Messages posted by : jonG
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Hi Again,
FQ makes a good point about pre-booking chains from the aiport.....are you using car hire from the French or Swiss side, if using the French side, you will have to add a note requesting snowchains if booking over the internet,or verbally via phone (but do get email confirmation they have been included) as they are not included when hiring from the French side.....on the Swiss side i am pretty sure they are,as are snow tyres. jon. :D |
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Hi Ise,
Thanks for the link will have a look, on the phone side of things i think they are maybe an interesting thing to play with but for serious navigation i think it is still best to use kit that is soley used built for that one purpose. Cheers again for the link :thumbup: jon. |
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Hi,
April is a great time for a ski trip which many people seem to miss out on i find, once Easter has been and gone tthey seem to think the ski season is over. Look around for resorts with skiing from 1600m - to up and over 3000m and if they have a glacier thrown in thats a sign that the area is pretty snowsure, also having slopes face in a North/North Easterly direction means they will keep the snow longer....also check out when the last skiable day in the resort is for example Val D'Isere usually closes around the 5-6 May, and Les Arcs i think is the 25th april this year. Some good resorts to look at are below. Val D'Isere Tignes Les Arcs Courmayeur Meribel Val Thorens St Anton Zurs Serre Chevaliere Cervinia Also it's not uncommon to have large dumps of snow right up to the end of the season, on a number of occasions i have been out for the last weeks of a particular season and had the pleasure of fresh powder on the last day which ends the trip wonderfully. All the best jon. :D |
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:DHi,
I am afraid to say the agent you booked your holiday through is a useless,incompetent, lying moron...... was that a bit harsh?....well there you go. If you go anywhere in the world if your paying ....you can stay as long or as short as you like ,many places that are run for profit do plan their accommadation from weekend to weekend in line with the flight scheduling, but many if not most privately run places when contacted direct will accommadate any dates you wish. All the people I know who have property in the French Alps (myself included) offer anywhere from a 1 night stay to the whole year if you wished or desired to do so, i think your agent probably told you that so he/she/they didn't have the hassle of searching for places to stay or go which were out of the normal week to week variety.....when you see them again give em' a roasting :thumbup: To sort anything out such as a multi stay holiday thats a bit out of the norm in another far away part of the world may seem daunting, but with a little time spent on the internet and the phone isn't that bad at all in my experience. I certainly hope this has not put you off skiing/boarding in the Alps in the future ,as it's a wonderfull place to be at anytime of the year :D :D Many Regards jon. |
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Hi DB,
Thats a good point , turning off the A41 at the Annecy Sud junction the route through Annecy is easy to follow as you just follow the green signs for Albertville, and the drive by the lake although sedate has some lovely scenery, i usually stop of at the boating club midway for a coffee and a sandwhich and just watch the world go by for half an hour or so :D :D jon |
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Hi,
I know what you mean, the GPS38 i have has not actually been calibrated for realtime tracking there is a 1 second delay, so the travelling speed is about 2 - 5 mph off ,and the accuarcy to within 30metres...when i enquired the reason given that due to Garmin satellites being owned by the US Military if you wanted the GPS calibrated to it's true accuarcy of 1-4 inches you needed to aquire a code to download or words to that effect. But for what i need it's a solid piece of kit to have in the pocket although being nearly 6x2x1 1/2 inches in size not as portable as some of todays hardware. I think it makes a great accompaniment to help navigation ,but still use a map and compass as my main navigational aids and use the GPS to confirm my orientation. jon. |
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Hi ,
As TheoBane mentions you should get a little practice in fitting snowchains,as once past Moutiers if the weather and roads are bad the police can turn cars back that do not have chains, you can find well priced chains on the internet RUUD chains are a very good make and cost around £45 on average. If the roads from Moutiers to Bourg-Saint-Maurice are ok to drive at the other end of BsM is a SuperU hypermarket which if you go in and over in the far right corner is a section for snowchains, again the road from Sainte-Foy onwards is very twisty and can be quite slick in snowy weather......try and avoid the drive on a Saturday from about 1pm - 2pm onwards if you can as the road is the only one up to Val and also serves La Plagne, La Rosiere ,Ste-Foy and Tignes and can be rammed if you catch it wrong. Once or twice i have been stood outside a friends house in Villaroger and the traffic has been backed up all the way up the valley. On saying all this though on a sunny ,cold ,crisp day with fresh snowfall it's truely a great scenic drive. Have great time and an enjoyable safe trip. jon. |
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Bloody hell!
Glad you are ok ,and no serious injuries to the others involved....phew... Somewhere someone was looking after you :thumbup: jon. |
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