J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

voodoo1976 wrote:Les Gets, 15th-22nd March - 46 sleeps (too many sleeps!)

Thanks :)

New List, updated to today Wednesday 28th January. If anyone else wants to go on it, or you see any mistakes, please post up on here.

Icy, 3 sleeps (I'm not too sure that he wants to go on the official List)

NellyPS going to Les Arcs in 2 days on the 30/01/2015
Andyhull going to Niseko in 3 days on the 31/01/2015
GreenGoblin going to Val d'Isere in 3 days on the 31/01/2015
Shipjack going to Les Carroz in 3 days on the 31/01/2015
Tahiti gra going to Chatel in 5 days on the 02/02/2015
Wanderer going to Vigo di Fassa Dolomites in 17 days on the 14/02/2015
Dobby going to Hemsedal in 18 days on the 15/02/2015
Far Queue going to Soll in 31 days on the 28/02/2015
LOTA going to Nendaz in 33 days on the 02/03/2015
Gareth Fair going to La Thuile in 35 days on the 04/03/2015
Tony_H going to Somewhere in 38 days on the 07/03/2015
Ade73 going to Tignes in 39 days on the 08/03/2015
Wanderer going to St Anton in 45 days on the 14/03/2015
Old Andy going to Somewhere in the Dolomites in 45 days on the 14/03/2015
Voodoo 1976 going to Les Gets in 46 days on the 15/03/2015
Michelle63 going to Les Deux Alps in 60 days on the 29/03/2015

OK Tony, I'll add that, thanks :)

Iceman wrote:3 sleeps. I think nelly is 2 sleeps :D

Sorry for being a bit slow with the update ...

And if anyone else wants to go on the list, or you see any mistakes would you please post up here and let me know.

NellyPS going to Les Arcs in 2 days on the 30/01/2015
Andyhull going to Niseko in 3 days on the 31/01/2015
GreenGoblin going to Val d'Isere in 3 days on the 31/01/2015
Shipjack going to Les Carroz in 3 days on the 31/01/2015
Tahiti gra going to Chatel in 5 days on the 02/02/2015
Wanderer going to Vigo di Fassa Dolomites in 17 days on the 14/02/2015
Dobby going to Hemsedal in 18 days on the 15/02/2015
Far Queue going to Soll in 31 days on the 28/02/2015
LOTA going to Nendaz in 33 days on the 02/03/2015
Gareth Fair going to La Thuile in 35 days on the 04/03/2015
Ade73 going to Tignes in 39 days on the 08/03/2015
Wanderer going to St Anton in 45 days on the 14/03/2015
Old Andy going to Somewhere in the Dolomites in 45 days on the 14/03/2015
Michelle63 going to Les Deux Alps in 60 days on the 29/03/2015

Tony_H wrote:
Has this made you rethink how you select next years trip?

No, I don't think so. We all had a great holiday in spite of the lack of snow and the wind during the first few days, and they were most unusual weather conditions for the time of year that no-one could have predicted.

We didn't lose a day ski-ing or boarding because of the snow and weather conditions. I admit some people did miss out on a day on the snow, but that was due to either injury, a nasty cold that was going around in the group, or because they'd been out too late partying and drinking too much the night before (!). Come to think of it, the latter factor might be a reason to be more careful selecting a ski resort for next year ;)

Ade73 is an advanced boarder and he was looking for off-piste powder, so that's why one day of being on the hard, icy pistes in Sauze was enough for him! But as I said before, we had planned an emergency escape route to another resort beforehand, and he and his car group of friends had a great time in Val Thorens for 3 days before the powder arrived in Sauze.

I was ski-ing the first Sunday and during the morning, before the others arrived, I mostly stayed between the top in Sauze and the Sportinia level because that's where the best snow was, and there was hardly anyone there (as it was cold and windy at the top). So I had a good chance to get used to my hired skis and remember how to ski, as I hadn't done it since Folgarida the year before. And they only charged me 25 euros for my one day lift pass, instead of 35 euros because of the limited ski area.

And in the afternoon I skied with one of the others on the lower half of Sauze and we had a chance to learn how to ski on the ice. I saw it as a learning opportunity and a challenge, rather than something to grumble about. I mean, the good skiers and the instructors could cope with the ice no bother, so the problem was clearly with myself and my lack of technique.

It was only for the first 2 days, Monday and Tuesday, that we were restricted to limited pistes in Sauze, and it was lovely and sunny, and by that time we'd got used to ski-ing on the icy pistes :)

Even those who'd only done one week of ski-ing before this holiday seemed to cope OK with the conditions :)

On Wednesday they opened up the links to Sansicario and Sestriere and the ski-ing/boarding was great! :)

Thursday we went to Orelle and skied Val Thorens and there was plenty of snow and it was lovely and sunny, although it was very windy at the top.

Friday they shut the links again but it was snowing and there was plenty of fresh snow, about a foot I think, on the pistes in Sauze, and more at the top I reckon.

And Saturday they re-opened the links and there was plenty of snow and sunshine and most of us went over to Sestriere.

On past family ski holidays there have been times when I have been totally unable to ski because the lifts were all shut. And this has been due to too much snow and the avalanche risk and the wind. The good thing about Sauze is that the trees sheltered us from the wind so the local area could stay open when we were there and it was only the links that shut due to the wind.

So, what I am trying to say is that actually the wind was more of a problem for us in Sauze than the lack of snow, as it was the wind that made them close the links to Sestriere and Sansicario.

We will just have to wait and see what the conditions will be like on next year's J2Ski group holiday to wherever it will be on whatever date. I'm not organizing the holiday next year - one of the others in the group is doing it. I'm sure they will post up about it once we know where and when we're going so that new people from J2Ski can join us :)

This is another photo taken by Piste Paul's son (his best photo I reckon), showing how little natural snow there was in Sansicario on Wednesday, and yet the snow on the pistes was very good and it was lovely ski-ing there! It's the Blue Olympic run down to the 'Baby' lift 32 (which I didn't go down myself).

I think it shows what an amazing job they'd done getting the pistes open for us :)

Oh dear that's very bad news :(

I have insurance through the Ski club of GB and it covers me for 'end supplier failure' so I don't have to worry about businesses going bust when I book a DIY holiday for myself.

I thought credit card companies also cover you for this, if you pay with a credit card? Or have I got it wrong?

flat country skier wrote: ...I haven't been back to 3V since 2007 (although liked skiing there very much) ...


... Shame that French just want to make lots of money out of skiers :(

I wonder if there is actually a reason why French ski resorts are generally much more expensive than Italian ones?

I have been to the 3 Valleys 5 times for ski holidays, because I like the ski-ing there so much, but each time I've stayed in a self-catering apartment and I've skied back to it for lunch. I just make sure I pick places that are pretty much ski in/ski out.

The trouble is that they don't seem to allow picnics either, so if you ski with a packed lunch it means you have to either sit outside in the snow somewhere or eat it in a gondola! :(

And the other people in the group don't want to go self-catering so it makes the 3 valleys very expensive :(

But at least we got one day ski-ing there :)

This is me, having a little rest on the red Asters piste down into Val Thorens. And that's Piste Paul to the right, in blue, and 2 of the other guys below me.

Piste Paul's son took this photo. He skied across to me, and I thought how kind of him to ask if I was OK, only to discover that all he was interested in was getting a photo of me sitting down on the piste (!) ;)
Oh well, that's youngsters for you ... ;)

I'm pretty sure that's the mountain restaurant, Le Caribou, in the distance - the one with the yummy but very expensive blueberry pie. I suppose they do have some excuse for their prices, because they are in the middle of nowhere so getting supplies must be fairly difficult. It was 11-30 by the time we got to that restaurant, definitely time for elevenses seeing as we'd had nothing since breakfast at 7-30 !


I had 4 falls during the week, but luckily each of them just involved over balancing and a little gentle sit down on the piste without my skis coming off.

I haven't exactly done a spreadsheet of who fell over when and where and how badly, amongst the group, but I know one of the boarders had a nasty fall although with no permanent damage, one of the skiers fell and sprained his ankle and missed ski-ing on the last day, a couple of people fell and hit their heads but got over it, however other than that I think we were all OK :)

I think a lot of other people got hurt though, judging by the number of 'blood waggons' I saw during the week :(

Here's Piste Paul's photo of the rescue helicopter in Sansicario (I think) on Wednesday. I heard it and saw it in the distance.