328: The New Swiss/Italian Night Train, Clothing Repair & SIGB’s Grassroots Grant

We find out about a new overnight train service to Switzerland and Italy, as well as a new campaign to promote the repair of snowsports clothing, rather than replacement.

We also hear about a new initiative to bring newcomers into the sport, plus we have the latest updates from Australia and NZ and news of award recognition for The Ski Podcast.

Host Iain Martin was joined in the studio by Heather Davies from the Re-Action Collective and Mark Smith (‘The Man in Seat 61’), the UK’s leading train travel expert.
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Les 2 Alpes sponsors The Ski Podcast, which means this winter we will be finding out more about the resort’s long seven-month ski season, the great activities on offer there in summer, and some of the people who live and work there and make Les 2 Alpes such a fantastic destination.
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SHOW NOTES

Heather was last on the show in Episode 255 (1:15)
Mark Smith was previously on the show in Episode 231 (2:00)
Guy Beatson reported from Whakapapa in NZ (4:15)
Miss Snowitall, Rachael Oakes-Ash, was at the Shaun White Snow League in Cardrona, NZ (5:45)
The Ski Podcast is a finalist in the ‘Best Broadcast Programme’ category for the 2026 Travel Media Awards and also a finalist in the ‘Best Travel & Adventure’ category at the Independent Podcast Awards (10:15)

Listen to Iain’s interview with the ‘Man in Seat 61’ in Episode 231 (17:15)
What does seat61.com cover? (17:45)
Mark recently travelled on the inaugural service by European Sleeper, linking Brussels and Milan (19:00)
Route and timings (19:30)
Taking the classic Gotthard Tunnel (21:45)
Overnight sleeping options & costs (23:00)
What is a couchette? (25:00)

Why the train doesn’t stop in Zurich (29:45)
All of the details of the new service are available at seat61.com
Andermatt is the best connection – just 15 minutes from Göschenen (30:30)
The value of an Interrail pass (31:00)
Will we see direct trains from the UK to Switzerland or competitors to Eurostar? (33:30)
Find out more about the Re-Action Collective in Episode 255 (38:15)
Heather’s White Paper calls for outdoor brands to embrace decentralised repair (39:45)
Measures could include subsidised incentive schemes, VAT and business rates reductions (45:30)

Many of these ideas already exist in France (45:45)
Re-Action Collective is full of specialists in repair (47:15)
Listen to Iain’s interview with ‘Repair Claire’ at Montane (48:00)
We featured Arcteryx in Episode 218 (48:15)
How to extend the life of your ski kit (48:30)
Watch Iain and Al discuss ‘The Best Skis for 2027’ (53:00)

Feedback

I love getting feedback from listeners. You can let us know what you thought by leaving a comment on Spotify, Instagram or Facebook – or you can drop me an email to theskipodcast@gmail.com. We’re also on WhatsApp.

Fiona: “The award nomination is Well deserved. I always love listening to your episodes!”

HenrySkier: “This podcast is ALWAYS a good listen. Looking to indulging and listening later today.”

You can catch up with all 328 episodes of The Ski Podcast at theskipodcast.com – have a search around the tags and categories and you’re bound to find something of interest.

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