J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by brandyaitch

Very sad news indeed

Admin - can you tell from the profiles whether he was a J2Skier

I feel another helmet debate evolving

snowb4ndit wrote:What Jim says and you need to take your helmet with you. :-)

Snowb4ndit - if you meant 'goggles' I reiterate that.

I tried on around 30 helmets at this years Ski Show and found my 'perfect fit' but the OTG goggles I bought at the last Ski Show don't fit properly !!

I used Oxygene out of Plagne Centre for my very first ski trip 4 years ago.

I was very comfortable with the quality and level of tuition received and the progress I made in the first week, but thats was, as much as anything, down to the individual tutor.

Dave Mac wrote:Well done to you Brandyaitch. You can now put the money you have saved on ski hire on an extra weeks skiing!!

That was what I thought, but then.... I need a ski bag..... and poles.....and a security lock..... and flight carriage.

That has more than spent my first years rental saving !

Opens up a whole new thought train instead of just looking for the best discount hire deals.

And I have had to re-read earlier threads on ski security, waxing, fequency of maintenance etc.

Not that I am complaining - I still can't believe my luck.

Must buy a Euro lottery ticket tonight !!

Aitch

My local ski equipment outlet - Edge and Wax of Partridge Green Sussex - had an open evening tonight with a free prize draw for all attendees, and I won 1st prize - a pair of fully serviced Head TT40s and bindings.

My first set of skis - I have always hired before - I am really chuffed - off to Hemel asap for a test run.

Aitch

The Ski Show followed by the first televised Alpine Skiing from Solden - on a run I did in January - really feels as though the season has kicked off.

My run was probably a little slower than they are recording.

Its good to be back.

Aitch

Anybody watching the winter paralympics on Eurosport - I have never seen the cross country skiing before - wow - that really puts my enjoyment of skiing into perspective.

Date: 16-23 January 2010
Flight and transfers : From Gatwick - 12.20 out, 16.30 return. Transfer from Innsbruck about 1hr and 15 mins. The resort : I was surprised by the size of the village – probably comparable in size to St Anton. Not exactly picturesque - quite a busy main road running through the middle of the village – serviced end to end by a free ski bus – apparently no (or few) catered chalets, but many self-catering 'pensions' and good quality hotels. Large aqua dome, but I cannot comment as we didn't use it. Very much geared up for the tourist.Not serviced by many English tour operators – I would guess that less than 5% of the skiers/boarders were British – very much a Dutch/German holiday resort and big increase in elderly (older than me) Austrian trippers over the weekends – English spoken or understood in most places. Very quiet mid-week – Tuesday to Thursday.Obergurgl and Hochgurgl about 9 kms away – hourly bus service.
Lift system : By and large a modern lift system providing good connections to the whole area. Two main gondolas each end of the village, rather crowded for the first run – 15/20 minute queue for a 9 am start on busy mornings. Most of the lifts on the mountains relatively modern, variety of lifts - 8-seater and 20-standing gondolas, 4 and 6 seater chairlifts with wind shields, but a few older open fronted 4-seater chairs and a couple of old 2-seaters and a few T-bar drags.
The terrain : Plenty of wide cruising intermediate blue pistes ad a few steeper reds and blacks and plenty of off piste. Not a lot of good on piste for the advanced skier. 3 mountain peaks/runs start at over 3,000 metres – glacier skiing at the top which hosts the first World Cup Alpine run of the season in October I think. Longest run from top of glacier at 3,340 metres to the village claimed at 15 kms. Bit of a trek to get to the glacier – maybe 45/60 minutes from the village.
Not exactly an extensive area for the mileage buffs, probably cover the whole area in less than 3 days if you don't like repeat runs.
Nursery slopes : The main nurse slopes were above Giggjoch lifts, mainly blues, no greens, and struck me as being pretty steep for complete beginners.
The snow : Mainly hard pack snow whilst we were there, but the pistes were refreshed during the week with a few cms overnight giving runs a refresh - one bigger dump of around 25cms on the glacier on Thursday provided my first deep(er) powder skiing. Pistes well maintained – piste busters out during the Thursday mid morning dump to settle things down.
Off-piste : Had my first off-piste training and experience, and surprised myself by not ending up face first. Plenty of off-piste available on the glacier, and it was relatively untracked and soft.
Skiers/ Boarders : Probably 90%+ skiers
Food : Plenty of reasonably priced restaurants – but we were on half board so didn't use any in the village. The usual mountain bars but several relatively large self service restaurants in the mountains - lots of choice - Spag Bol 7.80 euros.
Apres ski : At my age my preferred apres ski is a long soak in a hot bath and a hot chocolate – maybe a few beers - that said, the bars were probably the liveliest I have come across – the web site claims there are 45 bars and 8 'discos' - fine for party goers provided you like oompah pah music and don't mind drinking with drunken Dutch and Germans. Two or three 'lap dancing' type clubs if you want (can afford) that sort of entertainment - I couldn't cope with the excitement after a days skiing. My preference was the Black and Orange Harley Davison Rock Café – proper music !
Beer : Hmmm – around 2.80 euros a glass, but the glasses were 0.3 litres, which works out to around £5 a pint !
Accommodation : Stayed at the 3 star Hotel Tyrol – very good quality hotel – spacious rooms – multi choice hot and cold buffet breakfast – 5 course evening meal – top notch.
Costs: Not particularly cheap – we booked through Neilsons – around £500 half board, flight and transfer – ski pass £176 – ski hire £92 - ski carriage (10kgs) £15
Conclusion: I thoroughly enjoyed the week – I can't imagine skiing and not enjoying it. Reasonably good skiing available for all levels, not quite so for the expert and not particularly extensive – snow guaranteed, at least on the glacier -plenty of après ski – very few Brits.
Would I go back - I was a late starter and have only visited La Plagne, Meribel, St Anton, Sauze d'Oulx and Solden, and I would place Solden 5th on my list of places to go back to.