J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

There is a great deal of confusion about European hotel star ratings. The systems vary from country to country and in Italy from region to region. Even though they are both 3 star hotels the Hotel Sauze clearly isn't in the same league as the Hotel Maria in Ortisei http://www.hotelmaria.cc/en/Default.asp.

The European Consumer Centres' Network has produced a brochure detailing how hotels are classified in each EU state. http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/docs/hotel_establishment_classification_EU_en.pdf

The hotels associations of Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland have created the Hotelstars Union which also classifies hotels according to specific criteria http://www.hotelstars.eu/index.php?id=1

The points about the condition of the hotel Tony_H made aren't taken into account when the authorities decide how many stars a hotel can have.

The main problem you face is availability. Very large and very small ski boots are only normally stocked by boot fitters and even then only in limited quantities. Length and width are not of primary importance, the key area is around the ankle. If they don't fit there they won't function properly and there is very little that can be done to improve the fit in that area.



Making the ski boots a bit longer or wider is pretty easy if you have the right tools.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLGkeyNxXUQ

The size '12s' you hired might have been fine after a bit of work.

The biggest boot available (length, width & volume) is probably the Daleboot, they go up to Mondo 32.5 and can if necessary be stretched to 34.5.

As well as Profeet you should also consider Solutions4Feet in Bicester.

Have you looked at Inghams T&Cs?


http://cdn.inghams.co.uk/nonmedia/5407251/ski-1415-tcs.pdf

All the Snoworks coaches and instructors will hold qualifications that are recognised as being equivalent to the Brevet D'État D'Educateur Sports 1er degré Ski Alpin, which is the qualification required to teach skiing and/or accompany people on skis for remuneration in France. After obtaining an attestation of equivalence they will have been issued with a licence (carte professionnelle) by the French Ministry of Youth and Sports. There are about 350 qualified and licensed British ski instructors currently working in France.

The people who have recently been prosecuted by the French authorities are neither qualified nor licensed to provide these services.

The ESF did not and could not have brought the prosecutions, they are a civil party (partie civile). The French legal system offers people who have suffered injury as a result of another's violation of the law, the possibility to claim compensation. The ESF is a cooperative, each ski school director and committee are elected annually, if they hadn't declared their ski schools as a civil parties they would have risked losing their positions at the next election, even though this was probably not in EFS's best interest.

Accompanying people in the mountains for remuneration on foot or on skis is a regulated occupation in most alpine countries. In addition to appropriate qualifications, a licence is also often required. Where I live even if you only want to accompany people on walks along signposted footpaths you have to be suitably qualified, have CHF 10m of liability insurance and obtain a licence from the Canton, if you're caught working without a licence you can be fined up to CHF 10,000.

A 6 day 4 Vallées pass will cost CHF 355, (the same as the proposed Verbier Grand Ski pass) which is the same as last season. I don't think they will make much progress with replacing the drag lifts (one of the ones on the Thyon side was built in 1946) until the lift companies merge.

That was quick, they only had the first mediation session on 18th August. After months of deadlock they have managed to reach an agreement which seems to give Jean-Marie Fournier more or less what he wanted in the first place in only 3 weeks. If Télé-Thyon and Télé-Verbier were prepared to back down so quickly why did they make such a fuss in the first place?

The map and the information on that webpage were published in April 2013, so far no building work has taken pace as they only received permission to build the new lifts in July. Building work won't start until next spring, the first 5 lifts are scheduled to go into service at the start of the 2015/16 season and the rest should be finished in time for the 2017/18 season. They are also going to install snow making equipment, the total cost is budgeted at CHF 130 million. When finished the area will have a total of 24 lifts and 120km of pistes.

Skistar are not currently involved in the project, the new lifts are being built by Andermatt-Sedrun Sport AG a subsidiary of Andermatt Swiss Alps AG. The project leader is Dr. Peter Furger a Swiss management consultant and restructuring expert who specializes in advising ski resorts.

They held a press conference detailing the current state of play and issued a press release http://www.andermatt-swissalps.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Newsroom/Press_Releases/Englisch/2014/Medienmitteilung_SkiArena_13082013_EN.pdf on the 13th August.

There's quite a lot of hostel type accommodation in Chamonix but, not many places have double rooms La Vagabond is central but like most of the accommodation it's a long way from the lifts. There is also a youth hostel with double rooms http://www.auberge-chamonix.com/en but, it's some distance from the center (2.5km) they have some very good deals 6 days half board inc. lift pass in high season for €399. The UCPA has hostels in Chamonix and Argentiere but I don't think they have double rooms.

There is also a youth hostel in Zermatt with double rooms http://www.youthhostel.ch/en/hostels/zermatt it's about 10mins walk from the center and the nearest lift. There is also the Matterhorn hostel which is nearer to the lifts but, the beds are uncomfortable and you only get an ex Swiss army blanket to sleep under.