J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Timeforabeer

Moving on to hire cars and winter tyres, we hired a car from the French sector at Geneva and were told they had run out of cars with winter tyres and had no snow chains. You can imagine how 'desole' they were.

We drove up to Val d'isere figgering we'd get some chains if it dumped; in the end, we had to leave the car anyway because the diesel froze while it was in the car park. :evil:

When you hire from the Swiss side, it's more $$$$ generally but the cars are compulsorily 'winterized' which means snow tyres and relevant additives to fuel and washer.

Swisssnowkitten, do you by any chance have any link or interest in that website? Call me cynical, I know....

The bit where you get off the train, and many of the areas you have to pass through, still look like a Cold War missile silo. But agreed, the main departures bit is swanky. Perhaps too swanky for these times? De Beers diamond with your bottle of water anyone?

Also - do watch out as BA has some very stringent 'if you're not through security by X minutes before your flight you ain't gettin' on' policies. OH who has more air miles than Santa got caught out on a hop to Scotland.

As with much of life, it comes down to cold hard cash. If I had £400 to spill on a custom fitted boot, I'd be there. For now, I stumble on getting the best fit I can in hire shops.

If only my birthday was in March, I could get a present and my OH could get a nice chunky discount...

Obviously the originator of this thread has now gone and come back, but one thing to bear in mind about Val is that it's one of those 'Villes Blanches' where they don't clear the snow in order for everything to look luvverly. So traction was certainly an issue for me (Columbia insulated walking boots) at Christmas. And Hertz didn't winterize my motor so the diesel froze, had to leave it and get a taxi to the airport.

BTW, do Uggs do something to otherwise normal people to make them shuffle along dragging their feet like 15-year-old emos? Oh hang on - that'll be the target market....

JamesH1972 wrote:. Sounds like you're all set, the buff is a great idea though.

A Buff WOULD be a great idea if they were not all - every single one of them - so bloody ugly. Who designs them, anyway??

sami_glasgow wrote:

I prefer to ski witha rucksack, well not coz the skiing is better but theres so many useful things to carry:

Water.
Fruit juice (sugar can ne nice but beware of carrying fizzy juice!)
Snickers (chocolate and peanuts for energy)
Cereal bars
A small flask with a hot drink / cuppa soup (stays hot/warm for hours!)
sandwiches (save a fortune on lunch)
goggles
sunglasses
extra layer of clothing / scarf / neck thing

cant think of anything else. seemed like more at the time

Is it just me, or does the list of stuff you have to remember before you head out for the day simply impossibly long?

More generally, what do folks think about online ordering?

I used Ski Republic and I might as well not have bothered, none of the details I took ages to fill in were recorded and we started from scratch... but generally, online discounts make it worth it??