In Episode 86 of The Ski Podcast we discuss when the French travel ban might end, favourite apres-ski bands, Team GB’s prospects for Beijing 2022 and we go inside a ski factory.  Iain was joined by Richard Lett from ApresSkiBands and regular guest and Olympian Emily Sarsfield.   Thanks go to Switzerland Tourism for sponsoring the podcast. Switzerland is easier to access, than Austria and Italy (and certainly France) right now, so travel there this winter and say The Ski Podcast sent you ;-) SHOW NOTES The next announcement from the French government is due on 05 January Steve Angus is a private ski instructor based in Val d’Isere. Find him on social at @SteveAngusSnow For access to Austria, you now need to be triple-vaccinated with a PCR test within 48 hours Some holidaymakers were denied entry at Innsbruck airport due to the new rules on PCR tests  Italy will require a ‘Super Green Pass’ from 10 January for access to many areas/services   You can listen to snow reports from all of the following in our special episode https://audioboom.com/posts/8005740-latest-snow-news-from-the-alps-31-dec-21 This episode features: Simon Burgess - Saas Fee, Switzerland Dave Burrows - Villars, Switzerland Andy Butterworth – St Anton, Austria Keith Webb - Kaprun, Austria Alex – Les 2 Alpes, France Steve – Val d’isere, France Betony - Chamonix, France Alex – Courchevel, France Find out more about Apres Ski Bands on their website Iain’s favourite Alpine band was Superfly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sJ3MDPITQI Dan Gillespie Sells was lead singer of Superfly and wrote the hit musical ‘Everyone’s Talking About Jamie’ Emily’s favourite Alpine band was ‘Bring Your Sisters’ Rich’s tips of bands to watch out for this winter includes Coco and the Butterfields; The Dominos and The Trends  Emily’s Top 3 Tips for Medals at Beijing: Charlotte Bankes, Izzy Atkin, Kirsty Muir Kirsty Muir took at 7th at the Dew Tour   Listen to Iain’s interview with Izzy and Zoe Atkin: https://audioboom.com/posts/7980266-izzy-zoe-atkin-freestyle-skiers-bonus-episode-22 Ollie Davies is competing in Skier Cross Katie Ormerod has a great chance in the Snowboard Big Air Zoe Atkin picked up 6th place in Calgary in the Skier Halfpipe https://twitter.com/GBSnowsport/status/1477564363955396608 Andrew Musgrave took a superb 4th at the weekend  You can listen to Iain’s interview with Andrew Musgrave and Andrew Young here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7995551-andrew-musgrave-andrew-young-cross-country-skiers-bonus-episode-23 Laurie Taylor took his best ever World Cup result of 25th last week Reece Bell is Martin Bell’s daughter and Graham Bell’s niece and finished 43rd in her first ever World Cup Ski Sunday starts on…Sunday 02 January Jamie Barrow is attempting to beat the snowboard speed record  Jamie previously told us about his trip to North Korea a long time ago in Episode 6 He also told us about his snowboard speed record in Episode 49 Most Intersport stores have a BootDoc in the shop (watch this video) Rob Rees reported from the Stöckli ski factory near Lucerne Emily skied on Stöckli at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics    Reviews UnboundedContext: "Definitely the best ski & snowboard podcast i've come across"   The Snowboard Instructor Podcast: "Such a great podcast to listen to"   Ben Davies: “I just found your podcast. I was a part of the UK ski and snowboard industry back in the late 1990's early 2000's (iglu.com, St Anton, Mottaret, never summer snowboards) & your chat with Tony McWilliam reminded me of those times.  Thanks for the memories and your hard work, it's great to listen to the UK perspective from here in BC. Still in the ski industry, now ski patrolling (12 years!) and managing a small hotel in the middle of some of the best skiing in the world.”  Thanks to Simon Edgington for buying me a coffee. Don't forget you can always buy me a coffee