The Skiers & Snowboarders Thread

[Seat0B]

Having a nice time in Furano. A bit bummed by the general lack of snow although we did get 30 cm overnight and the last 48 hrs while the Nagano resorts we usually frequent got at least double that . Making the most of it though.

 

[Seat0B]

Cold today but blue skies made it very lovely at the top of Furano zone.

 

[Seat0B]

Today was definitely a weather day. Warnings galore. Decoding the lift closures reveals that ALL lifts in Furano and Kitanomine except 2 were on wind hold.



Still, the day was not all bad …

 

[Captain Halliday]

We’ll be in Vancouver from 10-25 Jan (aprox) and plan to ski in Canada.

We skied Whistler Blackcomb a few years ago, so interested in people’s views on Big White and Sun Peaks.

Also open to other suggestions.

Party of three with 1 adult and 1 child intermediate and one adult beginner.

 

[rugbyskier]

We’ll be in Vancouver from 10-25 Jan (aprox) and plan to ski in the Rockies.

We skied Whistler Blackcomb a few years ago, so interested in people’s views on Big White and Sun Peaks.

Also open to other suggestions.

Party of three with 1 adult and 1 child intermediate and one adult beginner.

I've been to Sun Peaks several times and will be back next year with a small tour group.

I think that Sun Peaks offers something for everyone and is particularly family friendly. The central village area has a ski run through it, so if you're staying in one of the hotels/apartments in the central village you can ski-in/ski-out. The village has a similar community feeling to it as Thredbo.

All of the main lifts have green, blue and black runs off them that meet up at the bottom, so all family members with different abilities can ski the same area together.

Far less crowded than Whistler too, there are only lift lines on weekends and public holidays.

 

[Chalkie]

We’ll be in Vancouver from 10-25 Jan (aprox) and plan to ski in the Rockies.

We skied Whistler Blackcomb a few years ago, so interested in people’s views on Big White and Sun Peaks.

Also open to other suggestions.

Party of three with 1 adult and 1 child intermediate and one adult beginner.

With that mix of skier, I also recommend Sun Peaks.

But Sun Peaks isn't in the Rockies. It's in the Columbia Mountains. If you want to ski the Canadian Rockies, you'll need to head to Lake Louise in Alberta. Having skied that part of Canada a lot (I lived in Vancouver from 2019 to 2024, and skied Western Canada before then too), I think Sun Peaks will offer your group more than Lake Louise (and the other Rockies hills nearby).

 

[ayebee]

Got back a week ago from our Italy & France trip.
Didn't post anything progressively, but hopefully catching up now.
This may take a couple of posts for the pics...
Not a real "trip report" - I can provide opinions on accommodation etc if anyone wants.

Nothing like the snow conditions experienced in Japan, but we were very lucky with weather. We had possible 20 days for skiing. My daughter skied every day, and I missed just 1.
That was a day of poor visibility when I gave my old knees a break. Otherwise, we had a couple of days with snow falling but reasonable visibility, and the rest clear and many bluebird days.
We started at Dolimiti Superski, based in La Villa (Alta Badia).
View from our B&B in La Villa - opposite the FIS slalom slope Gran Risa.


Day 1 & 4 we trekked over to Val Gardena. This is Seceda - top of the Col Raiser area.



We had a day at Kronplatz when it snowed all day, then next day it was clear so we went to Lagazuoi and the "Hidden Valley" run. View from Lagazuoi (below) is pretty stunning. The peak mid-left on horizon is Marmolada (with Arabba below to right) and the far peak on right is Piz Boe on the Sella Massif (& Alta Badia below) of Sellaronda renown.

 

[ayebee]

Next stop was Madonna di Campiglio, further east in the Dolomites, to exploit our Epic passes.


Pinzolo area was connected via a gondola - about 30 minutes ride. Also good views, but just the one visit during the week.



Next stop was Three Valleys, also on Epic.
We stayed in Meribel, the central resort. View of Meribel from the shared ridge with Courchevel.

Also at the ridge between Meribel and Courchevel.



