J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by msej449

I've driven, flown and trained from S.England to the French and Swiss Alps. It's difficult to generalise and each option has had very good and very bad journeys.

Last trip was train, then 'plane then rail, then télépherique then bus to the Quatre Valées and vice-versa, and it all went v.smoothly. Although we skied for 13 days in a row in the same area, I didn't miss having a car and obviously it was a lot cheaper than car-hiring for 14 days then leaving it in the garage. However, the shorter the visit the more attractive the 'plane+hire car option looks.

My only advice is that, as someone else said, if you're driving down be realistic and stay overnight, somewhere near to the Autoroute. We stay at Le Val Moret Motel in the Champagne area, 5 mins off the A5 at Jct.22 just past Troyes, and make an evening of it in their excellent but reasonably-priced restaurant. See 'www.le-val-moret.com/uk'.

On the way back we do a big shop at the Auchan just off the Autoroute E17/A26 Jct.17 St.Quentin Nord, rather than at the Channel port, but if there are 3+ drivers, we don't stay over on the return journey as the hour time saving helps a lot, and once you're less than 4 hours from Calais you tend to want to press on anyway (but then we only have a 2 hour journey home on the UK side - if it was longer, we'd probably stay overnight on the return leg.

I have done it down in one go, overnight, with drivers changing every 2 hours. Sometimes this worked OK but other times it has been foggy or snowing and I'd really, really wished that we'd broklen the journey.

Also bear in mind the whole winter tyre issue (look in the thread archives). I understand that you now need winter tyres on your car in Germany (and/or Austria). Driving in the Alps in the winter on English summer tyres can be a nightmare, and don't think that having chains necessarily solves the problem.

All in all, it has to be said that flying is a whole lot easier, and car hire (in Switzerland anyway) is very competitive so for winter trips, this remains the preferred option, especially for shorter breaks.

How much does storage affect boots? I always try to remove and dry-out my inner boot after a few days: it's amazing how damp they are even after a night in a heated boot-room. And I've been told to always lightly lock down the buckles overnight and definitely if they're being stored for a long period. We've been out in Switzerland for a couple of weeks with various people visiting and everyone has had problems with their boots when they first skied on them - but in each case they didn't seem to be taking much care about storage and it was noticeable that the boots weren't 'buckled-up' when they took them out the bag.

Although I'm sure that many people do get a good service in the UK, my argument is that I can't see the logic of buying your boots in, say London, when you can only really test them out for the first time, under real conditions, some weeks later in another country. I don't agree with the implication that all resort shops are bad at providing a boot service. It's when you ski in them that you're likely to find problems, and then you're miles away from the UK. So you're forced to go into a local shop anyway, to get them sorted.

Of course, no one at Snow+Rock etc. are going to say it, but it makes no sense to buy ski equipment in the UK. Like many, I did this and regretted it - I don't believe that there's a price difference if you go to the right place locally (i.e. not the shop that gives a backhander to the ski rep) and surely it makes more sense to be able to take things back for adjustment to a local place from whom you've bought it? Many rental shops give a discount if you opt to buy after rental and will allow you to try out a variety of skis before deciding. Of course, if you walk into a local shop on a half-term Saturday, you may not get very good service, but choose the right time and I think that you can do better than anywhere is the UK, solely on the basis that you can and will walk back in the next day if you're not satisfied.

The Valais is popular with Danes and Dutch. The drive down is via Troyes then Besançpn, Pontarlier and you hit Lausanne and then it's about 40 mins to Martigny/Sion. Or you can go all-motorway via Dijon. If you use viaMichelin set the destination to Sion and it'll give you a good idea of journey times, then add another 30 minutes to get to the resorts. The area is also French-speaking, apparently with dialect words a lot like Belgian (nonante, octante etc.), so I'm told. You could tap into the big ski areas by staying at smaller linked resorts, which are cheaper anyway. Examples are Morgins for the Portes du Soleil, La Tzoumaz for the Quatre Valées. Self-contained, smaller places like Veysonnaz (which is also a spa) and Les Collons are worth considering if you don't need a big ski area. You may find some cheaper accomodation even in otherwise expensive Crans-Montana, Villars/Les Diablerets. The Bains de Saillon near to Sion are Switzerland's biggest thermal baths and more family-oriented than the up-market spas like Lükerbad, so you can take time out for a family day at the spa/pool.
I envy you mainland Europeans who aren't limited by having to use the cartel that is the English Channel transport companies. You can just ring up a local Immobilier/Agence and book an apartment and jump in your cars and go.

It seems to me to be a very British thing to book through the big ski companies - on mainland Europe the tradition is much more to self-cater in a chalet or apartment, and to book late. Of course, we poor Brits are hampered by the Channel, whereas they can just hop in a car at the last minute.
We go to the 4 Valleys and it's only at Christmas, New Year and Easter that you'd have trouble finding an apartment or chalet. School holidays are a pain, of course, and Easter is early this year (it won't be this early again for another 400 years, apparently).
I suppose what I'm saying is that if our favourite spot in the 4 Valleys is anything to go by, then you can get a 4-person, 2-bed apartment for about £500 incl. linen for a week; or a 6-person chalet for about £800 for the week. Of course, if you don't want to self-cater or go out for meals, then this may not be for you, but don't be brainwashed by the big ski companies into imagining that you have to spend a fortune; have to travel on a Saturday; or have to have full-board in order to get anywhere.
My guess is that probably only around 10% of the tourist beds in the Valais are rentable via the big ski companies, if that. For the rest, consider doing what most mainleand Europeans do and go direct tot the agencies in the resorts.

My kids learnt to ski and snowboard in Livigno, which is north of Bergamo, past Bormio. Downsids are it's 4-1/2 hour transfer; and can be cold. Upsides are it's cheap (Italy + no tax); friendly; and has a set of very good, graded learner-only slopes.

I went to Bodyfactors upstairs at Snow and Rock in Chertsey, who are a completely separate sports injury company. They were fantastic and diagnosed that my bad back ache when skiing was due to having one leg slightly shorter than the other. No one else had even picked this up. They made me an insert for my ordinary shoes which helped hugely in day-to-day walking, gave me exercises to 'balance up' my weaker leg (perversely, the short leg is stronger); and then made some simple inserts for my boots which mean I can now use most mainstream boots. I've not had back problems when skiing since. Even podiatrists don't seen that switched-on to how skiing amplifies small problems that might not show up in everyday exercise. I believe that Bodyfactors also have a place in London.