J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

Tony

Really sorry to hear your news - I hope something turns up soon for you.

On the plus side, this now means that you can think about taking Jan up on his job offer in Neiderau:roll:.

Its his boys weekend away and you are doing the organising :shock: :shock: :shock:. Very suspicious :twisted:. Why are you so anxious to get rid of him? What do you get up when you get him out of the country? :twisted:

Seriously though, I think prospective destinations for a weekend break should be dictated by the amount of ski time you can factor in for the least amount of time away. This is simply a factor of the availability of reasonably priced flights at good times. For example, I am hoping to organise a weekend in January, probably to Soll, flying out to Munich at dawn on a Saturday morning and coming back on Tuesday evening. This should enable me ski for 3 and a half days (half day Sat, Sun, Mon and virtually all of Tues - need to leave resort around 4pm to get back to airport). Its a pretty good return for only 3 nights away and two days off work. BTW the skiing and apres ski in Soll are pretty good :wink:

I would suggest that you start by looking at the flights and work from there. Can't help with recommendations between the resorts you have mentioned but suggest that you be open to widening the search based on good flight times.

Ian Wickham wrote:I like to stop for a drink, in a hut, log fire, take in the sights and plan the next piste.

Is there anything more pleasant that nipping into a mountain inn after a couple of energetic hours skiing and enjoying a lovely hot chocolate -with a dash of rum, if the previous night's apres ski was a little over done :shock:

Wow - what a wonderful story.

Tony_H wrote:

Red Penguin wrote:When it comes to it I don't want to waste a day driving from Courchevel to Tignes and back when I could be skiing.

This was your daughter you were talking about wasnt it?

Tony - yet again you surprise. I thought your attitude would always be skiing before family, friends, job, etc :lol:

Don't forget, this lucky young lady is having a week in Tignes, followed by Christmas in Courchevel, probably both funded by daddy. A little hardship on the transfer would probably be good for her :twisted:

Let her make her own way Red - it'll be character forming :wink:

Hi jonG

The lift prices are what they are - once you have committed to a resort, you don't have much choice. Generally, most of the larger resorts will charge around the €200-€220 range for 6 days. The Paradiski pass covering La Plagne and Les Arcs is a above the average at €243 :cry:.

However, make sure to check out the family pass if relevant (for 4 members of the one family) - it offers a decent discount on the full price. The downside is that they all have to be the same type of pass. So if the parents want a whole area pass, they have to pay for them for the kids also, even though the kids may only need a local pass - this tends to eat into the discount.

Also, be sure you really need the whole area pass. It takes quite a while to get over and back to Les Arcs from La Plagne, particularly if you are over on the further end of LP. If you have to pick up kids from ski school, it may not be practical and an LP pass might suffice. I also note that they have a Paradiski Discovery Pass for €213. This is essentially an LP pass but you can go over to Les Arcs on one day of your choice. This might be a good option.

W

Bandit

I know that you know an awful lot more than me about skis but I suspect you are being a bit harsh on Sport 2000. In my experience, the hire shops vary enormously regardless of which franchise they are with and you can be lucky or unlucky. However, I do accept that you need to be fairly demanding in any ski shop if you want good quality kit. Unfortunately, most skiers simply don't know what good kit is other than liking something that looks new and shiny and I include myself in that category :oops:.

I have used Snowrental/Sport2000 for the past few years and have not noticed any particular problems with their gear - of course, it is possible that I have been given crap and not known the difference :oops:.

However, there is no doubting that their online prices are significantly cheaper than walking in off the street, usually 40% lower. Given that the OP and his pals are pretty much beginners, do they really need to be very fussy about their equipment - within reason of course, nobody is going to enjoy their skiing in clapped out old skis :?:

Hi Josh

This link will give you details of pretty much all accommodation that is available to the independent traveller in St Anton.

http://www.stantonamarlberg.com/winter/ViewPage.asp?Site=STANTON2-WINTER&PageID=206&lang=201

You should be able to find what you want there. I travelled to St Anton a couple of years ago and found a perfectly good B&B that was no more than 5 minutes from the main lifts in the centre of the village. It was clean, comfortable and very reasonably priced. Check out the village map first to get an idea of where you want to be - if memory serves, the main village area is Dorf. A lot of the accommodation is in Nassarien which is about a mile from the main village but it does have a gondola linking you directly to the mountain.

Good luck with your search - its a fantastic resort :lol: