Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 9-09-16 12:53; edited 1 time in total
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@clarky999, Agreed mate, quality not quantity is the thing, also +1 for Schindler down to Stuben (why stop at Alpe Rauz?!) is awesome, as is from top of Riffel2 down to St Anton, proper leg burner. Some top stuff In Lech and Zurs too, big vertical drops. I've never been one for aps like ski tracks and the likes, how far have I been today etc, who cares? I'd rather stay local and do a few drops in one place and suss it out rather than chasing about.
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?
I'm fortunate to live where I have some lovely walking opportunities right out of my door. I can head east round Chichester Harbour or west. For as long as I want, before turning round and coming back. It's never the same twice. The views and light are quite different depending on the state of the tide and the colour of the sky - not to mention my heading and the time of year. It's never the same twice.
Same walking out of my place in the Alps - some good walks straight out of the door, lots more within a very short drive. I've done all the "local" walks lots of times, in all weathers.
Am I bored? No. But undoubtedly some people would be, and would want to be in the car and driving somewhere new all the time. I like doing that too - the best walks in the South Downs are too far to reach on foot from home. And out in France, a trip down to Annecy to walk or cycle is a nice change. But the local walks are fine, most of the time.
I think the number of piste kms people "need" has a lot more to do with their boredom threshold than their skiing ability.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
+1 @pam w
I know I could probably keep myself entertained with a single piste that offered a bit of variety (and I have also come to terms with the indoors at Tamworth and Hemel). However It would be a leap of faith to go somewhere unknown in the hope that there was such a piste...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Lads ski planning trip conversation often includes the words "not going there, there aren't enough pistes for long-weekend/week and there aren't enough black runs and apres looks crap". So when we get to our chosen resort there is then the "have we done all the runs? Yes? Well let's go somewhere else then for the day otherwise we have to do some of them again" and "I'm not doing that black it looks too tough" and "I hate this cheesy europop (France, Italy, Switzerland)/disco oompah (Austria) it's f'ing crap aren't there any bars playing classic rock?". So we find the only bar playing "Classic Rock" and whilst the music is great the place is basically dead, there's no atmos and no cougars to letch after. I couldn't get them to stay in Kitzloch at Apres time for more than two beers
After all it is free
After all it is free
@halfhand, New mates?! I had a conversation with a person who I recommended to go to St Anton.....so how was it? Yeah, OK but there's more to go at in Morzine, wont be going back next year, we've done that, we could only do Xkm a day on Ski Tracks, we do much more than that in France......aw alright then, each to their own
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.
andy wrote:
It's a holiday. It's not just about maximising the time of skis on snow.
It's both... for me... !
A slant on answering the question. A bigger ski area means more options. So it's got some trees for when the weather closes in, it's got some altitude to get above the valley cloud, it's got more aspects that can be used through the day, it's got the variety for different standards, and so on. I may not use it all, certainly not a day to day basis and it's more critical at certain times of the year or for certain groups. But it's a big factor for me.
That said I don't need 400km+ to have a great time (especially when there is a bit of pow) or for a shorter trip or when I was skiing with young children.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Markymark29 wrote:
@halfhand, New mates?!
I had the reverse problem with my local road cycling club. Same 5-6 loops, week after week after week.
I offered to do a different variation or start somewhere else and see something fresh (same driving distance from home for most), a few people joined me. The rest just do the same loop again. Those few who joined me enjoyed the new roads, new lunch spot, and new bar at the end of the ride. And want to do it again when I'm free.
After a while, it's just the same few mates who're going "exploring" with me. So I quit the cycling club and just ride with a small group of like minded mates.
Quote:
aw alright then, each to their own
Yep!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Coming from a real world test:
I have a place in Les Contamines and ski there most of the time. We were in our place 30 days last year. Our ski passes allow us to ski StG/Megeve requiring a 15 minute drive and we always have a car. We can get to Chamonix in 30-40 minutes. Les C has 120km of piste.
Last season we only made it to St G 2 days so spent 28 days skiing Les Contamines 120km. Of course, we ski off piste a lot so 120km doesnt tell the full story but still.
I don't need much mileage - variety and good snow holding terrain/elevation/altitude is much more important.
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.
I can honestly say I have no idea. I never look at the amount of kms but just look at a piste map and think, "Oh, lots of nice long runs and different villages" or alternatively, "That place looks a bit small with only a couple of long runs". Didn't know people looked at actual numbers .
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
maggi wrote:
I can honestly say I have no idea. I never look at the amount of kms but just look at a piste map and think, "Oh, lots of nice long runs and different villages" or alternatively, "That place looks a bit small with only a couple of long runs". Didn't know people looked at actual numbers .
Same here
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
pam w wrote:
Quote:
I'd sooner chose quality of run, low crowds, good scenery, considerate skiers and the odd decent (and cheap!) bar over a mega resort any day.
+1 Low crowds and good scenery are probably my top criteria. I am more and more intolerant of crowds and queues. Variety of runs is important but not sheer mileage.
This is what I would say. I avoid places with long ques etc, love nothing better than skiing straight back on the lift, I do like variation but Id rather a smaller resort with less ques than a huge one with massive crowds.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I def prefer to ski local quality.
And for those who love to stack up hundreds of kilometers each day, good luck and enjoy yourselves....but no i really don't want to see your super long unedited gopro footage of every bit of it later
Buchensteinwand – PillerseeTal, just 2 chairlifts and a few drags. 22km of pistes.
Wouldn't you just go back up the lift and do that run over and over again?
I don't get the 'never ski the same piste twice' thing. As others have also said, I'd much prefer to repeat an empty piste than struggle down a busy one I'd not done before.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 9-09-16 21:37; edited 1 time in total
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Factors re pistes include how interesting they are and how empty they are to get the gas on. That said some pistes can't be redeemed by mere emptiness. Whatever that long piste is at the top of Meribel was only redeemed by how long a power slide I could do when Custardeo I I were the only people on it one EOSB day.
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?
Drammeister wrote:
I don't get the 'never ski the same piste twice' thing.
Me neither... as much as I like to get out and explore the mountain, theres always that one piste that I will ski over and over again. Trying to perfect it. (delusions of downhill racer stuff)
As the OP and at risk of stating the obvious:
Obviously it depends upon a whole range of other factors such as crowds, weather, scenery, The runs themselves, etc. Etc. I rather thought all that went without saying and I'm certainly not one of those people who refuses to ski the same run twice. I probably get even more pleasure out of a run the second or third time I ski it, but ......
I'm unlikely to choose a ski resort with, say, 30km for a week's skiing holiday unless there were other significant factors.
I'm happy to ski runs multiple times, but I'm not sure I want to ski the same run six times a day, every day for a week. Added to which you do need a bit of choice. You might want softer South facing runs in the morning and less slushy North facing runs in the pm. You might want tree-lined runs for bad viz days and high altitude runs above the fog on other days.
That's why, all other things being equal, I'd probably look for resorts with about 100+.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
FTZ posed the question about choosing a resort for a weeks skiing. I would agree with him and opt for at least 100 Kms. My current favourite is the Sella Ronda which has 300kms.
However for weekend skiing There is plenty on offer at Glencoe and even Yad moss and Raise
After all it is free
After all it is free
foxtrotzulu wrote:
OK, I know this is a fairly frivolous question, but.... When choosing a resort for a week's skiing what is the minimum length of pistes that you would consider desirable?
0km would be the absolute minimum for me but I know places where 10 or so km would do depending on the snow conditions and other places where even 300km is tedious and boring.
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.
halfhand wrote:
I couldn't get them to stay in Kitzloch at Apres time for more than two beers
WHAT!??
Get new ski mates. The Kitzloch's fantastic.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@davidof, You would seriously consider spending an entire week at a ski resort with just 10km of piste? For the sake of argument we will assume that it has off-piste in proportion to on-piste. In other words, your 10k resort would have approximately 1/60th of the off-piste available in the 3V. Based upon my last week's skiing I would have skied the entire resort 24 times over in the week and have experienced every single run by about 10.30 on day one. Really?
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Niseko apparently has 55km of pistes. I've travelled around the world to ski there for 10 days at a time, and would be happy to ski there all season long if I did full seasons.
Ruka apparently has 24km of pistes and I spent a very enjoyable week there last season.
St Foy apparently has 30km of pistes and is a great place to ski.
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.
jedster wrote:
Coming from a real world test:
I have a place in Les Contamines and ski there most of the time. We were in our place 30 days last year. Our ski passes allow us to ski StG/Megeve requiring a 15 minute drive and we always have a car. We can get to Chamonix in 30-40 minutes. Les C has 120km of piste.
Last season we only made it to St G 2 days so spent 28 days skiing Les Contamines 120km. Of course, we ski off piste a lot so 120km doesnt tell the full story but still.
I don't need much mileage - variety and good snow holding terrain/elevation/altitude is much more important.
Like Jedster says LesC/StG pass gives access to 480Km but it rarely gets a mention on here, so Km of piste cant be the major factor for people picking a resort
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
foxtrotzulu wrote:
@davidof For the sake of argument we will assume that it has off-piste in proportion to on-piste. In other words, your 10k resort would have approximately 1/60th of the off-piste available in the 3V.
Doesn't really work like that though, as more pistes tends to mean there's less offpiste left. One lift and no pistes can and sometimes does mean more accessible offpiste than 10 lifts and 50 pistes. Plus there will likely be less people to share it with.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
foxtrotzulu wrote:
@davidof, You would seriously consider spending an entire week at a ski resort with just 10km of piste?
I'd consider a week in la Grave, for example.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Seven - for a normal afternoon's recreation.
If your mates want to spend a day doing the miles and seeing the scenery, then you need about 400.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Blimey, this serves me right for asking such an open question. When I made the point about assuming off-piste was in proportion with on-piste was making one last ditch attempt to get to the bottom of this issue. I suppose I should have asked 'How much skiing piste/off piste skiing area do you need for a week' or some such.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I think we've learned that one size doesn't fit all.
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?
Right now I'd be happy with anything that has more than 160 metres
We'd be happy with 50km for a week. The Scandinavian resorts are not so big, and we had fun at Kvitfjell and Hafjell (Lillehammer) at Christmas with 40-50km each I think. As @maggi says, I just look at the piste map to get a feel for the place. Snow parks are important for my son, so we end up lapping those a lot anyway.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
for a week 300kms minimum.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Quote:
For the sake of argument we will assume that it has off-piste in proportion to on-piste.
That really is a daft assumption, FTZ.
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.
It's not about the length of the pistes, it's how you use them. (or so I've been told). We're talking skiing, right?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@Toadman, only ever said by someone with a short 'piste'
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
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