J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Far Queue

Excellent report Tony, thank you for taking the time to write and post it for us. I'm glad you had a good time out there.

Paul_SW1 wrote:The hire shop said they were fine and that it was the first time they had been used.

Was the plastic wrapper removed from them? -)

Hi Adders,

I have done the trip twice, both last season and just 4 weeks apart. The J2Ski trip to Folgarida was the first. The route used was France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy. Drove out Saturday during the day and stopped overnight at Memmmingan in Germany, about 30 miles before the Austrian border. It was then a simple drive to Folgarida on the Sunday morning. Journey was absolutely fine, no hold ups no delays (at least not due to the trip). Coming home, I did the trip form Folgarida straight back to Calais in one hit. Should also point out that I was the only driver of my car for this journey. If I recall correctly, we left Folgarida about 10am on the Sunday morning, and I was back in South London in time to get a kebab from my local shop before they closed, which is midnight on a Sunday night.

Sadly, the second trip was not so smooth. This time I was driving to Madonna Di Campiglio, Based on the first trip, we used the same route, but went out in one go. The bad news was that we suffered an awful jam at the German/Austria border, literally sitting on the autobahn for about 6 hours and only moving about a mile. This then caused slow traffic through the Austrian pass, and was also slow once we got to the Brenner pass the other side of Austria. Finally compounded by roadworks on the Italian motorway meaning a real terrible journey out.

Coming home was just as bad. A truck caught fire on the elevated section of the Brenner pass, causing total closure of the road for about 5 hours. Once we got through the pass though, it was fairly clear the rest of the way home.

I would do the drive again, but would almost certainly go via Munich as the road into Austria is a motorway and not a single lane mountain pass. I think I would probably try to stop on the outbound leg as well. Finally I would get as much news about the Brenner pass before getting there as possible, so alternate routes could be arranged instead if required.

I guess it depends on how you like to drive, but for me the ability to do high speeds on sections of the German Autobahn tends to negate the additional driving distance when compared to the 90mph you need to stick to in France.

Fantastic chunk of info there Tony. Thanks for posting.

Personally, I would wait till much closer to the time, then book somewhere according to conditions within the last few weeks.

dunnit 2

Iceman wrote:Quick video to show the horrendous conditions at the top of Avoriaz :(

:shock: :( Dang, that looks terrible! You must have been sweating buckets! -)

Time for Dave Mac to get some newer equipment, then he might be allowed to take part as well -)