J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by verbier_ski_bum

Tony_H wrote:Client of mine just got back from Nendaz weekend before last and said conditions were as good as he has ever had out there. Fantastic snow, cold temps, all runs open and deserted. Ok its warmed up a bit now, but it sounds like the area has been treated to some amazing conditions this season.

During recent "Big Freeze" I had some of the best skiing ever with crowds being scared away by low temps - we were lapping Gentianes - Tortin run without any queues for the cable back to the top and hardly any serious bumps too, which is not surprising when for the entire run you see maybe 4-5 other skiers. It was definitely different this weekend, crowds are back, bumps are meter high, brown patches starting to show in some places and heavy slush that didn't even refreeze overnight. To top it off we made it to Mt Fort and it was hit by a cloud just as we got out from the cable car so there was some true survival skiing. Easier accessible off-piste is disappearing quickly, I didn't see a single person hiking up the Stairway and when we tried Rock Garden the snow was horrible and it felt like skiing on wet sponge. Totally not ready for this type of skiing yet. Base is good and definitely no grass showing in the middle of pistes like it was at the same time last season but lower down there were puddles. Fingers crossed conditions change soon. It warmed up but saying it warmed up 'a bit' will be an understatement:)

The base is great so they will definitely be snow to ski on though I know that lower slopes can be destroyed by warm temperatures fairly fast. At the moment the temeratures are abnormally high and expected to remain such for about a week, but they will eventually drop back to average for this time of the year according to the weather man. And if you 're lucky maybe even some new snow arrives.

It might be pushing it a bit for door to door in April. Really depends on the weather, couple warm weeks can make lower slopes quite horrible to ski on - last year it was a mudball from mid-March. Jury is still out on what this season will be - we haven't had any serious snowfall for a month now and this past weekend it was quite slushy with this week expected to be abnormally warm for this time of the year too. I would say don't count on door to door and you will have a much more enjoyable holiday with less expectations and less dissapointment if they don't materialise.

daved wrote:have a look at Cervinia..they advertise preski from October...and are high...very very high

http://www.cervinia.it/pages/Giornalieri_plurigiornalieri_i_en/464?#ixMainSection

Yeah, but when there is no snow it doesn't matter how high the resort is; that's the main problem. High altitude preserves the snow for longer that's why it's preferable for the end of the season trips, but this snow needs to fall first and early season/pre-season record is very mixed in this respect. Can be powder and can be sheets of ice.

Then a combination of Carre Neige and some sort of travel insurance. I knew someone who only had travel insurance but had to be rescued by heli and she received a bill for 10 thousand Swiss. She and her friend made the wrong turn off-piste and realised they were getting seriously cliffed out, started climbing back but it was getting dark so they had no choice but to call the rescue.

Good for them for not letting this guy taking advantage of them!!

Well, they would take Euros in most shops and restaurants in Swiss resorts but at a very unfavourable rate. I think it's about 1:1 at the moment. There can be some restrictions on credit card use (like a minimum purchase) in mountain resaurants and you may not be able to pay with it for a couple of hot chocolates. But you won't lose much on excahnge rate with a small purchase like that if you pay in euros. Just make sure you have small notes - 5 or 10 euros, because you'll be given change in Swiss francs. And no euro coins too. Usually only notes are accepted. They are clever over here - no surprise that in traditional Swiss restaurants you pay but often end up making your own food:)

Last summer was quite exceptional - I kept getting powder alerts from various resorts in July and August. It has been raining a lot in Switzerland (I don't think we had a week without rain) and all this rain fell as snow at altitude. But then we had a very warm September and a warm (and dry) October. And when I arrived in a resort beginning of December most of the slopes were brown with only one run open. I would say, save the money and ski during main season.