as this is my preferred method of filming while on the move, "follow cam" style. The Panasonic is excellent in this regard. The unit's size and shape make it easy to hold from above, and there aren't any camera controls that you accidentally touch when carrying it in this way. Excellent.
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Point and Shoot
The camera's automatic mode makes point-and-shoot really easy. This is probably the same for a lot of cameras, but it's worth mentioning. Everytime I've used the camera I've literally just hit record and then pause. On one particularly sunny day I changed to one of the pre-set scenes, "surf & snow", and the automatic exposure took care of things. Again, this is probably quite common, but it does make it easy if that's all you want to do with the camera and it keeps things simple on the hill; you don't need to explain the controls to your friends.
One slight criticism that I do have, and this should probably come under handling, is that the funtion wheel can be accidentally knocked when pulling the camera from you bag/jacket. The wheel has quite good resistance, but it has happened to me once of twice, each time I think I had the camera inside my jacket while on a lift. Unfortunately this can result in accidentally changing from record to play back... leading to the dreaded 'lost' footage. It's easy to get around though - you simply check the mode before starting - but it's annoying if it catches you out.
Image Quality
I'm happy with the image quality; some of the shots look really good and I personally like shooting in 16:9. I've got to say though, I think I was expecting a little more from having 3 CCDs. Maybe that's an unfair criticism given the price, especially as I do think that the quality is good - it just doesn't stand out as being the best thing about the camera to me.
Helment-Cam
When I bought the camera I wasn't bothered by the lack of 'video-in'. I didn't think I was interested in attaching a helmet camera. However, that's changed now; I think using a helmet-cam is something I'd like to try. Models designed to feed into a camcorder will not work with this Panasonic.
Other Features
Optical Image Stabaliser (O.I.S). Optical image stabalisation is supposed to be significantly better than the digital kind. Because I knew I was going to be riding around with the camera, this seemed like a really good feature. Looking back over the videos I've posted here recently, the images do appear fairly smooth, certainly no complaints.
However, the manual lists the following cases where the O.I.S function may not work effectively:
- when the digital zoom is used
- when a conversion lens is used
- when the camera is shaken greatly
- when you record a moving subject while tracking it
Manual gain adjustment. My major criticism of my previous camcorder was that it was rubbish in low light. According to the review I mentioned above, the Panasonic could do better in low light - but manual gain control can help you out. I haven't used the camera in low light yet, so nothing to report here.
Overall
Would I recommend this camera? If purchased for a good on-line price, less than £400, I'd happily recommend the Panasonic as a solid all-round camera: ergonomically great for snowboarding, nice images, despite the inability to attach a helmet cam. But I wouldn't kick up a fuss if a friend was considering a different model.
Labels: digital and electronic, review
P3: Pipes, Park, and Powder - Review
Friday, June 15, 2007
I've read this book twice now, and enjoyed it just as much the second time through. Todd Richards is a champion snowboarder who's played a role in how the sport has developed. With Todd having been in snowboarding since just about the beginning, this book gives you a kind of hands-on history of snowboarding, as well as a great insight his life. The book has an easy style, it's funny, enjoyable; it's great.
P3 shows us a good view of the early snowboarding scene: the first brands, what the boards were like, the early riders, the (crappy) half-pipes, those who brought the skateboarding influence to snowboarding and how sponsorship worked when the sport was young. All through the eyes of an aspiring and influenceable teenager.
Todd Richards develops as snowboarding develops - and there are lots of fun and interesting stories along the way, as well as some great pictures. There's a really funny snippet telling how Todd helped one of his friends (who couldn't really ride) to blag a sponsorship deal, and then how long it took the sponsor to figure the joke out.
Todd discusses the jibb movement and the progression to shorter, freestyle boards, better for spinning. Enter snowboard parks. Enter slopestyle contests. Adapting from pipe to park. How much can a rider make from a pro-model?
Then there's the arrival of the XGames and the impact it had on snowboarding. Followed by the first Olympics including snowboarding as an event. Each time, Todd talks about his involvement, his views and how it effected him.
It's all there.
