The STW Ski & Snowboard thread. The 2012-2013 season

blue seems to cover everything from flat narrow road to nursery slope to actually-quite-steep-in-places.

The maps in The Tyrol last week are the worst I’ve ever had to use, as are some of the slope markings. We joined up with another couple for the last run of the day in Steinplatte and all went down what appeared to be marked as a blue on the map AND on the piste, only to find that over the brow of the hill was a quite steep mogulled red – cue very unhappy GF and embarrassed leader 😳

We were talking about this on holiday and came to the conclusion that some maps were deliberately misleading.

These days everyone compares stuff before buying and often just rely on stats – so resorts have to offer a certain number of blues, reds and blacks to compete.

Plus if they have a home run it is in their marketing interest to sign it as a blue or possibly red, even if the reality is a mogully black.

And of course actual skiable area and piste length is often highly dubious.

Snow conditions affect the apparent difficulty too. Was super easy grippy snow all last week, and no icy stuff between moguls at all.
This meant the lethal narrow steep red at the end of the day that all the n00bs and less confident loathed before was merely a narrowish slightly steeper but perfectly OK red.
And there are blacks that I’d have been happy taking a 3rd week skier down last week, but I have stacked it and slid down steep sheet ice on my back in previous years. Even measured the gradient of some apparent “blacks” and they really were much steeper than I estimated (but seemed much shallower than I remember).

There are some Red bits that I think are Black, but are on the map as red since they form part of the Sella Ronda M25. New chair though – might mean a regrading if the carnage section can be bypassed?

GrahamS – Member
igm: Just how fast is this 6 year old??
Isn’t the Coal a super-stiff race board? Volkl rate it as 9/10 for stiffness.

Said 6 year old is quick (ie his mum can’t catch him) but not that quick (ie I can still, but that ain’t gonna last).

I think the name may be all that remains of the Volkl Coal. My Coal is a 2005 I think, and is definitely not a super stif race board. Soft end of all-mountain I’d say. But then like I said as a 16 stone ex-back row forward lots of things flex more easily for me than for others.

Hmm.. I was 15.5 stone when I got my Bataleon Goliath (I’ve lost a fair bit since then) and I’m also a 6 footer and an ex prop forward.

Can’t say too much flex has ever been a major issue for me, but then I have more fun playing around in the pow than just straightlining as a fast as I can. If I wanted to do that I’d be one of those hard booter perverts 😀

I guess the main thing is to examine the recommended weight range on the boards you are looking at. I see that Coal XT that I linked to says you should be on a 168, which is a BIG board.

you should be on a 168, which is a BIG board.

Although by no means an expert (or even semi-decent) on a board I don’t think you’ll have any problem on a longer board or even notice much of a difference in flex unless it’s a full-on park or race board

At just over 6′ and 16 stone, I started on a quite stiff 164 cm Oxygen board and then a Tommy Brunner Lib Tech in 168cm and TBH the TB was easier and quicker turning, faster and more stable in all situations I came across, although I don’t venture into the park!

Next time I’m out, I’ll be using my circa 1999 limited edition Never Summer (wide and 164cm) which appears to be indestructible and has the same pop as when I got it in 2001 😀

Edukator,

I know you live in the Pyrénées. I was alluding to whether home was at the top of the hill or on the plain. It’s different to being stuck out of resort to being stuck away from home!

Both places are very homely. When there’s snow I spend more time up the hill than down but either side of the ski season there are a couple of months when it’s often in the clouds, dismal outside and freezing cold inside as there are no neighbours. There’s a bus between the two that only costs five euros so I go up and down depending on the weather and what there is to do.

The joys of Scottish skiing: the 2-chair at The Lecht has derailed!!

36 people rescued, 6 injured.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-21434338

Graham, please be sensitive. I know a few of them involved. It is not a joy, it is broken backs and limbs.

No insensitivity intended matt.
Sorry if I appeared flippant. It’s a nightmare situation. 🙁

I know. I have a couple of texts from people who are there guiding guests.

Any details of what happened? Was it wind or some mechanical failure?

Edit: never mind I see it has it’s own thread now.

Nasty. Hope recoveries are swift…

Now, to lighten the mood – Open with caution…! 🙂

Edukator .
I have the week commencing 2nd March booked off work.
It is also some School holidays that week unfortunatly.
With the recent snowfall , would I be insane to think about driving to a small town ( maybe Lourdes ) and driving to a different ski resort each day?
Lourdes has lots of hotels , seems relatively central to about 8 diffferent villages , and restaurants.
Will it be busy in March , enough to mean 5 minute waits at lifts for instance .?
I would drive over 2 days probably as its a 1000km ish.

Any more news from the Lecht?

It’s sounding like some of them have no lasting injuries (except a long lasting fear of chair lifts perhaps), but some are still in hospital I think.

Probaby worth asking that over on snowheads. MountainBug are based in Bareges and a couple of days ago all the tourists were evacuated from resort due to the risk the entire village might be avalanched

Singletrackmind:

You could do that from lots of places.

Grenoble: you have Villard de Lans, Chamrousse, Les Sept Laux all no more than an hour from the centre.
Alpe d’Huez is manageable as are others.

Another town to try – Briancon;

Resorts nearby – Serre Che, Montgenevre, Bardonecchia, Sauze, Claviere, Sestriere, La Grave, L2A, etc

I was looking at doing (well looked on the internet at the feasibility, but no more) a trip to the Auvergne ski resorts. Lioran, Le Mont Dore, Super Besse.

Not huge areas, but probably enough for a few days. Cheap lift passes too. Auvergne ski resorts[/url] Somewhere a bit different.

Or if French school hols might put you off drive/fly to Innsbruck and try all the areas around there.

Bit of a result today as the cost of repairing my house is going to be much less than I anticipated, so I had a little trawl through April offers and came across St. Gervais, which TBH, despite having driven past it several times, I’d never really noticed or considered. Self-catering apartment and flight to Geneva included at a price I couldn’t refuse 😉

Any ideas on getting from Geneva to resort? I’ve had a quote for a minibus which at Euro140 return for myself an GF seems quite reasonable.

Any info/feedback appreciated

I doubt you will beat that, however consider hiring a small car as you will probably be able to do that for the same amount in £ and that will enable you to go to other nearby resorts – of which there are plenty. Make sure there is somewhere cheap to park though as hotels can sting you for parking spaces.

Good idea mefty but I’ve had a quick look and there is a huge variation between companies from £137 to £350 for the same car! That’s without going into the potential extras for collision damage waivers and fuel/tolls etc.

I think I’ll play safe and get the mini bus as it’s less hassle hopefully.

I’m going to Kreischberg next weekend – nearby are Katschberg, Obertauern, Schladming and Turracher Hohe. Not a bad spot for multi-resorting!

Or how about La Rosiere, La Thuile, St Foy, Tignes, Les Arcs?

Lourdes has lots of hotels for pilgrims so it won’t be busy until Easter. The town with the most hotel beds after Paris. It’s also the rainiest town in France and unless you’re into religion a proper dump compared with any other town in the area. A better base up that valley would be Barrèges which they will have dug out by then. It’s the biggest ski area and a pleasant place to be.

Resorts within a easy drive that I’ve skied:

Gavarnie: small, painfully slow chairs, huge queues. On one day I skied up the green to the top of the resort on X-C skis quicker than people in the queue.

Hautecam: tiny and too low, don’t bother unless you ski X-C or are a complete beginner.

Barrèges La Mongie: efficient lifts, plenty to go at, good hors piste though it soon gets churned up.

Luz Ardiden: a big bowl that holds snow well with one fast six-seater.

Cauterets: a cable car up to a high ski area means it usually has some of the best snow in the valley.

Couraduque: X-C only but really good X-C.

I ski these places because I live here, If I were driving out from the UK I’d head for Chamonix as a base to ski different areas or simply rent a flat in Tignes and not have to use the car.

Edukator, where did you fly to to get to Lourdes. Thinking about cow tourettes. Went biking there one summer. Pretty cool. Heard the boarding is great there.

Anyone been taking advantage of the snow in the UK recently?

direct flights from Stansted

Cauterets: a cable car up to a high ski area means it usually has some of the best snow in the valley.

This is where I learned to snowboard many years ago! Was studying in Tarbes for a year.

I am getting a bit too excited at the moment! Only 8 sleeps until this.

Thinking about cow tourettes.

🙂 “Mooo-bollocks, Moo-arse, Mooo-***”

Just come back from four days of powder heaven in St Gervais, Great little resort and large ski area.Just rebooked for a week at easter, happy days.

I-ache, that’s the Chavannes express chair in Les Gets and I claim my £5.

We’ll be there in a few weeks time. Excellent place to take small children. Last year we were on the boards in the morning, lunch on the slopes then sat around the village in shorts and T-shirts in 20C in the afternoon – blue skies all week.

Peak District this week.

Just back from 5 cheeky days in the Dolomi-Tee-Hees.

Very last minute, friends in Milan had been eyeing up forecasts, which kept changing, as they do. Tried Austria and Switzerland, which were both full, unless we wanted to spen £10K – £20K on an appartment for 4 days, which we didn’t. Also needed to find a place that was happy to take Otto, their ridiculously cute minature schnauzer.

We ended up in a hotel next to the lift in an odd little resort called Marilleva, linked to Madonna di Campiglio. Half day Saturday in the sun. Cold, OK on the piste, horrible off it. same again on Sunday. Monday at Passo di Tonale, very windy, snowy and cold, some OK turns, but mainly out there for the sake of it.

Not too distressed at this point, this was an opportunistic trip and a chance to spend some time with friends we don’t see enough. We’re going touring later in the year, and I’ve been a lucky swine with powder for years.

BUT! 2 feet over Monday night! Woo and Hoo. Still snowing, but no wind. Over to Madonna di Campiglio, went exploring, found some steep lines in the trees. Smiles back on faces. Bluebird on Wednesday, more exploring in M di C a bit further off the beaten track.

Drove back over Passo Tonale, enviously ogling the lines and the potential. We shall return, with touring stuff and a bit more preparation!

Oooooh that looks lovely ned.

igm – Member
I-ache, that’s the Chavannes express chair in Les Gets and I claim my £5.

We’ll be there in a few weeks time. Excellent place to take small children. Last year we were on the boards in the morning, lunch on the slopes then sat around the village in shorts and T-shirts in 20C in the afternoon – blue skies all week.

Your five ePounds have been awarded.

I am hoping to get the kids (3 and 5) up there towards the end of the week as it will only be their (and mine) second time skiing and neither went up the mountain last year. There is that kids section on the right as you come up the lift that looks fun for an hour or two. The biggest problem will be them being good enough to get to it from Morzine and me being good enough to take care of the eldest.

Ned, apart from your skis being on the wrong way round, that looks lovely! 🙂

Smiththemainman
Excellent news. I’m going 14th April. I like the look of it because its the GF’s second week on skis and I’ll be mainly boarding. Looks to be quite a big area on the map with loads for us both 🙂

I-ache,

Indian Gardens I presume. If needs be get the bus from Morzine to Les Gets and get the Chavannes Express up. They’re pretty good at slowing it for kids if needs be, but it is one of the world’s gentlest lifts anyway. It’s a gentle slide into the gardens from there. My five year old (six this year) also liked the mini jump run under the Chavannes chair.

Iain