J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by caron-a

I've been to Les Arcs and Obergurgl and I don't think you can go wrong with either.

As a first time trip I'd say the Club Med would be much easier for you as you'd get it all done for you. It can get very stressful and complicated if you do it yourself and don't quite know what you need. As beautiful as the Edleweiss in Obergurgl is and as great as the ski school is.

Maybe if can book your own tuition I would as New Generation in Vallandry come very highly rated.

We're back from our week in Arabba, sort of in one piece. Here's what we thought:-

Neilson: Awful in the uk at every stage of the process but, thankfully, brilliant in resort. One of the girls in our group had a lost bag and we were continually told it had to be dealt with in resort and they were getting nowhere. Three days into the holiday I spent 10 minutes on the phone to them in the uk begging them to call Gatwick as we knew it was still in the airport (no ticket for it) but they wouldn't do it. We got it back when we arrived at Gatwick, which was no surprise to us. The poor girl lived the week on borrowed clothes. They gave her £25 a day in resort as a goodwill gesture.

Moral of the story, count the little green tabs they give you for your luggage when you check in.

Chalets: We stayed in chalets Brigitta and Belvedere. Brigitta had fabulous bedrooms but the lounge area wasn't very inviting. Shaun and Wendy, the hosts in Brigitta were out of this world, they even spent their night off with the lads and stayed up in the chalet with us another night playing guitar (but didn't look too great the next day!). The extra help, Junior, was also wonderful. Chalet Belevedere didn't fair so well. The rooms were quite dark and dingy and there was no lounge area at all. The chalet host in there didn't go down too well unfortunately. She was more mature and was very set in her ways. She was very keen to tell us she'd never do it again! The location was good, close to the town centre up a slight incline so good for the heart! A short ski/walk to the main lifts. Lovely views.

Weather and conditions: It was a tale of three holidays. The first three days were dull and warm so it was water skiing conditions. Two days of blizzard conditions and a huge amount of snow then left us with our last day, beautiful sunshine and perfect snow, a good way to end.

Arabba: We all absolutely fell in love with it, it's a beautiful village and extremely friendly. There seemed to be accommodation on the outskirts of the village and, with no village bus service, I can only assume they run shuttle buses as it's not a walk to some of these places. Mister X is the bar at the bottom of the Burz lift where we tended to congregate. Bar Peter was the most lively place. Lovely restaurants and bars in hotels (Sporthotel's piano bar was very comfortable). It wasn't as quiet a town as I was expecting, quite a nice level of the liveliness. Saying that, with 27 of us in our group it's lively wherever we go :lol:

The mountains: Jaw droppingly stunning. A word of warning, off piste skiing has become illegal in Arabba without a guide. We did see the odd tracks here and there where people were just having a cheeky go to the side of the piste but, since 8 deaths in one incident (this season?) they've clamped down and could take your lift pass off you. Aside from that, the skiing is awesome. It is a steep resort in places. A lot of the group had a blast doing the Marmolada in blizzard conditions and then the orange sella ronda on the last day in perfect conditions.

The lifts: Were absolutely fine, very well organised and we only had to queue once. Very, very helpful lifties. We had an awful experience on the last day though when a german girl got on between me and two of my friends. At the top she got her skis caught on the lip and she fell off the lift. She nearly took me with her but my friend managed to keep hold of me and she just took my poles. She didn't seem hurt thankfully/hopefully although her helmet took a knock. It was bloody scary!

Moral of the story, keep your tips up :shock:

Prices: Unbelievably cheap, we came back with euros for the first time ever! At Mister X a small beer was 1.80, large 3.20, glass of white wine 1 euro, I kid you not! Even up the mountain in a beautiful new restaurant/bar at the midstation a half litre carafe of white wine, 4 euros. Unbelievable. Bombardinos generally 3 euros. If you've never had a bombardino you've got to get yourself to Italy to try one, omigod, heaven in a glass :mrgreen:. Pizzas and pasta 7/8 euros, steak 13 euros. Cheap and delicious.

My experience: I had a private boarding lesson on the first day which was good, straight up the Burz blue. Went back up in the afternoon to practice and took a bad fall which I felt on my knee immediately. Woke up the next day limping and decided not to go for my lesson so mr-a had it to himself. Rested my knee. I couldn't actually move my arms after that from all the pushing myself up on day one (I'd been exercising my legs but not my upper body because of my strained shoulder, who knew!) so on Tuesday I switched back to skis and broke myself back in gently. A couple of lessons with my friends which I really enjoyed. Managed the steep blues ok and a few of the nicer reds. I had my one and only full day on the last day when I totally stacked it at the top of red 1 from the cable car on the Arabba side (it was busier than the m25, not good). I pulled it back together-ish.

I'm still limping a bit but I can feel that there's no damage. It was worth it.

In summary, disappointed with the boarding, the knee, the amount I skied and my stack on the last day but delighted and buzzing from a superb trip. All 27 of us (children included) agree that it's the best ski holiday we've had.

Would we go back? Absobloodylutely :thumbup:

Photos to follow

Lech/Zurs does look like a great destination. Another one on the list. If I am hucking then at least that'll mean I've got confidence :lol:

I'm half ready to go. Got to pick my youngest up from school and get down to some serious packing before heading off to the pub at 6:30 for a pre-holiday group drink or two :D

Check out this for a piste map: http://www.arabba.it/index.php?page_id=1066&lang_id=3&season=winter
click on the top two pictures (the village from different directions) zoom in and it feels like you're there. Incredible. Good work :thumbup:

Hope you all have a fab easter
Caron
:-D :-D :-D

have a fab time Brimster, whatever it looks like!

Tony_H wrote:

betty wrote:

Tony_H wrote:

betty wrote:
Lech is quite low but there's definitely snow in December, I don't know if it opens early but it may be worth a look in the future.

:shock: Resort is at 1450m, slopes going up to 2500m, with Zurs next door at 1720m.

Did you mean to say low?

resort level, early december, comparatively? Yep. I like to ski back to resort.
only one exception in my skiing lifetime that's lower but, other than that, I've never stayed lower than 1800.
Yet :lol:

I have only once stayed higher than 1800m. The only place I had a problem with skiing back to resort was Sauze end of March and Mayrhofen as you have to take the gondola back down to the resort at 690m anyway, even when there is snow in the village.

yeah, I think I need to broaden my horizons.

My 13 year old's friend has just knocked to walk to school. He asked him if he was going training tonight to which my son replied "no, I don't want to take the chance before saturday"

I couldn't be more proud :D

Tony_H wrote:

betty wrote:
Lech is quite low but there's definitely snow in December, I don't know if it opens early but it may be worth a look in the future.

:shock: Resort is at 1450m, slopes going up to 2500m, with Zurs next door at 1720m.

Did you mean to say low?

resort level, early december, comparatively? Yep. I like to ski back to resort.
only one exception in my skiing lifetime that's lower but, other than that, I've never stayed lower than 1800.
Yet :lol:

AlistairS wrote:Yes I get your point. We have booked up for the white week again in December however, that will be our third visit and as you say there are so many new places to explore. We are tempted to give Lech a visit but are not sure if you can ski there in early December?

Anyway, have a great time. :D

Thanks :D

People should go wherever they want to go, it's personal choice I say. We may be back one day.
Lech is quite low but there's definitely snow in December, I don't know if it opens early but it may be worth a look in the future.

Ally: I'm not sure about my shoulder, it hurts when I wake up and if I try to do certain yoga moves. Apart from that it just feels a bit tender, but I'm trying not to think about it. It's just a slight strain of some sort, I can live with it :D