 Poster: A snowHead
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parkesy,
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I can see a weak link between education and manners but I think you are stretching...
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That's exactly the point. There is a very strong link between a decent education and good manners. Not to mention a link between a good education and basic literacy, but that's another point.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Pedantica, Yikes I find myself wholeheartedly agreeing with you regarding education/manners.
More than once when being barged in front of by a group of Russians of all ages (airports, bars, lift queues) they take a little exception to my comments (in Russian) ....... Droogi, ......ne horosho skolu!
It's a great fight-starter! 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Mr Piehole wrote: |
we were thinking about doing a bit of skiing over the border in Italy - until I realised it would be full of Italians. I hate the Italians. Not as much as Germans, and nowhere near as much as blacks or Jews, but still.
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Tell me about it! Got so sick of foreigners that I started skiing in Scotland, only to discover it was full of haggis-eating kilt-wearing gits who couldn't speak proper.
Snowdome isn't much better, full of bloody North Londoners.
That's why I bought a snow cannon and put it in my flat.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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skimastaaah, are you sure they actually understand your comments? 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Mollerski wrote: |
| bertie bassett wrote: |
| chamonix, chamonix, chamonix |
+1 |
-1 Love Chamonix loads  Okay busses can be a pain, but skiing and village c'est tres bien
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Pedantica wrote: |
| skimastaaah, are you sure they actually understand your comments? |
Da, ......noo .......nyet!
Prolly not, but its been long time since Russian O-Level, and vocab was not my best. I find anyone that actually challenges/confronts the unsocial behaviour (in particular queue jumping) there's frequent, almost universal, support. (Well, 2/3 others).
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Pedantica, I forgot to say that if the Ruskies are good looking babes with legs up to their armpits (which they invariably are), I try to barge on to the same lift as they do, and sit in between 2 of the lookers! 
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skimastaaah,
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its been long time since Russian O-Level, and vocab was not my best
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That explains a lot! But you shouldn't, in that case, be sneering at others for not understanding Russian.
Last time I upbraided someone for queue-barging, it was very quietly, in Russian, to a rather shinily-clad young lady in a queue at the newsagents in Courchevel 1850. She looked aghast and apologised. Honestly, a lot of this is simply not knowing any better. I used to have a Russian client who was always asking me to do stuff, not once but at least ten times, and this even when I used to assure him, 'Igor - for that was his name - you don't need to repeat yourself 10 times, I will do what you ask, unless I encounter a problem, in which case I will tell you immediately and we can discuss what to do next.' The thing is that, in Moscow, Igor would indeed have to ask 10 times, because any fewer than that, he didn't have a cat's chance in hell of getting whatever it was. Similarly, I eventually learned that a failure to smile, or to say please and thank you, on the part of unreconstructed Soviets, did not necessarily arise out of any ill will, or even a lack of appreciation: they simply were not brought up to do these time-wasting things. Sad. And, to be sure, if you're on the receiving end, very annoying.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I once got into a gondola with three tall Russians, all dressed in black, sort of Putin lookalikes. They and their conversation scared the hell out of me. I kept very quiet indeed. 
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Pedantica, You weren't tempted to say "have a nice day" in Russian as you got out? 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Colin B, definitely not. 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Avoriaz is top of my list. Only because of the bottlenecks getting out and back to it. The rest of the place was fine.
La Plagne is getting some bad press but it is my favourite resort. You can always find good snow somewhere and the ski in/out is unsurpassed anywhere.
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Tue 13-11-12 15:23; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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Piccadilly, I was going to make that point. Having been to Meribel, Courchevel, Val d'Isere and Zermatt within the last 4 years, the places everyone seems to whinge about as being full of Russians, I can't say I really noticed.
But then again I also don't peer out of a gap between my curtains and tut loudly every time a black man walks past.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Mr Piehole wrote: |
Piccadilly, I was going to make that point. Having been to Meribel, Courchevel, Val d'Isere and Zermatt within the last 4 years, the places everyone seems to whinge about as being full of Russians, I can't say I really noticed.
But then again I also don't peer out of a gap between my curtains and tut loudly every time a black man walks past. |
Have you ever worked in one of these resorts though? Ever been on receiving end of the abuse up in your ivory tower?
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Tue 13-11-12 15:27; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'll be on the receiving end of abuse up your ivory tower in a minute!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I might go there on holiday just to bitch at you. Not that I'm rich.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I saw Hugh Dennis in La Rosiere once. He's not Russian.
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I saw Richard Armitage on the Vaujany cable car once, he turned out to be Russian or some sympathiser or summat.
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I have had Russian visitors staying at my apartment as have other owners in my residence. One couple are coming back for New Year. Most have been polite and charming, although like most other nationalities, a couple have not left the apartments in a clean condition. We met a crowd who had stopped for a 11am break, most were drinking tea not vodka. A Russian we met in a restaurant was grateful that we translated the French menu into English for him and bought us a drink.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I saw a meerkat on television once. He was Russian.
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| Pedantica wrote: |
| I once got into a gondola with three tall Russians, all dressed in black, sort of Putin lookalikes. They and their conversation scared the hell out of me. I kept very quiet indeed. |
Do tell - they'll never know.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Mr Marmot wrote: |
| Harry Flashman wrote: |
And full of drunk, aggressive, nutcase/racist Germans who have bussed in from Munich for the day on a Saturday. One actually attacked me in a lift queue. |
I know what you mean.
But then again, I have met Germans who were the nicest and friendliest of people and then also some nasty, stroppy Brits.
I think it is hard to generalise. |
That wasn't an anti-German rant: I know many lovely folk from Deutschland. Unfortunately, Kitz attracts the not so lovely ones.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Gosh this thread is going to run & run ...
Now I seem to remember Crystal advertising some resorts in Russia a few years ago .. did anyone ever go there and what were the locals like?
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I've just looked it up ... they still do Sochi !
Who's been then?
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You know it makes sense.
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| DrLawn wrote: |
Gosh this thread is going to run & run ...
Now I seem to remember Crystal advertising some resorts in Russia a few years ago .. did anyone ever go there and what were the locals like? |
They probably complain about going holiday in Courcheval, as it's full of fellow Russians, and they like to feel they've got away from home etc etc...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The thread seems to have turned into a bit of a Russian rant so I'll wade in with a slightly amusing anecdote. At my boarding school there were quite a few offspring of wealthy Russians. Ask them what their Fathers do [in your best Russian accent] "My father? He does import /export" "My Father, he sort of runs a city, yes, in charge of a city" Riiiight.... Several of them vanished from school without any notice as their families fortunes fell!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| pam w wrote: |
clarky999, I think many people are making judgements based on all kinds of stuff OTHER than the quality of the ski areas concerned. Seems daft to me - a ski holiday, to me, is first and foremost about the skiing. But it seems that the lack of the right sort of bar (whatever that is, for the individual) is sometimes more important. And yes, writing somewhere off because you happened to encounter poor snow that week is daft. On that basis I would write off Les Gets, the entire 3 Valleys and Alpbach. But then the whole thread is just a bit of fun, really - gets the juices going.
I recall Swirly's thread about L2A - a great read.
Not sure which of the more major resorts are in the lead here - maybe L2A, Zell am See, Meribel and Kitzbuhel.
It's so easy these days to find out pretty well everything about a resort before you go - there shouldn't be too many unpleasant surprises. Like finding that somewhere not that far south of the Arctic Circle is dark and cold in winter. Even before we had the internet that wouldn't have needed specialist research skills. |
Most sensible post Pam W! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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the French in general are quite happy to reap as much rouble as is on offer, hence the over-pricing of goods and services.
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Some French resorts were very expensive long before the Russians started going there.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Michael B, What bottlenecks would they be exactly, what year was that and what time of year?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Personally, I have never ever had a problem with a Russian, however, their groups tend to be very dominant in bars and restaurants, and I guess that makes a lot of us uncomfortable
99% of all problems have had in French resorts have been with French, and some of them have been incredibly ignorant. However I have met lots of very nice French people in my ski groups so I don't have any overall issues with the French. Except when it comes to rugby
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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under a new name, this year, March. No queues but horribly narrow runs to get to the main lifts. Equally narrow runs back down to the village.
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Michael B, I suppose it depends on your definition of narrow? I don't think we were there in March (actually, we might have been) and if we were, we certainly didn't notice anything too bad.
Sure, the cat track from Chavanette is narrow, but pretty flat and not an unusual configuration.
And the rat run from the plateau to the top of the Prodain lift can be hideous, but given everything else on offer, does that really colour your experience so much? (no prior criticism intended, just curious )
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Mr Piehole, loving your work, I too am glad I don't live near Wales!
To get back onto topic, I would not go back to Arinsal (for a ski holiday) despite living there, purely because the Ski area is pretty small and anything better than a beginner will not be challenged, other places in Vallnord most notably Arcalis would certainly be worth going to several times.
In terms of other areas if a great mate did not live there I would not return to Val D'Isere, far to full of pretentious twunts and very expensive apres-ski.
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under a new name, I said that the rest of the resort was fine. However those narrow bits from Festival down were absolutely horrendous by the pm.
There are other areas of the PDS that have horribly narrow tracks as well. (There is one from Chatel IIRC which was the worst run I have ever been on.)
The snow conditions were very soft by late am so this will have made those tracks worse (huge slush moguls and people stuck everywhere) but except in perfect snow conditions those tracks (which you have to go on) will be no fun at all. I dont see what the resort could/would do to change them so for me it is a deal killer.
By the way I've been to Morzine and that was great, even in dicey snow.
The bottom of the Grand Vans lift in Flaine is another carnage scene in the late pm if the snow is not perfect, (in fact even if it is perfect.) I guess that at the end of the day when I'm tired the last memory of the day should be me breezing down to a stop, not me fighting my way through diaster areas.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Vail - crowded pistes and lift queues, way complicated to get around if you want to avoid the blacks (runs, not people!), too posh. Much preferred Breckenridge.
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If it were a choice between going and not going anywhere, there is nowhere I wouldn't go back to.
On the other hand there is a relatively small number of resorts I choose between - my requirement being lots of challenging off piste which, for preference, doesn't get skied out too quickly. Although I appreciate other things when they are nice, none of them matters that much.
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