Paging Ace - you are now permitted to smile

I'll be in the next valley in two weeks' time; Le Praz. Hopefully the
snow will have refreshed a bit by then.

 

Back now. And definitely some splendid skiing. I have a sunburned
hooter. It was amazing how well the snow has stood up to a fortnight of
heavy use and no fresh falls - it's been damned cold, which is why.

Yes, I'd love to ski the big resorts again. As you know, though, family
finances don't always run to it. I'm looking at the invoice for this
last week right now. Brochure price for the four of us: £3840. Amount
actually paid: £1224. Plus flights, admittedly, but they were well under
£200 for the four of us. Oh and a hire car[1], to which the same
applies.

What this last week has made me do is re-think next year. I'm going to
book flights early, as ever, and then sit on my hands and play the
waiting game, going right down to the wire if necessary.

I might also join the SCGB, having chatted to one of their Val reps in
our chalet (Peter someone-or-other: knows you, or knows of you,
apparently). However, apart from having someone to ski with, I see
little practical beenfit in the much-touted benefits they offer.

What amused me, five days before we left and the day after we'd
cancelled St Lary and grabbed Val, was the large article in the Sunday
Times about how the peak half-term week was looming and no, you wouldn't
be able to find a spare bed anywhere, never mind a cut-price cheapie.
The writer recommended checking Iglu's website (which was/is way out of
date).

In other words, that hack hadn't even bothered using Google just to
check if there were any late availability offers. That's as sloppy as it
gets. But then, the quality of ski journalism in Britain is lamentable,
so it's no surprise.

As we left all our (old, geriatric, even) kit in the Pyrenees, I bought
myself brand new skis and boots. My, these new-fangled Nordicas are
different from the old pair of rear-entry Salomon SX61s I've been using
for the last 21 years.... And the Atomic carving skis are a revelation,
as well.

[1] Old model Laguna. Christ, what a crock of shit. Lovely turbodiesel
engine, as you'd expect from the French, and a lovely ride quality
(ditto).

But controls that were damn near impossible to find. Switches on the
dash obscured by the stalks on the steering column, which were in turn
obscured by the spokes of the wheel.

That appalling key-card ignition system they use, again with an obscured
start/stop button.

An electric automatic handbrake that was concealed in the dash. I had to
dig out the owner's manual to find it, and the manual devoted *three
fucking pages* to it. It's a handbrake, forchrissakes. How complicated
does it need to be?

Lousy boot space.

A really low roofline so I kept banging my head getting in and out.

Uber-tall gearing that made for a good motorway cruise (and very
economical, too: I averaged 51mpg overall, heavily laden, cruising at
indicated 130kph) but which fell apart in town or on the mountain
climbs.

In short, a lovely motorway cruiser but utterly crap at anything else.
Grim interior quality, too.

 

I can't understand why people with families to transport don't simply go out
and buy diesel Multiplas.

 

See, here's me thinking maybe he was planning to go there instead, and
wanted emptier slopes.

 

Most people have taste.

 

Come off it. Look out the window - they're driving around in Fords and
Vauxhalls.

 

Only in the UK. I haven't seen a Vauxhall in fifteen years.
Here people drive German or Japanese cars.
I have only seen Multiplas in pictures.

 

That doesn't mean they have taste, just that they follow the common herd.

You have my sympathy.

 

ITYM that they have more money than sense, which is true.

 

On Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:45:50 +0000, in

Indeed. Even this weekend in Engelberg, 19 days after the last snow,
the snow was in excellent shape. The weather pattern changed last week
though, so it's started getting warmer and some lower or south-facing
pistes are therefore getting nicely slushy towards the end of the day.

The bonus, for us, was finding some areas, off-piste of course, where
there had actually been some fresh snow last week, so we spent quite a
bit of time pushing further afield to find the untracked areas. Nice.

You should definitely consider flying into Basel or Zurich and perhaps
sking some of the smaller, or at least less-known, Swiss resorts, e.g.
(copied from a post by 'Johannes' from several years ago)

Central Switzerland:
Engelberg: www.titlis.ch 1.5h from Basel
Soerenberg www.soerenberg.ch 1.5 h.
Andermatt www.andermatt.ch 1.75 h from Basel. You can also go from
Andermatt to the Oberalp Pass. (The resort is Sedrun
www.sedrunbergbahnen.ch) ; It give Daytickets, Railway included.
Melchsee Frutt http://www.melchsee-frutt.ch/ 1.5H
Klewenalp www.klewenalp.ch 1h 20m
Lungern-Schönbühl http://www.panoramawelt.ch/ 1.75h

East Switzerland:
Flumserberg www.flumserberg.com 2 h
Bad Ragaz/Wengs www.pizol.com 2 h

Berner Oberland:
Adelboden www.adelboden.ch 1.75 h or Lenk www.lenk.ch 2.25 h; partial
the same aera.
Zweisimmen www.zweisimmen.ch 2 h or http://www.skigstaad.ch/
Meiringen/Hasliberg http://www.alpenregion.ch/frame_wint.html 2h
Grindelwald www.grindelwald.ch 2-2.25h
Wiriehorn-Diemtigtal http://www.wiriehornbahnen.ch/ 1.75h

It's usually possible to find budget hotel accomodation in most of
these areas at quite late notice, and even if you can't get into the
resort of first choice, the distances between them allow easy access
for a couple of day's skiing in each.

Well, it's not for everyone, I guess, but for many people the repping
service is reason enough in itself.

"They all do that Sir".

But honestly, as well as being well out-of-date, the SX61s were a
beginner's boot even when new, so I can't imagine just how bad they
must have been after twenty years of plastic degredation. And
presumably you were on old planks as well. How long did it take you to
get used to the feel of the 'carvers' then?

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`

 

That's the man, yes.

The skis themselves were only about 7 years old, but not carvers and
195mm long. The Atomics (about 178mm, IIRC) were interesting in that I
could do much, much tighter turns with them, easier. Nice.

 

There used to be the ADAC Ski Atlas which listed all the Alpine resorts,
runs, and facilities

 

In my experience, yes. But clearly if you're insistent on 4*
accomodation or will only stay on the centre of a ski village you may
find it more difficult

Not from me, but I'd be interested if someone else would like to put
one together.

Yupp. Or, from my perspective, perfect places to drive to for the
weekend.

 

In communiqué <1icvsof.1j3iwu81ownitcN%>,

I must admit that my outings at Tamworth and MK on modern kit, at half
term, made me realise that it is time to ditch the twenty year old
Nordica boots and 185 Dynastars. The last time I used them they were
hard work, but, it has to be said, exhilaratingly fast.

Looks like us having a trip to foreign parts next year.

--
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| Pete Fisher at Home: |
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| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
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Take some lessons when you switch too. I was lucky enough a few years
ago to take a long weekend in 1850 with son and a guy I met thru usenet
who was an instructor and fantastic skier.
On the drive down I told him that I was always ready to hear advice on
my skiing. Half way throu the first morning he asked if I was serious
about learning, and when I confirmed told me how I was not using the
modern skis I was on properly.
In 3 days he completely deconstructed and reconstructed our skiing
technique and it really paid off. I especially noticed it on a curve in
a track where i went off the edge in the fog. Because I had both skis
weighted and apart and was centred fore-aft as well, I landed it and
continued the curve, just tightening it to rejoin the track. Before, it
would have been a major wipeout.

 

Why would you think that the older, longer skis would be 'faster' than
newer ones?

 

This theory has always intrigued me too, especially as FIS repeatedly make
race ski minimum lengths longer and longer in an attempt to slow competitors
down for their safety.

 

It wasn't TOG I was asking.

 

It's a purely empirical observation of straight line veloicity. They
are not only long, but very narrow and 'unwaisted' by modern
standards. Perhaps that's the answer. Also, I used to have them
serviced before each trip. Are hire skis always as 'slippy' as they
could be?

Even more likely, perhaps more stable in a straight line thus
encouraging higher speed? Or to get right down to it - I was faster
when I used to ski regularly on them.

Do they use "carvers" for straight line speed records?

PF

 

To be fair, that's only true for Slalom races, where the shorter skis
allow much quicker turns, but at the expense of stability and control.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`