Need advice for ski lessons before we go on first ski holiday!

Wanderer wrote:

Tony_H wrote:the Euro HAS to weaken against the pound, so I'd wait and get it in resort to be honest.

Tony

Can you remind me what the exchange rate was when you wrote those wise words back in October? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I'm so glad that I live in the Eurozone and don't have to face those type of currency fluctuations any more :wink:. Just hoping the Irish economy doesn't implode completely at the moment :twisted:

Ha ha. I think it was around 1.25 at the time, which I thought was awful then.
It really isnt funny. My beers are going to cost me £4 a pint instead of under £3 that I was expecting.
:(

Tony_H wrote:

Wanderer wrote:

Tony_H wrote:the Euro HAS to weaken against the pound, so I'd wait and get it in resort to be honest.

Tony

Can you remind me what the exchange rate was when you wrote those wise words back in October? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I'm so glad that I live in the Eurozone and don't have to face those type of currency fluctuations any more :wink:. Just hoping the Irish economy doesn't implode completely at the moment :twisted:

Ha ha. I think it was around 1.25 at the time, which I thought was awful then.
It really isnt funny. My beers are going to cost me £4 a pint instead of under £3 that I was expecting.
:(

I think I'm going Tea total at that price, I think not !!! :wink:

Chaps you think £4 is bad for a beer! (which it is) but last year myself and a few friends were in France for the rugby world cup group stages and the final and we had to pay £7 per pint of heineken!!!!! Definately left a dent in the wallet! :shock:

The £7 beer. That's France for you! (Sorry Admin Dave :oops:)

Looking at the evidence of the way bad financial information has emerged over the past three months, I do not see a quick recovery for the pound. The negative info is incessant. Banks which have supposedly removed all the toxicity from their account, are suddenly finding new levels of debt. We find we have an embedded public sector systemic pension calculation problem, an expensive-to-implement, but inneffective VAT reduction, tax give aways that will have to be paid back. And so much more. With more emerging every day. Compounded by levels of debt we don't want to talk about.

The people who determine what the value of the £ is, are those who have chosen to invest in, or sell, our currency. If you were a large scale holder of sterling bonds, due to mature, would you re-invest in Sterling?

My untrained, but not uneducated opinion is that sterling is headed towards 85/90 cents Euro.

It's being so cheerful that keeps me going. :shock:

£7 for a beer? Thats why the obvious places in France are avoided by me. Its a complete rip off, and not just a problem caused by the value of the £.
And yes, I do think £4 for a pint is bad.

Hi chrisn_28

Intersesting reading all the responses. I have just got back from 5 days in Lech/Zurs so for what its worth here goes.

Lech as has been said previously is ideal for learning to ski. It has good nursery sloops underneath the Rufibahn and the local instructors will quickly progress you onto the blue runs around Oberlech.

Its Euros 225 a day for private instruction (plus euros 17 for every extra person)from the Lech Skischule. Officially you get 4 hours but depending on the instructor you may get more time. An instructor friend of mine is happy to do all day if you can stand it! And its just a couple of beers extra.....

Artificial ski slopes are OK just to get the feel what its like to have skis on but as has been said you cant beat the real stuff. Also you can end up injuring yourself before you even get there (I think I saw a post on this forum on just that - someone broke their wrist??).

How many lessons? The answer is you never stop and its good practice if your pocket will take it to have a least a half day at the start of each trip. I have been skiing over 25 years and just this trip had 2 hrs lessons each day - I was humbled when I realised what bad (and have to admit dangerous) habits I had developed. The lessons (more in the form of coaching) have worked wonders.

St Anton. Again been said its more for Intermediates and above. Personnaly I dont like the place probably becasue evry time I go there someone collides with me due to (their)excessive speed. If your not already committed, go for Lech (even in preference to Zurs)

The down side to all this is the exchange rate. I changed some money on the way out on 12 Dec and got 1.1 Euros per £. When I came back through yesterday I notice the same place was giving only 0.98 euros per £!!! The end result is crippling compared with this time last year......

But the snow and pistes were great and its snowing there now - Im back there next week for Christmas. Have a great time.

Epsilon, thankyou for all the advice!! it definately helps learning as much as possible about where to go, what to do in reference to ski schools and developing. I have to admit im still at the snow plow stage so i have much to learn! the importnat thing is though im absolutely loving it!! It feels like i should have perminantly had skis attached to me!!! the fact its our first ski holiday is even more exciting!!!
Tony i hope you have at least £8 euros on you when we share a jar or 4 in the crazy kangarah!!!
Ive been looking at the snow reports and the ski conditions, as far as i am aware there is 25cm approx at the resort and 80ish centimetres on the upper slopes. It sounds really good!!! What are your views on the conditions????

chrisn_28 wrote:
Tony i hope you have at least £8 euros on you when we share a jar or 4 in the crazy kangarah!!!
Ive been looking at the snow reports and the ski conditions, as far as i am aware there is 25cm approx at the resort and 80ish centimetres on the upper slopes. It sounds really good!!! What are your views on the conditions????

Theres tons of snow in St Anton. Not sure how accurate that measurement is, but from what I have seen on the webcams, theres more than enough.
Skidaddle arrived in Mayrhofen yesterday for a short trip (would have been 3 days longer if he hadnt lost his passport over the weekend...!!!!) and said it was a total whiteout first afternoon up and he couldnt see a thing!
You'll have to let me know what colours you lot are wearing so I can avoid, I mean look out for you!!!!