Following on from a brilliant Rider Social week testing Never Summer 2013 snowboards – here’s a post from Pete at www.lovesnow.co.uk telling you all a little more about it.
“It’s time to look back on what was an epic week in the Portes du Soleil with The Rider Social.
After checking the forecasts regularly pre trip, it came apparent that we were to be served with perfect snow conditions. Arriving on the Saturday to steady snowfall it didn’t stop snowing ’til the Thursday with a further storm rolling in on the Friday that still doesn’t appear to have stopped as I type this on the following Wednesday! What this meant was plenty of powder riding, in fact powder everyday for 6 days!
Fi from The Rider Social popped around on the Saturday night to drop off my lift pass and a couple of the 2013 Never Summer test boards, the Premier F1 and the Proto CTX. I tested both boards last season and was keen to try them out in the powder that eluded us in Winter 2011. I mounted the bindings on the Premier F1 in readiness to slay the mountain of powder.
During the week, the Premier F1 was a willing partner in slaying all manner of powder fields. Paul kindly showed me and the rest of his happy campers several secret spots including one wide open field a short boot hike from the Les Combes chair. So good was this field that we lapped it 3 times!
5 snowboarders, which would rise to 6 by the end of the week, had signed up to stay with Paul and Fi at The Rider Social in Chatel and test the 2013 Never Summer range.
Most of the guys were put on SL’s from the start, Jo being the only female of the group was put on an Infinity. When I hooked up with them they all had beaming smiles on their faces. The boards were obviously doing their job, although I had no doubts. I mentioned 5 snowboarders had signed up, well the 6th was Cal who was a complete noobie to the sport. He’d jumped in at the deep end and luckily Paul, Fi and myself were there to sort him out. By the end of the week he was an accomplished rider prepared to try some switch and even hit the rails and kickers.
As the week progressed the whole crew developed as snowboarders. People were trying things they never thought they could achieve. New skills included riding powder correctly and efficiently, carving clean lines and literally buttering the muffin off the Prolays run. One proud and happy coach here with the skills they developed throughout the week.
It was all in all an epic week. Unfortunately it did end up on a slightly sour note with Paul popping open one of his bindings on a tree jib in The Stash and landing directly on his lower back. He has a broken vertebrae and a snazzy Storm Trooper vest to help it heal. We wish him all the best in his recovery and look forward to shredding with him soon.
A similar week is being mooted for later this season and almost definately for January 2013 so keep your eyes peeled for further details.
On a side note, to give you an idea of conditons and after giving the Proto a tag of ‘an excellent allrounder’ last March, I was keen to give it a go in the powder. They say a picture can tell a thousand words so check out this video below to see how it performed on a greybird powder day in the PDS.”
Remember if you would like to try NEXT season (2013) Never Summer snowboards this year we are the only place in the French Alps where you can.