J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

souldrive wrote:Any opinions anybody?

Oh yeah, proper French village with a friendly vibe, coupla good patisseries (sticky cakes after skiing - top) and some good restos down in the village centre (good pizza right in the main square I think).

With good snow it's a fun ski area and you can get across into the bigger Flaine bowl easily enough (the linking runs can be very busy at peak times but no real problem).

Whereabouts are you staying? If in the upper part of the village you'll be close to the bottom of the home runs which is always nice.

Been too long since I've been to either (hopefully Zermatt this year but we'll see) so very briefly :-

Snow - both are very high, and if either is suffering lack of snow in January then the season will not be a good one...

Ski Area - Zermatt is one of the world's must-ski resorts and for good intermediates or above will have the edge over Saas.

Scenery - both spectacular and awesome; can't really miss the fact you're in high, rugged mountains! :lol:

Charm - Saas Fe prettier but doesn't see the sun much in January.

Won't be much in it on price, and you'll benefit from going in mid Jan.

Personally? I'd pick Saas Fe in the summer and Zermatt in the winter.

Jan I Stenmark wrote:I love it when you talk technical 8)

Go on say something really technical ... :D

Ok, just for you...

The Smart Techy's guide to Global Forecast System interpretation :-

a) Watch the wiggly lines.
b) When the wiggly lines go wibble wobble... it means the weather's going to change.
c) When the wiggly lines go wibble wobble wildly... it means the weather's going to change a lot.
d) When the wiggly lines go wibble wobble wildly in different directions... it means the weather's either going to change in a random and concerning fashion... or it'll stay the same... or it won't.
e) When the wiggly lines go wibble wobble together... it means we have a vague clue that the weather might change in the manner implied by the direction of the wibble wobble.

To distil that down to the essentials, here is...

The Skier's Guide to GFS interpretation :-

a) When the top set of lines go wibble wobble, all together, in a nice downward bump... and the bottom set of lines go wibble wobble, all together in a f.off big spike... that's GOOD.
b) No other sort of wibbling wobble is of any interest... except for those lightweights concerned about things like sunshine.

Got that?

Excellent, to save you having to click the link, here are the latest wiggly lines for you to check out the wibble wobble...



Personally I blame Ellistine and Tony H - looks like they used up all the snow last week...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.............

Imagine what Pav could have made from that lot - anything from another fiendish quiz to a follow-up to the boot-liner toast-holder...

Tom from Austria could have cut them all in half and put fins on them... 8)

:lol:

Yup... all the main forecast models have been frankly un-hinged so far this week and I've had enough! :evil:

The Snow God appears to be drunk (was muttering something about being molested by a marmot and a scuba diver when last seen), the delivery driver's got lost (last seen in Finland) and all lines of communication are down.

Snow is cancelled. Is it April 1st yet?

What time does the beach open? 8)

But seriously... GFS seems to hinting at a mild and dry end to January, with a return to normal for the first week in February. So take your sun-cream...

Pretty strong convergence of the different models in the latest ensemble plots for Geneva, for example.

Hirsty wrote:Just used my boots for the first time in a while last night.

Tempted to ask if you simultaneously got a pain in your shoulder??? :lol:

When you say "used" was this for skiing (indoor or dry slope?) or just walking around the house?

At a guess, that might indicate any of a lack of width in your boot, stance too upright (so foot too forward) or maybe just doing the front buckle too tight - but you need to discuss this with a specialist boot-fitter if it continues.

Had good times in both but would pick Courmayeur of the two.

Cervinia

Generally excellent snow cover (because of the altitude) but can suffer from the wind (altitude!). A good skier might be looking for more excitement after a couple of days as the ski area is not the most varied - but it's very good for intermediates looking for mileage.

Possible to ski over to Zermatt which will keep the experts happy, but the link can be closed if windy.

Scenery is spectacular (Matterhorn et al). Village itself lacks the character of other Italian resorts but is reasonably lively.

Courmayeur

Not a huge ski area but well-connected with a good variety of runs; fun Blues, challenging Reds and a serious Black or two. Some easy freeride between the pistes up top and some good steeps if you go looking. Possibility to do the Italian side descent of Mont Blanc - not done that myself but on my list of must-do runs for the future.

Scenery spectacular (Mont Blanc)!

Attractive village centre with good restos and a chilled-out apres (recall several bars full of lazy sofas and open fires). Bars and ski shops tend to be on the pricy side for Italy but if you have a car you can get out of town (or to Aosta city) for better value.

Very popular at weekends with day-trippers but 99% of them "ski to lunch"; pistes very busy between 11:00 and 12:00 on Sunday and virtually deserted from 12:00 until 15:00 - fantastic time to ski! 8)


Verdict

You'll have a great time in either - if you're doing it DIY your best bet could be a few days in each.

Unless you're going well off the beaten track, you'd best be booking in advance - your dates take you right into the peak half-term weeks so if you want to be sure...

Innsbruck is a big place with plenty of local resorts but they will busy.

Might be worth noting that many online hotel bookings don't have onerous cancellation charges - so you could make sure you've got somewhere to stay without a huge commitment. Check the specifics though, as they do vary from hotel to hotel.

Skiing near Innsbruck
Hotels around Innsbruck Airport
(use the search form to search the locale)

Areas for good skiers? Where to start... :lol:

St. Anton - hard-core off-piste and hard-core partying...
Lech, etc. etc.

A lot depends on the snow at the time, of course, and you can keep an eye on that here :-

Snow Reports from around Innsbruck

If it was me (I wish)? I'd start in St.Anton and move on from there - hire a guide for a day and take the chance to pick their brains for your next destination. Sorted.