J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

Damn, I've just got to work the DVD, and now this. :cry:

Tony-H wrote:

Funny, you previously told me you hadnt skied Mayrhofen.

And I haven't. You didn't mention skiing. Just a suggestion that I should go there, and I have, I have worked there.

And, by the way, it's your round!

A lesson to us all. Read your postings very carefully before pressing the Submit button. :D

Tony-H wrote:

Isnt it time you went for yourself David? You can surely only be able to make constructive points having been somewhere yourself?

Tony, I worked in Mayrhofen in nineteen seventy plonk, as a bootfitter. Clip boots were just coming into mainstream, and there were still some double lace-ups!

Anyway, you restarted it. After your report from Niederau, you declared the N-M war to be over. Since then you have sniped at it frequently, and I have held my tongue, in the spirit of peace. So, allow me the odd bit of fun. :-)

It's easy.

Vail.

Or maybe Beaver Creek.

Nope, Arapahoe Basin, yes, Arapahoe. Steep, satisfying, scary.

Nooo, Blackcomb Glacier at Whistler, Fast downhill, in a pure white out. Frightening, you could die of heart attack before the world ended. That's no good, don't want to miss the ending....

Mebbe Niederau. Yeah, it's got character. And Zipfer. And Harp music. Caron's man liked the harp music so much, he broke out with Terets syndrome!

Doh, I'm forgetting Perisher Valley in South Australia, that was ace.

Three Valleys, or Flaine, errm, not France, didn't have character, expensive, although of course cost wouldn't matter.

Cortina. Now your talking, kissed an Italian girl in a Cortina restaurant, and it would be your last moments....

But then, I kissed two Welsh girls in Niederau last winter, Lord this is difficult.

Sella Ronda, nope you keep going round in circles, won't have time for that.

Has to be Zermatt, what a view of the Matterhorn, but by the time you queued up for the Cabine, the world may have ended....

Saas Fee, but the lifts could be cancelled due to weather.

Mebbe Bulgaria. I was quite nice, good place to finish everything, the skiing was good, assuming my skis weren't nicked.

Reconsider Austria. Stubai was steepish, Kaltenbach and Kaprun featureless, Kitsbuhle, Soll, Ellmau, Hopfgarten, Westendorf, Ok, yeah, all were quite good, but they don't quite cut it. Not for a world end.

Arapahoe Basin, definitely A-Basin. Or Niederau.

Niederau.

BANG!

Ian Wickham wrote:

I just prefer to spend my holidays experiencing the local Culture

Me too. However, I don't think many places set up for a particular country, although, individual estabishments may do so. Main nationalities in Niederau this year were, in order, German/Austrian, British, Dutch, Irish then French, Belgian, Rumanian, Italian, Australian, et al.

Eight times out of ten, I elect to stay in accomodation that does not speak English. This forces me to speak German, thereby making year on year improvements. (I think!) I have never had German lessons, I just learned by staying with locals. I consider it to be one of the many bi-products of a ski holiday.

Mary Hofen, isn't that below sea level? It is certainly 200 metres lower than Niederau, where you can ski back to the village.

More seriously, N. closes on 29 March, not because of lack of snow, but because that is what the TOs and lift company elect to do. However, Auffach is open for a further two weeks. There is a fair amount of skiing there, and technically, it is much easier than Niederau.

Trencher wrote:A good way to work without a bench and ski vices is to work on an offcut of carpet about 1 x 2 metres. It stops the skis sliding around, captures metal filings and wax scrapings, and can be rolled up and stored easily.

Ski brakes can be held up with a short piece of electrical wire (solid and 2.5 mm2). Twist a loop in one end, hook the brake up on one side, over the top of the binding and wrap the wire around the brake on the other side. Very secure and fast.

For new skis and for the pre-season deep wax, put the skis in the airing cupboard overnight with a heavy coat of wax on. Works like a hot box.

Trencher

Good practical points. Of course, if you have a bit too much carpet........!!

AB, there were a group of British Juniors training in Niederau, on the race area, in late January. Was TJ with that group?