J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ise

baillie353 wrote:

smirnoff_skier wrote:Are there any devices in the market which can be used when skiing that will give you accurate figures for how many km/m have been skied.
Although the website mentioned on the forum a while back gives approx distances depending on which lifts you use, it would be good if there was some sort of pedometer for skiing.

Any techies out there care to invent one?

C'mon, it's the 21st century. Of course they exist :D lol - Infact, my friend has one! Not only does it record how far you've ski'd, but the speed too (his max is 55 MPH so far :P)
Here you are:
http://www.skinetuk.com/skilog/skilog.htm

Take a look :D

The trouble is they're not very accurate, the GPS receivers in them are terrible.

If it tells you've been doing 55 mph I'd throw it away :D That's not likely, to give you idea of speeds, last week was the FIS Lauberhorn race which is pretty quick, the course record is held by the Kristian Ghedina in 1997 with an average speed of 66 mph (106.33 km/h). Defago won this year with his highest gun speeds around 105 kph or 62 mph.

If you're friend is Didier Defago though then 55mph is probably correct :D

I've photoshopped these to suggest we've got skiing in the area, really the snow is from Verbier and the scenery from the Jungfrau :

My tracks from yesterday :!: Normally it's about 10 minutes before someone sees my tracks and follows them, so we're doing this one again :D



More of the same for a few hours then the last run with Jason, tracked but still light, loose powder. Although it's a bit longer down than Jason expects and he's flagging a bit towards the bottom.





So good it can't be the last run, so I grab the last lift back up and drop in again and grab this shot of the early evening light.

karen72 wrote:thanks for the responses....didnt mean to start a heated debate.

We havent got winter tyres on the car, nor do I intend to buy winter tyres for just 1 week of driving, in fact do they actually sell them in the uk? i have never been asked by the tyre shop if i want winter or summer tyres.

My main concern is that we dont get stuck in the snow. We dont intend to drive the car other than from Amsterdam to Niederau and then park it and start it back up 1 week later for the return journey. we will not be taking it anywhere else! not even within Niederau. So I will buy my cheap snow chains and hope they fit if needed. although from what I have read, and what we will be using them for I am hoping we will not be needing to get them out the box.

karen

When we lived in the UK I wouldn't have dreamed of having winter tyres, now after living in Alpine countries for 12 years if I went back to the UK I would probably have some particularly if we went back to the Peak District. If you keep a car 3 or 4 years you'll probably get through a couple of sets of tyres anyway so using a different set in winter is not a huge extra cost. Steel or alloy wheels depends on your car, many people in Europe are using the wrong wheels and won't find out until they hit the brakes at speed so some care is required there.

I thought for N people had mentioned it was possible to drive to the bottom and get a ride up to the station if the road was bad which sounds like a good idea.

ParalyticSkiCrazie wrote:BMC (British Mountaineering Club) definitely cover off piste - my son was rescued by helicopter last year after an off piste accident and no probs with the claim.

The annual policy is something like 140 quid and covers trips upto 90 days I think. It's an Alpine and Ski policy so if you wanted to climb Mt Blanc and ski down (which I don't recommend, it's too busy nowadays) then it would cover you.

The problem is that it's for members only. Anyone can join but it does cost £29.95 per year. The other route is to join an affiliated club, that's often a cheaper option as the affiliated club fee is (I think) £11.75

The Ski Club one never quite looks as good although it's apparently managed by Perkin Slade now. I would think they also do the BMC one, Perkin Slade are the professional insurer for mountain leaders so they're known in this market.

Personally, I'd go with the BMC one although if you're not a member it bumps the cost up and for a single trip that might be too much

RossF wrote:
Besides I don't even ski.. I just enjoy pretending to.

me too :!: just going to spend today photoshopping photo's to make it look like I've been skiing

RossF wrote:115 mph winds at the Funicular Tunnel mouth right now according to Winterhighland............... Cairngorms does get pretty windy.

did you see this from a couple of weeks back ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/4141762/Highlands-mountain-claims-strongest-UK-wind.html

brilliant photo of the plateau as well

john101 wrote:hard to find good cover.
worked in a resort, was with a ski instructor friend who took kids off piste, he fell and broke his back, ended up crawling back onto the piste for a helicoptor!funny looking back but not at the time!
If im right though, snow mobiles/helicoptors will only rescue you on piste anyway, perhaps im wrong apologies every1 if i am! :oops:

you're not right but don't worry, it's not very simple at all :lol: it hugely depends on the country you're in who is it that's going to come and rescue you and how they charge.

OTOH, an instructor should be taking people places his own insurance doesn't cover, that doesn't sound too good.

I understand the BMC policy is pretty good, it's a mountaineering based thing so more risk aware than guys who normally cover beach holidays.

RossF wrote:Zinal and Grimentz don't actually exist, I am told, apparently Verbier is where all the snow falls in Switzerland :?: :?

that's true, we're in the snow shadow of Verbier and only get the left over snow they don't need.