J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

I'd forgotten that you all book separately, so your are more or less forced to do it the way you're doing it. Years ago when I went on similar group trips we just gave the organiser a cheque or even cash.

Just out of interest OldAndy, why are you booking the hotel via a UK TO and not directly with the company running the hotel? http://www.madamevacances.com/hotels/france/alpes-du-nord/alpe-d-huez/hotel-le-christina.html I would have thought you would be in a better position to negotiate a deal if you booked direct like AllyG did last year. Maybe you could also get lift passes included and a deal on transfers.

Sounds to me like your boots might be too big, the first thing I would do is a shell check. Take the liner out of one of the boots put your foot in the empty shell and with your toes brushing the front of the shell get someone to check how much space (in mm) there is between your heel and the boot shell, then move your foot into the centre of the shell and move the front of your foot side to side at that point and estimate how much space there is either side of your foot and the shell.

Skiing is a mid stance activity, there is no heel strike or toe off in skiing, so insoles designed for walking aren't ideal.



A much better solution is to use insoles designed for skiing that support the foot with the Subtalar joint in a neutral position.

That's pretty generous for the Swiss. At moment the pound is currently 9.3% down from where it was immediately before the SNB withdrew the peg and the euro is down 12.9%.

Does the lift pass reduction also apply to the 4 Vallées lift pass?

Since the peg was withdrawn there have been few cancelations, but there have been hardly any new bookings.

A couple of the smaller resorts have introduced their own euro peg, in Grächen the rate is 1.35 and in Belalp it's 1.20.

The skiing industry is struggling at the moment, so far in Switzerland overall skier numbers are 15.1% down on last season and in the Bernese Oberland there're down 28.1%, numbers in France are also down. The equipment business doesn't seem to be doing too well either, Group Rossignol is stopping production at their factory in Sallanches for a month.

I know people use NHS orthotic insoles in their ski boots, but I can't think why you would (apart from cost) want to do so. As I said above they are meant for walking so they are they are made differently and the angles built into them make it more difficult to control the skis. The boot board (the plastic thing under the inner boot) is often angled laterally, when this angle is added to the angle of the orthotic it has a tendency to push the skier onto the outside edges, which forces them to internally rotate their legs in an attempt to get the skis flat on the snow.

As the OP already has knee problems I would have thought the last thing he/she would want is something that might make them worse.

As you went to a sports shop rather than a boot fitter they probably didn't carry out a biomechanical assessment of your feet. I'm guessing that your feet over pronate like those of the person in this video.
If this is the case then it's likely that the boots you bought are too big, see how the foot changes shape when the pedorthist moves the foot into a neutral position.

The insoles you have at the moment are also likely to be a different size and shape to that of your ski boot liners, compare them to the insoles that came with your boots, the ones made for ski boots are more rigid in the forefoot and are usually 'blocked' in the liner so that they don't move around.

As the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital is in Birmingham, you can't be that far from one of the UK ski boot fitting experts who is also a pedorthist http://www.solutions4feet.com/index.php I would get in touch with him and ask his opinion.

A different type of insole is required for use in ski boots, the ones you have are full gait orthotics. Alpine skiing is a mid-stance sport, the foot and lower leg are held in the mid-stance phase of the gait cycle. There is no heel strike or toe off in skiing. Skiing insoles are full length, full contact orthotics that match the bottom surface of the feet, most of them are moulded directly to the feet.



As you have problems with your feet you might need a corrective insole so it would be best if you went to a ski boot fitter who is also a qualified pedorthist, rather than a general pedorthist, depending on where you live you might also need a doctor's prescription.

Did you buy the boots online, from an outdoor sports shop or from a specialist ski boot fitter?

A bit late for Raquelgrosman, but this might be of use to people travelling tomorrow,
http://www.viewsurf.com/univers/trafic/liste has links to French traffic videocams that show the current road conditions across France, scroll down to "Rhone Alps". Traffic is moving freely at the moment and if the local weather forecast is accurate http://chamonix-meteo.com/chamonix-mont-blanc/weather/forecast/evening/6_days_weather_forecast.php road coditions won't be too desperate tommorrow.