Where are people thinking of this year?

cormee

OK, mid-summers day is far away, in the rear-view mirror, so it's sort of OK to start looking forward to next season.

Where are people thinking of this year?

I didn't have a great year last year, Les Arcs sucked donkeys' b*lls, and the new boots I was wearing turned out to be too small which ruined a few days on the pistes (anyone want to buy a pair of slightly used, size 11 Burton Moto boots? )

Chamonix was a little better, later in the season, but I'm kind of sick of it at this stage.

So I'm hoping to get back to the 3V this year, it's never let me down. Fingers crossed the rest of the group agrees.

zagmund

I'm thinking of Tignes last week. Short days, but good fun.

z

stevire

A little disappointed with St.Anton last year, too commercial for me liking, so will look for a quieter resort in Austria this year. Hopefully back to Tirol region maybe Fieberbrunn, has anyone been?

cormee

zagmund wrote: »

I'm thinking of Tignes last week. Short days, but good fun.

z

How come there are short days?

My brothers went there, said it was great, but the distance from the airport would put them off going again

Timmaay

3V in mid Jan a strong possibility here.

zagmund

cormee wrote: »

How come there are short days?

My brothers went there, said it was great, but the distance from the airport would put them off going again

Short days in the Summer. Up there at 0715ish, back down off the slopes by 1200 on a good day. The snow degrades too quickly.

z

DoraDelite

Chamonix and Ischgl already booked
Looking at Sweden for a third trip later in the season.

Skibunny77

St Anton - accommodation booked today!

cormee

Holy god! It's all go.

Timmay: wherein 3v you thinking of?

lbj666

cormee wrote: »

OK, mid-summers day is far away, in the rear-view mirror, so it's sort of OK to start looking forward to next season.

Where are people thinking of this year?

I didn't have a great year last year, Les Arcs sucked donkeys' b*lls, and the new boots I was wearing turned out to be too small which ruined a few days on the pistes (anyone want to buy a pair of slightly used, size 11 Burton Moto boots? )

Chamonix was a little better, later in the season, but I'm kind of sick of it at this stage.

So I'm hoping to get back to the 3V this year, it's never let me down. Fingers crossed the rest of the group agrees.

What was so bad about les arcs, did conditions have to do with it?
Trying to get my crew to take a break from morz, 3V might be a tough sell because reputation on price/english and les arc was mentioned by others.

I imagine les arcs doesn't really try and function as a town since bourg is so close?

Timmaay

cormee wrote: »

Holy god! It's all go.

Timmay: wherein 3v you thinking of?

Don't really mind, VT definitely an option, but open to anywhere which has some bit of night life and decent lift access. Could well do another UCPA if our group isn't big enough to rent a chalet, that means VT only I think.

cormee

lbj666 wrote: »

What was so bad about les arcs, did conditions have to do with it?
Trying to get my crew to take a break from morz, 3V might be a tough sell because reputation on price/english and les arc was mentioned by others.

I imagine les arcs doesn't really try and function as a town since bourg is so close?

Where do I start! We were in Les Arcs 1950, which was absolutely polar, and dead, at night. There wasn't much snowfall so it all got very packed by the end of the week, and a lot of runs were closed. The signposting was awful, and a lot of the runs were tree-less, narrow rat runs, it felt like we were traveling all day along these to get to a handful of OK slopes. The off piste was good though, and we went across to La Plange one day, which was lovely - if I was going anywhere in that area again I'd go there.

Timmaay wrote: »

Don't really mind, VT definitely an option, but open to anywhere which has some bit of night life and decent lift access. Could well do another UCPA if our group isn't big enough to rent a chalet, that means VT only I think.

Val Thorens is also ugly as hell (not that that matters too much) but the nightlife is supposed to be great. Given its altitude you do run the risk of getting snowed in if conditions turn bad. I was thinking of trying to convince my lot to go to Les Menuires this year, it's in a good location, in terms of the 3V, and there is a very large, excellent ski area called La Masse on the other side of the valley from Menuires, that doesn't get a lot of people using it.

Timmaay

cormee wrote: »

Val Thorens is also ugly as hell (not that that matters too much) but the nightlife is supposed to be great. Given its altitude you do run the risk of getting snowed in if conditions turn bad. I was thinking of trying to convince my lot to go to Les Menuires this year, it's in a good location, in terms of the 3V, and there is a very large, excellent ski area called La Masse on the other side of the valley from Menuires, that doesn't get a lot of people using it.

