J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

angela - julia - whatever-your-name-is : take a hint and stop spamming our forum. I've just locked the third account of yours. If you waste any more of my time you'll get an invoice for it.

Ta. :evil:

Thread locked due to un-necessary and personally-directed cobblers.

Take some time out and air your frustrations elsewhere please. TVM :evil:

bandit wrote:I wonder if there is a glitch with Vista and Internet Explorer

Apparently so... Firefox, Safari and Opera all showing the smilies just fine on Vista; IE on XP is fine, IE on Vista shows some but not all... please write to thank Bill personally and wish him a happy retirement...

Has anyone got dodgy smilies who is not[b] using Internet Explorer and Windows Vista?

I dunno, Ross wants excitement... how exciting is flaky smilies? :lol:

I think it's the weather. The smilies have been suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. They need some snow time. Be kind.

bandit wrote:How often do you change your batteries in your beep?

Fresh every trip and carry spares; swap the "older" ones out each time to anything less important (torch, alarm clock, etc.). Spending money on a beeper and skimping on batteries would be worthy of a Darwin Award.

As for forgetting to switch it on, or to transmit... just get an Ortovox; simple but brilliant harness switches to Transmit when you put it on, flips straight to Search when you undo it and requires definite action to turn it off.

bandit - nothing wrong with hiring avvy gear; though I think I'd take my own batteries if I did.

Meercat - thanks for taking the time to post that; avalanches are definitely something we should all consider.

Meercat wrote:I did not mention probes because vacationers rarely carry them

IME that's not generally the case; pretty much everyone I've ever encountered with a bleeper has had "The Holy Trinity" of transceiver, shovel and probe. Whether or not they've had enough practice with them is another issue but they do generally go together.

bandit wrote:The risk level was posted at 2 that day.

Tsk, tsk... Level 2 on the Avalanche Risk Scale is still "Moderate"; that's a moderate risk of death to you or your companions, so quite enough to justify wearing a bleeper.

And remember that's the general risk level for the area - there will be individual slopes that are far riskier; even in the most benign conditions. The only time there is zero risk of avalanche is when there's no snow (at all).

Although presumably the risk was a little lower in the restaurant... 8)

But fair dos... if you take it off at lunchtime, you need to remember to put it back on again when you leave!

The point Bandit was making, albeit a little mischievously (there was a smiley), is that it is a part of that intermediate phase in our skiing to tend to judge a resort by the mileage available.

Personally I wouldn't agree that being a "good" skier and being an intermediate are at all incompatible - but that all goes back to the other thread about what makes a "good" skier...

This thread is about skiing in Niederau and the questions regarding the perceived "lack" of mileage there. In that context, it's fair to say that mileage would be a concern mostly to intermediate skiers. If you're at that point where you can ski confidently and moderately fast on-piste, but are unhappy off the piste, then you might expect to find the skiing limited.

But mileage misses the point on so many levels - it tells you nothing about the terrain, the steeps or the secret stashes... :wink:

Dave Mac's quite clearly got many miles on most of us - and loves Niederau. Jan too. Once you've got the miles under your skis, your focus moves on to quality, instead of quantity.

I remember seeing a dozen-strong group of instructors / guides in Champoluc, on a big powder day, struggling for a couple of hours up a ridge above one particular big, steep pitch. You could hear them whooping and yelling from miles off when they finally dropped in, one by one. A few precious minutes later they were all giving each other "high fives" back on the piste. Then they clawed their way back up, did it once more and went off for a long, late lunch.

My mate and I probably skiied twenty times the distance that day - but they'd had ten times the buzz.

That's not all to say you need to be hardcore to enjoy Niederau - you clearly don't (from the comments I've read on here), but it's obviously got something to offer.

You just need to open your mind and think beyond mileage. The smallest of resorts can give the most memorable of days - seek them out. 8)

I think Turin or Geneva would be good bets.

Geneva simply has a huge number of resorts within easy reach. Although not all are easily accessible by bus/train, there are many independently run chalets / apartments that you might get a transfer thrown into the deal.

Turin has good bus service into the Aosta Valley so you've got Champoluc, Courmayeur, La Thuile (and Pila, of course) fairly easy to reach.

TBH, though, the dates are going to be a problem - you're looking for a long weekend bang in the middle of the Xmas / New Year break... it's unlikely to be cheap even if you can find something available. Any chance you can go ten days earlier or (even better) ten days later? You'll get a lot more for your money, and much less crowded mountains.