But what makes it a good book is finding out what it all meant to Todd Richards. How he got into snowboarding. His dedication to progession. How he both struggled and excelled with the pressure of competition. His matching up against Terje. His life outside of snowboarding. His personality.
If you don't know who Todd Richards is, you should read this book just to find out: snowboarding's really important to him, and he's been important for snowboarding. There is of course the chance that you'll bump into him on a hill someday and you might say hello; but you'd still need to have read the book to know why that would be funny!
Read it on your next snowboard trip, you'll enjoy it.
World Snowboard Guide: Review
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The World Snowboard Guide: a trusty companion for any snowboarder, I'd recommend it.
The wsg is a really good book. It's got excellent resort coverage and the information, written by snowboarders, is tailored for snowboarders. The guide caters for riders of all levels, from beginners taking their first steps, to more advanced riders, looking for a good park, or searching for serious backcountry action. Not only that, there's consideration given to all interests: freestyle, freeriding and carving. It's a complete guide.
So what's in the guide?
The wsg has some general rider tips at the start, primarily aimed at beginners I'd say. Travel options, what to wear, lift passes and insurance, that kind of thing. There's a brief look at summer glaciers and there's also a guide to backcountry. This section doesn't aim to be comprehensive, but the information there is useful. For example, if you're interested in riding off-piste and in the backcountry, the guide points out a lot of the things that you need to be aware of; it's a good starting point from which to look further.
Similarly, at the back of the book there's a mini language guide. Again, it's just a page or two of vocabulary for some of the main destinations, but it's targetted at the travelling snowboarder. It might be just what you need to help you get to resort, buy you pass or ask a question on the hill... it's handy.
Those things aside, the bulk of the guide is of course concerned with the details of a large number of world-wide resorts: Austria, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand... they're all there (that wasn't the complete list).
Each resort is rated out of 10 and reviewed from the beginner's, the freestyler's, the freerider's and the carver's point of view. You get some resort background, how to get there, the amount of terrain, the number of lifts, anual snowfall and which bars are good. Just enough about everything you need to know, with more space dedicated to the bigger, more popular resorts.
You might not always agree with everything they say about a resort as some of the information comes across as personal preference/opinion. But it's hard to argue with the overall descriptions for the resorts, which are accurate.
This makes it an excellent starting point for considering where to go next: how busy is it likely to be, are there loads of t-bars, what's the park like, is it easy to get to and what about the night-life? If you're in the know, the guide can provide you with options to help tailor your next trip. If you're clueless, you could do much worse than following the advice within these pages.
So whether you're planning your first trip or researching your next powder hunt, it's a good, snowboard-specific guide. It's even good for just flicking through the different resorts. You'll want to keep it close.
Ride DH vs. Nitro T2: Quick Comparison
Friday, March 30, 2007
I consider the Ride DH and the Nitro T2 to be of similar designs. Both are freestyle boards, both have a twin shape, good in the park, yet offering a wider scope than a pure jib board...
Earlier this year in Laax, I was riding the '05/'06 T2 with MLB bindings, and Martin was riding the '05/'06 DH with Burton Missions. Both 155cm. We decided to switch setups and then compare notes. After one, long run, this is what we thought:
- The T2 is lighter than the DH
- The T2 has a much lower nose and tail, although this may have changed with newer models
- The sidecut on the T2 is more aggressive than the DH. The DH therefore has a wider waist
- The T2 is a little more stable at speeds
- The DH has a smoother feel, a nicer flex
- The DH has more pop, or at least, it's easier to pop with the DH. In just one run I noticed some much nicer ollies...
- Both have good sintered bases
Both really nice boards, I'm not sure which one I prefer more.
Labels: equipment, nitro t2, review, ride dh, snowboards
Nitro T2 Snowboard Review
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Nitro T2 is a great board. I was looking for a true twin that I could ride both inside and outside of the park. All-mountain freestyle. A single board. The T2 delivered.
