J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

Scarlet

It is possible to get much cheaper ski hire from Mietski.com.

If you book early enough, you can get good quality skis for as little as €19 per week, though I think they do insist on additional insurance which will take cost up to about €35 - still way lower than any of the St Anton shops :wink: .

However, they are located in Pettneu, a few kms from St Anton which is awkward if you don't have transport. Still you could probably get a couple of taxis down there for your group and still save a significant amount.

Not sure how but I seem to have gotten sorted :roll: . Eventually found a car (Nissan Juke) with winter tyres with Hertz and not too expensive either so happy enough :lol: . It seemed to be the only model available - not huge luggage space but we should be able to manage. Taxi transfers from Lyon are horrendously expensive - nearly more expensive than flights :shock:

Still, it is astonishing that car hire companies are not more alive to the demand from skiers, especially as their affiliates in Switzerland, Germany and Austria have now got this sorted.

The idea that they will not guarantee winter tyres until you arrive at the airport is laughable - they really are a must if heading into the mountains (imho) and I would be extremely reluctant to hire a car without them. :x

Paul

If you are confined to a long weekend, then here are a few pointers that I would offer:

1. As you want to maximize ski time, choose a late flight out or alternatively very early (to allow skiing from lunchtime) and a late flight back to allow a full days skiing before heading to airport.

2. As time is precious, try to pick a resort that is close to airport - 3 hour transfers are not good. For example, you can comfortably get from Munich airport to Soll in 90 minutes.

3. Because you are only going for a few days, you do not need a huge resort so smaller resorts that would not keep you entertained for a full week come into their own.

4. If at all possible, try to avoid spanning two weeks as this will make accommodation very difficult to find.

5. Go low season, as this will make accommodation easier to get.

6. Use carhire for transfers. This will be much more efficient timewise.

We have done this several years. A few years out to Soll via Munich on early morning flight. This has allowed us a couple of hours skiing on arrival day. Leave on a late evening flight allowing us to ski most of last day. So, for example you could get 3.5 days skiing for 3 nights away and 2 days off work. We have done a similar trips to St Anton,Ischgl and Laax via Zurich.

Anybody know how to get winter tyres on hire cars from Lyon? None coming up so far on usual searches. Closest, I am getting so far is "we can request but cannot guarantee until day of pick-up" which is really not much use :roll:

I struggled last year finding a car with winter tyres out of Venice. The usual consolidators did not bring up any options or the usual "we cannot guarantee" type answers. Eventually after exhaustive searches, I found availability by going directly through the Italian website of Hertz which bizarrely appeared to be offering a different selection of vehicles than the international (or UK) website. What's more, they were offering a reduced hire rate for limited mileage hire (100km per day included). As this was more than adequate for my needs, it brought the price down nicely :wink:.

The tyres proved essential as both on the way up to resort and on the way back we hit some fresh snow on the roads. Thankfully, we were able to manage with just the tyres. Without them, we would have faced the awful task of fitting chains :twisted:

I find this a little depressing :cry: . One of the most attractive features of the Sarenne run was that it was "on the other side" of the mountain with no lifts, houses or other signs of human interference with nature. Not exactly the complete wilderness experience that the true ski tourers might experience but probably as close to it that on-piste skiers can get.

I would worry that floodlights and lots of snow cannons would take from the experience :cry:

Having skied in the Dolomites twice in recent years, I have been struck by the extent of the difference between the Southern end,which is very definitely Italian in flavour and the northern end which is decidedly German. It can feel a bit strange moving between the two cultures over the course of the day. Its not a bad thing and in fact adds to the level of interest in what is a vast and lovely ski area.

Lies, damn lies and statistics :roll:

It all depends on how you do it :!: Hunting around can produce lower airfares, better transfer prices, etc. It also depends on group size (which can dramatically change the cost of taxi transfer on a per capita basis). Bottom line, do not assume one is better than the other. Price up the various options and then make your choice :wink: .