Davos and the surrounding hills have some of the most epic terrain in Switzerland for Cross country and Freeride biking not to mention the fact that loads of the lifts are available if the only way you want to travel on your bike is DOWN!

We have several accommodation options available including our regular winter hotel Ochsen in the heart of Davos and the Snow motions chalet down the road in Chur-Walden near Lenzerheide.

Our deals are off the chart so if you’re thinking about ditching the dales and abandoning the trail centre for the Awesome Alps then get in touch with us. Price start from £400 for the whole week half boad with your lift pass for the whole area and includes guiding and bike maintenance from Donnie.

18th – 25th July. Flights to Zurich. Train transfer to Davos (£60 return 2.5 hours)

Bike shredding the the Alps has never been cheaper! BOOK NOW!

The sun may well be shining but we’re still offering you the chance to get away for a bit of snow time this summer. Synergy has teamed up with Natives.co.uk to bring you the ‘Summer weekender’ on Zermatt’s glacier in Switzerland. At over 3500m and in the shadow of the infamous Matterhorn from the 15-18th July it’s time to strap in and shred once again!

www.natives.co.uk/summerweekend

This is a really fun long weekend with loads of party plans including fancy dress, volley ball tournaments and on slope competitions for a bit of fun like team parallel slalom! Donnie is also running freestyle and alpine coaching sessions.

The cost is £149 and that includes your B+B and lift pass and entry to all the fun stuff (£50 deposit is all you need to pay now to secure your place) You can get more details below or drop us an email to book. However, you get a 5% discount on SWISS flights AND a further discount on train fare from Switzerland Tourism of £65 for return train fare from any Swiss border or airport when you book through Natives. Give Emma in their office a bell on 0208 785 3888 but remember to tell them your from Synergy.

If you would like any more detail then drop us a line and we’ll talk you though it. Roll on the summer shred!

Last years crew from the Summer Weekender

So the winter has come to a close after a few final epic dumps of snow in Davos (we thought it might never end!) and our attention is turning to the impending summer. With lots on offer with SYNERGY this summer including a long weekend of Snowboarding on Zermatts glacier (18th – 21st July) and 2 weeks of mountain biking back in Davos in August (dates TBC) we are super excited about the sunshine.

No one however, is quite as excited as our man Stav as he has just launched BN1 Kite Surfing in his home town of Brighton. Those of you that know Stav will know that this is a huge achievement for him and a long time ambition that has come to fruition. The all star ginger ninja action man has come up with a great unique formula to coach kiting on some of the best beeches in the country using what is widly regarded as the best equipment available on the market today.

Whether you’re a total beginner looking to fly small power kites or a seasoned wave shredder Stav has the know-how, skills and experience to offer you a way of boosting your performance and understanding of this awesome new extreme sport. He’s down in Brighton running the show right now and waiting to take your booking so check out his website www.bn1kitesurfing.com and get yourself down to the beech for some fun.

We at SYNERGY wish him all the best and we’re looking forward to doing some kiting with him over the summer. After watching this wee video you’ll want to do exactly the same…..

It’s all going off!  The X-Mas New/Year week was manic but loads of fun! 30 Synergisers in total were out enjoying the white stuff and all that Davos has to offer. The Spengler (Ice hockey) cup has been and gone (you think British football fans are nuts!!) as has the O’Neill Evolution 6* TTR HAlf pipe and Slope style contest…..16 Year old from the U.S. putting down double corked backside 1080’s!!! It’s just not right! Check out the pic.

O'Neill Evolution Slope Style contest

Things have calmed down a wee bit now and we’ve had some sporadic showers of snow making our piste and park conditions insane! The new park on Jakobshorn this year is off the chart. 3 Kicker lines from 1 meter to 20 meter gaps and a separate rail line with 5 boxes and a few ghetto-get-on single and double barrel rails. So Sweet! Not to mention the super pipe at the top AND the bottom of the hill. We’re loving it although no one has manned up to the HUGE O’Neil kicker thats been left behind, look at the size of that thing! It’s only a matter of time though!

Eh, that kicker is insane...

We hope you have enjoyed some of our pics from the season so far? We’ve had tons of fun taking  them (especially the cheesy ones!) But the time has some to whip out the HD video camera so look out for some action videos coming soon!

We’ve had some very happy customers out here lately taking advantage of the Synergy deals available for our clients at Boardwise.com and boardersboards.co.uk so be sure to check these guys out for some great deals on kit. One of our clients just treated himself to a RIDE YUKON 168 needless to say Stav had a blast on a board exactly twice the size of him and Donnie has contacted his sponsors immediately to place an order for one! Our RIDE Snowboards sponsor shot does look good though…

WE LOVE RIDE!!

Remember half term is fast approaching so get in touch for some great deals. Chalet Frieden in Davos is doing us a great deal for up to 20 of you for 600 Euros per person with all your meals and food! Our hotel deals are also rocking so be sure to check them out on our accommodation page.

Finally, have you checked out Donnie’s Video Snow reports? If you havent then you’re missing a treat! Check them out: Davos Video Snow Reports

Keep up to date with us on Facebook and Twitter and don’t hesitate to get in touch to see what deal we can do for you in Davos.

The SYNERGY crew.

Today was Synergy’s first day on the hill. We like to take it easy on day one and always adhere to a rule….. “stay alive!” This is much easier said than done when faced with a 4ft dump followed by blue bird sky’s! But hey, we remember what we’re doing and where to go don’t we?!   I am pleased to report all limbs are attached but not without great ache and need of a hot bath! Check out our photos and long may they dispel any rumour that there are more snow sure places on the Globe…..Davos is where it’s at…….come and join us.

