Clarebabes

Would value a report on Scottish skiing from you if you've got time. Always fancied it but it's a bloody long way from Northampton!

andythejock01wrx

Apparently was icy at New Year but now great with fresh snow. Will let you know when I get back!

skoobidude

Oh cool. I went here 2 years ago and it's my fave ski resort to date. Great Apre and Hinterglimm next door.
I remember the first day doing the blue 7.2km run

skoobidude

Try and get lessons in uk at Snowdome (or equivalent). I had 2x2hr lessons and it was well worth it.
Otherwise you'll need them out there and waste a lot of time on the nursery slopes.

I was in Mayrhofen last year. Great slopes. There's 2 main lifts from the resort - the Penkobahn and Ahorn. Go up the Ahorn for a nice short easy blue run just to build your technique.
If you get good enough then perhaps catch a free bus to the Hintertux Glacier. It's about 40mins ride but well worth it.

Make sure you get body protection and wear from day 1. If you fall and hurt yourself and buy protection afterwards, then it'll still hurt when you fall!!

Nick

Frosty The Snowman

And that big long motorway blue is my first run on the Sunday

Looking forward to it, only two weeks and I will be skiing.

skoobidude

I envy you. That run is a killer. I remember the sharp bends at the end near the bus park, then a bus ride back to town..
Mind you I'm not that fit and it took over an hour for me to get down that one.. Working on my cardio now!

davyboy

There is a run in Alpe D'Huez that is about 16km long. Longest run in the world I think.

Unfortunately it's not open due to lack of snow at the bottom

Dave!

Haven't been for a for a while and won't be goin this year as i'm jobless at the mo...last one was 3 years ago in Saalbach - lovely resort with great nightlife, and even some kind of rock festival laid on!

Longest run for me was the long red in Cervinia, the Ventina i think its called?...that place had the best conditions and widest pistes i've seen so far - but the resort lacked nightlife and character.

Another great memory is being in the public outdor pool in Bad Hofgastein as it was getting dark and watchin my expert mates come down the mountain on the other side of the road - i was too knackered (as usual) so a couple of us braved the delights of the pool and its mixed sex naked changing and spa facilities !

Hope you all have a good un !

MalcB

Done that one 3 years ago. Took most of an afternoon. Absolutely knackered afterwards. Awesome though

Fat Boy

Try the Vallee Blanche in Chamonix - 17k + and offpiste. Actually, once you've kacked yourself edging down the ice tunnel in your slippy slidy ski boots with a 5thousand foot fall just to your left from the Aigulle du midi telepherique and skied down onto the glacier it's not too bad from then on, but the first 3-4km can be harder if you take the steeper alternatives. All off piste and the glacier has many crevasses so you have to do it with a guide. At the bottom you either have to abseil down off the glacier or sometimes they have a steel ladder attached.

But length isn't everything ( as I keep telling the wife) some of the best runs are the shortest, but, as a final one, Sarenne in Alpe d'huez is pretty serious as well.

davyboy

By all accounts it's only the very start thats black, the rest of the run falls in to the the red/catagory.

The Tunnel is supposed to be the one to do......not sure if I will do that. Only for the fact that once I've gone down the tunnel I can't turn back! I'm a fairly compenent skier, but I like to look at any blacks first...or at least have a mate test ski them for me!

Fat Boy

That's true it's pretty much a cruise down all the way - hence my comment about long doesn't always equal best.

For instance - the World cup (top half) and Olympic runs (Face) at Val D'Isere are not as long but are tremendous, particularly if early morning so pisted or in fresh powder and especially if you climb to the top. Just like we all may fantasise that we're McRae in our scoobies - you can pretend that you're Bode Miller or whoever. Even if your time is best recorded on a sun dial

Real McCoy is offpiste though and then the sky's the limit.

Actually not sure if you're talking aboiut Chamonix or Alpe d'huez - both are cruises (after the initial Aigulle du midi bit anyway) but the scenery is jaw dropping on the Vallee Blanche.

davyboy

I was the first making tracks on a Black in Serre Che last year. There is no better feeling. Perfectly groomed and steep!

davyboy

Talking about Alpe D'Huez.

Fat Boy

ah right - still not particularly steep at the start. It's the sort of black that if it's not icy or too mogulled I would take red skier friends down for them to be able to get confident about doing a black as it's pretty wide and for most of the way no more than a red and actually loads of blue.

Nothing better than first out of the lift onto fresh groomed snow especially when there's been some fresh overnight snow onto the smooth base - Rolls Royce skiing. Also sort of reccomend when you stay in the mountain top restaurant v late , get hammered and try to race the ski instructors down after it's been pisted. Too drunk to be scared or to feel the pain

Clarebabes

In Alpe D'Huez and having a great time so far. Snow is OK, not enough of it though and slushy by the end of the day lower down, but is not stopping us enjoying ourselves.

I had a lesson today and have just started to carve some nice turns. In all the times I have had lessons, no one has ever told me what this ski instructor has - he's brilliant.

TopBanana

That you're crap and should give up?

andythejock01wrx

Glad you're enjoying yourself Clare!

Postponed Cairngorm till next week since there were 115mph winds last weekend! What ski school are you with? I've booked TDC for Tignes.

Andy

Clarebabes

Hi Andy,

I went with a local ski school which is run by a couple of British guys. They are excellent! I find the fact that they speak English, (well, one's a Geordie so I can almost understand him, lol) helps a great deal. Really practised what they told me and I have found I am attempting much harder runs than I ever would have done before. I may even try a black by the end of the week!

Best thing is it's my birthday today and I was doing my favourite thing with my favourite people, the best weather and blue skies. What more could you ask for?

115 mph winds sound ideal, not! Hope the weather's better next week for you. I'm still looking forward to the report......

andythejock01wrx

TDC is The Development Centre - 3 British guys who get great write ups on "Snowheads".

Reckoned that although a French instructor would no doubt speak decent English, it would be good to understand what they say to the other folk in the class. Off to Hillend artificial slope tomoorw so I'll have had skis on before I do my lesson at Cairngorm on Saturday.

Andy

davyboy

Had a good time in Alpe D'Huez. They need some flipping snow though.

Had my skis waxed and edged on day 2, think they might need it again now.

Sarenne was open on Sunday, but thought I'd give it a miss until the next day....it never opened again. I bottled the tunnel.

First few days you could ski in a shell jacket, last few days were -14 at resort level and quite windy! The plus side of this was it was sunny every single day!

Hopefully will get another trip in before the end of the season.

andythejock01wrx

Went to Cairngorm with gf yesterday (drove back down the same day).

Snow was generally good in the morning but pretty sugary by the end of the day. Icy at the bottom.

I had booked a level 4 class (parallel & comfy on blue runs) and my gf had booked level 3. When I turned up they said I was the only one that turned up for level 4 so they offered me a 2 hour private session rather than the 4 hour class. I accepted (of course!), but said that that would leave me to ski on my own in the afternoon. Could I join, Mrs AtJ's class PM? They said yes!

I found the private lesson v useful. I've only done about 10 days skiing, but that's been plenty of time to pick up a few bad habits. The instructor was an old hand, having instructed in Italy for 15yrs (Peter Bates). He set about trying to correct my uperbody rotation and getting me to "pedal", or to concentrate pressure on the downhill ski on turns. Even corrected how I held my poles! We went down the Gun Barrel several times and he said (and I agreed) that I was a lot more composed the last time.

Didn't get a lot out of the level 3 class (no surprise really). There was a young lass that appeared terrified on the green runs! My one to one instructor had said as we parted that I should give The White Lady a go, so I left the level 3 class early and did this for the very first time (ended up on it briefly by accident once before!). Enjoyed the challenge, although the snow was pretty bad so it made 4 or 5 stops on the way down.

Anyway, great day's skiing and really looking forward to Tignes (more lessons!) in 5 weeks!

davyboy

A few pics:



View through goggles, last run of holiday


-20 and wind chill to match.....didn't stay on glacier long


Me




Clare




View from hotel

Clarebabes

Andy,
Pleased you had a good lesson. I learnt to carve this week and owe the instructor a debt of gratitude for making me feel so much more confident on a set of skis! That was until the last day and a snowboarder took me out. Smashed my face into the ground and hurt my knee. I have a very slight black eye, lol! But managed to still ski for the rest of the day, but conditions were poor.
I had lessons for 3 mornings and I think the best thing was having free time to go and practice with the others. I missed skiing with Dave and the other guys we went with last year because I was always in lessons. By the time mine finished, they'd done the best runs and I had missed out. Much better to have a few free days to do what you want....
We are looking to book somewhere cheap in March now....

Clarebabes

BTW, I would never ever ski without a helmet now, especially after getting my face/head smashed into the icy slope. A good investment I reckon!

andythejock01wrx

Cheers Clare. Hope you make a speedy recovery. Have been hit by a snowboarder before, but it was a young lad who was perhaps half of my 13st 10lb, so he was hurt more than I was!

My instructor yesterday reckoned I'd progress well with my 3 lessons in Tignes and I'm happy I've left enough space to go out with my pals. Only thing is I won't get a break in 6 days skiing and I've never skied more than 2 days in a row! I keep fit by cycling but that seems to use different muscles!

Andy

davyboy

You'll be fine with the 6 days skiing.....your boots might cause a bit of trouble.

I often ache in the morning, but that usually all goes when I do the first run of the day.

fast bloke

(homer mode) mmmmmmmmm.... skiing.... haven't been for ages now.

Nearly three weeks, and I have to wait 6 more weeks for the next trip

Clarebabes

I did quite a lot of swimming before Christmas and running just before and up to going which seemed to help with my fitness a great deal. I had a girl in my ski class who kept moaning about her legs hurting and I told her to get on the treadmill before she goes next time as mine weren't hurting at all. She also had boots which didn't fit properly and other stuff which she moaned about, so I think she just liked moaning!

Dave is right about the boots. Don't do what I did on our trip 2 years ago and perservere with ill-fitting boots. In the end I bought my own boots and skis as the thought of spending another 6 days in torturous footwear drove me mental. My boots are perfect now. I need 2 pairs of socks though as my feet are very narrow, but they don't hurt me at all. Also having my own skis means I can feel confident with them and not have that "getting used to" period at the beginning of the week. My skis and boots with bag cost about £350 as they are entry level, but I can still carve on a nice groomed piste and get down an easy black run. Don't be fooled that you need to spend loads.

stevep360

iTrader: (20)

got back from val on saturday, i board and face black was not fun, very very icy all day.