The ski-season in Europe may be off to a slow start, but it’s dumping the white stuff in Japan and North America is quickly catching up. Our very own resident ski expert Emma Fergusson picks out her Top 10 Ski Essentials for the season ahead.

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Eric LaHaie, RacingThePlanet's business development manager and Taklamakan Ultramarathon 2010 winner, travelled to Sydney last week to host a roadshow and to take part in TNF100 Sydney.

There was a crowd of RacingThePlanet alumni competing at the event including Claire Price, Samantha Gash, Daniel Trevena, Hamish Travers, Matt Meckenstock and current 4 Deserts Champion Ryan Sandes.

We asked Eric how it all went.

Briton Simon Southgate has successfully completed three of the 4 Deserts. His campaign began at the Sahara Race 2008, and he then went on to complete the Gobi March in 2010 and earlier this year the Atacama Crossing 2011.

As this year's Gobi March draws closer we asked him to tell us about the gear that he had used there and compare it to some of the other kit he used in Chile and Egypt.

Research by Zensah has concluded there is a direct correlation between using compression gear and faster recovery time and enhanced athletic performance.

Ray Zahab details his training regimen here, http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2010/01/running-lake-baikal-training-essentials.html. Here's a list of food that Ray plans to take to Lake Baikal as he attempts to run 657 kilometers, the length of Lake Baikal in Siberia, over 12 days.
Food
Morning: Oatmeal with coconut oil,coffee
Lunch: Expedition Foods Meal (1 pouch each)
Dinner: Expedition Foods Meal (1 pouch each), rice or pasta or potatoes with coconut oil
Before Bed: Shake made with Whey Protein, Glutamine, Greens + Expedition Foods (1/2 pouch each)
Snacks/Drinks Mixes: Gatorade, 7 Systems multivitamins, and snacks such as Tamari almonds mixed with chocolate almonds and beef jerkey.