Messages posted by : pedro
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Trays? Purleeease! If I wanted tea daaaling, i'd go to the Ritz. Anyway, like skateboarding, fad sport, it'll never catch on. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a completely old f**t. I do have a skateboard - use it whenever I move house to help shift stuff like washing machine, piano etc.
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Don't sit back? Stay awake and concentrate is better advice. last powder i skied, followed Mrs P into some virgin snow. She never goes off piste, so I not really concentrating. Just a bit between 2 pistes not much off the beaten track. Fresh everywhere, they only openned the lifts at 1pm whilst they bombed the avalanches and we'd been skiing fresh fluff on piste all afternoon. This was late in the day, in the sun, lower down. Just as i got into it, a few random thoughts floated across my supremely happy mellow brain. Like: nice day/great to be alive/wonder what the avalanche risk is here/where is mrs P/ mustn't sit back. Then WHACK! dug tips in just a fraction, skis stopped dead and i went head first over the handlebars landing head first. Came up looking like a yeti, Mrs p nearly died laughing and i am seriously considering buying a skid lid! there are worse things you could do than sit back - like not concentrate!
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I hated St Lary - very pretty but very small, slow lifts and lots of drags - and it's a drive up the mountain from town to ski. Bonascre @ Axe les Thermes is similar size i think, but the main bubble now goes right down to the town - and you can soak your feet for free in the stinky sulphur bath in the town centre. I think Axe might be closest to Toulouse of these mentioned. Unless you are a beginner, Axe or St L are good for a day, maybe even a w/e. If you fancy a bit more extensive skiing (and more expensive lift passes) try Baqueira Beret in Spain or drive up to Pas De la Casa, Andorra.
If the snow is good and it is cold, any of the above will be great. We usually hire a car from Toulouse, but I think you can get to Axe by train. Probably buses too, but god forbid! One might have to share with youths, backpackers, Ozzies and all sorts of other lower lifeforms ;) Hope this helps. PS, a mate of mine just got back from Axe and noted that gear hire from Telemark Pyrenees shop in the square (close to the stinky footbath)was markedly better quality than run of the mill hire gear. PPS i do know the owners of TP, but am not a close friend and have no commercial link to them. Report back where you choose and how you get on (like is there really a bus?) |
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We've been known to use it for a day en route from Toulouse to Andorra, just for a change. Wouldn't want to spend more than 2 days there unless the snow was perfect,which I believe it is just now!Unless it's changed, for a downhill skier, you'd mainly be interested in Bonascre. Small ish, but very quiet midweek. Ski range is not huge so can get lifts closed by high winds. For a beginner or a week-end, it's great. Bubble now goes from the centre of Ax (used to have to drive up the hill) so its easier. Find the stinky hot sulphur spring/pool in the centre of Ax (hence Ax les Thermes). Apres ski, grab a takeaway coffee and cake then go and soak your tired feet in the natural hot (smelly) waters from the centre of the earth, along with all the other skiers. Lift passes used to be cheap too. Lovely spot. Also the venue for me and the now Mrs P's first ever week-end away.......it's been all downhill from there, but we do go back occassionally! We are too old or sad (both?) to care about nightlife. A few good small restaurants though.
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Take an old wetsuit (long legs short arms). Cut it in half, vertically. Put one set of skis in each half before putting them both in your ski bag. It holds them together and protects them from each other, also protects your ski bag from the inside. By Billy the Bodger Ski Accessories.
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