J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Far Queue

:D

I love my Head boots. Best thing I ever did in the last few years getting those.

Another thought, given your description OldAndy, is that due to the TO's offering many special deals on early bookings (2 for 1 lift passes etc.) perhaps it is a case of many holidays have already been taken.

Tony_H wrote:Camp of the highest order!

:)

Spotted your mis-type there Tony!

I always quite liked the idea of Bourg St Maurice.

Easy to get to from the UK by train for friends to visit, has the funicular up to Les Arcs and is a short drive to many other excellent ski areas.

I guess it may be quite expensive though :(

:shock:

Bet you can't wait for winter to come round Dave :)

andyhull wrote:I prefer a less energetic pursuit, though it doesn't do the ski fitness any good at all!

Ooo, you into photography then andyhull?

:twisted:

Evening FreshFreshPowder. OK, I cannot do a direct comparison, as I am going to Austria for the first time this season, but I was in Soldeu two seasons ago.

I did quite enjoy it, and to be honest the skiing was a lot better than I had imagined it would be. Soldeu has, in recent years, extended it's lift coverage so that the neighbouring towns (forgive me but the names escape me atmo) are all in one big ski area called the Grand Valira. There is plenty of varied skiing for beginners and intermediates, but it is somewhat lacking on the expert front. However, we did not really go looking for extreme stuff, so we may just not have found it.

The problem for me, was the actual town. It is basically a main road through Andorra with buildings either side of the road. I did not find it particularly cheap, and I gather that since it increased it's ski area, the prices have started to rise to match those of the more mainstream areas. The one thing which has put me off returning, is the heavy smoking you will find in all the bars and hotel bar areas. It was quite strange to go back to that sort of atmosphere after several years of smoke free bars elsewhere. I stayed at the Sport Hotel and did not have any issues with the hotel, the food was pretty decent and the service friendly and the place was well kept and very clean.

My other gripe with the place was the shortage of facilities on the actual slopes. What was there was very expensive and very slow. They tended to do everything to order, even at peak times with massive queues waiting for things. In the end it was better to return down to the towns for lunch.

Would I go back? Probably, but it would help if they banned smoking.

:D You are welcome Rocksy. Don't be a stranger and dissapear off the forum. Now you are booked it's time to get all excited about the forthcoming trip and get involved in all the banter here on the boards :twisted:

And we want to see some pics when you get back, especially the hot tub :shock: