The STW Ski and Snowboard thread: 2021-2022 Season

Looks like it’s snowing tonight in the 3 Vallees, and again on Sunday.

Everything’s ready to go, just got to get to St Pancreas this afternoon, then out should be plain sailing all the way to the slopes 🙂

Just got to avoid being wiped out by French teenagers 😛

Edit: Also, this https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2022/02/11/4-year-old-snowboarder-funny-chatter/

Edit: Also, this https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2022/02/11/4-year-old-snowboarder-funny-chatter/

Thats wicked😀

I want to go there, conditions look great!

Being wiped out from behind by anyone is not good.
Hubby who speaks fluent French, had to have a ‘little word’ with the father of a family, who decided to ‘wipe me out’ from behind. While shouting at hubby (who had witnessed the incident) in front of his young children, he declared that: ‘I had been turning in front of him’. I got no apology and his understanding of the ‘person in front has right of way’ fell on deaf ears. I’m a small build and luckily wasn’t injured. Idiot.

To all going out next week, send us some photos please.

Flying out to Milan tonight. My life is ruled by QR codes, 14 at last count!

Out in La Tania, it great to be back on snow again. We left the kids with my parents I’m not sure the youngest will ever forgive us. We are going with them at Easter though. Conditions are good here a few cam’s of snow this morning and cloudy. Tomorrow looking great.
Coming out was simple, felt like the krypton factor with all the bits of paperwork and barcodes though. The only bit that has been checked was the Swiss barcode at Bristol check in and at Geneva border. We also had nhs scanned after we paid for lift pass. That’s right the wait till you paid before scanning. 🤣 This was where a friend of a friend came unstuck as he wasn’t boosted. Don’t ask how he got round that!

As of today, no extra tests needed to enter France, just the usual certificate of vaccination. Under 12s exempt
https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/covid-19-deplacements-internationaux

Nobody was checking anyway! (At least not for us)
Minimal checking in resort here. Meribel Centre and once in Val Thorens and Orelles. today. None in La Tania or Courchevel
Beautiful day’s skiing 😊. Never fit enough. 🙁

3 families headed to Austria via Munich – all with different opinions on what the entry requirements are!!

Anybody taken this route recently or transited through Germany?

Two kids over 12, both double vaxxed (2nd dose in early Feb). Two adults both boosted.

My view is that we just need entry forms completed and evidence of the above vaccinations – then get our hire car and bugger off to the border. Others are saying PCR tests as the kids don’t have boosters (it asks for full vaccination).

Any help appreciated

There are no checks at the Austrian border from Germany. In Austria, they’ll want to link your NHS vaccination status to your lift pass and all restaurants will ask you to show a cert.

First 4 days of the next holiday sorted.

Heading to Verbier to meet a mate (and his new gf). We’re taking the camper again and looks like we’ll be staying down in Le Chable as that’s where he’s found a hotel and there’s a carpark they let vans stay in.

Not been to Verbier before, so another new place to try.

Then we’re going to head somewhere else, see where the snow looks good – hopefully more than the last trip.

Seem to remember several good van spots in Chamonix if you haven’t been.

Last two days in Les Menuires/VT have been glorious sunshine.

Resort needs so snow though, which is forecast to arrive this afternoon, a nice 15cm due.

Travelski express experience is not up to Crystal Ski or Ingham’s level of customer service.
Train was ok, no dramas, having all your barcodes printed kills trees, but is easier.
Had to wait a long time for the coach from Moutier, and the Travelski rep wasn’t exactly confidence inspiring with his lack of knowledge on why the coach was late.

We’re staying in the middle value proposition of studios they had on offer. It’s ok, but lots of things obviously done on a budget- e.g. you can literally see through the sheets they give you!

We were in Val Gardena last week with Crystal and the rep was appalling bad. e.g. the coach slowly crashed into an overhanging rockface on the winding, narrow road on the way to the hotel smashing 5 windows (outer layer only) and both layers of the most rearward window – where we were sat. Tiny bits of laminated glass were falling onto my sister-in-law as we drove away.  Literally 5 mins later it pulled over for the driver to check the damage. The rep did not even walk to the back of the coach to see if anyone was hurt/upset etc. She didn’t even ask, or shout from the front. It was just too much bother for her.

I guess Covid has affected their recruitment but she was bloody useless. The Crystal notice board in the hotel was empty – not even an emergency contact number. The rep never once came to the hotel during the week (which is usually what I prefer anyway).

We’ve used Crystal quite a few times and they’ve always been really good but this rep was terrible.

We’ve used Crystal quite a few times and they’ve always been really good but this rep was terrible.

After 6 hours delay in 2020 because our plane was at Lyon as were we after a last minute re-direction from a fogged out Chamberey I swore off them. There was sparse information, no offer of anything other than stand and queue here to check-in for 5ish hours. I appreciate they can’t control the fog, but this happens quite often, so having a process and plans in place to handle it would be better than the utter chaos that followed!

Inghams for a try out this year, I planned to drive, but haven’t managed to plan it this year, hopefully next year.

Try Peak Retreats for self drive. Their packages include flexiplus tunnel, which has always served us well. No involvement from any reps which suits us fine. Reps are good for large groups and first timers, after that they don’t add much value ime.

@benslatt

I’m assuming your lack of posting means it all went fine!

Seems nowhere has a clear answer written down but are we confident that the take at home upload a photo and get emailed a certificate is ok for entry to France then?

@ceepers yep! Got my test certificate by email about 30 mins after I uploaded the picture. Got back Saturday after a great week. The only people who cared about the forms/PLFs were easyJet at either end! Pass vaccinal was needed in pretty much every bar/restaurant though.

@ceepers

For Travelling to France at half term & back if fully vaccinated I need:

A negative test taken within 24 hours of arrival in France.

If you’re not already out there you no longer need a test ahead of travelling, as of last weekend

As of today, no extra tests needed to enter France, just the usual certificate of vaccination. Under 12s exempt
https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/covid-19-deplacements-internationaux

Hubby who speaks fluent French, had to have a ‘little word’ with the father of a family, who decided to ‘wipe me out’ from behind. While shouting at hubby (who had witnessed the incident) in front of his young children, he declared that: ‘I had been turning in front of him’. I got no apology and his understanding of the ‘person in front has right of way’ fell on deaf ears. I’m a small build and luckily wasn’t injured. Idiot.

It beats me how anyone who has skied more than a few days can fail to understand that the downhill skier has no idea who’s behind them or what they’re doing.

The occasional close pass if somebody loses an edge is understandable, but in La Plagne this year there were too many people skiing too fast and too close, crossing cm in front. Not just teenagers – one in ESF uniform!

Breezy in Cervinia

Mask wearing and green pass enforcement is a mixed bag. No one seems bothered about enforcing the FFP2 standard either.

Having a great time!

Greybeard – indeed.
Youngsters are seemingly having one lesson (or worse still their mates give them a clue then badger them to go down a slope without knowing what to do) and that’s it, they believe themselves to be fabulous/invincible skiers/snowboarders without knowledge of the ‘rules of the piste’.

In North America one can get their pass confiscated for dangerous or even careless and inconsiderate piste use.

Got back yesterday. Proper bluebird day on Friday made up for some of the lesser days earlier in the week. Just need to think about booking for April now 🤔

Meh, not so sure about “youngsters” it used to be “Snowboarders” causing all the problems.
I don’t think things have changed much (Not that snowboarders are still causing problems btw). People out of control of any age or discipline has generally been quite likely at times. It is more common in some resorts and a certain times of the year/season IME. One persons view of another being out of control is also quite subjective as well. Obviously colliding with another person is bang out of order no excuses.
A friend was hit in Zermatt a few weeks ago, she now needs a new helmet! Bloke stopped checked she was still conscious and then scarpered, not cool.

A great day at Nevis yesterday

As said above by @Bunnyhop, the approach in the US is a world apart. Was at Heavenly in Tahoe a few years ago and a boarder did a blind 180 off a lip on the green home run and took out my godson (aged 8 at the time). He was shook up but ok, the ski patrol turned up in no time, basically escorted the lad off the hill, pulled his season pass and threatened him with being handed over to the cops.

They even had stealth patrollers hiding behind the go slow signage and anyone gunning it in slow ski areas were given a firm bollocking as a minimum.

Had flights booked over a year ago, and it was only last month I still looked 50/50 as to whether we could travel, but finally on the slopes again! Sunny at Wengen, maybe too hot the home runs are looking patchy. Masks mandatory on gondola / train but relaxed enforcement – a buff over the face seems to be enough. Very little mask wearing in shops compared to UK. Plenty of folk around to no queues, lots of Americans!

We did our first day of skiing in 2 years today, and our first ever Scottish skiing. We were at Glencoe, was a bit rainy and windy early on, but turned into a stunning day, with mega snow. Should’ve taken my snowboard ffs!

Wind looks like it could be an issue for the next few days so I think that we’re going to walk tomorrow. Forecast for Friday looks good, so may back to Glencoe, or might cut across and have a few days on the other coast and try out Glenshee.

Any one got any thoughts on Sestriere/Milky Way as a end of March option? Specifically will there be enough snow?

Thanks!

I expect it will be ok In march. It’s likely going to be spring corn lower but it will take a big rise in temps to shut the skiing before Easter and that’s late this year. I have never had bad snow at Easter. Varied yes, powder rarely but always had enough.
If you don’t like spring conditions, and many don’t it could be tricky.

To put things into perspective on the dangerous behaviour on pistes:

The accident rate is remarkably low, 5000 skiers a day on nice days in our local resort and serious injuries are rare.

Most injuries people manage to do to themselves without exterior help.

On the basis of our local resort you are as likely to die on the way to the resort as in it. Careful on the roads.

Taking the five resorts I’ve skied this Winter and reports in the local paper:

One death glissade (sliding down the mountain) hors piste Barrège
Two deaths skiers sliding from a piste into a ravine Astun, and a snowboarder slid into a ravine to his death but was off-piste.
One death ski de rando glissade Candancho.
Someone on snow shoes slipped through a hole into a torrent and died.

In terms of incidents in Gourette I get feedback from ESF and the pisteurs. On one particularly icy day the helicopter was out a few times. In each case the serious accidents were falls rather than collisions. The most bizarre was a snowboader sitting having a snack at the side of the piste, his unleashed board slid off, he tried to catch it and slipped and fell over a drop.

So concentrate on what you are doing and don’t worry too much about what the others are doing because you can’t do much about that anyway, be predictable if you can. If I find myself in traffic I pull off and wait rather than try to second guess where people are going, waiting a few seconds to allow things to clear means I can enjoy my skiing more. That said as 6-seater high-speed lifts have replaced the old snail-pace three and four seaters the density of skiers on pistes has increased and made gaps in the traffic rarer.

I have to say that Ed has it there and the same goes for life in general really. Manage the risks you can and be aware of the ones you can’t. The biggest risk I see on piste is people stopping in silly places and pinch spots.
When recently out in the 3v skiing Jerusalem, a lovely run. Stopped to wait for Mrsdts. At the side/half off the side, nobody else near me. As people came down all of them stopped opposite me. Causing a bottleneck. If they had stopped above or below me, at the side it would have been no problem. I moved off about 75 yards and stopped on the other side.

Just back in from Les Gets. Nice family holiday (if a little busy, but that’s half term for you).

Weather excellent, snow decent, good to be back on the slopes.

Roll on the next trip.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Had a very smooth drive out and back to Tignes last week, still needed the vaccine pass in most places (including some random lift queue checks) and passenger locator forms to travel back yesterday.

So fun to be back on snow again, not too busy, mostly sunny and two days of surfing fresh pow. Whole family is tired but stoked!

Tempted to book something for Easter now!

Assorted pics here….

https://www.instagram.com/jory04/?hl=en

@JonEdwards – I was in Sauze/Sestriere a few weeks back, just about skiable but locals were suggesting even the snow cannons might get switched off because there wasn’t enough water to feed them anymore.
Runs down into Sauze were cannon created strips between green fields. Sestriere was a little better.

Unless there has been significant snowfall in last three weeks (I haven’t checked), I’d chose somewhere else. We drove to 3 Vallees 3 days out of 5 from Sauze, which tells you all you need to know about conditions in MW.

Just back from a self drive trip to Le Grand Bornand in France. First time with the kids and it really is an excellent resort for beginners. A good network of Green’s that link all across the resort and a couple of good beginner areas. Some nice blues to progress onto. We had amazing weather. Nice and sunny at the start if a little warm and spring like then a massive dump of fresh snow on day 3 followed by 4 perfect bluebird days with a huge range of easily accessible off piste to play on. Didn’t have a single vaccine check in the resort at any lift or cafe. Mask wearing in ques was not enforced and very few people were wearing masks except in the Gondola’s. Fantastic week had by all.

Spent last week (half term) at Fort William. Spectacular as always. (Can highly recommend the Linnhe Lochside Holidays chalets: cracking view of the loch and hills, but remarkably cheap)

Anyway, there was tons of snow but sadly it was accompanied by 100mph winds and storms for most of the week. Eventually made it up Glencoe on the Friday.

They had some good snow, but had been struck by lightning during the storms so most of the power was out! Heroic efforts from the staff overnight got an emergency genny set up so at least a few lifts were running.

Not quite the usual exotic locations on here, but the kids enjoyed it.

We had a fantastic family week in Zell-am-See; great conditions, fantastic and varied piste skiing (plus the ‘X’ runs). My kids improved massively with the youngest going from almost zero to snowploughing the easy reds and hooning through the kids ‘parks’ over the course of a week with just a couple of hours of private tuition and a lot of support from me and his big sister. I got a couple of fresh snow mornings on first lifts which was an unexpected treat because I had to get the kids to an 0900 private lesson (much cheaper). The infrastructure at Zell is great, the dominant rental firm Bruendl are super-organised. Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to try Kaprun or Saalbach which was a shame. The town is great and I’d definitely go back.

On the point of safety, seems a lot of people are happy to ski past ‘fresh’ crashes without stopping to check or offer help.

COVID passes required to buy lift tickets, reasonably hot on FFP2 mask enforcement in lift queues and gondolas (Buffs generally accepted), good adherence by skiers and masks required when walking around bars and restaurants.

Off to Grand Massif in a couple of weeks, have flight and accommodation booked and was hoping to be able to sort an airport transfer but really struggling.

Don’t seem to be any shared transfers anymore from Geneva and private transfers are ranging from 500E return to over 2kE!

Can obviously hire a car but was hoping to avoid the hassle.

Any suggestions? is my Google Fu letting me down or have things changed since COVID?

https://gomassif.com/

We used these guys when we did a trip to flaine (well, Morillon). quyick check shows €200 shared transfer for 2 people, based on 19/26 march

Thanks, but they don’t have any availability for my dates (12th March)

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Geneva-Airport-GVA/Flaine#r/Bus

that suggests bus to sallanches then a local taxi