J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Ian Wickham

Snapzzz wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:La Caroz is OK ....... but a tree with snow on it is a tree with snow on it :shock:

No they're not.

The huge beautiful conifers look awesome in snow. The bare brown deciduous trees do not compare

You cant beat these beauts

Snapzzzy, the alps are full of those types of fir tree's :shock:

La Caroz is OK ....... but a tree with snow on it is a tree with snow on it :shock:

LOTA wrote:I very much enjoyed spotting the grossly-overpriced Spyder ski wear in Austria last week; the brand of choice for overweight Germans, I think.

My ski trousers (never pants nor salopettes!) are Rossignol - lightweight goretex and all for £30 in the end-of-season sales three years ago!

Trilby hat as well :thumbup:

Thought it is about time I posted a report on our March 2013 trip to Winterberg, Germany ...... So here goes.



I have started off with a couple of shots of the village, a very pleasant place
with a nice square with plenty of bars and restaurants.



The restaurant prices were very reasonable pizza from €5 euro and a steak between €17 to €19.



I was quite surprised how busy the place was it seemed that everybody eat
early so if we rolled into a restaurant at 20.00 hrs there was always a table
available.



The lift system was excellent, all T-bars in operation had been replaced by
chairs between 4 to 8 man, and it was pretty clear that the resort had had major investment.



The day we arrived it snowed not a great deal but enough to carry on the tradition of having snow fall on every ski holiday.
First day of skiing was on the Monday very cold in the morning but warming up as the day progressed.



The snow was pretty hard which we both liked which made for some fast descents but beware the runs are very short, so you do spend a lot of time sitting on chair lifts.
Winterberg is not a place you go for a week two or three days is more than enough as you do cover the same pistes quite a lot, but I suppose it makes it fun finding different ways down the same piste just to keep you interested.



On the mountain the prices were reasonable a large beer €2.5, coffee €1.80, the food was much the same German sausage and chips €5, Spaghetti €6, Chilli and chips €4, Curried German Sausage and chips €4.
One lunch time they had some pea soup on offer so I went for that a big mistake they had chucked in ham so it was Pea & ham disgusting.



Winterberg has two blacks one of which is their slalom piste which was only really red, but the other black which runs down the side of the new ski jump was short steep and narrow but was a nice warm up run in the mornings.



The temps began to rise on the Tuesday and I wished I had brought along a lighter jacket as by lunch time we were beginning to sweat, by 14.00 hrs the snow was starting to become slushy in places which made for that awful stop start when some parts of the pistes were hard and then you hit a slushy bit and it seems you are close to coming out of your boots !!



Wednesday the weather was even warmer and again by lunch the snow suffered.



So we finished our stay in sun tan weather which was great for sitting outside drinking beer which I will add is excellent, not normally a lager drinker but the german beer was first class.




And a last one of my ugly mug ..... :thumbup:



Would I recommend Winterberg yes I would, like I have said earlier not for a week but for a couple of days it is fine. Nice people, Nice hotel and only reasonable food as it is Germany, but bloody good beer.
Winterberg has a massive snow making operation which as long as temps are cold enough it makes it pretty snow sure, skiing is pretty easy but in the right conditions there are some off piste opportunities but beware the Alps it is not .... but worth a visit if your passing.

I must also had the price of unleaded in Belguim and Holland very expensive €1.77 to €1.71, cheapest fuel was in Germany at €1.65 more expensive than the UK so on the way back we filled up in Blighty that made a change.

jadavi wrote:wow thanks Ian, I wonder why Snowfit didnt tell me that!
I am going to use their skis from now on at the club. Do you go on a Friday?
Where is our nearest snowdome?
Cheers,

Nearest snowdome to us is Milton Keynes, make sure you clean your binding as that white stuff that squirts out on the slope coats them and just check your bases for any damage.
I have let my membership run out although my daughter keeps nagging me to rejoin, so rejoining does seem on the cards but as part of concerted fitness drive to try and build the muscles around my knees.
As for snow fit I have used them for many years and I have always found them very helpful, Mrs W brought some boots from them last year and I was impressed by the customer service they offered her.

Report back and let us know how the support was ... I would be really interested :thumbup:

jadavi wrote:Thanks ian. I know the club entrance fee covers club skiis so that would be no problem but I was hoping to get used to my new skiis there. Not much point really as they dragged a lot on the dry slope and were just frustrating. Thanks for the offer though,

You should use a special kind of wax for dry slopes, but I would seriously say test them out at a snowdome to save further damage.
http://www.edgeandwax.co.uk/110/dryslope_and_indoor_ski_and_snowboard_waxes.aspx

MogulMonkey wrote:Just returned from a week in 3v and had 4 days on piste ski's due to snow conditions and it snowed over the wednesday evening and all through thursday so on the thursday morning i wanted to change ski's and there was a wide selection available and decided to try the cham87. MISTAKE!! they were fine on the thursday - everywhere was soft new snow and even the pistes were fluffy :-) and they were fine in these conditions although did not put a smile on my face. On the friday the pistes were back to hard pack and the off piste was good.. they still performed ok off piste although they did not bash their way through snow piles like other ski's i have used.
On piste.. useless other than groomed flat piste. They had been serviced on the wednesday evening and the edges were very good but actually skiing on them they could not hold an edge on the hard pack so hate to think what they would be like on ice. there was no tail power out of turns and there was a lot of tip vibration on faster speeds.
I believe they are being marketed as an all mountain ski - I have been on many other ski's that are able to perform much better on all types of terrain than these.. At 650euros i was expecting something much better - wouldnt pick these up again even if they were free.

Interesting report Thanks :thumbup: