THE NORTH FACE: STEEP SERIES

RESET PERFORMANCE THIS WINTER

www.igero.com

RRP £205.00

This Unique, 21-Product System is the Pinnacle of Mountaineering Gear

My mum always said, “never judge a book by its cover”. Well she didn’t really, she is in fact very judgmental, but I heard it on TV somewhere. The Celilo from Dakine might at first look like a rather simple jacket with not a lot going on, but hidden beneath its humble lines and solid black colour (it is also available in Lil Buck - a beigey colour) is a host of features to keep you dry and warm on the slopes.

I’ll let you into a secret, 75% of snowboarders only snowboard because it looks cool, the other 25% just couldn’t get their head round the coordination needed to control skis and poles. Even though the accuracy of these stats might be slight embellished or completely made up, how you look on the slopes can be just as important as how you perform.

As mentioned earlier in this focus this was my first time Snowboarding and I had no preconceptions about any of the products I would be testing however I was thinking have I made a mistake when pulling the Sidas Ultra Think Socks out of my suitcase while looking at what everybody else had packed, it felt like a PE Lesson at school and inferiority struck again over the lack of sock girth!

This review comes from someone who only begun snowboarding on the dry slopes last October, I received the Rome Garage Rocker in December and I have taken it for two open lessons on the dry and eight days on the snow in Valmorel France.  I have grown very attached to this board like when you get your first bike, it started off by spending more time in the air and me on the carpet and witnessed me learn to link my turns and start carving up the snow.  This has been a great all- rounder to both help me learn and it is quick and flexible enough to keep it fun

As I knew I would be reviewing Romes’ Garage Rocker board I thought It would be a good idea to review bindings from the same brand to get the best out of each product and give an optimum review.  The Rome 390 Boss Bindings are quoted as bullet proof and bomb proof but are they Alex proof now that is the real test, they are in for a few weeks of uncoordinated boarding at its very best!

The Musto Evolution Matthiessen BR1 Primaloft Jacket is a highly technical ski jacket produced by a British company that specialises in creating clothing that will first and foremost protect you from the harshest of all elements. Before we get to the technical side of things I have to admit our first response was how stylish this jacket is, we had it in Aruba Blue which is a lovely bold blue with red and black detailing and the asymmetric zip gives the design some edge as well as adding some comfort under the chin (there is nothing like the discomfort of a

This year was the first time I had ever gone Snowboarding (on actual snow) and I was given an itinerary of what I will need gloves, helmet, board etc and I will admit was a bit naïve as I didn’t give gloves that much importance.