J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

At this time of year, no sun gets on the north facing slopes, so I am pretty sure the snow cannons will be able to work. On the runs, between the trees, I bet the piste temp does not rise above freezing during the day, and it certainly doesn't at night ~ which is when they are likely to switch the machines on.

Also, by now, there will be "whales" of snow located around the mountain, ready to be moved by the piste machines.

A number of my Niederau friends have been skiing up at Auffach this week.

I think Munich J may have some better news for you, snow wise.

Trains leave on the odd hours at 8 min past, 11.08,13.08 etc
Trains leave on the even hours at 12 min past, 12.12, 14.12 etc.
Fare is €22.6 each way, one and a half hours, travel time.

Much as I am a fan of Austria, I use DBB for train info for many countries.

Watching Marcel Hirsher sent a shiver down the spine, shades of Klammer in some aspects of his approach to racing.

I have been to a ski area in Cypress, and I have skied at Perisher in Australia ~ I happened to hit the best snow they had had in memory.
Have also been to two ski areas in New Zealand, Cardoma and Queenstown.

I have thought about this. Given that when you hire ski boots, you are wearing twentieth hand boots, that will rarely fit properly, why not buy a second hand pair of ski boots?

Visit your ski shop, and get your feet measured ~ you need to establish the shell size, and also any likely areas where a boot shell may need adjusting.

Then go search on ebay, restricting to your local area. You will find a pair for £20/£50. Try them on, if they feel good, and you buy them, then you can choose to have footbeds made. I don't use footbeds, as I have a shaped innersole that I transfer from my day shoes.

Before writing this, I ran this past CEM, our resident ski boot guru. This is his reply:
"not ideal, but better than rental, just a case of getting the right size/shape (ish)"
So, like me, CEM takes a pragmatic view.
You can also buy new boots from Amazon at £150 ish. I would venture that you may find a better quality used pair on ebay.

The money you save on future boot hire can go towards your new ambition ~ which is to ski every year!

Regardless, of how frequently you ski, if you are a committed skier, then I agree with the premise of buying boots. It is an infrequent purchase, (my current pair are entering their 27th season), and so the cost per year is constrained.

The benefits of owning well fitting boots have been explained. There are other advantages.

You will feel consistency in wearing the same boots. having bought a good pair of boots, you will be skiing in good boots every year!

You will save hiring and return time every year. Valuable time!

OK, that's the boot issue resolved. Now we need to sort out how you can get to ski every year. You need to address your approach to skiing costs!

Thanks, Trencher. Apart from the products, the company has an interesting background. I may give the clothing patching a miss. My OH used to complain enough about the gaffer tape!