J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by crispyapplepie

AllyG wrote:When I was pregnant I continued milking the cows until the day I went into labour. For those of you who don't know, this is a pretty hazardous activity because you are very likely to get squashed, kicked or stamped on. However, we wouldn't have been able to afford to pay anyone else to do the work while I had 9 months off, so I saw it as a necessity and I was prepared to take the risk.

But a ski holiday comes into a different category because it's a leisure activity and the pregnant woman puts herself and the baby at risk for no reason other than her own enjoyment and that of her companions. Or, to put it another way, if she doesn't ski all she misses out on is 6 days of ski-ing. But if she fell badly (which may not be her fault as someone else may lose control and hit her) the consequences could be frightful. So if you simply weigh up risk versus benefit then the risks are much greater than the benefits. Plus, if she fell and then subsequently had a miscarriage even if they weren't actually connected, she'd be bound to blame herself.

So, if it was me I wouldn't ski. Apart from anything else I wouldn't be able to live with myself afterwards if anything did go wrong. In fact, I don't think I'd go on the holiday either because I'd hate to see everyone else ski-ing and not be able to take part. I'd go and find something else to do.

And, having said all that, I think it's very unlikely she would come to any harm but personally I found the responsibility of being pregnant quite stressful enough without adding to it, and I wouldn't have been able to relax and enjoy myself on the ski slope while wondering who was about to flatten me.

It was different for the female ski instructor because like me it was her job and she probably couldn't afford to give it up for several months.

Ally

AllyG wrote:Re the cleaning row:

Strangely enough the opposite experience happened to me with Pierre et Vacances in Meribel over the New Year.

We had to be out of the self-catering apartment by 10 a.m. on Saturday and we wanted to ski that day, so at the beginning of the week I asked them if they'd clean it for me so that I wouldn't be too stressed and tired after cleaning to enjoy myself on the slopes. The standard cleaning charge was 35 euros and I reckoned it was well worth it when the three of us were paying about £25 an hour each for time on the snow, so that we could get out as soon as possible.

Anyway, I hoovered it the day before, and did a quick whip round clean in the kitchen etc. (but not my usual in depth clean) before we left. And then when we had it inspected they only charged me 25 euros and seemed very pleased. So I was happy to get an extra 10 euros to spend on hot chocolate etc.

I do think the tour agents and the apartment managers should improve the level of their communication - both with each other and with the holidaymakers. I rented the apartment through Igluski who got it from Ski Horizon who got it from Pierre et Vacances. All Igluski told me was the name of the apartment, the date, and the resort. And when I asked them for extra information the day before we left they said there wasn't any. But on the way out on the Eurostar I phoned them again and they said they'd sent me an e-mail - well it was a bit late then because I didn't have any access to my e-mails. And in fact I never did find out what it said because when I tried to read it in resort somehow it deleted itself.

But I'd stayed with P&V several times before so I knew the general rules re cleaning etc. You either pay extra for them to clean, do a really thorough job yourself (they expect you to wash windows and polish mirrors etc.) or pay a hefty fine as they inspect the apartment before you go.

I should think Odalys has the same rules and it was Ski Horizon that was at fault.

Edit
The man with the mop shouldn't have been so nasty and threatening, though, or pushed your dad. I would complain about that, if I was you, to Odalys.

Ally