Stop target setting, there are usually enough of them at work.

Everyone is different, but for me a sure fire de stress involves a dog, euphoric music and running very slowly in the woods.

Bet that horse hound gets more attention than the Dune.

i also had a Dune, cracked chainstay. Was fun, agree for XC was surprisingly good but not felt the itch to replace.

I concur with theDTs – Easter is a fabulous week to go, especially if you have young kids but this year it falls late. I have an apartment in Morillon which normally we rent out at half term but this year we will use it ourselves, neighbours seem to be doing the same. For Xmas/NY there have been less enquiries for obvious reason that down low is becoming unreliable. So for half term, anecdotally, less supply / more demand will mean higher prices. Probably be this way from now on.

@kip sounds like me 2yrs ago except with 3 teen princesses expecting the full Instagram experience of Greece.
the answer was to go back in May. Empty blue beaches 5mins walk from villa with pool, out on a boat seeing caves all day without frying. Etc. happy kids,  happy M&D

Same bike, exact same problem around the axle with cracks around the alloy insert.

Scrapped it a while ago but was pretty bad before I actually noticed.

pile of shite, no response from Merlin.

Is that for real?

if so, wow.

That dimwit Cleverly survived. This news spoils the result a little for me.
His lying, arrogance and entitlement are off the charts.
Why do folk vote for individuals like this Kay hunt.

I was a School Gov for 4yrs at a local primary, 3 of them when I had no child at the school.

It was eye opening, alarming, infuriating, boring (frequently) but also rewarding and satisfying.

The biggest take away for me was just how underfunded the schools are and that was depressing.
But as part of school management you can still do a little to make a difference. We chose a new Head and she was fantastic and re/energised the school community. So being part of that process helped make up for all the other more mundane formalities.

What was strikingly obvious when I first joined was that the two of us who were outside the school or Church system had a very different approach to conducting meetings and finishing them on time ?

I don’t listen to Radio 6 so didn’t hear the show but surely calling a show ‘Glasto come down’ is a tongue in cheek reference to the drug taking and the well known after effects ‘suffered’ afterwards.

Complaining about this is  STW at its po faced best

How different insurer’s handle pre existing conditions is a mine field.

lets say you have high blood pressure and don’t declare it. If you then have a stroke or heart attack while away it’s pretty clear your policy is void. But – what about you break your leg?

i have had ski insurance that has stated that pre existing conditions can be undeclared and it doesn’t effect non related claims but I have had other insurance that states any misinformation voids the policy. Most sit somewhere in between and are not very clear.

so if I was to be charitable to Liver lady – maybe she rolled the dice and thought she would go uninsured for her liver condition but something else happened. It’s a stretch and in reality she just took the dumb option to save a few £ but pre existing conditions do require shopping around and reading the fine print

Bravo crewlie!!

had you run marathons before going for the extra distance?

Is Chris Grayling involved?

Nigerian catfishers have better compliance procedures ffs.

Fully paid up immigrant here.
if this saves the ballache of spending half a day in Croydon to get fingerprints then bring it on!

timely, I need to renew in a few months.

ultimately though just more privatisation from the ****s in government right now.

Just drove down a road in Surrey Hills, a white water raft would have been more appropriate.

how hard is it to dig a ditch on the side of roads ffs. Address the cause

Had exact same problem as you with the stupid scroll thing. Gave up and stopped using the forum but just yesterday downloaded Brave browser. Seems to work. so I am back but will have low tolerance if the annoying sh•t starts happening again.

for family ski trips this year I am trying mpi brokers, as they are local(ish) and came recommended.

Hopefully their claims are as simple as their policy wording.

Have used Snowcard for years as they spell out clearly their off piste definitions.
however after trip to US last April I am now 10months into trying to get paid on a claim for a simple Dr’s appointment. Yep Allianz.
They have approved the claim, I have just never seen the cash. Laughable amounts of phone ping pong.
Snowcard couldn’t be less interested in helping, they couldn’t back away fast enough.

so, SC can do one. A $200 payout but they have lost a 10yr family global policy customer.

Heli skiing/biarding.

yep.
Alaskan style.

@ceepers.
absolutely spot on.
Buying a new board for different conditions helps 😉 also.
yearning for turning played a bit to the ‘old man’ crowd  but I wholeheartedly embraced it, got myself a Korua for the piste, a capita spring break for the slush etc. etc.

He is one smug mofo. One the most arrogant and dislikable out of all of the ****

I had no idea who he was 12mnths ago but saw him out campaigning and the way he dismissed people asking him questions was contemptible. Rage inducing that •••• like this get voted in the first place let alone made a Minister ffs. 

Half the drag lifts at Flaine are never running anyway 😉

samoens seems to have about 12 just on the beginner ski school plateau

can honestly say I hardly remember catching a drag lift at GM except for the Gers bowl lift, which to be fair gives access to probably the best off piste in the resort

Old Dads had some funny gags but storyline was terrible (was there even one?). its like Bill Burr got it commissioned based on a stand up sketch and then was like – ahh sht need to make it movie length. 

