J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

The first Irish case confirmed was a teenage boy who, I think, had been on a skiing holiday in the "north of Italy" (I believe with his family rather than on a school trip) - the actual resort has not been identified. I am guessing that he went through one of the Milan airports, probably Malpensa or Bergamo. His entire school was closed for a 2 week period (until March 14th) following his diagnosis and the pupils asked to "self-isolate". They are being monitored by health service staff. Thankfully, so far, there are no further reports of infection in the school.

A second case was confirmed yesterday. Again it was an individual who had returned from Northern Italy. The authorities have said it was unconnected with the 1st case.

Yikes! Due to fly to Zurich on 14 March for a few days in St Anton. Looking increasingly dodgy that we will be able to go :twisted: .

To make matters worse, they have just gotten a lovely fresh dump of snow so conditions should be fantastic. I know that it is churlish and selfish to be concerned about a ski trip when lots of people are dying but still..... :oops:

Also have spent quite a bit on flights, hotel and car hire. Chances of recovering any of that from insurance look very low :evil:

penguinpants wrote:Is anyone still going to Passo de Tonale this weekend? we are due to fly into Verona tomorrow and drive up in our own hire car. I've contacted the hotel and they say everything is open as normal and wouldn't consider a refund..

Barring a serious deterioration in the spread of the virus, I think you should be fine. Though you might want to avoid anybody coughing or sniffling in Verona airport :roll: .

The other thing you might want to think about is work when you return. Depending on how things evolve, they might want you to self-isolate for 2 weeks after your return :shock: . This happened to a friend of mine who travelled through Verona last Saturday (after our ski trip to the so-far unaffected Dolomites region.

munich_johnny wrote:I know the 112 in Westendorf, but it is usually without moguls, and usually has few punters as the access is not "obvious". But actually the nastiest run in Ski Welt is the 2c off the top of Hopfgarten (Hohe Salve). When THAT is icy and/or moguled and also filled with people falling over it is a proper nasty piece of work.

Agree 100%.

I am not sure that the run is intrinsically difficult. However, it is narrow and because it is a link to other parts of the mountain, it tends to be busy with lots of people who really should not be on it :evil: . Even if you are well able to ski it yourself, the odds of getting taken out by others is very high :evil: . I always avoid it :thumbup: .

Nice view from the top of Col Raiser area in Val Gardena. This was taken just before we completed the 10km La Longia piste down to the village of Ortesia. It is a lovely long run with lots of variation. On this occasion, the conditions kept changing but most of it was wonderful - a few short sections of slushy moguls but overall wonderful!

Also worth a mention is Piste 112 in Westendorf which claims an 80% gradient. As well as being steep, it is long so very intimidating - you definitely do not want to fall on it. It is much longer than the Harakiri in Mayrhofen for example.

I am just back from Val Gardena. Yes, it is a long time since they have had a large dump but they do have a good base and are experts at managing the snow. Conditions at the moment on piste are wonderful with a nice packed piste condition - perfect for high speed cruising. We had an absolutely wonderful week in glorious sunshine.

Temperatures were close to zero so snow holding up very well. Some south-facing pistes can get a bit slushy as the day progresses but generally not too bad and there can be the odd patch of ice but again, this was pretty rare.

Perhaps a bigger concern at the moment is the Coronavirus. We travelled by car back to Munich airport yesterday. Only a few hours after we had passed, a train was stopped at the Brenner Pass and Austria is now talking about introduction of border controls. Depending on how things evolve over the next week or two, travel could become much more fraught.

flat country skier wrote:Hi! Sounds like your girlfriend has taken to skiing, lovely. I would definitely get a lift pass. There's a nursery area but honestly that's for the little kids and you don't want to get stay there. Would book a private lesson(s), whilst more expensive than a group lesson rate you learn much quicker. Group lessons are good if you want to socialise :) Corvara has some easy runs where a beginner can practice their new skills. Scenery is fantastic, your girlfriend will love it! Enjoy!

I am not sure that I agree with this advice! My view is that total beginners should always go to ski school. While it is true that the learning is slower than private lessons, the instructor will keep them safe and they will learn the basics, albeit at a slower pace. It is generally fun learning with a group as well. If you choose to with private lessons, you would probably be thinking of an hour or two of private lessons for a couple of days (unless you are absolutely loaded) and to have her ski with you the rest of the time. With the best will in the world "friends" are poor judges of what a beginner might be able to manage and this is rarely a successful arrangement. Worse, it can lead to unnecessary risks being taken and serious rows with your girlfriend!

Leaving aside what is best for her, if you are a normal person, you will want to get out and explore the mountains. If you are babysitting her, you will be very restricted in what you can do. I know I would find this very frustrating (I know this sounds very selfish but I think it is a realistic view).