 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| Lizzard, spot on. I usually find the standard of coach and driver to be exellent, but with legroom for dwarfs & pixies. |
When I travelled with Scott Dunn  they used coaches which had half as many seats as usual.
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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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Kramer, that's one of the reasons why they're expensive.
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Lizzard, indeed, as well as the number of staff they employ.
Scariest resort road has to be the one that takes you to the centre of La Plagne when you arrive at the end of the cross country piste on the Tarentaise tour.
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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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| Lizzard wrote: |
| Quote: |
Well they do a really good job of appearing to be clueless then
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You don't know the road. You have failed to appreciate that he is overtaking just there because he could see what was coming two bends ago. He knows this and he looked.
He has swung the coach right out to the edge of the road just here because if he didn't he would catch the roof on the overhanging rock which you have failed to see.
He doesn't need chains at this point because he is driving a big heavy vehicle equipped with snow tyres. The cars which you see stranded beside the road (probably to Courchevel 1850) are expensive overpowered rear wheel drive vehicles driven by Parisians who have never seen snow.
.................. etc. |
I am not disagreeing with any of that. Generally coach drivers have been fine. But, as with any profession, there are always a few who are not so perfect. One we had many years ago was struggling to keep the coach in a straight line on the motorway (no it wasn't windy). I fully accept local coach drivers know what they are doing - I also know a complete muppet at the wheel when I see one. Not every professional driver is a genius - they crash to.
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| Quote: |
Not every professional driver is a genius
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True, indeed. But their occasional incompetence isn't enough to justify the weekly stupid git who spends his entire holiday making a fuss about alleged poor driving.
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i'm getting sick just reading this thread. Road up to La Rosiere was hairy but coming down at dawn was worse. Took a taxi from 1850 to La Tania once and although i had complete faith in the experienced local driver i'm pretty sure i kept my ski -helmet on!
Coming down from Passo Tonale - main excitement provided by coach going on fire half way down the hill!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The Klausen pass tends to get vertigo-sufferers huddling in the middle of the car, which is interesting when they're the ones driving 
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Does the road between Geneva and Annecy count? If so, arriving in Annecy with brakes on fire was certainly a little sphincter-loosening
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| Quote: |
Not every professional driver is a genius
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True, indeed. But their occasional incompetence isn't enough to justify the weekly stupid git who spends his entire holiday making a fuss about alleged poor driving. |
Agreed - unless they are stuck at the bottom of a ravine with a coach on them
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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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How about Mount Hutt in New Zealand - a gravel track up the side of the mountain, with a vertical drop on one side and a crumbling cliff on the other, punctuated by areas where the minibus driver informs you that 4 cars went over the side last month, with 2 dead and one car only found 3 weeks later... There are no barriers, ropes, markings, or poles.
The track is rutted by meltwater and rain, or covered in a progression of slush, snow then ice. The minibus had standard tyres, with chains only fitted when it got icy. The driver was an expat from Birmingham who'd moved to Christchurch 10 years before, who ran a regular bus service out of Christchurch to the mountains daily.
See http://www.newzealand.com/travel/multimedia/video/video_detail.cfm/resultsView/list/sortType/dateadded/sortOrder/desc/video/44D98A8A-BCD8-304B-008802B3C522A5C2.html - pause the video at 25 seconds, and the ribbon across the shot is the last 200 metres of the access road, and this is the good bit...
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| slim pickins wrote: |
| scariest roads are anywhere the pommies are driving. civilised world's worst. |
Apparently, according to your other post elsewhere, we are also the Wirld's (sic) worst skiers. Don't know how I've lived this long, given my apparent lack of prowess in any and all activities
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brian
brian
Guest
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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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Anniepen, no that was the Birts, the only one I've met (and he was a Bert) was at least 90 so it's possibly true.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Road up to Treble Cone in NZ. Unmettalled, in cloud with ice on the ground. Massive drops to the side. Road up to Cardrona not much better. Given the fees they charge for the ski pass it's a bit of a shambles.
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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 road to Tignes
The third time in one day. Stayed near Lyon, made slopes by 10am; came down on last train, off to Lyon airport to pick up, return to Tignes. Thick fog. Ugh.
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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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pam w, Kopaonik really scary for us too. Journey up wasn't to bad but the journey down was terrible. There had been a massive dump of snow over night, this didn't worry our driver, he just went hell for leather straight into a huge drift and we had to wait for the snowplough and men with spades on the otherside to get us out. Even after that he didn't really slow up for bends and subsiquently my son threw up (very unusual). That's the only thing that puts me off of returning to Kop.
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This is the Trans Chile Argentina Highway. Portillo http://www.skiportillo.com/ is at the top of this road before the tunnel through to Argentina.
Accidents like this are common
I took this photo in 2001
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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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Don't know if you can approach it from the North but did the route to Allos in appaling rain and thick cloud this summer and it wasn't a drive I'd like to repeat. I'd like to think either the road gets shut in the winter or they make a monumental effort to keep it clear.
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| ousekjarr wrote: |
How about Mount Hutt in New Zealand - a gravel track up the side of the mountain, with a vertical drop on one side and a crumbling cliff on the other, punctuated by areas where the minibus driver informs you that 4 cars went over the side last month, with 2 dead and one car only found 3 weeks later... There are no barriers, ropes, markings, or poles.
The track is rutted by meltwater and rain, or covered in a progression of slush, snow then ice. The minibus had standard tyres, with chains only fitted when it got icy. The driver was an expat from Birmingham who'd moved to Christchurch 10 years before, who ran a regular bus service out of Christchurch to the mountains daily.
See http://www.newzealand.com/travel/multimedia/video/video_detail.cfm/resultsView/list/sortType/dateadded/sortOrder/desc/video/44D98A8A-BCD8-304B-008802B3C522A5C2.html - pause the video at 25 seconds, and the ribbon across the shot is the last 200 metres of the access road, and this is the good bit... |
I'll second that! I think it was Mt Hutt we drove up in a campervan! My boyfriend driving and on the RH side only realised why I'd been sitting nervously gripping the seat all the way up when on the way down he got the same view over the side that I did!!
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| ousekjarr wrote: |
How about Mount Hutt in New Zealand - a gravel track up the side of the mountain, with a vertical drop on one side and a crumbling cliff on the other, punctuated by areas where the minibus driver informs you that 4 cars went over the side last month, with 2 dead and one car only found 3 weeks later... There are no barriers, ropes, markings, or poles.
The track is rutted by meltwater and rain, or covered in a progression of slush, snow then ice. The minibus had standard tyres, with chains only fitted when it got icy. The driver was an expat from Birmingham who'd moved to Christchurch 10 years before, who ran a regular bus service out of Christchurch to the mountains daily.
See http://www.newzealand.com/travel/multimedia/video/video_detail.cfm/resultsView/list/sortType/dateadded/sortOrder/desc/video/44D98A8A-BCD8-304B-008802B3C522A5C2.html - pause the video at 25 seconds, and the ribbon across the shot is the last 200 metres of the access road, and this is the good bit... |
When I was there in 1990 it was bad. I thought they would of improved it in the last 18 yrs !!! Looks like the only thing they have added is snowmaking 
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| slim pickins, clearly you have never driven in Italy. |
i've driven in Italy several times. Italians are far superior drives than the Brits, due to the fact they "get it."
if you talking about a place where the drivers suck very large donkey balls, then that would be Utah in the USA. And it's entirely genetic.
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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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| Anniepen wrote: |
| slim pickins wrote: |
| scariest roads are anywhere the pommies are driving. civilised world's worst. |
Apparently, according to your other post elsewhere, we are also the Wirld's (sic) worst skiers. Don't know how I've lived this long, given my apparent lack of prowess in any and all activities |
acknowledging you have a problem is always the first step. ....chin up, lil bug!
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Flu? Ebola? What are you on about?
And shouldn't you be out voting or something? See if you can come up with a president with at least one synapse this time. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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slim pickins,
Klootzak
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| slim pickins, clearly you have never driven in Italy. |
Or Belgium.
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You know it makes sense.
