J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by msej449

That's odd - someone else said the same. All the publicity in the summer mentioned a mixed gondola+chairs, like the Medran 2. And there was also a recent announcement that it wasn't formally opening 'till the 28th., but it has been running. I suppose they may have changed their minds ..... ?

I also used to fear them, after a couple of falls. But bear in mind that most modern resorts have chairs that detach - there's much more time to get on/off at the bottom/top than on the previous generation. So your question may be "Are there resorts where most/all of the chairs are modern detaching types?" Most big resorts are trying to get rid of the older sorts but don't tend to make a distinction on the piste map or websites, so it's hard to find out.

For example, Verbier has just replaced two wicked, older-type 2-person chairs (Mayentzet->Ruinettes) with a single modern 6-seater combined chair and gondola lift. So now, there's probably only three old-style lifts in the whole of the 250 Kms of Verbier/La Tzoumaz.

However, I appreciate that it's still a worry. Overall, the bigger the resort, the less likely it is that you'll have to use an old warp-factor-9-speed chair.

One way of coping if you have no other option, especially on a 2-man chair, is for the two of you to queue and then you let your wife go by herself. It's much easier to cope with the extra space beside you i.e. get on centrally, and then shuffle over to one side, then reverse the process at the top. Also, your wife can also make it easier by being on the 'outside' seat (i.e. the one furthest from the wheel) at the top. If she puts her outside hand behind her then, even if she is slow off the mark, all that happens is the seat pushes her hand forward, rather than her body.

You aren't alone - You may notice that even clearly experienced snowboarders will sometimes try and leave a vacant seat beside them on a lift. They often have a lot of trouble on old fast chairs as they have to detach one boot. They can't glide on their skis like you and it can be pretty tricky for them to hobble along with one foot on the ground and the other dragging a big snowboard. So don't be too sensitive about what other people think.

http://www.skiheavenly.com/~/media/heavenly/files/trail%20map/2011-12trailmap.ashx

I've been to Heavenly Lake Tahoe three times, one including a day over in Squaw Valley. We always stayed at the Tahoe Seasons Resort Hotel, at the California Lodge Base. It's not that expensive and is just 100 yds walk to the Gunbarrel Express chairlift (bottom left corner of the car park). Others in our group stayed at the Stagecoach area, to the left (North). However, both are a car/taxi/shuttle ride into the main town i.e. fine for dedicated skiers, but away from the town centre.

I was last there before the Heavenly Village gondola was built, which is plonk in the middle of Heavenly, so it may be that you would do better to be based there, although I'm guessing that this is very busy.

The Heavenly Village town is split in two by the Nevada-California border. It's the left (North) Nevada side that has the bright lights, serves alcohol and has the casinos (free drinks). A lot of the tour packages will base you here. This is fine if you're into night life but if it's the skiing then you may prefer to be in California or Stagecoach. Remember - the drinks are free because 99.99% of people staying in a casino hotel spend more money than they intend on gambling.

There's accomodation around the lake which is often good value. But it's neither near the lifts nor the town centre. So you have a journey to both.

We did a day trip driving around the lake to Squaw. It was good skiing but personally, I didn't think it was worth the effort. If I was in Heavenly (and had a car), I think that I might try some of the small areas to the south of Heavenly, although I think they can be more challenging.

There are two versions: One is the direct Eurostar 'Snowtrain' from London and the other (which I have used) is the SNCF one from Calais to Moutiers. When I looked recently, a February Adult Eurostar 2nd.Class Return was £164.50 and took 8h 12m excluding the time and cost transfer in Paris from Nord to Gare de Lyon. Some dates look fully-booked and the only train on offer was 15:30 from London arriving after Midnight in Moutiers.

I have done the Calais-Moutiers Snowtrain on a Boys Trip where the package included parking in Dover; onto a coach; Sea Cat Channel Crossing; the coach to a goods yard and then train overnight to Moutiers. Accomodation was a shared 4-bunk compartment. One carriage was converted to a Bar and Disco. Schedule was a Friday evening drive to Calais after work and arrival in Moutiers about 7-8am Saturday.

The advantage was we got to Courcheval about 10:30, dropped-off our luggage at the hotel, got hire stuff and the hotel gave us a room to change. We were on piste lunchtime. On the Saturday back we did a half-day's ski, and reversed the journey back to get home Sunday. So overall, an extra day's skiing on a week's trip. And if you're young and in a group, then you probably would enjoy the overnight partying on the train.

Cons: I pretty much didn't sleep on the couchette, partly because of drunken people going to/from the Party Coach, partly because it's really cramped. It was a lot of hassle carting ski gear and luggage from car> coach> train> coach> hotel.

