J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

Dave Mac wrote

Is it not the case that membership of the EU should ensure genuine reciprocation?

My understanding is that the EHIC system allows any EU citizen to access the public health system of any member state on the same basis as the locals. Thus, because the UK system is largely free, any EU citizen can access free treatment. However, many other member states charge their own citizens varying amounts for different types of treatment and the same regime applies to visitors from other EU states. Furthermore, most other countries have a dual public and private healthcare system and as previous posters have pointed out, the clinics that you might be brought to are often private which changes things completely.

You can never be absolutely guaranteed good snow conditions. However, St Anton at that time of year is as close as you are likely to get so don't worry, it should be great :D.

As for apres ski .......... probably the best there is :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:. However, remember that the main apres ski session is concentrated on the hours between 4 - 8pm - most mortals slink off after this, have something to eat and fall into bed happy and content after a wonderful but exhausting day:lol:. . Both the Mooserwirt or Krazy Kangaroo are on the piste just above the village and are the places to start from about 4pm onwards. They often have live bands and dancing on the tables in skiboots is common practice. Just be careful skiing down the last stretch when you leave after a few beers :twisted:. After that, the scene moves down into any number of lively bars in the village - some of them close for an hour at about 8pm to allow them mop up the soaking wet floors (from all the skiboots) :!:.

Enjoy.

Planning a long weekend, probably to Soll, in early January or mid-March.

Stayed in the Bergland Hotel last year - very nice and great location (virtually ski-in ski-out and also a short walk into town for a few beers in the evening). However, would like to see if we can find something a little less expensive.

Anyone got recommendations for reasonable priced, good quality accommodation - hotel or pension - that is in centre of village or close to main gondola?

It is also worth having a look at your private health insurance (if you have it). In Ireland, the Voluntary Health Insurance (VHI) provides some cover for medical care while abroad and it is possible than BUPA and others have similar arrangements. I have personal knowledge of VHI effectively taking over the financial aspects of hospital stays in both Italy and Spain (in private hospitals on both occasions). While I am not sure if the same applies in relation to France, I expect that it does. Not sure if outpatient costs are covered. On each occasion, it seemed much simpler than trying to deal with the issue through EHIC or travel insurance and the cover seemed pretty good - they even provided a nurse to accompany a patient for the full journey home from Italy to Ireland (he had a heart attack on the first day of his holidays).

In my experience, the typical "Learn to Ski" packages are offered in resorts that have a few free lifts for beginners - the reason the packages appear to be such good value is that they only have to factor in the cost of a local area lift pass for the latter part of the week once the group are ready to go up the mountain.

Unfortunately, for you I doubt if La Tania falls into that category. However, it might be worth a phone call to one of the ski schools to see if a pass is needed from the start.

At that time of the year, you should be aiming to go high to have a reasonable chance of snow. I haven't been to Cervinia but from memory, it is quite high and would probably be your best bet from Turin.

As for partying, I am not sure you should be heading to Italy at all but I guess its too late for this advice :evil:. Apres ski in Italy tends to be very chilled out. Sauze is probably the main exception but I expect you would be very lucky to get half decent snow conditions there at that time of the year.

For future reference, I think you could not beat the high Austrian resorts, e.g. St Anton, for late snow and high octane partying that is suitable for all ages :mrgreen:.

Ian wrote

I am looking for a GPS unit for use when I am skiing, it should to be able to show speed in MPH as I have always been interested in how fast I ski,

Are you sure you wnat to find out?

I find that I can hit speeds of up to 80kph when there is no means of actually recording it and after a few beers, this figure can even be revised upwards ). However, it always seems that I ski much slower when there is a speed gun in place :lol: :lol: :lol:

For low end gear, ALDI can be worth checking out. The adult ranges are usually extremely limited but it can be great for kids gear, especially accessories - really cheap decent quality socks, gloves, hats, etc. In Ireland the ski gear usually comes out immediately after Christmas.