Is les menuires lower down with less risk of being snowed in? In terms of VT being ugly, it couldn't be much worse than Tignes ha? That was the huge difference between Tignes and val d'isere, if I was going back to Espace Kelly I'd defo pick VDI ha.

fannymagee

Ohhh decisions, decisions.... Two guesses where I'm going?! Haha ;-)

cormee

Timmaay wrote: »

Is les menuires lower down with less risk of being snowed in? In terms of VT being ugly, it couldn't be much worse than Tignes ha? That was the huge difference between Tignes and val d'isere, if I was going back to Espace Kelly I'd defo pick VDI ha.

Yeah, Les Menuires is around 1800, VT is 2300 (highest resort in Europe), Les Menuires is ugly as sin too (I'm starting to sound like an architecture critic for The Times), but you don't really go there to admire the buildings, do you? I'd say nightlife in VT would be far better. Les Menuires would be far handier for accessing the rest of the 3V though. If you do go to either be sure to spend an afternoon up in Point de la Masse (that's the ski area I mentioned in my earlier posting), there are two fantastic pistes, La Masse (black) and Fred Covili (red) you *need* to do. Fred Covili is probably my favourite red on the planet.

fannymagee wrote: »

Ohhh decisions, decisions.... Two guesses where I'm going?! Haha ;-)

You're spending the winter in Athlone?

It looks like I'm going to St. Anton on my first trip, anyone got any opinions/tips?

AlternateID

Been a while since I dropped in here. Been keeping busy looking into downhill mountain biking as a non snow hobby.

Anywho next season my little group is thinking 3 trips. Hintertux in Austria (I'm a big fan), somewhere in France and somewhere in Italy. Nothing booked just yet as I'm looking into changing jobs.

Timmaay

How much mtb experience ya got! Full downhill is proper hardcore, and well more dangerous than any sorta skiing in my opinion ha. I do a decent bit of normal mtbing though, it's a lot more practical, no need for uplifts or pushing your bike back up the hill ha, and certainly a good bit safer ha. It's a bit like slalom racing against normal skiing ha.

cormee

AlternateID wrote: »

Been a while since I dropped in here. Been keeping busy looking into downhill mountain biking as a non snow hobby.

Anywho next season my little group is thinking 3 trips. Hintertux in Austria (I'm a big fan), somewhere in France and somewhere in Italy. Nothing booked just yet as I'm looking into changing jobs.

My wife was encouraging me to try that, good way to keep distracted and keep fit. Where do you do it? Is there anywhere you can rent the bike and gear to try the sport out before investing?

Puibo

Is this going to turn into a mtb thread??

Timmaay

Puibo wrote: »

Is this going to turn into a mtb thread??

Maybe ha.

Try biking.ie to rent a mtb, based in ballinastoe woods in wicklow.

lbj666

cormee wrote: »

My wife was encouraging me to try that, good way to keep distracted and keep fit. Where do you do it? Is there anywhere you can rent the bike and gear to try the sport out before investing?

Look up ballinstoe in wicklow and ballyhoura on the cork/kerry border. Ballyhoura in my opinion is more fun, ballinstoe can be a bit of a slog. Rental is generally is around €30-35 for a hardtail bike , so 3-4 trip rentings and you will already be thinking of investing on your own insted.

Since you learned how to board/ski you should know all about getting hurt/perseverance paying off , so be patient.

If you eventually want a bit of a taster for downhill, try http://bikeparkireland.ie/ Went there a few week ago, my first experience of big full suspension more downhill orientated bikes and caught a bit a dangerous expensive bug from it.

cormee

Puibo wrote: »

Is this going to turn into a mtb thread??

It's snowboard/ski related, really, it's how we keep ourselves primed and in top condition during the off-season, for the piste. :cool:

Thanks all, will look into those recommendations.

DoraDelite

Funnily enough, I've taken up MTB this year as well for the "off season". Started off renting up in Ballinastoe and went all in on a shiny new bike a few weeks ago, just to add extra expense to my year!

I have to say in terms of the same buzz as skiing it's well up there, you definitely need the "no fear/stupidity" factor though which I have in abundance

Timmaay

Staying on the mtb theme ha, anyone ever done a combined mtbing/glacier skiing in the likes of tignes etc? Would love to some day, kill two birds with one stone!

AlternateID

Puibo wrote: »

Is this going to turn into a mtb thread??

Sorry Puibo. My bad.

