School holidays are on the horizon again. It’s all good news if you are heading off to the Alps this half term. After a slow start to the season conditions are now great and more snow is due this week.

To help you get your kids kitted out for their skiing, we’re starting our “half-term” countdown. Each week between now and half term we’re offering great deals on essential ski kit. This week were starting with the basics. We strongly believe that if you’re investing in taking your children to the mountains in winter don’t skimp on the quality of their clothing. Top of this list of must haves are; quality snow boots, gloves and thermals. So to help you we are offering great deals on the following products this week:

Columbia Powder Bug Snow Boots for only £24.50 and free shipping. These boots start from a tiny UK 3.5 to an adults 6.5. Super warm sole with a full length removable felt liner. These are great quality boots at a brilliant price.

Hesta C-Zone Kids Ski Gloves for £22.50 and free shipping. Fabulous waterproof, breathable and well insulated gloves from Hestra in Norway. You want to make sure your child doesn’t lose these gloves which is why they come with their own “hestra Handcuffs” so they are always attached to their wrists.

Odlo thermal set, top and pants for £24.50. Warm, breathable and oh so snuggly. Having tested these on our own children we can confidently say that they don’t itch and double up as warm PJs.

Finally the Nippergrip kids ski harness, this is one for the grown ups’ benefit. Save your back when you are hauling your child up off the slopes or onto a chairlift and help prevent child induced anxiety by controlling their speed with the reins!

Reading Andy Kirkpatrick’s Cold Wars’ last Autumn spurred me on to sharpen up my ice axes and crampons and head to the mountains. The chance to go climbing with John from Lion equipment and a bunch of other folk was too good to miss, so we jumped on a plane to head for one of Europe’s most reliable areas for winter climbing – Rjukan in Norway. Not only is the ice climbing fantastic, but it has an amazing World War 2 story to tell too.

Conditions were pretty good, with ice forming well on most of the routes. We encountered a fair amount of water on some of the routes (particularly the chimney pitch of Sabotorfossen..) but on the whole, the ice was good and the climbing excellent. We were out in Rjukan from Sat 14th Jan to Weds 19th Jan.

I managed to capture some footage of the climbing on camera, so I hope you enjoy it!

Simon.

…

Our mid season sale is now on and ends on Sunday 15th January. There are some great bargains to be had on Columbia kids Skiwear, Sorel Snow boots and more.

This winter our Odlo kids thermals have been having rave reviews and they are now 20% off. The Hestra kids C-Zone Ski Glove is one of our favourites and they are also 20% off. Kids snow boots range from size 3.5 (very cute) to big kids 6.5 and we have some great offers on the Columbia and Sorel ranges. Finally hats, hats, hats, beanies, mountain caps, slouchers and bobbles and more at 50% off.

The Christmas build up is well underway at home now. Our girls are getting super excited. We held out for a tree until last weekend when we went to our very muddy local wood yard/ “Christmas Tree World”. We came home with a 5ft tree which is a beauty, it needed to be as inflation on Christmas trees seems to be extortionate this year. The children set to the decorating with great gusto. Once they had gone to bed we then rearranged the tree so not all the decorations were only 2ft off the ground!

On Sunday we visted Gran and Grandad who told they girls they were going to help them pick their own Christmas tree. “But we’ve already done that” was the reply. “No, we really are going to PYO your own tree, follow me”. So we all dressed up warm and stomped a mile or so across the Surrey heathland until we saw a Forestry Commission Land Rover surrounded by trees. The ranger was all kitted out with his Kelly Kettle and a dozen bow saws. “so here we are” said Grandad picking up a saw, “now we’ve to cut down the tree we want”. Squeals of delight followed and they raced off across the heathland picking random trees.

Waverly Borough Council run the Scots Pine clearance weekend to help keep the pine down across the heathland. This contributes to conservation of the natural habitat of heather and gorse. You need to call and book a place, but the idea is you come and chop down as many small (most are less than 10ft) pine trees as you want and then you can pick the best for your own Christmas tree.

We carried our well earnt tree back to the road and loaded it on to the car. The children were absolutely delighted to have chopped their own tree down and celebrated by singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at full volume all the way home! No prizes for guessing which tree they were most proud of…

MERRY CHRISTMAS

One of the most gratifying parts of last winter was receiving calls from our customers to say how happy their children had been wearing the snow boots that they had bought from us.   One parent said that her kids were the only ones in the playground with warm feet when they were wearing their Sorel Snow Commander boots.

In cold frosty weather wellies really don’t cut it when it comes to keeping feet warm. As we all know once kids get cold feet the fun and games end pretty soon. It really is worth investing in a pair of “snow boots” if you want your children to be outside whatever the weather in winter, think of them as winter wellies.

Cold is transferred to your feet mostly via the ground you are standing on. To keep the heat in and the cold out you need a thick good quality rubber sole and then added insulation on the inside of the boot. Insulation on the kids snow boots is either a felt liner that is removable or a synthetic insulation sewn into the boot. In addtion to this Sorel boots have an added Frost Plug layer inside the soles which keeps even more cold out.

We are now fully stocked with kids’ snow boots ready for the chilly winter that is forecast. This year we have the favourite Sorel Snow Commander Toddler and Sorel Cub boots and we’ve added the Sorel Super Trooper with its 9mm thick felt lining as well ast the top of the range Yoot Pac and for those that like the more sophisticated look the Cumberland boot is selling well too.

