J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ise

More on that in the Times

Weather Eye: great skiing conditions this winter in Europe

markski wrote:I used to suffer from back pain for many years. On the advice of a friend I started having lessons in the Alexander Technique. After a few lessons my pain was noticably less and my posture improved.
Trencher is right, we spend a lot of time tensed up. The Alexander Technique is a really good way of learning not only to release that tension but to *prevent* tension in the first place. This helps us move more easily and prevent pain brought about through mis/over use.

Oh, and you can apply it to improve your skiing!*
have a look at http://www.stat.org.uk and http://www.stat.org.uk/pages/skistory.htm

*running, swimming, walking etc.

I'm pretty sure that over millennia our bodies have evolved to work well in a variety of environments, and yet we've spent the last half century inventing ways to cripple ourselves while working.

The computer mouse was 40 years old the other week, long overdue to be consigned to the dustbin of history.

I can do better than that in fact, this is what the Austrian Government say :

Compulsory Winter Tyres
Trucks with a permissible maximum weight exceeding 3.5 t and busses
Trucks with a permissible maximum weight exceeding 3.5 t and related motor vehicles may be operated only between 1 November and 15 April if winter tyres are installed on the wheels of at least one drive axle.

Busses and related motor vehicles may be operated only between 1 November and 15 March, if winter tyres are installed on the wheels of at least one drive axle.

Please Note: Winter tyres are tyres designed for use as snow and mud tyres with a certain profile depth, i.e., tyres marked "M + S". All-season tyres are also considered winter tyres if they have the "M + S" mark.

Vehicles exempt from this requirement are:

public security service vehicles, army vehicles, and fire trucks on which it is impossible or not useful to install winter tyres due to the vehicle's design or due to its predominant purpose of use,
vehicles equipped with "special" tyres due to the vehicle’s design or due to its predominant purpose of use,
vehicles used for tests or the transfer of vehicles.
Passenger cars and trucks with a permissible maximum weight of up to 3.5 t
Passenger cars and trucks with a permissible maximum weight of up to 3.5 t may be operated only between 1 November and 15 April in winter conditions such as snow, slush or ice if winter tyres have been installed on all wheels.

As an alternative to winter tyres, snow chains may be used on at least two driving wheels, however, these may only be used in case the road is covered by a complete or scarcely broken snow cover or sheet of ice.

Please Note: Winter tyres are tyres with a certain depth of profile used as snow and mud tyres or as snow, mud and ice tyres, i.e., tyres marked "M/E" or "M/S/E".

Compulsory Snow Chains
Between 1 November and 15 April drivers of trucks with a permissible weight exceeding 3.5 t and bus drivers as well as drivers of related vehicles are required to carry suitable snow chains for at least two driving wheels onboard.

Snow chains may only be used if necessary and only if they are mounted in such a way that they do not damage the road surface.

Vehicles exempt from this regulation are:

vehicles on which it is impossible to mount snow chains for design reasons,
vehicles that can only be used on snow-free roads due to their design,
vehicles belonging to Class M2 and M3 (busses) used for public transportation.

KevinC wrote:Ise - I've looked further and you are correct that it's not a legal requirement (as already stated there is a lot of wrong info on the net) but every single thread I've read states that hire cars in Switzerland all come with snow tyres. Point being they are highly recommended/necessary.

More to the point though it may not be a legal requirement to have snow tyres but if you have an accident and have inappropriate tyres on your car good luck trying to get the insurance company to pay up!

that's absolutely correct :) the reason Swiss hire companies put winter tires on is for insurance, if you're not equipped you can be found liable in the case of an accident. If you're driving on UK insurance you're not going to have a problem though, you're not required to have winter tires by law and that's good enough.

Not bad over in Grimentz although I'm sure the snow isn't as deep as here in Zinal. Anyway, meeting up with bandit we found some pretty good skiing in places even if my new skis hit a few rocks.

KevinC wrote:
I think the confusion here relates to hire cars - a lot of the countries mentioned require cars hired between October to April to be fitted with winter tyres. I know Switzerland certainly does.

i think I'm running out of ways to say this :lol: It's not a legal requirement, it's not, it really, really isn't

Tony_H wrote:This is absolutely correct. I have just discovered that hiring at Munich Airport, the car does NOT have winter tyres, and if I want to have a car fitted with them, it will cost an extra 12 euros a day - somewhat excessive for something which a few km away is a LEGAL requirement

Finland? that's a fair few km away to be fair.

Germany and Austria have the exact same rules in this regard, on snow covered roads you're required to be equipped with chains or winter tires, in the case of Germany that's actually a new law from last year.

Scarlet Fez wrote:Why would they drop the prices. Lets face it at the majority of ski resorts as much as they would like our money, the Brits are still in the minority so whats it to them!!
You might find the occassional bar may do something to get you through the doors but as for restaurants we are not big eaters!!!
Looks like its goulash, goulash and goulash for lunch!!!

I think you're right there. For people on a real budget, some places have picnic areas indoors so you can take a picnic with you.

Just a serious note though :roll: we'd talked about hydration and nutrition before, don't starve or dehydrate to save money :lol: blindingly obvious of course :lol:

I kept looking out last night and thinking how bright it was, apparently there was a reason, the moons orbit bought it closer to use than usual, some 30,000km closer in fact. That made it 30% bigger and 40% brighter.

Anyone else notice?

current conditions Started by User in Switzerland, 2 Replies
More on that in the Times Weather Eye: great skiing conditions this winter in Europe

Grimentz Started by User in Switzerland, 12 Replies
Not bad over in Grimentz although I'm sure the snow isn't as deep as here in Zinal. Anyway, meeting up with bandit we found some pretty good skiing in places even if my new skis hit a few rocks.

mooning ... Started by User in Ski Chatter, 7 Replies
I kept looking out last night and thinking how bright it was, apparently there was a reason, the moons orbit bought it closer to use than usual, some 30,000km closer in fact. That made it 30% bigger and 40% brighter. Anyone else notice?

Messages posted by : ise