Skiiing

[Cycling Naturalist]

Patrick I know what you mean. But what you ought to try (and you're obviously an experienced skier) is ski touring..

I'd rather do this sort of thing on foot in the summer. The buzz for me in skiing is being able to let rip on piste. I don't have to wonder if there's an edge or hidden crevasse and I can just roll out the turns and on a good day let the speed build up until I get the flying feeling when you can't feel the skis and everything is done by projection of the upper body down the fall line.

 

[Dayvo]

I'd The buzz for me in skiing is being able to let rip on piste.

Which would presumably cause the avalanche from which to escape from.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Which would presumably cause the avalanche from which to escape from.

The advantage of on piste is that it's usually not an avalanche slope.

 

[Richie1964]

Love skiing. Had a great time in Neiderau last year, but my fave venue is Val d'Isere - it's a brilliant place in all ways. Having cycled the Galibier I'd quite like to visit Valloire in the winter to see what the place looks like when covered in the snow.

 

[Globalti]

We have had two family skiing holidays at Les Gets and now want to have a summer cycling holiday there for the same (opposite) reason!

 

[Richie1964]

We have had two family skiing holidays at Les Gets and now want to have a summer cycling holiday there for the same (opposite) reason!

Lot of mountain biking goes on around there.

 

[twowheelsgood]

Skiing is fab. I'm not really much of a mountainbiker, but where possible try and bike the slopes in summer that you ski in winter. It really gives you an appreciation of the seasons and the elements.

I'd recommend if you are a casual skier rather than looking for fast or challenging runs, go to Austria instead of France, just has a much nicer alpine atmosphere.

And to make all you skiers jealous, my nearest resort is 1hour by train....

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

I'd recommend if you are a casual skier rather than looking for fast or challenging runs, go to Austria instead of France, just has a much nicer alpine atmosphere.

...

While France probably has the best skiing in the world, much of the accommodation is in grotty appartments, which are fine for hard core ski until you drop, skiers, but not much fun for anyone else. The hotels and ambience are much better in Switzerland, Austria and Italy, in that order.

 

[Globalti]

Maybe that's because of the way the French made l'huile blanche a national industry by building all those concrete third-generation resorts, in contrast to the Swiss, Austrians and Italians who made do with the original Alpine villages thus preserving some of the atmosphere. The only French example of that where I have skied is Megeve, which is a pretty family resort.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Maybe that's because of the way the French made l'huile blanche a national industry by building all those concrete third-generation resorts, in contrast to the Swiss, Austrians and Italians who made do with the original Alpine villages thus preserving some of the atmosphere. The only French example of that where I have skied is Megeve, which is a pretty family resort.

Megeve is pretty because it's old and posh! Montgenevre is France's oldest ski resort, and while hardly pretty, does at least have the bustle of a border town about it. It also has the advantage of being the about the most varied smallish ski area in the world, unlike the likes of the Ziller valley, where most of the runs are identical.

 

[twowheelsgood]

While France probably has the best skiing in the world, much of the accommodation is in grotty appartments, which are fine for hard core ski until you drop, skiers, but not much fun for anyone else. The hotels and ambience are much better in Switzerland, Austria and Italy, in that order.

I agree with you Patrick, I've done the French "Ski Factories" like Les Arcs and they are great if you are with a bunch of fairly competent skiers, but not so great otherwise. Saying that although I live in Switzerland I actually prefer Austria, just a bit more relaxed and certainly cheaper. Another advantage is less English holiday packages. It's fun to party with the Dutch and Germans for a change. Some French resorts become a bit like a winter equivalent of Benidorm these days.

I usually like to get an early season ski before Christmas in Sölden, which has an absolutely jumping nightlife and you are guaranteed snow on the glacier. I also go for a weekend to Grindlewald every year but that as you said was pretty poor last season and they really need to invest some cash to get rid of those drag lifts. I also usually manage a weekend in Davos and take the train to Flims or Flums on 2 or 3 weekends in the season. Trains are great here. Take the first one at 5:30, sleep and as if by magic the next thing you know, you're on the slopes at 9!

Funnily enough it took several years of me being here to get into skiing, I tried it and hated it at first. It's only when I had some lessons and got a load of friends over that I finally "got it".

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Funnily enough it took several years of me being here to get into skiing, I tried it and hated it at first. It's only when I had some lessons and got a load of friends over that I finally "got it".

Were you taught that typically Swiss technique of keeping the skis flat and turning by foot power and then edging? I had a private lesson this year in Grindlewald and the instructor (albeit English!) was teaching me this for going down the fall line on moguls. He was trying to get me out of my habit of compressing against the face of the mogul and extending and releasing into the trough because it has the effect of making the run rather zig zaggy.

I bottled somewhat on some off piste moguls, but I got the hang of it on piste. Hitherto, I'd always tried to run the skis on their edges and turn without weighting and unweighting by either carving or projecting the upper body through the turn and turning off the balls of both feet. However, flattening the skis and using foot power means that you can flick some amazing fast turns.

 

[Globalti]

So where would you guys recommend for a family ski holiday at spring half term? Our son will be nine, is okay on skis, we have done Megeve and Les Gets plus a couple of other smaller resorts. Because I lived in France we have only ever skied as a family in France, although I did have an excellent batchelor holiday in St Anton once. This year we would like to try Austria or Switzerland or even Italy; our main requirements are peace and quiet, plenty of good greens and kiddy activities but some challenging blacks and steep mountain stuff for a more experienced skier. Any suggestions?

 

[twowheelsgood]

So where would you guys recommend for a family ski holiday at spring half term? Our son will be nine, is okay on skis, we have done Megeve and Les Gets plus a couple of other smaller resorts. Because I lived in France we have only ever skied as a family in France, although I did have an excellent batchelor holiday in St Anton once. This year we would like to try Austria or Switzerland or even Italy; our main requirements are peace and quiet, plenty of good greens and kiddy activities but some challenging blacks and steep mountain stuff for a more experienced skier. Any suggestions?

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