J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ise

AJ wrote:Sorry to hear you had your skis and poles nicked Wheeles,But did you never think to pair your skis and poles up with someone else in your party to make odd pairs? Regarding locks sorry cant help you there.



AJ Adele

I don't think that really works, it provides some entertainment for those people already sat outside the restaurant as people make a song and dance about doing it but by the time they've done it there's not a person within a couple of hundred metres that doesn't know where the skis are. It probably works well in preventing someone taking them accidentally of course.

I've never seen anyone other than English do it either which is funny )

although it nearly is ... today was the last day of lift operation here in the Val d'Anniviers, ironically the day started with fairly heavy snowfall so the skiing here in Zinal was great. Last day is a bit weird, they were removing the piste markers and all the nets and gates around the lifts so there's an odd feel and on one run when the cloud rolled in it was a case of relying on memory about where the piste was particularly as they'd not prepared the runs today.

Sat here now it's all very weird, I just watched the lifts stop for the last time this season, the last ski bus has gone, the car parks are all empty and the village is deserted. Not only that, Mrs Ise has gone back to the other house and taken the cat so I'm sat here in an empty chalet in an empty village :D

That may be the last lift skiing of the year for me but there's another month of ski touring at least.

SaTrinxa wrote:pavelski,

Thank you ever so much for your response!

I'm not a skiier myself, i'm boarding for the first time this year. The Mrs has skiied before but not for a long time, but looked and felt good on a dry slope a couple of weeks back. I ordered some ski poles for her which arrived a couple of days ago and a friend who skies regularly suggested that the ones fitted might be too small if there was powder. I just thought if I could get some replacements cheaply they might be worth putting in the bag.

An excellent response from yourself and something else learned at this end :lol:

Whoever told you that was quite right, small baskets are completely useless in any sort of softer snow and that would include the wetter or slushy snow we're getting now. But, you're probably going to need to take the poles with you to a store, there's a few different methods that baskets attach so it's not a universal thing sadly. I'd not worry about it too much, on the one hand, most people get by with fairly small baskets, on the other hand, many people don't use their poles either :D

Don't worry about weights, that's not really relevant, if it's of interest, then it's a lever system so find a school child who understands simple machines and the difference between 1st, 2nd and 3rd class lever systems :D

Trencher wrote:

ise wrote:
Interesting incident, more so because it was inbounds as I read the report. Was it you who commented a while back inbounds incidents were on the increase?

It was one of several inbounds fatalities that year.
In that incident I read a few comments that the wind caused by the avalanche might have dislodged the kid from the chair.

Trencher

IIRC, that was the official verdict from the report, i.e. the air-blast dislodged him. What I don't recall though is was the chair-lift equipped with safety bars and were they in use? It all sounded rather avoidable sadly.

Trencher wrote:http://www.avalanche.org/proc-show.php3?OID=5406924

You never know


Trencher

Interesting incident, more so because it was inbounds as I read the report. Was it you who commented a while back inbounds incidents were on the increase?

bandit wrote:I guess it's the luck of the draw. I have had two holidays to Saas Fee, and not suffered any closures. Great village, stunning scenery, and varied ski area :D

I did a training course there once and we lost two days, that was in September IIRC.

pavelski wrote:It often is the simple questions that cause much discussion!

There are three basic reasons for such "lifts"!
1. Economic
Many of the European centers are local/village type centers! it costs much less to have such lifts!

pavelski wrote:2.Many such lifts are in the high plateau/peak areas of skiing again cost is factor but also ecological impact!

the impact of a ground lift is far higher in ecological terms, they disturb the local flora and fauna, that's why you see chamois or ibex under aerial lifts and not strolling along side you on a drag lift.

pavelski wrote:3. In high "avalanch" areas it is better to have such lifts, since rebuilding pulley type system is much easier and cheaper!
If you ever ski Fernie Ski Resort, there is a T-bar lift that every year gets ripped away by avalanche. In fact the top anchor posts and pulley system are designed to release from base!
In Fall a new system is place!

that might be true in Fernie, although I doubt it really, in the rest of the world lifts are protected from avalanche risk, less people die that way. Aerial lifts are much safer, pylons can be placed at safe distance in islands of safety with spans extending over any terrain traps.

superfly wrote:Hi all,

The website says that Saas Fee Ski Area is closed, can anyone confirm/explain this?

Thanks

I think they had wind in excess of 50 kph and the snowpack is unstable. I understood they had a handful of lifts open though.

Saas Grund was mostly open though.