Brian Bollen's Blog

Wed'ze AM580: a ski jacket for all seasons?

I was asked if I would review a Wed'ze AM580 Men's All Mountain ski jacket two or three weeks ago, just before I left for a trip to Wengen in the Swiss Alps. I often receive this type of email and usually reply to the sender saying that it is impossible to review such goods without actually experiencing them. That is to say, send me one, I will try it, and report what I think. Usually, I never hear another word. Imagine my surprise, then, when I was asked my size, and a jacket turned up two days later and I slipped it on in the comfort of my own home.

WOW! said Mrs Bollen when she saw it. That is the business. Worth getting out of bed for.

The jacket looks good with a striking black and grey exterior and a striking yellow interior. It has four exterior zipped pockets including one on the left sleeve, one interior zipped pocket and a large unzipped interior pocket for things like ski goggles.

Although I do not ski or snowboard, I can say hand on heart that I wore it throughout the visit, and felt warm and comfortable at all times. Other than in the act of zipping up, when it feels a wee bit tight round the waist, but that is probably because ALL my clothes feel a little tight around the waist.

Several fellow members of the local Downhill Only ski club (DHO) and other keen skiers commented favourably on its appearance and I felt it stood out from the crowd, comparing extremely well with jackets that I know cost in the region of £700.

I have to make it clear that my sample jacket has cost me nothing, other than the time and creativity involved in planning and writing this review, and asking my wife to take photos of me wearing it at the height of the annual Lauberhorn World Cup ski races in Wengen, but I cannot believe that it costs just £59.99 from www.decathlon.co.uk. I think that is excellent value for money.

 

And the Lauberhorn Downill Winner Is...

I have just collected the official results of today's Lauberhorn World Cup Downhill race from the Media Centre here in Wengen. They show the winner as Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria with a time of 2m 28.36 seconds. Switzerland's Beat Feuz was second, 0.14 seconds slower while Norway's ALeksander Aamodt Kilde was third.

Marco Schwarz, representing Austrian, won yesterday's combined slalom/downhill, which some in the sport are saying could be the last time such a race is run in the World Cup because of the demands of television. This has upset traditionalists who see the Combined races as a true test of skiing, testing both technique and speed.

Lauberhorn Training update

The second Lauberhorn training starts tomorrow, Thursday at 10:30, the organising committee has just communicated. It will start at the combo start, so slightly above the dog's head (the Hundschopf is often translated as dog's head, but the late Viktor Gertsch, whose father created the race and who in turn was the President of the Organising Committee for several decades, insisted on telling me when I interviewed him in 2008 for an article in the Financial Times that it actually means dog's nose: BB).

The downhill racers were able to complete their first test on the Lauberhorn downhill today on excellent conditions, the report continues. This is due to the great dedication of the numerous helpers, civil defense and soldiers who yesterday cleared a lot of snow and prepared an excellent World Cup track. OK president Urs Näpflin is satisfied: "Everyone on the mountain has done an excellent job. The track was a dream today."

Rather ironically, real snow gets in the way in the modern world as the new race president told me when I was interviewing him for a profile in the DHO Journal a couple of years ago; artificial snow is the alpha and omega of the modern downhill piste.

With the successful training on the original course, the foundation stone for the Lauberhorn downhill on Saturday has been laid. Tomorrow, the world's best downhill riders will be allowed to train a second time at the Lauberhorn. However, there are individual adjustments due to weather forecasts.

The start takes place from the Kombi start, as on Friday in the Alpine combination. In addition, the meteorologists expect in the afternoon with clouds, the start time is therefore advanced to 10:30 clock. The training will be broadcast on SRF two as well as on ORF one live.

"We continue to work intensely and intensively on the World Cup routes on the Lauberhorn to be ready for the Alpine combination on Friday,” said Näpflin.

There is confidence in the weather forecasts and also the training performances of the Swiss racers. Beat Feuz set the fastest time despite early braking, ahead of Mauro Caviezel.

The International Lauberhorn Races are looking forward to another outstanding ski event, the update concludes.

Pictures courtesy of Lauberhorn Races.

Lights go out

Blain’s Morning Porridge 

“Governments crack and systems fall, cause unity is powerful, lights go out...”

There is little point commenting on yesterday’s Brexit shenanigans – except to note the degree of parliamentary indiscipline across the Conservative & Unionist Party was even greater than even Rees-Mogg expected.

I avoided the whole thing by spending yesterday at the Euromoney CEE conference in Vienna – very interesting discussions and a phenomenal number of attendees. A real buzz to the meeting - even more so than a similar event in London last year. There was a real sense of things happening.

