J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by johnski96

Andy / mfc (Millwall??)

Good luck with the upcoming wedding - stagnight in Ischgl, honeymoon in St Moritz??

We've booked for next year, was on t'internet at 00.01 last Tuesday to secure 12 seats on BA to Innsbruck for Feb 2011 half term - we're DIYing it to Lanersbach (near Mayrhofen). My wife and I went for 3 days last week and were suitably impressed. Have found DIY to be the best value option, especially if you avoid the well known resorts. Getting a good price on the flights is the biggest challenge at half term, particularly to Innsbruck. When I was booking last week, the prices went up by about EUR60 per seat in the space of about 15 mins!

Are you marrying a skiier?

Thanks for the detailed report, usual boring conclusion from me 1) don't go to France (with some exceptions) 2) definitely don't go anywhere with Crystal!

We once had a holiday for 10 family and friends booked with Crystal, to cut a long story short, they changed the holiday so fundamentally 4 days before our departure that we had to cancel and re-book independently, at an additional cost of about £200 per person. This was after a monumental battle to get a full refund. It turned out that all the changes were made to minimise their costs following a change to a flight to a totally different destination and we were part of a complex 'chess' game to avoid them paying compensation within ABTA regs. Total disgrace. Sounds like others have similar horror stories. Please nail them for compensation, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with this!

Rant over.

Johnski96

CWagner,

My wife and I are off to Lanersbach next Wednesday (5.5 working days, and counting).

I am almost - but not quite - completely obsessed with choosing the right place to spend my hard earned cash when I ski and I must say that on paper lanersbach looks the biz. This has been backed up by a few of the splendid folks on this board.

I'll post a 'report' when I get back.

Johnski96

Thanks Geeks!

I'm tempted by the Gtrek. This maybe a daft question, but with bluetooth can I store data on my Crackberry whilst I'm on holiday then download to the PC when I get home - thus avoiding taking my laptop on holiday??

Thanks again.

Ally,

I bought my boots from Snow&Rock at Hemel ski centre. They were fantastic, took well over an hour ensuring correct fit and subsequently have heated and stretched the boot to get over my wonky size 12's at no extra cost. I would thoroughly recommend them - and go after April when hopefully they are quieter and have a sale on.

I enjoyed reading your Courchevel report, very detailed (do you take notes?) but I have to say "you must be mad" - late train, missed connection, a studio (everyone living and sleeping in the lounge?), having to shop/make meals, unsatisfactory lessons, badly fitting boots, sleeping on the floor of the train on the way back, and 200 Euros (?) for the lift pass! Honestly, this smacks of the French 'pile 'em high' ski tourism. Yes the extent of the skiing is vast, but I honestly think you'd have a better time and get better value elsewhere! Just my opinion!

And how is your toe! I thought I'd broken mine playing football but the doc says its gout!!!

Johnski

Sam, I skiied at Champoluc (Monte Rosa) in April 08 and 09 - both were the best skiing I'd had all year. Booked again this year (4th - 10th April).

If you're lucky, the offpiste possibilities are excellent, with a new lift to 3200+m and heli-ski available too (I'm not good enough for that) - you can ski over to Zermatt and back in a day!

We go with "ski2" who are very good.

Johnski96

I'm thinking about buying another gadget. I like the idea of a GPS thingy which records where you've skiied and plots on a map, as well as giving speed, altitude and all that. Ideally, it would be as self contained as possible (memory card or USB stick?) as I don't want to take my laptop on holiday, don't have an iPhone and in fact don't even want my phone switched on when I'm away.

Can anyone offer any advice or suggestions?

Thanks

Johnski

Japanese bullet trains have both. I always go for the sit down option!

Its a nightmare when you're skiing, its never happened to me, but imagine being in the 'one hand on the wall' position when your boots lose traction with the suspiciously wet floor......

Another tick in the box for Austria as far as I'm concerned, most of their bogs are classified blue (easy/beginners)!!!