New snow, new boots and public speaking.

Well, winter finally seems to have decided to show up out here. Last night it was raining heavily down here at 800m, and webcams are showing a good covering of fresh snow above 1800m. With more unsettled weather forecast for this week this should finally get a base down for the winter!

It is a quiet week here at Offpisteskiing HQ, with a Wednesday trip to Chamonix to see Jules & Damien at the Boot Room for a pair of light weight touring boots to go alongside my Dynafit Titans.

I skied the Titans most of last winter and was extremely impressed. These boots seem to fit & hold my foot really well, and set up with a Palau 'Hard' thermo-formed inner boot I found the performance of these boots to be similar to a 110/120 flex alpine boot, and they were perfectly happy even driving a bigger ski like the Volkl Gotamas (191cm & 107mm under foot).

Dynafit Titans:



At approx 2 Kg per foot they are not the lightest boot around though and I am in the market for a lighter boot for longer days out & mountaineering, but still with good skiability for steep descents.

Obviously fit will be the priority, but on paper the Scarpa Maestrale is looking good, at 1.5 Kg per foot, and with a reputation for very good skiing response. Even lighter weight (approx 1.1 Kg) is the Dynafit TLT5, though the inability to use this with anything other than pin bindings is a slight drawback. I am keeping an open mind, so watch this space...

In other news, anyone in the UK next weekend and at a loose end could do worse than getting themselves to Plas-y-Brenin in North Wales for the 4th Annual Ski Mountaineering Symposium, organised by the Eagle Ski Club, Alpine Ski Club and Alpine Club this features a day of lectures (including yours truly) followed by a day of practical workshops including ski technique, transceiver use, mountain medicine, group management and much more. Should be a great weekend!