J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

dan_ski wrote:Hopefully you listened to my advice and NOT Bandit's, who seems to be one of the many who like to exaggerate conditions to get the punters in.

It's not entirely clear what your point is but just so as you know; we don't tolerate personal attacks in the forum.

Bandit has posted pictures of snow and skiing taking place in the past few days - hardly exaggerating is it? If you read, for example, snowcrazy's recent reports you'll see that there is still skiing available if you pick the right spot and are prepared to travel. Yes, Spring's come early - after a relatively dry winter - and conditions at low and mid altitude are largely pants; but in a few places they're not.

dan_ski wrote:Shame on you...especially when you're taking water from already depleted rivers in Valais in one of the worst drought years in 20 years to put it on the pistes so you can stay open when the conditions would have called for the season to finish a month ago at least.

I'm no expert but the snow in bandit's pictures looks like it might have fallen out of the sky... :roll:

Anyone heading out to Les Arcs (or anywhere close to Bourg St Maurice) this weekend is advised to check with local seismologists before traveling.

Following last night's re-awakening of the long-dormant volcano - known locally as l'Aiguille Rouge - unexpected out-flows of molten lava may bring a whole new meaning to the phrases Red and Black pistes.


The view from Arc 2000 this morning

Off Piste Danger

If you're skiing off-piste you should be aware of heightened dangers in the region.

The Head of Safety at Les Arcs, M. Pierre Tirant-la-Jambe, told us that he has raised the Avalanche Risk Level to 6 and the Pyroclastic Flow Risk Level to 3.

In addition, visibility may be poor at times due to alternating white-outs (steam) and black-outs (soot).

Business as Usual

A local bar owner, who identified himself only as "Henri" said "Tant pis. Souhaitez-vous un génépi?".

Ski Hire shops expect to open as usual, although they are highly recommending their new "volcanic damage insurance" for the next few days. In the event of lahars occurring, a number of rafts and kayaks may be available - but please book early.

ESF Ski Lessons will continue as scheduled. In the event of an eruption then the meeting point will be moved to Tignes Le Lac (which, if you've ever seen it without a covering of snow, looks as if it's already been hit by a pyroclastic flow).

The Grande Motte is not expected to erupt in the near future.

We are really proud to announce the launch of our first cruise ship – The Iglucruise.

We have created a unique holiday concept that will appeal to all our loyal customers by combining skiing and cruising. The Iglucruise features a 150 metre ski slope on the top deck. At the foot of the ski slope there is a hot tub and après-ski bar. Ski and boot hire is included for all guests.

Prices for a Caribbean Skiing Cruise start at £799 for a week including return flights to Barbados.

The cruise includes:

* Return flights & transfers
* En-suite stateroom accommodation
* All meals and snacks onboard
* 24 hour room service
* All entertainment
* Fitness Centre
* Sauna, Jacuzzi, Steam Room and Hot Tub
* Ski and boot hire, and use of ski slope
* All port taxes and fees
* Kids activities from toddlers to teenagers

For further details please take a look: www.iglucruise.com/caribbean-skiing-cruise

Being quite food-minded here at J2Ski Towers, our attention was drawn to...

an a la carte restaurant serving a range of world cuisine from Savoyard favourites to seafood specialities, a buffet and a pizzeria.

...although we do note...

Dress code is casual, however beanies are not allowed inside the restaurant

We guess that includes Bobble Hats but expect they'll allow helmets to be worn in rough seas.

Please call Iglu now, as the Special Price can't be held for long.

Have a look at Les Deux Alpes - quite similar to ADH but with quite a big beginners area up the mountain (ride up and down on the gondola, ski a bit and chill with a beer in the sunshine when you're tired and/or the snow gets slushy).

Unless Tignes really lucks out for the whole of April, they'll likely have some of the best conditions in Europe for early May. Bar extreme circumstances most, if not all, of the ski area and facilities will be open.

If Spring brings the odd storm (as it often does to the Alps) then Tignes will be getting freshies while everyone else gets wet! Go.

Hopefully we'll see a little less chaos next time it snows in the UK then...

Airport operator BAA will invest £50m into Heathrow to make sure there is no repeat of the snow chaos that ground the airport to a halt last Christmas.

For the full story see http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1146954.php

The report says the impact of inclement weather was "not fully anticipated", airlines and BAA had no agreed plan in place for bad weather, the airport lacked the necessary equipment for snow, there was a failure of communication between the airport and the airlines, passengers were not kept informed properly and many were "left in distress".

It estimates that some 9,500 people slept at Heathrow on December 18, when the bad weather really began.

It's also worth noting the knock-on effect this had. We know quite a few people who gave up trying to get away at Xmas because of this - and we were hearing at the time of many chalets under-occupied (and even empty) over the Xmas week.

What an odd season - too much snow in the UK (well, in England... no complaints in Scotland!) and not enough in France. :shock:

The forthcoming Freeride World Tour event at Verbier is being re-scheduled.

The organizers decided that the competition Nissan Xtreme Verbier 2011 by Swatch will be postponed and will not be held on Saturday, 19 March as originally scheduled.

It has also been confirmed that the Freeride Juniors Verbier 2011 by Swatch will now be held on Saturday, 19 March at 11:00 a.m.

On Friday at 19:00, organizers will make another decision about the possibility of holding the event on Sunday, 20 March.

freerideworldtour.com

Which village are you staying in Tom? Les Arcs is a big ski area with some great areas for beginners - late March should give you good snow and quiet slopes so good timing!

For skiing, you'll find your blading/skating muscles useful - if you can do a bit of that before you go then it should help a little.

Read (and watch) as much as you can before you go - it all helps.

...oh, and have a great time too!