J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

I would not do any self diagnosing, buy any gear, do any exercises, until I had the right kind of help.

This winter will be my 50th year of skiing. Before that I was a track and fell runner, over 20,000 miles of running.

It goes without saying that I have knee issues. I have adopted a range of solutions, mostly, these are guided by having to have another life.

Some 10 years ago, I had my son fix me up with a sports scientist and a follow on physio. I ended up with a series of daily exercises to carry out. My only stipulation was that the program should be designed to be carried out at home, not in a gym. The program took an hour and a half each day, which I did while watching the TV news, so no lost time. The 3 winters following this program, I was skiing 6/7 weeks a season, and rarely suffered a twinge.

Then my ski buddy passed away, my skiing dropped to 3/5 weeks a season, and my exercise program halved, then after a year or so reduced even more.

Three years back, I started to experienced spiking pains in the knee. I followed this with more exercise, some physio, and a lot of cycling. The cycling has certainly helped during the past two seasons. I get aching in the knees, but no spiking.

A key, and easy exercise is a quarter single leg squat. I used to do 500/day, each leg, but I now do 100/150 per day each leg.This maintains a dual feature of strength and mobility.

This winter will be my least prepared. Looking after grandsons and training guide dogs is very time consuming. However, I will survive, and be targeting 60 years of skiing.....

This is a tad misleading.

The cost for a Vail day pass last season was $150, so the price has increased by 29%. The price will have been fixed way before the euro vote.

Conversely, the $/£ ratio has changed by 15%.

While undoubtedly the changing exchange rate has an effect, brexit cannot be blamed for the prices set in the US and Canada.

Many city editors were predicting a de cline earlier in the year.

My first visit to Tignes:
Frau Mac brings a cup of coffee into the bedroom and wakes me up. "Drink this, then get packed, we are going skiing, and we leave at 11.00am."
She had been on teletext, (that's the predecessor to the internet, chuck) She made the phone call and booking at something like 4.00am, while I slumbered on....

moogy wrote:Thanks! I have been doing some searching and to be honest there isn't as much difference between the cost of either option as I thought there might be...thank you for your time

Moogy that result is amazing. Even within snowsport insurance I find many differences. For ski insurance, my main concern is that I will be covered for off piste, without having to pay for a guide that cannot ski as well as me. Fortunately, I have found an insurance company that covers me for skiing off piste without a nanny.

Having said that, skiing carries many more risks than non-skiing, hence the insurance cost should reflect this. I guess the first thing I would question is your information sources. Looking at sites such as moneysavingexpert, and moneysupermarket.com gets you started. Then, should you receive an acceptable quote, phone them, check if it is ok to go up the gondola and walk around.
It must go without saying that the incident rate is much higher amongst snowsporters than non-snowsporters.

Let us know what happens, since this will be of interest to a number of J2skiers.

This is an area that has a reputation for maintaining a high cost on it's passes.

Try clicking on skiset, (to the left of your post). Put in location, and dates, and remove ski boots. That's the deal. Skiset include a J2ski discount.

I commend Kowal for the subject and his view. Also Dobbie.

This winter will be my 50th year since starting to ski. Included in that are several seasons instructing in Niederau. In the early days, you were viewed as slightly effeminate, if you skied on anything less than 210/215s. My wife skied on 195s. Not carvers, all straight. No piste machine, no groomed slopes.

I hire, sometimes through J2Ski, and other third parties. I always ask for the bottom level. My frau goes for the middle level, and sons always go for top level.

When the skis appear in the hire shop, I hand test my for lateral and torsional stiffness. If too stiff, I ask for another pair, and I do this prior to boot fitting, so I don't waste the shop time. I have occasionally taken skis back for change, but not often. My frau seems always to be happy.
My sons often seem to have their turns inhibited. (they are both really good skiers, but never paid much attention to ski gear). I would guide them back to the hire shop, and get softer skis, (reinforcing the point that Dobbie made), then things are good.

Should the skis be too soft, they tend to "chatter", at speed. (Bang together at the tips) With the improvements in technology, that doesn't seem to happen much now.

Dobbie mentioned that basic level skis may be a few seasons old. I have never found that. My hire friend in Niederau says that none of his skis are more than 2 seasons old. Oh, and in my loft, I have a pair of ex-hire skis that I "rescued" from a skip outside a hire shop in Soll.

A long time back, I bought a pair of Blizzard Firebirds, these were to be my teaching skis. I taped them up, to protect them from beginners skiing over them. They were 26 years old when I donated them to a museum in Colorado, and bought my first pair of K2s, Merlin carvers, 2m long, now 19 years old,and I still give them an airing most winters. Great to ski on, but only in fast forceful turns.

My £47 pair of skis in action....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5SbCO9cIS4 (only 36 seconds long)

bedrock barney wrote:£23! Cheapest ever week for me was probably last season in Are, Sweden approx £80 for the week. That was for their top rated ski, new that year.

Paying around £120 for our upcoming trip. If I shopped around in Val d'Isere I could probably find some economy skis for maybe £80 but not worth the effort frankly. We tend to pick a hire shop because it's centrally located with new kit in for the season and the ability to leave our boots and skis there overnight (and the ability to swap skis to another set for no extra charge).

BB!!! £80, £129??? The last pair of skis I bought only cost about £100, including bindings..... OK, they were on sale, at 50% 0ff, and I asked for a ski instructor discount, (without actually mentioning that was 40 years ago),20% off, and at the till, my taxi driver/ski instructor friend slipped me his local tennis club card, another 20% off.

The lowest cost pair of skis that I have bought were just £47 for a pair of Volkl. They are straights, not carvers, and they are the skis I use most in Niederau. Hmmm, where I keep 6 pairs.

I won't try to suggest any individual places in France, although I have skied in France many times, I am really an Austria based skier.

However, that did make me think that you should identify the standard of your group's skiing level. Some ski in may require a certain standard. Had you asked about Austria, A great ski in, ski out is the Hotel Sportiv in Obergurgl. However, difficult for a beginner to ski to.

There is a method you can use. Look at the inside back leaf of the Inghams brochure. On the list for France, identify the locations that suit your ski capabilities. Then check against the individual resorts, looking for ski in/ski out. You can identify appropriate hotels or other accommodations.