Each year I probably stumble across a downhill skiing even on TV and really enjoy watching it, but never get sucked in to following it. Ski Sunday doesn't seem to give it the airtime it once had so I'm wondering how to find and watch it regularly.
Anybody enthusiastic enough to share some info about where I can watch it, how often it's on, how the season/competition works etc?
I guess there will be some people enthusiastic enough to share their love for the sport.
Many thanks
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Eurosport show the races live and recorded. Usually weather dependent so you may not get the race as scheduled, which is a pain if you've set to record it. Free if you have Sky but I believe Eurosport can be streamed as a subscription app.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Eurosport. Most Saturdays in early/mid season. Check the FIS calendar.
@Ryunis, Eurosport cover the World Cup downhill races, and are broadcast on Sky satellite TV. Alternatively Eurosport are now part of the Discovery+ app that you can watch on a smartphone or Smart TV. If like me you get your broadband from BT then the Discovery+ app is included in your broadband package.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Thanks all. I'll take a look at the schedule and get some armchair time booked in.
Any good weekly wrap up programmes to recommend?
Book a vacay to coincide with one of the big or minor races, like Wengen or Kitz or Crans.
The crowd gets rocking. Atmos is good.
Try to ski the downhill or slalom course before or after they've iced it up.
The skiing is on a whole different level.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
As others have said, Eurosport Player (or whatever they call it now) is a good bet, think it's about £40 for the year but loads of other great sport you might be interested in (amongst the endless blooming tennis). The online player has the advantage of having an ad-free version of live broadcasts and also the ability to switch commentary off. It can be a little frustrating when things don't run to plan though, if they divert from the schedule they're not usually great at sharing why.
@MikeM, they have increased amount of ski coverage again in recent seasons, but they're trying to cover a broad church of snowsports in a 5 or 6 episode run, so it's always going to be about variety rather than exclusively the racing side (which actually has very little relevance to the majority of people in the UK who ski or board). I believe they still run extended highlights on the red button or online, but anyone serious about racing really needs to have Eurosport.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
If you have a VPN (or are in Switzerland) you can watch the whole lot for free on SRF. Ok, the commentary is in German, but you'll cope, and it’s probably a lot less annoying than the tripe that Eurosport transmit. As mentioned above though, if you really want to appreciate what's going on, book a holiday when and where a race is taking place and ski the course. You won’t believe it.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
If you have a dish you can watch all the races for free on German Eurosport and either Das Erste or ZDF.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@telford_mike, i love Eurosport, skiing wouldn’t be the same without Nick Fellows, I know lots of people find a him annoying but he really loves the sport and I think he transmit the enthusiasm. And the biathlon commentators are amazing, they are involved and passionate , is a joy to watch the competition, the BBC in comparison is flat, used to love ski Sunday , I still watch it but I can easily skip it for something else now
Cannot wait for season to start
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Good old Eurosport, I love watching the skiing and the biathlon. Not a big fan of watching the downhill, I much prefer the slalom these days. (Go on Dave).
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Whitegold wrote:
Book a vacay to coincide with one of the big or minor races, like Wengen or Kitz or Crans.
The crowd gets rocking. Atmos is good.
Try to ski the downhill or slalom course before or after they've iced it up.
Like @Dav, I too prefer watching SL (I love watching it all) just with SL and GS, I find it's more obvious where line choices and errors etc are affecting times, and for me that makes it a more enjoyable watch vs the downhill where you can have two seemingly identical runs on a flat section at the top that result in different times and it's not so obvious what is causing that.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Get yourselves out on to the mountain to see a race.
Television does not do any of it justice. The speed, slope gradients etc etc.
The aspect I always find interesting is the volume of work that goes into a course set up.
There is now a scaffold viewing gantry for the big jump on the Lauberhorn (Wengen) it takes the crew 3 to 4 weeks to dismantle it, weather depending!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Rogerdodger wrote:
The aspect I always find interesting is the volume of work that goes into a course set up.
