Anyone planning a ski or snowboard trip this winter?

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  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,637

    I'll settle for Glenshee this year. It has all the snow you will even need and great facilities.





    (Not true)

    Relatively hard to get to even if true.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,042

    Thought I’d dig this thread out........

    What plans do you have for this winter? .

    Not a good photo but this was on the Les Deux Alpes glacier the other day, no one around but very cold in the wind





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  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    davidof said:

    Thought I’d dig this thread out........

    What plans do you have for this winter? .

    Not a good photo but this was on the Les Deux Alpes glacier the other day, no one around but very cold in the wind






    I remember being up there, quite a few years ago mind.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,042

    davidof said:

    Thought I’d dig this thread out........

    What plans do you have for this winter? .

    Not a good photo but this was on the Les Deux Alpes glacier the other day, no one around but very cold in the wind






    I remember being up there, quite a few years ago mind.
    We only skied 3 hours, it was sunny but the wind was nagging and chilly and there isn't much to ski in the autumn tbh. I felt sorry for the lift staff especially the guy in a tiny hut at the far end of the glacier, he looked really miserable.

    Managed some cross country skiing at the weekend but the conditions are a bit rock 'n' roll still. This is at 1600 meters at Chamrousse.




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  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    My brother just booked a long weekend to Chamonix before Xmas, which annoyingly I can’t go on.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,931
    Anyone who's heading to France, have you been able to source an AFNOR 2 certified neck warmer in the UK?
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,637

    Anyone who's heading to France, have you been able to source an AFNOR 2 certified neck warmer in the UK?

    I could never find a system that involved nose covering that didn't result in steamed up googles. I was poor and didn't try that hard.

    I can't help with your actual question though.
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847

    Anyone who's heading to France, have you been able to source an AFNOR 2 certified neck warmer in the UK?


    Hadn’t thought about it, but thanks for the tip - will look now !
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,931

    Anyone who's heading to France, have you been able to source an AFNOR 2 certified neck warmer in the UK?


    Hadn’t thought about it, but thanks for the tip - will look now !
    We bought the Buff filter neck warmers.
    Not that we'll now get to use them having not been able to board our flights yesterday due to our PCR results not arriving in time.

  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,922

    My brother just booked a long weekend to Chamonix before Xmas, which annoyingly I can’t go on.


    Did he get there?

    I've just amended my EasyJet booking to (nearly) three weeks at Easter. Just the Ouigo trains to see if I can change.
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847

    My brother just booked a long weekend to Chamonix before Xmas, which annoyingly I can’t go on.


    Did he get there?

    I've just amended my EasyJet booking to (nearly) three weeks at Easter. Just the Ouigo trains to see if I can change.
    Yes - he flew into Geneva at 1pm yesterday, so 11 hrs before the French entry criteria change for the worse. Zero problems going through passport control, then hopped on a transfer to Chamonix. The strange nature of Geneva airport means he had to show the Swiss he was staying in France and the French don’t bother checking any visitors flying into the airport.

    He’s had a great day on the mountain, lucky sod. Flies back Tues eve.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,931
    Flew BRS - GVA early this moring. Really empty flight - just 35 passengers.
    Easy at Swiss passport control - passport, proof of antigen test, proof of vaccination and Swiss PLF.
    Then straight on the train to Zermatt to have a view of the Matterhorn from our room.
    Pretty much 100% mask wearing compliance everywhere we've seen so far.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,391
    Hmmm, less so in Les Arcs

    Surprised at how lax it all is to be honest. I was totally done over buying a 'proper' neck tube/mask - which was just a thick buff - Everyone else was just in normal buffs or ski masks or using your normal mask.

    Compliance wasnt great though. No one checked my status before I bought a ski pass, although it was checked at the bottom of one lift at the end of the day. A few lifties were telling people who were blatantly taking the piss but I was alright with my coat zipped all the way up for most of the day.

    Great to be out. The knee has repaired properly and is only a tiny bit stiff this evening
    and was able to handle moguls and some horrendous re-frozen crud so all in all a successful day. What happens now though...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,922
    ddraver said:

    Hmmm, less so in Les Arcs

    Surprised at how lax it all is to be honest. I was totally done over buying a 'proper' neck tube/mask - which was just a thick buff - Everyone else was just in normal buffs or ski masks or using your normal mask.

