J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

On my recent ski holiday, a friend of mine brought and wore his bicycle helmet on the slopes! What do people think of this idea? Is it

a) a cheap alternative to buying a specialist helmet?
b) better than nothing?
c) more dangerous than nothing and completely unsuitable?

I should stress that I am primarily interested in the safety aspects - the individual concerned is big enough and bold enough to deal with looking a bit ridiculous and too cheap to hire/buy a proper ski helmet! Unfortunately, I do not have photos!

I look forward to your comments.

Hi Everybody

Just back from Tignes on Saturday. Despite the lack of any meaningful snow for nearly 4 weeks and quite warm temperatures, the pistes were generally in very good condition and we had a great week.

However, best to stay high (Grand Motte glacier area remains perfect) as some lower slopes did tend to turn into porridge by early afternoon, particularly if South facing whiles stones were beginning to be a problem on a few runs.

Some light dustings of snow during the week did help a little but colder temps and a good dump are really needed at this stage (I gather the limited snow we got fell as rain in lower resorts- yuck!).

Unfortunately, thats my skiing over for this year :(. Have to get the occassional fix by watching skiing on TV and clips on Youtube, etc.!!!

Bit worried myself - heading to Tignes on Saturday. There is clearly a good deep base but I get the impression that it is now very hard packed and probably lots of ice. Not very pleasant for myself but horrible for the kids!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ... as the song goes!

Trinny and Susannah would be proud of the amount of time, effort and energy being devoted by Tony_H to looking good on the slopes.

Though it does seem a little at odds with his comment on another thread (http://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/24/3021.page) when he said:
"... but as much as I like to try and look good at all times, I dont understand why you would go somewhere JUST to look good. It kind of defeats the object of a ski holiday to me!"

ldavies wrote

buy new boots in resort,
buy new boots in resort,
buy new boots in resort!!!

........ but this means giving up skiing time :(

Hi Gareth

I'm just back from a weekend in Soll using the Munich flight. Its an easy trip - a straightforward 90 minute drive from the airport to the resort. The downside is that Soll is quite low and snow conditions in April could be iffy. You could always book the flights and leave your choice of resort until much closer to the time when you can see what conditions are like. There are lots within about 2 hours of Munich. And remember, for a weekend, you do not need a big resort, particularly when you have the option of skiing different small resorts each day (assuming that you plan on renting a car).

Unfortunately, as far as I am aware, the high altitude resorts (e.g. St Anton or Isgchl) are to the west of Austria and are a long drive from Munich, 3-4 hours in good conditions!

Good Luck

When we started my wife was terrified on lifts and gondolas. She adopted the tactic of pulling her hat down over her face and not looking until we got to the end. The good news is that over time, she overcame this fear, I think mainly through familiarity (she still cannot go on carnival rides - tends to get quite nauseous!).

One thought is that if you can find a resort with a couple of drag lifts for beginners, you might be able to build her confidence and when it comes time to get on a lift, she may be better prepared.

Godd Luck

3 Valleys have fantastic skiing and should have reasonable snow even in March. I have stayed in Meribel on my two trips there and found it best placed - easy to drop over into Courchevel side and possible to make your way up to Val Thoren (though this can become a bit of a journey and I am not sure I would bother again). Also some nice skiing down to St Martin de Belleville (including one of my all time favourite pistes - the Jerusalem run).

Not too familiar with non-skiing activities - tends not to be a priority for me! However, I seem to recall that they had a very nice indoor pool and sports centre.