J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by nuttynutnut

Well having done Bulgaria last year and not really liking it and being a Niederau regular for the last few seasons I thought Id try something different.

I decided to book La Thuile in Italy.

Yep ill probably get slated for it but I wanted decent snow and not queuing up for ages at ski lifts.

I went Niederau in February and it had changed severely from a couple of years beforehand. It kind of felt it had lost its village charm a bit. Still had a great time though abd still like the place.

So how many of you have done La Thuile and what dud you think of it?

Generally I would say that I did enjoy bulgaria as a country and the people that lived/worked there.


It was nice coming back to the hotel bar for some beers in front of the fire.

I would say that brits were the minority though. Majority seemed to be Russian, Bulgarian and Irish.

From what I saw of ski instructors, I would say they were amazing. My little boy (9yrs old) did a red run on his snowboard on the 4th day of his lessons. He has been skateboarding since the age of 7 though which may have had something to do with it.

I just didn't really enjoy the skiing very much and wouldn't probably go again other than for the family.

Also I dont know whether it was a bulgarian thing but the food in the evening was only luke warm and found myself heating my dinner up in the microwave.

Like I say though a lovelly country and am glad to have given it a try but would rather do Austria next time.

Back from Pamporovo and thought I'd do a bit of a review for you guys and gals.

Hopefully some of you will find it useful if you're going there.

Firstly the transfer times from Sofia were around 4hrs with a 30 minute stop en route. Not a bad journey in all honesty with some nice scenery on the way. The first couple of hours of the transfer are pretty boring so use this to catch up on some sleep.

Arrived in resort at around midnight and were given the key to our room. The room was on the 4th floor and was dreadfull.

The window in the bedroom didn't lock shut, had no barriers or any forms of restriction and with a sheer drop it wasn't ideal for a family.

The sofabed had a piece of wood sticking through the mattress so was impossible to get a decent nights rest.

The bathroom was very unthought out.

Hotel bar was nice, warm and friendly and because of lack of apres ski, we spent every night sitting by the fireplace.

Ski bus to the slopes each day was fine and fairly enjoyable actually. You will get pestered by Bulgarians selling little handmade bells pretty much everyday. After a while this really started annoying me but I counted to 10 and managed to keep out of trouble.

After a few days I got used to the hounding and bought some bells for my two children. Yep the Bell men are that pushy lol.

I didn't take ski school but the wife and children did. From what I saw of tuition, it wasnt much short of amazing. My wife had private lessons for 4 hours each day and they cost around £60 per day.

Lift passes were about £100 per adult and about £60 for the children.

Ski and snowboard hire seemed well maintained and had no problems.

Now the skiing bit.........

Personally I hated it which was mainly due to the fact that alot of the people skiing the white stuff had no etiquette or common sense. I found my constantly having to look behind me aswell as in front. I was unable to safely pass people down the mountain because they making very unpredictable slow long turns. I didn't want to bomb past unless it was safe to do so but the second I did try to overtake there was some idiot up the mountain who couldn't control speed or turn and I almost got wiped out a few times.

Another classic was people walking dogs across the ski runs.

The wife (behinner) loved it and so did the children.

Apres ski was pretty non existent so don't expect much apart from an Irish bar which seemed dead when we went in there at 8pm one night.

A large beer will set you back around £2.50 and a large pizza around £6.00 so it is cheap.

I don't think I would go back to Bulgaria personally and because I felt like I had been done out of a ski holiday, I am off to Austria next month.

PS. If you are planning on going to Pamporovo book you lessons etc through Bulgaria Hotels. These worked out around £400 cheaper than crystal.

If you are going make sure you get good insurance aswell

Yep it's me again the season forum user.
You honestly don't think I can put up with hearing about everyone's fun through the whole year did you lol.
Anyway, I have just booked Pamporovo for xmas for me and the family.
I know that it probably isnt going to float my boat because I like racing my runs and with a hill full of beginners it's not the best idea.

My youngest boy of 9yrs is snowboarding (beginner). Hopefully he will pick it up quick because he has skateboarder for around 18mths now. Even managed to pick up a couple of sponsors in that time. PROUD DAD

The Mrs can't ski and in fact some of the runs in Niederau scared the crap out of her.

My eldest son of 11 who has bigger balls than me on a set of skis.

What's your views on the place?

Firstly I would imagine Dave Mac would be able to help on this one and would imagine him to be the first viewer because its a Niederau trip, so hello Mr Mac.

After a shed load of shite my family and I have had this year we have decided to take a nice ski break in December.

Because of limited funds we have decided to drive to Niederau (love it or hate it) from Dunkerque.

I have winter tyres and snow chains so I feel these may as well be put to proper use unlike our UK winters.

Anyway the main question is good stopovers on route to stay. We want to avoid all tolls even it does put an extra hour on the journey.

We have children so would probably be looking at a couple of stop offs on route and on the return home afterwards.

I thought about a half way stop off in Koblenz but then it means I still have a 5 or so hour drive to Niederay afterwards. Obviously I would rather be wide awake and fit for the drive through the snow up the winding mountain roads so don't really want to do anymore than a 3 hour drive to the resort.

If I wasn't taking the children then I would probably just take 2 hour driving shifts with the Mrs and not stopover anywhere (I am nuttynutnut afterall).

Another question would be who offers the cheapest breakdown cover for these type of trips?

I would class myself as a fast skier but it could just be that I just dont care about falling down.

I always say that if you dont take a tumble every now and then, your not trying hard enough.

In my opinion the fear is not of speed as much as it is being able to control what speed youre doing.

Alot of people are scared of what could happen and not was is happening.

You wouldnt do 100mph in a car unless you knew the thing could stop.

I would get her to brush up more on being able to control what speed she has and she will automatically get quicker.

Dare say I will be shot down in flames for my response but its just what I think.

The one of the Niederau church would look lovelly in my office....... :mrgreen:

I spent around 10 hours on dry slopes and another 12 or so hours on piste to become reasonably good. I managed to ski the diamonte noir (black run) in Flaine after another 8 hours ski time. Scared the poop from me a little but I am Nuttynutnut afterall.

I did ice skate for around 12 years beforehand and this was probably the reason for this.

In summary I would imagine you being able to tackle, but maybe not with speed, a reasonably difficult black after a couple of hundred hours.

Like said though, ski with good skiers and try to follow there tracks because this will train you somewhat.

Just remember to take regular breaks because you wont improve with exhaustion and tiredness.