J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Hudman

Am absolutely with Tony on this one.....

I am often found in the south alps over the summer, kayaking and have picked people up from Grenoble airport a number of times.

Serre Chevalier is an obvious one (being very close to a couple of great rivers by the way!) being an easy transfer via Gap or LDA being a more mountainous transfer via La Grave etc.

I've stayed in LDA and had a day out skiing in Alp d'Huez so that is definitely an option if you've hired a car.

There are a number of people here who a critical of Ryanair, however as far as I can see, as long as you go in with your eyes open and realise that you will pay for taking baggage, wanting prebooked seats, etc etc you will probably get a decent deal.

To be honest it seems most of the budget airlines are taking Ryan air's lead in charging for everything so you pays your money you takes your choice!

Hi Snapzzz!

The clothing thing can be an issue for newbies! I organised a trip 2 years ago with a bunch of my mates, about half of which had never skied before. I always try to ski in January (I agree with Tony, that it tends to be cold but really sunny so great photos!) so sent a number of emails out to people stressing how cold it was likely to get and what clothes they really needed. In the end we had a weeks long heatwave (well -1 at the lift stations) and I was sking with just a thermal on and my jacket unzipped!

However it looks like you've got the layers sorted, it might be worth buying a small (no more than 15L) rucksack to keep an extra thermal/put un-needed clothes in. If it's small enough you shouldn't notice it but it will mean you don't just need to guess at clothing at the start of the day and then be lumped with it!

Finally have a think about a couple of lessons at home before you go. My beginner friends had a mix from a couple of hour lessons at a dry slope to a learn to ski in a day at the Tamworth snowdone. All of them found this really helpful when they actually got onto a slope and needed to put their skis on!

Whatever you do, have fun, you will get it but you might have to do a little bit of falling over before you do!!

I had my boots fitted by Snow and Rock in Sheffield. I know that's not very close to Liverpool but it's a bit better than Bicester!

They were very good fitting both my boots and also my OH's who used to have real problems finding hire boots that fitted.

They were very patient with her and she and I both have very well fitted boots that I've happily used for 3 seasons now.

Although I know many shops have a bad reputation for boot fitting I was very impressed with the service we got.

Sorry, no experience of ski schools in Samoens but I would suggest perhaps a couple of lessons indoors over here before you go.

I've done the introductory lessons (enough to allow you to go on the main slope) with Xscape in Castleford and found them pretty good. Snowboarding has such a steep learning curve for the first few days/weeks even introducing you to a frontside/backside turn will help hugely when you get to the slopes.

Snowboarding will never be for me but it is a fun distraction if you want a bruised bum! The problem is that my skiing experience far outweighs my boarding and I just can't be bothered to put the time in to get better!

Hi Ashley,

I took 18 people to Peisy Nancroix 2 years ago with a group of about 5 or 6 complete beginners (both skiers and boarders) and found it great!

I agree that looking at the piste map there seems quite a lack of greens but there are good nursery areas above Vallandry and Plan Peisy and some around 1800 as I remember.

Also a lot of the blue runs (especially above the main Les Arcs resorts) are very wide and not particularly steep so after a couple of days with lessons you should find people progress quickly.

If you are staying over the Peisy side you will find people meet for ski school at the bottom of the Peisy lift, get the lift up to the nursery areas (which are nicely fenced off from the speed freaks!) and then are advised to get the Peisy lift back down at the end of the morning/day. Your instructor will probably ski all the way down with you but only after a day or so of practice as some of the runs are a little steep and the run in to the Peisy lift can get quite icy at the end of the day.

I would suggest you avoid "Foret" until people are a bit more confident at controlling their speed. It runs from the nursery slopes down through the trees (unsuprisingly!) and gets you back to the Peisy or Vallandry lifts. This is graded green or blue but can get very busy and is narrow in places, not the place for nervous beginners!

Ski school wise, I had a couple of private lessons with New Gen Ski school who I cannot recommend enough. All English speaking and a very high level of tuition. I think they do group lessons but are known to get booked up in advance so be warned! They are more expensive than ESF but in my opinion they are certainly worth the extra. Some of the beginner boarders were very disappointed with their ESF instructor, almost to the point of not wanting to go again and one of the slightly more confident beginner skiers was told to just "Go off and practice on your own" as he was moving ahead of the rest of the group in terms of ability. This was also from an ESF group lesson.

I don't like knocking ESF as I was taught years ago in Chamonix by a proper mountain man called Fred who didn't speak much English but was so easy to follow just looking at what he was doing that I progressed really quickly. However this was a 1 on 1 lesson and the number of complaints I've heard about ESF group lessons has really put me off.

Anyway, have fun the Paradiski area is brilliant, I'm sure everyone will love it!

Paul

Hi All,

I'm organising a trip for a dozen of us late January staying in Meribel Mottaret and have been looking at ski hire deals. Now I know I can sort hire through J2ski but I've also seen Ski Republic advertising 2 for 1 deals which seem pretty good.

However the chalet owner I've booked with has mentioned that he thinks they may be in some financial difficulties and could suggest a better bet for ski hire in Mottaret.

Now I know he may have his favourites and may also get some commission from places but he used to have the link to Ski Republic on his webpage which has now been removed, so does he really know something?

Anyway, has anyone used Ski Republic in the past, or know anything about them? Or, even better, does anyone have recommendations for ski hire in Mottaret, obviously competitively priced but more importantly good, well maintained kit?

Cheers

Paul

No, we certainly didn't ski everything in the 3V's and it is a strong contender for 2010...however I've never skied outside of France (apart from Scotland but we're not going there for a week!) and fancied a bit of a change.

Since I'm the organiser I get to choose!

Will look at Milky Way and the Schiwelt though.

It's a bit early I know but I have for the last couple of years organised a week on the white stuff for 20 or so "adults" (I use the term loosely!).

2008 was in Les Arc staying just down from the Vanoise Express and 2009 was in Meribel Village.

So, the question is where shall I take them in 2010?

Meribel was great and with the amount of skiing on offer we could just go back next year but that seems like a cop out.

Does anyone have any top tips for places to go, ideally catered chalets but keeping the accommodation and travel costs down to £550 p.p.

Probably aiming for the 31st Jan 2010 for 6 nights.

Cheers

Paul