BUYING BOOTS

tell you, the most important part of the foot when it comes to comfort and steering is the instep, and it’s the most delicate part of the foot anatomically.”

The creation of footbeds to fit your feet precisely, the heat moulding of boots so that every contour of your foot and ankle is held in perfect place – nowhere too loose, nowhere too tight – is relatively quick and simple to do. In short, the boot-fitting tech that used to be the preserve of racers is now available to all. In short, even if you don’t feel you are, and don’t particularly want to be, a great skier, why not be as good as you can be, and have comfortable ski boots at last? How? Well, head to your local specialist ski shop, book a boot-fitting appointment if it’s a good shop – and most are – allow several hours for this to be done properly, be prepared to talk through what you think you need and listen to staff suggestions on what you might actually need.

Ellis Brigham, one of the longestestablished names in ski retail and with shops across the UK, are the experts when it comes to boot fitting. All of their staff are SUREfit trained and employ the same clear five-step process that is designed to ensure you get the right boots for you and that the pair you choose are a perfect fit.

Podiums For Muir

Scottish skier Kirsty Muir (18) took second place behind Norwegian Johanne Killi in the women's freeski slopestyle at Mammoth Mountain in California earlier this month. “What a few weeks! Super happy to grab second here in Mammoth.

Tough conditions today with the wind, but stoked to get one down!” Kirsty posted on social media. The second place followed Kirsty’s first Winter X Games medal a week earlier with third place in the Ski Big Air competition. After first bursting on to the freestyle scene five years ago, then aged just 13, Muir from Aberdeen has already also won silver at the Youth Winter Olympics in 2020, a silver in a World Cup ski slopestyle competition in 2021, and took 5th in the Beijing Olympics a year ago.

Aspen Egg Shortage

Upmarket Colorado ski town Aspen is reported to be suffering from a shortage of eggs. “Those in need of eggs for cooking and baking are out of luck due to an egg shortage sweeping the Roaring Fork Valley,” the Aspen Times reports, saying the problem is down to high demand and avian flu. Supermarkets had been limiting egg sales but are now reported to be completely out of stock.

Oman Sees First Snow

Oman has seen its first snow – albeit produced indoors. Snow Oman is the third indoor snow centre from the Majid Al Futtaim group which opened Ski Dubai in 2005 and Ski Egypt in 2017. Unlike the Dubai and Cairo centres, however, the Sultanate of Oman’s indoor snow facility on the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula will operate as a snow entertainment centre, rather than for skiers and snowboarders.

TROTT’ATHLON

There’s always something new to try on the slopes somewhere each winter, and this year we have the "Fat Trott” scooter. Advances in electric motor power have been behind a lot of new devices unveiled for over-snow travel in recent winters, and this all-terrain vehicle is in the same vein. “With little effort, noise free and zero pollution, the Fat Trott is an activity that anyone can try,” its backers enthuse. It’s available to snow-test at the resort of Aurisen-Oisans in the Southern French Alps.

VAIL RESORTS SPENDS $500M

Vail Resorts, which has now expanded its portfolio of ski areas to 41 centres in Australia, Canada, Switzerland and the USA, has announced nearly half-abillion dollars of investment in upgrades this season. $300 million is going to