The SkiBike Shop

So that's the 2014 Skibiker Skibike Blog Tour for 2014 all wrapped up and what a success it proved to be. It didn't kick off till the beginning of February, but from then on it was a roller coaster ride for the best part of eight glorious, action packed and thoroughly exhausting weeks.


Week 1 - Getting back on the horse

The first week was the toughest; in spite of plenty of cycling practice over the winter, it was still testing to switch from a soft office job to riding the mountains for the best part of six hours a day. I spent the first few days hammering myself into shape at my "local" resorts in the Jura mountains, such as La Dole, Le Crozet and La Faucille. It was supposed to be an easy week of warming up and settling in, but the weather made for a tricky time. There was more fresh snow than I would have though possible, it was just a shame that for most part you could only see for a few feet in front of you.

Great snow in February - but poor visibility

Sadly I only managed one day with Carl & Andy in Flaine and that was probably only a couple of hours skibike riding at the most. All too soon they were homeward bound and Mark Bayston had arrived in Morillon.


Week 2 - Anglo French

Mark Bayston rode my black skibike for the week and we had a couple of fun days riding together. It was a better week for him than last year - injury free - well almost, he pulled a muscle in his shoulder walking!
I also managed to get in some solo rides at, Praz de Lys, Combloux and La Dole all of which have remained skibike friendly. I finished the week with a visit to Firem for some website tweaking and a ride at Grand Bornand, including a chance to try out the new VS 614 model.

Firem VS614 - It will put a smile on your face

Week 3 - Riding with Wayne

Wayne Richards returned to France after many year's self imposed exile and together with wife Lucille we got in a good few rides at various places. There was a fun ride with Team Firem VS at Combloux on the Saturday, with Thierry Avrillon on the Sunday comparing three strangely similar skibikes and finally cruising round the Grand Massif on the Monday. There were issues using the Grand Vans chairlift at Flaine, till this is resolved it is Au Revoir to Flaine, my hard earned Euros will be spent skibiking elsewhere.

Wayne Richard skibiking in France - what is the World coming to?

Week 4 - Back to the grindstone

Both refreshed and exhausted, I jumped on a plane for London and spent a few days working on a medical conference, but I did ride my push bike 30 miles a day to stay in shape for the following week's Balkan adventure.


Week 5 - Watch out for the Avalanches

Another plane took me to the spectacular seaside town of Thessaloniki on the edge of the Macedonian highlands where I met up with Team Avalanche. Together we ventured into Bulgaria along with the Real Balkan Spy and I rode Bucephalus at both Bansko and Borovets. We unexpectedly met Clive and Eddie on their SledgeHammer skibikes and made plenty of MacGyver repairs whilst on the slopes. The mountains, weather and the snow were all about as good as you can get and the prices way below normal. But there was something sleazy about Bulgarian resorts that spoiled their potential charm. All too soon it was time to get that flight home and make another quick turn around.

Team Avalanche Downhill Skibikes - I preferred the pink one

 
Week 6 - Three Valleys

Back in Geneva, I re-packed the car for my first visit to the Three Valleys area in two decades and my first time on a skibike there. First I gave my skibikes a shakedown in the Jura mountains before driving down to Brides-les-Bains to establish a base camp and form an expedition advance party. I met up with new boy John Andree and Cédric Sabatte and we found that Courchevel was the place to be. Meribel was a disappointment for many reasons and Val Thorens remained cut off from easy skibike access. 

Ace skibiker John Andree - joined the tour in Courchevel

Week 7 - Skibike Swiss Rolls

Fresh from the Three Valleys and with my salopettes in tatters it was time to pack some fresh clothes and head to Leysin where Carl Day had established a base camp. We braved the technical and icy black run descents from Glacier 3000 and in vain sought out the last fresh powder in Gstaad.

No powder left at Zweisimmen

We further explored Leysin, hot lapping the mountain and gathering some of the best skibike footage of 2014.
There was still time to ride with Kevin Dawson in Avoriaz and the following day skied Morzine in the rain and found the perimeter area where skibikes are allowed.


Week 8 - To The Very Last Drop

I managed an outrageously decadent day trip to BullSkate and rode two of the prototype models for the 2014/15 season. 

BullSkate - prototype models for the 2014/15 season

After much waiting, the NISM skis finally arrived for assessment, just in time for the last few days of the tour. They were put immediately to use on my first visit to Valmorel with "Mr A", it was so good we turned it into a two day trip and since I've been told that we are welcome back next season, yay! We gave the NISM skis a thorough going over and they proved to be the ideal off-piste tool.
On the last riding day we made a back breaking ascent of La Tournette, I had to employ every technique I could use to get both myself and my skibike to the top.


So What Next?

I was sad to reach the end of the tour but also very happy that the even the most hap-hazard of plans all came together so well. Unlike any previous year, so many virtual friends joined in and became real ones and we all got to ride together on the slopes of Europe like no previous season. We had a few new riders jump on and join in the fun too and so many enquiries for information that I had to make a second batch of cards.

A few people and places got missed out, next year I must build in some visits to the skibike friendly resorts in Italy and also those of the Auverne and Vosges mountains in France. We can only hope that mother nature will provide the medium for sliding.

Many, many thanks to all who took part, if you haven't been name checked, it is accidental and not deliberate. If you have read this blog and want to join in next season, don't be shy, all it takes is money to make it happen.

Every season there is one track that you hear played everywhere; in the bars, supermarkets and on the radio constantly. This time it was a cover of Keane's 2004 hit "Somewhere Only We Know" given a pseudo classical makeover by Lily Allen.

Here's a recipe for an interesting day out. First, take one ski instructor, blend in three engineers, a web designer, a youngster, one blog writer and season with a rapid skier and the result will be a super melange, a volatile mixture, moderated by a love of skibiking.
Today was indeed quite a special day, one that brought together a quorum of the French skibiking movement, enhanced by the presence of both website writers. This is the first time that Wayne and I have skibiked together on real mountains, previous attempts have failed to be practicable and indoor skibiking doesn't really count.

Skibikes at Combloux - a hassle free place to ride

We are riding at Combloux, I can't even recall why now, other than that it's a hassle free place to ride, with plenty of runs to play on. On any other day I could just turn up and ride, safe in the knowledge that there is nothing to prove. Today though, in many respects the pressure is on, I am riding with some of the best and most experienced freestyle skibikers in France. Some only know me through the Blog and Facebook group, will I live up to their expectations?

Cafe racers - coffee pit stop

It turned out that I shouldn't have fretted, today was much more of a social ride than a competition. That said, after some easy warm up runs, the lads were keen to test their form on the Boarder Cross course; a roller coaster ride of bumps, jumps and banked turns (berms). In some respects, it is as difficult as any black run, there is no room for manoeuvre and once you are committed, slowing down is all but impossible. I have to confess that it is yet another discipline that I need to work on. Even after familiarising myself with the all turns, I still found myself over cooking bends and getting ejected off the banking into the rough.

Today was much more of a social ride than a competition

On one long chairlift ride, I had a great opportunity to discuss skibikes with Jef Exertier who is both a regular E.S.F. instructor in winter and is also a pro Mountain Guide /  Alpinist in the Summer months. Unlike any other E.S.F. instructor in France, he now owns enough Firem VS skibikes to teach skibiking to groups of up to 6 at a time. Based at skibike friendly Grand Bornand, he is putting in many hours over the season, with most students ready to ride alone after just a couple of hours of tuition.
For some disability or age is preventing them from doing mainstream winter sports, others have issues with their confidence and some are just out to try a new sliding flavour. He heavily endorses the Firem VS brand and sees it as the only model for teaching in complete safety. Novices are sent straight on to the slopes using the unique rear braking system, safe to control their speed no matter how fast. He admitted that he was having a great day riding with peers, but tomorrow it would be back to teaching yet more English how to snow plough during half-term holidays.