Be sure to check out our latest deals including a choice of 2 new chalets in Davos this winter that sleep up to 32 fully catered for less than £400pp for a week! Yea-ha! Drop us an email or a phone call for more info……

Donnie in the fresh pow on Day one of the season. 2.12.09

POW-POW, trees and sunshine.......

Jakobshor, day one of the 2009/10 winter season...EPIC!

3 weeks have passed and I have had some more interesting Physio…….It turns out my back may have more to do with the problem than was initially thought.  As most of you will know your back is connected to EVERYTHING so a problem left untreated here will undoubtedly have some knock on effects.

I was diagnosed as having an iliotibial band syndrome/maltracking patello-femoral joint.  Ultimately this was probably brought on by the fall I had which affected the alignment in my pelvis and spine (3 vertibraes were twisted!).   My Physio EMMA STEENSON at ah said “Treatment was aimed at restoring mobility and flexibility to the iliotibial band, improving function in your vastus medialis oblique muscle (which is the major stability muscle for the patello-femoral joint) and restoring alignment to your pelvis and spine”.

And after 4  45min sessions and lots of stretching in between I can tell you I feel a whole lot better. Walking down stairs or steep hills was my ‘control’ to test if things were improving. Having come back from London and walking down the long elcalators on the tube I felt great. This means I can now step things up in the gym and add some weight to squats, dead lifts and other Olympic lifts that I do.

I do put a lot of my recovery down to using the foam/hard plastic roller regularly.  Remember I said it was probably like giving birth well that pain soon went away after 7-8 days of using it for 10-15 mins each day on my upper and lower legs.  I can’t say I have yet got to the point of ‘enjoying’ it but I can just about stop the skreaking while I roll!!  I have also been using the tennis ball up against the wall while I squat against it on my back.  I do this in the mornings when I feel by back is most stiff.  This really helps and only takes 2 mins of rolling/squatting against the wall.

For the last few weeks I have been in the gym 2-3 times a week.  I always start with a 500 -1000m row trying to keep to about 2mins per 500 m (1.40 secs per 500m is really good!) then I use a foamroller for about 5 mins on my calfs, shins, quads, hamstrings and my IT band.

I then do some squats with a 5kg weighted bar and some abdominal twists to loosen myself up and get ready for adding some weight.  I normally always keep my heels lifted on a pair of weights while I squat (most Olympic weight lifters where high sole heels when they lift) I find it slightly more comfortable and easier to keep form .

Before I squat with weight I do some ‘box jumps’ using a bench. I place one foot on the floor and the other on the bench that I spring from to jump over the bench/box and place my other foot on top of it.  The higher the bench the harder this is. The aim is to put your legs through a full range of movement using a burst of energy. Its a basic plyometric exercise that works each leg independently and will really warm you up for some squats, dead lifting and lunging.  Really spring off your toes as hard as you can. Aim to leave the gound swapping feet about 30 times. Then maybe 25 for your second set, the faster the better…..I love it!

Squatting:  I have only got back into this a week or so ago using a light load and concentrating on my form and breathing.  I am currently free lifting 30Kg using the clean and jerk and placing the bar behind my head to begin (as opposed to using a rack to pick the bar up from underneath….You will need to do this once we’re up to speed lifting your body weight and more!!!)

3 sets of 12 finishing each one with an overhead press to get the bar back in front of you (this became increasingly and surprisingly difficult at the end of the sets!!) The top of my back hurt for a few days where the bar had been resting. Be careful to find a comfortable position but not at the sacrifice of how your hold your overall posture. If you cant find one then use a towel or a bar with foam cushioning.

I intend to do this for 4 sessions before increasing the weight by 10kg every 4th session until I get to about 60kg when I will reduce the reps to 7-8 and increase the sets to 4.  The objective once I feel ready is to turn the squat from an endurance building mobility exercise into a power and strength building exercise and to do this you should be working to failure with around 5 sets of 5 repetitions. I would like to be doing this with around 1.5 times my body weight of 80kg…..GULP…..120kg!! Que Fernando with “you’re a girl if you cant squat TWICE your body weight“!!

The same applies to the dead lift although there is no harm is starting off a little heavier with this if you are sure of your technique.  Like wise the clean and jerk with some pressing is also on the cards now but I am happy to keep the weight down on these exercises for a while. They are great for overall mobility and to help tone things up a little. Of course if you pile the weight you can change these into real power and strength builders

I am working on all of these but with a real focus on getting into the squatting!!  See the video below for some great advice and tips on lifting.

Donnie entered the senior (oveall) mens catogory yesterday at Brahead for the SBX event of the Brits snow tour amongst a field of 40 other competitors from all over the country.

The course was a series of fast, tight banked turns with a 15ft step down in the middle of the course and finished with a final burm leading to a gap jump on to the finish line (literally!)

Donnie set the 3rd fastest time in qualifying and went on to win his quarter finals, avoiding a crash in turn 2 and came 2nd in his semi final heat behind Tim McGregor on the British team.  The finals were always going to be closely fought on this tight course but Donnie got out the gates first only to be taken down in a huge crash in turn three that put all 4 riders on the deck.  Donnie managed to get back to his feet but found himself in 4th and struggling to get back to speed.  But such is the nature of SBX  and Donnies determination to place that he crossed the line to find out that 1st place had missed a gate in the accident and 3rd place had conceded a place due to foul play causeing the incident in turn 3!

Donnie picked up his silver medal (watch the video) and a cheque from sponsors Tresspass!

Donnie – “I am particularly happy as my knee seems to be on the mend and feels strong after a few hours of some pretty hard riding.  It was a great day and super competitive, I would liked to have held my position in first but SBX is so dangerous and full of contact that these things are to be expected.  2nd is fine with me and Ed (who won) is a good pal so I’m happy for him. I just can’t wait to start the season now in Davos”.

Donnie leads the way to victory in the quarter finals