The STW Ski & Snowboard thread. The 2018-2019 season

Just back from 9 days in Cervinia. Beautiful clear skies, but lost a couple of days to high winds. Was worth the trip just for the mad NY celebrations though.
February and Scottish resorts to look forward to now.

Thats me booked up for a 4 day tour in Austria end of Feb. Can’t wait.

Well this is fun. Stranded in Salzburg because the road into Saalbach is closing tonight! 😄

Just done a week over NY in PdS. V poor conditions, just had to get on and have fun With what was available. Long weekend in St Gervais to try and salvage something of the season in a months time 😊

Looking to 2020 and contemplating America. Can anyone comment on Colorado? Flights can be found for reasonable money but horrified by the cost of the lift pass. £5/600!
Is US snow worth the experience!?

@wallop

I just left on a bus via Bad Reichenhall to Saalfelden, driver hasn’t said anything.
I’ll keep you posted

You get the 180 just outside the airport on the main road, change at Bad Reichenhall and get the 260 to Saalfelden, then Zell.
Last 180 at 19.40

Edit. My friend who lives here says they are closing the road in the morning.

Good luck colp – you’ll be fine, it’s just the road into Saalbach which is closed. We’ve been put on the transfer bus and drive is just waiting for a call back from someone to find out what’s going on. We will probably set off anyway because we have Zell skiers on board and that road closes at 10pm so drive is keen to get them there ASAP.

I’d rather be on the coach than stuck in the airport, so I’ve still got my sense of humour… for now 😄

Colorado – went to Vail and Beaver Creek in 2006 and it was amazing, pretty much 6 inches of powder every night and blue skies every day. The powder bowls in Vail blew our minds.

My god it was cold, gloved hands stuck to metal bars, tongues to zips and i got a frost nipped nose, not funny. There are assistants at the entrance to mountain restaurants handing out tissues though….

Its diabolically expensive. And you don’t see any normal Americans, just trump types. We got the ski bus to our condo and it was just us and a few Latino maids.

Just got back from a week in tignes, it hadn’t snowed since before Xmas,so there was no off piste to be had,but the pistes were in pretty good condition still, mostly soft, not much ice at all.

Was really sunny every day too.

It just hasn’t stopped here, still snowing heavily

The car park outside our apartment this morning

Clearing the lift station rooftop

We still haven’t made it to Saalbach. The road is still closed and the chopper can’t get up to blast the snow load.

Is there such a thing as bib tights for skiing, essentially like bike bibs but without the nappy and in a softer more thermal material?

No matter what I try I always get a draft round the waist…

Salopettes cover the midriff don’t they? Otherwise look at cross-country skiing kit.

Wallop, you haven’t been on a coach for 17 hours have you? That’s like old school skiing holidays by coach!

Haha, no 😂

We’ve been very lucky. We got on the transfer coach within 90 minutes of landing. When we got to Zell they told us they’d found a hotel for us in Gastein for the night. So we are still here, but at least we didn’t sleep in the airport like lots of people did.

No sign of that road opening any time soon though. We could be here for the week!

Interestingly we are flight only with Crystal so I have no idea if they are actually obliged to keep putting us up or not! We just followed the rest of the people on our coach 😊

@wallop

You can see the road closure info here

Get away with your bloody powder photos! 🙄😂

Don’t whatever you do confess to being flight only! Feign foreignety or whatever.

😉

Our easyjet pilot had a quick stroh rum on landing to embolden themselves and were now off. Yay! Good luck anyone travelling to or from Austria, pack emergency wurst is my advice.

Looks good here in Menuires, no chance of any powder any time soon though but pistes look good.

Unfortunately this is all from the hotel window, I’ve spent since about midnight puking my guts up so waved the others off at 9 this morning and have spent the day in bed.

Just about feeling human again so fingers crossed I’ll get out tomorrow.

Austria looks epic right now! 😮

@wallop hope you make it soon. It’ll be worth the wait if you do!

We are in a taxi now – about 50 minutes away fingers crossed!

Aarggh stop it with the pow pictures, 3 weeks to go and currently no pow in les gets either!

Fingers crossed you make it wallop. Once your there that pow will make it all worthwhile!

🙂

Thanks for the pictures @colp! Looks amazing, can’t wait.

Last one today

Those pictures are ace!

Never mind the pictures – have you made it yet?

Who me? Yep!

Had a few cheeky beers to finish the day on the mountain opposite our place, great ski/board down

Arrhgg,

Photo weirdness

You can go off people very quickly …
super jealous , hope you got ribbons on your skis ?

Walk back up to the apartment tonight

@bash

I’ll make a toboggan track for the kids (and you!) through our garden this week, photos to follow 🙂

@colp Oh that sounds amazing, thanks! I’m very jealous right now but not long to go!

colp – love the photos.
I too am quite envious.

We have rock hard pistes in the grand massif but they aren’t in too bad a shape. Snow is coming Tuesday and wednesday – bring it on.
My new skis are still AWOL though

Just got back from a week in Alpe d’Huez… blue skies and fantastic weather but no fresh snow in weeks and the pistes are getting very hard as a result. No point venturing further afield at all.

Even so, a lovely week topped off with my 7 year old getting his 2* and the youngest having his first week on planks and declaring that ‘skiing is awesome!’

I’ve got another week in Val d’Isere at Easter and hopefully a boy’s long weekend to get some more days in.