J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

Snapzzz wrote:
Also i think that your encouragement to explore alone could in fact be slightly more risky than an organised group.....qualified or not.

Snapzzz, that's exactly how I feel about it :thumbup:

I feel much safer ski-ing in an organised group with a ski host than I would ski-ing on my own.

Nelly, I don't know about other travel insurance policies, but my one with PJ Hayman has a £250 excess for search and rescue.
So my plan, should I need this, is to claim off the Carre Neige because they don't have an excess on it. Also, the Carre Neige is instantly recognized in the French ski resorts and apparently they won't ask for a 'down payment' for the search and rescue, or kidnap my skis or anything!
And the Carre Neige will also pay for medical fees and repatriation to Europe.
But unless you live in France you can't take out cancellation insurance with the Carre Neige, but my travel insurance covers this, as well as 'end supplier failure' in case a supplier of part of my holiday goes bust.

What happened when you were taken down the mountain? At what stage did they ask for some money?
I am very sorry you got hurt, but as you said, it was an ideal way of testing out the system!

I've never had to claim on my travel insurance, or the Carre Neige, so I don't know what actually happens, in practice.

I hope you're back to ski-ing fitness soon :)

Tony_H wrote:
I shall send my letter off to that French politician lady Tony H told me about, and hope for the best :)

I will write my letter in French Tony, with an English version for the British newspapers - it will be a good chance to put some of my French lessons into practice :)

SwingBeep wrote:As Ian Wickham mentioned earlier this has been going on for years. There was article about the same issue in The Daily Telegraph on 19th Dec. 2001 shortly after the French ministry of sport enacted the current law http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/4180074/British-ski-guides-hit-French-resistance.html

As the law is pretty clear and the penalties are quite severe (up to 1 year's imprisonment and a fine of up to 15,000 Euros) http://www.legifrance.com/affichCode.do?idArticle=LEGIARTI000006547567&idSectionTA=LEGISCTA000006167038&cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006071318&dateTexte=20080208 I'm quite surprised that the TOs offered this service at all and got away with offering it for so long.

Thanks SwingBeep - I didn't realize that 'leading' was banned in 2001 as well as 'teaching'.

I shall send my letter off to that French politician lady Tony H told me about, and hope for the best :)

What a brilliant idea Snapzzz :thumbup:

I'm too tired tonight. I'll see what I can come up with tomorrow :D

Snapzzz wrote:

This is just about money.....plain and simple.
Whilst in Morzine last week ESF had posters up an flyers around offering a tour of the pistes, no instruction, from 1pm-5pm. 34 euros.
That is what it is all about, they want the exclusive on a blossoming trend. Simple as.

Strangely enough Snapzzz, I noticed something slightly similar on the Tignes ESF website. It appears they are now doing a Sunday afternoon 'warm up' session for 33 euros. I don't remember ever seeing anything like this before (although I may just not have noticed it of course):
Adults Courses > Warm-up

14 years old and up

Warm-up

On Sundays afternoon, come discover Espace Killy to get your legs back and your technique up to par.

- From Class 2: 33€ per person

Warm-up

http://www.esf-tignes.org/ski-school-tignes-le-lac/adult-courses/warm-up-adults;jsessionid=A66FF67011879471D16B374A87F56EB4.esfinter1

Iceman wrote:Good thinking.I am sure that letter will do the trick and they will change their mind. Maybe send to all the UK travel agents (Snapzzz is up on them so may have the contact details) and get them to fight your corner too :thumbup:

Good work :thumbup:

I suppose I would have to send a copy of it to The Times, or somewhere, as well, so they didn't just ignore it.

I mean - if you had to list the 10 most dangerous things you've come across on French ski slopes, would British ski hosts and their clients figure on it?

I think I will write a letter to the French government, explaining that whilst it is very kind of them to be concerned with my safety on the French ski slopes, the British ski hosts are no danger to me at all.

And then I will list what I consider to be the greatest dangers to people on the ski slopes, such as:

1. They should make sure no ski lesson classes have more than 8 pupils, because it becomes very dangerous when ski-ing in large classes.

2. All ski instructors, whatever nationality they are, should have to pass a proficiency test in the language of their pupils. I have had some French instructors with very poor English, and I know they teach Russians etc. when they only have a very rudimentary knowledge of their language. They should make a ski phrase book in several languages so that everyone can understand what their ski instructor says. This is one reason why many British people prefer to go to a British ski school - because the instructor will be English, and speak perfect English.

3. They should make sure the pistes are graded correctly. It is very dangerous to have difficult pistes, like that Santons one in Val d'Isere, graded as a blue. Lots of people fall over on it and they could be seriously hurt. It is no wonder that British people want ski hosts to take them around the French ski resorts when pistes are graded as badly as that.

I am sure I can think of a few more really dangerous things that the French government could sort out in French ski resorts.

Who do you reckon I should send my letter to?