 Poster: A snowHead
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Skiing at 8am in Austria isn't a problem, in my experience, and it gives you a 1-1.5 hours blast on the mountain until 90% of people show.
It's a significant advantage of skiing in Austria, if you like first tracks and carving freshly-groomed corduroy. I think it's common to quite a few Austrian resorts, though I think it applies to some strategic lifts only.
In Zermatt, the Gornergrat railway sends a first train up the mountain at 7am, though I've never known if the pistes are officially opened for those who get to the top (maybe not).
In France, you'll be lucky to find any lift open before 9am. nbt reports on another thread that he found a lift that didn't open until 9.15 - ridiculous.
This is not such a major issue in January, when the early morning could be bitter, but it's certainly an issue in spring - for keen skiers.
Is this a product of unionisation? Does anyone know where you can ski in France early in the morning?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hardly. It's January, as you point out yourself. Many resorts have only something like 30% occupancy right now. Standard opening time when the days are longer is 9am. It's a question of supply and demand I suppose, if 99% of skiers are not interested in early opening, should they finance the extra costs via increased lift charges?
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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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Yes, but nbt was held up and he says a queue formed. Not surprising. It's not so difficult to start up a couple of lifts and have a skeleton ski patrol service - they're usually up there early anyway.
I'm thinking of St Anton, where it's been a tradition for early birds to catch the 8am cablecar and just have a T-bar open up the mountain - provides a great practice pitch for a few keen skiers, instructors and other players.
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I am not entirely sure what you are talking about?? "you'll be lucky to find any lift open before 9am" - are you quite sure about that?
I have been up Pleney (Morzine) at 07h30 to run gates with the trainee instructors. In fact, I have been up Pleney at 07h30 just waiting for the pisteurs to open things after 40cm of fresh. You do have to ask nicely to get in the cable car with the lifties and co. I was much younger then and more inclined to get up early.
My understanding is that the lifts currently start to open at 8.30 and later in the season open at 8.00.
I think the first lift up the Grands Montets is currently 8.45?
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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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Was that early session on Pleney privately chartered?
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David Goldsmith, where was nbt at the time?
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Austria may start early but it also finishes early. Even in April many of the lifts are shutting from 4.00pm, when there may still be another 3 hours of daylight left. From mid-season onward I would suspect that the majority would trade off an hour later start in exchange for an hour later finish time.
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Is there much call for skiing from 8am? Obviously there are lots of people who want first tracks after a fall of fresh snow, but they want to be first, not necessarily early. On the occasions I get to the lift for 9am there are very few people around. As Julian T said, later in the afternoon is much more popular.
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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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| David Murdoch wrote: |
| David Goldsmith, where was nbt at the time? |
Les Arcs, waiting for the Vagere chairlift which opened at 9.15 I think.
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David Goldsmith, no, just had to ask nicely to get up the early "benne" with the catering supplies, lifties, pisteurs, etc. Also, the Stade chair was running from 08h00 for race practice - every day I think (?). That was probably mid-March it has to be said.
I have a funny feeling that later in the season in Morzine the ESF run private lessons 08h00-09h30 in time to pick up the standard 09h30 group lessons.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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In L2A lifts opened at 9.15 but I skied until 5.00 on a couple of occasions so still got a full day in with out queues, enjoy the extra sleep
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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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Russell, Yes. They open at 09.00 from the feb hols on as a general rule, and in the spring I've often been chased off the mountain at about 17.30 or so. The Lutins lift opens at 08.30 every day and closed at 17.30 (nearly dark at present) to allow for access - but you can get some good tracks off it!
Seriously though - the pisteurs have to be sure the mountain is safe - they begin very early (blasting at around 06.00 this morning), the lifties have to clear all snow, ice etc to make the lift entry and exit safe too. How early would they have to start to open the lifts an hour early? What if you have an accident? Who's responsible? Our Jandri Express costs a reputed £1,000 every time it's started from a standstill - I don't know how much per hour, but a fair bit I should think. If you now the locals you can often get on with the pisteurs and lifties, but as a holiday skier, how are they to know you're safe????
