Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Off Topic => Sports Arena => Topic started by: UK Redsox on November 24, 2010, 08:53:14 AM
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The original skiing thread appears to have been a casualty of the last Forum upgrade.
Where are our wannabe Franzs and Peekaboos going this winter ?
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Aspen. February. Can't wait.
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Aspen. February. Can't wait.
I'm determined to get my group to the Rockies some time. However, although everyone's always dead keen when we started talking, we always end up booking up for the Alps.
I'll be in La Plagne for a week over New Year.
Has anyone skied there ?
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Aspen. February. Can't wait.
I'm determined to get my group to the Rockies some time. However, although everyone's always dead keen when we started talking, we always end up booking up for the Alps.
I'll be in La Plagne for a week over New Year.
Has anyone skied there ?
A few times. Which village are you in? The East side is usually better as it gives you much easier access to Les Arcs which is a much more fun resort in my opinion.
We're doing La Thuile in February, which I've not been to since I was a kid. So that'll be fun.
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Dave - I'll be staying in "Plagne Villages"
http://www.laplagne.co.uk/index.php/la-plagne-villages/plagne-villages
Chalet looks good
(http://www.silverski.co.uk/Portals/58408/images/bon-coin-outside.jpg)
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Well, call me boring, but we've rented a chalet in Font Romeu and will be skiing in Les Angles and Pyrénées 2000. That said, it'll be an 80 minute drive up there with tons of wine and food in the boot so I won't be envying you rich bastards spending all your money in the Alps and Canada or wherever (apart from the variety of slopes that is).
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But then you do have the three feet of slush to get through from about 2pm onwards.
Or it was in La Molina on my sole Pyrénées trip.
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I'm really jealous. I cannot ski any more.
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I'm really jealous. I cannot ski any more.
How come Leeg ?
As for me ? I'm off to Breckenridge again for two weeks at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb. Flying into Denver and picking up a 4x4 for the drive up to the resort.
We've booked the 'Epic' season pass as early season deals mean that at $630 it works out over $300 cheaper than separate passes amd includes unlimited access to Breck, Vail, Arapahoe Basin, Beaver Creek and Keystone.
Conditions are looking superb already, I can't wait !!!
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Sounds great. Bad ankles, a dislocated knee and severe problems with my back.
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Sounds great. Bad ankles, a dislocated knee and severe problems with my back.
Sorry to hear that Leeg :(
The chap I go with is sounding that he won't be able to carry on after this coming year due to bad ankles.
I don't know what I'll do after that.
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'fraid all that posh stuff doesn't interest me.
Would love to try cross country and biathlon someday though - solitude and a rifle. Works for me.
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With all the lefties on this forum I'm amazed at this thread!
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With all the lefties on this forum I'm amazed at this thread!
How do you think that the Bolsheviks travelled around during the winter ?!?
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Sleigh?
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Greetings from La Plagne.
Excellent weather and snow conditions so far.
I'm only skiing three or four hours each day due to ongoing back pain. However, I'm still having a good time.
Chalet staff are a good bunch and weve found a handy bar
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Greetings from La Plagne.
Excellent weather and snow conditions so far.
I'm only skiing three or four hours each day due to ongoing back pain. However, I'm still having a good time.
Chalet staff are a good bunch and weve found a handy bar
Nice one, have a great New Year out there !
How extensive are the runs in La Plagne ?
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Nice one, have a great New Year out there !
How extensive are the runs in La Plagne ?
You could spend weeks over there and not repeat yourself much.
The "La Plagne" area is linked to the "Les Arcs" area by means of an express cable car. Overall this is called the "Paradiski" region.
http://www.perso-laplagne.fr/PisteMap.htm
http://en.paradiski.com/flash.php#/ski-area
I'm still sticking to Blue Runs but even some of them were challenging at times (surprisingly, some of the steepest Blue sections are those leading into the main villages). The rest of my group found loads of Reds and Blacks to their liking.
Last year in Lauterbrunnen, we had to walk thro' the village and then take a train ride to the pistes. This year in La Plagne all I had to do was walk 50 yards and I was on the slopes.
We stayed in the "Silverski" apartment attached to the company owners' winter residence.
Some of the H&V Speedway fans might have heard of Len Silver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Silver), former manager of the England team.
At 78, Len is still skiing every day and is a great character.
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Just booked for a week tomorrow in Obergurgl, Austria. Flying from Bournemouth which is a real bonus!
Anyone been here? Any tips?
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My sister's a skier and I'm a (relatively) novice snowboarder. We're looking to go away for a week from next Sunday 30th on a late deal with Club Med. She's been with them before and prefers the idea of paying upfront and then knowing pretty much exactly what you'll have to spend.
These are their offers (http://www.clubmed.co.uk/cm/resort-offer-last-minute-january-offers_p-341-l-EN-pa-PAP_341_08-ac-od.html). Anyone got any comments on any of those locations, please?
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Guy - I've been to three on that list, they are all good in their own way, so I will give you a short summary of each based on my memory:
Alpe d'Huez - very high altitude resort, has a 16km (yes, really) black run all the way from the top down to below the resort into the bottom of the valley. If you are a novice skier, avoid this run like the plague, their are no exits. There is plenty of other skiing for all levels. The resort is good, night life not bad, from what I remember. Worth going alone for the 21 hair pin bend ascent to the resort that the crazy bastards in the Tour de France have to negotiate.
Avoriaz - I actually stayed in Morzine, which is part of the Portes du Soeil circuit which includes Avoriaz. Avoriaz is a ski-in ski-out resort, there are no cars allowed at all, so every hotel or chalet is guaranteed ski to the door. If you are looking for a place where you never have to ski the same run twice in the week, this would be your place. Avoriaz has a famous black run called 'The wall' - and it literally is like skiing down a wall - with 5ft high moguls. The only run I've ever seen where they let you take the chair lift down, if you bottle it at the top. I've heard the nightlife in Avoriaz isn't so great, but down in the valley in Morzine, it's rocking - Morzine is more like a town than a village.
Les Deux Alpes - this sits right across the valley from Alpe d'Huez, so you could probably do a day trip to the other resort if you choose one of them. This was probably my favourite resort on reflection. We had a ski-in ski-out chalet, although that is not common in this resort. Any resort that has black runs leading back down to the village is alright in my books. Don't worry, there is a green run as well, if you don't fancy the blacks. Nightlife was excellent.
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To follow up on what USAV says:
Les Deux Alpes is a great ski area. We stayed in the town and was a couple of hundred metres from the lifts. Not major problem to be honest. My lasting memory of this place was us losing to Fulham in the cup on the day we were due to leave - and, during the obligatory organised pub crawl, having a snowball fight/running battle with a group of Germans. Quite a few bars but nobody really in them when we were there. Or I don't remember it ;)
As for Avoriaz, I was fortunate enough to spend a week there and what an amazing resort it is. Perched on the top of a cliff it's a stunning place to stay.
You can ski between France and Switzerland and the "World Cup Run" leading down to Morzine is a fantastic start & end to the day.
Again, being a French resort, the nightlife isn't great. We found only 2 or 3 bars in the resort worth drinking in - the one doing Tex Mex style food and the other showing all the football.
My choice would be Avoriaz every time - a spectacular place.
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Just back from a week in Obergurgl. Austria's highest ski area.
Not a cheap resort, very much families and older people. I'd say less than 5 % boarders because there is nothing for them here.
Small village with only one supermarket and one Tobacco/souvenier shop. Oddly has quite a few apres ski bars that are listed in the Times and Telegraph top 10's.
Nothing less than 4 star hotels although there are quite a few appartments and pensions to choose from.
The slopes were beautifully groomed and we had fresh powder for 3 days in a row. They were also very empty, which was fantastic.
More an intermediates resort than one for hardened skiers and very much a place to relax in the spas before hitting the cellar bars.
Not sure if this link will work due to my privacy settings but here are some photos i've posted on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=272787&id=680288842&l=614ad1c54c
If you can't see them and would like to, then just add me.
I'm also very proud of my Daughter for getting a Bronze in the Ski School race! Just 800th of a second off getting Silver!
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Why is someone trying to hike a chainsaw NFL style ?