& the other way from Meribel was Val Thorens, the highest ski town in Europe (I believe), with not a tree in sight. You need to be lucky with weather ...

 

[ayebee]

It was then on to Tignes / Val d'Isere.
View of Tignes, with Tigne 2100 on left and Val Claret over to the right. Top right is Grande Mott and glacier. Val d'Isere is over the ridge to the left.


This is in the far valley of Val d'Isere. The peak in the distance is the Grande Motte at Tignes.


& our last stop was at Courmayeur, back in Italy. We just had a sampler day there to check it out on way back to Milan. It is more a single mountain with a nice base town, but has downside that just about everyone needs to get to the ski area via the cable car. We took our lunch break on the backside with a view of Monte Bianco (Mt Blanc on the French side). We could not see the actual summit from this spot (& it was obscured by cloud) but that is about 3km of rock face we are looking at.

 

[ayebee]

combining skiing and aviation interests ... this is gob smacking

 

[Quickstatus]

Discussed here
I wonder if the trekkers were linked by a rope?

 

[ayebee]

Discussed here
I wonder if the trekkers were linked by a rope?

yes, that was a bit off.
but handy there was a suitable gap down the fall line.

 

[lovestotravel]

Epic AU pass payment went through a day or two ago

Hope I get to use it this year, as the snow was so bad didn't bother last year.

Managed to use 7 days of the pass in France though so got some value out of it though

 

[ayebee]

Epic AU pass payment went through a day or two ago

Hope I get to use it this year, as the snow was so bad didn't bother last year.

Managed to use 7 days of the pass in France though so got some value out of it though

I had similar experience last year with just 4 days, but didn't claim the refund as managed to use it for 7 days at Madonna di Campiglio, and another 6 at Three Valleys.

This year I will just take the old codgers discount ticket at Hotham which doesn't get any o/s benefits

 

[Captain Halliday]

Thoughts from the brains trust on a good ski location in Austria early in the New Year please?

We are planning to be in Munich just after Christmas and have an onward flight booked from Innsbruck on 10 Jan.

St Anton is coming up top of my initial searches but open to suggestions.

 

[BrockF]

Thoughts from the brains trust on a good ski location in Austria early in the New Year please?

We are planning to be in Munich just after Christmas and have an onward flight booked from Innsbruck on 10 Jan.

St Anton is coming up top of my initial searches but open to suggestions.

We did New Year in Salzburg this year, was magic watching the fireworks off the fortress. Then a week at Zell Am See and also some time at Lech. Lech is part of the larger Alberg area so plenty of space to explore. Zell am See was great as we were staying in the pedestrian zone in the village and, the family loved the village atmosphere. Options in Zell to ski the Kitzsteinhorn glacier and also Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

 

[lovestotravel]

St Anton/Lech would be my pick.

I keep going back to France - Val Thorens and Val-d'Isère, but we have agreed that 2027 will be somewhere else.

Would love Italy but snow reliability is an issue

 

[offshore171]

St Anton is coming up top of my initial searches but open to suggestions.

What standard are the skiiers? Probably my favourite resort in the world but St Anton is not ideal for anyone below advanced intermediate. It's a challenging resort and the home trails can be quite treacherous when packed with traffic later in the day.

Lech is a better allrounder, and has really chilled out home trails and village front side runs.

Both are very reliable for snow cover.

 

[larrymull]

St Anton/Lech would be my pick.

I keep going back to France - Val Thorens and Val-d'Isère, but we have agreed that 2027 will be somewhere else.

Would love Italy but snow reliability is an issue

Just booked Val Gardena in the Dolomites for xmas, 3 valleys for Jan. Switzerland looks great but comes at a higher cost. St Anton looks amazing.

 

[Captain Halliday]

What standard are the skiiers?

Intermediate, bordering on advanced for Miss H.

Intermediate for me but I do get dragged onto some easier black runs trying to keep up with Miss H.

Meantime, Mrs H is a fully fledged beginner, despite multiple trips and lessons. A book and a fireplace will keep her happy I suspect.