Time off booked for the first week in feb. Here's the fun bit. If the other half is pregnant by then, I'm authorized to go on a lads ski trip. If she's not, I'm going with her. I don't know what I want but I'm fine either way!
Managed zermatt at the start of last season and had a trip to morzine in January as well. Thinking back to Austria for this season. Missed the beer and grub.
Cobrakai, you know what you really want......
Little Mini Ski Kids!
Good luck either way!
Little Mini Ski Kids!
Our 3 year old had his first go on the hills holding the instructors poles in April.
Next March he has a week of half day lessons.
He's excited already.
Big brother is vaguely suggesting he'd like to try one of those big single skis you stand sideways on.
Brace yourself igm.
In March 2013 our 2 (nearly 3) year old had her first week of ski lessons with a very patient instructor on the nursery slopes of the Dolomites. Just an hour a day for little legs, but great to see. By the end we took her down a green run between a mates skis.
In March 2014 she was our 3 (nearly 4) year old, and was in the kid's club in Les Deux Alpes doing a full afternoon of lessons every day for a week! She can now happily get on a button tow by herself, ride it to the top, get off with a little assistance, and ski back to the bottom again.
If only I learnt that quickly!
I really must bore you all with a video of her sometime. #prouddad
PS Afterwards she asked me if she was good enough to go on a snowboard yet 😆
Sounds familiar.
Our 8 year old dropped me on a red when I lost an edge and I didn't see him again till the bottom.
😀 I look forward to the day she can out ride me. I suspect I won't have to wait too long.
This article rings true:
http://www.powdermag.com/stories/skiing-dad/
So there are rumblings of El Nino this winter. I've tried to research what this might mean for European skiing but it's not clear to me. Anyone more experienced have any wisdom to share?
Dunno, but so long as it brings about 50% of the amount of snow we had in the Dolomites last season, I'd be happy.
My kids started skiing at 6 and 9. My 16 year old son ski's almost as fast backwards as I do forwards (I never started until I was 40 :-()
Hello.
My missus would like to know if there is a ski& Snowboarding equivalent of singletrack world?She has to do some research for a work related project.I told her about these threads on here ....but which other blogs/forums would you recommend please?
Think there's a forum called snowheads, senior j
You could try the Snowboard Club UK forums senor j, though obviously they are snowboard oriented.
http://www.snowboardclub.co.uk
Very excited. Just booked flights for Japan. 😀
Japan for me too, end of January. Also quite excited.
Looking at going this year for the first time in 15 years for me. It will be first time for wife and 3 children. Looking at going first week at xmas.
Any recommendations? We want to fly, really good deals to grenoble at the moment.
thanks Graham & sprootlet.
Any suggestions for a week at the beginning of Jan? Looking for somewhere cheap with sights and things to do etc, skiing doesn't have to be great, neither of us has ever skied but we fancy something a bit different. Any of the Eastern European countries worth a shout?
[quote=senor j dijo]Hello.
My missus would like to know if there is a ski& Snowboarding equivalent of singletrack world?She has to do some research for a work related project.I told her about these threads on here ....but which other blogs/forums would you recommend please?
http://snowheads.com is the obvious choice
Any advice on Canada?
Thinking about two weeks late February early March.
What is it you want to know about canada? I went for 8 weeks four years ago
Oh bugger, hadn't actually thought of any questions.....
Ummmmm, uhhhhh.......
Ok, if you was to ski in Canada just once, and as a relative novice.
Where would you go?
Whistler, big white, lake Louise.
Maybe as a relative novice I'd go lake Louise. Canada in my view is outstanding.. It's 'big mountain' if you get what I mean
Like it.
Last winter we booked a last minute package that worked out pretty well, does that approach work with Canada (and the US) ?
Or is diy much better?
Whistler booked. Early January 11 nights. Never been there in the winter. I am told it gets exceptionally cold up on the mountains, so some extra thermal gear is on our shopping list.
I did DIY . It's expensive there. Lift passes per day at around 100 dollars. But it's worth it. Me and six mates went round to lots of resorts over 8 weeks . Best time of my life
Canadian and US lift passes are often a lot cheaper if you buy them nice and early through a UK tour operator 🙂
Has anyone flown to Boston and done a Road trip up through Vermont? Looks interesting - but I'm not sure if it's too stressful logistically...
