Claire works in Warm Up and has been serving us our gingerbread hot chocolate since the season started. She isn’t your standard gap year student and this is her 2nd season out on the snow. Whilst doing kit review she described herself as having all the idea and none of the gear, but she seems to be doing ok.
Skier or Boarder
I’m a skier and I’ve been skiing for 11 years now. I started skiing with my family and I love it. I’m trying to push myself a little bit more out here in Val d’Isère. I tried boarding out in St. Anton but I couldn’t see the point, especially because I got injured.
Skis
I’ve got two pairs out with me: a pair of K2 Apache Raiders and I bought some second-hand Salomon Foils when I came out at the beginning of the season, mostly because they have touring bindings. I’m not too keen on the skis as a whole. I really want to get some fat powder skis to take off-piste. My friend found some decent touring skis by a bin, so I might take the touring bindings off the Foils, put them on those and see how it goes.
Boots
I’ve got Salomon Instincts that I also bought at the start of the season and they were recommended to me by Del from Snowberry.
Jacket
Nothing fancy, just a black north face shell jacket that I layer up underneath to keep warm.
Pants
These are definitely my favourite bit of kit. They are bright blue and I think they give me a bit of extra power because they give me the balls to go and do things that scare me a bit. They are a bit impractical though because I’m not sure they are that waterproof any more and they don’t fit properly but I love them!
Avalanche Kit?
I’ve got a full set of avalanche gear from Ortovox including a probe, transceiver and shovel. I have an Ortovox S1 transceiver which is meant to do everything for you except dig up the person, but when I did the avalanche training out on the piste I seemed to take the longest to find the buried transceiver. I really want an ABS bag. That’d definitely complete all my kit for off-piste, so if you’ve got a 2nd hand one then come into the Warm Up and I’ll take it off your hands.
First Season
My first season was out in St. Anton but I definitely prefer it out here. I came to Val because of its great reputation off-piste and I really wanted to get properly into that side of skiing. I’m definitely getting there.
How is the Off-Piste Going?
It’s going well, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some people who have shown me round the mountain. I really am enjoying doing some more challenging terrain.
Favourite Run?
I really enjoyed Pisteurs. The weather wasn’t great and it was really windy so walking the ridge was a bit scary but it was perfect in the couloir and then when it opened up we had fresh tracks for the rest of the way down. Perfect!
Done any Touring?
Yeah, I’ve done a bit but I want to do a bit more in the spring snow. I could then look at potentially doing some of the really long touring routes around Mont Blanc or maybe going to Norway.
Any Injuries?
I’ve been really lucky to not have had any big injuries in all the time I’ve been skiing. I fractured my shoulder in St. Anton but it healed up really quickly so I wasn’t off the snow for too long.
Tags: S5E11