I've got the 155 Nitro T2 from the 2005/2006 season. I've ridden it for three complete weeks on a variety of terrain: park boxes and kickers, slushy slopes and icy pistes, fresh corduroy and some powder. It's difficult for a board to excell in every category when used across the whole mountain. Floating effortlessly in powder is pretty much guaranteed to come at the expense of short, twin, flexy rail action. But the T2 ticks a lot of boxes and I'm confident with it being the only board in my bag.
So who is going to benefit from the this review? Well, if you're looking for a pure jib-stick, I don't think the T2 is for you. Likewise if you're mainly interested in freeriding, the T2 is likely to fall short. But if you're in one of the following categories, as I was, read on:
- You like jibbing and riding in the park, but you'd like to try something a little stiffer and slightly longer to be more rounded.
- You're in the market for an all-mountain board, but you'd like it orientated towards freestyle.
Jibbing & The Park I found the T2 quite nice for jibbing around the piste. Sure it's not as soft and playful as a jib board, but it's definitely light, with a snappy feel, which makes it agile. You've got to put a little more into ollies than with something like a Ride Kink or a Ride DH, but when you get it right, the T2 has great pop. It's not too stiff. It felt nice on kickers.
If you follow the weight ranges, the T2 is also a little longer than a jib board. For me, a jib board is in the range 150cm - 153cm, but the T2 I ride is 155cm. For some, this might feel long, but I didn't really notice it. Maybe the lightness helps here? While the little bit of extra length may make the board feel more cumbersome on rails and boxes, it comes in handy around the rest of the hill.
When it comes to rails and boxes, I'd say you can tell the difference between the T2 and a pure-jib board, but it didn't stop me hitting them. The T2 has a nice twin shape, with good stance options, 23.5" being the widest. It still felt like a good setup on the boxes, no real hang ups. And besides, the T2 is Eero's choice for rails after all...
Although I've hardly ridden any pipe with the T2, I'd say that the little extra lenght and good edge hold will help with the transitions.
Riding the piste The T2 performs well. Whilst it's not a freeride board, it does have a pretty aggressive sidecut on it compared with something like the Ride DH. And although it's lack of directional-shape may hinder its out-right performance on the piste, to me this is a design benefit. I like to ride switch as much as I do regular, so the twin shape is perfect. The result is good edge hold going in both directions.
I also think the T2 has a pretty fast base, that seemed to maintain wax quite well. It certainly stacked up well against the other riders in our group. The additional length and stiffer flex over a pure jib board adds to the stability, especially at higher speeds. It's a confident and solid ride, encouraging you to rip up the piste.
Powder Not really the T2's domain, but it did ok. The '05/'06 model has a fairly flat nose and tail which didn't help one bit (I think they changed this with the '06/'07 model). Cruising flat bits at slow speed or traversing at slow speed was a little tricky, with the nose having a tendancy to dig in. This caught me out quite a few times. But once your gliding, or even better, riding some steep stuff, it's fine. The T2 felt nimble in the powder.
A friend in the group was riding around on a Burton Fish, which is a different story altogether. But hey, the T2's a twin tip and I was riding it with an even stance, 23.5" apart, it's not going to float like a Fish. What's important is that I didn't really feel held back by the board, I didn't have the urge to try something longer for a run or two to test the difference. I didn't even bother setting my front foot back. It was still fun riding.
Overall So is the T2 a compramise or just the right mix for a board?
I'm towards the great mix end, I think this is a really good board. I wanted to try something more versatile than a pure jib board, but not going as far as an all-mountain board. A little bit longer, a little bit stiffer, but still freestyle. Still twin. I know that I could easily enjoy something with a similar design aim but a little softer - like the Agent or the DH - but the T2 has a little more bite, and I like that too.
Labels: equipment, nitro t2, review, snowboards
Burton's Tool Free Lenght-Adjustable Binding Straps
Monday, March 26, 2007
Mini Review
Fairly recently I bought a new set of Burton bindings (not for myself). I was intruiged by the "tool free" adjustable straps so thought a few words here might be useful...
I'll be honest and say that the first time I looked at the straps I didn't see how the mechanism worked. To me it just appeared to be a plastic cover over the screw that is used to adjust the binding strap length: there was still a screw that required a screw driver of some kind. As the bindings weren't mine, I gave it no further thought at that point...