AlternateID

Timmaay wrote: »

How much mtb experience ya got! Full downhill is proper hardcore, and well more dangerous than any sorta skiing in my opinion ha. I do a decent bit of normal mtbing though, it's a lot more practical, no need for uplifts or pushing your bike back up the hill ha, and certainly a good bit safer ha. It's a bit like slalom racing against normal skiing ha.

I tend to use downhill as a go to phrase when describing mtb as everyone I know with bikes wouldn't go further off road then the pavement. When I say downhill to them they know there's no asphalt involved. Guess I need to learn the lingo. Haven't gone mad doing it since I was in school when I had zero fear.

I see links have already been posted to rent and places to go so I won't repeat. Haven't been to Wicklow yet but planning on going in a few weeks if anyone want's to join in. Should have a someone with me to act as a guide.

A mate in the UK I snowboard with is into it and finally convinced me. This video from the start of Megavalanche 2015 really got my attention. I'd love to do it but wouldn't. This guy finished 7th overall. Winner completed it in 40 mins.

Now like a real snowboarder who's got their priorities straight I need to buy some crazy coloured shorts.

fannymagee

Wilder Kaiser?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iafmPpNXgGM

zagmund

If you think ski hire (and lift passes) is expensive, try bike hire in Tignes. We were there at the start of the month and while we didn't hire any bikes, you could see the prices and it was about €80 per day for the bike and protective gear. Check out this link - http://www.location-vtt-tignes.fr/

On the plus side the lifts were free for bikes and pedestrians, although only *up* for pedestrians for some strange reason. It made planning a walk a bit of a nightmare as you couldn't just take a lift, go for a walk and then take the lift back down again.

On the minus side, it appears you have to look like some sort of clone of Sean Pertwee - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0675730/?ref_=tt_ov_st. Pretty much all the blokes looked like that.

On the other minus side, they were absolutely destroying (in the old sense of the word, not the bad=good sense) the hillsides up there. Tignes looks ugly at the best of times, but now it looks even uglier with dirty big dust tracks across the hillsides.

From what we could see, people either ski'd or biked. Certainly the people we saw skiing didn't look like all the biking clones we saw later in the day.

z

lbj666

zagmund wrote: »

If you think ski hire (and lift passes) is expensive, try bike hire in Tignes. We were there at the start of the month and while we didn't hire any bikes, you could see the prices and it was about €80 per day for the bike and protective gear. Check out this link - http://www.location-vtt-tignes.fr/

On the plus side the lifts were free for bikes and pedestrians, although only *up* for pedestrians for some strange reason. It made planning a walk a bit of a nightmare as you couldn't just take a lift, go for a walk and then take the lift back down again.

On the minus side, it appears you have to look like some sort of clone of Sean Pertwee - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0675730/?ref_=tt_ov_st. Pretty much all the blokes looked like that.

On the other minus side, they were absolutely destroying (in the old sense of the word, not the bad=good sense) the hillsides up there. Tignes looks ugly at the best of times, but now it looks even uglier with dirty big dust tracks across the hillsides.

From what we could see, people either ski'd or biked. Certainly the people we saw skiing didn't look like all the biking clones we saw later in the day.

z

Rental is expensive with good reason , if you want a bike suitable for the terrain in the alps and with stand abuse for the entire season they are going to be expensive , i rented a bike in bikeparkireland a few weeks and it turned out the thing cost 2.5 to 3k brand new. Not to mind the constant maintenance required on the bike when they are brought back to the shop. Its a totally different level of expense to ski hire.

Its a bit much to say that trails have ruined the countryside up there , considering the amount of pylons for chairlifts scattered around every resort. But i know what you mean , it would be nice to see untarnished greenery and trees during the summer but thats the way it is , these place we go have amazing beauty just not untouched, but they are still plenty parts of the alps untouched. Don't think anything will outdo ruining the scenery like they ugly apartment resorts built in the 60s and 70s.

What authorities have learned with mountain biking all over the world is if you don't offer say 5 sanctioned well maintained trails , the bikers themselves will start carving 20 of their own where ever they like with no cognisance of environmental impact , drainage , tree felling etc.

Take rosstrevor in Co. Down the hill was littered diy trails , but NI tourist board took on themselves to build 2 world class cross country and 2 world downhill trails of unimaginable quality for the island of ireland. There's little interest by biker in wander off the sanctioned track now.

The emergence of mtb in the alps has made the economies less dependant of the 4 months of the year the slopes are open.

