Those of you who know me will also know that I am an avid skier. I only get to ski abroad once or twice a year, however in the previous two months I have been travelling up to Hemel Hempstead to go to The Snow Centre, an indoor mountain with artificial snow.  Every time I ski, I end up carting about my old Nordica T5.1 skis (with Nordica N2 bindings) from 2002. These skis have been perfect for me for the last few years, in-fact I have really enjoyed the time I have had with them. Anyone who has moved from renting skis to using their own personal pair will know the joy of getting to know your own equipment.

While I was on one such trip to The Snow Centre, I stopped into to local Snow+Rock, which is conveniently located on-site, to look at their their latest offerings. I asked an employee about which ski he would recommend for my ski style. Seeing as I was looking at moving into more off-piste work, he understandably recommended that I try the Salomon Lord 2010′s, and that they were shaping up to be incredibly popular skis. I had a look through their catalog and compared the dimensions and profile of the Lords to other skis in the book, and eventually found that the Salomon Tornado Ti was a very similarly build ski (at least from the dimension point of view). While the Lord was listed as a Freeride Ski, the Tornado Ti was listed as a Piste Prestige ski.

Upon reading reviews on both skis, I quickly grasped what both were like on the piste, but as most skiers will know, reading about it and actually experiencing it are two very different things. I couldn’t make up my mind between the skis, so I contacted Snow+Rock again, who very kindly informed me that for £15 I could try both pairs out (the £15 could be credited back to me if I chose to purchase a new set of the skis from them).

Upon my next visit to The Snow Centre, I hired both pairs from Snow+Rock, and this is what I found:

Salomon X-Wing Tornado Ti (2010)
with Salomon Z12 B80 bindings

Features

• Full Wood Core
• Double Titanal laminate
• Oversized Pulse Pad
• 3D Stealth Tip
• L Chassis
• 79mm wide waist
• V.R.M. (Variable Radius Management)
• P-tex 4000 base
• Double Monocoque

Specifications

• TIp Width: 124mm
• Waist Width: 80mm
• Tail Width: 107mm
• Radius: 16.7m
• Length (as reviewed): 166cm
• Price (as reviewed): £549

Upon picking these up from Snow+Rock, the first thing that I noticed was the weight. These skis are heavier than what I hve been using in the past, however  they are by no means out of the ordinary for skis. The titanium mesh running down the length of the ski will certainly add some weight, but it will also add strength, but maintain flexibility.

The skis themselves look amazing. The black, white, and gold design is accented by the Star Wars XWing Logo and the transparent X just above the toe binding, revelling the wooden core as well as the titanium mesh. The surface of hte skis feels like it will survive some punishment, unlike those of my Nordca T5.1′s, which unfortunately are rather susceptible to scratches and chips.

As soon as I got on the slope, I eagerly mounted up and headed straight for the lift. Moving through the flat on new skis is such a pleasure, with the skis slipping effortlessly through the softer snow. Once on the Poma, the skis give off a sense of wanting to move, wanting to ski, and wanting to be used what they were designed for. On the first run down, I immediately felt that something was different. my technique felt firmer and more controlled, and my posture seemed improved than on my older skis. Increasing the speed yielded some very interesting results: I could move very quickly from a left carve to a right without much effort, but the ski would bite and throw me into and out of the turns (with incredible control) as I altered my body weight into the turn. The result was that I could pull some tight but very fast carves, while maintaining full control of where I was going, and my speed. This level of control was unlike anything I have ever experienced before.

I repeated this on subsequent runs, each time pushing my speed just that little more, and each time yielding better and better results. The ski never felt out of control (at any speed), and the tip and tail coordination was spot on. I don’t have  a bad word to say about these skis. They do exactly what they say on the tin, and they do it very very well

Unfortunately it was soon time to return to Snow+Rock and change the Tornados over for the next trial pair.

Salomon Lord (2010)
with Salomon Z10 B90 bindings

Features

• Full Wood Core
• Edgy Monocoque
• Semi twin tip
• Over-size Pulse pad
• Edge armour
• P-tex 4000 base

Specifications

• TIp Width: 128mm
• Waist Width: 87mm
• Tail Width: 115mm
• Radius: 17.4m
• Length (as reviewed): 161cm
• Price (as reviewed): £509

Snow+Rock had just received their demo ski that morning, and when I took out the Tornado Ti’s, they were not even mounted. The Staff at the Snow+Rock store certainly excelled themselves, and mounted the binding especially for me to test it. Thanks guys!!! upon walking out of the store with these skis, I was shot some rather envious looks by the staff as they had all wanted to be first to test the Lords. The very least I can do to repay this honour is to write a review on the skis.

