J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Roger Mayne

Don't worry about being fluent. If you get a french phrase book and do a short online course (like the BBC one) you should have enough to get by.

It's a nice village. We went there on the ski bus when we stayed at Notre Dame de Bellecombe. Some great runs and fantastic scenery. :mrgreen:

The dry slope will show any problems with your skiing technique much more than snow would.
The trick is to get your skis on edge quickly, whether your carving or sliding your turns is not really relevant. What you need to do is make a smooth positive change of edges as you make the turn.
As you do it try to think about keeping your weight on your big toe on your lower ski and your little toe on your upper one.
Don't worry about catching an edge, the way the mats grab makes this almost inevitable, until you get into the habit of making smooth clean turns.
Try not to turn on the mat joints as they grab sometimes too.

We stayed in Termignon xmas 2010 and it was good. It's an authentic village with decent skiing and is linked to the Lanslebourg and Lanslevillard ski area to give about 125 kms of piste. A reasonable intermediate will ski it all in a couple of days but there is also quite alot of off piste that should keep you happy for a week. There is a supermarket close to Termignon.
It was very cold when we were there -20 to -25 on the upper slopes and it does get windy too. There are hardly any que's and the pistes are refreshingly uncrowded. Wrap up and go for it.
I would go again :lol:

Drove to Vaujany at xmas. Needed snow chains to get in, while we were there and to get out. I would not drive to a ski resort without them. Make sure they fit BEFORE you need them and practise fitting them as it might be a freezing blizzard and dark when you need to fit them. Don't forget your european breakdown cover. :lol:

The one I use sometimes is at Swadlincote and I find it useful for getting a bit of time on skis before going skiing.
I learned to ski on a dry slope in the eighties and the new ones are much better.
Hard to compare to skiing on snow, it is different and the first time you go you will feel like you can't ski, after a while you get used to it and it is good for working on your technique. Wear gloves and a long sleeve top as it friction burns you if you fall over let us know how you get on. :wink:

Thanks for the replies, there is a mogul black run off the back of signal called col de cluy. It's steep but not that long, is that of a similar difficulty level?

"Berghaus extrem mitts" are the best I've ever used :mrgreen: