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Ahhhhh Sunshine Village. I lived and worked up there in the hotel restaurant Nov 94 - Apr 95. Happy days 😄
Nice one Swea Jnr (8)
Been watching Deb Armstrong coaching videos on YouTube. She is rather good.
Went looking for tips for skiing with kids and helping with their technique, stayed for better understanding of my own..
Been up at Mt Hood since Saturday and today is the first time that I can actually confirm the mountain exists. It revealed itself on the drive up this morning and bloody hell it’s a big one! Had a great day pottering around on skis at Mt Hood Meadows today. Here’s Mrs Tuboflard.
Has anyone moved from snowboarding to skiing? Had a good week away at Schladming but can't help but feel my boarding is going backwards. Doesn't help when most of the guys I'm with are skiing and want to cover the mountain whilst I'm wanting to carve about on blues, tricks and stuff are a distant memory and the carving and messing about is starting to get boring. Instead of giving up winter sports I'm thinking of lumping in with skiing, a few web pages suggest it's easily doable but I always had skiing down as the harder to master skill. I did ski a bit back in the 90's but I'm guessing things have moved on somewhat.
I sort of have. Originally a boarder, got to reasonable standard....park and lots of off piste etc
Then mashed my knee doing a poorly landed 360 at Chill Factor in 2016. Have boarded since, but lost my carefree attitude to it somewhat!
Unless there's decent snow, I'm happier on ski's these days, although I'm a fairly crap skier tbh. It is much easier getting around a resort though (mainly as the lifts are so much less faff)
I can do both now, boarding 25 years and skiing for the last 6 or so. It’s actually a really nice change to be able to mix them up, and reading slopes and snow conditions on the ground from boarding translate to skiing too (for obvious reasons).
I took a few one on one ski lessons on a holiday and soon after bought a pair of skis and haven’t looked back. My other half only skis so when I’m with her I tend to ski to keep her company (and slow me down).
Give it a go.
Cheers both, funnily enough the week ended with me stacking it and rattling both knees. One article I did read suggests exactly what you are saying, having the choice to do either is a definite plus. We've a dry ski slope and an indoor snow slope close by, nothing to lose by doing a few lessons and seeing what's what. Happier hearing that's it's not insurmountable.
I learned to ski indoors, then did a week of lessons with UCPA too.
I'd definitely say that skiing is easier to get the basics down, then harder to master.
I think that’s very true Tom!
My wife went from snowboarding to skiing, she much prefers skiing. despite actually being quite a good snowboarder she was always worried about falling and after a few years skiing will tackle stuff she’d never have had the bottle for in a board.
For her it’s about feeling more in control.
That said, take a snowboard lesson. It might seem silly but if you can carve on blues but are getting bored, why aren’t you carving on blacks? Lots of people take a few lessons, get to an intermediate level snowboarding and think they can “do it” and never progress past that by learning better technique. With good edge control and a good line choice you can rail turns on the edge no matter the steepness and control your speed with line choice not by letting the board skid through turns.
Believe me, laying out smooth Euro carves on a groomed piste is so fun, heck even moguls are fun if you learn to pump them and gap between them! There’s tonnes of fun flatland / mini shred tricks you can learn that are low impact and liven up a blue if you are stuck pottering with others.
Check out the Korua “ yearning for turning vids “ for a bit of low impact snowboard inspiration!
Our trip to France in 2 weeks has hit a snag - can anyone help ?
One of our party had her 2nd vaccination on 10th Jan and her booster on 20th October - so 9 months and 10 days apart.
According to the French gov website the 2nd and 3rd vaccinations need to no more than 9 months apart to be fully vaccinated whereas the UK gov website for travel to france says you just need all 3.
We have emailed gov.uk and asked on snowheads but I wondered if STW knew anything more.....
Can anyone that's just travelled through Geneva to France confirm if you have to complete a declaration saying you've not been in contact with anyone in last 14 days that's positive still?
UK Gov site says you do, but French doesn't mention it.
Some locals doing some of the classics in far from ideal conditions:
Interesting comparing the skiers and snow boarder around 20:45.
I gave up the board at about 50 because the falls hurt more. I was tempted to keep it just for off-piste powder days but didn't.
It's been an odd season so far. Lots of rando trips in icy conditions hunting out slopes where the sun has softened the surface. Five with the club the rest with Madame and or Junior. Two excellent fast X-C days the others just to get out when it wasn't safe for rando. Yesterday was a white day, we didn't see a thing apart from white and the trackback trace on the phone, snow was OK though with 20cm of fresh on the surface.
According to the French gov website the 2nd and 3rd vaccinations need to no more than 9 months apart to be fully vaccinated
Since 15/2/22 it's no more than 4 months. It's evolved, initially there was no limit but limits has been made shorter to push people into getting the third dose. Has the person tried down-loading the French app and then the other app to check it, sprootlet? There was no need for a third dose on 20/10/2021, the obligation came a few days later. All you can do is scan your cetificates into the app and try. The app shuld apply the rules as they were at the times of vaccination.
Thanks for the reply Edukator, she tried the app and it said she wasn't covered......but my other 1/2 had problems when we did ours. Will have another go today. Can't believe that 10 days is such a deal breaker 🙁
I've checked and the third dose became obligatory on 15/12/21 and then only for the over 65s. In October there there was no 9 month limit.
Madame has joined in with research. Her first comment was "have they got the latest version of the app?" If not erase it and download. She kept getting a fail message until she downloaded the most recent version of app. The other problem we see is that in France/EU it was impossible to get a second dose so soon (France/EU was at least 6 weeks behind at that point) and thus fall outside the 9 month limit for a third dose in October. We've been through all the French sites but can't find a way around the 9 month limit.
However your UK NHS QR code should should be valid for travel into the country. Once in France you can go into a pharmacy to covert your certificates. You'll need a sworn statement filled in to declare you haven't had symptons and do an LFT on arrival.
Google Vip-chalets.com and find "easy guide Covid" which was updated 18 February, it seems the best English language source. The NHS code should be accepted in the ski resort for the lift pass.
Thanks, the VIP-Chalets advice is really helpful.
Linky for anyone that needs it.
Confirms that paperwork required on entry includes confirming you've not been in contact with anyone that's tested positive on the last 14 days.
Wife tested positive this morning :o/
I gave up the board at about 50 because the falls hurt more.
Again I'm 49, will be 50 if I go next year and the falls did hurt. From above my knee to half way down my shin I have quite the colourful leg
Ceepers, last year I got a few lessons to tune up some things and enjoyed them alot. Rather than trying to keep up with skiers we were covering better parts of the mountain for boarding whilst doing some tricks and wotnot. Probably reflective of what boarding is these days. Unfortunately the folks I go with are mostly skiers with one boarder who is happy boarding but I see it as more skidding down the steep stuff rather than gracefully descending down the slopes.
Skidding down or being graceful is mainly dependant on the snow conditions. Earlier this year I cramponed down a slope that was only 30° but a week or two later was fairly graceful skiing down the same slope and slopes somewhat steeper. On ice two edges are easier to stay up on than one. However, hauling two skis around in deep, heavy half-transformed powder is much harder than ploughing down on a board.
Unless they are big fat powder skis👍
True, big fat powder skis are utter crap on ice even with two edges. 😉 I have a pair of Dynastar Mythic hardly used but without bindings going free to collect.
sprootlet: If you have 3 vaccine doses, the spacing shouldn't matter. 3 doses = fully vaccinated regardless of when you had each dose.
The 9, then subsequently 4 month rules meant that, if you had 2 doses, then you were considered fully-vaccinated for 9 or 4 months. After that, your Passe Sanitaire become invalid until you got a booster dose. Once you got the booster, the gap between doses was irrelevant.
I quit snowboarding and went straight to telemark. Oddly, it is a rather similar action. Like Manuel's English, I learned it from a book. With modern gear it is not difficult.
Arrived Saturday, NHS pass checked by easyJet on check-in. Any french paperwork I filled in stayed with me and no one looked at it.
In resort (Les Menuires) it's close to covid just not being a thing, app hasn't been checked and mask use is sparse in most places as well as in bubbles.
In Gourette last week and Barrège yesterday there were no checks for my passe sanitaire. Les only places I've been checked recently are the swimming pool and public library.
Mask wearing is now optional almost everywhere you need a passe sanitaire and declining fast. However, in public transport and shops where you don't need a passe sanitaire but the mask is still obligatory it's still close to 100%.
Fly out to Geneva then onto Avoriaz for 4 days on Saturday. To say I'm excited would be a mahoosive understatement. Havent been out to the PDS in years, and the conditions look awesome at present. So glad that Avoriaz are participating in a day for Jake on the Sunday, so dicking about on boards will be encouraged! Even if there is no new powder, 4 days of immortality await 🙂
Interesting @TroutWrestler.....I've never met a Telemarkist before! Or considered giving it a go either....maybe I should?
First check of pass sanitaire today, for anyone coming out in the next few days, remember your suncream, the factor 50 is just about saving me at the moment (Irish skin).
Pistes are doing ok, but it's warm and they haven't had fresh real snow for a while, so they are scraped and near icy often at the moment. 3 valleys area for reference.
Still, it's bloody great to be back and I'm shattered from all the skiing which is how it should be.
Did a week in paradiski last week. Sunny every day, good (piste) conditions although no new snow. Realised at one point carving down an empty red run facing the almost-sunset that it was the happiest and most relaxed I'd been for 2 years.
Roll on normality.
As others have said, here in France hard pack in the morning slight porridge in the afternoon.
Clear skies at night so it freezes, then warms up by lunch.
Full mask wearing in supermarkets but not much compliance with holiday makers in resort (we've been wearing them) as they think 'Oh I don't need to, well yes you 'flippin' well do.
Definitely not seen or heard any heavily made up, jewellery wearing Russians around.
@Tom-B Lots of telemarkers in Scotland; ditch the trainer heels and go straight to proper skiing. I think I'm right in saying that I know more folk up here who free the heel than those who ski & board put together.
The way we use the snow and the turn profiles of a telemarker are much closer to those of a snowboard than that of alpine skiers. Yes, it's more physical and more technical than alpine downhilling but it's very rewarding indeed.
In a way, there's a hint of the steel hardtail about telemarking, if you get my drift.
I've done a bit of Tele, a good turn does give a good feeling, that's for sure.
Certainly a bit of the Steel HT analogy going on..
My knees were what stopped me going more, wish I had started earlier.
Skiing with the kids at Easter, maybe a chance to free the heels again?
I've been tellieing for 20 years now. Changed from duck bil to NTN a few years back. Don't feel as pure but when I get knackered they can be more forgiving to ski alpine.
Last day in the 3valleys today, first sign of cloud and cold wind, still no fresh snow for those coming next week, the slopes are getting incredibly compacted and ropey is some areas.
Overall though it's been an amazing week, all the staff everywhere we have been have been excellent. I love how friendly people are in the mountains. There's been a lot of sun and no snow for a while so the pisteuers are doing what they can given what they have to work with.
I've missed being out here, it's genuinely excellent.
Finally off on our twice postponed trip to Austria tomorrow, over 2 years since I bought my skis they are getting their first run out on Sunday
7 hours into the journey home and we are sat on the runway at Geneva still. Remind me to drive in the thread for the 22/23 season please!
Toby1. Been there done that at Chambery. Driving has always been pretty smooth for us. I quite like the drive if I’m honest. 4 in a car = less co2 than flying.
Was planning to head out to Austria tomorrow. Tested positive for Covid yesterday. Aaargh.
It was a self organised thing with my dad so was pretty cheap.
I think I know the answer to this but there is no such thing as amazing last minute package deals any more for when I'm recovered are there? It would be just me.
Easy to get a flight. Transfers were talked about earlier in the thread. Quite costly at the moment as are hire cars.
Choose your resort well and train would be a good option. Briancon would be easy by train, Chamonix also. Fly into Innsbruck lots of options from there. Always more costly for a single traveller.
Been there done that at Chambery.
Chambery is known for it, I won't fly to chambery as it's so unreliable.
Geneva is usually fine though, flown to and from there many times with no issue.
Agree, Geneva is usually fairly reliable especially for the budget airlines ime. Only done Chambery once never again.
Was planning to head out to Austria tomorrow. Tested positive for Covid yesterday. Aaargh.
Triple jabbed woulda meant no test for Austria. Commiserations all the same.
I am triple jabbed. Developed symptoms and got tested and came back positive.
So sorry that covid has stopped some of you getting a holiday.
There's been a light dusting of snow here in the Tarentaise Valley. Much needed as there hasn't been any for the last 3 weeks. High temperatures due later in the week.
Just back from Sauze yesterday.
A proper mixed bag of conditions very limited snow cover on most runs with loads of icy patches.
Snow on Friday and Saturday helped but with reduced visibility.
Nothing we couldn't handle as most of us are used to Scottish conditions.
All in it was a great week, not sure if I would be in a hurry to go back though!