J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

I think you might struggle to find anybody with experience of the skiing there, it's a bit off the beaten track.

Nova Levante / Welschnofen is currently linked to the western side of the Carezza / Karersee ski area via a chairlift situated at the top of the village http://www.carezza.it/en/ski-area/ski-map.html If things go according to plan this will be replaced by a 10 person gondola located next to the hotel Seehauser in December https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kabinenbahn-Welschnofen/264445820351280 There is also a free ski bus to the Passo Costalunga end of the area that runs every half hour.

What sort of accommodation are you looking for; hotel (half board or just bed and breakfast), catered chalet or self catering. What price category can you afford and how far are you prepared to walk to the lifts? To get some idea of what hotel accommodation is available check out the 'Good night' and 'Packages' brochures http://www.zermatt.ch/en/page.cfm/service/brochures and to see where the hotels are situated download the pdf street map http://www.zermatt.ch/en/page.cfm/zermatt_matterhorn/localmaps/op_zermatt

Is it worth the trip? Definitely.

Cars hired from the French side aren't normally fitted with winter tyres, those from the Swiss side always have winter tyres and chains included at no extra cost. The French are less fussy about the condition of the cars upon return.

Cars from the French side don't come with a Swiss motorway sticker (vignette) so if you use a Swiss motorway you have to buy one (CHF 40) unless someone who hired the car previously bought one. If you get 'flashed' in a car with Swiss plates in France you are less likely to be fined.

The French side of the airport can be difficult to find. There are maps on how to get to the French side and how to get to and from the airport without using the motorway on the Geneva airport website. A portable sat nav would make finding your way to and from France avoiding the motorway much easier.

There is also an old thread with some useful info http://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/11589.page

Dave Mac wrote:I guess it is a fact of life that as soon as you start walking down the street in your new boots, the toe plate is already being degraded.

That's true, but many modern boots are fitted with replaceable sole plates and those that aren't can be fitted with aftermarket sole plates providing they have solid soles. I use sole protectors (Cat Tracks) they're a bit of a pain to put on, but they make walking much easier and safer. So if you want to keep a pair boots for a long time it's not really that difficult to keep the soles in good shape.

WildBill wrote:I will still use my method to set the tension on my bindings. I may have a premature release, but I think that is much better than a torn-up knee or worse.

The release and retention mechanisms in all current ski bindings were designed in the 1960s and 70s when the primary design objectives were to protect the skier from tibia and ankle fractures. They are very good at doing this; to date the risk of injury below the knee has been lowered by almost 90%.

Unfortunately they do not protect the knee from injury. The incidence of serious knee injuries usually involving the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has risen dramatically since the late 1970s. Knee injuries now account for just over 33% of all skiing injuries and women are twice as likely to sustain one as men.

A common but mistaken belief is that the risk of serious knee injuries can be reduced by lowering the toe piece release values, but as the injury mechanism for ACL injuries is not related to binding function any reduction in the binding release values will not reduce the risk of a knee injury.

All you are doing by lowering the toe piece release values is increasing the risk of sustaining an injury caused by pre-release.

Lots of information on binding installation, maintenance and adjustment can be found in the manufacture's manuals, this one is from Salomon http://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/10901972/2012-2013-shop-practice-manual-salomon-certification

Useful things to know include; your skier type, your DIN setting based on skier type, age, height, weight, and boot sole length and how to check that the binding's forward pressure has been set correctly. The correct forward pressure is critical; if it is not set correctly the bindings won't function properly. The adjustment and indicator mechanisms vary from brand to brand, but they are always located on the heel piece.



It's also a good idea to check the condition of the AFD and the boot soles; if the soles are warped or excessively worn the bindings won't function properly.

A few years ago I did some on snow experiments to see what effect changing the binding ramp angle had on the performance of my skis. I made some shims out of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0mm thick hard plastic to put between the binding toe piece AFDs of my Head Freeflex Plus 14 bindings with a 3.5mm ramp angle and my boot soles, found a very wide gentle piste and did a series of runs increasing the thickness of the plastic by 0.5mm before each run. I didn't notice much difference until I put the 3.0mm shim in after which turns were much easier to initiate and the skis gripped much better. I carried on adding shims until I got to 4.0mm at which point the skis felt sluggish again. I was very surprised that the range was so small; the reason is probably due to my very small boots (size 23.5) I would expect that larger people with larger boots would have a greater range.

Some people reckon they can determine the optimum binding ramp angle statically using applied kinesiology muscle tests, as my optimum ramp angle range is very small (± 0.5mm) I'm very sceptical.

The terminology is a bit confusing, it's often called the binding delta but it is always given as the difference in stand height between the toe and the heel piece in mm as the angle varies according to the length of the boot.



Notice that the deltas on the bindings with higher DIN settings are less than those for the ones with lower settings, the opposite of what you would expect.

If you decide to do some on snow tests be aware that placing bits of plastic between the toe pieces and your boot soles is likely to impair release and might damage the bindings.

The Look PX 12 has a 6mm delta and the jib version weighs 2495g the Marker Griffon has a 4mm delta and weighs 1890g.

Summer skiing at Saas Fee doesn't start until 27th July. http://www.saas-fee.ch/en/bergerlebnis/summer-cableway-schedule

I don't think you will be able to find a catered chalet in November, but there shouldn't be any problems finding a hotel room for a couple of nights. As only the lifts in the summer skiing area will be open at this time I would look for a hotel near to the lift station at the southern end of the village.

It is very expensive, the lift pass is the most expensive in Europe and they don't reduce the price in summer, in fact they put it up! A days summer skiing costs 82 Francs and a winter Zermatt area day pass is 75 francs. Don't forget that the pound has lost about 40% of its value against the Swiss franc since 2007.