29

Engadin ski marathon 2008

Been training for the last couple of months now and the day is fast approaching when I'll be hauling myself around some snowy part of Switzerland with a few thousand other blokes with skis for 26.2 miles. No, it is NOT downhill. Search on YouTube if you'd like to see what it's all about. Will report back when I return in a week and a bit!

Tags: ski, marathon, Engadin

13

European ski resorts by airport

One thing that I think is often overlooked when people pick a ski resort is the distance it is away from the airport. If your skiing holiday is only for a week, leaving home early on a Saturday morning and getting there in time for some time on the slopes that afternoon/evening is a big bonus! So here's a list of European destinations by their distance from the runways with some other info included.

Related: ski

12

Oh no, no snow!

The amount of snow at european ski resorts is drastically less this year, so I guess that means no skiing this year. But hey, there still is a way to keep up those ski skills - take an online ski lesson. Go through some of the questions to narrow down what you need work on and they provide useful tips!

See also: ski, lesson

29

Which Ski Resort?

This is for those hoping to go skiing this winter but finding it difficult to decide where to go. Choosing a ski resort can be tricky, especially in Europe. But here's a useful tool - The Snow Co Resort Selector. You fill out a questionnaire and out pops a list of suitable destinations for your holiday. Easy!

Tags: skiing, ski resort

23

Some great video clips

Ski jump gone wrong.
Lucky basketball shot.
Swerving free kick.
Awesome table football skills.

Related: video, skiing, football

17

A moguls mogul... not yet!

Got back from Courchevel today and had a great time! Apparently Roman "Chelski" Abramovich was there at the start of the week. Unfortunately a billionaire still can't control the weather though... it was dire. There were avalanche warnings every day and rain for the whole of another. Unheard of for Jan. I blame Bush for the global warming. But that really was the only bad thing about the week. Can't compliment Ski World enough really. Our stay at the Auberge Ensoleille was brilliant, great food, nice staff.

I'd like to share a revelation I had when trapped indoors during one particularly heavy spell of snowfall. I was trying to work out what would constitute a good week's skiing. Personally, forget feeling that your control's improving and all that sort of rubbish, I think it's all about the mileage. It's therefore also all about the raw straight-line velocity. If I ever set up my own ski school, the mission statement would be

"Why jinks, when you can schuss?" cos 'trop vite!' is praise, not abuse!"

Catchy. So with me being the founder and first pupil of the David Butler ski school, the week became sort of like, another day, another near death experience. Once, going into the thick stuff, my skiis quite annoyingly just stopped, thus launching me forwards as if I was on a bike and braked hard with the front wheel. I got up and thought, "oops, I'm blind" but it turned out that my goggles had been neatly packed full to the brim with snow. Don't know how that happened cos I was still wearing them over my eyes. Anyway, I think that's where the cut on my nose has come from.

Other highlights? Our rep crashing the minibus, tobogganing down a vertical distance of 200m in the dark, and working out the logistics of an El Gringo's drinking challenge are all up there, but watching Oxford University draw 3-3 at ice hockey with a Courchevel team composed of very angry young guys and witness the ref actually deck one of them was a real bonus. The photos are here.

See also: Courchevel, skiing, ice hockey

9

"Cosmopolitan and chic"...

...apparently is what Courchevel 1850 is described as, so why we blue collar workers are going there tomorrow I have no idea! May well be doing lots of this (video high/low) in the week and scare some french folk.

Tags: skiing, Herman Meier

12

Some of my workmates got into the audience of the Frank Skinner Show last night which is showing this evening. How exciting! Minesh is the odd-looking indian bloke who's right under Frank when he's singing "Fun Town Frankie". No sign of Dan though because apparently he got moved towards the back, the reason being (according to Minesh) that his head was too big! Rude.

Related: Frank Skinner

[12:20][remarks]