J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Far Queue

Iceman wrote:No, boots......

Are you renting then Icy? :wink:

Thank you msej449, excellent post :D

For what it's worth, I have been fitting winter wheels/tyres to my 4 wheel drive Audi for the past 4 years here in the UK. It is amazing how often you notice the difference, even in the outer parts of London where I live.

The biggest no-brainer for me is that fact that they simply out perform "summer" tyres in all safety departments once the temperature drops low enough.

Brucie wrote:Oh, and the sun is shining too!

:shock: :shock: :shock:

That seems to be exactly what the problem is in most of the other European resorts -)

Quick addition to the above.

If driving down through France, I really do advise that you get a tag for the Autoroutes. They are a real god send when you get to a busy toll booth. Being able to drive past all the people in the queue to go through the tag lane is brilliant, and even better when you see the faces on the French drivers who think that a stupid Englishman has got in the wrong lane and is about to get in trouble :)

Just to add an answer regarding the original question about going by car. I always drive when skiing to a European resort and have driven to both France and Austria, along with Italy, Germany and Switzerland.

The drive to Austria is not too bad, my preferred route is up through Belgium, Germany then into Austria. You could also drop down into Luxembourg before heading into Germany to take advantage of cheap fuel costs, but I find this usually adds extra time to the trip. These routes are usually motorway all the way there (depending on where you need to cross into Austria for your resort) until just short of the ski resorts. The German Autobahns are kept in great condition during the winter, plus if you wish, you have the unrestricted speed sections. I aim on about a 10 hour trip to central Austria from Calais. There are also plenty of places to stop should you wish to do a split journey.

Now, whilst it is quicker to drive down to the French Alps, assuming you will also be using the Autoroutes, you have the additional costs of the tolls :( This is running at around the 70 euro each way cost.

My experience has also shown that the traffic is usually much heavier once you get to the French Alps than it is when going to Austria, with the one exception of a nightmare I had crossing into Austria near Fussen, but that was a single lane road, and it coincided with a holiday weekend.

The French traffic usually means I allow about 8+ hours for the trip from Calais. So overall, you have to compare a slightly quicker journey which costs more, against a longer one which is cheaper.

There are of course different routes, and you could choose to go to Austria through Switzerland, but I think this just complicates the journey, it also adds the cost of the Swiss Vignette (about 40 euro) to the trip. I should add at this point, that if you are going to be on the Austrian Autobahns for any decent length, you do need a Vignette for those too. Simply purchased at the first Petrol stop you pass, and I think I recall this was 12 euro last year.

The Michelin website has a pretty good route planner, which also does a good job of working out the tolls and has a guess at fuel costs. It also has a feature in full screen map mode where you can display all the hotels etc along the route if you want to plan a stop. http://www.viamichelin.com/

And before people comment on my estimated times, yes I have a heavy right foot, and I am sure there are a couple of people on this site who will testify to that. So please adjust accordingly if you prefer a more sedate pace. Hope this info helps.

Good practice before the season starts :)

Shame I'm going to Italy and Austria this year :shock:

billip1 wrote:Mr Mac; what a cheek !

Should not worry too much Billip, Mr Macs skis make those on the film look positively modern :)

I would have thought that if the boot bag falls within the airlines published guides for size and weight, then there is no reason you could not take it as hand luggage.

The ski and and suitcase would have to go in the hold.