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They were cutting steps into the snow! Not as crazy as hacking away at your roof with a pick axe though.
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usav and gerags: cheers for the information and apologies for the delay in replying, been offline for a few days. Annoyingly, during that time, my sister, thinking I couldn't get away this weekend, decided to go ice-skating at Somerset House, fell, hurt herself and now she can't go. Might go next week but that would mean me being away for the missus' birthday. Still, watch this space...
Andy Poole: interesting to hear that about Ötztal (http://www.oetztal.com/) are involved in the sponsorship of the Snowcentre in Hemel Hempstead (http://www.thesnowcentre.com/) and that's one of the sites they advertise there. Going tomorrow so must remember to have a look at the literature and see whether it says about it being a primarily skiiing resort.
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Guy, Otztal is a region i think and Obergurgl/Hochgurgl are right at the end of the valley with nowhere to go!
Solden, the main resort is primarily German. It's not a ski area generally offered by British tour operators.
When we drove through Solden on our way to Obergurgl the lower slopes were mainly white stripes on a green hillside! People in our hotel had a day there and did say the higher slopes were very very good. As wide as runways and very well pisted. However, it is a resort full of Kamikazi skiers and boarders!
The town itself gave clues as to what kind of resort it was, with many apres ski bars and two lapdancing/strip clubs all on the main road.
I have no idea what is on offer to skiers and boarders in Solden but my impression from passing through was that it was Blackpool with mountains and snow!
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Looks like my trip with my sister is back on, departing this weekend. Need to leave on Saturday so I'm back on the 12th (it's the missus' birthday and being away for the morning with this little notice is acceptable, but the whole day might take the p*ss somewhat. Although I'm up for it!)
Just surfing Neilson, Crystal, igluski, Last Minute and any and every site I can find for best option. My sister will be probably be skiing the bkue runs, I'll be starting boarding on the green and moving onto blue I should think.
We were considering an all-inclusive late deal for Club Med Serre Chevalier until we saw this recent review (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g219218-d655824-r94356662-Club_Med_Serre_Chevalier-Briancon_Hautes_Alpes_Provence.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT). Checked out the French reviews and there's a lady there saying the same.
I'd prefer to go to Austria, but as my sis doesn't speak German, think she'd prefer France. Might need to go and buy myself a helmet and some boots, unless I can switch them every day at the hire places and try some different stuff out.
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Guy...Go to Austria.....They really do all speak English! So!
Try www.fasttrackski.co.uk.....they had flights others didn't when we booked. Part of Virgin, you are just handed over to Inghams/ main operator in resort anyway.
As you sister likes blues and you'll be on blues too......ain't no green in Austria.....Obergurgl would be perfect. For a Boarding beginner, you'll be ok. All hotels are 4 star plus and nearly all on half board.....enjoy the mountain for lunch.
Be prepared for no tap water on tables and a bill for about 20 Euros for 4 beers.
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I'm not worried about the language thing (I'm a Cunning Trilinguist) and would rather go to Austria (well, I'd rather go to Germany but seeing as they don't have any resorts, that would be a bit stupid) but had come round to the idea of going to France and settled on Hotel Le Totem in Flaine (http://www.crystalski.co.uk/ski-resorts/france-ski-holidays/flaine/le-totem) at just under £400 for a week full-board.
But I'm now worried because the snow outlook isn't great (http://www.flaine.com/fr/hiver/fluxmeteo.htm?stl=7), although I think I might be reading way too much into how much snow there is at 'lower levels'.
Had a quick look on fasttrackski but will go and dig a bit deeper now. Cheers!
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Done. Eventually. Austria it is, Niederau to be precise. Looks like quite a basic resort which is fine for us, but had relatively recent snow fall. £324 each incl flights, transfers and shared twin within number 1 rated pension (massive B&B) on Tripadvisor, but have spoken to owner and for just 50Euros extra, he should be letting us have our own room each which is a result. Touch wood!
I'm tempted to leave board hire, lessons, ski passes etc until I get there as fed up of the internet and phone now, but after a couple of hours away from it, I'm sure I'll rediscover the passion.
Thanks again to those concerned for the advice and apologies that I'm pretty much making zero use of it this time!
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Watched an episode of Globe Trekker the other night about ski touring the Haute Route. Has anyone on here tried ski touring?
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Just got back from my 14 nights in the States.
Based in Breckenridge, Colorado (with a 4x4) we managed to ski Breck itself, Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek and Arapahoe Basin. All resorts had a dump of around 50" of snow just before we arrived, another 10 or so inches over 24 hours during the stay and have just had another 12-15 as we left.
However it was the coldest conditions I have ever been in with, at one point, a daytime low of -15f and a nightime low of -30f. Thankfully there was no windchill to take the temperatures lower.
Though thanks to this, the lift queues were non-existent during the weekdays and well managed at the weekends with no jostling or having to fight for a place.
We went for the season pass for $670 which allowed us into all these resorts and also gave us the ability to track your lift usage online for the duration. I achieved over 260,000 vertical feet in 11 days of skiing (not including a day in A-Basin which doesn't record the figures) which I'm quite chuffed with :)
All in all a fantastic ski holiday which once again makes me realise that 90% of Europe is overpriced and can't compare to USA or Canada when it comes to the expanse and variety of terrain.
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Got back from Niederau in the Wildschönau region of Austria yesterday, my first snowboarding trip completed and a definite success.
Was on the difficult reds by the end of the week and would have moved onto the blacks had I not started to get quite so tired and put off by the sight of another person being airlifted off a piste at Auffach on Friday.
A chap from Birmingham had quite a nasty accident earlier in the week when he apparently crossed his skis, resulting in broken neck, legs, pelvis... must admit I stopped listening when I didn't want to be put off going again.
Niederau is definitely a more beginner friendly resort, but Auffach's 6km run from top to bottom seemed to keep even the more experienced skiers happy. Might pop back before the end of the season if I can get a good enough deal!
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Got back from Niederau in the Wildschönau region of Austria yesterday, my first snowboarding trip completed and a definite success.
Was on the difficult reds by the end of the week and would have moved onto the blacks had I not started to get quite so tired and put off by the sight of another person being airlifted off a piste at Auffach on Friday.
A chap from Birmingham had quite a nasty accident earlier in the week when he apparently crossed his skis, resulting in broken neck, legs, pelvis... must admit I stopped listening when I didn't want to be put off going again.
Niederau is definitely a more beginner friendly resort, but Auffach's 6km run from top to bottom seemed to keep even the more experienced skiers happy. Might pop back before the end of the season if I can get a good enough deal!
Last time I spoke to Legion, he said he wasn't going skiing again !!
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Off to La Thuile in Italy next week. Not been since doing all my formative skiing there as a kid.
Looking forward to it a lot.
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Off to La Thuile in Italy next week. Not been since doing all my formative skiing there as a kid.
Looking forward to it a lot.
And so you should.
I went there in 1995 and if it's only half as good as it was then it will be brilliant.
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I am off next week for my second ever ski trip to bansko (loved my first time last year)
A question i have for you experienced guys:
First time out i was not scared at all as i had no preconceived ideas of what to expect and followed my instructors word to the letter - after 3 days i was skiing the same blue run quite comfortably (with a few falls now and then when i got a bit too cocky!) by the end of the week i had done, very gingerly and slowly my first red.
As i said i am off next week and this time i am shitting myself - i think it might be down to the old adage "a little knowledge is dangerous"
Is this normal to feel more nervous 2nd time out?
Anyhow it was something i have always wanted to do and i loved it - not just the skiing but the whole vibe of it - by the end of the week i was going down runs with i pod on and its the most amazing chill time i have ever had
Although the aches and pains when you are not used to it are a bitch
any tips from the H&V experienced folks?
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How many years between trips?
I would just take the first morning really easy, don't get into anything over your head until you have your ski legs back. Stick to greens and easy blues until you find yourself comfortable like you were towards the end of the first trip. At the same time, you don't want to be too cautious as that is when you start to make mistakes and also, the slower you go, the harder it is to turn properly - you need some speed to carve out those turns properly.
Just try and relax and have fun.