I was asked to oppose the motion on an Oxford Union style debate: “This House believes Trade Wars will kill economic growth in the CEE”. The proposer of the motion, the excellent Marcus Svedberg, of the Swedish State Pension fund, did a great job running through how much damage trade wars will certainly do to the developed European supply changes across the diverse range of Central and Eastern European economies. If there are tariffs slapped on European goods by Donald Trump, then the successes of the last 30 years in creating a number of vibrant European economies will be dented. Marcus is absolutely right. 

I opposed that motion, arguing: “If it’s trade wars you are worried about, then you are worrying about the wrong things”.

The Wasteland That Is British Television: I blame John Birt

I've said it before and make no apology for saying it again. British television is a wasteland. It speaks volumes for the barrenness of the terrestrial schedules (Dancing on Ice, Strictly Come Dancing, X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Baking Programmes, Antiques Programmes, Property Makeover Programmes, I'm A Celebrity Nitwit Get Me Into There To Jump Start My Career, et al) that Mrs B and I continue to work our way through episodes of Time Team, which looks positively Olympian in comparison.

How did it come to this? I blame John Birt...

Lauberhorn World Cup Ski Races Training Begins

I have had a text from the organising committee of the annual Lauberhorn World Cup ski races this morning confirming that training starts today, with photographers required to be in their places by 11.45h central European time. Let the lunacy commence!

FYI, Mrs B and I are scheduled to travel out to Wengen tomorrow, so I can cover the races for the DHO Journal. The Journal is the annual publication of the Downhill Only ski club, one of the oldest and most prestigious ski clubs in Europe, which rather inexplicably let us join in the spring of 2012...

What Happens Next

Theresa May simply MUST resign from her untenable position as UK prime minister. She has not a shred of credibility and cannot carry on out of sheer stubbornness. The government will win the vote of no confidence and she will attempt to spin that as a victory when it is just people who have escaped from the sinking of the Titanic clinging on to lifebelts and trying to clamber into overcrowded boats.

She MUST go. The Conservative & Unionist Party MUST elect a new leader. There MUST be a general election as quickly as one can be arranged. That MUST be a de facto second referendum.

Even though I am using the word MUST do I think for a second that the good of the country will outweigh the petty ambitions of incompetent transient politicians? No, I do not. What MUST happen often does NOT happen.

The Noes Have It: Hysteria Wins

This comment just came in from the chief executive of BDI Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie Joachim Lang in reaction to events in the three-ring circus that is UK Parliament discussing Brexit.

Hysteria has won out - no time left for the hangover. The rejection of the withdrawal agreement is alarming. Where common sense was required, hysteria has won out. Any chance of finding a route out of the chaos has been lost for the present.

Businesses on both this side and the other side of the English Channel continue to be left hanging in mid-air.  A chaotic Brexit is drawing dangerously closer. The top priority now must be to avoid a
hard Brexit. Responsibility for this lies purely and simply with the government and the opposition in London.

Our companies are unable to prepare themselves in the manner required just a few weeks ahead of the withdrawal date. If the United Kingdom crashes out, bilateral trade with Germany totalling more than €175bn - in imports and exports of goods and services - will be at risk. An immediate and sweeping recession looms over the British economy that will not pass Germany by unnoticed.

There is no time for nursing a hangover. Business expects a quick answer on how events will proceed. Our companies have invested in the United Kingdom to the tune of around €120bn and considerably more than 2,000 stakeholdings. Any lack of clarity would jeopardise tens of thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of jobs in Germany, and more particularly in the United
Kingdom.

The European Commission has put forward its emergency plans. Parliament and the Council must now act without delay to contain the most serious consequences.

Jungfrau turns slightly pink

Wengen's Lauberhorn World Cup ski village

The World Cup ski village goes up in the three or four weeks before the races and dismantling starts the minute the final event on Sunday afternoon is finished. The saddest sight for me is seeing the Carlsberg fridge carted out of the media centre...

At the Lauberhorn World Cup ski races finishing arena: crowds are colourful and enthusiastic

After the ball...

Queues at Wengen station after the Lauberhorn races are done and dusted.

Lauberhorn World Cup ski races website

See the website for full details of the plans for the weekend of January 18-20. Wengen, which has a base population of around 1250, usually welcomes around 65,000 of visitors over the weekend, transforming the town from its usually sleepy self into something that just has to be seen to be believed.

Gearing up for Lauberhorn World Cup ski races

Gearing up for the Lauberhorn World Cup ski races that are scheduled to take place starting next Friday (January 18). This will be the first visit to Wengen for Mrs B and me since we sold our little studio apartment there, making us tourists again rather than quasi locals. We are both slightly apprehensive about it but the hoopla surrounding the Lauberhorn is too much to give up just yet. Best wishes to the masses of employees and volunteers who make it all happen!