 Poster: A snowHead
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Just checking through our travel folder in readiness for April trip to Val d’isere delayed from April 2020…
Making sure EHICs still valid and passports OK etc . Even found a few Euros I had forgotten we had…
Realised I let our Austrian Alpine membership lapse - I bought on advice of a Snowhead I met a few years back on the BB who had one.
In the event of needing medical evacuation off the mountain etc - waving one of these prevents you (supposedly) having to produce a credit card…
So handy for my wife and kids as often in separate lessons in the mornings at least.
Should I renew or is it unnecessary?
Current cost would be £ 57 for me £ 44 for my wife and son and £ 24 for my daughter.
Obviously this covers us for any and all trips for next 12 months. Hopefully more than one week !!
We do have ski club GB insurance which should repay any costs incurred but may cause more friction in an emergency…
Or is there an equivalent French or Italian card which might be better / cheaper ?
Or can I purchase a similar insurance card in Val for the week ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It depends what you want from the insurance. The AAC cover is designed to be supplementary to your normal insurance and provides cover for rescue for whatever you are doing in the mountains pretty much everywhere (off piste, climbing etc) - it does not cover expeditions to the greater ranges etc but I doubt this is what you are considering! It also provides a certain amount of medical cover which should cover treatment after an accident in a resort clinic which is likely to be private and so not covered by your EHIC etc. If all you plan on doing is staying on piste and not taking any other trips to the mountains (or other activity type holidays) then the local add on to your pass could be cheaper.
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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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There is likely a lot of overlap with SCGB insurance
Unless you are doing mountaineering (so using ropes + abseiling or climbing) or using AAC huts (so want the discount) it probably isn't worth it.
If anything the friction is likely to be worse having both as they will argue about which insurer is liable for what...
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The worry is not about the eventual cost as yes , GB Ski policy will cover everything.
It’s the concern that if one of my family is hurt - I have heard stories about the piste patrol wanting guarantee of payment there and then before bloodwaggoning them down or calling in the helicopter …
Ski club insurance reimburses costs but my daughter won’t have a credit card on her!
I just checked Val ski pass site and the carre neige is €18 per person so will probably do that and then maybe re assess the AAC cover for next season depending how many holidays we have booked…
I presume the carre neige guarantees no up front payments needed ? Anyone ever had to use that in an emergency ? ( or the AAC for that matter)
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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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@sheffskibod, I’d definitely go with Carre Neige. In spite of some insurance overlap, IMV, it’s well worth having for full peace of mind…and not overly expensive.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
t’s the concern that if one of my family is hurt - I have heard stories about the piste patrol wanting guarantee of payment there and then before bloodwaggoning them down or calling in the helicopter
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In what country have you heard that? In France it would be against the law for them not to help.
ps Both me and my wife have been blood waggoned off in France. No one wanted prior payment. My nephew was bloodwaggoned off in Austria. No pre payment was requested. In fact in all cases we went to the piste office the next day and settled the bill. The biggest shock to me was though the rescue and medical bills were in euros. The insurance company reimbursed me in sterling using their own very disadvantageous exchange rate.
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@johnE, you beat me to it. These stories seem to keep appearing here, but to me they have the quality of urban myths. Of course, if anyone has first hand knowledge of piste patrol delaying rescue in this way until being guaranteed payment I'll stand corrected.
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without wishing to bump this, or worry people unnecessarily, my wife was bloodwaggoned off a piste in Italy two years ago (so 22/23 season), and the friendly patroller whipped out his epos terminal to take the 250euros off me, without which he wasn't going to take her off the piste.
FWIW, she was 'walking wounded' and could have downloaded on a pedestrian accessible chairlift, but the lifties had seen us helping her walk, and they'd called piste patrol.
So in short, you can expect to be charged at the point of 'collection', assuming you're in a position to pay.
(as an aside, some years back in St Anton, we were in the Underground bar, having an early evening drink, and two patrollers burst in carrying an unconscious skier who they somewhat unceremoniously dumped in front of the bar.... not sure whether he was known to the patrollers (or the bar owner), but they obviously figured he wasn't in a position to pay. Suspect that is a frequent occurrenc in the early evening below the Mooserwirt, so probably not representative of normal 'ski insurance events').
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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’ve not heard of anyone being evacuated off a mountain here in Austria who was expected to pay there and then. This includes someone in the family, who was here on holiday, and required being taken to the hospital in Salzburg via helicopter. The (UK) insurance settled the matter a few months later.
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@Jäger, Interesting; in the Ski Amade we have the My Friends card (free) and one of the selling points is free evacuation off the mountain excluding heli. I've never really given any thought to whether one has to pay there and then, but I suspect not.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Jäger wrote: |
| I’ve not heard of anyone being evacuated off a mountain here in Austria who was expected to pay there and then.... |
Things may have changed, but I did my ACL in Lech 2008.
Blood wagon off mountain; ambulance to clinic; X-ray + MRI scan at the clinic - I had to pay the whole bill at the clinic, then claim back off my insurance afterwards.
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