J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by verbier_ski_bum

Yep, this is it. The traverse is times more evil if you want to cross over to the other side - this is where people die on Mont-Gele. I don't care how good powder might be there, just don't want to put myself through the ordeal of getting there...

The was lot of snow so far this season but not so many cold days, freezing level is quite high so Tony makes a very good point. The best skiing to have at the moment is between 2000 and 3000 meters. Actually always the higher you ski the better the snow, because every 1000 meters temperature drops 6 degrees, and snow needs cold.

You should really take lessons - this is how you get started in skiing. Chwck if there are any group lessons as they are cheaper. The disadvatage of group lessons is that they may take place Monday to Friday, so if you are going for a weekend/long weekend they may not be an option for you.
In the shop explain that you are beginners as equipment differs quite a lot. Don't get boots that are too big, they should be about a size smaller than your street shoes. They will measure your feet to determine your mondo size (this is the length of your feet in centimeters), but keep trying smaller sizes.

It is not very dissimilar to skiing hard-packed piste. You shouldn't be leaning back, shins must be always touching boots and your weight should be equally distributed over your skis. Also, if you will be renting skis you can get rockered skis that make powder skiing easier. I have Armada JJ's and they literally ski themselves:) You may also consider taking a lesson. There will definitely be some powder about, and another benefitt of powder lessons is that instructors will know all the powder stashes.

I was initially planning to ski on New Year's Day but I've got a blister on my left ankle, by 31st skiing got really painful and I was struggling to flex my left foot, so had to change my plans and went out till silly hours both on New Year's Eve and Jan 1st. Don't have to go back to work till Thursday and wanted to ski all these days, but returned home. Hopefully my foot will heal by Saturday - another big dump of snow is supposed to be on its way and I want to ski it...

You need to take a train that goes to Brig and get off at Sion. I think (but not sure) it leaves at about 27 and 47 min past every hour. You can check timetable at www.cff.ch. You can enter not just Sion but your actual destination and you will see the timetable for all the connections and travel times including walking that you will need to get there. They stopped selling tickets on the train which made it quite incovenient, so allow yourself some time for buying a ticket too. I think there are only ticket-selling machines at the airport.

We skied Mont Gele on the same day, but did the itinerary - going to Lac de Vaux side scares me, even on the itinerary side I am close to fainting during the traverse. I didn't hear that they didn't carry avalanche kits, although I didn't ask specifically and assumed the did as most people do these days. They were certainly very experienced skiers if they crossed the ridge to the Lac de Vaux side. Steep, very exposed and unforgiving, not something like 'oh, this powder over there looks nice, lets ski it'. But in a way this is probably the best place to be caught in avalanche as it's very well seen from the main skiing area, they were immediately noticed, found and pulled very quickly but rescuers continued searching the area because there was no certainty if they were the only victims. The avalanche risk stayed at 3 out of 5 on this day.

The best news to me is that they will build a lift from Le Chable to Bruson. I love skiing in Bruson, we had a great powder day there on the 30th of December when they shut Verbier side because of the weather and there were so few people too. But getting there is such a pain. I didn't notice the bubble though on the Mayentzet lift, only 6-seater chairs.