But I imagine that the Eurostar Snowtrain is much more civilised. Although I wonder if you wouldn't opt for the £235 Premier Class option if you had to spend 8 hours on the train?

Overall, I prefer to fly: My February trip is costing £56 LGW>GVA Return BA, £67 adult return from the airport to Verbier. I'll be writing off the day travelling, of course, even if only 5 hours of it is actually sat on the 'plane/train/telecabine. Also, I don't live in London - if you did, I can see that you might well prefer the Eurostar Snowtrain than trekking to Heathrow, Gatwick or LCY.

I've just got an email from SBB about special rail fare offers in the Valais, one of which is for Nendaz:

http://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/day-trips/top-price-offers.angebotdetail.tagesausfluege-top_45_preis_45_angebote-nendaz.html

We have the same problem with our 10:15 landing and 10:47 train to Riddes (between Martigny and Sion). I doubt we'll make the connection, so I'm thinking of ordering the tickets from the London Swiss Travel Centre www.stc.co.uk if I can, or I know that www.sbb.ch will post them to me. Just in case we land early (yeah - I know, unlikely, but ..).

Otherwise, we're planning to disembark en route in Lausanne, drop off our luggage (see http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/am-bahnhof/railway-stations.html for station amenities like Left Luggage) and go to the attractive old part of the town and have lunch and a walk. Or perhaps Montreux, if they have Left Luggage, as it's smaller and easier to get 'round. Sion also has an old quarter, not far from the station, so if you prefer to be there you could have lunch (which should be cheaper than up a mountain) and a wander.

If you want to press on, but don't want to pay out for your own taxi, you could always email the Nendaz Tourist Office to see if you could make up the numbers on someone else's mini-van transfer.

I've given up trying to ski the same day as I travel, but if you have all your stuff with you, then I can see it might be worthwhile.

It's a very straightforward and enjoyable journey between GVA and Sion. Keep a look out for the Chateau Chillon on the northern edge of Lac Leman. Last year there was also a 'snow train' between GVA and Sion when we went out, so keep an eye out for this as well. If you opt for a Swiss Transfer Ticket for convenience, you can order one from the Swiss Travel Centre in London.

Verbier: 2011-12

The new Mayentzet<>Ruinettes lift is being inaugurated on Jan.28th but it has been running off-an-on for a week or so. This is a mixed 6-seater chair+bubble which replaces two ageing and slow 2-seaters. It means you can ski a vertical 1300m in one go down from the Olympic and get back up without a trek. This is a serious alternative to queuing at Medran for anyone staying on the western side of Verbier, plus making La Tzoumaz much closer in journey time to Lac de Vaux and the upper Verbier slopes.

They've also installed a replacement Poma below Savoleyres for competitors on the FIS slalom run. Even if the course is closed, this will allow you to ski the south-facing slopes down to the gate (to Verbier) and get back up with a lot less hassle. These are often good in the morning, but it was too much hassle to use them, other than as transit down into Verbier.

Initial work has been done to improve the arrival area of the Medran - a temporary tunnel separate skiers and vehicles this year, and next year more permanent works to the roof of the concert hall building will further improve this area.

There's a new cafe/restaurant 'Le Dahu' in the La Chaux area.

2012-13-14

Le Chable<>Bruson: They've finally got permission to build a telecabine from Le Chable in the valley, replacing a tedious bus journey. This will make it more feasible to ski Bruson from Verbier as you'll be able to transit from Le Chable to Bruson in one go. 'Till now, it's taken ages to get over to Bruson. This should be under construction summer 2012 for 2012-13 season.

Col de Gentianes: They will be replacing the current rather dated cafe with an 'igloo' with 170 seats downstairs and 70 upstairs. The plan is to do this summer 2012.

Esserts<>Planards<>Savoleyres: The plan is to build this over the next two summers, for opening the winter season 2013-14. This will be the now-standard mix of 6-man chairs and gondolas. There's a lot of landscaping involved, to minimise the visual impact, with the intermediate station substantially underground. There will also be two new pistes laid, one down from Croix de Coeur and another to the station, which will also involve shifting the route of the road slightly. The aim is not just to speed the connection between Verbier and the Savoleyres section (plus eliminate skiing through the avalanche-prone section into Carrefour) but also to allow learners to move around the west side of Verbier more easily.

La Tzoumaz: There's a big redevelopment of the centre planned. The triangular area opposite and below the telecabine is to be cleared completely and a new complex constructed. Mainly apartments (with the now standard proviso for public rental) but also covered parking for residents, a new large restaurant and retail space.