Who’s going skiing and where 2019

[CAPP0]

gregs656 said:

Did you ski La Face today?

Today, not yesterday, I was told it was closed.

The last section was solid hardpack and the edges on my rentals were somewhat lacking!

Edited by CAPP0 on Sunday 16th December 19:04

[keo]

I am going Andorra in January for a few days (more of a lads piss up really!)
Avoriaz in March going there with some old work colleagues and have never been before so don’t know what to expect.

[gregs656]

Whoozit said:

Grab a copy of the recent Powder Magazine. A couple of articles there on east coast US skiing in NY State.

Thanks I will take a look.

CAPP0 said:

Today, not yesterday, I was told it was closed.

The last section was solid hardpack and the edges on my rentals were somewhat lacking!

The last section is rarely enjoyable, don't know why.

I expect the top sections of the OK are good fun if it's quiet.

Is there enough snow to do the Piste Perdue?

[CAPP0]

gregs656 said:

CAPP0 said:

Today, not yesterday, I was told it was closed.

The last section was solid hardpack and the edges on my rentals were somewhat lacking!

The last section is rarely enjoyable, don't know why.

I expect the top sections of the OK are good fun if it's quiet.

Is there enough snow to do the Piste Perdue?

The top of La Face was lovely, loads of snow, very easy skiing. The steep bit off the ledge was mixed, OK in places, heavily scraped in others, but it's fairly short so you can let them run a bit. Last bit was not good at all.

Must confess I didn't know about that run. Just Googled it. I did ski Trifolette at the weekend and that was fine, loads of snow, so I guess it might be fine. Also, the runs down to Boisses and Brev are all open, albeit on the other side of the mountain, but good snow at that altitude bodes well. Are you off there soon?

[RoamingBull]

We fancy Austria this year and never been.
Looking for somewhere with plenty of blues for the Mrs.
Started Skiing in Whistler and last 4 years we’ve been to the Soldeu which tbh is great as we stay at the sport Village where the gondola is straight out of the hotel and can ski over the bridge more or less into it. Plus we usually have a night in Barca which feels like a great holiday by the end.
Looked at Kitzbühel,Solden and Saalbach.
Any recommendations out of these three for end of February or any other resorts?

[marcosgt]

None of those are exactly beginner's resorts, although all have a decent amount of ski area, so there should be something for everyone.

We're going to the Kitzbuhel area 2nd Feb, but any of the lower lying resorts are a bit hit and miss on snow - It could be great at the end of Feb or you could be walking the last mile on map and manure (I've done it!).

Might be worth leaving it for a last minute booking if you're flexible on location, but then you might end up going somewhere you won't enjoy.

Kitzbuhel is a BIG town, hotels can be a long way from the slopes, which is why we're staying in Kirchberg.

It did come as a bit of a shock, though, to realise it was 24 years ago that I last skied there! I'll need to be a bit more cautious on the Streif I think!

M

[renmure]

I've been to Austria a few times in groups with beginner/early intermediate skiers and always end up at the Skiwelt area

(from wiki) Austria's largest interconnected ski area. It has 90 Cable car lifts and Ski lifts, 280 Kilometers of Ski Pistes, and 77 Ski Huts. The member villages are: Brixen im Thale, Ellmau, Going, Hopfgarten, Itter, Kelchsau, Scheffau, Söll and Westendorf.

I've stayed in Scheffau, Soll and Ellmau. Loads of blues and easy reds to cruise and lots of easy ways down to the villages at the end of the day.

[troc]

I reckon you can’t really go wrong with somewhere like Obertauern if looking for a family-friendly Austrian resort. Plenty of blue and red runs and you can always get back to the village from anywhere on the slopes.

Some decent ski schools too with English-speaking instructors.

[gregs656]

CAPP0 said:

The top of La Face was lovely, loads of snow, very easy skiing. The steep bit off the ledge was mixed, OK in places, heavily scraped in others, but it's fairly short so you can let them run a bit. Last bit was not good at all.

Must confess I didn't know about that run. Just Googled it. I did ski Trifolette at the weekend and that was fine, loads of snow, so I guess it might be fine. Also, the runs down to Boisses and Brev are all open, albeit on the other side of the mountain, but good snow at that altitude bodes well. Are you off there soon?

The top is superbly deceptive.

I'd ask someone who knows as you wouldn't want to get stuck down there. It's not much of a technically difficult run but it is an off piste staple.

If the snow is good then the Foret is a nice run. I think 'Face' in Tigned of Les Lanches is a really good run for a speed test if that's your thing. There are loads of good runs.

No I won't be there this season sadly. I've skied there the last 3 seasons though and have had a blast every time.

[CAPP0]

gregs656 said:

a speed test if that's your thing.

I don't use Ski Tracks much but when I checked last week my highest speed was 52mph (yes mph). That would have been off the bottom of Trolles back into Lac. Adequate!

[GipsyHillClimber]

I'm off to Morzine in January, first time in a while I've let someone else take the lead on the group booking and decided to just 'go with it' as Morzine après is supposed to be quite good and the short transfer from Geneva is pretty appealing as I do find the 3 hour schlep to Tignes/Val T/Val D a bit tiresome, never mind the inevitable delay that comes with flying into the small airports if trying to reduce the transfer for them resorts.

I am dubious about how low the resort is though, not going until the end of Jan but seeing quite a bit of rain forecast for this weekend worries me slightly. This may be my only low altitude village stay depending on how It goes (apart from Grand Bornand which I have a soft spot for, and Whistler because it's probably my favourite place I've stayed in). We are staying at the bottom of the Pleney though so should be able to get higher without a lot of trouble.

Anybody been to Morzine in Jan? Any horror stories of a white road made by snow machines through green fields or am I just being pessimistic?

[OscarIndia]

Morzine will be fine at the end of January. I'm in Les Gets from the 5th Jan and expecting good snow.
There have been a couple of seasons recently which haven't been great, but that was the case all over the alps.

[RoamingBull]

Thank you for the replies re Kitzbuhel.
It will be only my wife and I that will be going skiing late Feb to somewhere in Austria and maybe Ski-welt is somewhere I need to take a look at.

Are there any town/villages that you recommend? We like it quite laid back few nice eateries and a steady night out.

[The_Doc]

OscarIndia said:

Morzine will be fine at the end of January. I'm in Les Gets from the 5th Jan and expecting good snow.
There have been a couple of seasons recently which haven't been great, but that was the case all over the alps.

My parents are skiing in Morzine at the moment, they've had a good early dump. (slopes, not parents) but it has been known that there is no snow in the village in Jan, and cannons on the Pleney run to enable the route down.
The village is low, but the feeder lifts take you high quite quickly and the free buses make this even easier if the village is brown, not white.

Don't fret, I've skied every week of the season in Morzine, and it's always doable.. Last year it was raining ABOVE Avoriaz at 2000m in March.

[OscarIndia]

The_Doc said:

My parents are skiing in Morzine at the moment, they've had a good early dump. (slopes, not parents) but it has been known that there is no snow in the village in Jan, and cannons on the Pleney run to enable the route down.
The village is low, but the feeder lifts take you high quite quickly and the free buses make this even easier if the village is brown, not white.

Don't fret, I've skied every week of the season in Morzine, and it's always doable.. Last year it was raining ABOVE Avoriaz at 2000m in March.

Dumping in Les Gets at the moment.

[//j17]

@GipsyHillClimber Yes, you're just being pessimistic and will be fine. Already snow in town - https://www.morznet.com/webcams/town-valley

Yes, the village is quite low (for the Western Alps) but it's where you stay, rather than where you ski. Unless you're beginners or 3-3-3 skiers (3 runs, 3hr lunch, 3 runs, home) you'll want the full PdS pass and actually spend most of your time skiing from Avoriaz (free bus from main road below Pleney + either Ardent or Prodains gondola, or 5 min walk through town to Super-Morzine bubble + long, rather boring traverse). That's not to say there isn't some very enjoyable skiing in the Morzine/Les Gets area, but 1 or 2 days should see you cover it all, including Mont Chery (worth the walk through Les Gets to get to it).

Apres wise there's bars for all tastes and styles of apres. Check out if the Dixie Micks are playing Dixey Bar while you're there - always a great night. Bar Robinson's in institution too, just don't complain that they only do small Mutzig's - you'll be glad of it when you try to stand up after a couple

[downthepub]

Enjoyed Tignes last weekend, and very nice to meet Cappo IRL. He got me down Face, although my mind melted at the middle bit, but then after some helpful advice the last tricky section was no problem. We bunked together, and in terms of this forum, the atmosphere was akin to Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes, rather than NPE. Thankfully.

Anyway, I'm now on to planning my trip to Colorado in Feb. Got an Airbnb booked in Frisco and thinking I'll do Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mountain as they are right there. Then thinking a road trip to Steamboat, but as I'll have six full days on the slopes, I may just do two days each at the local hills. Will have a rental car. There's a free shuttle bus around the Frisco area which is well handy for apres. Almost too much choice.

[renmure]

RoamingBull said:

Thank you for the replies re Kitzbuhel.
It will be only my wife and I that will be going skiing late Feb to somewhere in Austria and maybe Ski-welt is somewhere I need to take a look at.

Are there any town/villages that you recommend? We like it quite laid back few nice eateries and a steady night out.

Soll is the standard answer for the Skiwelt. It's got a bit of everything and the village is big enough to fill a week and to cater for both quiet and lively. Access up the mountain is easy and there's a few different runs down in the evening.

[gregs656]

CAPP0 said:

I don't use Ski Tracks much but when I checked last week my highest speed was 52mph (yes mph). That would have been off the bottom of Trolles back into Lac. Adequate!

I have 69mph on Face.

It's a really nice, wide, straight and predictable red. Speed testing aside it is just a nice run if you get on it before it gets cut up and busy.

[CAPP0]

gregs656 said:

CAPP0 said:

I don't use Ski Tracks much but when I checked last week my highest speed was 52mph (yes mph). That would have been off the bottom of Trolles back into Lac. Adequate!

I have 69mph on Face.

It's a really nice, wide, straight and predictable red. Speed testing aside it is just a nice run if you get on it before it gets cut up and busy.

On my run back down Trolles on the 2nd day I had a rather large get-off. It was late afternoon, the light was flat and fading, and I hit something invisible and lumpy unexpectedly whilst in a full schuss, certainly at >50mph. Landed it on one ski but then ironically wasn't able to avoid the "Ralentir" banner, which tipped me off. Someone watched it unfold from behind me and said that the way I got it all slanted was like an F1 car crashing . No damage other than a slightly tweaked thumb.