J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

ldavies wrote:has anyone had a dislocated elbow? after skiing in niederau for 21 years, i slipped and fell on ice outside the wastlhof hotel. am still in plaster over 3 weeks later and doctor here says i won't have full extensionin my arm, altho' i WILL ski again!
it hurts even within the plaster which is due to come off this week followed by physio. has anyone had to wear an elbow support following the injury?
thanks, L.

You poor thing. It sounds a really horrible injury. I hope you get the full use of your arm back. But if not, at least it sounds as though you will still be able to ski :D

Ally

Congratulations Tino :D

I wish you and your future wife many happy years of snowboarding :D :D

Ally

bandit wrote:

tino_11 wrote:This thread has reached new depths in a manner reminiscent of the Kursk.

I think there's a way to go yet :mrgreen:

Yes, I totally agree. No-one has re-mentioned nits yet (that was me last time we were discussing this topic). :shock:

Hi Johntin,
We recently returned from a self-catering holiday with Pierre et Vacances.

What they do, is give you an inventory of everything in the apartment when you get there and you have 4 hours to check it (in theory, they actually let me take a day doing it) and report on anything broken, damaged, missing etc. or else you will be liable for it. You then have to return the inventory to reception. It is a very detailed inventory with an exact list of all cutlery and bedding etc. and space to make remarks about stains on the walls etc.

They also tell you exactly how thoroughly you have to clean if you don't want to pay for someone else to do it. And it is a really thorough clean - hoover everywhere, wash windows, floors, clean fridge, toilet, put everything back exactly as you found it (they even tell you which shelf everything should be put back on) etc. etc.

And, you also have to make an appointment to have your room checked for cleanliness etc. just before you leave. They come in and check everything very carefully and then sign a piece of paper to say it's okay (assuming it is) which you take down to reception when you check out so that they know you don't have to pay an extra cleaning charge.

They are very efficient and thorough in this respect.

It may be that your cleaning really wasn't up to the standard expected in French self-catering apartments. I don't mean to insult you, but I am also on the other side of the fence on this issue because I run and clean two holiday cottages for ourselves here in the U.K. And departing holidaymakers always assure me that they've cleaned thoroughly before they leave, but it usually takes me hours to get it back up to the standard required for the next holidaymakers. They very rarely wash the wall tiles in the bathroom, or clean the oven, or mop the floor or wash the windows etc. And quite honestly I don't really expect them to. As long as they hoover and leave the place tidy I am quite content. That level of cleaning is generally considered to be sufficient here in the U.K.

So, what I am saying is that I think the French standard for end of holiday cleaning on the part of the holidaymakers is much higher than it is here in Britain. I reckon that the French expect to do very little to their apartments after the holidaymakers leave, whereas I spend all day cleaning after my holidaymakers leave. I imagine it is a matter of economy. The French holiday is cheap because it doesn't normally include a cost for end of stay cleaning, whereas the price for a holiday in one of my cottages includes this.

Having said all that, you and your friends may be fantastic at cleaning, and have done a great job, and you may have been ripped off. I would be very interested to hear what they say if they respond to your request for an itemized list of what you failed to clean.

I think all self-catering apartments in France should follow P & V in this regard. It would be much fairer on everyone. And you wouldn't be left in this very unpleasant situation where they've taken 60 euros off you without your say so.

I hope you get your money back, or at least a decent explanation. 60 euros sounds more like a fine than a cleaning charge. The cleaning charge for our P & V apartment was 35 euros if you booked it ahead of time, which is fair enough, because it's about what it costs me when I have to pay someone to help me clean our holiday cottages.

Did they give you precise instructions on how much cleaning you were supposed to do?

I do think it was a bit much to charge you 8 euros to store your cases when you arrived. Did you arrive before the specified hour when the apartment was to be ready? If my holidaymakers turn up early I always let them put their cases etc. in the part of the cottage I've already cleaned and I certainly don't charge them for this service. And we stayed in Courchevel ski-ing for the whole day on Saturday after we'd vacated our room and the P & V residence let us leave our cases by the Director's office free of charge all day.

Where were you staying (or don't you want to say?).

Sorry for the length of my epistle, but as a professional cleaner I am very interested in this subject.

Best Wishes,

Ally

EmmaEvs,
This is the helmet I bought.

http://www.salomon.com/uk/#/ski/helmets/helmets/kiana

It is meant for 'young girls' but I have a small head and it fitted me perfectly. I tried on about 5 different helmets and this one was really comfy and stayed in place when I waggled my head even without the strap on. I found once I'd put my helmet on I just totally forgot about it, it was so comfy and light, and I could ski all day with no problems.

As you can see, it has holes in, for vents. It also has an attachment at the back for fixing your goggles to, which is really handy because it means you can put them up on top of your helmet when you're ski-ing and you don't need them, and you can't lose them because they can't fall right off.

It also has ear muffs, which kept my ears nice and warm, although unfortunately I couldn't fit my mobile phone under them so I had to take my helmet off to use my phone.

It only cost £40, and the man in the ski shop said it would be fine for me, even though I am an adult.

If you're planning on buying a helmet, I think you need to actually try them on so don't try buying one over the internet. Also you need to bring your goggles with you to make sure the helmet fits with the goggles.

I was going to rent a helmet, like you did, but I particularly wanted my daughter to wear one, and I knew she was going to want some trendy new one and would refuse to wear an unstylish rental one, so we both went shopping for helmets.

Ally

rossyhead wrote:Yeah it was the SIGB test week but the company im working for here are sponsored by Atomic so we got in on a sneeky one.
Sorry for potential ignorance but who is CEM?

Super Hero boot fitter. He has to deal with everyone's bunions and flat feet etc.

Pablo Escobar wrote:Looking at close to £100 to hire a decent kilt with all the trimmings. For something decent with all the necessary bits and pieces you are looking at between 500 and 1000 (at a guesstimate).

Thanks Pablo,
I thought they would probably be pretty expensive. One of my Scottish cousins wears a kilt quite often, but it's not what you might call a dress kilt, more like one of Ian's tartan skirts, and hence probably not so expensive.

If they cost as much as that, it's amazing they managed to muster so many kilts, never mind the skiers to wear them :lol:

Ally

getjim wrote:

AllyG wrote:
I think you have to start your own thread to do that, unless you're going to Livigno as well :?: :wink: :D

Ally

Isn't that a case of the wibbling pot calling the wibbling kettle black?

Do you think we will wibble along nicely together Getjim - pot and kettle together :?: :wink: :D

Anyway, I discovered reading another thread that you're off to Mayrhofen. I hope you have a good time. I'm still waiting for some super organized J2skier to do us a table of where everyone's going. I am a little slow, and I just can't keep up with it all.

Ally