It wasn't until I was on the hill in Flims that I, or we I should say, put the tool-free adjustment to good use.
A friend (with some new Burton Missions) and I decided to swap setups for a run to see what the other's board was like. When I strapped into his setup I couldn't get the straps tight as they were too long. Half way down we stopped to take a look at them. You're supposed to be able to set these without a tool aren't you?...
It's actually very simple. You just flick the cap up and then use the cap itself to tighten/loosen the screw. Bingo. The screw stays within the cap which makes it real easy to take the screw out, change the length and then get the screw back in again without losing it. In no time at all I was securely strapped in and getting a good test of a different board.
For sure it's nothing ground breaking, and you can achieve the same thing with a binding tool, which most people are going to have anyway. It's probably not a feature that's gonna sway your decision when choosing new bindings... However, I'd say it provides a less-fiddly and marginally faster way to adjust your straps. It's really handy - a sweet litlte bonus!
Absinthe's More: DVD Review
Thursday, October 26, 2006
"More" was the film that I was most looking forward to watching this season. Mainly because I really liked Futureproof, but also because the trailer looked so good. So how did it stack up against last year's production from Absinthe?
Opening
The opening sequence with Gigi Ruf, Nico Muller and Travis Rice riding huge pillows really sets the precedent for the rest of the film: lots of powder, great shots and great riding. There isn't a park kicker in sight. If you like the powder scenes in Futureproof you're sure to like this opening. I do think it would have been cool to see some of those lines in normal speed, but you can't complain, the riding here is great.
Stand Out Sections
All of the riding in the film is good - but these are the parts that stood out to me:
Erik Christensen's section is full of great shots and for me it probably represents the best editting in the film. Add in some sick, varied riding and a cool beat and it's just so good to watch. One of the better sections I think. You've got to check out the extra in this part with Philip Damianakes, just after Eric 50-50s the gnarly kink both regular and switch...
Wolle Nyvelt has some excellent back country action: impressive powder terrain, pillows and big, natural jibbs. Sweet style in there and it really is hit after hit after hit - impressive. I'm just not sure about that black and white getup...
Mark Frank Montoya. Nice powder riding. His nollie cliff drop is beautiful and there are 3 box hits that I can easily put on rewind and watch again and again. If you like smooth lines and slashes in deep powder you're gonna love Kurt Wastell's part. I think they filmed this really well - some of the moving camera shots give you a perfect, smooth view of the sweet, floaty style on display.
Chris Coulter and JP Solberg have some awesome shots and locations, including some lovely back country follow-cam clips. Matt Beardmore is riding to the same tune in this part: his FS 5 off a back country hip is mint, and I also really like the tweaked, off-axis 7 to close this part.
Justin Bennee and his friends bring a real urban, jib-heavy feel to the film, with loads of street and concrete jibbs, varied and gnarly. There's two great displays of style from Justin hitting a park rail. Mikey LeBlanc continues the urban vibe with a lot of skate-like, aggressive hits in his section.
Any Bad Bits?
Of course it's not possible for each section to stand out as far as the next: different riding styles, shots and locations are going to appeal to different people. The super-urban jibbs aren't totally for me - but I do appreciate them. That said, there's no riding in the film that I don't like. However I do think the the song for Mikey LeBlanc's section represents a low point on the soundtrack.
Favourite Sections
Although the best riding may be elsewhere, there are two sections that really stand out to me.
Gigi Ruf. He brings a funky tune, awesome powder and such an easy, smooth, fun style to this movie. The reason I like his riding so much is that despite how big his tricks really are, it still manages to come across as just 'playing' around in the powder, filming with your friends, which we all love to do. Sick riding, sick angles and the way Gigi closes the film is pretty clever. That front flip looks wicked!
Jules Reymond's part, to me, brings so much to More. To begin with it's introduced really well with them all skating through the street. His frontside 180 from the piste over the barrier tape and shed is the type of shredding that I love to see in movies - a glimps of pro riders doing something a little more normal and making it look so good - great style.
