Poster: A snowHead
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Hey everyone. Here in Canada and the States gas prices is driving people crazy. Many are not going on vacations at all and have cancelled. Is it effecting you.
Bye the way. I don't take summer off. I have golf and mountain biking reports during the summer. www.tremblant-insider.com incase you guys are thinking of visiting us for the summer.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Since the original price of the stuff over there was about a tenth of what we pay here, I think you may muster little sympathy.
Try a more efficient car.
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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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You are right, JB007.
We have just cancelled our holiday to Sun Peaks next February.
Normally I pay for ski trips from my annual bonus and saving. This year because of the credit crunch and housing market there clearly will not be any bonus. With the soaring cost of fuel etc etc savings are going to be less. We are therefore missing this next winter and hoping for an improvement next year. We'll certainly be looking at resorts cheaper than Whistler which we found to be very expensive in March this year (particularly in view of the CAD/pound exchange rate)
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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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Bizzarely the impact in Europe has been softened by our high fuel taxes ... stick with me on this!
In a hypothetical world where petrol costs £1/gallon and tax is £2/gallon (£3 total) then a 50% increase in pre-tax petrol costs only (!) leads on to a 17% increase in prices at the pump.
In a scenario where fuel is £1/gallon and tax is just £0.50 (£1.50 total) then the same 50% increase leads to a 33% uplift at the pump.
Not quite that straightforward in reality as there is also VAT on fuel etc but you get the point.
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As a rule Europeans tend to drive more efficient cars (trucks for city dwellers are laughed at over here – mostly and Lux 4x4’s are going the same way) and we are lagging the US in terms of the economic effect of credit and inflation.
As noted above my fuel last night was £1.19 per litre or $8.77 per US gallon at $1.95.
Although I still think it will have some impact. Driving is now 20% more expensive in fuel and another 20% in exchange for UK residents. Flights maybe the same I haven’t checked. What’s going to give? Our summer holiday but not the winter one at the moment..
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Sure makes me think twice of doing any road-trip this summer or next summer, but winter holidays? naaaaaaaah
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cfc5mu0, I make that more like $10.6 per gallon - or is the US gallon smaller than the British one?
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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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doublepost
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Mon 16-06-08 19:39; edited 1 time in total
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I found some petrol at 113.9 per litre yesterday - very exciting. Possibly the cheapest petrol in the Home Counties at the moment?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Sad isn't it when that kind of price looks good! I got very excited this morning when I spotted the Euro had nearly reached the dizzy heights of €1.27/£1 ...
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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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snowball wrote: |
cfc5mu0, I make that more like $10.6 per gallon - or is the US gallon smaller than the British one? |
A US gallon is 3.785411784 litres
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Last weekend I had to visit our apartment in Ste Foy. Usually I have my foot to the floor all the way and average 26-27 miles to the gallon. This trip I set the cruise control at 75mph there and back and averaged 33 mpg Also I only filled up at a Calais supermarket and an Albertville supermarket €1.40 per litre against €1.53 per litre on the autoroutes. I have calculated that I got and extra 120 miles per tank on speed alone and saved €10.00 per tank.
Worth thinking about on your next trip to the mountains!
Vehicle in question, Renault Espace 2.2 tdi auto.
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You know it makes sense.
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Fogliettaz, How were your journey times?
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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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Frosty the Snowman,
I was just about to add they were the same 13.5 hrs door to door, Essex > Ste Foy via the ferry, 2 double expresso stops either way!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Fogliettaz, And how long does it take with the pedal to the metal.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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snowball, there are 1.2 US gallons to an Imperial gallon (approx).
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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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Frosty the Snowman, Pedal to the metal, it still takes 13.5 hrs. That said I usually have a wife and 2 teenagers in the car with me and pit stops take that much longer! I only ever stop twice either way as Calais > Ste Foy = 9 hrs, 3 x 3 x 3.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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vetski, It is still cheaper than Evian at motorway services!!!
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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 cycle to work and take a packed lunch instead of buying in sandwich shops to negate the effects of fuel increases, I appreciate not everyone can cycle to work but car sharing could be an alternative for a lot more people. Personally as a finite rescourse I think fuel should be expensive but with subsidys for haulage, farmers and taxi companys. Theres no way fuel efficient cars would ahve been built unless fuel was expensive. We must do more.
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Quote: |
Personally as a finite rescourse I think fuel should be expensive
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I agree with that in principle - trouble is that years of very cheap fuel (yes, not as cheap as the US, they're even worse) has led us to organise our lives in ridiculous ways - like living in places where the only way to get the kids to school is to drive them by car (something we've actually always managed to avoid) or having to drive miles to work every day. The system needs to adjust, but that doesn't negate the pain in the short and medium term. Still, if our worst problem is how to make our ski holiday (s) more affordable, we don't have too much to worry about.
I have started driving slower too (not that I've ever been anywhere with my foot to the floor), which gives us the best part of 50 mpg (diesel). And have just applied for my OAP bus pass which I shall use for local shopping trips to Chichester and Portsmouth etc. I also cycle short distances. My daughter is starting her first full time job, as a teacher, shortly and is doing a recce today to find out how feasible it is going to be to cycle. It's 8.5 miles, which is not too bad, but the obvious route is on a horrific main road, so she's sussing out some alternatives. She did say she'd get herself a better bike if she's going to cycle.
In half an hour I'll be walking to my French workshop, but as that's only a 10 minute walk I don't feel too virtuous...
