Messages posted by : AllyG
|
Tony (and everyone else),
As long as you remember that only a small ski area is open you won't be disappointed. At this time of year it is definitely not for the sort of person who wants to go ski cruising. As I said last year it's like a really large snow dome, with amazing views. It's great for practising your technique and getting your ski legs back. And we really enjoyed 'people watching' all the various ski teams in action on the slalom course, and listening to the French kids in the restaurant (they are really amusing - but quite a handful to keep an eye on I should think). At the end of the 3 days I decided I didn't like those Scott Rosa's. They just felt too clumsy, and I really didn't like the way they vibrated when I was 'schussing' (I don't know if this was because of their width or their flexibility but it was most alarming). In future I think I'd rather hire proper piste skis when I'm on a 'flattened' piste and possibly hire powder ones if I start going off piste. I may be imagining it but I also reckoned they made my legs ache when skiing on the piste which was a mixture of lumps of powder with icy patches every now and then, presumably because it's harder to push more powder with wider skis. The last day the temperature went up to 10 degrees and the snow started melting. But I should think they will have some more snow soon. I hope you manage to get a booking with Mountain Sun. Ally |
|
|
Hi Biki17,
Unless you're going ski-ing during Feb half-term I would think there are seats left on the overnight train. If you go on the Eurostar website you can check for yourself (or give them a ring). The problem is that Crystal and Inghams etc. only buy up a limited number of these and they've probably sold out. But there are other options, like going totally DIY, or going with someone who just provides accommodation and getting the train tickets and transfers yourself. We are going out by the day train and back on the night train. I can't sleep on the train and I think I'd be too tired to ski the next day. Ally |
|
|
That's great news. Well done!
|
|
|
Ian,
I think insurance is one of those subjects that is very boring until you actually need it! I would guess that most people don't read the small print until they need to claim for something. What I noticed about Snapzzz's insurance is that it does seem to cover off-piste, but not ski jumping or the use of bob sleighs or luges. And their get out clause is that they don't cover you for 'your self-exposure to needless peril' (unless you're rescuing someone else). The last few days at Tignes I have been amazed to see people ski-ing down a piste that wasn't actually open, and going off piste in spite of the verbal and written warnings about not going off piste because of the dangers of falling into crevasses in the glacier. And, in fact, on Tuesday apparently someone did go off piste and fall into one of these, only luckily for them the rescue services got them out. But I wouldn't have thought their insurance would pay for this. I actually saw someone, only about 10 yards off piste, fall over and nearly fall into a crevasse. People can be incredibly stupid, and I can quite see why insurers don't want to pay for this. Ally |
|
|
Tony (and anyone else that's interested),
They did tell me that the Rosa is the ladies version of the Mission. I can tell you what they look like. Mine are 168. They are wider than any ski I've used before which makes them rather hard to carry vertically when I'm going up gondola steps etc. because my hand isn't large enough to grip them. They seem to be more 'springy' than the ones I usually have, which again makes them harder to carry because it's harder to lock them together because there's more of a gap between them them when they're carried together. The end is curved, but not as much as the front of the ski, so I don't think they're what people call 'twin tips'. I didn't notice anything different about them yesterday when I was skiing on them, but that's because the light was so bad that I was just concentrating on not falling over on all the lumps of powder lying about everywhere. But today, the sun has been shining and the piste bashers have been out and I've been able to think about what I'm doing. And I have noticed that they are slightly harder to get on their edges, presumably because of the extra width, and they do feel a bit like 'shovels' when I'm trying to do tight turns. However, I do think they're better in the powder as they don't tend to sink so much and trip me up. We had another TDC lesson today and I may get a video to put up, so you can see them in action. I will write more when I get home on Thursday. I think you would enjoy yourself out here as the skiing is great and everyone is very sociable. Ally |
|
|
Some friends of mine always stay in the chalet Les Quatre Saisons and reckon it's excellent. It is some way below the main resort, but quite close to the bus stop for the free ski bus that takes you to the slopes.
We have also been to La Rosiere ourselves but we didn't like it much because it has a great number of drag lifts, unless you go across to the linked Italian resort of La Thuile and the problem with this is that quite often the link closes due to bad weather. One of the good things about La Rosiere is that it doesn't seem to get as crowded as some of the more popular resorts. And it does seem to have a pretty good snow record. Ally |
|
|
Hi Everyone,
Well, we are here and there is masses of snow. In fact, there was so much snow that the minibus nearly got stuck driving us here from Geneva airport because they hadn't put the snow chains on. Today there's about 6 inches of snow out on the picnic tables here in the resort Tignes Les Boisse and there's about a foot of fresh snow out on the glacier. Skiing was totally exhausting because there were great heaps of powder all over the place, like soft moguls, and the light wasn't good enough to see them (because it was snowing) so I was continually getting thrown off balance, although I'm sure Tony will be very surprised to hear that I haven't fallen over yet! I am skiing with my new ski boots with the squishy pebble in them, and I'm using the Edge to Edge skis Scott Rosa's, which are apparently a ladies version of the Scott Mission's. They are fairly wide skis which is handy in the powder but I am finding them difficult to carry because of the width. My daughter is skiing on the new Scott Maya's which seems to be a narrower ski but she is coping okay. Ally |
|
|
Hi Sued,
I agree with Bandit. Obergurgl is very good if you're not feeling too strong. We went there when my older daughter was pretty ill with ME and she managed to ski a bit. I booked a balcony room in the Crystal hotel so that when she wasn't well enough to ski she could at least look at the skiers coming down the red run in front of the hotel. It's got really luxurious lifts as well, and most of the hotels have hot pools or spas or whatever. But I don't know about the night life. We just went to bed after supper! But it is expensive. I'm glad you're feeling a bit better. Long may it last :D Ally |
|