There's some popup text that reads "Jules 1st AK Line" - things like that really help you relate with the rider. I swear it looks to me like he went to Alaska for the first time, was so happy to be there and decided to start jumping off everything. The editting flicks to show some of the other riders hitting the same lines and it really works. It just looks like they're having so much fun - which is what it's all about. I liked Jules' riding in Futureproof and I like it more here. It's all aided by what I think is the best tune in the movie - great section.
Best Riding?
I'm not sure how, but it took a second, maybe third viewing before I realised how good Nicolas Muller's section is - that's got to be an indication of how good all of the riding in this film is. I can't really say anymore than Muller's riding is insanely good, freestyle anywhere and everywhere, he never dissapoints. It's better to just watch it yourself.
So for me, it's between Muller and Travis Rice. Muller's ability and desire to use all the terrain around him puts him so close to the ideal of all-mountain freestlye. But Travis has similar qualities, and honestly, his part in More is full of hugely impressive riding. It seems like there's no end to it. There's a boned shifty that has so much style, followed by a sick double backflip. Check out the double corked frontside 10 - which has a funny-as-shit hidden extra to back it up. Travis goes huge, with sweet moves on big mountain steeps. His level of riding in More is pretty amazing!
Soundtrack and Filming
The soundtrack to More is pretty good. I'm not clinging to it the whole way through, but there are some good sounds there and I like the way Absinthe match the music to the video.
The filming is again, top notch. Absinthe really push the production side of things and the results are good. Not every shot from a hanging wire stands out, but the majority do and there are some truly great clips that enhance the whole experience.
Extras
There's a lot and they're pretty much all good, but for me the best two are:
- The Making of Futureproof. An excellent addition. Lots of documentary style footage from the making of Futureproof. It's a must-watch. Romain De Marchi trying to blag a free flight for his girlfriend - excellent!
- The Scott Sullivan music compilation. That's right, you get a free music CD, and it's really good. I first heard Scott Sullivan's music on Robot Food's Afterbang, so I was well pleased when my favourite tune, Seatown, appeared on this CD. Sweet.
Conclusion
Great riding on varied terrain. You've got big mountain stuff, back country kickers, natural back country, pillows, trees, rails and urban jibbs. Lots of powder.
The film is excellently put together, a good soundtrack, maybe with one or two exceptions, and progressive filming. There's also lots of it. Lots of riders, a long film, good extras, even a free music CD. It's what I'm coming to expect from Absinthe - a top class snowboard movie.
More Soundtrack
If you're after some of the music from More, here's a list of the tracks, with links to iTunes:
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"Gangsters" - by The Specials
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"Code of the Streets" - by Gang Starr
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"Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" - by Arcade Fire
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"Mutual Slump" - by DJ Shadow
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"Don't Need It" - by Bad Brains
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"Random" - by Lady Sovereign
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"Sugar Pill" - by Ambulance Ltd
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"Hard Times" - by Baby Huey
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"Retreat" - by The Rakes
- "Dirty & Stinkin" - by Ol' Dirty Bastard feat. Method Man
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"Aerodynamic" - by Daft Punk
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"Remote Control" - by The Spits
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"Map of the Problematique" - by Muse
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"The Killing Moon" - by Echo and the Bunnymen
More Teaser
Here's Absinthe's teaser for More.
Afterlame: DVD Review
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Time and time again I go back to watching Afterlame. Without doubt it is my favourite snowboarding DVD. Some others come close, and it might be worth me listing them so you can get an indication for the type of films that I like, such as: Lame, DC MTN.LAB, White Balance, DropStitch and Afterbang, but Afterlame remains at the top. It feels very "film-like". It's the DVD that most makes we want to ride. The first time I watched it I was like "wow, that was different. I wanna watch it again".
The Intro
Afterlame has a great intro. It's quite long which seems to work as it does a good job of setting the pace and style for what's to come. Oh, and the opening track is excellent - "Yours to Keep" by Teddybears. There's a cool part in the extras that takes a look at how they put it together - it's worth watching. David Benedek kicks things off by answering the question "Is it fun?" For me, that's why the film is so successful - it perfectly communicates how much fun snowboarding is.
