J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

Brilliant, Michelle. I love the description "van".

On my first three ski trips, including my first season, around Europe, we travelled in an ex-Redifusion Television van. Then we went upmarket for three seasons in a VW Kombi van. Scroll forwards a few years, and we were again winter travelling around Europe in a Transit van.

Then, after several years career building and early retirement, I drove my Range Rover from Scotland to Austria. I can tell you that the vans were much more fun!

Admin! Stop it!

The locals know everything!

Canadian Skier, you might have liked to try my earlier straight skis ~ 215 Kneissl White Star Racers ~ at a time when there was no such thing as grooming. So they were my powder skis!

I eventually sold them to a guy who was 5ft 6in tall.....

Interesting pic, Canadian Skier. Would like to have seen the ski lengths, but you do operate with a range.

I couldn't do a pic like this, half of my gear is in Austria, (this will be increased next season), and half in Scotland. A combined pic would reveal a pair of Atomic 160 carvers at one end, and a pair or 2m K2 Merlin carvers, (bought in Colorado, based in Austria}, at the other. About 10 pairs in between.

The great Pavel also skied K2 Merlins.

Haven't thought about categorisng skis by number of days usage. It is easier to calculate that a pair of 210 skis I donated to a museum in Colorado, had seen between 400 and 450 days of action.....

Not a good idea to hire en-route. Makes it a tad difficult to return the gear for changes.

I hope that price fixing does NOT go on everywhere. It is illegal everywhere in Europe.

Moreover, it is quite evident that price fixing does NOT go on in supermarkets or flights. The Lidl/Aldi effect has brought pressure on to the established supermarkets purely by competition.

"Hervis is a bit like a European version of Sports Direct"
Really? In Hervis, almost all of the assistants have winter multi sports expertise. They are also really helpful in the purchase experience. (Two years ago, they allowed me three separate levels of discount on a pair of skis)
In contrast, shopping at Sports direct is a bit like repeatedly hitting your thumb with a hammer. No sports knowledge, little product knowledge, slow service, overcrowded isles. If they tried to sell ski equipment, they would quickly be out of business.

Brucie wrote:I wear Descente Tony, not 'Sparyway' or Lidl.

Descente, I like, predominantly for the manufacturing quality. Fashion, Trendy, etc. has never been of a concern, it's a bit like spending time looking in the mirror. I came into skiing because I was a mountaineer and a 50 miles+ fell runner, not a great background for attempting to be trendy.

I have even heard that there are some people that take several pairs of sallos with them, ~ multi trendy... all a bit girly.

I let my skiing do the talking.... was that John Wayne or Clint Eastwood?????

Wasley correctly identifies and resolves the issue. A few years back there I met with a local, who told me there was a single family ski hire cartel operating in the Arlberg.
It did not matter which ski agent one used, after all the applied discounts, the bottom line was always identical.

So good luck to Hervis. I have bought a fair amount of gear from there, and one of my ski instructor buddies later became a manager in a local store.