J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by bandit

ise wrote:

bandit wrote:

I know that I now pay for my flights with a c/c as at least this gives some financial protection if the airline decides not to bother delivering the goods for whatever reason.

for which Easyjet charge extra :roll: There's no box to tick for "I'll bring the cash to the airport" )

You are quite right, for most airlines who sell tickets over the internet or by phone, there are a variety of charges for card transactions. Currently, I think that the only card which is not surcharged is the Visa Electron Debit Card, which is not widely used.

I'm really not sure if you could arrive at Geneva Airport and offer Swiss Francs at the Easyjet ticket desk. Perhaps you could try it and report on your findings )

ise wrote:and it varies on branch, Sierre didn't have a machine to do mine but Sion did. Worth knowing if you happen to try.

Ah, cheers, seen the one in Sierre, I did wonder 8)

ise wrote:an afterthought, as I read it O'Learys intention is to use the current fuel prices as a chance to run a last man standing price war, it's his intention to put other operators out of business.

If that's so, what's the best advice for people booking cheap flights?

book direct, where Ryanair lead others may follow, that looks easy. What else? How protected is your money with other airlines? You can't leave it until the last minute to book, the prices skyrocket.

Booking early usually sees prices from the legacy carriers level or very close to the no frills airlines. Once the price of checking in, checking a hold bag onto the plane, yada yada are factored in, then quite often the mainstream carrier is cheaper.

I know that I now pay for my flights with a c/c as at least this gives some financial protection if the airline decides not to bother delivering the goods for whatever reason.

ise wrote:

over here (Switzerland) you can walk into one of the chain optical places like Visilab and get new glasses in a couple of hours, the last pair I had were some Bolle, they take out the stock lens and make one up. They can take the prescription from your existing glasses.As Bandit says, that only works for certain strengths. It's cheap though, obviously there's a high demand for decent glasses and lenses here.

I do like your shades, though your prescription is clearly much weaker than mine (for example). Some of the issues for optical lens makers are:

*Curvature of the frame/lens causing distortion
*Insufficient depth in the frame to fix a high Index lens
*Frame manufacturers only supplying stock Index lens blanks machined to fit their frames, and labs have insufficient volume to tool up for making others.

Visilab are elsewhere in Europe as well AFAIK

Ryanair may yet regret this decision to shaft the public instead of agreeing a way forward with the agencies. If say 30 OAP's want to fly to Salou for their week away from their Old Folk's home, they will not each fire up their laptops, connect to their Broadband and book individually. They are more likely to ask a Travel Agent to sort it out for them as a group (one of those evil bloodsucking ABTA members no doubt).

These are the very people who will fill the Ryanair coffers when they check in at the airport (charge), load on a suitcase (charge), pay excess baggage (charge), need a wheelchair (charge) buy inflight food and drink (charge).

Right now those agencies are re-booking them onto other carriers, without charge.

ise wrote:

That's an avalanche thing, watching where person and kit separate and trying to keep that map of position in your head.

I can do it for others, but I found it really hard to orient myself after I had stopped.

ise wrote:
I do recall stopping and keeling over for that photo' :D

Keeling over for a little rest is not so good, when it appears that you have been trying to remodel the hill :D

ise wrote:

bandit wrote:

ISTR someone capable digging for my lost ski, whilst I stood there like a helpless girly....
That someone was you ise :oops:

didi I? I don't remember that! we aim to please :D

It was just after the start of Abondance, and after you spent a good 5 minutes on my behalf digging, and reuniting me with my ski, you skied away and did this...

)

ise wrote:
That does highlight one of the reasons why experienced skiers don't bother with powder trails, skis follow a fairly predictable path on release in various snow types and being able to estimate where and how objects move in snow is a core skill off piste and something we use in avalanches as is a systematic search protocol. If you go somewhere like Chamonix or La Grave or here you'll see precisely no one using powder traces, not the mark of an experienced powder skier and very much the reverse in practice. Loosing a ski in powder is a concern of the more novice off piste skier, in fact I've a pair of powder trails in yellow with snow and rock on them circa the mid-80's :oops: I probably thought they made me look a bit hard core until I realised the reverse was true )

What is true skiing off piste is that there are worse things than losing a ski some days and on other days losing a ski can be fatal, the trick is knowing what day it is )

I had visions of spending the rest of the day digging, because by the time I had stopped rolling I had no idea of where my release had been. Yes, I could have walked out of the top and down to the base, but I really would have hated to lose one of my new skis.
Hard Core, hmmmm :wink:

Disposable contacts are very useful for any sport, not just skiing. If your eyes can cope with them, go for it :D

Prescription skiing glasses help....anyone..... Started by User in Ski Hardware, 27 Replies
ise wrote:and it varies on branch, Sierre didn't have a machine to do mine but Sion did. Worth knowing if you happen to try. Ah, cheers, seen the one in Sierre, I did wonder 8)

Messages posted by : bandit