J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by tino_11

Good evening all, not been posting for a while, still no internet as I can't get it without a residence permit, which I still don't have due to a lost birth cerftifcate :roll: The administration round these parts dont move too quickly either.

Anyhoo, been here just over a month, managed 4 days riding, would have been 6 had the wind not conspired to close the lifts on Saturday and Sunday on this bank holiday weekend. Got up there today, snow falling lightly most of the day the conditions were great and there was even a fair bit of off-piste going on on the Furggestattel glacier. It's interesting, lots of people sit around waiting for guide to take a group out of bounds, then rip it down the same stretch keeping to 5m either side of the tracks. This works early in the day, however the 5m gets wider and wider all day until the entire thing is tracked out. Probably not the smartest idea. Been doing a lot of hiking inluding a 20km round trip from town to about 2450m on the Stafelalp, rain and slush at the bottom, 50cm of snow at the high point. Felt a bit sorry for my two pals who came down for the long weekend, only one day skiing and me dragging them up hills the other two days.

So work is going well, feeling fit despite eating more than I ever have :oops: cut down on the smoking, passed my medical with flying colours, all is good apart from the fact I cant stay awake past 11pm at night, might have something to do with getting up at 5am every day to go to work.

Anyone who passes this way let me know and I'll keep an eye out for ya!!

Ciao!!

Was up at the Kleine Matterhorn yesterday. -11 degC and 61km/h wind :shock: Brisk it was, but once of the top quite good, pistes in great condition, the Theodulgletscher was open so first chairlift rides of the new season. As much as it"s nice geting out in August and September (on cable cars and t-bars), it don't properly feel like winter until the chair lifts are opening.

Snow forecast this afternoon, so just chilling, watching Grand Prix and Skiing whilst staring out the window. Long weekend here next weekend, some mates coming down for a few days riding, happy days )

Zermatt open to Trockner Steg today, blue skies, right on zero degrees. Reckon another dump of 20cm - 30cm and they will start running the Furggsattel Gletscherbahn chair.

Dave Mac wrote:Leaving 11 December:
Choice of four catered chalets in Zermatt, £443 ~ £478, along with a 2 for 1 ski/boot hire. Flghts from Gatwick. France, Tignes £478. Austria, St Anton, £424.

Interesting and useful comparison there Dave. I was sitting on my hands thinking 'yeah, good deal for Zermatt, but its not cheap once in resort', but as I've been to all 3, I can safely say Zermatt is no dearer than either of your alternatives once in resort. Given the altitde and the fact I have no friends, Zermatt seems the deal there )

In my opinion, Hintertux is the better glacier, however ther is not a lot going on unless you want Helmut aus Mallorca for 6 nights :shock:

If you have a full week, head for Switzerland, Zermatt and Saas Fee are prety much equidistant from Visp. Stay in both a copule of nights, they both have there own charm, with Saas Fee being the prettier and Zermatt being the more cosmipolitian. Saying that, Saas Fee is earning a rep as a boarders resort.

Indications from Zermatt are that the Matterhorn side will open relatively early this year, they are busy building the piste to Trockner Steg (I saw the snow machine in operation yesterday. They are expecting about 20-30cm snow tonight, unfortunately I am back in Germany :roll:

You can really notice going from sea level to just under 4000m when unfit, however it never takes more than 2 days in resort to get aclimatised (in my experience). I have never had problems sleeping at moderate altitude, In Portillo (Chile) the hotel was bang on 3000m, my bedroom is now about 1680m.

The big thing is how much work you are doing, if you are profficient and ski easily, then you will not need to work so hard to keep yourself oxygenated, however if you are perpetually on your arse, the work rate goes up and then you notice.

My mate who helped me move to Zermatt a week or so ago, said he really felt it going from 100m at home to 3900m and working, had some dizzyness, however nothing drastic.

Everyone reacts dfferently of course, small steps (or time periods) are probably best if unsure.

Thanks all, been a fun few days!! Not been riding yet, have that planned for tomorrow. Did a hike yesterday (downhill) from Riffelberg to Zermatt along the Mark Twain trail. Was a bit hairy in places due to some rockfall, but very satisfying nonetheless.

Hve limited internet access a the moment, so have to grab a few minutes whilst having a beer )

All these rumours about large volumes of beer being transported are just that rumours, unfortunately.

Talk soon,

tino

DONE IT :D

I am resident of Zermatt, arrived for good on Tuesday evening, everything is in place in the apartment, been to register this morning, open a bank account etc. Now having a beer and a sandwich in the Brown Cow.

It was not without incident, getting stuck up on the Grimselpass at 2100m in a 3 tonne van and no chains was no fun, electrotaxis with all the contents of aforementioned van was interesting and the stress of the move was huge.

Now have a few days to relax, ride and look forward to the new job on Monday.

Gonna do a blog post about the move soon, but for now I am just going to enjoy a relaxing afternoon.

tino

P.S. Dixie, due to moving chaos, I did not get your PM till now, apologies but I was snowboarding on the day you sent it, so I hope you made it up to the glacier on Sunday morning, it was wonderful, with new snow and sun.