J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by benny12345

btw you're right, ise, about some of the prices. we always tend to beat even good prices because we're often in a group. 4 people tends to make it work out. but i guess if it were just 2 then it would be hard to beat some of the deals you see advertised at the last minute.

i wasn't making a point about travel agents, good or bad. i wouldn't know, i have happily never used one but i reckon if i went into business as one i'd be one of the best around. 8)

all i'm saying is that it's ridiculously easy to find, book and plan snow and ski trips in and around europe. we were doing a wee count the other day, comes to 12 resorts and 3 countries in 4 seasons since we moved back to UK. never a problem, ever, great hire cars, easy travel, good well priced accom and food, and only recently started using tiscover and all those ones.

seriously, do it yourself, save the hassle and increase the fun!

don't sweat it. no pun intended. it seems eveerywhere is much colder this year. we were out over chirstmas and new year this season and places i've never known to be colder than -10 were -18. the places i knew that are often -20(+) were unbearable this year.

january will be fine

the snow was brilliant the whole time we were there. loads of snowcannons so even at the bottom it was fine...until the temperatures changed on that last day. Then the slush was everywhere, right from the top down. Hey, the temps might have been particularly extreme, i didn't see a thermometer! But it was memorable because if that had been the day we arrived that would have proved all my fears about low resorts true.

Even north facing slopes didn't come into the question - it just changed and it got wet, quickly.

Some great off piste runs at Brixen, making me smile just remembering them.

If you have a car i wouldn't worry too much, its close to plenty of other resorts if you need to get higher....;-)

i did my first ever snow in NZ at the age of 29. i was instantly hooked and used to drive down to mt rupehu every weekend i could - 4 hour drive. Since returning to the UK, broke, i planned my trips in the exact same way. no driving you understand, but cheap flight, long weekends in italy, or austria.

me and the girlfriend quite often did 4 day trip, 3.5 days on the snow, then back to the uk. not for everyone i know and now we're up to 12 day trips and stuff, but at the time we were trying to save money to buy a house. we did 3 or 4 trips like that per season.

but the way we did it has stuck. i have never used a tour operator and wouldn't even consider it. i want to make connections with the people i stay with, learn about the area, get to know the people etc. almost every mainland european seem to go skiing just for the weekend and they seem able to manage it, so i never had any worries about organising it for myself.

reading all the hotel reviews helps me brush up on my basic german/french/italian too - not got a lot else to use it for.

sorry to be harsh, but you MUST try harder next time. your work WILL be REWARDED

we stayed 5 days/nights in kirchberg this time last year. iwas quite quite worried as compared to my usual choices the whole area there is quite low.

i'd had some tips about westendorf however and spent 3 out of 5 days there. compared to kirchberg/kitbuhel it was far far less busy. I would say i'm pretty competent on the slopes and managed to get knocked over by a brit skier on one of the manic upload slopes with hundreds of people all riding at once.

some fantastic steep sections and varied terrain though i daresay you could get around on some nice blues all day too. as the writer above says it is connected to the whole area which makes for some huge day trips if you want. however would really really recommend the area directly across the road from westnedorf (south), which is called Brixem Im Thale. It is joined by a cable car which goes right down into the valey, then across. that area was my best riding in that area altoghether. go from the Hohe Salve (the top) all the way through loads of runs to itter or hopfgarten. these runs were recommended to me and they really are fun. Nice off piste runs back down to the town too

final word of warning about the height. for all my concerns we got away with it, on our last day howevever ( i think was 1st of March) the sun suddenly came out and the big melt was on. by afternoon we were riding slush and i was in my t shirt. still great and after 12 days of snow no complaints but the change was very quick at sucj low altitudes/

my party decided that if we went again we might even stay in Brixen. very small town but apres and walk to your hotel direct from the bottom of the lifts. can easily upload (no crowds) from here into westendorf or Brixen each morning. you could easily navigate in a couple of hours to almost anywhee in the resort.

god, it was good, i remember now. have fun.

check www.surf.co.nz for surf conditions. if you're a real beginner (standing in white water, pushing off with your feet) then both coasts, east and west, will be fine. West is really consistent, waves all the time great for beginners of that standard. however if you are beginning to go out and catch green waves then the west coast can be a bit tricky and a bit more dangerous. still loads of fun, but just be careful. there is less swell on east coast breaks so you have to be luckier to catch it (see forecasts) but when it comes it's really perfect, and looks loads better. mt maunganui on the east coast is the most famous east coast break, or if you're further south head out at gisburne, or round the east cape. raglan beach break and/or piha on the west coast of north island. loads of people learn at piha but it really is one of the most dangerous breaks in the whole of nz. have fun

go surf instead. or you can probably find some snow if you head REALLY far south.....