J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by dixie dean

OK, so this isn't Austria, but it's nearby - one of our trips this winter is to Jungfrau, Switzerland. You can stay in Grindelwald (good shops) or Lauterbrunnen (few shops but train to Interlaken only takes 15 mins). You can also get to Interlaken from Grindelwald (takes about 30 minutes). Really serious shopping can also be had in Thun, 40 mins by car or and hour on the train (train Interlaken to Thun is extra).

The area is best for intermediates and those more advanced. It is often nice and sunny. Here is the Kleine-Scheidegg station webcam, you ski from here down the mountain to Grindelwald or Wengen: http://www.bahnhof-scheidegg.ch/default.asp?itemid=107&lang=d. Here is the Grindelwald webcam: http://www.grindelwaldferien.ch/webcam/dorf/grindelwald.jpg

You can ski right into Grindelwald from First or K/S. If you stay at Lauterbrunnen you can ski down to Wengen or Murren, but then must catch train/cable car down to Lauterbrunnen. They all run frequently. All the trains and cable cars run with usual swiss punctuality. Prices to eat out are also not too bad.

You can ski in 3 great areas, First (pronounced Fear-st), Kleine-Scheidegg/Mannlinchen and Murren/Schilthorn. If you stay in Grindelwald, you will mostly ski the first 2, from Lauterbrunnen the last 2. But your ski pass covers all 3, plus the local trains including into Interlaken.

There are apartments for rent in each resort and hotels. You can fly to Zurich or Geneva and transfer by train or hire a car. Swiss Travel do a £75 transfer ticket.

If you want any other info or copies of the piste maps pm me.

My wife has these:

http://www.skiequipmentuk.com/shop/235/5/index.htm

Anything Technical do the Thermic Supermax for a really good price at £80. You will also need the electric insoles further down the page at £30.

We also have the boot warmers at £26 further down the page to dry the boots overnight.

I can vouch for the suppliers, they are a reputable shop in Kendal and are also good at fitting boots. We have a bought a few things of them and had boots fitted there.

Thanks folks, I'll check out those links - just to clarify her feet are warm as toast - she has the Therm-ic boot warmers - it's her hands we need to sort - I'll check the heated mits and other suggestions - they could be good!

Austrian Vignette (sticker) prices for 10 days (€7,70), 2 months (€22,20) and a year (€73,80).

The Brenner Pass autobahn is an extra (€8.00), the Tauern autobahn (€10.00), and the Arlberg tunnel (€8.50). Driving through the Felbertauern tunnel costs €10.00, while the scenic Großglockner Alpine road will cost you €26.00.

Do NOT drive without a sticker as the police keep watch with binoculars and will fine you several hundred euros as well as charge you for a sticker.

Hope you have a great time - like most people here would love to be coming with you!

Hi everyone
My wife suffers from cold extremeties - we've bought boot warmers for her feet but would like your advice on the best warmest gloves/mits. She has some with pouches on the front into which she puts the chemical warmers. Unfortunately, chemical warmers seem to depend on having oxygen to heat them up, so as soon as you zip them in, the supply is cut off and they fail to work! As soon as you take them out they warm up just fine. Zip them back in again and they go cold pretty quick.
Anyone have any ideas, please?

The OH and myself are off to Hemel this morning. We've been staying down near Dunstable all week, and thought we should bring our ski gear and try out the new Hemel slope while we're here. We haven't been before, we normally go to Manchester, but hey ho we thought we'd give it a go. We need to go once a week to keep nimble too, as we're no spring chickens either! If anyone else is going say "Hello".

Brad
You ski at the same place as a couple, Ken and Linda, who my wife and I met on holiday in the Jungfrau region of Switzerland last February. They're both instructors in their spare time, teaching disadvantaged children from north of the Seattle area. I remember that Ken said that they ski the whole season at White Pass. They are in their late 40s, I think. He's a tall well built guy, she's a small blonde lady. If you bump into them, tell them Cheryl and Dixie from Liverpool have now both cracked it and become reasonably competent skiers (which will amaze them), having spent a lot of time during the summer on a indoor real snow slope in the UK!
Sadly, its probably not a place we'll ever get to, but from what Ken told me it sounds like real fun.

I don't know ... I have only been skiing since December last year, went on 1 weeks holiday (where I just about managed to start to do some parallel, but it was going to the Chill Factore once or twice a week in the summer that has got me really going and able to ski knowing that I am in charge of my skis rather than the other way around. So for me it's been great to be able to ski through the summer and to keep those new skills up until its time to get back in the wide outdoors!

You're right, I had to concentrate hard, some racing event had been on all weekend and so the place was full of ridges and hillocks, almost like being off piste I suspect (not done that yet though), and you have to watch out for people coming from all directions, but we all (7 of us) had a great time.