These days it's quite a few weeks of work, adding the fences, preparing the piste.... Then you look on you tube at a race from the 1950s or 60s
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Go to the Birthday Bash and take a day out to Cortina. It is usually after the women's DH or GS and you can see how icy it is.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@swskier, sorry, didn’t see you’d posted it already.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Annoyingly, Eurosport only seem to be showing the 1st run of the men's and women's GS live next weekend. the 2nd run looks like its just being shown as highlights later in the day.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Thats very odd. I’ve never know them not to show both live. Is that on the main E1 and E2, have you checked their on line streams as well as sometimes they only carry certain live programmes on the on-line streaming channels.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
ster wrote:
Thats very odd. I’ve never know them not to show both live. Is that on the main E1 and E2, have you checked their on line streams as well as sometimes they only carry certain live programmes on the on-line streaming channels.
^ This. The broadcast E1 and E2 channels sometimes limit the skiing coverage because of other sports they are covering, but the app has more streams in addition to E1 and E2 so provides fuller coverage.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Like the time they didn't show Dave Ryding's Kitzbühel win live on their channels...
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Not what you are specifically looking for, but freeride world tour is a great watch. Only 6 events, so not a huge commitment. Incredibly exciting (I actually prefer it to downhill which is a bit more "robotic"*). All the events are on YouTube so if you don't want to watch live can just catch up as and when you want.
*This isn't meant as an insult. It's obviously an extremely difficult skill in its own right, I just find freeride more exciting to watch
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@boarder2020, I've never particularly enjoyed FWT when I've watched it. I like seeing people dropping cliffs etc. But much prefer to get that content from films etc. For skiing as sport I'd rather see people racing the clock than being judged.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@SnoodyMcFlude, that's fair enough. I think I prefer the creativity of freeride. It's nice watching people getting creative and picking completely different lines of the same face. I can understand why people don't like judging in general, however it adds to the interest to me. Trying to decide if someone skiing a huge high risk line at full speed with no tricks is better than a low risk smaller line with lots of more technical tricks etc. Racing is certainly a lot more black and white.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
To see all of the races you will need to subscribe to the streaming service (£6.99 a month). The live coverage struggles as races get delayed etc.
I'm a snowboarder but love watching Ski Racing. Just can't get into watching any of the freeride stuff be that on Skis or a board.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I had Eurosport Player before they cancelled it. I am still signed up but now have to sign in to a website rather than app. Just wondering what I may have lost out on. I know with the cycle racing I no longer have access to the ad-free coverage.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Alastair Pink wrote:
ster wrote:
Thats very odd. I’ve never know them not to show both live. Is that on the main E1 and E2, have you checked their on line streams as well as sometimes they only carry certain live programmes on the on-line streaming channels.
^ This. The broadcast E1 and E2 channels sometimes limit the skiing coverage because of other sports they are covering, but the app has more streams in addition to E1 and E2 so provides fuller coverage.
Just to confirm I've looked at the upcoming Solden World Cup race coverage this weekend on the Discovery+ app and it's showing both runs 1 and 2 of the Giant Slaloms as being shown live . On Saturday for the Women's GS it's showing Run 1 coverage as being 08:30-10:30am on both the app and the E1 channel, with run 2 only being shown live on the app 11:45-1:00pm. On the Sunday for the Men's GS it's showing Run 1 coverage as also being 08:30-10:30am on both the app and the E1 channel, with again run 2 only being shown live on the app 11:45-1:00pm.
So the Discovery+ app gives better coverage than just relying on the Eurosport channels on the Sky platform.
Anyone with a similar set-up to mine - BT (now TNT) Sport through Sky box, plus Eurosport subscription through App, remember to cancel any auto-renewal of Eurosport. As AP has mentioned, Eurosport now on Discovery+ which is included with BT, so no point inadvertently paying for something you now get for free.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