@big_scot_nanny

I always wanted one of those Yamaha rackets. Of course, it had nothing at all to do with the fact Gabriela Sabatini played with one ;-)

slight deviation off topic but Sabatina fans will be forgiving.

@Weeksy – no idea how to upload a gpx file. DM me and I can send you one for one of the routes down from La Bourgeoise and some of the ‘off piste’ like Chicken Run on the Samoens side (hope you like it steep!), not sure I would describe it as XC though certainly wouldn’t want to attempt it on a short travel xc bike.
Got a few good ebike loops I have done with a guide as well if you want.

@pictonroad – ahh Mitsubishi’s.

Took up running.

solves the buying unnecessary kit problem. Doesn’t really solve can’t be bothered getting off my arse problem.

@nbt thanks for the mention.

Morillion 1100 is great for ski in/out but if 6 blokes want some even reasonable Apres then its probably not the place. Flaine probably better for that. Somewhere around Vercland gives a bit of both – options of Samoens for Apres and short walk to the new fast telecabin.

……i should point out, this requires ski in ski out accom to be near a ticket office, else it would be a pain

If you DIY (as opposed to a package deal) it can be cheaper but obviously needs a bit more planning.

My tip to save on lift tix is never buy the full family a weeks pass up front. The saving isn’t that great, all it takes is 1 to miss a day and the group to do a half day and the savings for buying a weeks pass disappear. If you can put up with topping your passes up daily then look at that.
my teenagers all ski but get up late, I leave them too it, get out for an early ski with the wife and come back mid morning to do the ticket shuffle. In 1 week I reckon there is on average only 1 day we would have bought 5 full day passes

For those asking how to return to Morzine via Col de Joux Plane without the 1600m climb. Go see the guys in Mountain Spirit in Samoens, they run a shuttle for not very much. Well worth it to drop in from La bourgeoise down to Samoens for lunch then shuttle back and take the off piste back to Les Gets via La Chapelle de Jacquicourt.

very different to a day in the park.

I am trying to make a small claim with Snowcard right now. They have twice sent me the wrong claim forms and had me complete a claim with the wrong re-insurer. It’s only for a few hundred so not too bothered but pretty diabolical.

As for InsureandGo – I enquired about their winter insurance claiming it covered heliski and was told Yes it does provided it takes place within a controlled ski resort area. FFS – like covering MTN biking on pavements only.
Read the fine print with these shysters

I had 24hrs of bleeding after a tooth extraction a few weeks ago, surgery was closed over the weekend. Dr Google said use a teabag – it worked a treat. Bleeding stopped almost immediately.

Pillow talk. Apparently :-)

It’s not how I learnt. I had to live there for 4 yrs to be conversational but ‘pillow talk’ would have been quicker and…arguably more fun !!

If you are interested in a 2bedroom apartment sleeping 6, ski in/out in a very family friendly resort (Morillon/Samoens) then PM me.
Happy to apply a STW discount and if you snowboard can sort you/kids out with some to save on rentals.

I have a Dune that I have been meaning to sell as it’s just taking garage space.
It’s not even cracked, and will be under your budget with spare for tyres.
PM me if interested

My wife has warned me before about meeting strangers on the internet, but I live in Cranleigh, haven’t ridden in a few months and showing someone around is a good excuse to get out. DM me if you want a guide or just a pointer in the right direction to get out of town. – doz

@bjhedley

Interesting comment on the Dancehaul, I have had 1/2 eye on one of those. Graphics are a bit ‘meh’ though.

Get a Korua you’ll fall in love with the piste again.

I have ridden Synapses for years had similar foot pain you describe when on hardpack or bumpy snow. Stiffer bindings fixed 80% of the problem for me, I went from Burton Missions to Rome Cleavers for me but I also finally found a stiffer boot (Deeluxe Empire) that agreed with me.

I would say thought its mostly in the binding/boot combo rather than board as I have multiple boards and with soft bindings I have same problem no matter the board.

@tuboflard – if you just skied down from Grand Platieres to either of the chairs (Desert Blanc, D.Boir) then the snow cover was fine and I imagine will have held up ok the past few days. Problem was those lifts had 10min queues, so we always just went back down to base to telecabins, Aup Veron had no queues all day. The snow cover on the bottom half was patchy but really just the last few 100m of blue and the green (whatever name is) that loops around was a problem.
Put it this way, I was riding a brand new board and was happy that it was easy enough to avoid stones, rocks, grass etc.
Big dump incoming early next week though :-)

I am just back today from Flaine. Skied there Saturday, was just like a day in April but with way more people.
We had a good day anyway but wouldn’t want to do it everyday for a week.
Back out on 12th but expecting to do more cycling than skiing tbh.

@sprootlet – hope you get out there for some late season, book accom soon though as people are pushing back weeks