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Frosty the Snowman, you were lucky that the autobuses are too big to use the old route through Montvalezan, that's the one the locals use as its quicker! They refer to the N90 as the Grande Route.
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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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IM limited E, Italian drivers tend to be quite skilful but have absolutely no regard whatsoever for the rules of the road
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Poster: A snowHead
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| eng_ch wrote: |
| IM limited E, Italian drivers tend to be quite skilful but have absolutely no regard whatsoever for the rules of the road |
It depends very much where in Italy you are talking of.
In the South, we found more cars around with dents than without, people using overtaking manouevres as games of "chicken", and all sotrs of bad driving.
But in the dolomites last month, the general standard of driving was impeccable.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Tignes to Bourg St Maurice ... It was bad enough going up to Tignes over the Dam in the coach, but try coming down it in an ambulance at over 70 miles an hour overtaking on the wrong side of the road with a tanker coming the other way
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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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alex_heney, I found that the majority of drivers in the dolomites in June when I visited were German.
The driving on the motorway (A4) between Bergamo and Verona was rather poor. Cutting in front of you was a trait that the majority of drivers had. People dordelling and stopping to look at motorway signs in the middle of flowing traffic at motorway junctions.
I got the impression that an accident was inevitable. We didn't see an accident though.
We drive on Italian roads at least 2 or 3 weeks of the year. From what I've experienced in North western Italy around Turin/Aosta Valley/Susa Valley. The level of driving isn't poor, but you get the occasional idiot as you do everywhere. Ones that drive over 2 lanes on motorways.
I wonder what the French and Italian (especially) driving tests are like. All interesting and relevent stuff as I've just passed my driving theory test.
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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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The Italians around Milan are good at makig 3 lanes ot of 2, but they tend to know the size of their car.
Beware any Belgian over the age of 35/40 as, I'm told, they were posted their driving licences on their 18th birthdays (no driving test then)
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would certainly explain a few things 
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M1 to Milton Keynes
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| bertie bassett wrote: |
| eng_ch wrote: |
| I think it's the conditions rather than the road. We're so used to steep narrow windy roads that they don't bother us. Scariest was coming down from C1650 a couple of years ago in a driving blizzard and sheet ice on the road, took us 2 hours to get to the roundabout at the bottom. Always makes me laugh, though, how scared the Germans are of the road up to Flims and Laax which is a big wide road with a couple of slightly sharper bends but no hairpins |
Depends on the driver - did a bit of a tour of the savoie once the lifts were closed on sunday (hence this thread!) The road upto la ros, completely dry and in good sunshine scared the beejesus out of me, but then I get scared watching movies when the tracking camera goes over the top of a building...and it's taken me a long time to enjoy chair lifts, but I still can't turn round... |
Hmm - I said that the road to La Ros was a bit scary (IMHO), unfortunately in early April this year it proved to be more dangerous than scary when a car returing to resort from a party in the valley and stuffed to the gills with a TO's finest staff members but being driven by a local came off the road and tumbled a distance down the mountain. Whilst no-one actually died there were a number of serious injuries such as broken legs, fractured pelvises etc and it proved to be an early finish to the season for those workers involved. Herr Flic was called and the driver did manage to pass the sobriety test, so that wasn't the isue
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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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BGA,
I'm with you on Treble Cone! Not with the professional drivers but with the unfamiliar visitor and/or speed king - and there were plenty of those, even in two wheel drives. I used it quite a bit as my daughter was working there as a seasonaire and in September when the weather was good and it was still horribly scary and yes, earlier that season (2006) four Aussie lads in their car had left the road and it was timed at 6 seconds from near the top to the crash at the bottom. I do not understand why they can't or won't put in crash barriers and can only surmise that their rationale is that the increased safe feelings would increase collisions due to more risk taking. I love driving and think I am reasonably good but that dirt track frightened the living daylights out of me. Someone mentioned the Geneva-Annecy drive and I love that, to put it in context. Maybe I was being a bit of a mum coz I realised what she had been going up and down in the depths of winter but even without that it was not nice. I also did the Cardrona drive but although it was unsealed the gradient was much gentler and open and it was a dream in comparison.
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