 Poster: A snowHead
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Afternoon,
Off to Austria for a 6 month ski season with a British ski company and will be pretty much skiing every day.
Could do with some general advice from any seasonaires with regards to what to take / be prepared for etc.
In particular, are there any mistakes that people always make that can be avoided? Things to bring? Mindsets to have?
On a slightly different note, I am by no means a pro skier but quietly confident on reds / blacks; do you have
any ski boot / ski recommendations for me? I'm 23, lightweight and tend to ski quite hard and fast. Could do with
some ski's that are pretty versatile and could handle anything from jumps through to alpine work / open piste.
Should I go for custom boots or should I be fine with a pair of well fitted pre-made ones?
Cheers All,
Jord
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Scott Mission either S/H or new from "re-make" importers will handle all-mountain needs if skied strongly, but if you really want a piste ski which can handle off-piste a bit, I would rent in a resort until you find somthing that suits you.
Boots= can't go wrong with Lange provided they fit you. Wider feet Tecnica, both have the ability off the shelf to be modified to fit you
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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?
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Really if you're doing 6 months I'd be looking at 2-3 pairs, if I could afford it. "all-mountain" skis with an on-piste bias, off piste skis, and park skis if that's your thing.
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jord, welcome to snowheads, take any boot recommendations with a pinch of salt as anyone who recommends boots on line without having a clue what they are talking about or having seen the persons feet and/or their skiing dont know what they are on about..
See a good boot fitter either in resort or before you go...
personally I would see a local rental shop and try to do a seasonaires rental deal for a couple weeks and ask if try out a different pair every day to try to figure out what you like best and then buy a pair from the shop knocking off the rental price. most shops would go for something like that and you would have a friendly place to get your skis serviced at...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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If you are going for a season you can sort your equipment in resort. You are likely to get a discount too. I am not sure if they let you change skis every day if yo urent for two weeks, but you should easily be able to change them at least a few times to decide what suits you best and buy then. Mindset - be prepared for many days with hangover.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Mindset -
1 if you're working for a British TO you won't be skiing every day or even most days.
2 it's easy to get picky about less than perfect conditions - DO commit to getting out at every opportunity no matter what as it's on the crappy days your skiing really improves
3 the people who party hardest usually don't get in the most skiing.
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3 the people who party hardest usually don't get in the most skiing.
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This is true. Don't party hard before ski days, but before work is fine:)
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take any boot recommendations with a pinch of salt
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erm, indeed, www.solutions4feet.com just book an appointment and be done with it! Personally I'd go for a separate park/pow ski as a minimum quiver, its very difficult to get something that does both well as they are by definition very different disciplines. What job are you doing and where are you skiing? I live in Mayrhofen for half the year and its a pretty sweet place all in all. Guess heres a few ideas to get started with...
transciever probe and shovel - get these if you have any intention of going off piste.
loads of underwear because you wont be back bottom to wash it all on a regular basis 
decent ski kit - you'll live in it for your first season and you'll see everything from -20c to end of season slush
helmet - goes with the park skis really
decent bright and flat light gogs
decent socks and all the same style - well, if your going to splash out on new boots then no point having shite socks!!
down jacket - cant do without mine for sloping around town
euro sim card and/or skype on the laptop
well, off the top of my head that will get you started! some of it seems expensive but trust me its worth it!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Keep in mind that what you consider "hard and fast" on reds and blacks today will feel really casual and easy at the end of a full season. If you can stretch to it, two pairs of skis are probably a good idea - something that'll perform/help you on piste, and something more fun for later in the season/powder days etc.
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Pair of 85/90mmish underfoot for piste (/twins for park if that's your game) and a pair of 110(+)mm ish for pow.
Avi kit if you intend to do much offpiste.
Multi plug socket thing - then you only need one adaptor for all your electrical stuff.
Socks.
Decent kit to last the season, something along the lines of a shell will see you right through freezing Nov blizzards to hot sunny April slush-surfing sessions.
Decent gloves - cheap crap ones will get trashed quickly.
Decent rugged shoes - walking through snow everyday can be pretty hard on shoes, I find skate shoes stand up well to the abuse and have decent grip.
Laptop, and a hard drive fully stocked up with films/tv programmes for non-ski days.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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personally I would see a local rental shop and try to do a seasonaires rental deal for a couple weeks and ask if try out a different pair every day to try to figure out what you like best and then buy a pair from the shop knocking off the rental price. most shops would go for something like that and you would have a friendly place to get your skis serviced at.
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best advice on here - for skis. Pay for when you ski at seasonaires rates and change planks for the relevant situation. Rental boots generally have different foam in them so as not to take the shape of one set of feet so I would not necessarily recommend doing as suggested for boots (although the general theory for marques makes sense, i.e.: are you a 'Lange' man or not??)
