J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

Nice pics. Spotted a small herd of them a few years in open ground above the piste in Flaine. A minor avalanche had left a patch of bare grass on the side of the mountain and they were grazing it untroubled by the skiers passing by on the slope below.

As regards dumb animals, I remember one time on Elba island, walking down from the highest mountain, we took a wrong turning and ending up across on the next hill. The only problem was, it was still smouldering from a major forest fire and it was pretty scary making our way through the scorched forest. We eventually found our way out into a carpark where a number of fire crews were taking a well earned break. I'm sure they thought we were mad. Even though we were there by accident, I am sure everybody would have assumed we were complete idiots if we had run into trouble or needed rescuing and perhaps, on reflection, we were :oops:

You should find everything you need on this site (part perhaps from info about road closures - you could try the AA website though I do not know what their coverage of the Pyrenees is like). Have a look at page:

http://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Airports/Toulouse_snow_reports.html

Have fun :wink:

Nice, honest and fair review Niki - well done and I am delighted you enjoyed your trip.

Towards the end of your report you say

organising and trying to please 13 people, some of whom have very high standards, isn’t easy

This is a thorny area. I have been involved in organising a large group of friends skiing for a number of years and I know the amount of work involved in getting things sorted out. Unless you are getting a free trip or getting paid in some other manner, you are doing them a big favour and they should understand that. Thankfully, the group I travel with do get this and are very appreciative of the effort the organisers make on their behalf.

Provided you do not mislead them about what to expect, they should not be expecting you to act as a tour rep and should not hold you responsible for pretty much anything that goes wrong (unless, of course, you have completely messed up in a really stupid way). If they don't see that, then I would leave them to their own devices in future and look after yourself :wink:.

skiset have a link from this site that offers decent discounts on TO or resort prices. I have used snowrental myself a few times and found it fine - a good bit cheaper than TO and seemed to me to be just as good. http://www.snowrental.net/rent-skis.asp

peterdavis wrote:Comparing directly next year's prices to this year it looks like flight & BB accom is £55 per person more. This is for 2nd week of Jan in Westendorf. Lift, tuition and kit prices have hardly changed.

I don't like to rub it in for those of you based in the UK but make sure to check the small print. With the deterioration in Sterling, it would seem logical that the 2010 Sterling prices for Europe should be 20-30% higher than 2009 (including, in particular, lift passes, ski-hire, etc).

I suspect that the early brochures are based on an out-of-date or positively optimistic exchange rate and that the small print allows them to charge a potentially nasty currency surcharge :x.

I agree with Bandit - as a 3rd time skier, you should have plenty to keep you entertained :lol:. Lech is lovely with lots of gentle runs that you should enjoy. The Rendl area on the other side of the valley has a couple of nice runs as well but be careful about the run to the valley - depending on conditions, it can be tricky in places and tends to mogul up quite a bit late in the day.

If the rest of the group are well ahead of you in terms of experience, consider lessons, whether private or group. The instructor will find suitable slopes for you and also bring along your technique while you may also meet a couple of ski buddies at your own level rather than trying to tag on to a group that are much better.

Don't worry - its a wonderful resort and you will enjoy yourself. :lol:

Admin wrote:

daz...37 wrote:we are only low intermediets......
do ..you think we should do THE TUNNEL..

Seriously? No. It'll look much steeper when you're stood on it than it does in the videos - and there's no way out once you're in.

ADH is a massive ski area and you'll find plenty to enjoy without killing yourself and your children... which will make for a much better holiday all round. Really. 8)

I agree completely with Admin - whats the point? You are likely to be scared out of your wits, will probably struggle on the run, hold up everybody else and run the risk of turning your kids off skiing or worse still end up with somebody hurt :x. Wait until you are all a little bit more experienced and use it as an excuse to return in a few years :lol:

If you want a challenge, the start of the Sarenne should give you plenty to think about while the rest of the run is wonderful.

Enjoy.

Ise wrote

Some enterprising person should open a chain rental place in Moutiers or Chambery, it ought to be easy enough to undercut the car hire companies and still make money

A great and simple idea. Maybe they could locate at the airport and also hire other "rip-off" items like baby seats - it really irritates me that car hire firms will try to charge as much as €100 to hire a booster seat when I can buy one for less than €20. I used to carry them on the plane but now baggage charges are ruling that out.