Favourite Section(s)
It would be weak to say that I like the whole thing :-) I think my favourite section/chapter is "VIII: Hampus and Jacob cruising around". It simply shows them jibbing around the park having fun. Jacob comments that you don't really get to show that type of riding in a conventional video part... and I think he's right. That's one of the reasons that this part is so refreshing. However, for me it's not just that this is a little different; I love this aspect of snowboarding, so seeing some of the world's best jibbing around is so good.
For a similar reason I really like chapter VII.II - which includes Parker and Giom riding some amazing powder. But it's not the usual big mountain riding or back country kicker shots. It's a glimps at them just riding. Effortless style. I like it because it gives you an idea of what it might be like to go riding with these guys... how they ride when they don't have to worry about filming and stuff.
There's a sequence right at the end of "VI: the other group goes to AK" that I really love. It's David Benedek riding the AK powder and he attempts a 360 cliff drop and doesn't make it. For me the sequence is great for two reasons: (1) it has a very natural feel to it. It's not a kicker with a straight run in, he's kind of negotiating his way towards the cliff. (2) After failing the 360 he goes back to try again and nails a 540.
Extras
If you like a DVD to have extras then you'll really enjoy Afterlame - there are loads of them! It's not just the quantity though, there's a good mix too: more riding, skating, "how we made this part", goofing around... Here's an idea of the ones that stood out to me.
- "Trancers". The beginning is funny - some guy dancing on the 'sidewalk'. With a cool tune playing, "Trapped But Still Got Two Ways Out" by KMAX, the extra then moves on to some pretty sick riding. There are some really good camera angles making for some interesting shots.
- "Stair Masters". Scotty and Charlie getting shots on urban rails. Funky track - "On The Recline" by A.Kruse.
- "Git Yer Poles". Hampus and Jacob playing around in the park on skis...
- "4 Wheel Thunder". It's a long section full of skating - some good skating. Watching snowboarders skate is good!
- "Alaskan Thunder". Check out Benedek and Parker wrestling in the back yard :-)
- "It's So Gnarly Up Here!" Some of the crew sessioning a kicker and playing around in powder...
Any Bad Bits?
Not really. Section "V - Bobby and his crew go to AK, kinda" tells of their failed trip to AK and then leads into the success that the other crew had. There's no riding in this section - hence the failure. This isn't a bad thing, in fact I think it adds to the film. However, when it comes to re-watching I pretty much skip this part and get on with the riding.
Afterlame Soundtrack
The music from Afterlame consistently adds to the film, it's an excellent soundtrack. Don't wanna go through the credits pressing pause? Here are the track listings:
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"Yours to Keep" - by Teddybears -
"Spirit in the Sky" - by Norman Greenbaum
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"Genetic World" - by Telepopmusik
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"Ready to Wear" - by Felix Da Housecat
- "What's So Strange About Me" - by Eight Dayz
- "Arctic Heart" - by Graded Roses
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"Lullaby for Wayne" - by Weezer
- "Keeping the Faith" - by De La Soul
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"Symptom Finger" - by The Faint
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"All I Need" - by Air
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"Budge" - by Dinosaur Jr.
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"Going Nowhere" - by Cut Copy
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"Higher Ground" - by Red Hot Chili Peppers
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"Heartbeats" - by The Knife
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"Float Away" - by David Garza
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"Taste of Honey" - by Herb Alpert
Afterlame Teaser
Here's the Afterlame mid-season teaser from 2004.
Wanna Buy Afterlame?
If you don't own it, you should. At the time of writing, you can buy Afterlame on Play.com.
Burton Wheelie Locker Review
Friday, June 02, 2006
Ok, so I've booked flights with KLM and I've never flown with them before. This got me thinking about the airline's rules for baggage allowance; how much is it going to cost me to take my snowboard? Now, I've got one of those swanky Burton Wheelie Lockers and I think a review of which will be of use to some people. Here goes...
First things first
I'm gonna start this review by saying that I love my Wheelie Locker. Remember that when you get to the end of the review. Here's why:
- It's huge. You can get so much stuff in there. I've packed three snowboards, my gear and half of my girlfriend's gear into the thing. Everything kept in one place!
- It's tough. The spiel on Burton's website is true. It's built to last and Burton back it up with their support (I've had a new replacement)
- The design is great. Separate sleave for the boards. Separate compartment for clothers. Tough external pocket for handy access. A removable bag for your boots and another for your bindings... If you're a tidy freak it makes it easy to pack; if you just want to chuck stuff in, there's loads of space. See the website and my photos for more on the features
But is it practical?
Unfortunately I think you have to ask this question. I love the idea and I really like the design of the bag - but is it practical for lugging around airports? I'd have to say the answer is no. Read on.
Maximum weight allowance
I've found that most airlines (well, the ones that I have used) operate with a maximum weight allowance of around 32kg, for a single bag. That is, each item of luggage must weigh less than 32kg. I know this to be true as I was called to the front of the line on an Easyjet flight and asked to take stuff out of my wheelie locker. I ended up removing my boots (with their own dedicated bag, sick) which the stewardess insisted would be sent separately. You can imagine my frustration when waiting in Geneva airport, all of our bags collected except the boots...
So, the fact that the wheelie locker allows you to pack so much stuff becomes a little irrelavant as you're constrained by 32kg.
What are you talking about? 32kg? That's madness, you don't need that much stuff!You're probably right. So why have a bag that's that big? Also, don't forget that when you start adding your mates board to save on costs, the extra jacket, the waxing iron - things start to add up. To me, that's the point of the wheelie locker - there's loads of space.
Note also that you don't save on the fact that you're only taking one bag. Explanation. Your friend has his regular suitcase with an allowance of 20kg and he's paid a flat fee to take a snowboard in a separate bag. They weigh this bag to make sure it's not super heavy, but they don't seem that bothered about its exact weight. You on the other hand have you single wheelie locker. Let's say that you're travelling light and the total weight is less than 20 kg. Do they offer you a discount? No. You pay the same.
Forget the airline's weight allowance, the damn thing is heavy!
I'm not the strongest person in the world but I'm not the weakest either. When the wheelie locker is rammed full it is heavy. Simple as that.
So you've flown to Geneva and as usual it takes the board bags ages to arrive. It's getting tight for the last train. Your wheelie locker finally arrives and now you've got to run to the train station...
It's not easy! Dragging 30-odd kg while running is hard work! I'm not being sexist here: Ciara can't lift the wheelie locker when it's full. It's heavy.
It's not just the airport though. Not all apartment blocks have lifts. My first trip to Tignes, we were on the top floor. Having all of your gear in one bag no longer seems like a good idea when you've got to carry it up 3 or 4 flights of stairs. The length then also becomes a problem. Stairwells aren't always wide. At 1.8 meters or so it can be hard to get the wheelie locker around narrow corners.
It's worth adding though that the wheelie locker does have good quality hand holds on the top of the bag, and a shoulder strap.
Other points
- If you take the board out of the bag and leave the rest of the gear in (for whatever reason), pulling the bag on its wheels becomes a problem
- I've found that I don't use the bag on road trips - it's too big for the roof rack
- You can't really use the wheelie locker in other situations, e.g. other holidays
Burton Wheelie Locker vs. Burton Wheelie Double Deck
...And you can fit a lot of gear in this thing too! I'm certain that using a decent travel bag along with a board bag is a more comfortable, easy to operate solution. Also, overall you can probably take more gear (if you feel the need) as you're not limited to 33kg. It doesn't have to be the Double Deck, I've seen the Dakine Split Roller and that seems really good too. However my experience is with the Burton travel gear and I know that it 'feels' really good - that quality comes through.
Summary - So what am I using for the Deux Alpes trip?
I hate the thought of leaving my Wheelie Locker behind, but I'm gonna use the Wheelie Double Deck travel bag, and take my board separately. In comparison, the Wheelie Locker just seems to much of a struggle to move around. I guess I'll let you know the final verdict when I get back.
Still hungry for more? Check out the archives.
