J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

All the package holidays I've ever been on have someone standing there pointing you to the right coach. You'll be fine. Have a great holiday.

Ally

I have been helped a few times by very kind strangers, on the piste.

My first morning in Obergurgl, going down a narrow blue run, I unexpectedly found myself with my chin in the snow, face down, and I was quite dazed with the shock of it and totally unable to get up. My elder daughter had skied on ahead, and she didn't know I'd fallen over. But an Austrian samaritan came along and handed my the end of his ski pole and pulled me up, and he didn't laugh at me, and he even waited to make sure I could continue ski-ing. It was quite a crash - my chin was bleeding. And I don't know how it happened except that it was the year when there was hardly any snow anywhere and even Obergurgl was icy.

And, my first morning in Val Thorens last year, I fell on a green run, in a lesson, because one of my skis went into deep powder and came off. And my instructor didn't wait, even though he knew I'd fallen, but another instructor came up from behind me and helped me to find my lost ski and get it on.

So, actually, all in all, I have found other skiers to be very polite and helpful. I have been accidentally hit by skiers out of control, which is very frightening when it happens, but it's usually because the piste is too crowded.

What I don't get about the rules of the road/piste, is how you overtake slow skiers on a very narrow blue run. I usually tell them, in English and French, that I wish to overtake and on which side, so that they don't suddently swerve into me. But I know you're not really supposed to do this. And, something else I've noticed lately, is that people indicate with their sticks if they're going to swerve to the right or the left - the instructors do this particularly.

Thanks for bringing up the subject,

Ally

Hi,
I am Ally. I'm too shy to say much about the real world, plus I am escaping from it by coming here. And my ski-ing photo looks pathetic compared to everyone else's. But I don't mind admitting to being married, with two kids - one grown up and one currently doing GCSE's. And, I went to an all girls school, in London, so I am definitely female.

I learnt to ski on the dry slope at Alexandra Palace in London,in 1969, when I was 8. I thought I was a brilliant skier at the end of the course, because I could stop and turn (in a snowplough)and what more could I possibly need to do?

So, when we went on our family ski holiday to Sauze d'Ouze I was thoroughly bored with the lessons - I knew it all - and I bunked off and went tearing down the beginners slopes at a million miles an hour, and had a great holiday.

Then, when I was 11, I went ski-ing again with the school, to Austria, but I repeated the beginners classes so that I could ski with my best friend.

And I never skied again for 30 years, even though I really love it. I have had 3 holidays of ski lessons since (plus 2 without lessons) and now, unfortunately, I know I'm not a great skier. I would love to be 8 again, confident that I was the world's greatest skier, tearing down those nursery slopes. Now, I am all too aware that I forget to look down the slope, my parallel turns aren't perfect etc. etc. Somehow, however good I get, I don't think I'll get that innocent confidence back. But at least I can try.

Ally

Ise,
The price wasn't the problem, actually, for me, with going to Zell am See by train. I think the price I was quoted today was something like £220 return, which I thought was pretty cheap (although maybe expensive when compared with Easyjet).

The number to ring is 09012350105 for information on trains around Europe, but they charge 60 pence per minute, and they're shut now because I just rang them. It's not rail europe, who were pretty unhelpful, but I've forgotten what they're called. Anyway, they seemed to know what they were talking about. Rail Europe told me there was no train from Brussels to Zell am See, but these other people told me that apparently this is because the Bergland Express is a chartered train, and for some reason this year it's running from somewhere that sounded like Aachen, which I would guess is near Brussels.

If you want to go on further by train, once in the U.K. I'm pretty sure Eurostar do cheap tickets to include the U.K. part of the journey e.g. from Brussels. And also, if you book far enough ahead, you can get cheap single tickets (Advance Tickets)within the U.K. on the National Rail website. For example, I've just been buying advance tickets from London to Pitlochry in Scotland, and the advance single price out was £18 and the return was £46 (the price depends on the day of the week) whereas the full return price was something like £120.

Maybe I will have another go at finding a train route into Austria on Monday. I much prefer Austrian mountain cafes to the French ones I've been in so far. And perhaps we could go to a Swiss resort another time, by train.

Rail Europe says 'Recent research suggests train travellers produce ten times less carbon emissions than those travelling by plane on short-haul flights'. I don't know if this is correct, but it's what they say. It would be nice if there was some real snow left to ski on when we get there. And, anyway, I hate airports, and I'm very fond of trains.

Ally

Who's broken what?

Thanks Pablo,
I don't think they have Sainte Foy on their list.

Anyway, I've managed to paste the list in this time. I had no idea that I could go to Praz-sur-Arly, for example on the train, getting out at Albertville (26 Km I think).

Ally

Station Resort
Chambéry La Feclaz
Les Aillons
Alpe d'Huez
Les Deux Alpes

Albertville Arêches-Beaufort
Combloux
Crest-Voland Cohennoz
Flumet
La Giettaz
Les Saisies
Megeve
Notre Dame de Bellecombe
Praz sur Arly
St Gervais
Chamonix
La Clusaz
La Grand Bernard
Flaine
Les Gets
Morzine
Avoriaz
Châtel

Moûtiers Champagny-en-Vannoise
Courchevel
La Tania
Les Menuires
Méribel
Pralognon
Val Thorens
Valmorel

Aime la Plagne La Plagne

Landry Peisey Vallandry
Les Arcs

Bourg St Maurice La Rosière
Les Arcs
Tignes
Val d'Isère

Dear whoever it is who does all the work around here to provide the content for this website,
Thanks very much for your excellent work listing the ski resorts in the vicinity of each of the French airports. However, I know it's a bit much to ask, but do you think we could please have something about ski resorts close to the stations as well?

Rail Europe does this map and lists the ski resorts close to each of their French stations www.raileurope.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=487
I can't manage to paste it in, but they list 37 resorts close to their 6 destinations - Chambery, Albertville, Moutiers, Aime la Plagne, Landry, and Bourg St Maurice.

The direct Eurostar only stops at the French stations of Moutiers, Aime la Plagne and Bourg St Maurice.

I have also been trying to work out a reasonable route to some of the Austrian and Swiss ski resorts, on the train, but I've temporarily given up, which is why we keep going back to France. For example, to get to Zell am See it seems that you have to start at about midday on Friday at St Pancras and go via Brussels and then overnight arriving on Saturday morning.

Thanks very much,

Ally

Thanks very much Pablo and Ise.
The whole idea of ski-ing off piste and getting caught up in an avalanche frightens me to death.

I can see if I ever want to go off piste I will have to brush up on my French.

Just ski-ing down the side of the piste is difficult enough for me. We were doing it, in a lesson, and the teacher hit a rock and fell over (the first time I have ever seen one of my instructors fall over), and at the same time I hit another hidden rock and also fell, and the guy behind me skied into me and because my ski had fallen off my boot had sunk a foot in the snow and I now have a very interesting vertical line down my calf where it was cut by his ski. I don't know if it will scar or not yet, but it is a new ski-ing memento.

But at least I am still alive, and not buried somewhere in an avalanche.

Ally