    Compliance wasnt great though. No one checked my status before I bought a ski pass, although it was checked at the bottom of one lift at the end of the day. A few lifties were telling people who were blatantly taking the piss but I was alright with my coat zipped all the way up for most of the day.

    Great to be out. The knee has repaired properly and is only a tiny bit stiff this evening
    and was able to handle moguls and some horrendous re-frozen crud so all in all a successful day. What happens now though...


    Will you still be there for Feb half term? I reckon there's a good chance things might have got a bit better then, and certainly harder to keep the travel ban from the UK if it's everywhere, unless there are general lockdowns. I'd be surprised if Macron kills the other big part of the ski season, unless the overall situation is dire.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,391
    I'm here until the Swiss realise I'm taking the p1ss and refuse my frontalier permit - or the french kick me out after 90 days becasue I don't have a Swiss permit, or something else...or something else...

    The signs are not good, one of the busiest week of the year and I should have worked today...

    As I say - they re only savings I guess...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,922
    ddraver said:

    I'm here until the Swiss realise I'm taking the p1ss and refuse my frontalier permit - or the french kick me out after 90 days becasue I don't have a Swiss permit, or something else...or something else...

    The signs are not good, one of the busiest week of the year and I should have worked today...

    As I say - they re only savings I guess...


    Good luck. Rotten timing by the virus (and Macron).
  • Jezyboy
    Jezyboy Posts: 2,921
    edited December 2021
    Good luck raver.

    Fingers crossed that Macron will open back up to us and I'll be able to get to either les arcs or tignes.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,391
    Thanks guys. :)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,637
    edited December 2021
    ddraver said:


    Great to be out. The knee has repaired properly and is only a tiny bit stiff this evening
    and was able to handle moguls and some horrendous re-frozen crud so all in all a successful day. What happens now though...

    It's my lungs that fail me on moguls, so it sounds like you are in good shape.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,931
    Good first day skiing in Zermatt. Breakfast in Switzerland, lunch in Italy. Got to use the highest toilet in Europe too!
    Slopes much quieter than I expected.
    Also doesn't look like this area had the massive dump that hit Savoie.
    Still just under 74 kms and a tad under 6,900 m vertical.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,391
    ddraver said:

    Don't expect many english accents behind the bar this year...

    The answer to the accent question is Greek accents by the way.

    They've stepped into the British Ski boots...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,042
    Just lookin' out the window (JLOTW) at the Götterdämmerung


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  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 12,692
    ^ You lucky, lucky....
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    davidof said:

    Just lookin' out the window (JLOTW) at the Götterdämmerung


    That’s a great pic
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,391
    I'd start doping some snow dances boys...

    Frozen rain crust at 2600m today was...fun 🥴

    (got a whoop from the lift tho so obviously slayed it!)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    ddraver said:

    I'd start doping some snow dances boys...

    Frozen rain crust at 2600m today was...fun 🥴

    (got a whoop from the lift tho so obviously slayed it!)


    Lolz.

    Last time I got a shout from a lift was in Whistler in 2019, when I landed on my head and a fella on the lift thought I was dead.

    I’ve still got 4 weeks until my trip, so hoping that is plenty of time for snow to fall......
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,391
    (obvs I meant doing snow dances rather than doping them. Although...)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,042
    edited January 2022
    Everyone coming down with omicron in Grenoble, it is ripping through my son's school like wildfire. Near impossible to get tested apart from auto-tested apart from in ski resorts where they seem to have put all the test resources.

    Grenoble hospitals cracking due to number of patients and lack of staff. People with serious illnesses like cancer getting their treatment delayed.

    Personally if you don't have a very good reason to travel to the French Alps it is best avoided for at least January.
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  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,525
    The PITA of all the testing etc is enough to put me off - I want to go on holiday to relax and unwind etc. That said, the decision is already made for me as I've torn a tendon in my upper leg which will probably only be finishing healing towards the end of the season and I'm not going to risk it.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • bitmanalexQ3XlZtjb
    edited January 2022
    We are booked 1st 3 weeks of Feb to LAX. (ex SYD)

    The loose plan is straight to Vegas, for a night or so, then grand canyon, then up to Salt Lake. Ski a bit of the SLC resorts and hire a car and maybe do Crested Butte then up the other way. Few days in each place.
    https://printsbery.com/digital-planners/life