In my view, best to get your boots fitted at altitude so try to suss a deal out at the resort (before you get there if you can – ask someone who has worked there before) – remember to get decent socks and to wear them when being fitted. If you are at the level you suggest I doubt that you will get any benefit from custom boots and in any event you will probably wish to change boots as you improve or your skiing tastes change. Best to get the ‘pre-made’ boots that fit you best at a price you can afford UNLESS you have specific feet issues then all bets are off and you can read yourself to sleep with the long strings of sage advice elsewhere on the site. My current fav boots on a technical level are the Technica Air models – give them a preview if you can.
Otherwise (avoiding repeating some of the great advice given above):
Travel sachets of Baby wipes
Bandana
10m para cord
Swiss army knife
Sunglasss with switchable lenses - I use cycling ones
Hands free head torch
I also carry a small folded square of roofing felt when travelling - it's funny how often it comes in handy in unexpected ways .....
Duct/gaffer tape
Mindset - try to rent or borrow gear when you can BUT always man up if you break something borrowed and replace it with like or better. Avoid girls (or boys) that say you remind them of their father/mother/late dog, etc.
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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.
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[quote="RattytheSnowRat"]
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I also carry a small folded square of roofing felt when travelling - it's funny how often it comes in handy in unexpected ways .....
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Um. Really????
"I never venture forth without my mackintosh squares"
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There are three things you can do as a seasonaire:
(1) Work
(2) Party
(3) Ski
but you can only do a good job of 2 of them at any one time  Since you're likely to get sacked if you neglect to work properly, you pretty much have to choose between partying and skiing. On the other hand being slightly drunk is positively encouraged if you are something like a chalet host, so it's not all bad!
Stuff to take that hasn't been mentioned above:
* a cheap-ish non-ski jacket for wearing around town - that way your expensive ski jacket is less likely to get nicked when you're under the influence.
* you might like to consider getting waterproof winter boots like these: https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTitGcui92i5YV2kdlQPFT4PDbuKF1LaAiy2xsq5VQDTw8bZLbu
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You know it makes sense.
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jord, Get your boots out there, get them fitted, and go back after a few days to get them tweaked, and then again if necessary.
RattytheSnowRat, The only things I can think of for a square of roofing felt are to fix a roof, carry an egg more securely in your pocket, to hold over your head when it's raining or to use as a rather flat pillow if your sleeping on a mates floor - what uses have I missed? 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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jord, Line blends are a pretty tough and versatile ski. 93mm underfoot so can handle powder and are still good on the groomers. I would recoomend mounting them with griffon schizos or depending how light you are maybe the squire schizos. The good thing about the schizos is that you can move the binding forward or back on the ski meaning you can have them set further back for early morning powder and then you can hmove them to the centre if you are in the park in the afternoon. As with boots you are best to go to your local shop and try them on and have them fitted for your feet as nothing would be worse than going out for a season with boots that dont fit. depending on your ski level you will probably want something with at least flex rating of 100.
Also like ap96 you will want your normal ski jacket and a second 'shell' jacket which is lighter but still waterproof for skiing in the warmer weather come spring time. I would also recommend bringing at least 10 pairs of ski socks and never wearing the same pair two days without washing them inbetween or your boots will very quickly become very smelly and stink out your room.
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Poster: A snowHead
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ap96, Totally disagree on thev2 out of 3 thing, i managed all three very well thank you.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'm jealous!!!!
I'd take a jar of Vegemite, the you'd have a queue of Ozzy shella's wanting to share breakfast.
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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?
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jord, you haven't replied to anyone yet (which you should if you want the advice to keep coming) but I have to ask the obvious question - is your employer not supplying you with ski kit (boots and skis)? It's normal for a British TO to have a deal with a local supplier for all their staff and the loan of the gear is part of your contract. The boots are usually boggo rental boots so you are much better off with your own but the skis can be ok.
The skis will usually be piste/narrowish all-mountain/park (think typical punter rental skis but you can probably haggle for your preference) so if you're taking your own skis take something that will complement the quiver - a deep pow ski, a wider all-mountain ski (88-90mm) or a race carver depending on your skiing taste. Use the ski shop ski as your early season hard snow/rock ski (or get a twin tip if you're a park rat) and use your own skis on the good days.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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under a new name, fair play to you if you partied and got some good skiing done too.
It just appeared to me that you have to be some kind of superhuman to do all 3 things consistently well and get a job done (well, a chalet host's job anyway). Even the young uns in our company couldn't keep it up for more than a day or two.
But then, I turned 30 during my season... draw your own conclusions
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| ap96 wrote: |
under a new name, fair play to you if you partied and got some good skiing done too.
It just appeared to me that you have to be some kind of superhuman to do all 3 things consistently well and get a job done (well, a chalet host's job anyway). Even the young uns in our company couldn't keep it up for more than a day or two.
But then, I turned 30 during my season... draw your own conclusions |
You don't need to party hard ALL week, just as you don't need to ski hard ALL work - let alone dedicating all season to one at the total exclusion of the other.
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FAQ
