In Episode 68, Iain was joined by Jasmin Taylor, Team GB telemark skier, and friend of the show Alex Irwin.  We chat about Courchevel, avalanches and foldable skis, plus Iain speaks to newly crowned world snowboard cross champion Charlotte Bankes. We have a report by Charlie Rees from the Jungfrau region in Switzerland and we also find out about how Dan Egan skied off the Berlin Wall! 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 ·       Jasmin has over 30 World Cup podiums and you can listen to a more in depth interview in our podcast special recorded last year ·       Alex is based in Courchevel and runs the YouTube channel 150 Days of Winter ·       The lifts were meant to start to turning in Italy on 15 February, but this has now been delayed ·       Since our last episode we’ve seen avalanches in Zermatt, Méribel and Val d'Isère ·       These dogs barking saved their owners who’d been buried in an avalanche ·       We've reported before on how the press mispresented the situation in Verbier in Episode 65 and also in Wengen (in Episode 66) ·       There has been some great reporting by Abi Butcher (who appeared in Episode 65), with a deep dive into the 'super spreader' story about British instructors in Jochburg, Austria ·       The tourist office in St Anton also confirmed that reports of 96 people arrested and fined was also incorrect ·       Mike Richards told us about skiing in Wales in Episode 65 ·       Neil Bradshaw reported from Sun Valley ski resort in Idaho ·       There are pistes open in Courchevel  ·       Meanwhile Meribel stopped running their buses due to the number of people using them to ski  ·       Jasmin has been training and racing in mont-blanc.com/en/discover-2/station-passy-plaine-joux/">Plaine-Joux in France  ·       Charlotte Bankes won the Snowboard Cross World Champs last week  ·       We interviewed Charlotte in Episode 25 about her switch from the French team  ·       Dave Ryding will be racing in the slalom at Cortina 2021 on 21 February ·       We featured the new Eiger Express lift in Grindelwald in Episode 61  ·       You can listen to Iain’s review of his trip to Crans Montana in Episode 65 ·       Sasha Gainullin is CEO at Battleface ·       Listen to the full interview with Dan Egan in our Ski Podcast Special published last week ·       It’s not pretty, but we found the Intersport ‘yodel’ videos bizarrely addictive…  ·       Find out more about the foldable award-winning Elan voyager   Reviews "Keeping the skiing spirit alive when we need it most" Ged Ainsworth "Thanks for doing the podcasts. I've been listening over the last year and have enjoyed dreaming of being on the slopes at a time when we can't" Nick Taylor "Loving your podcast, although it 'feels me sad' not to be in Chamonix this winter" Sarah Owen Hughes "Keep up the great work with the podcast" Jeffrey Fantl "I love listening to your show all the way over in Australia” Nicole Clark   BuyMeACoffee If you enjoy the podcast you're very welcome to buy me a cuppa at BuyMeACoffee.com/theskipodcast Thanks to Luke Sipson, Ged Ainsworth, Suzi Jones, Scott Newsom, Christian Bowden, Chris Rose, Christian Cobley and Nicole Clark for supporting the show.   Coming Up Watch out for interviews with Martin Bell, Joe Ponte at Hotelplan and a special podcast on how to become a pisteur, all coming up soon.  Make sure you subscribe and never miss an episode...