J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by verbier_ski_bum

http://www.ski-zermatt.com/summer-skiing.html

http://www.zermatt.ch/en/index.cfm

You should be able to rent equipment in a village.

Of course they are plenty jobs for guides but what I mean is that a ski club leader status is not clear whereas a guide's status is. He's a trained professional licenced to do the job.
I understood that ski club leaders were volunteers, not associated with resort but with their ski clubs. So the law might eliminate this grey area. Plus banning leaders from leading will make people either to turn to "real" guides/ski instructors or to explore themselves.
I thought rope was only obligatory when going to the glaciated terrain, same goes for mountaineering gear. Whether the guide would have it depends on a route chosen. Still, we couldn't figure out when it happened where exactly the accident was. It sounded like around Vallon d'Arby area, returning to Tzoumaz but you say that locals do not use this route in winter so must be elsewhere. But description doesn't seem to fit anything I know. Most routes around Verbier do not allow for a turn around once you on it you have to follow through. And everyone else seems to have finished the route safely. So it's difficult to judje how bad this leader was.

I didn't express myself properly:) I've never been to that area of Valais so your pictures are really appreciated. Maybe one day - but there are still some stuff I haven't skied in Verbier or haven't skied as well as I would have liked to, plus it's closer to where I live. If I take one it will be a 5-day introduction course, I think I will leave Mont Blanc for next year - August seems to be fully booked anyway and I am getting busy again in September.

GoPro - there is one somewhere in Verbier at Stairway to heaven. All I need is to go there and do a good search probably with metal detector - it got snapped off my helmet on the first day! :)

So, there are no leftovers that will be perfectly standard lone skis - which actually makes sense. Why keep a single ski anyway? Even para-skiers ski on two skis, they will have an artificial limb but both skis. And if skis are still on warranty it's easier to replace the whole pair. So, I guess a new pair of skis is on order for the OP:)

Well, it seems the law has a purpose to secure the jobs of locally qualified guides. But from whatever little is known of the case it doesn't seem that the accident would have been avoided if it was someone else but a ski rep leading. And in this case the law can be very misleading as it may lure people to believe that if they ski with a "real" guide nothing can happen to them which is not true at all. Absolutely anyone can slip on a traverse, and even on fairly easy routes not requiring any advanced skills there are often traverses that if you slip you will probably end up in a body bag, and I can't see how qualifications of a group leader can change this.

bandit wrote:

verbier_ski_bum wrote:Bandit, I am so disappointed your plans to climb the Breithorn fell through. Was looking forward to read your report. Strange summer we are having, weather just doesn't seem to settle...

I have another reader ...woo-hoo 8) :D :thumbup: Thanks!

The weather was positively wintry, just our luck! We plan to try again next year, maybe a little later into the summer.

I am visiting val d'Anniviers through you:) And you are taking nice pictures too.

As for moutaineering - it's seems to be such a pot shot. My friends wanted to do Mont-Blanc and decided it wasn't worth it for weather reasons - they actually booked a hut for two separate weekends and both times weather cancelled it. I've missed for work reasons and now I am glad I wasn't in it - it must be so frustrating. I am now debating with myself if I should book a week-long course in Chamonix just by myself and just go along with whatever happens. Maybe weather will stabilise now and we'll have a good spell:)

Well, if it's a sub-standard reject, then yes, you are right. But they shouldn't be selling those either paired or alone. But if the ski is of a standard quality no reason for it to be different other than that it will have no wear at all and the other ski obviously will. There is another issue and this is that Unlimited Series have been discontinued by Volkl altogether, so they will probably have none at all, paired or single, but might know which stockist still has them. If this is the case, they are probably selling now at a heavy discount.

Bandit, I am so disappointed your plans to climb the Breithorn fell through. Was looking forward to read your report. Strange summer we are having, weather just doesn't seem to settle...