Timmaay

AlternateID wrote: »

I tend to use downhill as a go to phrase when describing mtb as everyone I know with bikes wouldn't go further off road then the pavement. When I say downhill to them they know there's no asphalt involved. Guess I need to learn the lingo. Haven't gone mad doing it since I was in school when I had zero fear.

I see links have already been posted to rent and places to go so I won't repeat. Haven't been to Wicklow yet but planning on going in a few weeks if anyone want's to join in. Should have a someone with me to act as a guide.

A mate in the UK I snowboard with is into it and finally convinced me. This video from the start of Megavalanche 2015 really got my attention. I'd love to do it but wouldn't. This guy finished 7th overall. Winner completed it in 40 mins.

Now like a real snowboarder who's got their priorities straight I need to buy some crazy coloured shorts.

That video looks utterly insane! I'll put it on my bucket list ha! In terms of DH against mtb, the basic distinction is in DH you wear a full face (motocross) helmet and full body armour! So go figure there haha. Also with huge 8inch or so suspension travel, pedalling uphill is largely a no no! So normal mtbing is what ya want ha.

When I'm not flat out at athletics (April to July) I'd aim to head out on the bike every fortnight at least, good few places around north wicklow, if anyone wants to jump on feed free to pm me. We take it reasonably easy, well on the uphill anyways ha, in fairness my cycling fitness is fairly rubbish, also any seasoned skier will take to mtbing like a duck to water!

Also, who here is a mod? Maybe no harm to split this thread ha, and make a separate thread for mtbing!

Timmaay

AlternateID wrote: »

I tend to use downhill as a go to phrase when describing mtb as everyone I know with bikes wouldn't go further off road then the pavement. When I say downhill to them they know there's no asphalt involved. Guess I need to learn the lingo. Haven't gone mad doing it since I was in school when I had zero fear.

I see links have already been posted to rent and places to go so I won't repeat. Haven't been to Wicklow yet but planning on going in a few weeks if anyone want's to join in. Should have a someone with me to act as a guide.

A mate in the UK I snowboard with is into it and finally convinced me. This video from the start of Megavalanche 2015 really got my attention. I'd love to do it but wouldn't. This guy finished 7th overall. Winner completed it in 40 mins.

Now like a real snowboarder who's got their priorities straight I need to buy some crazy coloured shorts.

That video looks utterly insane! I'll put it on my bucket list ha! In terms of DH against mtb, the basic distinction is in DH you wear a full face (motocross) helmet and full body armour! So go figure there haha. Also with huge 8inch or so suspension travel, pedalling uphill is largely a no no! So normal mtbing is what ya want ha.

When I'm not flat out at athletics (April to July) I'd aim to head out on the bike every fortnight at least, good few places around north wicklow, if anyone wants to jump on feed free to pm me. We take it reasonably easy, well on the uphill anyways ha, in fairness my cycling fitness is fairly rubbish, also any seasoned skier will take to mtbing like a duck to water!

Also, who here is a mod? Maybe no harm to split this thread ha, and make a separate thread for mtbing!

lbj666

For skier especially who want to head into the trees , there is an enormous benefit from mtb because it develops your ability look ahead and read tight narrow sections at speed. I suppose it transfers to busy slopes too ?

You know when you do so many of these sports its the same principles that apply , keep your knees bent, control your speed before you turn, if your not committed more chance of getting hurt etc etc.


EDIT: Oh ya the downhill you wear a thing called a kidney belt , let you guess what the purpose of that is for.

maddness

I took up mountain biking a few years ago too as it's the next best thing to skiing that I can find.
Every trail is different, some are fast and easy, some are steep and that bit harder and all the best trails take a bit of finding!

It's a great sport and there are a few great clubs in the Dublin area too.

prunudo

I'd love to try more mtb'ing myself (only have a 10yr old hard tail) but I've enough other money sapping hobbies to do me for the moment.
Snow holiday wise I don't know where we'll be going this coming year. Been boarding nearly 10 years now, been around most of the major resorts in Europe and at this stage it's seems to be always going back to the same few choices. I'd imagine Mayrhofen, 3V or Val d'Isere will all come up for debate.

maddness

Seeing as this is a where am I going thread....
I'm off to Mayorhofen in March for a week and flying to Geneva on December 11th for four days to ski wherever there is snow.

cormee

maddness wrote: »

Seeing as this is a where am I going thread....
I'm off to Mayorhofen in March for a week and flying to Geneva on December 11th for four days to ski wherever there is snow.

