68: Skiing the Berlin Wall, Jungfrau Review, Avalanches & Charlotte Bankes

In Episode 68, Iain was joined by Jasmin Taylor, Team GB telemark skier, and friend of the show Alex Irwin. 

We chat about Courchevel, avalanches and foldable skis, plus Iain speaks to newly crowned world snowboard cross champion Charlotte Bankes.

We have a report by Charlie Rees from the Jungfrau region in Switzerland and we also find out about how Dan Egan skied off the Berlin Wall!

Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code
Save money on your ski hire by using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ at intersportrent.com, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied at the checkout.

SHOW NOTES

·       Jasmin has over 30 World Cup podiums and you can listen to a more in depth interview in our podcast special recorded last year
·       Alex is based in Courchevel and runs the YouTube channel 150 Days of Winter
·       The lifts were meant to start to turning in Italy on 15 February, but this has now been delayed
·       Since our last episode we’ve seen avalanches in Zermatt, Méribel and Val d'Isère
·       These dogs barking saved their owners who’d been buried in an avalanche
·       We've reported before on how the press mispresented the situation in Verbier in Episode 65 and also in Wengen (in Episode 66)
·       There has been some great reporting by Abi Butcher (who appeared in Episode 65), with a deep dive into the 'super spreader' story about British instructors in Jochburg, Austria
·       The tourist office in St Anton also confirmed that reports of 96 people arrested and fined was also incorrect
·       Mike Richards told us about skiing in Wales in Episode 65
·       Neil Bradshaw reported from Sun Valley ski resort in Idaho
·       There are pistes open in Courchevel 
·       Meanwhile Meribel stopped running their buses due to the number of people using them to ski 
·       Jasmin has been training and racing in Plaine-Joux in France 
·       Charlotte Bankes .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}