J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by bedrock barney

Interesting.

Have looked at Club Med previously but we are not fans of TO holidays and I've always been put off when reading mediocre reporting on Trip Advisor. I know Tony H had a good experience with Club Med though (I think Cervinia?) so perhaps it's a hit and miss sort of holiday?

Has anyone used Ellis Brigham (in particular Castleford) for ski boot fitting?

Our youngest daughter is ready for her first pair of boots now that her feet have definitely stopped growing. I'm fully aware that ski boot fitting is a fairly specialist business but other than Castleford, I don't think we are very near any other specialist outfits. At a push, we could travel over to Otley to Glide + Slide but it's quite a trek for us.

I'm hopeful that it will be relatively easy process as she's never had problems with rental boots in terms of comfort. Her feet are small and perfectly formed unlike her dad's bony examples :-D

the suspense!

Come on Ally, lets have an update!

Val d'Isere 17th Dec for me.

Val d'Isere webcams yesterday. Looking very very good indeed for November.

Furthy34 wrote:Firstly I think you need to read my original post more carefully. Of course The Alps are beautiful from wherever they are viewed and I love skiing in the mountains no matter where it is. But I was talking about the general standard of accommodation and the general architecture/aesthetics/prettiness of the villages. And of course it is my opinion; if you read all the other posts on this thread you will see that most agree with me.

Give it a rest Furthy. I'm not sure what your motivation is for this topic other than, dare I say it, trolling.

I've just provisionally booked accommodation for 17th to 24th Dec in Val d'Isere. I fully expect the holiday to be as epic as the previous 4 holidays we've enjoyed there. We will be a modern spacious 3 bed apartment within walking distance of the town centre. The shopping is excellent, as are the restaurants both in town and on the mountain. The lift system is super efficient and the skiing ticks every box. A lot of people will be speaking french but I'm happy with that as, of course, we will be in France and we've always found everyone to be friendly and welcoming.

Volf wrote:
Diesel cars: If you have a diesel, make sure you fill up with Polar Diesel at the bottom of the mountain before heading up to resort. Diesel waxes at low temperatures and the car won't start. You can also buy an additive in the same petrol stations. If it look like it's going to get really cold (colder than -15c), get the car into a garage. If not, park on the sunny side of the hill.
Get some decent jump leads.

Second this. We took our car over to Norway in 2010. It was -25 and below some nights. Our car (petrol) would start each morning but people staying in the next door apartment had serious problems with their diesel car.

Final comment on this topic. There will be good skiing everywhere and bad skiing everywhere. Since taking up the pastime in 2010, I've skied in France, Italy, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden. All have been enjoyable and all distinct in their own ways. We will make it to Austria before too long (and I will be looking forward to it). Maybe even the US and Canada at some point.

I have a soft spot for Val d'Isere and also have found Zermatt to be an amazing place to ski.

.....and Val d'Isere is not full of hooray henrys although I'm sure they can be located if one looks hard enough. I just go there for great skiing.