J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Der_Bomber

Trencher wrote:I don't know if Tk Maxx, and TJ Maxx ship clothing between the US, and the UK, But it's likely that clothing intended for the US market, ends up in the UK anyway. US women's clothing sizes are smaller than the UK sizes. Same thing for footwear as well.

Trencher

I bought a football shirt of a team that is very hard to come by in England at TK Maxx for a tenner last week - when I asked the assistant how much it was (no tag) I was shocked as the import price is about £55 when I've looked online. She then said that almost all their stock was from the States, which explained it.

Dunno if this has already been said as haven't read the whole topic but look to resorts with lots of chairlift access rather than surface lifts. T-Bars aren't too bad if your a strong skier and can go on the inside, doing all the hard work!

It doesn't matter at all if your ski-ing, but boarding can be a different matter, espcially in god snow!

Anyone near Yad Moss or Raiseand can let us know what its like up there? I fancy a ski tomorrow!

I think its a bit tight the BBC crediting ski taxis to being a new idea out of Meribel when some places have been using them for years!

I wouldn't know when the holidays are actually!

The only time I stayed there for longer than a day or two ( I prefer Soelden but always have at least a day in Ober/Hoch) was a week from feb 9th one year.

Didn't realise that slope was a black, it is probably the hardest bit of the mountain to be honest, Obergurgl/Hochgurgl is an intermediate cruisers paradise!


A lot of Austria and Bavaria is like that when it comes to evening meals - a sit down, family meal with 7 courses is standard, and kids are frowned upon, many hotels and chalets don't even let under 12/14s eat with the adults due to them getting bored between meals. In my hotel I (and the other Brits) found the 'italian buffet' night to be the best, which was at our own pace and a lot less rich than the other nights, despite the fact it was probably the chefs night off and most of it had been rustled up from frozen! It was also quite clear that the Germans and Russians were obsessive about which wine they had for dinner, and there was quite a bit of 'sales pressure' over expensive bottles of wine, with most of the English looking at the waiters as if they were going mad! 30 euros for 4 or 5 glasses of wine or 1.30 a beer? I'll take ten beers please!

I find Obergurgl pretty due to the architecture tbh - a good mix of very modern buildings and 'chocolate box' hotels, the graveyard was also very impressive. I think the lack of traffic (its at the end of a valley road, for those unaware)helps, plus the fact its always been under about 2 foot of snow at leat when I've been! Also the views if your in the upper floors of one of the hotels on the top ridge, or in one of the outdoor pools, are astounding.

BTW, I can't ever remember that Poma being there, under the connecting gondola. Is that new? They do list it as the last lift number.

I went down the local golf course for 45 minutes the other day, but some kids on a carpet had destroyed most of the decent stuff at the brow, and the snow was too powdery to make a kicker from so quit pretty quickly. If I had the luxury of a large garden with a slope i think id invest in a rope tow and build a basic homemade snowgun.

Not sure about current conditions, but if anywhere in Austria has snow it will be Obergurgl.

As said its a beautiful resort, although there isn't masses of tree cover - Obergurgl has more than Hochgurgl.


I personally wouldn't recommend it for ski-ing kids due to:

1. Many of the instructors don't speak very much English at all. Some of them are fine for teaching adults to ski but if you want to have long conversations with them about the local area or wheres best to go for a meal, forget it. Some speak perfect English,but seem to be reserved for the pricier one on one tuition! Most of the barmen, hoteliers etc speak perfect English,mind.
2. Its very popular amongst German families, British and Russian couples and older families - very few English kids. I did my first 2 days boarding (I'm a two planks man usually) with the ski school a few years back - they put me and a middle aged bavarian lady with the kids - i was with about 6/7 german kids (aged 7 or 8) in the morning and with 10 or so german kids (aged 10-12ish) in the afternoon, but when I was put with the adults on the second day it was about 50/50 english/german. Again, I notice our hotel had a creche facility for the smallest kids - I never once heard an English voice coming out of it. Also check your hotel/ chalet allows kids to eat evening meals with you - many do not in the Tirol.
3. No easy ski down for absolute beginners - the route down from Obergurgl is fine for intermediates, but can get VERY busy at peak, has floodlight pylons and snow guns dotted all over and a few parts that can get fairly hairy after the ski schools have finished the slalom course thats often on that slope. The route down from Hochgurgl (a free, 2 minute ski bus away or a mid mountain gondola link) is my favourite - a long red with very tight bends, unfortunately the lower half suffers from terrible ice and slush even in good conditions.
4. The kids ski shool slope being located down the valley from the main ski area, I guess beause of point 3.
5. Two of the resorts biggest plus points are the Night ski-ing (tues/thurs i think) and the weekly ski demo, both weather permitting. After a days ski-ing at that altitude, your little uns may not be up for going back out on the hill, and the ski demo area can get very cold indeed. Last time I was there a sudden wind got up, they had to evacuate the mountain via the scariest gondola ride I've ever had, cue tons of screaming kids and panicky brits/russians that didn't speak the lingo (the chairs have speaker systems, which are difficult to decphiper even as a fluent German speaker, as much of the area depends on their own little version of German!)

Having said that, I don't have kids, and I'm basing my opinion purely on what I saw as a solo traveller and comparisons with the number of (english)kids at other resorts i've visited - Ally G's kids seemed to enjoy it!

The resort does also have many plus points -

-Great food virtually everywhere - in the hotels we are talking very long (2 hrs sit down is normal!), rich, plentiful meals most nights.
-lift system thats so modern its untrue, mostly high speed heated bubble chairs, many with magic carpet on/off
- Great on-slope bars, from the huts to the igloos, to the already mentioned restaurant at the peak of hochgurgl (if taking kids up, not one to ski down - the direct route is a red mogul field, the easy route is very narrow, busy and at times you feel like your abou to fall off a cliff - I always take the red route)
- Very, very pretty village.
- Always snowsure, and Soelden down the road - which has a Glacier and ski tunnel, and can be included on the pass.