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I am off next week for my second ever ski trip to bansko (loved my first time last year)
A question i have for you experienced guys:
Although the aches and pains when you are not used to it are a bitch
any tips from the H&V experienced folks?
Yes. Go to Austria. The wellness stuff is superb. When you book a massage...that's what you get. I have only been to Borovets once and that was 10 years ago...a massage was much more than a massage!!
However, 10 years ago, Borovets was Mafia run.
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Group of us are looking at Fernie, BC for a trip... anyone been there?
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Just got back from bansko, Bulgaria and it was fabulous - although we really by luck picked the best week as there has been little snow and by the end of the week the cannons were working overtime.
Only my second ever time skiing and i completed all of the 12 blue runs and my 2 first ever reds in full - i was well chuffed
On the snow front my missus sister is in Switzerland and has paid a fortune for passes etc and there is very little snow - they are having to bus from top of cable car a further 30 mins to get any
I have heard this all round Europe this year a disctinct lack of snow :(
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I have heard this all round Europe this year a disctinct lack of snow :(
I think we must have been pretty lucky when we went to Austria. My sister's ex-husband is off to Mayrhofen in a couple of weeks for Snowbombing Festival (http://www.snowbombing.com/en/) and I thought I read the other day that they'd had snow last week.
Am hoping to join him. Well, pretty much inviting myself along either way!
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Who's going where for 2011/12 ?
We're off to La Plagne again with Silverski. However, this time we're staying in Plagne Soleil.
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I'm hoping to do a bit of snowboarding (never done it before) in Aviemore if there's some snow around Christmas and New Year.
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Off to Lake Tahoe for 14 nights (12 days skiing) with a couple of mates in Jan.
Flights, 4x4, ski cabin in South lake Tahoe and 6 resort ski pass vouchers all booked independantly.
We've just got to sort out transport to Heathrow.
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This is a webcam showing what are meant to be the pistes above where I'm staying in La Plagne over the New Year
http://laplagne.livecam360.com/grande-rochette/flash/main.php
A distinct lack of snow at the moment.
The webcam is over 2500m up, so lack of altitude is not the problem
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Plenty of time yet Mr Sox, you will be fine.
However, I fear my knee might not make it in time. I tore my ACL in mid-August, while I'm making good recovery, I'm not sure if I will be ready for skiing this season or not. I will be mightily pissed off if not.
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Plenty of time yet Mr Sox, you will be fine.
The general view over on the "Snowheads" forum is not to even look at the pistes or snow forecasts until December. However, the webcam archives for La Plagne show that at this time last year everything was already nicely white.
Without snow cover, the La Plagne webcams are useful for gauging the underlying terrain and planning routes
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Plenty of time yet Mr Sox, you will be fine.
The general view over on the "Snowheads" forum is not to even look at the pistes or snow forecasts until December. However, the webcam archives for La Plagne show that at this time last year everything was already nicely white.
Without snow cover, the La Plagne webcams are useful for gauging the underlying terrain and planning routes
Yeah but early snow isn't necessarily a good thing.....the temeprature could always rise again before Christmas. What you need is consistent cold temperatures to build the base - the base is the most important thing for a good season of skiing, not a big dump early.
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You can keep up to dat with all the webcams from around the world with http://www.snoweye.com/
As USAV said, far too early to start panicking :)
From the La Plagne website:
Whilst it is still early, and snow at lower levels will no doubt melt, locals are predicting a particularly white winter.
According to an old proverb, when the yellow gentian plant grows taller than normal (as it did this year), the coming season will be a snowy one.
Let's hope there is some truth behind it!
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I'm just back from a short early ski trip.
The trouble with going this early is that you have to go further north, the slopes aren't as good and fewer people speak understandable English.
Yep, I've had two days at Chill Factor E in Manchester.
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The Metro newspaper have a ski website which has some pretty good competitions throughout the ski season.
But this year they've a prize to give away everyday upto, and including, Christmas Eve.
http://www.metrosnow.co.uk/xmas-competitions/ (http://www.metrosnow.co.uk/xmas-competitions/)
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There's strange white stuff appearing on the La Plagne webcams
Things are looking up
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As long as it's not the same white stuff that regularly appeared on Ashley Young's webcam you'll be okay.
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Oh yes..................
http://laplagne.livecam360.com/bergerie/flash/main.php
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Good to see the conditions picking up across Europe. Just got to wait for the snow to come in across the Atlantic
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Aspen. February. Can't wait.
I'm determined to get my group to the Rockies some time. However, although everyone's always dead keen when we started talking, we always end up booking up for the Alps.
I'll be in La Plagne for a week over New Year.
Has anyone skied there ?
Yes - 199 - something
and it's great! We went for a night out in the village and had fondues and loads of lager. Can I just say that the midnight slide down the piste on a black bin bag with several equally pissed staff from the school I went with (kids safely tucked up in the hotel with the staff on duty -hurried qualifying edit) was one of the best experiences I've ever - well, experienced! Really, really liked it every day on the ski-ing, as well. I hope the piano bar is still there because that was an excellent way to finish the day.
Have a great time!
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I've not been in La Plagne for New Year's Eve, but I have been in other French resorts and they do tend to go quite mental. You should have a great time.
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It looks like Lou was responding to my post from last year. However, I'll be in LP over New Year again.
Last year we also did the midnight bin bag thing (whilst dodging the piste bashers). We were staying at the top of Plagne Villages and my cousin overdid the sledging and ended up having to walk back up from the top of Plagne Centre
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It looks like the majority of Europe is seeing massive snow dumps for the start of the season :)
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Yep, its been dumperama in the French Alps.
However, the Italian side is still lacking apparently. The racing from Val Gardena over the weekend was on really icy looking artificial snow
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Greetings from Plagne Soleil, 2050m up a French Alp. Got here about 1pm and was on the slopes by 2pm. Great weather, clear blue skys and no wind. Already tried three of the bars and might pop out again later to watch the Villa game
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Greetings from Plagne Soleil, 2050m up a French Alp. Got here about 1pm and was on the slopes by 2pm. Great weather, clear blue skys and no wind. Spectacular view of Mont Blanc from my room. Already tried three of the bars and might pop out again later to watch the Villa game
Fantastic ! I'm so jealous - stuck in Birmingham whie there's so many pistes to ski :D
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Greetings from Plagne Soleil, 2050m up a French Alp. Got here about 1pm and was on the slopes by 2pm. Great weather, clear blue skys and no wind. Spectacular view of Mont Blanc from my room. Already tried three of the bars and might pop out again later to watch the Villa game
Are you back for Swansea?
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Conditions are superb here. I've been able to do runs that I wouldn't have dreamed of attempting last year.
My ski pass includes one day over at Les Arcs, so I might head there tomorrow.
Snow is forecast for Thur onwards, so I'll be staying closer to the chalet at that point.
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Woo hoo...... I managed to ski from La Plagne to Les Arcs (well, Plan Peisey anyway) via the Vanoise Express cable car.
That's my main mission for this trip accomplished. Weather permitting I will now work on improving my distinctly dodgy technique during the rest of the week.
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Are you back for Swansea?
No. I sold my seat on Viagogo
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I had the day off from skiing due to blizzard conditions. Probably 18 inches of new snow in the past day.
The snow eased off this afternoon but the wind got worse which halted any interest I had to venture out.
Some of my group are hiring powder skis for tomorrow.
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Well, that's my skiing over for this trip.
This is our last day and I'd only been out for a couple of hours when I lost a battle with a section of off piste and hurt my hip clambering out of a drift.
Overall, a very enjoyable trip. The chalet location wasn't ideal but the accommodation and food was fine.
We're planning to come back to La Plagne again next year, probably staying over in Plagne Villages.
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What are the slopes like for advanced skiers out there UKR ?
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What are the slopes like for advanced skiers out there UKR ?
Some of my group could be considered "advanced" and they found plenty to do on the blacks and off piste.
I've got zero interest in anything too dangerous. Some of my group witnessed a young kid lose it on a nasty black and only just stop sliding before a cliff edge. I can't see the fun in risking it all for skiing.
I've only ever done a couple of reds**, never done a black and the only time I venture off piste is to cut across between two pistes that I can clearly see.
(**Most of the reds in LP appear to be steep narrow tracks, eg down to Champagny).