The Lord is incredibly pleasing to the eye. the modern design on the skis is certainly one that will look the part on the mountain, with incredible attention payed to everything; from the highlighted ‘Lord’ logo design, to the independent left / right-ski design. The ski looks like it belongs in a snowpark, along with all the ‘hip’ snowboarders, and it will certainly get you noticed in the lift queue.

As soon as I got them on my feet, I could feel the weight difference. The Tornado Ti’s are slight heavier skis than these, and it is noticeable when moving around. The trip up the Poma was remarkably similar to on the Tornados. I didn’t expect to be able to feel any difference, but like the Tornados, these skis wanted to be doing what they were designed for.  After reaching the top and setting off, I immediately noticed that these handled differently to the Tornados. Where as the Tornados wanted to be calving smoothly and wanted me to push my speed and aggression, these wanted to have fun. Indeed, on the second run down, I effortlessly pulled a full 360 whilst moving down the slope. I’ve never been able to do that before. On my next few runs, I decided to push the speed up to see if they would handle the same as the Tornados. Unfortunately they did not, but this was to be expected as they are not really designed for this sort of use. While they did handle very well, I did not feel the same level of control as I did with the Tornados, and at high speeds and tight carving, I noticed that the tails would loose control.

Enough of High speed, lets use these skis for what they were designed for. I decided to just have a bit of fun, and see what I could do with these skis. Indeed, turning is a very enjoyable experience on these skis. The larger surface area certainly helps the ski slide atop the snow when flat, and when putting them into a carve, you can feel their desire to flip you the full 360 degrees. They are by no means uncontrollable though. They did everything I wanted of them, and never pushed me too far. If I wanted to through a 360 turn in at high speed, I was able to. If I wanted to ski backwards and maintain control, it was possible, and if I wanted to ski normally, then it was certainly possible too.

I think that the Salomon Lords are your ‘fun’ ski. While not designed for someone who wants to improve their downhill and short radius turning, I think that these would be at home with someone who wants to move into skiing in a snowpark, where the runs are large and open. I do feel that the twintip would aid ski instructors while skiing backwards and watching their student(s), as they will cut through the snow better than a regular flat end.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the decision between the two pairs was a tough one. I finally chose the Tornado Ti’s over the Lords because I wanted to focus more on my downhill performance than my snowpark performance.

Both sets of skis perform incredibly well! Salomon have done an epic job in forging both pairs. The performance on the piste is like nothing I had ever experienced before, and even better than what I would expect from £500 skis. I would recommend both pairs to anyone who asked me in a heartbeat. That said, the two pairs do have different callings, and different purposes.

The Lord’s are very much a snowpark ski, and this comes across in their personality. They want to be having fun. They don’t want to take skiing seriously, and are just there to have a good time, even if it does mean pulling the odd 360 turn in front of a startled snowboarder. The Lord’s remind us that having fun and doing more than just going from the top to the bottom is not only for snowboarders!

The Tornados are, for all intents and purposes, a all-mountain ski, with a biased toward downhill piste skiing. Their design is such that it will feel at home both on and off the piste. The ski feels like it wants to be moving fast and freely down the mountain side. The performance both into and out of the turns makes this ski very enjoyable to ride, and allows the user to push their own experience and ability.

In conclusion, I think the Lord is the fun younger ski, while the Tornado is the more refined serious ski. Both skis are very good examples of what skiing is all about – Having fun!  Both pairs improved my performance no end, and I had a great time testing out both pairs. I would very much have liked to have bought both sets, however I felt that I needed to focus more on my downhill performance. While buying these skis does not lock me into one style, I feel that it will define my choice of skiing for the years to come, and will shape my development and experiences on the piste.

I would like to thank the staff at Snow+Rock, Hemel Hempstead for sorting out the Lord’s in time for me to try them, as well as loaning me the skis for trial, and helping me purchase my Tornado Ti’s.

Ultimately, i’m not a professional skier, nor a professional ski reviewer. I just thought I would write about my experiences with these two models. If it helps people choose what to buy next, then fantastic!  If you have any creative and constructive criticism, I’d love to hear it. The Comments box awaits you!