We’ve just have a great meeting with the guys from Maverick Slacklines. So what’s slacklining all about… think of tight ropewalking just above the ground (i.e. no scary drops) and instead of a rope you have a line like a tape, about 5cm wide. It started pastime for climbers to keep fit away from the crags and then the skate scene took to it. Now slacklining is holding its own and even has it’s own competition circuit.

A slackline in essence is very simple, it is quick to set up and all ages can enjoy it. If we are being scientific about it all the balancing/wobbling means it’s excellent for building core body strength   but basically it is just good fun and one you’ve had your first wobble you’ll be totally addicted!

We saw people slacklining at the European Outdoor Trade Show last year, it has a huge following in Europe and I’m the UK will be catching on soon. A major player in the growth of UK Slacklining is Maverick, a small company based in Poole who design and make skate parks. They have made a natural progression from skateboards to slacklining and they now design their own lines. Their beginners line is perfect for all ages we’ve had 2 year old kids through to 70 year old grandads on the one in our backgarden and everyone has loved it.

On a personal level I have been a bit feeble in my attempts to master slacklining and have only managed 4 consequtive steps so far… but this year I am determined to own it! If the sun is still shining when I get home I’m going to get our line out.

The sun is shining and schools are breaking up for the holidays which has put us in a great mood so to help you make the most of this beautiful weather we’ve decided to offer an Easter promotion of upto 25% off our best selling Vaude baby carriers. That means fabulous prices on the Vaude Butterfly Comfort, Vaude Jolly Light and Vaude Jolly Comfort. If you don’t know which one to choose here is our whistle-stop tour of the the carriers…

Butterfly Comfort: Vaude’s top of the range carrier, comes with headrest and sun and rain cover. This carrier provides superb support for your baby with a wide padded torso belt. For the adults the back system is extremely adjustable with plenty of padding on the hip belt to help you haul your load! An ideal carrier if you are into your walking and plan on taking your baby with you, the torso belt is great for young babies (6 months +).

Jolly Comfort: Vaude best selling child carrier. A great all rounder this carrier comes with a sun and rain canopy and is lighter than the Butterfly Comfort. It has a fully adjustable back system so you can tinker with the fit to suit you. The baby harness is a 5 point system like you find in the forward facing car seats and of course you have the teddy bear ear headrest which is removable i.e. you can wash the dribble   out of it!

Jolly Light: Great for holidays. Given it’s name it’s no surprise that the Jolly Light is lighter than both the Jolly Comfort and Butterfly Comfort. It comes with a sun and rain canopy and has the same child harness system as the Jolly Comfort. The back system has a mesh back which allows more air flow between you and the carrier so you don’t get too sweaty! It has an adjustable hip belt and shoulder straps. Perfect for hot holidays and everyday walks.

So there you go, a brief overview of what’s what on the baby carriers, if you’ve got and more questions please give us a call.

HAPPY EASTER HOLS!

I might have been scraping the ice off my car this morning, but it is March so I am determined to move on from this long cold winter and think of warmer days. My “postive mental attitude” about Spring was rewarded today as our first shipment of the new Keen kids Newport H2 sandals arrived with loads of lovely bright summery colours. If you haven’t discover the Keen sandals yet you must have a look at them; they are described as all-terrain sandals which means they have a grippy, rugged sole, a supportive footbed and the best bit is the toe box on the front to prevent stubbed toes.

Our children and all their friends spent most of last summer living in their Keens and loved them, so this year we are giving them and you loads more choice of colours, just pick your favourite – mine’s Raya Lilac Sachet!

Most all-in-one waterproof suits are shells; in cold weather children need to wear coats and warm trousers underneath them. The Otter suit is a waterproof shell with quilted insulation on the inside. If you want to minimise the faff involved in getting children dressed and outside to play this suit is perfect. Warm and waterproof head to toe protection in one garment.

Insulation apart the Otter suit has some other great features; the stirrups are removeable as kids seem to either love them or hate them. We particularly like the “rainbow zips”. Two zips, each starting from the outside of the legs, come right up the legs and then meet at the lower back area. This nifty little feature is obviously useful for nappy changes for young children but also makes it very simple to put suit on and to get it off.

N.B.Sprayway’s sizing chart refers to the garment size and not body size i.e. the 1/2 chest measurement is taken by laying a coat on the floor and measuring across the chest (armpit to armpit).

Sprayway Otter Suit (Colbalt)

Launched in 2010 Nippergrip is a ski harness has been designed and thoroughly tested on many ski trips by Nippergrip founder Katherine Hogbin and her willing family. They really have thought of every scenario and having taught their three daughters to ski using the harness they have had plenty of experience.

The Nippergrip has is a grab handle at the front and back of the harness making it ideal for lifting children on and off of ski lifts as well as hauling them up off the snow. Once you are both off and moving on the slopes a rein helps to both keep your little ones speed under control or give them a bit more security and confidence if they are more nervous skiiers.

When is comes to the dreaded loo stops that seem to take an age, the Nippergrip is easily removed by undoing a quick release clip under each arm. The harness straps are fuly adjustable so it can be used for tiny tots through to older children. When you are not skiing the harness can also be helpful for children learning to ride a bike and even learning to swim.

We are very pleased to be stocking Nippergrip, it is a great addition to our ski equipment range.