J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by msej449

To make sense of the choices look at a 4 Valleys map like http://ski.intermaps.ch/printze/index.swf?lang=en Nendaz is OK, but if I had the choice, I'd rather be located in either La Tzoumaz (directly connected to Verbier) or Veysonnaz (larger area) as the link to the rest of the Four Valleys is via a single congested cable car (Plan du Feu - see http://homepage.ntlworld.com/msej449/photo1_laforet35_FromPlanDuFeu.jpg - That one car has to accommodate everyone who wants to get out of Nendaz to the 4 Valleys). The route back is either a black or the cable car back down.

I've flown into Sion on a Gatwick 'flight only' charter from one of the big package companies, but these only run Saturdays. These flights are often buried deep in the brochures but made the transit much shorter.

We now tend to get the train from Geneva Airport rather than hire a car. Last year it cost about £50 return. The local Tourist Office will usually work out connection buses and trains etc. We find that you usually have to catch a 7-8am flight out of the UK to make the connections to the resort comfortable. On return, you would probably go for a flight after 2pm if you wanted to leave yourself with margin of error.

An alternative friends have used in a larger group is to hire a car to carry luggage and use as a taxi at the other end, but the bulk of the group take a train. This works well if you have people arriving at different times and so the vehicle can act as a shuttle. There are transfer companies in both Martigny and Sion but these can work out expensive.

To answer the original question: Do make sure that your legs are both the same length. No, it's not a joke! I had trouble turning left for years. Then I had a medical for a new job, and the doctor noticed I had a slight lean. He measured my thigh bone (femur) - 12mm longer on my left side! Overall, about 4-5mm longer (the body compensates partly with extra muscles). Bodyfactors above Snow & Rock in Chertsey made me inserts for my ski boots and everyday shoes. Now I'm fine.

It can't just be a coincidence: Yet another person has told me they've received a demand for payment by a Geneva car hire company, for so called 'damage', after they've returned to the UK.

Two people who told me already knew about this scam and even 'though they'd checked before they drove away they've still got a demand. Partly, of course, because it's virtually impossible to see smaller scratches and dents in the gloom of the GVA underground car park. This has just happened to my son who is, fortunately, an attorney and got a partner to write back quoting the conditions of the hire contract. Having seen how the staff career round in these cars on a busy day, I'd estimate the odds are 95% that it's them causing the damage, not clients.

Anyone else had this happen at Geneva?

So, there I was in the Swiss Alps last week, and for two days in a row the main road in the village was blocked by a car with standard tyres on. The second time it was British and we helped them to (eventually) move it out the way. To be fair, the road was clear tarmac up to the village, and patchy tarmac/snow in it, so I could understand why they hadn't fitted chains.

Chatting to the English driver, I said that the problem was that all the other cars had winter tyres on, and that it's pretty much standard for Swiss and German drivers to have them: up to 30% shorter stopping distance - even on tarmac - in temperatures below 8 Centigrade, and obviously better adhesion in snow. Chains are really a last resort for steep inclines and/or icy conditions.

I said that although winter tyres mean your summer tyres last longer (i.e. it doesn't cost any more in terms of tyre usage), I could appreciate that most English drivers don't fell that they're worth investing in if they only use the car once every few years for a ski trip. "Oh no" replied the driver, "we come every year, at least once". I then said that it was probably difficult to justify when most motorways are kept clear - "Well, yes, but we came the direct route over the Jura. It was hell. And back in 2004 we only narrowly avoided a couple of accidents on the Autorote near Lyons in the snow. But it just doesn't seem worth the hassle of storing them, or switching them round each winter.".

These people always drove to the Alps, each winter. They changed their £20K car every 3-4 years. They could obviously afford the £100/year cost of swapping to/from winter tyres, and the capital cost of a set. So why don't they get winter tyres, and make their own journey safer and easier, and avoid the inevitable accident with a European who simply won't understand the logic of driving a car with summer tyres up a mountain in the middle of winter?

Verbier/La Tzoumaz has four new on-mountain eateries opening this year - I wondered if anyone had visited them yet? I've got various relatives going out to our apartment there, and would like to update my Local Guide. They are as follows:

The Igloo at Mt.Fort, and in the La Tzoumaz area:
The Snow Bar at Etablons by the road tunnel.
The Chalet Blanc just below the Savoleyres summit
The Pentadecagonal Bar at Croix de Coeur

Thanks

My advice is to tell the hire shop that you're in the market to buy some skis, and would like try out various ones out first, before buying. You should be given decent ski for a start, and then can select the ones you feel most suit your skiing style. However, you do have to choose a shop that's interested, not just a mass-hire place that makes most of its money from catering for large groups.

Nothing came of it - Supplement charges are legitimate (look in the small print of most contracts) and they thought it better to collect at check-in, rather than ask the resort Reps to do it. What I objected to was that we were being lied to - obviously the woman doing the collecting was on a bonus to get as many payments as possible.

I think it's high time for the travel industry to accept that if they mess-up their cost management then that's their problem, not yours. They're just gambling with your money by not making provision for currency fluctuations: if they win, they pocket the difference, if they lose, you cover the loss.

And they wonder why more and more people book directly on the Web.

We took the family with Crystal and vowed never to use them again. As we were quueing to check in a Crystal Rep went down the lines demanding a supplement "or we wouldn't be able to board the plane", so we paid up. When we got to the checkin the airline rep said it was nothing to do with them and they would have let us checkin. I started going back down the line telling people and the Crystal rep threatened to call Airport Security if I didn't stop. Never travelled with them since and never will.