Very early in the season that is! Apart from the glaciers would there be any other resorts open? Most open for the season around the 20th.

maddness

cormee wrote: »

Very early in the season that is! Apart from the glaciers would there be any other resorts open? Most open for the season around the 20th.

I try to get a four day ski holiday every December with a few friends and it's a brilliant time to go.
We usually go on about the 12th of December and book flights to Geneva. I look at the resorts that open in early December and go where the best snow is. A good number of the resorts open a week or so before the tour operators arrive so the resorts are very quiet.
December 2012 in Meribel we got a catered chalet for £60 per night as the couple running the place were there anyway and gave us a great deal. It also snowed heavily for the four days and we had awesome powder and empty slopes! I have attached a photo of the busy slopes.
Last year was the first year that we panicked about no snow but drove to Cervinia in two and a half hours and had a great time.

So far I have skied in Meribel/Three Valleys, Alpe d'Huez, Avoriaz, Flaine and Cervinia. Obviously Tignes is another option for early skiing too.

cormee

maddness wrote: »

I try to get a four day ski holiday every December with a few friends and it's a brilliant time to go.
We usually go on about the 12th of December and book flights to Geneva. I look at the resorts that open in early December and go where the best snow is. A good number of the resorts open a week or so before the tour operators arrive so the resorts are very quiet.
December 2012 in Meribel we got a catered chalet for £60 per night as the couple running the place were there anyway and gave us a great deal. It also snowed heavily for the four days and we had awesome powder and empty slopes! I have attached a photo of the busy slopes.
Last year was the first year that we panicked about no snow but drove to Cervinia in two and a half hours and had a great time.

So far I have skied in Meribel/Three Valleys, Alpe d'Huez, Avoriaz, Flaine and Cervinia. Obviously Tignes is another option for early skiing too.

I'm pretty sure I know that slope! Leads down into Meribel, and a complete b*st***, you get from that to the main area in Meribel along a narrow connecting run?

If it's the same one, I stood at the top, towards the end of a long hard day, looking down in disbelief at what I was about to put my legs through. The only way to appreciate the length of it is to look at the size of the electricity pylons at the bottom.

Edit: Yep, here's my photo of it

maddness

That photo was taken on a Monday morning at about 11am, we had the place to ourselves.

a148pro

Glad to see I'm not the only nutbar who's thoughts tend to skiing as soon as the weather gets nippy

Or anytime I go down a slope of any reasonable gradient for some reason, be it on foot, bike or in a car

cormee

a148pro wrote: »

Glad to see I'm not the only nutbar who's thoughts tend to skiing as soon as the weather gets nippy

Or anytime I go down a slope of any reasonable gradient for some reason, be it on foot, bike or in a car

I was at a golf course in Waterford a month or so ago, while everyone was admiring the fairway of the first hole, I was looking at a lovely possible (red) slope behind the green. I had traced the line the whole way down, taking in a few nice kicks, and the best place for the lift.

It's not a sport/hobby - it's an illness. :pac:

a148pro

Its an illness I've learned to live with mind

As has my wife

Sure wtf are bunkers for only getting air on the three days a year it snows enough here to think about it?

cormee

I could wait no longer, I've set up my snowboard screen:



:cool:

AlternateID

cormee wrote: »

I could wait no longer, I've set up my snowboard screen:

:cool:

haha, never turned mine off. Have 4 webcams running all the time although it appears 2 were turned off yesterday.

cormee

AlternateID wrote: »

haha, never turned mine off. Have 4 webcams running all the time although it appears 2 were turned off yesterday.

Yeah, I left mine on after last year too, but I got a new phone so I didn't restore them.

In other news ONLY 164 days to go!

hawkwind23

222 to go here , St Paddys week.
cheapy in Pamporovo

cormee

hawkwind23 wrote: »

222 to go here , St Paddys week.
cheapy in Pamporovo

Oh no! That's over half a year away. You're not allowed to look forward to it yet

/163

hawkwind23

I started counting down at 300 days
Ive a month on a beach mid Jan so it comes a few weeks after that.
Double countdown

Timmaay

cormee wrote: »

Oh no! That's over half a year away. You're not allowed to look forward to it yet

/163

/143. Beat that

cormee

Timmaay wrote: »

/143. Beat that

That's what I get for slagging hawkwind23 off!

maddness

122 days...