J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by bandit

Winter flights to Grenoble don't start until after the closure is over apparently.

I wonder if there are financial reasons for delaying the CAA licence?

steverandomno wrote:Hi - I posted this before but I think it got deleted because it contained a link.

I am planning on buying some stuff (icebreaker base layers and camelbak) from web togs (no space).

Has anybody got any feedback on both the website/company and icebreaker gear?

Thanks.

Probably because your earlier post looked a lot like.....

J2ski does rather comprehensive snow forecasting :D

http://www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast/France/Serre_Chevalier_snow.html

[MaccA wrote:

Also I seem to remember last winter being a very good season for snow late on after a very delayed start, so guess thid have helped towards your 850m March time skiing?

[Macca]

Last winter, delayed start..hmm...then again, on the 11th December this would be no good for you as it's not ski in/out, oh well )

As you will have a car to drive up to Chamonix, may I suggest doing your party's big shop in Sallanches, which is the last valley town before you start the climb up.
For rather large and tasty burgers, decent music and a good vibe, try the Poco Loco in the main Chamonix shopping street. It's only tiny, but has more space upstairs.

With a car, you can dodge the queues, as the week progresses folks start to feel more confident, leading to a big crowd at Argentiere on a Friday )
I have always had good snow in Chamonix, here's some in April 2007...


You can ask for a map with your lift tickets, as the areas are quite separate, it's hard to get lost.

Welcome to J2ski Hoop :D

Chamonix is a great destination and has enough skiing for all standards. The nicest (IMHO) area with easy skiing is Le Tour/Vormaine. You can get there on the free ski bus, or drive up if you have a car. It's a very friendly area with some tree lined skiing for poor vis days.

Food prices in Chamonix are not terribly eye watering, compared to other resorts. There is a decent supermarket right in the centre of town, it's easy to miss, it only looks small, but it's a bit like the Tardis inside. There are also a number of mini markets, with a good range of fresh veg and meal bases.
Eating out prices are whatever you want. If you are watching the pennies, there is even a McDo. Some of the smart restaurants are clearly geared to fleecing the tourists, so do some window shopping on the 1st couple of nights.

The Mont Blanc pass is pricey, you might want to buy the Chamonix pass, and see if you can buy an upgrade on the day if you feel inclined.

Take your whole party up to the Aguille du Midi, you can go right up to the needle, and see who gets the altitude headache 1st :mrgreen:

Inevitably, in the US I have found that folks chat on lifts. Sometimes language is not shared...

Local: What's it like (up there)
Us: There is a long queue at the T-Bar
Local: Huh??? (looks confused)
Us: (translate) There is a long line at the surface lift
Local: Thanks


Local: where y'all from
Us: England
Local: Hey, you got big snowfall right now
Us: Er, no, not New England USA, old England, across the Atlantic
Local: Oh, (looks puzzled, goes quiet)

Good job we are multi lingual eh )

swskier wrote:Go to ski school in N America... there's no such thing as a queue!

Really, my experiences in the US have been quite different, with regular 30 minute queues for main lifts, at both Colorado and California/Nevada resorts.

In fact, I was chatting to an american woman in a queue for the toilet on one occasion, and told her that US skiing is sold to Brits as "no queues". She laughed, in fact the entire queue laughed.