J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

Dave Mac wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:I'm sorry buddy but I gotta disagree, I really think it is dangerous not to be 100% focused on you're skiing, you need your wits about you with so many idiots around, remember it's a jungle out their :wink:

Jungles are hot, Ian! However, I agree with you about not listening to music, when skiing. Or rather, staying alert, and being fully aware. Skiing is a wonderful way of life, but there are dangers.

I have twice been wiped out, on both occasions there was a split second of sound, which allowed me to brace against the impact. One of these would have put me out of the game for a good while, as it was, the other guy needed treatment.

I'm with these guys. Furthermore, in addition to the importance of having your wits about you when skiing, I just love the peace and quiet at other times, such as the gentle quiet rise on a chairlift or the beautiful silence of the mountain when you take a breather in a quiet spot. Oooh! I went all poetic just there :mrgreen: .

Apart from that, this thread just makes me feel old :evil: I hardly recognised a single band named on the thread and don't own an iPod, MP4 player or any other such device :shock: :shock: :shock:

Tony_H wrote:Glad you enjoyed in Wanderer.
Is it somewhere you think someone like me would enjoy?

Tony

I know you have often dismissed Soll on this forum. IIRC, your concerns related primarily to risk of poor snow, the distance of the main lift from the village and crowds.

1. Snow: Yes, the resort is relatively low but in practical terms most of the skiing is done between about 1200m and 1600m. With much of this North facing, I think it holds its snow pretty well, though you do tend to get the thaw/freeze conditions common to most lower-lying resorts. In 3 years, I have always had pretty decent conditions and I suspect the worst you would get is runs down to the resort closed and some ice up higher. While I haven't been to your beloved Mayrhofen, I get the impression it is somewhat similar :roll: .

2. Distance to Village: not a problem. There is accommodation near the gondola but even if you don't stay there, it is a short enough walk from the village - the key is to rent a locker at the gondola and then you do not have to walk in ski boots or carry skis - think of the walk as your warm-up or warm-down exercise. You can always get the bus if feeling lazy :shock:

3. Crowds: What crowds? Maybe at half-term but certainly not anytime I have been there :lol: . On the contrary, I have rarely experienced even a short queue, except one time when virtually all lifts were closed due to a storm. Definitely yes in the apres ski bars buts that different obviously:lol:

Overall, I think it is a very decent resort. There is extensive skiing for all levels throughout the very well linked villages with a good modern lift system. If I had a criticism, it is that many of the runs are quite short, certainly compared with, say, somewhere like ADH. Again, I would have thought that Mayrhofen is quite similar in this respect.

Would you like it? Yes, I think you would, though you might start to get bored towards the end of a full week - probably better bet for a long weekend. Is is as good as St Anton? No way - but it is much, much cheaper.

Its probably close to 15 years since I skied Courmayeur but I still have fond memories of it. The ski area is small but reasonable variety - when I was there, the tour operator reps did a bit of guiding and one of their days was a "ski every run in the resort in a day". I gather it was pretty hectic but perfectly doable for good intermediate skiers.

My biggest memory of the town was the amount of fur on display. The resort was full of wealthy Italians from Turin and Milan and they all seemed to be wearing fur :roll: I even saw babies in buggies wrapped up in fur blankets :roll: :roll: :roll:

Lovely relaxed Italian feel to the town and excellent Italian food.

Enjoy. :wink:

I haven't actually stayed in Westendorf so I cannot help you with hotels, apres ski, etc. However, I did get over there for a day on a trip to Soll last week. There seemed to be a few nice runs in Westendorf itself but its real attraction has to be access to the entire SkiWelt. You can even ski as far as Kitzbuel.

Its a huge area with plenty to suit everyone. :D

You will probably be reasonably ok though I would be surprised if you were able to ski all the way back to Vaujany. Also, ADH markets itself as the Isle de Soleil or island of sun. Much of the terrain is in full sunshine and lots of it throughout the year - I think they claim 300 days of sunshine each year. Accordingly, I would suspect that you could experience a lot of freeze/thaw conditions at that time of year, giving a fair bit of ice and/or slushy conditions lower down.

Having said that, it is probably as good as anywhere at that time.

Tony_H wrote:Its a tragic accident, and the probability of it happening is minute. Lets move on and not dwell on something like this happening to one of us.