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Quote: |
or is the US gallon smaller than the British one
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U.S. liquid gallon is legally defined as 231 in³, which is equal to 3.785411784 litres (exactly)
Imperial (UK) gallon is legally defined as 4.54609 litres
You see how I wow the women in bars with that sort of knowledge?????
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Quote: |
there are 1.2 US gallons to an Imperial gallon
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What was wrong with having the same gallon as everyone else, I wonder?
Almost as annoying as fanny meaning something different, etc...
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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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Oops, missed smiley. Here it is
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jonm, the Yanks will tell you that we altered the gallon after they became independent.
I don't know what 'fanny' meant in 1776. (I could make an educated guess, obviously).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Quote: |
What was wrong with having the same gallon as everyone else, I wonder?
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Who exactly is "everyone else"?
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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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Whoever else still uses gallons. Probably not many places now, actually. I was just joking about things being different in the US...
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jonm, I know - me too.
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You know it makes sense.
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laundryman, I had to think about 'gas' in the thread title too, I wondered at first how the price of that stuff which fuels my cooker and boiler could possibly affect my ski trips...
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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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I've been "lucky" that I dislike driving (or rather, driving out of neccecity) so much. I hate the time wasted behind wheels. The whole idea of having to pay attention but doing absolutely nothing is just hard for me. I'd much rather read or take a nap while sitting in a commuter train/ferry/bus (in that order ).
As a result, everywhere I live, I always choose a (somewhat) central location not too far from (some sort of) public transportation, or a neighborhood that's condusive to cycling to shops/work. So the gas price doesn't really affect me directly given I use my car so sparingly.
Though granted, the gas price got passed along indirectly as higher prices for everything else. That, does affect me. Though (hopefully) not to the extent it'll alter my lifestyle. It'll take a much bigger inflation to change MY lifestyle.
I don't take much long (time or distance) vacatoins in the summer. So the impact of gas price is not immediate for me yet. If, however, gas price stay high (or higher) come winter time, it WILL most definitely affect my skiing plan. About half of my skiing is done "locally" within the region. But the better resorts are some distance away. So the higher gas price will quite likely to affect the frequency of such long drives. Though in the grand scheme of things, gas price is but a very small portion of my vacation expense (and insignificant for daily routine) it's effect is relatively small.
I didn't arrive at this position out of intelligence or concience, just pure luck of my disliking driving...
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Poster: A snowHead
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jonm wrote: |
laundryman, I had to think about 'gas' in the thread title too, I wondered at first how the price of that stuff which fuels my cooker and boiler could possibly affect my ski trips... |
Actually, the original poster should think in terms of "oil".
It didn't make headlines then. But crude oil price gone up and heating oil had gone right up with it. And that was back in Jan/Feb! Much of US/Canada lies in the snowbelt and most home owner (or even renters) had to shell out considerable extra to heat their home the last few months of winter!!!
But for some reason, the high cost of heating oil simply didn't make the headline then. But the gasoline price does. Probably because people only pay heating oil once a month but have to "gas up" every 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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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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stanton, I did some research on "chip oil" fuel, in the states (surprisingly!) there are some seriously good home made systems. The best one's seem to have a warming element down the fuel line to keep the bodiesel liquid enought to stop it clogging. I think they still have a problem with the HPDI (high pressure diesels) that many people now drive, the injectors are I think too small and get clogged still. Neat idea, if you've got a really old diesel it would be great to convert it, anyone here tried ?
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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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Frosty, My previous Mazda Campervan would run happily on a mix of diesel and anything up to 50% ordinary vegetable oil. Trouble is lots of people hooked on to that idea and the price of vegetable oil shot up. Not sure it really ethical to use food as fuel anymore. The supply of WVO (waste vegetable oil) is pretty small overall so it is not really going to generate much research and development.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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No i thought i'd starve the family of all other luxuries so bye bye chocolate crisps cd's dvd's.Let them walk or cycle everywhere and yee haaa i still got me 3 ski trips nad hopefully will get a sneeky fourth one in wi me papa.
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My strategy of moving to a job where I get the fuel paid seems better and better. Come on winter!
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Not so sure how cost of car fuel affects us and the skiing.
I run a 3.2 diesel Mitsubishi so may get accused of a big fuel consumer except the car is over 3 years but clocked up just 18,000 miles, so my car use is possibly 1/3 of an average car user.
For skiing trip my fuel cost averages between 10 to 15% with the recent years it is closer to the 15%. That is to skiing anywhere in the Alps I want in a two weeks trip. Thus if the fuel cost is 30% up overall it would be 1.3*15 = 19.5% to me. I suspect my crossing would be increased too. Last year the crossing and the fuel was 30% of my skiing cost.
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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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Fogliettaz wrote: |
Last weekend I had to visit our apartment in Ste Foy. Usually I have my foot to the floor all the way and average 26-27 miles to the gallon. This trip I set the cruise control at 75mph there and back and averaged 33 mpg Also I only filled up at a Calais supermarket and an Albertville supermarket €1.40 per litre against €1.53 per litre on the autoroutes. I have calculated that I got and extra 120 miles per tank on speed alone and saved €10.00 per tank.
Worth thinking about on your next trip to the mountains!
Vehicle in question, Renault Espace 2.2 tdi auto. |
That's really interesting to me. I average 30mpg in my Espace 3.0Dci V6 Auto with a Top Box on. Cruise set to 150kph. Surprising that the 2.2 is less economical than the 3.0, maybe because it's working a bit harder. I get near 40mpg without the box and if I knock the mph down.
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