After riding, we celebrated the occasion with an impromptu round of crisp Cremant d'Alsace and I bid a fond farewell to our riding chums. I was heading for St. Jean d'Aulps, to join Wayne and wife Lucille, where we will be staying for the weekend in a cosy "Coin Montagne". The irony of leaving one ski resort to drive for over an hour on roads covered in wet snow, to stay at another for a couple of nights was not lost on any of us.

These tiny rental apartments remind me of living on a yacht or caravan, you have everything you need, but it's a constant squeeze. If you want to sit down, someone else has to stand up and when sat on the toilet your knees are wedged against the door. To avoid claustrophobia we took a stroll down to the liveliest night spot in St. Jean d'Aulps and enjoyed some live jazz-funk. The band improved in direct proportion to the amount of beer we consumed, sadly their looks didn't, let's just say they had perfect faces for the radio. The odd couple blog writers holed up at high altitude, with time to talk skibikes and drink beer, as Jim Morrison might have put it "On a night like this we could plan a murder, or start a religion".

On a night like this we could plan a murder, or start a religion

I had some interesting feedback recently in the comments section.

Everyone on the blog seems to be young and experienced with no little info for us oldies that have skied for years and want to continue. I tried hiring with a lesson in Grand Bornand, but no foot skis, only pegs, so would have preferred foot skis to start with to get confidence.

It's a fair comment that a lot of the writers here are experienced, but none of us are exactly spring chickens, in just over a year's time I will be eligible for SAGA membership. The skibike blog has always focussed heavily on freestyle riding, as its the type of riding I was interested in from the outset. It's only recently that I have felt at home riding this way, having started with skibob style riding, like so many others.

Anyone who is new to the sport should join the blog's Facebook Group, where you will find plenty of kindred spirits, building their first skibike and making those first tentative turns in the snow. If you need further inspiration, here is a picture of Fred Tissue.

Fred Tissue - 75 years young

He is 75 years young, has recently started freestyle skibike riding, as disability has prevented him from continuing with skiing. This week I watched one of his latest videos; he was tanking down the slopes, standing up on the pegs whilst riding off piste and even managed to feed himself a fine snow sandwich when he overcooked a turn.

With a skibike age really is just a number.

The weather forecast for today looked to be pretty grim, I had no intention of doing any riding and organised to visit Serge Mermillod at the Firem factory in Villards sur Thones. I got up stupidly early expecting a painful drive over and ended up arriving 45 minutes early. I took a stroll around the village to pass the time, it was a ghost town; one church, one bar, one graveyard.

Back at Firem, Serge and I went through some recent additions to his website mainly connected with the recent arrival of a new model, the VS 614. By the time our chores were accomplished it was nearly lunchtime and contrary to the forecast the weather looked quite promising for the afternoon.

Villards sur Thones is only about 15 minutes from both La Clussaz and Grand Bornand, both of which are skibike friendly. Serge suggested we ride in the afternoon and offer I gladly accepted. It was 3 years ago that I first rode with Serge, it's always fun, his passion and enthusiasm are infectious. I always end up going too fast, today was no exception.

The temperature was so high it felt positively muggy and although the sky was quite overcast, the snow at all levels was melting into slush. This made for sticky conditions, hell for the skiers falling over their tips; we were able to just blat through it with impunity. For once the stickiness of the snow meant that you could head down the fall line and the speed would built to a point where you couldn't go any faster. I think I surprised Serge that I could almost keep up with him now, it must be all the time I have spent trying to keep up with Carl Day.

The speed would built to a point where you couldn't go any faster

On our final run we swapped skibikes so I could sample the VS 614. There might be better skibikes for making a 30 foot cliff drop and others that are lighter or cheaper. But as an "all mountain" go anywhere machine it is without equal. You can take it on piste at blistering speed with stability and poise. You can take it off piste without bottoming out. Sit on the saddle or stand on the pegs? Yes both positions work equally well. It is probably the best skibike for carving out there, no need to run a foot in the snow for balance, yet it will drift too. Then there's the foot brake system, love it or loathe it, it works. For some it is what they want and what makes them choose Firem over other premium skibike manufacturers.

VS 614 - as an "all mountain" go anywhere skibike it is without equal

Me, I just like the opportunity to have a go and ride with Serge.

Meanwhile in France... Firem have been testing out their retrofit chairlift skibike carrier for compatibility with the ever popular SnowScoot. They manufacture a hook/clamp combination which easily mounts to the chassis of a chairlift, I saw and rode the prototype in action during the 2011-12 season at Grand Bornand in France see here.
On the prototype system, the lift operators did the hard work of loading and unloading skibikes. At the time, there were only 3 brackets on the chain of 100 or so chairs. As a skibiker you had to wait to one side, then get quickly into place as the special chairs came round. The prototype chairlift ran up to some easy green and blue runs and provided a very safe environment for novices to learn Freestyle SkiBiking (myself included).
Once they had gained in experience and confidence, they were able to move to more demanding terrain. From what I gathered at the time, Grand Bornand were aiming to expand into Downhill Mountain Biking uplift for the summer season and making chairlift brackets a permanent feature.

SkiBike and SnowScoot chairlift carrier system - from Firem

Other resorts nearby, have hooks on the back of the chairlift frame to mount your MTB on the chairlift in front of you. Typically they take these off in the winter season to avoid risking clumsy skiers impaling themselves on them.  The beauty of the Firem system is that the skibike stays to the side of the chairlift and doesn't interfere with other snow users, nor does the lift need to slow down for loading. If Firem are testing them now, it bodes well, at least for the Alps in the 2013 season and potentially as research data for elsewhere.

Things are afoot at French skibike manufacturer Firem, I've been tasked to translate the Operating Instructions, Safety & Maintenance Notes leaflet for their all new VS512 model due to reach the end of the production line in the next couple of weeks.

My school boy French often fails me though, it has taken 30 years to realise that I should have listened to my mother, turned off the television and done my homework. But what she didn't know back then, was that here in the future we have every bluffers own dynamic duo super-heroes, namely; the Internet and Google Translate.
These provided me with a translation of "doigt d'indexage" well sort of anyway, but I really needed to be sure and queried Serge from Firem. He came up with this alternative, "goupille de sécurité à verrouillage rapide", oh no, it was getting more complicated not simpler.
It was time to bring out my secret weapon, a gent by the name of Crispin who has not only spent far too much time biking in the Pyrenees, used to run a bike shop and devours language and grammar almost as fast as a good pudding.

He went quiet for a while but came back with "quick-lock safety stud", what a genius. This small component, is the key link that joins the head tube to the body of the VS512 and allows it to be split, to fit in the boot of a car or carried into one of those tiny bubble like gondola "tele-cabines" dotted around the Alps.

Le "doigt d'indexage"

The leaflet is now translated and the next item on the Firem hit list will be an on-line shop as there have already been sales enquiries from the United States.

On a recent trip to Tignes in France, I discovered that my trusty Marin East Peak based skibike wouldn't be allowed to use any of the chairlifts, which called for a drastic solution. A brief phone call to Serge at Firem VS, the friendly local French skibike manufacturer, resulted in an unlikely opportunity. Being handed a £1200 "VS Evolution" skibike to take out on test for the duration of a holiday was really unexpected.

First Impressions:

The Firem VS flies in the face of convention with a frame made from a single sheet of aluminium, the makers claim that this allows a degree of flex that tubular frames don't give and enhances the riding experience. The frame is tall, by any standards, the sitting position feels very high and you find yourself riding eye to eye with skiers. The saddle looks like the type fitted to "comfort" bikes, fairly wide and squashy, not the sort you would associate with a sporty ride, in practice it works really well and four hectic days in the saddle caused no discomfort. There is no saddle adjustment though, if you're around 6 foot tall this should be fine, women or smaller men might have to consider the kids model.

The handlebars are of typical mountain bike design and function as you would expect. There is an elegant wood moulding on top of the frame. I can only assume that it prevents you from accidentally severing the "family jewels" in the even of a jump, fall or crash. There are some large and sturdy BMX pegs for your feet, which provide a point of purchase, but become a little too slick once coated in ice and tend to knock your calves a lot when pushing the bike along the flat. Some form of folding peg such as the sort used for motorbike pillion passengers would work a little better

The skibase seems quite long, the Firem VS takes up a lot of seats on the chairlift and can be awkward to fit into small gondola type telecabins. But the upside of the length is a chassis that is stable and assured.
The suspension has the ability to absorb large bumps with complete aplomb; if you have the balls you can ignore all that tiresome turning and head straight down the fall line and trust the VS to iron out the topography for you. This skibike keeps reminding me that it is so much better than I am.

If given the chance, it accelerates so quickly that you can be taken by surprise, fortunately it has a unique and efficient braking system. I was reluctant to use it all the time, feeling that it was "cheating", however, whilst following a narrow off-piste traverse, I suddenly found my path blocked by a mother and screaming child. A quick dab on the brakes stopped me in my tracks and saved me from having to head over the rocks to avoid hitting them. I also ran some test to see how much the mar the piste when the snow is very soft, the results were impressive and no worse than a snowboard carve.
The skis fitted are relatively short and very flexible, this works well for following bumpy terrain, but on a couple of occasions I noticed a tendency for the front ski to "wash out" possibly due to excessive flex.


The Good Bits:

Accurate steering, plush suspension, indomitable construction, effective brakes, a plethora of high tech precision components.

The Bad Bits:

The weight, a 15kg skibike is hard work getting through the turnstiles and getting on/off chairlifts. The length, sitting on a chairlift takes up 4 places, small chairlifts, gondolas, etc. could be an issue. Limited seating adjustments. Bulky and slippery foot pegs. The relatively high retail price.

Conclusion:

Firem are getting close to making a highly desirable product. They need to focus on reducing the weight and size of their skibikes without compromising the ride or handling. They also need to reduce costs and create a product that sells at a competitive price without abandoning quality and durability. It is a tough balancing act, but all manufacturers makers must face similar challenges.

Firem VS Evolution skibike - needs less grass and more snow

My Dark Secret about my relationship with L'Espace Killy... this is what I couldn't tell you earlier, I visited Val d'Isere for two ski holidays about 15 years ago.

On the first occasion I had a nasty twisting fall that messed up my right knee and eventually required an operation to clean it out. On the second occasion I crossed my skis and broke the anterior cruciate ligament on my left knee.

Before this trip I was apprehensive as to exactly what the Gods of L'Espace Killy would demand of me this time in the way of sacrifice. This morning I counted my blessings that they have let me go without forfeit, or perhaps they are just lulling me into a false sense of security. A quick check in the bathroom revealed; a bruise to the chest, a leg bruise, some very scabby elbows, slightly bruised coccyx (chairlift) and stiff wrists. All pretty good considering the amount of miles I've covered and the thrills and spills encountered.

Interestingly my legs aren't as tired as they would usually be, pegging seems to put quite a lot of strain on your wrists though, I think I'll pick up some wrist braces for future use. It seems to slightly work out your torso, which I have no complaints about, I doubt it would get me a "six pack" though.


It's definitely time to quit whilst I'm ahead.

The Firem VS Factory at Les Villards sur Thones

I wanted to finish my hybrid pegger skibike week on a high note, so having bombed around the area with Richard Platt yesterday I formulated a challenge to test how in tune I have become with my pegger style Veloski the Firem VS skibike.

I wanted to see if I could cover the entire domain of L'Espace Killy i.e. Tignes, Val Claret, La Daille, Val D'Isere, Le Fornet and L'Iseran in a single day. It would be impossible to skibike every run, apart from the time aspect, some pistes are only accessible by drag lift or teleski as they like to call them and skibikes are not currently permitted to use the drag lifts.

I made a rough itinerary in my head and set off at 9:30 prompt. What follows is a description of the routes I followed, it is more for my benefit than yours, so I'll not be offended if you skip to the last paragraph.

Skibiking down the melezes piste I went to the Boisse Gondola
Coming out of the top station it was a minute down the slope to the Aiguille Rouge Chairlift by following the rhododendron and petit col I got myself to Tignes le Lac.
Then I without delay I was on the fast Aeroski Gondola - to the top of Toviere.
Following the creux piste got me to the Mont Blanc Chairlift, however the operator insisted that it wasn't permitted to use skibikes on it.
Thinking on my feet I realised that I could follow the diebold piste all the way to La Daille.
Arriving in La Daille I went to the amazing Funival, a funicular railway that runs inside the mountain from La Daille to the top of the Rocher de Bellevarde.
Coming out of the Funival I headed down the santon piste, an entertainig natural half pipe made a little more technical by the amount of slush and narrowness of the piste.
Arriving in Val D'Isere I got on the Solaisse Express to the top of the Solaisse and went down the slope to the Datcha chairlift.
The Datcha chairlift gave me the altitude to utilise the fourche piste to run down to the Glacier Express chairlift.
Coming off the top the leissieres piste runs down to the Leissieres Express chairlift. This is an unusual chairlift in that it crosses a high ridge, as you reach the peak you are given some spectacular and vertiginous vistas, don't look down! It is also unusual in that it has traffic running in both directions.

The vallon piste ran down to the start of the Vallon de L'Iseran gondolla, at the top, the short lac cema piste lead me to the Cascade Express chairlift. The only lift up was the Montets drag lift, denied to skibikers and the highest point at nearly 3488 metres and the farthest point in L'Espace Killy.
I made a couple of quick runs down the cascade piste to mark the half way point and ate a quick snack on piste. Checking my watch I was surprised to find it was already 1pm, time to start heading back.

Col de l'Iseran - the half way point

The lac cema and pont abatte runs get you back to the Lessieres Express chairlift, this is the "up and over" chairlift and the view coming over the ridge is even more spectacular on the way back. The leissieres piste got me down to the Datcha chairlift which gave access to the "Ski Tranquille" area on the top of the Solaise mountain.
Following the signs for Val D'Isere took me down piste M, steep, narrow and with monster piles of mashed potato to smash through.
Next I got into the huge L'Olympique cable car, with the clock ticking away I followed the easy diebold and verte pistes to the Tommeuses chairlift. Overlooking Tignes the end was nearly in sight. The piste H run went all the way to Val Claret where I was able to get some upift from the Tichot and Grattalu chairlifts.
Following the lac piste I began to get a feeling of panic, the pistes had emptied and the lift operators were starting to close up for the evening. Would I make the last 2 lifts?
Riding the Grand Huit chairlift I checked my watch, 3:35pm, I had 10 minutes left to get to the top and down the perce neige piste. I smashed my way as fast as I dared without risking a crash and just made it to the Aiguile Perce chairlift at closing.
At the top I could throttle back and cruise down the corniche, rhodedendron and melezes pistes.

Phew!

I had arranged to celebrate my sucess with the Firem VS by staying an extra night in Tignes les Boisses, but as the Hotel de Dome was fully booked, I moved across the road to the Hotel Melezes.
From first impressions it is a basic but efficient chalet hotel occupied by lots of thin, active and fit people. They made me feel like the fat kid who's going to be last to be picked for the football team.....again.
The 15 Euro dinner was gourmet quality, I have eaten far worse in 5 star hotels and there was plenty of complimentary red and white wine. There were a lot of other independent travellers staying, many of whom had taken advantage of the power of the Internet to find a late season, last minute bargain.

Chalet Hotel Les Melezes, Tignes - Gourmet cuisine at budget prices

I actually overslept this morning and didn't get away till 9:30, oh the waste. I had a quick zip around Tignes but had to be back at the ticket office for a midday rendezvous with Richard Platt and his brother for a group ski and skibiking session.
Recent racing aside, it has been a while since my last skibike session in company and I had forgotten what a blast it is. I could bore you with a lengthy account of all the runs we covered, but I was being worked too hard to keep up with my guide to make any notes. In the space of a few hours we saw most of Tignes, Val Claret, the Grande Motte and La Daille.

Loading up the Skibike van

With so much ground to cover I had to throw caution to the wind and speed over the late afternoon bumps and trust the excellent suspension on my Firem VS to soak it up. As long as you can hold on there's not much else to worry about.

The start of one piste was narrow and a minefield of monster moguls, to save time I followed a narrow traverse track to avoid the worst of it. However I soon came upon a mother a child who had fallen and was able to utilise the rear brake on the Firem VS to stop myself in my tracks and avoid running over them.

I managed to find a couple of independant hire shops in Tignes le Lac keen to see the Firem VS. So with appointments arranged for 10am it gave me the added incentive to drag myself out of bed and get showered, shaved, breakfasted and into the gondola by 9am.
The shops were interested but decidedly non-commital, skibikes have never been big in France since they were banned in the 70's after a bad accident and there just isn't the perception that it is possible. SnowScoots seem to be leading the way, even then you see many more outside hire shops looking forelorn than on or off the pistes.
The one upside is that people think I am amazing skillful to be able to ride my skibike, not knowing how easy it really is.
Appointments over, I decided to head high and find the best snow, this took a while and only around 2 did I find the best snow above Val Claret on the excellent "double M" run. I was really getting into the swing of it until I realised that it was long gone 3pm and just how many interconnections there were to get back before the lifts closed.

Tignes......Um, is this a God dam?

I am really feeling much more at home on my ride. I have adopted the linked turns approach which makes progress very slow but feels great and must look good. Perhaps tomorrow I can work out how to get the rear ski to skid sideways. Meanwhile I have been shamelessly putting in my moves under the chairlift whenever possible. I feel I am going very slowly though, probably no more than 10-15 mph as there are monster piles of mashed potato to plough through from lunchtime onwards. This is much slower than I would on my own machine, but I have seen too many people hurting themselves in the porridge like spring snow and get no pleasure from being out of control.

Oddly, I currently can't feel the tip of my little finger on my left hand (trapped nerve?) and the muscles on the underside of my right forearm about an inch up from the wrist ache quite badly (no jokes about....er....writers cramp!).

To be in some of the best and most challenging terrain that Europe has to offer on a machine you have only ridden before for an hour or so left me with a feeling of dread that I haven't experienced since the first time I came to these mountains as a novice skier. I was genuinely apprehensive as to what my first day on the Firem VS would bring and I confess I was tempted to leave it in the car and bung on some SnowBlades.
I have envied those who can ride in the "pegger" American style, but have never got it to work on steeper slopes.
I wasn't sure whether riding in soft boots without footskis would even be allowed and after the run in with the lift operators yesterday, I really didn't want to push my luck any further.

I though it through at great length and decided to aim for "Hybrid Skibiking" i.e. use foot skis and hard boots but keep them on the pegs whenever feasible. This will probably make me an unwanted half-caste hated equally by both skibiker clans.
Serge from Firem will hate me for not riding his veloski as he expects it to be ridden and the SkiBobbers will hate me for choosing the very antithesis of their style of riding with over half a century of tradition behind it.

Luckily to access the main ski area required me to follow the piste down from the hotel to the main gondola station. At least this way I could get a sneaky private run in before performing in public. I carried the Firem VS down to the start of the piste, nervously mounted and set off. Because you sit so high you can't run both feet over the snow and Serge's words "This is not a Brenter you can't ride it like one" echoed in my head.

I sort of muddled my way down to the gondola station, took the lift operators by surprise by arriving on yet another skibike. But this one had the magic certification number on it and they let me pass. Trying to be as incognito as possible on the only skibike in Tignes I headed for the nearest and easiest blue run to try and work out how to ride it my way!

Firem VS - I hope we're going to be friends

The solution I found seemed so counter intuitive but works really well if you are converting over from more traditional types of skibob skibikes.
You try to ride with the footskis on the pegs at all times, but when the gradient seems too much and you need to turn to control speed, keep your DOWNHILL FOOT ON THE PEGS and GLIDE YOUR UPHILL FOOT over the snow with as little weight on it as is possible.
This worked a treat on a number of blue runs and as the day wore on I started to move on to the red runs.

When you get pegging right it is an absolute delight, it is so smooth, almost like floating on air.

It helps to keep your knees clamped together (brings back memories of dating Catholics) and your thighs gripping the frame, which oddly feels quite comfortable and natural.
Sometimes the ride is almost telepathic and at others weird shit happens. Quite small body movements can have a huge impact and the first time you feel the rear ski wanting to overtake the front it can be a little disconcerting. I think these dynamics are at work when you ride your traditional skibob, but the foot skis on the snow negate the effects.

The beauty of my method is that when things get odd I find myself slapping a foot ski on the snow for stability and recovering rather than crashing.

I had two bad dismounts from the chairlift where the Firem's longer front forks caused me to accidentally drag the front ski on the snow, tipping me off the chair and over the skibike. I am glad I have been wearing my helmet, I had a similar experience earlier in the year and being hit by a chairlift really smarts.

With aching forearms and in very slushy conditions I chose to call it quits at 3pm, I don't like skibiking on brown snow, that's just wrong.

I haven't got it badly wrong so far and am hoping that tomorrow I could actually start to enjoy it.

Tignes Espace Killy  - some of the best and most challenging terrain that Europe has to offer

And the day started so well.... I assembled my skibike and whizzed down the hill to the ticket office at Tignes les Brevieres bright and early. Having paid for my lift pass I joined the queue for the gondola only to be pulled to one side before I could get on.
I thought I had everything necessary, in my communications with the resort office the only stipulations were that you had to have a skibike leash. However it turned out that you can only use factory made skibikes on the chairlifts, DIY skibikes like mine are restricted to the gondola lifts only. This was exactly the situation I had encountered before at La Clusaz.
I had to get my skibike back to the hotel, so I had a miserable ride up in the gondola and thought about what to do next. I hadn't planned on 5 days of SnowBlading and the gondola lift access option was going to be too limited in scope.

No STRMTG homogation label - no chairlift access

 The idea then occurred to me that I could phone Serge at Firem VS and ask if he had a spare veloski to loan me. He calmly replied "Of course Mark, come to the factory before 17:00".
This left a few hours to fill before heading off, so I got my SnowBlades on and made a quick whistle stop tour of the Tignes area.
On route to the Firem factory with 10 or so km to go and plenty of time in hand disaster number 2 struck; the local mountain road to Villard sur Thones was closed. This made it necessary to make a huge detour around the lake at Annecy; I arrived at the factory bang on 5.
Then it was another 3 hour drive back to Tignes to arrive at sunset.

Meanwhile the Firem VS Factory Team took a day trip to the 3 valleys and sent me pictures from Courchevel.

Firem VS - Meribel here we come

Firem VS - the marketing department on overdrive