J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

Good discussion about ski jackets.

I think of my jacket as a cupboard ~ Wax, sun lotion, season pass, valley bus pass, insurance card, mobile, woolly hat, camera, hankies, goggles, sun glasses case, piste maps, water colour pad, pencils. One pocket must be large enough for the water colour pad. Other contributors will have other items, perhaps being a regular user of lipstick...

Agree with Verbier SB, about usage but would add to it. VB's point about number of weeks skiing in a season is valid. Mine has reduced since my ski buddy passed on, but is still around 4/5 weeks a year.

There is however, another wear factor. An average regular intermediate may ski say 15/30km/day. I might normally attain 70/80km/day, cruising. Hence the jacket hit, (zip/unzip/open/close etc) might be 3 times as much.

The net effect of a high usage skier on their equipment might be around 7/10 times that of a one/two week per year skier. Hence there is a different discussion going on between the tourist end and the season/semi-season skier.

One recent failure in my gear is my Reusch gloves. Previously, had great lifetime, but now the right glove has lasted only two seasons.


On the NF discussion, I never look at the brand, only at the manufacturing quality, stitching, lining quality, pockets, plus other qualifications. It is not difficult to eliminate NF.

I generally buy my jackets and skis in Austria, in March.

I keep 6 pairs of skis in Niederau, 5 pairs at home. I dumped 6 pairs into the local recycle centre, a few years back, and one pair are currently in a museum in Colorado. In both locations, some carvers, some old long straights. I choose which ski, depending on conditions, (of the snow and of the knee), and how I feel on a particular day. So this season, I skied 165 Atomic carvers in January and February, and 190 straight Volkls in March. I inherited a pair of 170 Atomic GS9s which is what many instructors were using 4 years back. Not too keen on them, quite heavy.

When we go to other areas, we just make a judgement on hiring or taking our own.

My 28 year old rear entry Raichles finally died in Wengen last year, due to some careless kick off boot removal on my part. They were just about done in anyway, but they had been a good boot for me. I had to hire some multi clip boots from Skiset, to get me through the remaining time. I just didn't like them, trying to force your foot into the boot, and faffing about with 8 or 10 clips.
Fortunately, I found a pair of my son's hand me up rear entry boots in the boot cupboard at home, and they fitted like a glove ~ used for my March trip last year.
Then Swingbeep found me a supplier in Germany, that sold Nordica rear entry boots, so I had 2 pairs posted over, (£360 for 2 pairs) did the adjustments, and they are like slippers. They take 5 seconds to put on and take off. So I will now leave a one pair in Niederau, and just travel with hand baggage, and use the new pair elsewhere.

Jackets are a problem for me. They need to have a large inner pocket, so I can fit a 10 x 7 water colour pad inside. Then, because I treat my jacket like a cupboard, they need to have heaps of other pockets. Important pocket is the left hand sleeve ~ holds the season pass, valley pass, insurance card with phone numbers.

Sallos follow the jacket. Never wear goggles. Have 3 pairs of sticks in Austria and 2 pairs at home. Replace if they break or get too bent.

I have skied in St Johann both last year and this year. It is a really pleasant place to be.

I just returned from Tirol, having skied this morning, chucked my skis into a mates car, I will collect them next season, and then driven to the airport. The night temperatures have remained cold, particularly for the top two thirds of the mountains.

That reflects in the way the snow has been, ~ just fabulous skiing at the top and middle, but granular hard pack turning to afternoon slush for the lower slopes.

The temperatures are rising, but not by much, and there will be some small snowfalls. I was in Scheffau on Tuesday, and that was certainly not good conditions, plenty of lumpy stuff to batter your way through! One key issue is how well differing locations manage the snow. both in terms of timely and productive early season machine snow, and also the skill and management of piste machine operations.

St Johann seems to manage their snow operations well, not as good as my home resort, but few places are.

My guess is that in just two weeks time, there will be sufficient snow to make for an enjoyable week, but that you may have to be prepared to do some sun bathing by mid afternoon!

A beautiful old town, though. Oh, and if you do get knee and hip issues, thats what St Johann hospital specialises in ~ 600 hips and 800 knees a year!

Trencher explains the issue very well. I tend to add in smoothness in the turn.

Not on the Sunday Edinburgh flight by any chance?

Alp D'Huez lifts closed, 90kph wind.

Time to hire touring skis.

Swingbeep, nobody is ever going to accuse you of lacking technical input! With that degree of tech info, ???

I will do my puny best.

I disagree with the views of the compression of orthotics. I have had my pair for over 20 years. Out of interest, I verniered the heel thickness, and this has not changed. I think if they are of the gel type, this would not be true.

OTOH, 25/30mm shell space!!!!

Oh, I never gave any thought to the liners on my Reichle, which I wore for over 150 weeks of skiing.... Until I snapped the connector, they were as good as new.

Sounds like a really good engineering performance.That is certainly a good cost. I was skiing there 3 weeks ago.

It isn't that long ago that the skiwelt was created from a disparate set of village lifts.