J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

Hi Dids,
I haven't skied at Les Saisies, but a friend of mine skied in the same area, the Espace Diamant, during the Christmas holidays. She was at Praz-sur-Arly. She said it was a great resort, right under Mont Blanc, and uncrowded, so there were no queues for the lifts. Apparently they have been spending a lot of money on new lifts etc. in the area. And at Christmas, anyway, there was plenty of snow. She also said it was very French, with lots of people who couldn't speak English, although they managed O.K. even though they can't speak French.

Have a wonderful holiday,

Ally

Thanks very much Bandit for your explanation as to why he didn't fall over.

Unfortunately I didn't understand any of it, so I think I'd better get off this technical subject and get back to housework/farm paperwork/yardwork.

Ally

Pablo,
I'm amazed that guy could ski like that - I'd have thought he'd have fallen over backwards.

Do you have any good photos of the correct position? Maybe I can practice then in front of the mirror ready for next year.

Incidentally I've never had burning thighs, on a ski slope anyway, but this is probably because I'm not going fast enough, or working hard enough. The only aches I get are from ski-ing with my hands in front of me where I can see them (otherwise the instructors tell me off). It's surprising how that makes my arms ache.

Ally

Well, that is annoying about the teenage pass.

I bought ours on the internet with my Visa debit card, and waited until the exchange rate wasn't too bad. If you watch it, it varies quite a bit from day to day. I'm on AOL and they do a continous update, doing it from euros to pounds, and today they have it at 0.92, whereas it was at 0.88 only a few days ago, i.e. it's got worse by around 4%, presumably because of the bad news about Lloyds bank plus the ridiculously low bank rate now. I don't know if it's predicted to get worse or improve.

I think if it was me I'd get them now direct on the internet (assuming you can of course) in case things get worse.

Ally

Hi Dids,
I haven't used Ski Collection myself, but I've just had a look at their website, and they seem to be part of Peak Retreats, which is a member of ABTA, the travel association, and hence has to abide by their code of conduct - which presumably includes only selling legitimate lift passes. (I checked the ABTA website and they did indeed come up as members).

But their website also said that they only sold ski add ons to people who weren't booking holidays with them, if they were still available and that they would charge a £25 booking fee.

Finally, they look O.K. to me.

Ally

Pavelski,
My last ski instructor had us ski-ing backwards, as an exercise. We soon learnt that to go fast backwards you have to lean forwards, like you said, with the legs, not by bending at the waist and just leaning forwards with the upper body. He then said that, finally, we were all ski-ing in the correct position. And he said, whenever we forgot the correct position, to imagine we were ski-ing backwards again.

I have found, myself, that when my weight isn't far enough forwards, my skis become unweighted at the front and it's a horrible feeling because I can't properly control the front of my skis.

Thanks very much for your advice,

Ally

Hi,
Warren Smith's ski academy teaches right through the summer, July to September, at Saas-Fee in Switzerland, presumably on the glaciers. But I would think that the ski-ing would be fairly limited i.e. not many pistes would be open.

So, it is clearly possible to ski late in the season.

Hope this helps,

Ally

Hi,
I have been to the one in Milton Keynes for a morning's ski practice. I hadn't been to a snow dome before, only a dry ski slope, and I was impressed with the quality of the snow. It feels like real snow - much better than the dry ski slope.

I found the place was very like a huge shopping mall (which is next door) and rather confusing at first, but the lifts seemed to work O.K. and my skis were fine. I didn't see any moguls, or rails, or anything like that, but maybe it's like the one in Manchester and they put them out sometimes and then take them away again. Or, maybe they were there and I just didn't notice them!

It was very strange driving through Milton Keynes in the daytime, because there were hardly any other cars. I can see why they call it a dormitory town.

I am going to Manchester, to their snow dome, because it is supposed to be much better, and they teach special mogul clinics.

Ally