.... sure you have more chance of being hit by an idiot in a truck on the road to East Grinstead :roll:

Tony_H wrote:I had a very near death experience today on the A22 near East Grinstead

Tony

I hear they are going to rename it Grimstead after your unfortunate experience. I think we all forget the risk we take every time we get into the car until you have a near miss like you one. I had a fairly nerve-racking drive from Soll to Munich on Tuesday afternoon with cars speeding past on the motorway at up to 160kph in snowy conditions and temperatures of -6C. Thankfully nothing happened but was so easy to imagine how easy a really serious pile-up could have happened at any second!

Well, we did get out on Saturday morning as planned and the flight out was pretty much on time. We were off the plane, bags collected and carhire sorted by 11am. Unfortunately, the traffic down to resort was pretty bad. After stopping for a quick bite on the way down (and buying our motorway vignette), we eventually got to Soll about 1.45pm. After a quick check-in to our hotel, change into ski gear and trip to hire shop, we were good to go.

The lift company allows you up from 3pm at no extra charge when you book a multi-day lift pass so we were ready to go on the dot of 3pm. Obviously, we couldn't do too much that day. Started off by heading over towards Scheffau and up the Fitzbolden chair. The red run down from there is one of my favourites in the area - a nice, relatively easy red that was good for getting the ski legs back in. After a few runs around the Scheffau, it was time to head back down to Soll. The run down (Red 41?) is actually quite good with a fair bit of variety. Unfortunately, it can be in pretty poor shape by late afternoon with everybody heading home. The steeper bits are often quite icy with a lot of traffic as inexperienced skiiers struggle. If its anyway warm, the lower stretches can be extremely slushy. not too bad on Saturday though and after 2 hours enjoyable skiing, we made it to the Moonlight bar where it seemed half of Munich had gathered to drink and sing German and Austrian folk songs of the oompapa, oompapa type and extremely bad Europop - great fun. After a short nap and dinner, it was down town for a few in the Postwirt where Bloodshot Eyes, a decent band, were playing, Also had a quick stop in the Brandl Stadl on the way home.

Sunday morning was bright and sunny and we head over to Westendorf, taking the new gondola over from Brixen. It was quick and easy to get over. Did a few nice runs over there but generally found the resort a bit limited (perhaps just because we didn't know our way around). On the way back, we took the red from the top down (the black is one of the steepest I have seen). It was tricky with a some steep pitches that would have ranked it black in most resorts. It was also very icy in places due to being South facing. Not a particularly pleasant run! Another fun visit to the Moonlight bar on the way home and Postwirt, Rossinis and Brandl Stadl in the evening.

Sunny again on Monday and the slopes were getting increasingly hard packed, though very well groomed. With the German weekenders gone home, the slopes were nice and quiet. Perfect for high speed cruising around the resort. We skied for nearly 6 hours, excluding lunch, and covered quite a few miles - 32km by lunchtime according to my pals iPhone, though he was unsure of whether this included uphill as well. Really enjoyable day but exhausting. Headed to the public swimming pool to unwind after the mandatory trip to the Moonlight for a bit of apres ski. The pool has a lovely warm outdoor section with jacuzzi jets that can give sore limbs a bit of hydromassage. Suitably refreshed, a trip to town was called for to the usual suspects. The Frog on the Tyne were playing in the Postwirt - not sure whether the they had anything to do with the Jagermeister's that starting flowing!

We woke on Tuesday to a grey sky and light snow. After quickly packing it was up the mountain. Completely different conditions with about 15 cms of fresh snow on the slopes, though is was a bit heavy. Visibility was coming and going and at one stage was down to less than 10 metres - not much fun when you slowly make your way down where you think the slope is until you see the next marker. Meanwhile you are desperately hoping that you are on the right piste. Given that we had a plane to catch later in the evening, we could not afford to get lost. Anyway, we did get down safely but time pressures meant we had to give the Moonlight a miss. After a quick shower, it was into the car for the drive back to Munich.

Thankfully, the road was clear of snow (we headed through Worgl as the road is better and flatter than the more direct route to Kufstein). However, when we got to the motorway, the conditions gradually got worse with a bit of snow falling and temperatures dropping down to -6C. Not being used to such low temperatures and being afraid of ice, I reduced speed only to have the Germans whizzing past at speeds of up to 160kph. I know they have winter tyres but this still seems crazy to me given the conditions. I was amused at signage on the motorway warning drivers that the road might be slippy so they should reduce speed to 120kph! Anyway managed to get to Munich safely and on time. The flight was delayed slightly but we got home safe and sound after a very enjoyable, if exhausting few days. Unfortunately, I never got to meet Scarlet Fez or the other J2skiers that were scheduled to be there.

Muscles have been complaining since we got home but I am now looking forward to my main trip to Flaine in 4 weeks time. Probably a lot less apres ski as I will have OH and kids with me!