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J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ise

Messages posted by : ise

Confessions of a Skier
Started by User in Ski Chatter, 35 Replies
bandit wrote:

ISTR someone capable digging for my lost ski, whilst I stood there like a helpless girly....
That someone was you ise :oops:


didi I? I don't remember that! we aim to please :D

That does highlight one of the reasons why experienced skiers don't bother with powder trails, skis follow a fairly predictable path on release in various snow types and being able to estimate where and how objects move in snow is a core skill off piste and something we use in avalanches as is a systematic search protocol. If you go somewhere like Chamonix or La Grave or here you'll see precisely no one using powder traces, not the mark of an experienced powder skier and very much the reverse in practice. Loosing a ski in powder is a concern of the more novice off piste skier, in fact I've a pair of powder trails in yellow with snow and rock on them circa the mid-80's :oops: I probably thought they made me look a bit hard core until I realised the reverse was true )

What is true skiing off piste is that there are worse things than losing a ski some days and on other days losing a ski can be fatal, the trick is knowing what day it is )
Confessions of a Skier
Started by User in Ski Chatter, 35 Replies
bandit wrote:
I'm reading 2 different things being discussed here. Straps ( a no-no) and what get called "Powder Traces" in Europe, which are only attached to the ski binding, and tuck up the trouser leg. They seem to be on sale on UK ski shops anyway.


They are, my special favourites are the yellow ones with "Snow and Rock" written on them ) They're what I meant, not a very good idea at all and just a total pain to use anyway.


bandit wrote:Actually, those bindings of "olde" you mention are also on sale "new", as many touring bindings can't fit a ski brake, or their users wish to save kit weight, though I'm not convinced on that one. Here is one UK store with Fritschi Diamir Leashes on sale currently...
http://www.facewest.co.uk/Diamir-Leashes.html


That's not actually quite it, they do weigh a little, around 120g for a pair of brakes in fact. It's also that brakes don't work in powder for obvious reasons. It's a personal choice, brakes or leashes, I use both.

pavelski wrote:These "ribbons", streamers, trailers, "straps" are very thin very colorful material "ribbons" which tear off very easily if ever "caught" ,,thus are NOT dangerous during avalanche!

They are attached with a plastic clip which also will "rip off" if more than XXX kgs. of pressure is applied!


They are dangerous in an avalanche, the releases don't work and the skier gets caught up in the equipment.

Avlanche cord anyone ? :-)
Confessions of a Skier
Started by User in Ski Chatter, 35 Replies
pavelski wrote:


No serious powder skier leaves home without his/her powder strap!



Maybe in the US, they're not used in Europe. They're also considered dangerous, the risk is you get caught up with your equipment in an avalanche which is very bad, it might work in the US as powder skiing is often in avalanche controlled areas.
AJ wrote:But its only right Joe public want`s it`s share of the cake when they have consistantly fed the fat cat`s and shareholder`s. Company`s are so hung up on making billion`s in profit that they dont care about you the consumer once you have handed over your money.

AJ Adele


That's a dangerous path for you to go down unless you've read Ryanairs results and details of directors pay I think. A quick look at their filings shows it's not unreasonable. It's bad year for all airlines and Ryanair are struggling, like the whole company O'Leary took a pay freeze and lost part of his bonus this year, oddly not as widely reported ) Their profits aren't exactly fantastic either, the share price has never been too good and "analysts" have always claimed Ryanair could make more money with higher prices which they've resisted.

Ryanair are a business, as a customer if you think it's excessive then don't use them. They're not selling water or electricity or food or anything that's actually essential, they're selling cheap flights so people with disposable income can have some cheaper and extra holidays.

Dave Mac wrote:Did Ryanair do this in the right manner? It may be argued that they have done. If people have, by using third parties, been paying over the odds, (and they cannot have been paying the same price as with Ryanair direct), then by taking a quick short term action, Ryanair may be doing it's real customers a favour.


In the end they probably are, the back story is the O'Leary wants to carry on with low prices even in this climate and even wants to lower them. He's hedged fuel (a new move) at the equivalent of $120 a barrel for oil which is a gamble and they need to squeeze every penny, their margins are non-existent. Whether anyone chooses to fly with Ryanair or not, their mere presence in the market forces prices down. People seem to have forgotten how much air travel cost 10 or 15 years ago, in fact my guess is that they never really knew and the that prior to Easyjet et al had never flown scheduled around Europe. When I worked in France flights were 700 or 800 quid a week to get there and back, even BA don't charge that now.


Interesting, a fantastic exercise in totally missing the point in terms of the (reported) comments from consumer groups.

It's interesting how entrenched the idea of cheap flights has become, in ten years it seems to have to become an historic and inalienable right to fly to (not very near) Alicante for a fiver :D

bandit wrote:The travelling public will remember that in August 08 Ryanair ruined their holiday plans, no matter what goes on behind the scenes. I doubt they will have forgotten by next summer. Still, all publicity is good publicity eh :mrgreen:


never for Ryanair though ) they seem to relentlessly get bad press, no wonder they've developed thick skins.

bandit wrote:In point of fact, the refund will go to the intermediary who made the booking, not the passenger. This will inevitably lead to delays in refunds being received.


does it? i wasn't sure, the booking is in the name of the actual passenger isn't it? and does Ryanair have the proper passenger details? one of their complaints was they didn't. Legally you must be right, Ryanair to the third party and the third party to the customer following the underpinning contracts with the obvious caveat that in this case the underpinning contracts weren't legally made.
in point of fact, Ryanair have said they will refund money according to the press reports so that's fair enough. People will lose any commission paid to third parties which is understandable.

More to the point, if you look at their web site, you'll see they are in legal dispute with these third parties and have been for a while, they've forced a few to stop already. That would mean if you bought a ticket recently from ABC travel for Ryanair then ABC travel knew full well the Ryanair objected and would be taking action. You also see they announced this on the 5th of August for action on the 11th.
bandit wrote:ise, they are taking on TUI, one of the biggest travel companies around :shock:


I was more surprised that TUI ever got into the business of reselling tickets under these circumstances. It'll be interesting if TUI make refunds and more interesting if they take legal action, you really would expect they took proper legal advice when they decided to breach Ryanair T&C's so they might think they've a defence.

You can see the problem here, if there's no margin on the flights then TUI get to sell higher margin add-ons like insurance, airport car parking, car hire, hotels meanwhile Ryanair are selling a product that's got ever decreasing margins. Rather cheeky when you think about it :!: