J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

Hi mfc,
Bandit is quite right (she has an amazing memory!). I did go last October. My daughter and I both really enjoyed it, and I'm in the middle of booking to go again.

The only snag in going for 3 days is that it's a bit risky in case you lose a day or more because of a white-out or whatever.

This is what I said about it in my report:
http://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/6855.page

Ally

Tino,
There are plenty of activities in Pembrokeshire to keep your daughter happy and busy for a week. The only danger is that if you come here you might decide to emigrate here, like I did :lol:

We have a much lower rainfall than the Lake District, and we are a lot quieter than Cornwall (but the coastline is a bit similar). We have masses of beaches, and there's camping, pony trekking, historic castles, hill walking, adventure sports etc.

And we have good train links to London and Manchester.

Here is one of our activity places:

http://www.tyf.com/

Ally

tino_11 wrote:I like the discreet sock-loss probability conversation, it's a bit like the buttered toast equation.

I agree Tino, but with the toast you've got quantifiable variables - like the way you butter it, the height of the surface you knock it off (or drop it), the surface area and weight of the toast etc.

But I have yet to discover why Tony thinks I will lose more left socks than right ones :lol:

How many pairs of identical socks do you think one would need, to keep the numbers of left and right socks about even?

Ally

Hi JonG,
Well done for getting back home :D

It sounds like it was an epic journey :shock:

Ally

Thanks Angeltop :D
Who makes the soap flakes now? And have you ever heard of 'liquid soap' for washing clothes?

It is very strange. Some ski clothes seem to recommend going in the tumble drier, like the Gore-tex ones, and some say not to tumble dry them at all, like my 'target dry' ski jacket.

Congratulations on managing to wash your ski clothes without wrecking them :thumbup:

Ally

Hi Silverflora,
Thanks very much for being brave enough to come back on and tell us all how you got on, and explain what happened to your skis :thumbup:.

I think it was the other 'Allie' (ACarr) who was kind enough to encourage you to keep going at the ski-ing. I'm afraid all I did was to try to explain to everyone how you might possibly have had your skis stolen, and say that I've done equally daft things.

In fact, if it makes you feel any better, I did something far more stupid today. I went shopping in Tescos, put it all through the till, and then discovered that my wallet wasn't in my pocket, and I had a very nasty moment when I thought I'd been pickpocketed, before I remembered that I'd very likely left it in my coat in the car. So I had all the embarassment of being 'escorted' to customer services with my trolley, and leaving it there while I went to look for my wallet (which luckily I found). And I had no excuse of any kind, except for being over tired and stressed. I know perfectly well that I need my wallet to pay for my shopping.

I'm glad to hear that they didn't make you pay for your skis. That seems only fair if they were the ones who took your skis off you. I think we were all a bit confused because one doesn't normally take skis off to go in a chairlift - I suppose they did it for you because you were all beginners (unless there was some other reason - like lack of snow or something?).

We have had some bad instructors with ESF as well (and also some very good ones). I'm very pleased you finally found a good instructor with New Generation and learned how to ski and have fun. I don't suppose you got a refund off ESF though - we tried that once and didn't get anywhere :cry:

As for what time of year is the best to go ski-ing, I think it depends on various factors, like which resort you go to, and if you want to avoid crowds, and what price you're prepared to pay, as well as what weather to expect. We have skied at the beginning of January, and February half-term, and Easter. Both times we skied at the beginning of Jan we had lovely sunny weather and it was nice and warm. In February we have had very cold, foggy, windy weather as well as nice sunny weather. And at Easter we had masses of snow, freezing cold and very windy, and than at the end of the week beautiful sunshine. So the weather varies a lot, and is fairly unpredictable, I would say. But if you ski too late in the season, you may well be ski-ing on slush in the afternoons and ice in the mornings, and if you go too early there may not be enough snow.

Best Wishes,

Ally

Claret,
It sounds like it was an awful journey, but at least you got home okay. It's in situations like this that the TO's come into their own. It would be much harder as an individual trying to book a bus and a ferry when everyone else was desperately trying to get home at the same time. And you'd have to pay for it, whereas presumably the TO paid for your new travel arrangements :D

Ally

Thanks Tino, that's exactly the sort of thing I mean :D

Tony,
I have had a very busy day today and I'm obviously not explaining myself very clearly. What I am trying to say is that washing ski clothes is not a simple job. The correct way to wash them depends on the material they're made of and also how they've been manufactured, so that you need to read the label very carefully, as it will very likely vary from garment to garment. As Tino says, it's not just the waterproofing that needs to be protected, it's also the breathability.

My Peter Storm normal waterproof jacket, for example, says it has a shell of 100% nylon with PU coating and not to wash it with biological detergents or spot clean with solvents, and that it should be re-proofed after washing.

My daughter's Dare2B ski trousers say they are made of isotex 3000 (100% polyamide with PU coating), and as I said before, the label says 'cool machine wash with Regatta isotex cleaner or pure soap. Do not use detergents or fabric conditioners. Reproof outer fabric regularly with water repellant spray.'

My ski jacket is made by 'target dry' and it's label says 'outer 100% nylon, hydrophilic waterproof coating, normal soiling can be removed with a damp sponge. If washing by hand, wash at 40 degrees C using pure soap. Do not use fabric softeners. Avoid contact with hair spray and insect repellant. Do not tumble dry. To maintain the water repellency of this garment wash with Nikwax Loft Technical Wash.'

I washed both the latter two with the Peter Storm cleaner, and I think I will re-proof the trousers, but the jacket looks okay.

Ally