J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

...... interesting discussions with insurance company to follow :lol:

Doubt if Crystal would be providing this service to their clients :roll:

As several posters have said, check out the previous (lively and at times acrimonious) thread on the topic where pretty much every perspective was ventilated.

I would, however, add one additional point which is to be wary of stats :roll:. Lots of people suffer minor head injuries, usually mild concussions when skiing - this I know from personal experience :oops:. However, these usually do not require/involve any medical attention and will not feature in any research on the topic. Likewise, lots of people have falls when wearing helmets and do not have any injury so nothing to report. However, the helmet may well have saved them from an injury - again it is not clear how any research would capture such positive impacts (no pun intended).

For me, the equation is simple - the helmet will almost certainly mitigate any impact to the head in a fall, though not perhaps provide complete protection if the fall is at very high speed. The only real negative I can think of (apart from any inconvenience/comfort factor) is whether wearing a helmet encourages skiers to ski faster than they would otherwise do - I know there is lots of research to do with motoring which highlights this effect arising from the comfort drivers take from safety devices like airbags, anti-skid braking systems, etc.

For me the first part of this equation makes the choice a no-brainer (pun intended this time :mrgreen: ) so I choose to wear one :thumbup: .

....... but you would not want to meet a bus coming the other direction :shock:.

Scary to think that somebody could have been driving along that road when the avalanche hit. but very impressive work to clear it so quickly :thumbup:.

Brendan Behan, an Irish playwright and author, once famously remarked that the first item on the agenda of any new organization set up in Ireland was the "split" :shock:. This theme was subsequently taken up by the Monty Python team with the People's Front of Judea sketch :roll:. Lets hope that J2Ski is not descending into such silly territory :x.

Lets just say that there are now (at least) 2 J2Ski group trips and not fuss about which is the original or the best. Any group that gets together to enjoy a ski trip is a good thing and should not form the basis for any dissent :thumbup:.

So play nice everybody ;).

Courmayour is relatively small but a very nice authentic village with some nice piste skiing, if perhaps a bit limited for more experienced skiers. However, if you are good enough, you can access the Vallee Blanche route from here (over to Chamonix). You would need a guide but I believe it is a wonderful excursion.

dobby wrote:La Thuile only has two lifts and three pistes open today.

I wonder if there is a genuine value in opening just 2 lifts or is this just a ploy to avoid triggering insurance and lift pass refund claims :hunf:.

I have had previous experience in France of them being very slow to reopen after a heavy dump but will always ensure that a few lifts are open.

Hi Tony

Good to have you back. Your resort reports and other insights have been missed :thumbup:. The site continues to offer a friendly environment where advice is freely and generously given. A lot of the recent activity has been around group trips with some of them becoming quite large affairs.

As always the recommendations and feedback on resorts is very useful in helping to determine where to go next. We tend to be creatures of habit and can be reluctant to try new places. Getting good recommendations and information helps us to explore further.

My own preference in recent years has been the Dolomites - it took me a long time to get there but am now hooked. Reasons for this include
- very large extensive ski area where each day feels like a journey rather than simply up and down a few slopes;
- beautifully groomed and maintained slopes, even in poor snow years;
- very friendly people;
- generally uncrowded slopes, even in peak weeks though some bottlenecks are inevitable. The slopes tend to empty very early so late skiers can have the slopes to themselves;
- very good value compared with the other major ski areas - I got completely fed up with paying E5+ for coffees and hot chocolates in France :evil:.

Keep well and stick around :mrgreen:

Baggage allowances on airlines have become a racket. Aer Lingus have increased their prices quite outrageously in recent times. I was looking at flights to Munich recently and found reasonably priced flights but then the baggage charge added another E80 for a 20kg bag :evil:.

Not a lot you can do other than give the feedback whenever you can and also vote with your feet - if enough customers go elsewhere they will get the message. Ryanair started to pull a similar stunt with golf clubs a few years ago but then found that they were losing passengers or that golfers were hiring in resort losing them lots on carriage charges. They actually reduced their charges back to a slightly less extortionate rate :hunf:.