J2Ski group holiday to Tignes January 13th 2013

felthorpe wrote:We have had out first official day of skiing, went off in 2 groups. Mad people and seriously mad people. We lost a couple along the way but we are all present and correct now. Several tried the hot tub, Pics have been censored!!

Thanks for posting the news - sounds fun. Very envious. Hope you have a great day tomorrow - look forward to the next update. Thank God for the photo census - not sure we are up for that-not before dinner anyway. Happy skiing. :lol:

Hi Everyone,
Just to let you all know we are having a great time here in Tignes/Val d'Isere :)

There is plenty of snow, but it's a bit cold, and the visibility wasn't very good today, which is why some of us came in early.

4 of us were ski-ing with one of the Bonjour ski hosts and I could only manage by following Old Andy and watching to see when he hit a lump, or disappeared into a pile of deep snow. I don't like ski-ing in flat light as it makes me dizzy and confused, but it was fine when I was following him, and we went over to Val d'Isere and covered a fair bit of ground :)

It was lovely and sunny on Sunday so Old Andy, Catp and I went up the Grande Motte glacier and skied there for a bit. We never got to do the 9 restaurant pub crawl but we still had a lot of fun.

And yesterday I think all 17 of us were either in lessons or skied with the Bonjour hosts.

Some of us are hoping to learn how to use the avalanche equipment this evening with the ESF, so I'd better go ...

When I disappeared into a pile of deep snow at the edge of a blue run, which I had no idea was there, and got snow up down and around all parts - as you do.....
:mrgreen:
All Ally did was laugh !!!!
:roll:

AllyG wrote:Hi Everyone,
Just to let you all know we are having a great time here in Tignes/Val d'Isere :)

There is plenty of snow, but it's a bit cold, and the visibility wasn't very good today, which is why some of us came in early.

4 of us were ski-ing with one of the Bonjour ski hosts and I could only manage by following Old Andy and watching to see when he hit a lump, or disappeared into a pile of deep snow. I don't like ski-ing in flat light as it makes me dizzy and confused, but it was fine when I was following him, and we went over to Val d'Isere and covered a fair bit of ground :)

It was lovely and sunny on Sunday so Old Andy, Catp and I went up the Grande Motte glacier and skied there for a bit. We never got to do the 9 restaurant pub crawl but we still had a lot of fun.

And yesterday I think all 17 of us were either in lessons or skied with the Bonjour hosts.

Some of us are hoping to learn how to use the avalanche equipment this evening with the ESF, so I'd better go ...

All sounds great - know what you mean about flat light too!

Keep the reports coming and will see you Sunday!

Hate flat light too, those whites days make me quite dizzy too.

Snapzzz wrote:Hate flat light too, those whites days make me quite dizzy too.

Ditto.

Ah, my friend flat light :lol: . Apart from my Superman impression last week and a little bit of (unintentional) backwards skiing in a whiteout on the Rendl, I've never had any major problems with it. Get some good, flat light specific goggles (orange/persimmon lenses work for me), slow down and concentrate on technique. I know that can be easier said than done on a crowded slope where 70% of the people on there are having a nightmare, but that's how I try to deal with it.

The visibility in Tignes in December was the worst I've ever experienced. A couple of times I could have sworn that I was stationary and the whole mountain and everybody on it was moving backwards. I simply stopped, got my head together and then continued even more slowly, focusing all the while on my technique. It got me feeling really centred on my skis and feeling that I was anticipating the next hazard, be it a change of surface, a mogul or a wayward skier, rather than reacting to the last one. The light in Skiwelt last week was miles better and the faceplant was as much down to showing off (I prefer exuberance -) ) as it was to the conditions.

This topic reminds me of Pavelski's words of wisdom (except he's miles better than I am) on the subject of spring skiing. Yes, we all love bluebird days (coz they make us look good), but it's the flat light days and the slush days and the ice-to-powder-and-back-to-ice-again-in-the-blink-of-an-eye days where have the most opportunity to really improve our technique. Here endeth the sermon :lol: .

I am sorry to say that recently, Pavel has been ill, but he promises to get up and about and chase you all!

One of the great J2ski people. Great skier, highly knowledgable, never offensive, always respectful.