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Cool.
As it stands there has been no snow at all in Tahoe and they've even stopped making it due to the unseasonably high temperatures out there at the moment.
We head out there in less than 2 weeks and it's not looking good.
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Cool.
As it stands there has been no snow at all in Tahoe and they've even stopped making it due to the unseasonably high temperatures out there at the moment.
We head out there in less than 2 weeks and it's not looking good.
They are expecting snow by mid to late January. You will be cutting it fine.
We just got our first noticeable snow over the last couple of days as well, it's been a mild, but wet winter here - if the temps had been a little lower we would have got clattered.
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Cool.
As it stands there has been no snow at all in Tahoe and they've even stopped making it due to the unseasonably high temperatures out there at the moment.
We head out there in less than 2 weeks and it's not looking good.
They are expecting snow by mid to late January. You will be cutting it fine.
We just got our first noticeable snow over the last couple of days as well, it's been a mild, but wet winter here - if the temps had been a little lower we would have got clattered.
Cheers USAV.
It's going to need a couple of massive snow dumps for it to be anything like skiable.
One of the lads that's coming is constantly reading the snow blog for Squaw and they're expecting a change in conditions the weekend before we head out there.
Up until now it's even been too warm to make snow.
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Well a couple of days to go until Tahoe and there has still been no snow since November :-/
We arrive on Monday evening, 1st day skiing on Tuesday.
Fingers crossed, weather reports say there should be snow from Wednesday onwards so conditions should improve.
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What's the altitude of the resort you're staying at Gerags
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Heavenly is at 6,225 ft and the highest peak there is betweek 9,500-10,000 ft.
There's also Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Northstar, Kirkwood, Sierra and Mount Rose to name a few.
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Well a couple of days to go until Tahoe and there has still been no snow since November :-/
We arrive on Monday evening, 1st day skiing on Tuesday.
Fingers crossed, weather reports say there should be snow from Wednesday onwards so conditions should improve.
If I heard right just now on the weather channel, they said they would be mesauring 'feet of snow' over the next few days in Lake Tahoe.
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Here's a Lake Tahoe snow report with a classic American voiceover
http://www.tahoetopia.com/lake-tahoe-snow-report
I suspect that the guy does used car dealer adverts as well
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I've just returned today and it was a fantastic 2 weeks.
When we started skiing Heavenly on the Tuesday 17th we were surprised how good the man made conditions were. Wednesday 18th was Northstar which again was surprisingly good.
Thursday was limited due to the wind conditions closing important lifts and Friday was, literally, a washout due to it raining all day.
At 4am on the Saturday morning that rain then thankfully turned to snow and we had 3 storms roll in over 3-4 days dumping up to 5 foot of snow in some of the resorts.
What I didn't realise until we arrived how badly the local economy was suffering due to these conditions. Only 10% of the normal staff were employed by Heavenly ski resort. Sierra only had the executives running what was open up until that point and was employing no other staff.
The hotels, casinos and bars were empty and taking no money until this snow dump.
It put our worries about not being able to ski on fresh snow into perspective.
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Indeed - it does put it into perspective.
Sounds like the second week was great conditions........
Still really mild here in the East, it has been a very strange winter indeed.
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Amazing conditions, USAV.
Skiing Sierra at Tahoe atop waist deep, heavy, powder was one of the most draining things I have ever done.
I fell twice in it (the 2nd time due to exhaustion) and managed to get up ok, whereas one of my mates fell and it took him about 15-20 minutes to get both of his skis back on. He was shattered by the end of the run.
We'd not heard much about conditions in the east of the country, but heard on a daily basis how the high pressure off the Cali coast was robbing the mid west of it's snow by pushing most of the weather up to the north west, Canada and Alaska. With the latter having record snowfalls this year.
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Currently sat in the bar at Chillfactore in Manchester.
I tend to stay in the Travelodge over the road on nights before Villa play in this area.
Shame that I didn't bring my ski gear, the slope looks quiet and theyve got a slalom set up.
Oh well, I'll have to make do with the "Coors and Chip Butty for £3-20".
Some pretty good deals are coming thro from Silverski at the moment so I'm tempted to sneak in a late season Alps trip.
Any recommendations for where's best March & April?
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Currently sat in the bar at Chillfactore in Manchester.
I tend to stay in the Travelodge over the road on nights before Villa play in this area.
Shame that I didn't bring my ski gear, the slope looks quiet and theyve got a slalom set up.
Oh well, I'll have to make do with the "Coors and Chip Butty for £3-20".
Some pretty good deals are coming thro from Silverski at the moment so I'm tempted to sneak in a late season Alps trip.
Any recommendations for where's best March & April?
Possibly somewhere at altitude to guarantee snow, but always worth just checking conditions before booking anywhere.
I would love to go skiing again this season, what are the deals llike ?
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I would love to go skiing again this season, what are the deals llike ?
http://www.silverski.co.uk/special-offers/
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I would love to go skiing again this season, what are the deals llike ?
http://www.silverski.co.uk/special-offers/
Not that special then.
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Has anyone booked there trip for the 2012/13 season ?
I'm going to La Plagne again over New Year.
This time its on Honeymoon.
However, its not my Honeymoon.
Two of my friends are getting married on Dec 27th and then were off mob-handed for their Honeymoon in the Alps.
There's 20+ of us, so we've booked out a whole chalet.
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Has anyone booked there trip for the 2012/13 season ?
I'm going to La Plagne again over New Year.
This time its on Honeymoon.
However, its not my Honeymoon.
Two of my friends are getting married on Dec 27th and then were off mob-handed for their Honeymoon in the Alps.
There's 20+ of us, so we've booked out a whole chalet.
I was going to congratulate you but congratulations to your friends.
We've not booked up for next year yet but the lad I normally go with is getting married in October and may not be able to afford the usual 2 weeks Stateside and the other has to clear it with his wife so it looked as if we were going to ski Europe this coming season.
But... I was asked, a couple of weeks back, to go on secondment for 3 months to our Global company in New Jersey and when it's all set up I should be out there from January to March - which means I could well have the whole season out there. So it's all a bit up in the air at the moment.
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But... I was asked, a couple of weeks back, to go on secondment for 3 months to our Global company in New Jersey and when it's all set up I should be out there from January to March - which means I could well have the whole season out there. So it's all a bit up in the air at the moment.
There's some low altitude resorts in Noo Joisey
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But... I was asked, a couple of weeks back, to go on secondment for 3 months to our Global company in New Jersey and when it's all set up I should be out there from January to March - which means I could well have the whole season out there. So it's all a bit up in the air at the moment.
There's some low altitude resorts in Noo Joisey
I am more than aware, which is why I could well be packing my skis and boots if this all goes ahead :)
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Its been dumperama in the French Alps this week
Last year at this time we were panicking about the lack of snow. This year, there's no such worries.
This is view today of the area of La Plagne that I ski the most
http://laplagne.livecam360.net/bergerie?t=2012-12-04+11:10:00&r=333&z=109&tl=0
And here's a view from higher up
http://laplagne.livecam360.net/grande-rochette?t=2012-12-04+11:10:00&r=338&z=109&tl=0
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"On the piste m'Lord".............................
About to head for Gatport Airwick and then off to the Alps
Snow looks spectacular and the weather forecast for the week looks good at the moment.
http://laplagne.livecam360.net/bergerie?t=2012-12-29%2B11%3A30%3A00&r=317&z=68&tl=0
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Took my daughter to the local ski resort near here today......had a great time, some of the best snow I've skied on ever.
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Greetings from Plagne Villages. Excellent weather and generally good piste conditions. However there are some quite vital runs that apparently aren't being pisted as often as they used to be.
Slightly lower down around Plagne 1800, things are apparently quite bad on the piste and with lifts running slow. Luckily our chalet is at 2155m, so we're up above the main bottlenecks.
Skied until 3pm, which is a long day for me but the weather was so good that we had to stay out.
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Sounds fantastic - can't wait until I'm settled in the States so I can sort out some East Coast skiing :)
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I'm seriously considering making this my last ski trip. I just don't seem to make any progress and have some days when it's like I've never skied before.
I was going fine on the first two days, dealing with a few tricky runs and poor piste conditions without any trouble.