We've got FIS races here thurs and Fri - it'll be interesting to see if they let anyone BUT racers up at 07.45???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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No, i'll have to open the shop earlier, even more misserable. 
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Bachas chair in monetier opens at 8.45. I think it's similar for all the village lifts, higher ones all open by 9.15
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Poster: A snowHead
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The Peclet Funitel at Val Thorens (surely one of the most impressive lifts around, operating in winds of over 100 km/hour) uses 2x720kW motors  . Simply in terms of electricity, you wouldn't want to switch that on earlier than necessary. It opens at 9.15am.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| PG wrote: |
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Hardly. It's January, as you point out yourself. |
More to the point it's hard to accept the premise that Austrian lifts open significantly earlier. They don't in my experience, I certainly couldn't make a sweeping generalisation that one country open lifts earlier than another. Lifts on glaciers open earlier in the spring and autumn but no more so in Austria than in Switzerland or France of course. In fact, lifts open at broadly exactly the same time, when the staff are in place and the mountain's been made safe, activities which are constrained by same practicalities of temperature and daylight in any country.
I'd rather like our local stations to open earlier so allow more pre-work skiing but it's simply not practical 
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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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David Goldsmith, I'm pleased I'm not staff at a chalet you would stay in... 
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From the resorts I've been to, I think 0900 is very typical whatever the country, and the only 0830 lifts I've ever caught have been the odd few in France late in the season (not counting the Gornergratt train). The main difference between countries is at the end of the day, when it gets to about 1700 the French are trying to chuck you out of the mountain restaurants whereas the Austrians are trying to sell you more beer!
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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 think it's more to do with commitment than practicalities. The St Anton slope referred to above, accessible from 8am, isn't avalanche-prone. All ski resorts have slopes which only require rudimentary safety checks. If there's a safety problem, the opening time would obviously be overidden.
I was unable to catch a lift in Les Arcs (1600, to be specific) earlier than 9am. I was able to ski at 8am at Bad Hofgastein in Austria (a medium-sized resort). I agree that sweeping generalisations should be avoid, so let's look at a couple of major ski areas popular with Brits - what are the earliest lifts in Val d'Isere and the 3 Vallees?
Any resort which is serious about its commitment to skiing as a sport should remember that its professionals and keener guests want to be up the hill early for practice. 8am isn't that early - city health clubs are typically open at 7am, or 6.30am.
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0830 opening is pretty normal across the pond - but the lifts do close a lot earlier in the afternoon that they do in France.
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| city health clubs are typically open at 7am, or 6.30am. |
People that live in hills aren't really like people that live in cities.
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
Skiing at 8am in Austria isn't a problem
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In Zermatt, the Gornergrat railway sends a first train up the mountain at 7am
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In France, you'll be lucky to find any lift open before 9am. nbt reports on another thread that he found a lift that didn't open until 9.15 - ridiculous.
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It is over 15 years since I last skied in Austria so I can't comment. When I lived in Davos the Jakobshorn and Parsenn lifts opened at 8am unless there was an avalanche risk. But the "germanics" have a culture of starting work earlier and this obviously translates over to their social life.
Apart from the points outlined sunrise is also quite a bit later in France so 9am maybe makes more sense. At one of my local resorts they also shut the lifts for lunch!
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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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| davidof wrote: |
| At one of my local resorts they also shut the lifts for lunch! |
Sounds like my kind of resort. Where this little piece of heaven on earth, if you're prepared to share (I assume that they provide decent restaurants)?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Main Altispace chair lift out of Valmorel advertised 9.15 opening last week.
Caught it at 9.15 last Friday, already running, only to queue waiting at next lift till 9.25, then subsequent wait at next lift.
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