J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by bedrock barney

Time to bump this topic.

66 sleeps to Val d"Isere

?? sleeps to 2nd trip (still to book)

I've decided to go for Rossignol Pursuit 18's (170cm) for my next trip. Will be interesting to see how they compare to the 163cm skis I hired in the summer.

If there's lots of snow then I should be able to swap over to Scott Neo's.

I commend the j2ski illuminati re. the airport pages. I'm not a fan of transfers and it's a great resource for planning future trips.

You can pay me later.

I can reliably inform you all that our postman has moved from shorts to long trousers this week.

This marks the commencement of winter round here. Expect Daily Express type blizzards within 10 days.

We have twitter...? :shock:

I'm heading out for my 8th ski holiday this coming season (therefore circa 7 weeks on the snow so far) and my skiing has improved a lot since I started in 2010. However, I'm still feeling fairly dimwitted when it comes to choosing a ski. Being brutally honest, I pretty much allow the shop to hand me whatever they like. I'm probably the perfect customer!

I think I can tell the difference each time (just) but it is certainly not obvious. The only time I've been disappointed was in Les Arcs when I was handed a crummy pair of battered skis. I think they were Dynastar but can't really remember. I was still very cautious at that stage though so maybe I wouldn't have been much better on another pair.

I was able to experiment a bit more this summer in Tignes. The hire shops were quiet and the skiset chappie was very happy for me to swap over part way through the week. I started on Salomon BBR's (165cm long) and thought they were decent. However, for the 2nd half of the week I was given Rossignol Pursuit 18's (163 long) and the difference was quite pronounced. they were much more stable at speed and in the turn and I think are the best skis I've tried so far.

I've pre booked Premium advanced skis with the ski shop for December and I think I will end up with same Rossignol skis which should be fine.

How much attention should I pay to the length? I'm 180cm tall. Was happy with the 163 skis last time round but have had 169, 171 and 176 in the past. I'm not that bothered about high speeds but like to turn nimbly and also want to be able to venture off piste a little bit.

** edit ** I'm happy to ski all groomed pistes up to and including black runs but not keen on moguls and very limited off piste so far

I've never been on a package tour holiday but if i did, I'd expect the tour operator to get me from airport to door of my accommodation....by car, sleigh, camel, whatever (and at no extra cost).

You can quote me snapzzz! :mrgreen:

Echoing previous comments, I'm not convinced that Val d'Isere is "expensive". I've just done a cost breakdown for some pals of ours who we are looking to ski with next year. Our upcoming holiday (over Christmas week) is as follows (per person)

Flights (Easyjet Stansted to Geneva) - £88
Airport parking - £12
Transfer (private pick up and drop off) - £125
Accommodation (catered chalet) - £669
Ski pass - £170 (as part of family pass for 4)
Ski hire (premium kit) - £90
Lunch/couple of beers per day - £150
TOTAL - £1,300 pp

This is in a top star rated chalet with max 100m walk to the base area around the Solaise/Olympique lifts. If you picked a low season week and a cheaper bus transfer this would reduce the weekly cost to £1,100pp. Seems pretty good value to me.