J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by steverandomno

bandit wrote:

RossF wrote:The one below the Extreme policy allows ski touring, surely they cannot expect that to be 'in bounds'?!?!

Putting ski touring, or using skins aside, I was a little concerned that if I were skiing off piste under a lift, or between pistes, I would not be covered as it would be neither a piste or an itinerary.

I used to use Snowcard. Last year, I was sent for an MRI scan on 1 knee by a consultant. Like a good little citizen I told Snowcard my insurer, as it's part of the policy requirement. They simply withdrew my cover the same day. So I went hiking in Switzerland anyway, and the net result of the scan was, apparently I'm getting old.

Nice! I'm a little dissapointed at this. (Though probably not half as much as you.)
Did they offer you any money back (for unused portion of coverage) or the option to increase the premium?

Not that it mattered when we skied Canada the first half of Jan. Avalanche conditions ment that even the good terrain in the resorts was closed :cry:

www.snowcard.co.uk

Having done quite a bit of research on this last year, I have found these guys to be by far the best. They are pricy, but you will realise why if you look at terms of coverage and ask the sales staff specific question and then compare with other providers.

They offer a combination of a standard base coverage and then you add on whatever level of activity card you require and for however long. So I have a basic international travel policy with them and have then added a level 4 (i think) card for 3 weeks. This covers me for skiing and downhill mountain biking for any 3 weeks during the year. (I think there are some restrictions on the length of a single trip in common with other insurers.) Other levels can be bought that do not include certain activities.

When researching insurers last year I was shocked at the ambiguity that exists in even the basic holiday insurance. Putting ski insurance aside, most travel insurers expect you to go on holiday and basically just sit in your hotel room for a couple of weeks. Ice skating, swimming, diving, even walking/trekking, are more often than not considered high risk pursuits or there are sufficient ambiguities in the terms that would put you on dodgy ground should you be seriously injured whilst doing anything considered 'active' (what ever that means).

Even for things such as loosing your baggage, most insurers I contacted told me that receipts for all the clothes in your suitcase would be required to substantiate a claim. Who keeps all the receipts for all the clothes that they have ever bought?

Considering skiing specific insurance; most ski policies are standard holiday policies with add on provisions for skiing. The add-on is really just to protect the costs incurred should you have an accident and usually does not consider the additional cost that can be incurred should part of a skiing trip go awry.

This means that should your bags and ski equipment go missing, the standard amounts covered for baggage are usually hopelessly inadequate for the cost of replacing all the gear you would take with you on a skiing trip. Then there is the time between realising your bag is not on the airport carrousel, and the airline actually admitting that it can't find it. You need to hire equipment during this time and this is not covered on most policies.

Snocard has designed the policies to cater for all of these circumstances.

Off-piste skiing is the next factor to consider. The add-on policies range from disallowing it altogether to allowing it only under certain conditions ranging from taking a guide to the "resort deeming that an area is unsafe". This worries me a lot as the definition of off-piste in a European resort is anything outside the markers. So, that well skied 4m wide bit in between two green runs is off-piste as far as the insurer is concerned. This could allow an insurer to refuse payong out should you be injured in that area. Don't even think of asking for a definition of off-piste in North America where the term is redundant and the term "out-of-bounds" is used instead, but appears nowhere in any policy I have seen supposedly covering North America.

One of the levels of activity card you can purchase from Snocard allows you to ski off-piste. The terms contain language that refers to having taken adequate precautions, being prepared, paying attention to conditions, and not acting recklessly. Whilst stressing that I am not a legal expert, it would seem to me that this means that so long as you have paid attention to avalanche bulletins and have gone out adequately equipped (transceivers, shovels, probes and training), then you will be covered.

To summarise, I have the impression that the Snocard policies have been designed by people who have actually been on a winter holiday and understand what it means to ski in the back country, (or off-piste or whatever you want to call it). They have though about all of the circumstances that might arise where you would want insurance to pay out whilst protecting themselves from idiots that might go off-piste without any equipment into conditions that guarantee they will get into trouble.

Luckily I have never needed to claim, but based on my experience with Snocard so far, I highly recommend them.

You could also check out St Martin de Bellville for a quieter alternative. It has some great restaurants.

Probably not so good late season but you can easily download on the gondola which is never that busy.

If you are in town check out the Curry Bowl Thai restaurant. It's excellent.
It is at - 931 - 7th Ave, Fernie, British Columbia

Book a trip to Iceland?

Sounds chilly!

A guy in ASDA car park tried to charge me 50 quid for a tree last weekend! Your way sounds nicer. :mrgreen:

Tony_H wrote:

steverandomno wrote:
1-Try to avoid travelling at all if the conditions are really bad.

All well and good when you havent got a flight to catch, or a hotel to get to.....!!!!

True.

This is following on from another post regarding advice for a ski road trip in Canada. The point being that if you can leave your accomodation flexible then it can work out well for both driving and skiing, when the best days for skiing are generaly the worst days for driving.