J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

I have sent BethC a message :)

Oh dear, that's not so good for anyone who was planning on ski-ing in Meribel this coming weekend. If you haven't got a car with you it's not so easy to 'drive around to Val Thorens ...'

Here's the Sleeps list, updated to today Tuesday 2nd December. If you want to go on the List, or you notice any mistakes, would you please post up on here.
Let's hope there is plenty of snow in Lech for Jastem!

Jastem going to Lech in 5 days on the 07/12/2014
Billip 1 going to Mittersill in 8 days on the 10/12/2014
Gareth Fair going to Somewhere with snow in 9 days on the 11/12/2014
Joe Colin going to Morzine in 19 days on the 21/12/2014
Bedrock Barney going to Zermatt in 25 days on the 27/12/2014
Tahiti gra going to Chatel in 31 days on the 02/01/2015
Andyhull going to Alpe D'Huez in 32 days on the 03/01/2015
Watterski going to Chamonix in 32 days on the 03/01/2015
T1berious going to St Anton in 39 days on the 10/01/2015
AllyG going to Sauze D'Oulx in 39 days on the 10/01/2015
Brooksy going to Sauze D'Oulx in 39 days on the 10/01/2015
Far Queue going to Sauze D'Oulx in 39 days on the 10/01/2015
Oldboarder going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Ade73 going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Davidsa2 going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Bald-eagleman going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Joe Colin going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Billip 1 going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Andid going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Ian Wickham going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
PistePaul going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Felthorpe going to Sauze D'Oulx in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Alisoninoz going to Tignes in 40 days on the 11/01/2015
Tony_H going to St Moritz in 47 days on the 18/01/2015
Ellistine going to St Moritz in 47 days on the 18/01/2015
Blackpool-Skier going to Meribel in 47 days on the 18/01/2015
Lizzie-B going to Morillon in 53 days on the 24/01/2015
Paulh764 going to Val d'Isere in 54 days on the 25/01/2015
Andyhull going to Niseko in 60 days on the 31/01/2015
GreenGoblin going to Val d'Isere in 60 days on the 31/01/2015
Shipjack going to Les Carroz in 60 days on the 31/01/2015
Tahiti gra going to Chatel in 62 days on the 02/02/2015
Dobby going to Hemsedal in 75 days on the 15/02/2015
Far Queue going to Soll in 88 days on the 28/02/2015
LOTA going to La Thuile in 90 days on the 02/03/2015
Gareth Fair going to La Thuile in 92 days on the 04/03/2015
Old Andy going to Somewhere in the Dolomites in 102 days on the 14/03/2015
Michelle63 going to Les Deux Alps in 117 days on the 29/03/2015

Gareth Fair wrote:Hi Ally,

I'm not going to Sestriere now, not sure where I will go actually!
Flying to Geneva on the 11th, then wherever has some snow.

OK Gareth, I'll change it for you. I hope you find some snow somewhere! :)

Have you thought about having some lessons in a snowdome before you go?
If you've never had skis on before it can be rather a shock to the system!

I've looked at 14 years of snow records for Bad Gastein and they always had SOME snow by 3rd week of December. Now, this might be only a couple of runs open high up, I don't know, because I'm only looking at the snow depth history, but I'm sure the resort would have been open. I expect this year they will manage to get one run open high up by the opening date.
Ski-ing early, or late, in the season is always taking the risk that the runs will be patchy, or some of them will be closed. I suppose that's why the holidays are much cheaper at this time of year than mid season when it's much more likely that there will be a decent amount of snow.
The bad years were 2007/2008 when it looks as though they had no snow on the lower slopes for the whole season, but that was a bad year in a lot of resorts, as I remember.
And in 2002/2003 and 2000/2001 there was no snow until the 3rd week of December.
Here's the chart for 2002/2003 taken from the Ski Club of Great Britain website.



I also had a look at the weather forecast, and on Sunday 7th December the freezing level is predicted to drop to 900m with temperatures overnight of minus 4. They're bound to be able to make snow at those temperatures, I would have thought!

Snapzzz wrote:Make sure you get over to Sestriere for the downhill course. Theres a real steep drag up to the top.

Thanks Snapzzz, we'll see what we can do ... :)

Hi Juddernaut,
I haven't stayed there but I must have skied past it when we were in Folgarida for our group holiday.
Apparently it's right next to the blue Azzurra piste, number 2 on the piste map. So I'm sure you'd be able to ski down to the Folgarida gondola (number 1) in Folgarida 1300. And, depending on exactly where the hotel is, you might be able to ski to Folgarida 1400. The gondola in Folgarida 1400 is called the Belvedere gondola, number 2 on the piste map.
Folgarida is much quieter than Madonna di Campiglio, and cheaper. If you want nightclubs and fancy restaurants and shops then it would be better to pay more and go to Madonna. However, Folgarida was fine for us as it had all the basics. Madonna is also more central for the combined ski area.

There is something about the hotel here, but as you said there don't seem to be any reviews.

http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/active-garni-dal-bracconiere.en-gb.html#HotelFacilities

An enlarged section of the Folgarida piste map showing where the Azzurra piste (number 2) goes. That hotel would be in the lower section.