Messages posted by : admin
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Weather.com are forecasting snow for the Aosta valley, from Friday through to next Thursday! Heh heh, and several j2skiers arrive there on Friday... anyone else going to be around?
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Croc (?)... could you post a link to the article? Not come across a "room to grow" feature in a helmet, although it might be useful for the rest of my ski-gear (middle-age spread'n'all).
Most people I've spoke to seem to rate keeping their heads warm as a major positive. Loss of hearing concerns me a bit. A couple of seasons ago I took one of my friends kids (he wearing a helmet) out for a ski. At one point I had to frantically catch up with him as he plainly couldn't hear me yelling at him to avoid a large / deep gully he was heading for... Many of the designs do have "ear vents" of some kind though. |
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Noticed that Champoluc was completely closed due to high wind yesterday (!) Is that a regular occurrence???
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Looking at the statistics, the ABS seems to have advantages over a transceiver. Being buried with a transceiver certainly improves your chance of survival, but avoiding being buried in the first place almost guarantees it.
Other than touring, where the extra weight might be an issue, it does look hard to argue against the ABS. Top safety will presumably be provided by having both a transceiver and an ABS so, with falling prices, I'd expect to see that becoming standard equipment for any half-serious off-piste skier before too long. The downside will likely be an enhanced sense of security ("I've got an ABS so I'm invincible") leading to more incidents that would be best avoided with a bit of common sense / mountain awareness. |
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Fed up of the crowds and expense in the Alps?
Try the smaller friendlier resorts in the Pyrenees. See the following link for more information. Details of English owned accommodation an hour from Pau airport (cheap Ryanair flights from Stansted) Submitted by reecie |
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These just seem like such an obvious (and apparently effective) idea...
ABS System - Avalanche Airbag A quick google shows up several reports of lives being saved by these, and the list of known cases on the ABS site makes interesting reading. Tignes has just ordered several hundred and announced they are now standard equipment ("everyone, always") for the piste patrols. Hopefully increasing awareness and popularity will bring the price down (although at 550 Euros-ish, they're cheaper than a top pair of skis). Does anyone own one? Are they comfortable to ski with? Any other manufacturers apart from ABS? At what price would it become a no-brainer decision? I guess if you ski off-piste steeps a lot it already is, but if they were the same price as a pair of boots say? |
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Arc 2000 has, IMO, some of the best skiing in France.
If you're a confident intermediate or above you will love it. There are awesome Black runs (including the 8km Aiguille Rouge taking you down to Villaroger in the next valley), interesting Reds and mogul fields. There are immense off piste areas (some requiring a guide) and you can sometimes even try the flying kilometer (from about half way up I believe so, er, flying half a k?). If less confident there are a number of long and interesting Blues and not-too-nasty Reds also though some can get busy toward the bottom. Some other highlights of Arc 2000: Just about all the runs off the Aiguille Rouge (the peak, not just the piste, which is described here)... A great bowl off to the left of the upper section of the Aiguille Rouge piste - you can pick the steepness of the entry point from near vertical to nice'n'easy... this is a pretty safe off-piste route back to 2000 and is usually well skiied (think it links into another Black - Genepy?). A couple of couloirs (one fairly easy, the other well - take a guide) dropping off the ridge, again toward 2000 - easiest access is right from the top of Lift Lanchette (chair up from 2000) but go with a guide first time at least. Elsewhere, the Comborciere(sp?) Black run down to Pre St Esprit - steep, lovely constant pitch, can have big icy moguls but fantastic when fresh. Bois de l'Ours similar. The Grand Col, gives a Black and a Red and some serious steeps not far off the piste - usually has excellent snow but beware of avalanche warnings here. Malgovert - a short but bonkers Red linking 2000 with 1600, never pisted as it appears to be a narrow boulder-strewn gully. Not steep at all but everyone will fall over! Good for a laugh or demolishing your confidence... would not get marked as a piste in any other country! Other than occasional queues for the lifts up, the Aiguille Rouge and Grand Col areas are not generally crowded as they only have Reds and Blacks. |
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Whoa... Chemmy gets 11th in Super G!!! Way to go!
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