I'm not booked yet....waiting for action outdoors to release their prices. Feb half term is my most likely week....either Chamonix or Flaine I reckon. Although looking at the price of flights, I may have to wait until Easter 🙁
Sandwich Junior has a hankering to hit the slopes between Christmas and New Year. Any recommendations from the assembled company.
Cheap is really important as he is a student nurse. The timing is fixed as this is the only time available between placements/college in his last year. Another money saving forum had some clowns who suggested going at another time!!
Tell him to check out actionoutdoors.co.uk solo travellers week over that period is in Chamonix. Prices aren't out yet but my guess is around 650 quid full board with tuition and equipment hire. He'll need to add travel to that.
To answer a couple of questions from above: Banff is good but you have to go on a lot of buses. Did Boston to Killington on another trip, ok but quite tame really.
Cheers Tom. I'll keep checking in for other ideas, if there are any.
Hoping to snaffle a Christmas week with White Room. Fingers crossed!
Tell me about Tignes....what's it going to be like half term week?
Tbh I'm not too bothered about night life-I just want somewhere to get the serious hours of riding in. I'll be having instruction, 50% of which I'd guess will be off piste.
piemonster - Canada lift passes are indeed much cheaper when bought in advance - some of the 'early bird' offers have already ended though (I bought my 14/15 season pass for Fernie in June).
Some resorts do another offer in the Autumn, so it pays to keep an eye out/subscribe to mailing lists etc.
Canada can be bitterly cold - especially the Rocky Mountain resorts in the 'interior' including Lake Louise & Banff (which can be quite icy), Revelstoke, Fernie, Red Moutain & Kicking Horse.
Whistler however can be milder due to it's proximity to the coastal range.
It's all relative however - if all you've experienced is European Alpine resorts with sunshine and tanned lifties with their shirts off then prepare for a bit of a shock ... and pack the thermal merino! 🙂
Tell me about Tignes....what's it going to be like half term week?
I'll be having instruction, 50% of which I'd guess will be off piste.
Tigne / Val are superb IMO especially for better skiers and off piste. Not been at half term but the uplift is excellent and modern so I can't imagine queues are much of a problem. The off piste is brilliant and accessable, an english [url= http://www.facewest.co.uk/Guide-Valdisere.html ]guidebook[/url] is available to give you some ideas.
Tignes is ace. Great pistes, great off-piste without taking stupid risks (though it soon resembles ungroomed piste in busy periods), a pleasant X-C loop, a good swimming pool, high enough to have good snow most of the season.
I'll whet some appetites later with a couple of piccies, now we've managed to get some skiing in this season...
If anyone is in the market for new skis this season, look at this,
http://www.downskis.com/news/3-2-1-pre-sale-ending-soon
On special offer at present, well made and very good skis.
Not 100% sorted yet but there's a fair chance I'll be in Whistler for the winter season. In light of this I looked at how much the season passes are and nearly choked on my cornflakes - £1100 at full price 😯
Not cheap then!
Not cheap, however they have the advantage of getting considerable discounts in many shops,eating places on and off the hill, ski hire, list goes on 🙂
Booked up with the same group I went with Last year, same place too.
Montgenevre in Feb
Mrs Dom thinks the kids are still too young (will be 3 in April and 5 in May) I disagree, but as a result I get a pass out for a weeks Boarding with a load of mates, so not all bad 
I need to get some new boots sorted though, as the last couple of days last season, really hurt.
They have done really well though, and id get the same boots again (Salomon F24 from memory)
Not cheap, however they have the advantage of getting considerable discounts in many shops,eating places on and off the hill, ski hire, list goes on
Aha! I hadn't really clocked that fact. Will make things a little bit cheaper then, that's always a good thing.
If everything does come through I'll be looking to buy either a set of skis and boots or a board, bindings and boots. Any advice on what to look for, where's a good place to start? Thinking 2nd hand gear might be cheaper until I really know what I'm after...
£1100 at full price Not cheap then!
They're not cheap by European standards but there is so much there to ride and they really do take great care of the mountains. Plus you get discounts in shops/cafes/etc with a season pass.
[b]whatnobeer[/b]
Down the road from Whistler in Squamish there's an outlet shop that will have loads of last season's gear, worth checking out although you will need to be lucky with sizes, etc. There is always loads of second hand gear for sale around the village on the notice boards. Also ex rental stuff is usually on sale in the village. There's another good shop downtown in Vancouver on 4th that sells lots of past seasons gear if you're spending any time down there before you head up.
