 Poster: A snowHead
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I suspect the answer for most Snowheads will be 'No'.
I have heard of Brits doing this, but the way it was worded suggested it was considered 'bad form'.
There is a report about Spanish ski resorts that suggests hotels are expecting 50% cancellations (yes 50%) at the beginning of the Spanish ski season due to snow conditions.
I suppose the UK market must be a godsend for foreign ski resorts. We are often locked into packages, though behaviour patterns may change with the growth in DIY holidays.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bring it on! The more people who cancel, the less crowded it'll be for the rest of us who aren't so precious as to demand perfect snow conditions every time. I've had many a brilliant, dirt cheap last minute holiday when the companies were trying desperately to fill empty beds. I'm off to Tignes next week in the full knowledge that it may not snow before then, but there's always the glacier and the fondue.
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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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scream, With that attidue you will always have a good time. It really does help in life to be cheery and optomistic.
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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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Frosty the Snowman, and being very, very greedy also pays divididends I find....
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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 take a good pair of walking boots with me. Not had to use them yet, except for wandering around the town. But hill walking, if lack of snow leaves the mountain bare, is always an option. Of course I love skiing. but I also love the mountains, good food - and of course, good company.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Of course I love skiing. but I also love the mountains, good food - and of course, good company.
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Absolutley. All play their part in the equation, possibly equally, but I suspectthe latter is the most important.
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| achilles wrote: |
| I take a good pair of walking boots with me. Not had to use them yet... |
Exactly what I always did.... until this last trip to Tignes, when I decided not to as I'd never needed to use them before. For the first time ever not having any alternative "action footware" I not only had my first ever full day without being able to ski, but then another two as well (not due to lack of snow but high winds on the Grand Motte, and the incompetence of the STGM not being able to de-ice the cable car cable when the wind dropped).
BTW scream, if there's any likelihood of them not opening any lifts during the week, think carefully before buying a full week lift pass. I ended up buying a four day pass for €113, and the area was shut of the final day. They do not provide refunds for failing to provide the service for which you have paid, but issue you with a voucher for a future trip to the place that screwed you over. The marginal cost for that final day was €26, but they sent me a voucher for just €15, which has to be used before 30/Nov/2007. At present I have no inclination to do any such thing. And also, anyone taking early or late season trips, check for any limitations to period if your insurance covers piste closures: the policies that we checked (including the SCGB policy, and IIRC the BMC policy) only provide cover during the period December-March (so will frequently exclude cover for Easter trips).
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I always wear my walking boots on the journey there and back.
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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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Latchigo, it's a good idea. They're awkward things to pack - and you can be glad you have them on in the slush/snow of a resort.
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I've cancelled appartments once because of lack of snow. Very last minute though and had to pay the full amount anyway.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've never felt the need to cancel a ski trip. Always had enough snow to enjoy the skiing, even if there have been a few occasions when I was glad/wished I had been on rock skis.
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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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achilles, so do we take our walking boots. Like you, we've never had to use them, but I wouldn't mind a day or two walking if the snow conditions are poor. I just like outdoors, mountains, snow, great scenery and lots of good food and wine.
Having said that, a little bit of snow in Courchevel before end of January won't go amiss 
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GrahamN, thanks for the tip - sadly too late for me, already bought the lift pass - foolishly, for the whole area, not just Tignes. I was assuming it will still be possible to nip over to Val D as I think they have snow-making on the pass over, and that will open up the Val d glacier as well. But not much use if the lifts aren't opening. Never mind, no-one ever said ski-ing wasn't just a very uncomfortable way of tearing up £20 notes. And still not half as bad as the time I booked a week in Zermatt, plus ski pass, through Inghams and had to cancel several weeks beforehand. I got a proportionate refund for the holiday, but they refused to refund the price of the ski pass. It was no skin off my nose as my insurance paid, but I can't see how they can justify charging for something that they never had to buy in the first place - we all know they buy punters' lift passes at the last possible moment. Never gone near Inghams again
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You know it makes sense.
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Never gone near Inghams again
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Not at all impressed the only time we used them, for a party of 12. . A supposedly catered chalet in Alpbach turned out not to have the kitchen ready, and we had to eat dinner each evening in the hotel next door, owned by the landlords. Don't believe what you read about all Austrian hotel food being good; this was poor, and worse than the most basic chalet food we've had. They gave us a special downmarket menu. Plus, when the lift in the building broke down between floors at 2 am, with six people full of beer inside, the land lady told my son, who went to raise the alarm, to p##s off. Fortunately he speaks German and telephoned the fire brigade who got them out before their bladders gave way. A polite letter of complaint, on both scores, to Inghams did not get a reply.... The one good thing was that the chalet host was a super lad; it wasn't his fault. We had hired skis from Inghams too (didn't know any better in those days) and they were rubbish too....
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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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pam w, nor us, we had a distinct shortage of beds,2 instead of 3, and the best they could suggest was us buying an airbed, and the hotel providing us with the extra linen. Apparently it was illegal in Alberta for the hotel to put an extra bed in the room, but they couldn't object if we did it ourselves. They offered us a transfer to another hotel, but at an extra cost to us of about $1200 CA . They also tried to fleece us for the lift passes.
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