J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by andyoneil

Thanks for this Wanderer, much appreciated

The actual difficulty doesn't bother me (indeed there's something to be said for more honest grading as it would keep crowds down)

More that I'd read in WTS&S that the run below Steissbachtal was the only way back from much of the area and had "nightmarish crowds"

My wife had a horrific hit from an out of control idiot on such a home run a few years ago that left her needing surgery on her cheekbone and nose when we got back to the UK (the titanium will stay in). She's physically fine now with no outward signs but, though she has skied every year since and sometimes twice, she's not happy in such traffic at the end of the day (we were within sight of the hire shop to give kit back at the end of the holiday when she got hit).

I just don't want this to be a major negative for a resort that I've heard many great things about - especially as we love a chalet and a beer which I believe is St Anton's raison d'etre!

verbier_ski_bum wrote:I can't see any problem with only one home run. I thought it was typical as a mountain would have one access point, even if there is two the second one would be on the other side. Plus there is no need to ski to the base. Lifts can do the job just fine:). But last time I checked there was no "beginners carnage" even when crowded. Ski bases were a bigger concern.

I was in Verbier over New Year a few years ago and the bottom of the Medran was horrendous - beginners not knowing where their snowplough was going next mixed in with idiots zooming down at speeds that were far too fast. I used the road!

Lots of resorts have multiple runs home - I'd just heard that particular criticism of St Anton (amongst many plaudits) and wanted to here what people thought

I'd agree about VT being terrible for non ski activities - struggled to fill a few hours alst week before the bus came to get us on the final day.

I thank my lucky stars that when my wife was hit there a few years a go it was at 4pm on the last ski day so we dint have to deal with that issue.

I've always been tempted by St Anton but have seen alot of reports that there's only one run home and it gets dangerously crowded? Sounds like the very end of the Medran run back to town in Verbier which I found hellish with beginners carnage all over it at 4pm on a busy day

I'd be interested in experiences from people about this supposed iisue in St Anton (loads of chalets puts it on my list)

Tony_H wrote:
Anyway, back to the point, and the report on VT was good and most welcome. I wasnt intending to have a dig, just giving my viewpoint on when I went there, albeit 11 years ago.
Please keep the reports coming in, its useful to see what people make of different places.

No offence taken Tony - I too like to here what peeps make of other areas - I'm often guilty of looking at the piste map in brochures and instantly dismissing places as being too small and thus boring - hence I like 3valleys, Espace Killy etc

Ian Wickham wrote:I must be a one off as I have never found the French rude

Me neither in most parts - Parisiens can be if you don't try to speak French but after that they're great (I remember one impromptu taxi ride home from a landlord who's hospitality we'd enjoyed a little too much out in the suburbs on a golf trip)

I'll join you in a hardcore garage two-step for snow - it's getting thin out there....

Thanks Dids

I'd never thought of it like that but I guess that a Frenchman coming to the UK, especially Central London or another major tourist area - not Newcastle where all is perfect ) , would find us as rude as some people seem to find them in French tourist ski resorts

Ian Wickham wrote:There are a lot nicer places to ski in France than Val Thorens

never said that there weren't - I was writing a review on my holiday from this year

Overall I prefer VDI as a town as a base but the difficulty of runs back into town/bus service from la Daille means its not great when I have beginners with me

I'm not even wedded to France - I take Tony's point about how the French can be (though I've never had to queue in VT unlike Verbier which also has much to reccomend it but plenty to put me off) but I quite like the French and we dont get much grief as my wife speaks fluent french with a parisien accent having lived there for a while so we dont get any grief!

have had great holidays in France, Switzerland, Austria (though snow low down was a problem in Kitzbuhel that year so we've tended to go high since - this year though, who knew!)the USA, Italy and even Andorra when i was younger and dafter. Only really Canada (and then Japan, Chile etc) missing from my ski CV and I've loved them all.

As I said - this was a review of VT this year, warts and all. If its been misintepreted as a Judith Chalmers article then so be it