J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by bedrock barney

There's always this:

Buffs for us. I've not tried the balaclava approach. We've only had one truly cold holiday and that was in Hemsedal in December 2010. The warmest it got was -15 and we had one day when it was -25. It was more or less impossible to enjoy the skiing at times particularly when on exposed chair lifts when I think the wind chill was well below -30.

I think it's unlikely in Are in mid Feb although the hindcast on snow-forecast does show that it was -20 in 2011 (-30 with wind chill).

We've got thermal buffs which are really good at cutting out the cold but they do stink a bit after a couple of days. Also got some merino wool ones as well which do not stink up as much but I do't think they are as warm. In 2010 I was actually doubling up at times.

love a monty python reference.....otters' noses anyone?

What we appear to have here, is a j2ski holiday splinter group that's been formed by osmosis, transmogrification or something....

I blame dobby.

By the way, we didn't see anyone inspecting passports when we crossed from Cervinia to Zermatt!

Been to Zermatt twice in the last couple of years (see a report I did in the Switzerland section of the forum). We've skied over into Cervinia 4 times. Very poor conditions in March 14 due to high temperatures - quite a few of the slopes face south and were suffering badly in the sun. However, they should be great this time of the year. We enjoyed Cervinia more in December 14.

The no. 1 red down to Salette and then on to Valtournenche is a great run. We enjoyed the other reds over here as well. The only real downside of this side of the mountain is the need to get a fairly unpleasant button lift (with steep patches) to allow a transition across to Plan Maison etc. Otherwise it's presumably a bus from Valtournenche to Cervinia central. The blues above Plan Maison and a lot of the reds as well are very easy runs (greens and blues really) and are often packed with beginners so perhaps not the most fun unless you pick a quieter week (Tony - you will probably be ok for the week you are going). The no. 7 red from Plateau Rosa Testa Grigia can be tricky - it was busy and mogulled when we skied it. There are a couple of really slow chairs above Plan Maison to watch out for. We had one good and one poor lunch in Cervinia. The good one was in the restaurant where pistes 7.0, 37 and 39 converge. I think the bad one was in Plan Maison....

Be very careful about skiing down into the depths of Zermatt later in the day. It takes quite a long time to get back up to the top to cross over back into Cervinia. The telecabin up to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise can often be shut in poor weather and we've also experienced long queues here (by far the worst in Zermatt). It's possible to get up to the Plateau Rose via drag lifts across the Zermatt glacier but it doesn't look much fun.

To get over to the Sunnegga, Riffelberg and Gornergrat areas of Zermatt requires a telecahin or bubble down to Furi at 1867m or a ski down into Furi via black 62 or a couple of reds. The bottom section is pretty flat though which is a bit of a turn off. Black 62 is a great run (unless it's icy and then it's hard work!). We enjoyed the skiing above Sunnegga and there are some great views here across towards the Matterhorn particularly from the Rothorn cafe.

The whole area is pretty vast and would keep even the most energetic skier happy for a week.

If any of your party struggles with altitude bear this in mind at the top of Zermatt as this is 3883m. If ok it's worth going up the lift and stairs to the viewing platform if the weather is clear. Again. mega views.

Food was generally very good all through Zermatt (town and mountain). Very expensive though....

Any other questions let me know.

I think a lot of people will opt for a resort like Morzine rather than say Val d'isere because of cost reasons. Our Christmas week in VDI was fairly astronomic as was our new year week in Zermatt the year before (in terms of accommodation). Like Tony, I wouldn't even contemplate gambling on a low resort but then I do have the financial means to pay more for our family ski holiday than perhaps others may do.

We were talking to the accommodation rental people in December when in resort and postulated that it's possible that resorts like Val d'Isere and Tignes will become more desirable for Christmas/New Year in the future. I think this means that accommodation costs will only go one way.

I wonder if a wrong turn was taken?