Messages posted by : Salski
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Hi Sinbad
I normally use Snowbrainer & have just compared their price to Slopefox. The websites are identical & at the bottom of the page I noticed that the two are 'shop partners'. I've never had a problem with Snowbrainer & always had brand new skis. Interestingly, the Snowbrainer deal I checked out was 14p cheaper than Slopefox -) |
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I too have been a member for a couple of years & have bought a few things. However, I always do a search on the internet first to make sure I can't buy cheaper elsewhere :wink:
I've been very happy with what I've purchased so far. |
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Hi Dids1 - we really enjoyed Les Houches too, but I agree it is confusing. The Les Houches pass covers all the lifts in that ski area - regardless of which company runs them. The Kandahar is within the Les Houches area and terminates at the Telepherique de Bellevue, which we used to get back to Bellevue. From there we caught the TMB back to St Gervais. (You can't ski from Les Houches back to St Gervais).
On our second visit there, we drove into Les Houches village & parked at the Telepherique de Bellevue so were able to ski down the Kandahar & back to the car :-) Interestingly, we purchased a combined TMB & Les Houches ski pass at the station in St Gervais for 2 adults & 1 child for 110 euros. The 3 lift passes for Les Houches , which we purchased the following day were 104 euros, making the journey on the TMB very good value! |
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Dids1 you are correct - St Gervais is not part of the Chamonix ski area. Les Houches & St Gervais are on opposite sides of the valley & Les Houches has its own lift pass. (If you buy a Mont Blanc Unlimited Pass, this covers all that Chamonix has to offer, including Les Houches, Grand Montets, Aiguille du Midi, Montenvers train, Tramway du Mont Blanc and unlimited access to Courmayeur and Verbier). St Gervais comes under the Evasion pass, which doesn't include Les Houches.
The ski lifts at Les Houches are run by two rival companies - hence the lack of co-operation when it comes to linking Les Houches & St Gervais. This year we took the tram from St Gervais, up to Les Houches, which was a great way to travel to your ski area. Some of the lifties were wearing Les Houches uniforms & some of them wearing different Les Houches/St Gervais uniforms. We skied down the Kandahar & some of the piste markers say 'Kandahar Les Houches' on them & others 'Kandahar St Gervais' :? The skiing around St Gervais is great, but it's also a good base for travelling to other ski areas - particularly if you have a car. |
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I used to wear my walking boots - which were fine. Eventually, I got fed up with having to tie & untie wet laces with cold hands so bought a pair of Crocs Crocband Winter Boots:-
http://www.jellyegg.com/women-c3/wellingtons-c33/crocs-crocband-winter-boot-espresso-warmth-water-resistance-p432 They are extremely light and slip on/off easily, which as Trencher says allow you to change into/out of ski boots quickly. However, not ideal if it's a man's boot you're after! My OH bought winter boots from Decathlon, as they have quite a range to choose from. |
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:shock: That very same package in France with Snowbrainer would be £86.35, so you're right - Obergurgl is very expensive! (In Italy it would be £144.23 & Switzerland £139.02). On balance I don't blame you for looking at buying your own kit. |
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Brooksy - I hire skis & always check out Snowbrainer, Skiset & Snowrental. For the last 2 years Snowbrainer have come out a lot cheaper. We've had excellent service from Sport 2000 & top of the range brand new skis. We do ski at Christmas, so all the higher range stuff is new for the season. It's much more expensive to go direct to the individual shop. It can take a few hours doing all the comparisons, but worth it for the savings you can make.
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Brooksy - check out Snowbrainer :thumbup:
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