198: Skiing to the South Pole, Les 2 Alpes Marathon & 2024 Ski Test

We discover what it’s like skiing to the South Pole, Iain takes the train to Les 2 Alpes to run a marathon on snow and Al updates us from the SIGB Ski Test in La Clusaz. Iain was joined by Preet Chandi - the world’s fastest woman to complete a solo unsupported ski expedition to the South Pole. 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 Iain gave an update on ski conditions in Les 2 Alpes (1:45) Andy Butterworth from Kaluma Ski is in St Anton (2:30) Betony Garner reported from La Clusaz (5:00) Alex Irwin from 150 Days of Winter is in Courchevel (6:15) Congratulations to Andrea Dalton who wins our competition to win stuff (7:30) Dave Ryding (5th), Billy Major (13th) and Laurie Taylor (19th) became the first three British athletes to all finish in the top-20 of an Alpine World Cup race (7:45) Youth Olympic Winter Games in Gangwon, Zak Carrick-Smith won gold in Alpine Combined, delivering Britain's first ever gold medal at any Olympic competition in Alpine skiing (8:00) Jaz Taylor won back-to-back golds in Telemark Sprint World Cup competition in Carezza Dolomites (8:45) Iain had pledged to go Flight Free in 2024 (9:15) Watch Iain’s panel on train travel at the Birmingham Ski Show Find out more about train travel to Les 2 Alpes via Grenoble (9:30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wE6bG9lVxU Les Lumieres de la Muzelle is a marathon entirely on snow (11:15) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU31iRTq7n0 Katie Bamber was last on the show in Episode 172 (12:00) Harpreet ‘Preet’ Chandi is the world’s fastest woman to complete a solo unsupported ski expedition to the South Pole (16:00) Preet covered 1130km of Antarctic ice between 26 Nov and 28 Dec 2023 (16:30) Preet used Alfa cross country skis and boots (17:30) Her sled weighed around 75-80kg (22:00) Her nutrition was provided by Base Camp Foods (25:00) Temperatures went as low as -30C (27:30) Preet loves her ‘pogies’ (30:00) Al Morgan and Amy Marwick were at the SIGB Ski Test in La Clusaz (40:45) Preet wore five layers of gloves at times! (45:00) FEEDBACK (46:00) I enjoy all feedback about the show, I like to know what you think, especially about our features so please contact on social @theskipodcast or by email [email protected]   Dave Mills (FB): "The perfect podcast for a dog walk. The Ski Podcast just keeps getting better and better...What more could you possibly want before your next ski trip?” Laura-Jane Shouldice: "I recently found your podcast and it is truly fantastic!" Scott Grogan: "I’m a recent discoverer of the show.  It's been a nice companion while tuning and waxing a huge pile of my kids’ skis" If you enjoy the podcast, you can always buy me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/theskipodcast. Thanks to Ster and Charlotte for their coffees and kind words: Ster: "Keep up the good work" Charlotte (BMAC): "I discovered your podcast last week and have been really enjoying it! I went skiing for the first time this year, after wanting to go for years and fell in love with it. I’ve been listening through all your episodes since I got back, and they’ve really helped me learn more about the sport and relive the great memories from my holiday!" If you like the podcast, there are three things you can do to help: 1) Review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 2) Subscribe 3) Book your ski hire with Intersport Rent using the code ‘SKIPODCAST’ or by taking this link There are now 203 episodes to catch up with and 169 were listened to in the last week. 59% of our listeners are in the UK, with 41% across the rest of the world, including places as diverse as Malaysia, Kazakstan, Mexico and Kenya.  You can follow me @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast.