Who's going skiing and where? 23-24
Discussion
Carbon Sasquatch said:
Eurostar say they'll be adding it to their site for the autumn - https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/train/france/ski-tr...
This is the TGV, not a sleeper train. Eurostar used to have the functionality where you could book to any major station in France but they withdrew that a couple of years ago. Like many elements of the Eurostar service, it has been going backwards.
Paris to Bourg St.M is only 4 hrs 45 mins with TGV
I can't see the benefit of sleeping this short a time.
What we want is a sleeper from London to Aime-la-Plagne, but I can't see it happening, flying is too cheap a competitor service.
Same for the Motorail that used to run from Boulogne to Nice or Avignon, just no profit in it. What a shame, wake up in the south of France with your car on the back of the train. We used to do this in the 80s and 90s as a child with my parents. We'd then drive down to Tuscany or similar.
I can't see the benefit of sleeping this short a time.
What we want is a sleeper from London to Aime-la-Plagne, but I can't see it happening, flying is too cheap a competitor service.
Same for the Motorail that used to run from Boulogne to Nice or Avignon, just no profit in it. What a shame, wake up in the south of France with your car on the back of the train. We used to do this in the 80s and 90s as a child with my parents. We'd then drive down to Tuscany or similar.
The_Doc said:
Paris to Bourg St.M is only 4 hrs 45 mins with TGV
I can't see the benefit of sleeping this short a time.
The benefit is you can take a Friday afternoon/evening Eurostar from London to Paris and wake up in Bourg ready to dump your bags at the funicular bottom station left luggage office and get a days skiing in before returning at the end of the day to collect your bags/check in to your accomodation.I can't see the benefit of sleeping this short a time.
You used to be able to do the same with the overnight direct Eurostar service - just with a less comfortable seat rather than bed and more noise (from being in a single, open carrage and with people drinking, rather than sleeping through - though last year or 2 Eurostar did ban any/all carry-on alcohol to limit that).
You can get close by going London > Paris on the Friday, overnight in Paris, early train Sat. morning - but that doesn't get you in to Bourg until 1pm at the earliest and you need to pay for a Paris hotel room (though may balance out cheaper TGV vs sleeper train ticket).
//j17 said:
You used to be able to do the same with the overnight direct Eurostar service - just with a less comfortable seat rather than bed and more noise (from being in a single, open carrage and with people drinking, rather than sleeping through - though last year or 2 Eurostar did ban any/all carry-on alcohol to limit that).
I quite miss the overnight snow trains, but I guess the cost to the operators and peoples needs have changed, so that a boozy smoky disco car, and crashing in a 6 berth couchette with 5 other strangers is not everybody's cup of tea. Waking up in B-S-M or Moutiers with snow and mountains all around with a 30 minute transfer was a pretty magical experience though.I'd be quite interested in catching a Night Jet sleeper to Austria, it looks like you can in theory get to St Anton, and even over to Kitzbuhel on a sleeper, though from the UK, the route isn't really feasible, picking it up in Dusseldorf or Cologbe via Paris or Amsterdam, takes just too long with too many changes. Would be good though....
In general sleeper trains are having a bit of a revial in Europe ATM. The over supply of dirt cheap flights killed them off - but increasing numbers of people are growing an environmental conscience and realizing flying really isn't in any way green and a sleeper train lets you travel from A to B without wasting a day doing it. As a result a number of services that were canned have been, or have been announced to return.
Got back from a week in Meribel on Saturday.
Personally I can ski on pretty much anything, so I wasn't really surprised by anything we came across in terms of snow condition. Some of the group however thought it was some of the worst conditions they'd seen, although I think that was as much to do with the fact there was NO snow in the actual village, where you'd usually hope to be surrounded by it in years gone by.
As expected higher up the mountain and over in Val T there was plenty of good skiing to be found, but if you don't like slushy moguls in the afternoon you might want to end your days earlier.
3 days of perfect weather was nice, especially given the forecasts weren't optimistic before we headed out. Rain at village level a couple of days was depressing - hardly anyone skied on our last day as it did look miserable all round, sadly.
Will be pondering options for next year - possible a week or two earlier and maybe a return to Val T.
Personally I can ski on pretty much anything, so I wasn't really surprised by anything we came across in terms of snow condition. Some of the group however thought it was some of the worst conditions they'd seen, although I think that was as much to do with the fact there was NO snow in the actual village, where you'd usually hope to be surrounded by it in years gone by.
As expected higher up the mountain and over in Val T there was plenty of good skiing to be found, but if you don't like slushy moguls in the afternoon you might want to end your days earlier.
3 days of perfect weather was nice, especially given the forecasts weren't optimistic before we headed out. Rain at village level a couple of days was depressing - hardly anyone skied on our last day as it did look miserable all round, sadly.
Will be pondering options for next year - possible a week or two earlier and maybe a return to Val T.
UTH said:
Got back from a week in Meribel on Saturday.
Personally I can ski on pretty much anything, so I wasn't really surprised by anything we came across in terms of snow condition. Some of the group however thought it was some of the worst conditions they'd seen, although I think that was as much to do with the fact there was NO snow in the actual village, where you'd usually hope to be surrounded by it in years gone by.
As expected higher up the mountain and over in Val T there was plenty of good skiing to be found, but if you don't like slushy moguls in the afternoon you might want to end your days earlier.
3 days of perfect weather was nice, especially given the forecasts weren't optimistic before we headed out. Rain at village level a couple of days was depressing - hardly anyone skied on our last day as it did look miserable all round, sadly.
Will be pondering options for next year - possible a week or two earlier and maybe a return to Val T.
Don't want to be contrary, but conditions imo were great last week. Yes, it was soft by late afternoon, but we are nearly in April. And the soft afternoon slush was fun to ski too. Fresh snow earlier in the week meant we had some fresh tracks on one morning. And on Friday, whilst it looked initially damp and overcast, was actually great on the mountain. In fact that was one of my most enjoyable days of the week because the slopes were so quiet.Personally I can ski on pretty much anything, so I wasn't really surprised by anything we came across in terms of snow condition. Some of the group however thought it was some of the worst conditions they'd seen, although I think that was as much to do with the fact there was NO snow in the actual village, where you'd usually hope to be surrounded by it in years gone by.
As expected higher up the mountain and over in Val T there was plenty of good skiing to be found, but if you don't like slushy moguls in the afternoon you might want to end your days earlier.
3 days of perfect weather was nice, especially given the forecasts weren't optimistic before we headed out. Rain at village level a couple of days was depressing - hardly anyone skied on our last day as it did look miserable all round, sadly.
Will be pondering options for next year - possible a week or two earlier and maybe a return to Val T.
ETA : this is a picture a friend took earlier in the week of me skiing after a lot of fresh snow ...
Edited by EddieSteadyGo on Monday 27th March 13:16
We're just back from Morzine and had an excellent week - no ice anywhere and pretty decent slopes early on in the day.
The red run down to the bottom of Pleny was OK to start with but it rained heavily on Friday so there were huge holes, I'm assuming that it's closed by now.
We'll certainly be back there for March skiing next year!
The red run down to the bottom of Pleny was OK to start with but it rained heavily on Friday so there were huge holes, I'm assuming that it's closed by now.
We'll certainly be back there for March skiing next year!
dirtbiker said:
We're just back from Morzine and had an excellent week - no ice anywhere and pretty decent slopes early on in the day.
The red run down to the bottom of Pleny was OK to start with but it rained heavily on Friday so there were huge holes, I'm assuming that it's closed by now.
We'll certainly be back there for March skiing next year!
I skied that on Saturday! Closed but you could pick your way down. It was raining at the bottom and trying to snow at the top. I think we only saw 3 ski schools all morning!The red run down to the bottom of Pleny was OK to start with but it rained heavily on Friday so there were huge holes, I'm assuming that it's closed by now.
We'll certainly be back there for March skiing next year!
Avoriaz has more snow but is been affected by a bit of rain and wind too.
dirtbiker said:
We're just back from Morzine and had an excellent week - no ice anywhere and pretty decent slopes early on in the day.
The red run down to the bottom of Pleny was OK to start with but it rained heavily on Friday so there were huge holes, I'm assuming that it's closed by now.
We'll certainly be back there for March skiing next year!
Lots of snow there today down to village level too should help.The red run down to the bottom of Pleny was OK to start with but it rained heavily on Friday so there were huge holes, I'm assuming that it's closed by now.
We'll certainly be back there for March skiing next year!
Harry Flashman said:
//j17 said:
lemmingjames said:
Harry Flashman said:
lemmingjames said:
I'm tempted but I've gelled with my dps's. Just need to sort out the base at the tail as it's coming away from being bashed on the ground, lifts etc. Apparently a common issue with that year skis
My 2015 DPS Cassiar 95s also did the tail thing. I resin sealed the hell out of them in 2018, been fine ever since.What resin did you use? Did you cut out the raised bit or inject resin and clamp down?
Left on Saturday to it snowing in Val and y the looks of the vid's and pics ive been getting from friends out there, i should have extended my stay for the wet powder. Todays been a 'blue bird' but think its meant to snow for the rest of the week.
Condi said:
lemmingjames said:
Managed to get some flight time under the wing, only a few seconds each time and not high, harness keeps crushing my left gonad though so it's a mix of excitement and burning pain in the groin.
Where did you learn to speedfly? If i was to start again, id definitely get some other wing experience, be it skydiving or paragliding. Those that had/have it progress alot quicker than those without, unless of course you are a natural in the air.
For those looking to get into it, id recommend;
- Martin at Evo2 at Val D, quite straight talking fellow and being French, took our humour seriously but he knows a few people that have died from the sport and doesnt want to see it happen again if he can help it. Picked up loads of small tips about setting up the wing at the start and packing away, that i never knew under previous instructors = more reps which is very important. Id recommend the 6 hour tuition as opposed to the '4' as when it clicks you just want more for the day and the lunch break comes all so quickly.
- Ive not used them but will look to book next year - Ataka speed riding in Valfrejus, France (near Val Thorens it seems). Have a good rep and eventually you can book to go heli-skiing and then 'fly' down. Looks alot cheaper all in compared to the others as well
- Ski and Fly - i know the team behind them and are 'friends' with them but wouldnt recommend for a beginner. If however, youve got experience and looking to fly about with others then id recommend them though are pricey.
Austria is alot more relaxed (at the moment) towards the sport and allow you down normal pistes with other skiers where as France = not allowed.
In my experience, you need to allow for 2 weeks to get 1 week under the wing just because the weather doesn't always want to play ball. On my recent trip, Austria = 1 awesome day/5 s
t days transferred to Tignes for 2 days but couldn't get the wing out despite blue skies, Sunday - Thursday was awesome, Friday snow storm came in. Then since last saturday - yesterday = snow storm, blue bird today but think the rest of the week is 50/50.Sadly theres no video footage of my recent exploits, id be interested to see my accidental flight into the avalanche rubble field (crashed on landing) as it felt like i was in the air for 'ages' and 'high' (for a beginner) but was probably only a few seconds, not high (1-2m) or far.
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