More to prove that I can review more than technology, I thought I’d post a review about my recent experience and day-out to the indoor (real snow) ski-slope ‘The Snow Centre‘. My time there was all too brief, but it was enough to rekindle the joy of skiing. Having not skied for over a year and a half (having missed the 2008/2009 season), the prospect of getting back onto real snow was exciting.

The Snow Centre is an enclosed hillside, with artificial snow created for the surface. For those that ski will be familiar with artificial snow, and how sugary it can be. The snow at The Snow Centre is not like this at all. From the moment I stepped onto it, I couldn’t tell the difference between natural snow, and the snow that was under my boots. Skiing on it produces equally pleasing results, with turns cutting smoothly through the snow, with the edges gripping the correct amount. The temperature and general atmosphere in The Snow Centre is kept at a comfortable mountain temperature, and if you closed your eyes, you’d have a very hard time not imagining yourself on a mountainside. By the time you finish, you will indeed feel like you’ve just been doing real skiing.

During your day, you can’t help but marvel at skiing on real snow in the UK. And indoors of all things. The experience is really rather surreal, and remarkably zen.

If you are into lessons, The Snow Centre can provide. I myself can’t talk about the quality of the lessons as I did not attend one, so I asked my friend Stephen to write a short piece about his experience with the lessons. From what I observed of his lesson, the instructors are very professional, and have a very good way of teaching, sometimes using little games as a way to both lighten the atmosphere, and to help teach basic skills and coordination.

Stephen’s Review – Through the eyes of a beginner

Having never skied naturally I decided to have lessons (you can’t actually use the recreational ski slope unless you have a controlled level of skill)

Booking the lesson

I booked the lesson online, easy as pie to do and a good price I feel for what you got:

Lesson cost: £45 – 17yrs old and up. 1hr 45 lesson with an instructor. Being level 1 it’s the basics really. Get a ski card at the end with your training progress
Clothing hire: £5 – waterproof coat, waterproof trousers, helmet, boots and ski’s
Gloves: £6 – you get to keep these! for obvious reasons, gloves just aren’t practical for lending back and forth

So you don’t have to worry at all about buying all the gear, it’s all provided for you for £5 and they will make sure it is the right size for you, and adjust the ski’s for you. Just make sure you know your shoe size and weight.

The only hassle with clothing hire is it does take a little while to find the correct size stuffs, so make sure you have plenty of time before a lesson to get it all sorted.

The slope

Having never skied before it was a pretty cool (well kinda chilly) experience, but your well wrapped up so you don’t feel the cold too much other then your nose may get a bit sniffy. The snow was great, it was just like real snow you see, same consistency and feel. There are three distinct slopes, the main one which is full sized, the training one which is about 3/4 the size of the main and another one in between which was for kids going down on rubber rings (why couldn’t we do that too)

It was a nice atmosphere, tranquil music in the background, felt really big!

The Lesson

Okies so the lesson party was only about 8 people big, 1 instructor. He was a really nice guy, very friendly and approachable. As it was level 1 lesson it was the basics to get you going: how to attach yourself to the skis, how to move in them, how to move up a slope on them, posture and controlling your speed etc

The instructions were good, don’t assume you will be good at it right away, it is a lot harder then it looks. But they take you through each part well I felt, though I wouldn’t mind have having more practice on some bits there is a lot to fit into 1hr 30 minutes I guess. I struggled a little bit with the control. As Tristan said; as part of the practicing they also incorporate little games to do to help you get the hang of it whilst doing other things, so you stop thinking about what your skis are doing and just doing it. Nothing too tricky.

I struggled at first with turning round to start a descend, you have to make sure your legs and weight is in the right places, If you take too long like I did trying to get yourself straight you will start moving and mess up. I kinda got it in the end. I wasn’t able to master the snow plough so I am still on level 1 lesson, but hey it was ok, I wasn’t too disheartened, hopefully next time I can do it better now I know a bit more. Oh and I managed to crash into someone one time, but I didn’t get hurt at all. Everyone is really nice and polite, plus everyone you are with are learning. Just be careful of kids

They gave you a little card which you keep, you get it signed after every level you complete to their satisfaction. I am already looking forward to going again, just need to get those snow-ploughs sorted

For the record you have to surpass level 4 on the lessons to be able to use the main slope. And at level 1 you don’t go all that high up the slope at all. But yes the instructors are really good and I feel it was a fantastic experience on the whole. Definitely wanna go back and get better, it’s good fun!

– by Stephen Alexander, Sept. 2009

My only small complaints with The Snow Centre, is that the mountainside isn’t large enough to get a decent rhythm going, however I could just be finding this because of my experience level. I wanted to open the taps a little more, but couldn’t due to the space restrictions. As you would expect with any indoor (and UK Based) ski run, there is one thing missing:

There is no mountain chalet… When the clock reaches half-past 12, you start looking about for the nearest provider of alcohol, expecting to be able to sit out in a deckchair in the sun for half an hour, and just chill with a nice glass of Glüvine, or a nice cold beer (not to mention some lunch). Alas, The Snow Centre has failed to provide just such a service, even if skiing is one of those things that you can indeed do after you’ve downed two or three glasses of your favorite beverage (HEY, for some of us, it makes us ski better!)

For those of you who want to experience what it is really like to ski, this is the best way of doing so, short of going abroad to a resort and spending a whole week doing it. I would say this is better, because if you don’t like it, you’ve not wasted an entire week trying to do something that you clearly won’t enjoy. For almost everyone, skiing is something that you would find relaxing, intensely rewarding, a great workout, and give you a skill that can take you to so many places in the future.

Hope to see you on the slopes in the future!

Thanks to Stephen Alexander for writing the review, and for sharing the experience with me.

I received my first box from this service about two weeks ago, and a second box on Tuesday this week. After receiving the second, I thought I would write a short article on what the service offers and my impressions of it.

What’s on offer?

The Graze.com box, as it arrived in the post.

Graze.com offers “a wide range of fresh fruit, delicious nuts, seeds & dried fruits, tasty crackers & olives, as well as some well deserved natural treats”.  A quick look through their Food List shows that this is indeed true. There is everything from freshly cut pineapple, Apple Strudel (Dried apple, naturally dried apricots & dried cranberries), nuts, chocolate buttons, cherries, cashew nuts, and much much more. The selection is incredibly varied, if sometimes a little on the strange side. There are some products in the list that I would never have tried without this service. This was certainly the case in my last box, where I received wasabi peanut crackers. I was skeptical, however they turned out to be fantastic, and they quickly got set to ‘Love’ in the preference section.

How does it work?

When you first sign up to Graze, the system will ask you what sort of box you want. You can choose between either an automatic system, which will build a box based on your likes & dislikes, or you can manually construct your box.

Design your own Graze box

The automatic selection works  by a user first selecting what sort of box they want constructed. This is like telling the service what purpose you want the box to fulfil. The current options are: ‘Eat Well’, ‘Energy’, ‘Well Being’, ‘Pre -Workout’, or ‘Post-Workout’. Once you’ve selected this, you tell the site the sort of food you; Hate, want to try, like, or love. Graze then constructs a box based on your preferences, and can work a little like Amazon’s Recommended Products system. Graze will always try to send you your preferred items, however if some items are out of stock (Grapes were when I first signed up), they will send your next preference.

Graze can also let you construct your own box, selecting what you want in each section. I guess that this option could remove any healthy benefit that you may gain from using this service, though it is great for the more picky eaters among us.

The boxes themselves are divided into three sections. one large, one medium, one small. The large is fresh fruit, the medium is a dried fruit selection / mix, and the small is normally some form of snack food.

The boxes are shipped via Royal Mail priority mail, which means it should arrive the day after it is shipped. I’ve only had two so far but neither has been late, and both have been very well packaged, and arrived in perfect condition (even though it has suffered the internal mail system).

How much does it cost?

Inside of a Graze box

The standard box, which consists of one large section, one medium section, and one small section, is priced at £2.99. This includes next-day delivery. I would argue that the service is well priced for what you get, however the same could be achieved for less if you made up a box yourself. The disadvantage this would have is the amount of time  it would take to build your own selection, and you may not get to try some of the more exotic options Graze has on offer.

In my opinion, I think Graze has found a currently untapped market. Their products appeal mostly to the busy office-worker or businessman. The product may air on the expensive side in today’s climate, but very well priced for what is on offer.

Want to try it out?

If you would like a free trial of this service, which will get you one free box, then please use the following code when signing up: VGWR1QH

Links

• Graze.com (link includes free trial box)

Update

Following on from some of the comments I have received, I have contacted Graze.com directly and informed them of this review and its feedback. They have conveyed their thanks for the feedback, and asked that anyone having problems please email them at getintouch@graze.com .