However, on the next day, I went splat within ten yards of starting and then had half an hour when I just couldn't stay upright. I improved as the day went on but my confidence took a hit.
Yesterday I decided to have the day skiing on my own. I was doing ok but wasn't really enjoying it.
Today I've had the day off and just done some walking and photography.
The weather is meant to be great again tomorrow and Sat, so I've got two more days to get my head sorted.
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It's called getting old. Also, lay off the schnapps at night time.
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It's called getting old. Also, lay off the schnapps at night time.
Yep, the wine and vodka last night certainly didn't help
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The last three days of skiing went very well. I seem to be making some progress at last.
We ended the day at the Bergerie Bar on the slope above Plagne Villages. We've been using the bar for a few years now and some of my mates have got to know the owner quite well.
He brought us out a bottle of some local hooch that had a frog in it. Eventually, after making the guy down some first, most of us drunk some.
Fecking revolting.
Apparently we were the first English group to accept the challenge.
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While I applaud your ability to drink frog juice, a lot of skiing problems tend to stem from people drinking during the day.
As my mate tells me, save the booze for apres ski - we only have a small window to ski in and it should be used to the maximum.
On another note, UKR, what level do you ski at ?
When you say that you fell within 10 yards and couldn't stay upright, do you think that it was a confididence, piste condition or an ability issue ?
It's a serious question because if you're of a decent ability it could be a confidence issue which could be resolved by having equipment you trust and a little bit of guidance.
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It turned out that there was a lump of ice trapped in my one ski binding (which I discovered after the third fall) that was causing the ski to fly off too easily. By the time we discovered this fact my confidence had taken a major knock.
I'm OK on anything up to a Blue. However, I hate anything narrow (even Green or Blue roads) or which has a cliff-edge drop (when my, what I consider healthy, fear of falling off the side of the mountain kicks in).
I've done a couple of Reds but don't really see how anyone gets any pleasure from them. As for Black runs..............................
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UKR stay away from cliff edges today, we all know it was a bad one last night but life goes on, step away from the edge.
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UKR stay away from cliff edges today, we all know it was a bad one last night but life goes on, step away from the edge.
Safely back at work now. Not many cliff-edges in 'Nam.
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So, who's going where in 2013/2014 ?
I'm off to La Plagne for a fourth time (once again staying at the chalet of the owners of Silverski).
We weren't going to ski this winter but my friends' daughter is doing a season chalet maiding for Silverski, so we're heading over to see her Xmas week.
Just the six of us going this time as opposed to the almost 30 we had last year.
Today's La Plagne (Bergerie Lift) webcam view
(http://www.perso-laplagne.fr/Images_Actualites/2013/Bergerie-11112013.jpg)
Webcam
http://laplagne.livecam360.net/bergerie
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I want to go NOW !!!!!
http://laplagne.livecam360.net/bergerie?t=2013-11-22+13-20-00&r=279&z=109&tl=0
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Isn't anyone else skiing this winter ?
I leave on Saturday for Gatport Airwick and fly to Grenoble 6am Sunday.
Today's seen the first new dusting of snow since November. Hopefully that'll take the edge of the iciness
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A month in La Thuile at the end of January.
Edit: a week. A month would be a little extravagant.
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Tomorrow I'm nipping up to Pyrénées 2000 for the day. Leave at 0730 hrs and back home around 1900 hrs.
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There's enough rain pouring down our street to go water ski-ing.
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Live from La Plagne!!
Snow conditions are a lot better than I expected but I've only used the free drag so far.
Our chalet is at 2100 metres, so we were pretty much guaranteed snow. However, so of the lower pistes look pretty ropey.
Forecast is for more snow over Xmas.
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After snowing constantly for two days, it was a bluebird this morning with almost perfect conditions.
For those who know La Plagne, I spent most of the day over on the Arpette and Roche de Mio. I did another Tunnel run in some of the best snow I've ever skied on. However it was very crowded on some sections.
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Safely back from a great week's skiing.
Since we're in pretty well with the chalet owners and staff (my friends' daughter is one of the hosts this season), we could be in line for discounted trip back to La Plagne later in the season.
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Do we have any experts on Austrian resorts ?
Next winter I'm going to St Johann / Apendorf and was looking for advice for the best parts of the "Ski Amade" area for an intermediate skier who's crap if there's a cliff edge near by
http://www.skiamade.com/en/winter/skiresorts/salzburger-sportwelt/stjohann-alpendorf
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Still looking for any tips regarding the Ski Amade region in Austria.
I head off on Xmas night for a week in St Johann/Alpendorf (by car, which Im not really looking forward to).
We're staying in St Johann im Pongau, so will either have to drive or bus it to the slopes
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I skied a bit in the Zauchensee area last season and it was pretty good for my level; blues, reds and easy blacks with varied landscape. My daughter likes the Flachauwinkl area. Both of these are fairly near St. Johann.
They don't seem to have many slopes open at the moment though due to the general lack of snow.
I'm sure you have this already, but just in case you don't:
http://www.skiamade.com/en/winter/live-info/review-season/live-overview
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Yes Ian, I've been checking the Ski Amade site.
Considering how warm it is over there at the moment (11 degrees in the valley), its impressive that they're keeping anything open.
As long as it cools down a bit over the next week, I should be alright. I can potter around above Alpendorf where the snow-canons are doing their thing.
However, the expert skiers in my group could be struggling to find much of interest.
I might also take a day off and take the train to Salzburg.
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live from Pongau
the hotel and skiing have been fine so far but I still prefer a chalet in La Plagne
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Watching the Lauberhorn on Eurosport. Weather in Wengen looks spectacular.
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I've just booked a week in La Plagne from Sun 31st Jan.
Is anyone else skiing this winter?
EDIT - Noticed that this page looks worse than my Luke Haines thread over in the Music section
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I might nip up the road to Les Angles at the weekend.
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18 inches of snow n the last 24 hours here in La Plagne. Conditions should be great when we start skiing tomorrow
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It's been a spectacular week here in La Plagne. Bright sunshine most days apart from Wednesday when it snowed for the best part of 24 hours.
Snow conditions have encouraged me to try some runs that I've only looked at before.
Still sticking to Blues though, the Reds still don't appeal to me.
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Greetings from La Plagne. No snow for a couple of weeks and nothing forecast for the week we're here.
Only around half the pistes are open but they've done a pretty good job of managing the snow that is around. Overall conditions are far better that i expected.
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We stayed in the "Silverski" apartment attached to the company owners' winter residence.
Some of the H&V Speedway fans might have heard of Len Silver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Silver), former manager of the England team.
At 78, Len is still skiing every day and is a great character.
UPDATE - This year we stayed in the chalet next door to the Silverski owners. Saw Len a couple of times. He's now 84 and still skiing
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Snow farming
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38516688
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GBs first podium finish in 35 years by Dave Ryding in the Slamlom at Kitzbuhel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/38710917
Also at Kitzbuhel, the most impressive thing for me about the Downhill was Graham Bell's run down holding a camera
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I enjoy watching the downhills and hope St Moritz get started soon.
0-60 in 3 seconds at the start and 80mph thereafter. WOW..
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Bumpity Bump............
Early snow looks great in the Alps.
Is anyone booked up for 2017/18 ?
We're heading to La Plagne (there's a surprise) for a week on 28 Jan
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I've got my first ever skiing trip mid Jan, to Austria. Short break with the lads. Bit nervous tbh, having never been skiing before. How hard is to get the basics sorted? I won't be the only complete novice thankfully.
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We go in the campervan every year to cut costs down. We were hoping for Livigno over Christmas New Year but all campsites were full so trying Austria near Zell am Zee. If you haven't skied before you could try a few lessons in the Snow Dome Tamworth.
Looks like there is plenty of snow already and looking forward to it.
Pongo
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I've got my first ever skiing trip mid Jan, to Austria. Short break with the lads. Bit nervous tbh, having never been skiing before. How hard is to get the basics sorted? I won't be the only complete novice thankfully.
Have a couple of lessons at an indoor slope. The key thing is learning how to stop and how to get up when you fall down. The actual skiing bit isn’t too difficult to pick up
I learned the basics at Tamworth but haven’t been there for a few years.
