J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by dianep

BA is always my first choice of airline, price permitting, although if you book at the earliest available time it really is not too expensive i.e we paid £86 return for our Salzburg flights 20-27 December. As usual everything went really smooth, having said all of that I have yet to fly from T5 but from what I've read seems to be a pleasant enough experience.

Returned from our first ever skiing holiday on 27th and would like to share a few experiences good and bad.

Salzburg Airpot, picked up the hire vehicle without a hitch on to Kaprun which when we arrived was like a picture postcard scene, snow gently falling, absolutely stunning. Our Interhome chalet was beautiful - so far so good.

Ski boots. After two days I was ready to give up, my shins and calfs were absolutely killing me and I thought I was being a complete wimp. I spoke to the manager of the ski school who took one look at my boots and told me that they were the problem. He said that I should take them back to the hire shop and have them changed and not ski that day. What a difference a pair of boots make!!! I would just like to add that the ski school Germot Schermer in Kaprun were fantastic, the first day we arrived with our hire ski's they said that our ski's were not the best for learning and they replaced them with shorter ski's which were definitely easier to manage. (What have I learned here, I should have booked the hire equipment with the ski school and I would not have missed a day's skiing).


Ski School. The ski school was excellent but I wish I had booked private lessons. I personally found that having to try out the moves in front of others in the group made me nervous and I seemed to lose all sense of co-ordination and balance and standing about in the wrong boots was agony and tiring. The children though loved their group lesson and their instructor was fantastic too.

Once I changed my boots I ventured onto the beginners slope and was surprised and happy to find that I could ski down and that the right moves were instinctive. The only disappointing thing was that due to lack of snow it was very icy and for a beginner that can be a bit scary.

Unfortunately for me on Christmas day I came down with flu so the rest of the holiday for me was a bit of a nightmare.

For a first sking holiday and a DIY one at that it was pretty good with everyone really having a great time (there were 10 of us in all). One thing that we all agree on was a god-send was the hiring of the minibus, no long walks in uncomfortable ski boots carrying skis and no on and off buses. We also made several trips to the hire shop changing ski's, boots and swapping ski's for snowboards. The hire shop(Sport 2000) were great at changing stuff, no problems and no charge.

Everyone of us wants to go skiing again in the future and so hopefully with all that we learned this time the next time will be even better!! :lol:

I think the low cost airlines are great for last minute deals but if you plan well ahead you can get fantastic deals with the big airlines. We got our flights with BA to Salzburg 20th December for £86 return, admittedly we booked them at midnight on the day they were released but if you want a bargain then that's a small price to pay. I have never flown with Ryanair so can't comment but I have never had any problems with Easyjet, having said that BA is always my first choice, price permitting.

Is that Wickford in Essex ??? :D

I'm off to Kaprun Saturday 20th December to 27th December, never been before but really looking forward to it. If I can get access to a computer while there I will let you have my verdict on the place and any tips I can give you. Have a great time anyway :lol:

This is our first skiing trip ever and we have gone diy (must be mad!!). We booked our flights as soon as they became available (and I mean we were sitting at the computer at 12.00 midnight) and we have paid £86 return each with British Airways, Gatwick to Salzburg 20 December. As there are 10 of us (2 families) we have rented a beautiful luxury chalet through Interhome and so shared the cost. I booked all our lift passes, ski rental,ski lessons and a mini bus a few weeks ago (just as well really because of the exchange rate now)and so hopefully we are now ready to go!!!. When we priced up the cost with TO's for the Christmas week we wouldn't have been able to go because it was too expensive so DIY is not always the most expensive option. I will keep you posted as to we got on when we return, wish me luck!!! :lol:

We are picking up a 9 seater minibus at the airport on 20th December and driving to our accommodation in Kaprun which is just off the main road, does anyone know whether or not it would be wise to hire snow chains and if so any idea of the cost :?:

Yes Tony, I'm intrigued..... 8)