So far the 2010 season have been one of the best in recent history here in Chamonix. We haven’t had any really big dumps, but “top ups” a few times a week is even better. So far I think the longest stretch without snow have been 5 days, and more is coming! I had a great day up on the Aig. du Midi this morning and tonight we are expecting 20-30cm of fresh dry snow, next week looks good too. Amazingly there are still not many people out there even though it’s winter holidays. Here is a little movie I made over the last week:

It’s been a hectic few weeks for me, lot’s of snow combined with the Ispo trade show meant little or no time in front of the computer. In the days before the Ispo we had some of the best days of skiing this season here in Chamonix, that actually says a lot, as we have had an incredible winter so far. There was lot’s of traffic at the Volkl stand at the Ispo as we launched the new Marker Tour 10-12 binding and also some new very interesting skis. I’ll go into more details on the skis and the bindings in a later post. At the Ispo I also signed a contract with Dalbello boots, this is very exciting for me as they are one of the most progressive boot makers on the market, and their new Virus boot is right up my “alley”. Straight after the Ispo Andrea and myself drove down to Montebelluna, Italy, to get our new boot fitted, and check out their factory.

The Dalbello factory.

Montebelluna is where 90% of the worlds ski boots are made, all the big factories are located within a few kilometers from each other. Francesco from Dalbello gave us a tour of the factory, which was very interesting! It’s amazing to see how much detail and thought goes into making a boot from the idea to finished product. Dalbello is run by the Dal Bello family, and has a very interesting history.

Krypton mould.

Walking through the factory we met Rino Dal Bello, son of Alessandro the founder and President , walking around in one ski boot  in the factory, when asked why he had one skiboot on. He answered: “comfort testing a new liner” So the Dal Bello’s are very much involved in the daily development of the boots. They have ski boots in their blood!

Prototype liners are still hand made.

Monica Dal Bello, one of the daughters who is in charge of marketing and Team at Dalbello, talked us through the history of the factory/family and also took us out for a fantastic lunch!

Both Andrea and I got our boots fitted by Ivan, Dalbello’s boot master. For a everyday boot, we both went for the Krypton Pro and for touring obviously the revolutionary Virus.

Andrea getting fitted.

So far I have had three days in the Krypton, and I can only say that I am very impressed with the performance of the boots. I am headed up to Lyngen, Norway in a few days for a skitouring trip, and cant wait to try out the new Virus Boot and the Marker Tour 12 bindings.