J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by bedrock barney

Excellent review!

Some more info:

Snow Conditions - really good. It was below zero most of the week except for perhaps the odd hour here and there where it crept up to maybe +2. One or two pistes had icy patches but this was the exception to the rule. Other exposed parts of the resort were more obviously prone to wind blowing away the loose stuff but again this wasn't widespread. Only one piste (main run down to the VM8) was trafficked enough for moguls to be forming by the end of the day.

Off piste - it's clearly a very popular pastime and we saw lots of tracks and quite a few people enjoying the wider off piste areas. We did enjoy a certain amount of off piste but only when we could see our way back to the pisted runs. We would have strayed further ('we' doesn't include Mrs BB by the way) if we'd had a guide with us. There looked to be a fantastic looking valley off piste run accessed from the top of the A32 chair but we were not confident enough to try this out on our own. Lots of fun going through the trees from the top of Sadlen (top of chair A34 and run down to bottom of B37 chair)

Temperatures - it was -17 when we arrived (7pm). We had -16 one morning when we set out. The rest of the week ranged between say -10 and +2. Temperature inversion also for part of the time. Winds were generally ok.

Piste classifications - reasonably accurate although we couldn't really tell much difference between the blacks and reds above the tree line. Black run 71 was a proper black. In the main, the reds were proper reds. The on piste skiing was decently challenging (much more so than Hemsedal in Norway). I wouldn't consider the main areas of the resort to be particularly friendly towards beginners. We didn't ski over to Bjornen which we understand is the main beginner area.

Lifts - pretty good and actually much better than we'd expected. Dobby and Dan55 kindly got us onto some T bars over in the Duved/Tegefjall area but we were happy on lifts for the rest of the week. The main gondola from bottom to top was only open part of the time but it's actually not an issue as it;s possible to get up there by using the VM8 chair and bubble instead.

Feb half term - it was not obvious that it was half term. Other than the 57 down to the VM8, the pistes were not crowded and very little queueing for lifts.

Accommodation - we stayed in one of the Dromstugan cabins near the lake. Very clean and decently equipped. 2 bedrooms, a living/kitchen area. ski locker, parking space. The quietest accommodation we've every enjoyed on a ski hol. About a 10 minute walk into town and less than that to the nearest supermarket.

Car hire - we used Sixt and went a bit over the top with a Mercedes GLA 4x4. I ticked every insurance waiver box possible and it ended up costing £500 for the period although this was for 9 days in total.

Flights - we flew with KLM from Humberside via Amsterdam to Trondheim. Everything bang on time and super relaxed. By far our favourite route out of the country if we are flying. Trondheim airport very quiet and efficient. Car rental straight outside the arrivals hall with no queueing.

Costs - as Dobby says above, quite expensive for food and drink. We dragged family Dobby out for a meal on our final evening and I was a bit dismayed to see that the cheapest bottle of wine on the menu was £40!

Holiday costs - we were a family of 3 this time and our costs as follows (assuming 12.3 kr to £). Flights £800, accommodation £675. ski pass £500, Ski hire £247, wifi £16, airport parking £50, car hire ( 9 days) £500, fuel and tolls £40. Total £2,817 or £940pp.

Company - 10 out of 10! Dan55 & Mrs Dan55 and Dobby family of 4 most enjoyable company.

Finally, Trondheim - we skied 5 days in the end and drove over to Trondheim first thing on Saturday and stayed in the Clarion hotel until Monday. Really enjoyed Trondheim. A coffee and cake paradise. Every other establishment was rammed full of Norwegians drinking fancy coffees and eating yummy cakes. Lots of interesting shops and the cultural attractions also very good with the Cathedral, museums, art galleries etc. Our hotel was also excellent and very good value. Possibly the best breakfast spread ever enjoyed by family BB. I think I managed 4 or 5 courses on Sunday morning......

Some pics for your delectation:

Ranchero_1979 wrote:

Seems like you need to think about it as a mixed destination holiday vs. a pure ski one.

Bit like low altitude in Europe then!

We usually fly Easyjet to Geneva and have travelled from Stansted, Luton and Liverpool in the past. It's normally no more than about £100 return pp incl luggage but that means booking the instant the flights are announced.

Well done Dobby. Beat me to it!

Rather than put up another review, I'll add some more comments to this one when I get some time this week. Currently ploughing through a large pile of work emails, having got home yesterday evening.

From my experience, you want to move from snowplough to parallel at the very earliest opportunity. Although I fell over quite a bit to start with, I pretty much learned to ski without doing any snowploughing. I'm always a bit baffled when I see people snow ploughing down red runs. If you are on a red run, you should have developed a reasonable parallel turn technique.

No short cuts really. It will take a few skiing weeks before you are feeling truly comfortable. Then you will need to deal with varying conditions which will include icy sections, moguls and busy pistes. These will all test your technique. It's all worth it in the end. Definitely have some lessons to you may end up hard wiring some bad techniques.

looks fun but way beyond my abilities. I'm only interested in going upwards if it's mechanically aided!

Another great day today. Pleased to say we met up with and skied with the j2ski mini group. Not sunny but that didn't stop Dan55 from donning his shades. Hey, you've got to keep up appearances when surrounded by cool swedes. 8)

Along with Dan, we were joined by Dan's better half and the 4 members of clan Dobby and fun was had by all.

Light was a bit flat but we stayed lower in the afternoon and skied within the tree zone.

The slopes and lifts remain remarkably quiet bearing in mind it's February half term. More pics and a report upon our return.

Loving Are!! Massively exceeded our expectations so far. Even had warm(ish) sun today. Haven't met up with the members of the splinter group yet. Think they are avoiding me....

Couple of pics: