Ski season 2017/2018

Rew

Couldn't wait any longer...

EasyJet are now booking ski flights out of Belfast for Feb and March 2018. We flew to Lyon for very cheap with them this year.

rondog

We have a stag next season and we get to go away ,just the lads ,for a week.REALLY looking forward to it and beckoning on next winter already.Sad really cos its not even summer yet.
None of the tour providers have any deals yet for next season but friends of mine got great deals during black Friday so may wait until then...if I can.

Rew

rondog wrote: »

None of the tour providers have any deals yet for next season but friends of mine got great deals during black Friday so may wait until then...if I can.

Funnily enough I went on a ski stag this season and we bought a black friday sale deal but we had been watching the sales and they were actually better before black friday so we lost out by €50-€100 a head. If you see a good deal take it!

hawkwind23

Slowly starting to recover from debt from this years addiction!
Plan for full season this year

cormee

My trip, I was supposed to go on this week never happened 😥. Between the weather forecast, and the fact that half the slopes closed the day before we traveled, it just wasn't worth it. Am glad we didn't, the first day the mountains were covered in cloud/mist and visibility was crap, and the second day was a white out, today looked great but that would have meant spending another €700, on top of the money already spent, for one day's snowboarding.
Luckily we got the money back for the rental car, and the hotel we booked gave us a voucher for 100% of what we paid them. So the only real loss was the price of the plane ticket, and my snowboard baggage. We're planning a trip back to Engelberg before Christmas, have never been before January so it should be interesting.

cormee

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Slowly starting to recover from debt from this years addiction!
Plan for full season this year

You spending the whole season on the slopes?

hawkwind23

cormee wrote: »

You spending the whole season on the slopes?

Yep it can be done!!!!
Did 7 weeks in a row this year.
Its easy enough but obv has problems.
If it happens then my partner loses her job and i lose a lot of clients but these are the things that come up.
Another way of looking at it is , change of career in winter and live the dream

cocker5

Booked in for March 2018 - 10 nights.. bring it on!

DoraDelite

Does New Zealand this July count as next season or this season? :D

cormee

DoraDelite wrote: »

Does New Zealand this July count as next season or this season? :D

7th month so it's probably 2018 - are you going? Long way to travel for some snow!

DoraDelite

cormee wrote: »

7th month so it's probably 2018 - are you going? Long way to travel for some snow!

I'm heading that way for a bit of Rugby and visiting relatives so I decided to extend my stay by a couple of weeks and take in some skiing. I'm looking at areas around Queenstown/Wanaka for most of it but will have a couple of days around Mount Cook as well. Just need to decide what to ski

blue note

I need this in my diary. First trip was last year to soll. Was thinking of somewhere else this year since others have been trip soll a few times. Sticking with austria though.

Any opinions on zall am zee, st Johann or any others really. It's a group in our early 30s going.

cormee

blue note wrote: »

I need this in my diary. First trip was last year to soll. Was thinking of somewhere else this year since others have been trip soll a few times. Sticking with austria though.

Any opinions on zall am zee, st Johann or any others really. It's a group in our early 30s going.

Zell am See is nice, the ski area isn't massive, but it's fairly good quality. If you do get bored of it, Kaprun is a short bus trip away.

Zell am See town itself is quite nice, too. Medium sized with lots of pubs. I don't know what the apres ski is like, to be honest, as we used to go straight back to the bar in the hotel we were staying in. *But* one drink-related thing I used to do there, that was absolutely fantastic fun, was go to the bar at the top of Schmittenhohe before the lifts close for the evening and have a couple of beers, while waiting for the lifts to close. After they close, and you've had a pint or two, the slopes will be empty, put on your headphones, strap your board/skis on and cruise down. It's a non-stop run the whole way back to Zell, about 4 or 5k iirc, with some really nice stretches.

lawred2

cormee wrote: »

Zell am See is nice, the ski area isn't massive, but it's fairly good quality. If you do get bored of it, Kaprun is a short bus trip away.

Zell am See town itself is quite nice, too. Medium sized with lots of pubs. I don't know what the apres ski is like, to be honest, as we used to go straight back to the bar in the hotel we were staying in. *But* one drink-related thing I used to do there, that was absolutely fantastic fun, was go to the bar at the top of Schmittenhohe before the lifts close for the evening and have a couple of beers, while waiting for the lifts to close. After they close, and you've had a pint or two, the slopes will be empty, put on your headphones and head down. It's a non-stop run the whole way back to Zell, about 4 or 5k iirc, with some really nice stretches.

that sounds lovely

it's been way too long since I was skiing

kids

cormee

lawred2 wrote: »

that sounds lovely

it's been way too long since I was skiing

kids

I have two kids myself! You have to make the time and find the cash, by hook or by crook, for snow holidays.

lawred2

cormee wrote: »

I have two kids myself! You have to make the time and find the cash, by hook or by crook, for snow holidays.

What age are they? I'm only rearing to start bringing them to the slopes!

EverythingGood

Zakopane is great for skiing, and great for the few scoops too - and very cheap in comparison to more traditional ski resorts.

cormee

lawred2 wrote: »

What age are they? I'm only rearing to start bringing them to the slopes!

Three and seven. I'm reluctant to bring them with me, because once I do it there's no going back on it, I'd have to bring them every year. Part of the fun of snow holidays, for me, is getting the hell away from them for a few weeks every year.

lawred2

cormee wrote: »

Three and seven. I'm reluctant to bring them with me, because once I do it there's no going back on it, I'd have to bring them every year. Part of the fun of a snow holiday, for me, is getting the hell away from them for a week.

how do you manage that? Seriously?

hawkwind23

2017/18 all booked
woohooo!
Anyone any tips for Morzine?

cormee

lawred2 wrote: »

how do you manage that? Seriously?

The company my wife works for takes them to Chamonix each year for their Xmas do, so I mind the kids. In return I get a week away, myself. Then, in Spring, she starts to feel sorry for me and lets me go away for a long weekend.

lawred2

cormee wrote: »

The company my wife works for takes them to Chamonix each year for their Xmas do, so I mind the kids. In return I get a week away, myself. Then, in Spring, she starts to feel sorry for me and lets me go away for a long weekend.

She works for a nice company

a148pro

hawkwind23 wrote: »

2017/18 all booked
woohooo!
Anyone any tips for Morzine?

Bring snow

cormee

hawkwind23 wrote: »

2017/18 all booked
woohooo!
Anyone any tips for Morzine?

Morzine is great. Nice and close to Geneva, and it's a lovely town.

There is a great bar, near the main lift, Crepu. If you're not into the crazy apres-ski bars, but still like a place with a bit of life in it, visit Crepu.

Snow can be hit and miss, depending on the time of the year you visit, but if it is you can always go to Avoriaz, via the Super Morzine lift in Morzine town, or by the free bus.

It's not particularly challenging terrain, to be honest, I'd say beginners to intermediate, there aren't many blacks. Chamoisierre (sp) is a nice red with a great view, the Tulipe is nice too. But the whole area in general is crusiey and very scenic.

If you want challenging, go to Avoriaz. The Morzine ski area also connects with Les Gets, it's a quick ride/ski to get there, and the boarding/skiing is probably better there. Also, on the other side of Les Gets town there is a smallish, quiet area called Mont Chery, which has some nice wide reds and is well worth a visit.

Any other questions, just ask.

hawkwind23

Cheers Cormee , Like the idea of that bar , sounds perfect!
Hoping to get the Morzine/Les Gets pass with the odd option to upgrade to the full PDS.
Got 5 months there so ill be asking you plenty

maddness

Booked first trip today, January to Champoluc. Can't wait!

andyd12

EverythingGood wrote: »

Zakopane is great for skiing, and great for the few scoops too - and very cheap in comparison to more traditional ski resorts.

Have you been there before? If so how is the snow coverage there,terrain etc?

hawkwind23

andyd12 wrote: »

Have you been there before? If so how is the snow coverage there,terrain etc?

Ive been there quite a few times.
Snow coverage will tend to be man made as its very low but they have quality snowmaking equipment esp in Bialka Tatrazanka.

Its not particularly challenging , Zakopane is a town with a few ski hills dotted around.
Bialka is more like a resort with a lift pass that links the whole area , great fun for a few days but mostly blue runs. Great therm there and some nice restaurants.

Kasprowy is where the best skiing is but its not for beginners , very icy narrow entrance and the other side is steep but wide but some amazing skiing , can go from top to bottom in one run.

Easily get a week out of it on the very cheap , personally i would base myself in Bialka and pick a sunny day to do Kasprowy.

a148pro

Anyone else feel that outside? That slight, almost imperceptible chill in the air that makes you start thinking about skiing again?

colly10

a148pro wrote: »

Anyone else feel that outside? That slight, almost imperceptible chill in the air that makes you start thinking about skiing again?

Ye, a month now till i'm back practising and less than 2 till the shops have all their new boots in, can't wait for the fitting

irlirishkev

Flights booked to Geneva for a week in Les Arcs 1950, in January.
I think aside from actually skiing, booking skiing is my favourite time of year!

blue note

Any opinions on zell am see? We're probably going to book there at the end of January. It's a mixed level group - 3 people with 25 weeks between them, 2 with 3 weeks each and 3 with a weeks experience.

And what’s the apres ski like there?

blue note

Do people ever rent cars for her skiing and how do you find the driving?

maddness

blue note wrote: »

Do people ever rent cars for her skiing and how do you find the driving?

Loads of times. It's handy enough as long as it's not snowing heavily but I much prefer getting a private transfer.

a148pro

blue note wrote: »

Do people ever rent cars for her skiing and how do you find the driving?

Yes all the time, its usually fine but in Ireland we have no real experience driving in snow so can be a small bit of a worry. Mostly though there's relatively little snow along the route to the resort.

If you rent in Austria and Switzerland you get Winter tyres automatically, which means you don't have to worry about chains. Think that might be the case in Germany also.

If renting elsewhere just make sure they include the snow chains (again they're legally obliged to do this) and if you think there will be snow for your drive in or out (and this can be determined nowadays) then just be familiar with how to put them on. At the side of a road, in a blizzard, is not the time to learn how to put them on!

Having said that I must have rented like 15 or 20 times and not had to put them on.

Also one of those excess insurance policies goes a long way for peace of mind in case you do have a bump (or someone bumps into you). Costs 50 euro and covers the excess for multiple holiday rentals during the year.

Finally, make sure you don't have to buy vignettes to use in some countries, Austria for instance, they're like a sticker you have to buy and put on your car.

prunudo

Start of September, time to check into the winter sports forums

Just on the hire cars, the car we hired in Bergamo last March had winter tyres as standard and a set of chains in boot too.
There was light show fall on the pass into Livigno but not enough to get stressed about.

Rew

Load of snow in VT over the weekend I see

a148pro

Rew wrote: »

Load of snow in VT over the weekend I see

It begins! If I actually skied as much as I think about skiing I'd be olympic.

maddness

a148pro wrote: »

It begins! If I actually skied as much as I think about skiing I'd be olympic.

I'd be the love child of Bodie Miller and Lynsey Vonn

a148pro

maddness wrote: »

I'd be the love child of Bodie Miller and Lynsey Vonn

I would fancy your mother. This happens in the world and is a good thing.

lawred2

Rew wrote: »

Load of snow in VT over the weekend I see

VT?

irlirishkev

lawred2 wrote: »

VT?

I suspect Val Thorens. Tis quite high!

hawkwind23

Does the poster who does the app still post?
Link for app?
was like a countdown and webcam yoke , getting to that time of year soon! 84 days for me

maddness

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Does the poster who does the app still post?
Link for app?
was like a countdown and webcam yoke , getting to that time of year soon! 84 days for me

Cormee, he should be along soon

cormee

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Does the poster who does the app still post?
Link for app?
was like a countdown and webcam yoke , getting to that time of year soon! 84 days for me

This one? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.addtheday.android

I haven't updated it in yonks, in newer versions of android the countdown seems to stop on some of the widgets. But it is counting on the app itself. Restarting the phone, or opening the app, tends to reactivate the countdown.

hawkwind23

cormee wrote: »

This one? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.addtheday.android

I haven't updated it in yonks, in newer versions of android the countdown seems to stop on some of the widgets. But it is counting on the app itself. Restarting the phone, or opening the app, tends to reactivate the countdown.

Thats the one
you should give it a quick update , ill install and let u know of any bugs etc

olaola

We're going to Schladming & staying in an alpine resort. Can't wait! I've always wanted to do this. Bringing the nippers, he'll be nearly 4, so well on the way to starting ski school! Not sure what to do with madam, am hoping can find some kind of day care.

dzer2

olaola wrote: »

We're going to Schladming & staying in an alpine resort. Can't wait! I've always wanted to do this. Bringing the nippers, he'll be nearly 4, so well on the way to starting ski school! Not sure what to do with madam, am hoping can find some kind of day care.

request from the tourist board a list of child minders they are very good with childcare.

olaola

dzer2 wrote: »

request from the tourist board a list of child minders they are very good with childcare.

Thanks! Will do

blue note

Just booked zell am see for the 20th January. Cannot frickin' wait!!!!! 😎

Rew

http://www.latania.co.uk/blog/2017/09/12/new-3-valleys-courchevel-meribel-2018-piste-maps-release-analysed-plus-the-gopro-couloir/

GoPro appear to be sponsering a piste in the 3 Valleys