J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

Never wear goggles, prefer sunglasses, no matter what conditions. Worst is wet snow, when the sunnies come off, and I ski without.

The secret with flat light is to ski right beside the trees, where the light bounces off the trees on to the piste.

I guess I remain surprised each year that airlines seemed to ignore each others competitive advantages.

The Easyjet position is very clear. At least, for the most part, which I will come to. The main hold baggage restriction is 20kgm, but I rarely exceed 15kgms, including boots and painting gear. The hand baggage weight is, for practical purposes, huge. Between the two, there should be no practical restrictions.

Yes, Eastjet do offer comfortable seating, even for a big guy, (steady now), and they are rarely late. I too use them several times a year.

TonyH has reminded us on a regular basis that a ski bag, containing also, ski clothing, et al, is allowed by BA as the main hold baggage. I have always been impressed by this, and I wondered if the acceptance by BA is tacit, or with stated approval?

Hence, a few weeks ago, I messaged Easyjet, and asked them if a ski bag could be treated as hold baggage? They initially referred me to their Ts & Cs. When I persisted, they seemed to put my message into a cupboard, so that it could not be seen by others, but of course, no answer.

That will not affect my usage of Easyjet, I have always had a very good service from them; just think they could be a tad more customer friendly, and I will be telling them so.

On the issue of weighing skis, they ought to be weighed so that the the take off weight can be calculated.

Good shout Wanderer.Car cost would be £104 (less Quidco 7%) + winter tyres, say £32, ttl £131, plus gas, £155. That is more than train/taxi of £124, but at the travel times would be quick, and offer more flexibility.

Hi Coop,
you could go for the Gatwick/Munich flight. Choose Wednesday night, 18.30, or an early Thursday flight. Late Sunday flight, so 4 days skiing, c/w 6 days when you book a package holiday.
Train to the Alps, choose fom skiwelt, kitzbuhel, Wildschönau, Alpbach. Closest the better, so probably the skiwelt, Scheffau or Söll. So train to Kufstein.
Then taxi, or pick-up.

Flght costs ~ £29+£52+ £23 baggage = £104
Train about 50 Eu return = £44
Taxi 40 Eu (check), divd by 2 = £18
B&B, 28 Eu pppn, 4 nghts, £100

Total £266

There are places that would do under 50 Eu HB pn, and also pick you up, offsetting the taxi costs.

I don't know what you consider a high cost in Austria, so maybe this is not a good solution.

I'm not going to mention my falls. They all happened early days, and even now, are too painful to think about.

Instead :D, I'm going to show you a mate of mine. We were offpiste, coming down the Standard in N. and just near the bottom, going through the trees, and trying to outdo each other, he took a purler. How sad. One of only 2/3 occasions that year when I had my Brownie 127 with me.

There was a muffled cry for help.....

Right, Stu, just a moment......

Not being negative at all, just observing what is happening, and where the interests lie. The mid-village hotels are showing little interest, beyond mini-bus taxi.

Bigger buses would struggle because of the road. There is only one size of bus anyway, (geared to the roads). I already gave the reasons why there would be difficulties with more buses.

I wasn't referring to cost. Nobody would suggest a gondela link up, it would be the worlds longest.

When the link up is made, and I mean when, for an area link up, as is happening with Wild/Alp, there will be a lot of unification issues. Politics, yes, but the practicals, full bus system,timetables, marketing, Reprints in 4 areas, regional and national, management structure, differential lift pass policy ~ this would cover Kitzbuhel to Alpbachtal. Effects on passes like the Allstar and Tirol passes.

Just a bus extension is unlikely to happen, but you never know.

Last but one time I went, I just stood outside the front door and hitched a lift. Getting back was a bit uncertain, but managed a lift off a local!

Last three years cards have been on the edge of the village, here is the old village centre, possibly the last time that Klingers will be painted.

The Wildschönau was the driver behind the Inner Alpbach linkup. Many years ago, I had conversations with Burgermeister Bletzacher (Alpbach), about this, and the comparitive valley histories. Alpbachtal has been protective of it's history. (Alpbachtal and the Wildschönau were two initial drivers in the development of skiing in Austria)

I did point out that the linkup with Alpbachtal was reciprocal, hence there will be mutual benefit.

I am not disagreeing with a link to the Schiwelt. The opposite is true. I am pointing out the practicalities of this happening. It would be a good thing for the valley. Herbert Thaler, who has not always been the most outward going of people, lead the way with his ad hoc set up. This has been taken up with a few smaller initiatives.

But for a Schiwelt link up to be work effectively, this is not just a question of a bus service. It is much more than that.

John, you may know how much intransigence there was with the recent deal. It went through OK last year, but the years prior to this were fraught with disagreement.

This is Tirol. Companies don't own the mountains, farmers do. For something to happen, just about everyone has to become a signed up member of the party.

In some aspects a SW link up would be easier, as they don't have as much local historic baggage as do adjacent valleys. Also, it is not that long ago that the SW did not exist, other than as a series of separate villages, each with one or two lifts. Last year I was chatting to an ex-Scheffau lift man, who had attended one of two lifts in the village. The link up benefits were always apparent to the individual villages, but not to the farmers owning the land required to be brought into service.

The formation of the Schiwelt was a masterpiece, and more recently, they have capitalised further with the Kirchberg/Kitzbuhel link up.