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I've got my first ever skiing trip mid Jan, to Austria. Short break with the lads. Bit nervous tbh, having never been skiing before. How hard is to get the basics sorted? I won't be the only complete novice thankfully.
Have a couple of lessons at an indoor slope. The key thing is learning how to stop and how to get up when you fall down. The actual skiing bit isn’t too difficult to pick up
I learned the basics at Tamworth but haven’t been there for a few years.
Yes, have taken your advice and am having a day's lesson at Milton Keynes on Wednesday.
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Whereabouts in Austria are you going Risso ?
A good place to start for resort/piste info is
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/
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That was....difficult. Felt like learning to drive again. Got the hang of skiing in a straight line and doing a snow plough. Turning left was ok but turning right I found surprisingly difficult. Overall it was good fun, but very knackering!
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That was....difficult. Felt like learning to drive again. Got the hang of skiing in a straight line and doing a snow plough. Turning left was ok but turning right I found surprisingly difficult. Overall it was good fun, but very knackering!
Glad that you enjoyed it Risso.
Even after a decade, I still find turning right more difficult
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Off next week, to Zell am See. I'm going to do another quick lesson at MK, then have booked a 3 hour lesson out there, for me and the three other people who haven't been skiing before.
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Off next week, to Zell am See. I'm going to do another quick lesson at MK, then have booked a 3 hour lesson out there, for me and the three other people who haven't been skiing before.
Here’s the snow forecast for Zell
http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Zell-am-See/6day/mid
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Cheers! Off tomorrow night. If I die, been nice knowing you.
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Cheers! Off tomorrow night. If I die, been nice knowing you.
How's it going ?
Risso, can you here me ? Risso........... RISSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOO
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Greetings from La Plagne where the on-piste conditions are some of the best that i’ve experienced in 10 years of skiing.
I’ve been able to ski pistes that i’d not considered attempting before.
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Greetings from La Plagne where the on-piste conditions are some of the best that i’ve experienced in 10 years of skiing.
I’ve been able to ski pistes that i’d not considered attempting before.
Because of the conditions, or it's taken you 10 years to pluck up the courage? ;-)
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A combination. The start of the run to get over there involves a steepish narrow section under a chair and then a ledge. However, once past those, the rest of the run down was fine and the section i’m referring to ( The Rossas) was well worth the effort. It also meant that i was able to spend more time with my friends.
Tomorrow, i’m going to double-bubble it up to the Bellecote glacier just to look at the views. the only run actually open at the very top is a Black, so there’s no way i’m doing that.
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Back safely from an excellent week in La Plagne.
I did at least one new piste every day including, on Saturday, making it down to Montalbert via Plagne 1800 and Aime 2000.
After a complete day of new snow on Wednesday, I skied over to Les Arcs on Thursday and did some runs over by the Derby lift. The 'Renard' is the best new piste that I've skied this year.
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Does anyone on here roller ski - or have friends who do?
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I remember downhill grass-skiing being a thing over here in the 80s but I assume that you're referring to Cross Country / Nordic style.
If so, no
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The first ski 'resort' to open for business this year is doing so tomorrow. It's Porté Puymorens, up the road from us, near Andorra.
Video of conditions on 6th Nov (https://france3-regions.blog.francetvinfo.fr/pyrenees/2018/11/06/suite-aux-dernieres-chutes-de-neige-la-station-de-porte-puymorens-lance-la-saison-de-ski-dans-les-pyrenees-ce-samedi.html)
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Blimey, that looks good for mid-November.
I'm off to La Tania (Courchevel) for a week on 23 Dec.
It seems a bit early to me but our group includes students and a teacher, so we're a bit limited on when we can go.
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I’m off to Austria again in January.
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IBU World Cup coming to Utah in February - that's my 2019 holiday sorted then.
http://biathlonworldcuputah.com/
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Chalet / bar staff problems after a no-deal Brexit
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/18/brexit-thousands-ski-resort-jobs-at-risk
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Off next week, to Zell am See. I'm going to do another quick lesson at MK, then have booked a 3 hour lesson out there, for me and the three other people who haven't been skiing before.
On 25 August this year it snowed in Zell well below the tree line forcing the cancellation of the swim and the cutting short of the bike course for Ironman 70.3 Zell Am See. August FFS.
I'm racing there next year on 1 September, hoping it won't have snowed the night before the race again, looks like a beautiful place with or without snow.
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Heavy rain expected in La Tania on Sat night (I arrive on Sunday).
Looks like I'll have to bus it to/from Courchevel 1850 to ski next week :(
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I'm off to Zell again next month.
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I'm off to Zell again next month.
Any hotel recommendations? How do you get from Salzburg airport, is it a taxi ride?
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I'm off to Zell again next month.
Any hotel recommendations? How do you get from Salzburg airport, is it a taxi ride?
Train should work
I did a train side trip to Salzburg a couple of years back when skiing at St Johann im Pongau. Only cost around 4 Euro
Zell's about an hour further along on the same line
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I'm off to Zell again next month.
Any hotel recommendations? How do you get from Salzburg airport, is it a taxi ride?
Train should work
I did a train side trip to Salzburg a couple of years back when skiing at St Johann im Pongau. Only cost around 4 Euro
Zell's about an hour further along on the same line
Cheers Sox I’ll take a look at the Austrian railways website later as need to figure out if I can bring my bike onboard albeit it’ll be in a box having just arrived at Salzburg airport.
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I'm off to Zell again next month.
Any hotel recommendations? How do you get from Salzburg airport, is it a taxi ride?
Yes, just over an hour away I think. The minibus we hired had a separate trailer for skis and boards etc, so would think that a bike wouldn't be too much trouble. Can't help too much with a hotel, as the one we were staying wasn't up to much to be honest. I didn't organise it though, it was one of the other lads in the group trying to get as cheap a place as possible.
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Guess which airport I'm supposed to be flying from on Sunday ? >:(
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Guess which airport I'm supposed to be flying from on Sunday ? >:(
Shatwick. More importantly since it looks like it's open now, do they have snow in Trois Vallees?
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Guess which airport I'm supposed to be flying from on Sunday ? >:(
Shatwick. More importantly since it looks like it's open now, do they have snow in Trois Vallees?
Yes but the forecast is freeze/thaw for the next week.
There’s even real snow on and around the La Praz ski jump. That area was completely Green last time I was there.
When we were there last time (New Year 2008-9), there’d been no new snow for two weeks.
However, I’m still expecting to have to bus it back from Courchevel 1850 to La Tania each afternoon.
We’re a bit spoiled by normally skiing in La Plagne, where the chalet is at 2130m
La Tania is only around 1409m
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We always used to stay in Meribel which is around the same height. They always have the runs back tot the village open even if they have to use snow cannons or move snow. I remember skiing in couchevel, but I don’t remember if we ever made it down to La Tania.
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No reason to go to La Tania unless you’re staying there.
3V does seem to have a better canon set up than La Plagne
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it’s been raining here in La Tania today and viz has been very poor. However, under ski conditions in Courchevel were decent.
No snow forecast all week and temperatures will be above 0. Skies should be clear though
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I’ve not been venturing far from the main slopes above Courchevel 1850. Conditions are very icy and the high temps mean that not much artificial snow can be produced. I came a cropper today on a blue piste and it was like landing on concrete.
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Off to Stansted tonight for an early flight in the morning to Austria. Conditions are brilliant I'm led to believe.
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Could be a bit chilly Risso
https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Zell-am-See/6day/mid
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Could be a bit chilly Risso
https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Zell-am-See/6day/mid
Blimey - bit colder than last year, where I don't think it really got much below 0.
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It’s brilliant here UKR this year, and as a complete novice my skiing has come on leaps and bounds. Huge amount of fresh snow unlike last year when it was like skiing on icy tarmac. Just having a deserved hot chocolate and rum.
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It’s brilliant here UKR this year, and as a complete novice my skiing has come on leaps and bounds. Huge amount of fresh snow unlike last year when it was like skiing on icy tarmac. Just having a deserved hot chocolate and rum.
Well done Risso. Decent snow conditions make a hell of a difference.
When we skied last Jan, it was perfect. Over Xmas, as mentioned above, conditions were poor and I felt like my skiing to a step backwards
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Late to this thread, but had a good week in Val D'Isere w/c 5th Jan - pistes were superb, but they'd had no fresh snow since 22nd Dec. We got a top up midweek and it was really good. Baltic though, down to -16 for the last couple of days but sunny!! Jealous of you out in Austria Risso, it looks awesome!!
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It's been snowing for two days in the Eastern Pyrenees (Les Angles, Font Romeu, Pyrénées 2000, Andorra...). They should have good conditions for the final weekend or two of the season.
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Who's going where in the 2019/20 ski season ?
After going to Courchevel last year, I'll be in La Plagne for a week near the end of Jan 2020.
We went at Xmas last year and the snow conditions were dire. Hopefully the extra few weeks will mean some decent snow this time round
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Got our annual lads trip to Zell in January. This will be the third year and my skiing has got a bit better each time.
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I'll be staying in Chalet Topaz, Plagne Soleil again this year. I think that this'll be the third time that we've used this particular chalet.
The accommodation is fine but if there's been heavy snow, getting bags up the 40-odd steps to the chalet can be a right pain
Most of the time it's Ski in* / ski out
(https://www.silverski.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/chalet-topaz/EllenRachelWaite_-12.jpg) (https://www.silverski.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/chalet-topaz/Craiggriggs-33.jpg)
*literally......I've seen people ski through the front door :)
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Who's going where in the 2019/20 ski season ?
After going to Courchevel last year, I'll be in La Plagne for a week near the end of Jan 2020.
Getting back on the planks for the first time since before the kids were born and just booked January in Bulgaria with some mates.
Looking forward to it - not had a ski trip without either wife and / parents in fifteen years. Never done Bulgaria either.
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Nice one Dave. I've never been to Bulgaria but have friends who go most years and they love it there.
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I have just booked a week in Whistler at the end of Feb. Never been anywhere but the Alps and the local hills here in Pennsylvania. I'm really looking forward to it.
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Hopefully I'll get to ski in Canada or the Colorado Rockies at some point.
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Got our annual lads trip to Zell in January. This will be the third year and my skiing has got a bit better each time.
I'm tempted to do Zell in Feb/March, loved it there in the summer when I raced Ironman there, stunning place.
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Got our annual lads trip to Zell in January. This will be the third year and my skiing has got a bit better each time.
I'm tempted to do Zell in Feb/March, loved it there in the summer when I raced Ironman there, stunning place.
It’s the only ski resort I’ve ever been to, but it’s lovely and very easy to get to.
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We've decided to do our annual boys trip a couple of weeks later this season, so planning w/c 25th Jan. Haven't decided where yet, after 2 years in Val D'Isere we fancy a change (although it is superb skiing) so are thinking of going back to Mayrhofen or somewhere new in Austria. Gonna see if there are any Black Friday travel agent deals to go for before deciding. Zell would be on the list!
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We just do everything ourselves. Flights from Stansted work really well, and you get to Zell for about lunch time. Quite a few nice, reasonable hotels. The town itself isn't that big, but enough decent bars for a good night out.
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The Alps by train
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/oct/12/20-best-alps-ski-resorts-by-train-rail-france-switzerland-austria-italy?CMP=share_btn_tw
There's a few of the ideas that have too many changes to make the trip feasible IMO but the trains direct to Bourg look like a better idea than driving
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A nice dump of snow forecast for the Western Alps later this week.
A couple of friends of mine fly out in a few days for a season chalet hosting in La Plagne
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Feck me, if this happens, it'll be an incredible start to the season in La Plagne
(https://i.ibb.co/mGXcBnP/Capture.jpg) (https://ibb.co/FK0DWQd)
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December snow was great but since around 28th, there's been nothing in La Plagne and there's no hope in the current forecast.
I head over on Jan 19th, by which point it'll probably have been three weeks without any fresh snow.
I was hoping to try some new pistes and be a bit more adventurous. However, conditions could be like downhill ice skating, so there'll be more sitting around drinking beer
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I'm off to Zell am Zee on Wednesday.
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I'm off to Zell am Zee on Wednesday.
Similar forecast for that area
https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Zell-am-See/6day/mid
Are you driving or flying to Salzburg ?
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Flying to Salzburg from Stansted on Wednesday morning, then we get a transfer direct to the hotel. The hotel has its own equipment hire, and it's ski in, ski out, so we're normally on the slopes by midday.
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Finally some snow has crept into the forecast for La Plagne for Fri / Sat.
Timed nicely for our arrival on Sunday.
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If you’re in Zell then Crazy Daisy is where it’s at.
(https://i.ibb.co/pz58hmX/13064-F7-B-A74-F-4-D0-C-98-A2-C26-FF801-D370.png) (https://ibb.co/pz58hmX)
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If you’re in Zell then Crazy Daisy is where it’s at.
(https://i.ibb.co/pz58hmX/13064-F7-B-A74-F-4-D0-C-98-A2-C26-FF801-D370.png) (https://ibb.co/pz58hmX)
Yep, that's a regular haunt of ours, the English covers band who play upstairs are quite good. You'd never get away with that hammering the nails into the block of wood game they play over here I reckon.
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3 Villa fans on the trip so we got the band to play Sweet Caroline, cracking version.
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Greetings from La Plagne. Even though there’s been very little snow in the resort in 2020, the pistes are in excellent conditions.
Very cold today, around -10 but warming up as the week progresses which should stop the pistes icing up.
The plan is to head over to Les Arcs on Wed and Sat.
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One of my best ever days skiing today. Made it all the way over to Arc 1950 across the other side of the Vanoise Express.
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Have fun fella. Still recovering from mine, although mostly from the drinking rather than the skiing.
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Have fun fella. Still recovering from mine, although mostly from the drinking rather than the skiing.
Yep, i overdid the free white wine on the first evening
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Final day of the trip. Despite the lack of any new snow during our stay, conditions have been very good.
Chalet staff have been great.
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Have fun fella. Still recovering from mine, although mostly from the drinking rather than the skiing.
Just had a message from a friend who's chalet hosting in La Plagne. One of the guests who arrived on Sunday afternoon is a bloke in his 80s. He was absolutely rat-arsed by early evening and had to be carried to bed.
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Have fun fella. Still recovering from mine, although mostly from the drinking rather than the skiing.
Just had a message from a friend who's chalet hosting in La Plagne. One of the guests who arrived on Sunday afternoon is a bloke in his 80s. He was absolutely rat-arsed by early evening and had to be carried to bed.
Wow. Hope I'm still able to do anything at that age, let alone ski or get shit faced still.
Whistler is 4 weeks away........I will be wearing a helmet for the first time in skiing life. It's shit getting old.
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Len Silver, who I've mentioned before on this thread is now 87. He was out again in La Plagne this winter but had to head home a few days ago for ankle surgery.
He's hoping to be fit enough to ski again next season.
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Have fun fella. Still recovering from mine, although mostly from the drinking rather than the skiing.
Just had a message from a friend who's chalet hosting in La Plagne. One of the guests who arrived on Sunday afternoon is a bloke in his 80s. He was absolutely rat-arsed by early evening and had to be carried to bed.
Wow. Hope I'm still able to do anything at that age, let alone ski or get shit faced still.
Whistler is 4 weeks away........I will be wearing a helmet for the first time in skiing life. It's shit getting old.
Everybody wears them in Europe. A friend of ours hit her head after a fall skiing, and suffered concussion and memory loss. The doctor reckoned if she hadn't had a helmet on she'd have been in a Schumacher style coma at best, and more likely dead.
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I can't understand why anyone would even consider skiing without a helmet.
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I can't understand why anyone would even consider skiing without a helmet.
Ok, but didn't you start skiing just a few years ago? To Risso's point most people do here now as well, it's only the idiots like me who have been skiing for years that don't.
I first went with school in 1988, I can assure nobody wore a helmet. This will be the first major ski trip I've been on since 2002, all my other skiing has been local hills here in PA.
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Just back from a months skiing in the alps in the camper. Do it every year in the van and its good value for money. Started off at a small resort to get the ski legs in and unfortunately my wife broke her arm having a go at snow boarding. Then on to Les Gets for a week avoiding the Gendarme on the car park for a free week. Then Grand Bornand where my wife eventually went for an xray and got her arm plastered. Finally Les Saisies. We were going to go for Mont Genevra but decided to head home as she got fed up showering in the van with an arm in cast and she was worried about falling on her bad arm whilst skiing. In the month out it only snowed once or twice but there was plenty on the slopes and perfect blue skies nearly every day. We both wear helmets since 2014 when I had a bad fall.
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A mate of mine had a bit a spill on his first trip out of the 97/98 season. He lived in Switzerland, and was a very experienced boarder. Hit an icy path first run out, "helicoptered", broke his right(I think) leg in 8 places. It did, however, lead to (I'm going to hell) quite a funny episode when we all had to leg it when it kicked off in Marseille at the World Cup. My youngest brother has also had to be airlifted off a mountain after headbutting a skier.
I'm starting to think the moral of this story is that snowboarders* are fkn dangerous.
*I've been once. Got a bit cocky when sliding in to the chalet for a hot chocolate, proper clattered the skis stand thing.
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I'm starting to think the moral of this story is that snowboarders* are fkn dangerous.
Yep, mostly arseholes who don't give a stuff about anybody else.
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I'm starting to think the moral of this story is that snowboarders* are fkn dangerous.
Yep, mostly arseholes who don't give a stuff about anybody else.
I'm not going to argue. Hence my 'once'.
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I can't understand why anyone would even consider skiing without a helmet.
Ok, but didn't you start skiing just a few years ago? To Risso's point most people do here now as well, it's only the idiots like me who have been skiing for years that don't.
I first went with school in 1988, I can assure nobody wore a helmet. This will be the first major ski trip I've been on since 2002, all my other skiing has been local hills here in PA.
I started skiing in 2008 but had been a mountain biker for many years before that. We wouldn’t even let people ride with us if they refused to wear a helmet. Therefore, it never even crossed my mind to ski without one.
I disagree with Risso regarding how many people wear helmets in Europe. I’d say that the majority of instructors that I’ve seen in France don’t wear helmets and that a surprising number of beginners also risk it.
It’s not the falling over and hitting your head (although, even on piste that can hurt), it’s the falling over and then being clattered into that should be the reason for wearing a helmet.
I’ve never understood why wearing a ski helmet isn’t compulsory. To me it’s no different to helmets being mandatory for motorcycling
(I’d also make them compulsory for cycling)
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Having said all that, despite all the rugby, cricket, mountain biking and skiing, my only major head injury occurred as a result of a quiz. I was pushed off a stool and suffered a concussion.
I am not, however, advocating that all quizzers should be helmeted.
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Who'd make it mandatory, though? Is there a ski police?
Tbf, usav isn't perhaps the immediate oddball he might seem. There's a world of difference between the rammed McDonald's ramps of European slopes and the wide open space of many in North America, where the only other person you might bump into all day is Ian Astbury.
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I’d say the lift operators. However, in France, they can’t even be arsed to make people fill all the seats on a chair.
Also, it could be made a requirement of insurance that helmets must be worn. If it was shown that a person wasn’t wearing a helmet, any claim would be invalid
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25% of head injuries on the slopes are caused by collisions. These represent 11% of all ski accidents. Source: my insurer.
Helmets* are strongly advised.
*EN 1077 standard.
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Well, I gave my helmet a test run at the local ski place last weekend and I have to say it was no different than wearing a hat. Super light, comfortable and glad I now have one.
Off to Whistler on Friday - can't wait!
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Just back from Whistler/Blackcomb. If you were ever thinking of going, I will just say this: do it!
Fabulous place, snow was ridiculously good. There is something for everyone and you won’t be disappointed in any aspect.
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Just back from Whistler/Blackcomb. If you were ever thinking of going, I will just say this: do it!
Fabulous place, snow was ridiculously good. There is something for everyone and you won’t be disappointed in any aspect.
Hopefully I'll make it there one day.
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I've been checking the La Plagne webcams every now and again.
It's surprisingly busy in the main village
https://en.la-plagne.com/discover/ski-area/webcams/colorado
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This morning in Plagne Centre
(https://i.ibb.co/VgQH2YS/Capture-col.jpg) (https://ibb.co/y6YhWFy)
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Dave Ryding wins in Kitzbuhel
https://youtu.be/xYqaVDSimPg
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/60097540
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(https://i.ibb.co/KDd4hs6/IMG-20220323-WA0001.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kJjbBDK)
Avoriaz today. My mate Patrice took this. And shouted the obligatory 'Up the Villa!'
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Freddie Guilbert has bulked up!
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Ha!
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Just booked a week in the French Alps for March 23.
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Just booked a week in the French Alps for March 23.
I opted out of our planned Jan 2023 trip. The price was way more than last time I went.
Poor value for money, so I’m putting the funds towards (hopefully) a longer trip to the USA that year.
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Not a hint of snow up in the Eastern Pyrenees yet. We usually have a dusting by now. Then again, although I do love skiing, I have retired from hurtling down slopes on bits of metal/carbon/plastic.
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Eastern Pyrenees skiing domaines are opening today.
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Just booked a week in the French Alps for March 23.
I opted out of our planned Jan 2023 trip. The price was way more than last time I went.
Poor value for money, so I’m putting the funds towards (hopefully) a longer trip to the USA that year.
Depending on where you were going, looking like a wise choice. Little to no snow in a lot of the resorts right now.
Jon - hopefully the weather cooperates before March.
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We normally go to La Plagne
Cover looks OK at the moment
I've certainly been there with a lot less snow
https://en.la-plagne.com/discover/ski-area/webcams/bergerie
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Just had to buy a new helmet for this year (Uvex in case you were wondering) I can thoroughly recommend these people at hardloop.co.uk (fulfilled from France)
Great price, fast delivery and no import taxes.
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Had a great time in Alp Huez so far, plenty of snow above 2000 metres still and a big dump expected tomorrow. Snowboarding lessons and progress has gone well, I did miss skiing for a few days but now hooked on the board. Definitely recommend giving it a try.
I’d also forgotten just how good ESF instruction is.
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That is how they get to be balls deep in their students.
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That is how they get to be balls deep in their students.
My instructor Frederic was from a family of ESF instructors, lived his whole life in Huez a little down the mountain from Alp Huez, his dad is still an instructor at 74, broke his leg earlier this season but aims to be back on the slopes for next season teaching. It’s a 4 year apprenticeship to be an ESF instructor, I learned more in the first hour with Frederic than I got out of the 5 hours I had in the pre holiday lessons at Torbay Ski Club, complete waste of time and money.
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When I first went skiing (in Les Rousses in the Jura and Métabief over in Switzerland), I was at Dijon university in 1986 on my year in France. I signed up with a group of students and off we went with the university ski club skis and boots. I had a morning's lesson with the ESF instructor and that was it I was off down reds that afternoon. Took to it like an Arctic Fox to snow.
I've often watched them teaching people and they are fucking awesome.
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When I first went skiing (in Les Rousses in the Jura and Métabief over in Switzerland), I was at Dijon university in 1986 on my year in France. I signed up with a group of students and off we went with the university ski club skis and boots. I had a morning's lesson with the ESF instructor and that was it I was off down reds that afternoon. Took to it like an Arctic Fox to snow.
I've often watched them teaching people and they are fucking awesome.
100% agree with this. Same for me on a school trip - one morning with ESF and then off down anything you want. Now, I may not have been the most graceful, but I was competent to ski anything and at that point it is just miles under your legs that gets you the rest of the coaching you need.
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Booked my "lads" (we're all mid fifties!) trip for January '24 - early for me but got a good deal on some BA flights in the sale, so put a DIY trip together. Off to Saalbach in Austria, which is a new one for us, usually France, often Val D'Isere, 1st time in Austria since Mayrhofen in 2017.
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Only time I've skied in Austria, we went by car. Never again, it's too far
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Only time I've skied in Austria, we went by car. Never again, it's too far
Yeah would never drive there. Always drive to France (tunnel only 45mins for me early in the morning) and either Tour OP or DIY flights/transfer/hotels to Austria or Dolomites.