 Poster: A snowHead
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Can't think of one reason not to be on the first lift every morning. The joy of a new day in the mountains and peace and quiet for an hour or so is great whatever the conditions. Of course powder days are best - but a blast down the Creux at Courchevel with no-one at all in front of you - having come up from Mottaret side is hard to beat too.
I used to be a last lift person too - but that seems less important now - unless conditions are good.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Depends who I'm skiing with and what the conditions are like.
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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.
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I get up at about 8 oclock and it don't take long to get ready. Simply wash, have breakfast get into ski gear and go. Normally on the first lift.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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It baffles me why the lifts run for such a short time - some places it only seems to be about 9 til 4 - and there is often plenty more daylight than that. We are normally on pretty much the first lift, and will generally finish skiing at 4 - 5pm, but we do often have a Gluhwein stop at 11ish, lunch, and an afternoon beer stop.
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| Ayrshire Andy wrote: |
| Can't think of one reason not to be on the first lift every morning. . |
BEER! 
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| RobinS wrote: |
| It baffles me why the lifts run for such a short time - some places it only seems to be about 9 til 4 - and there is often plenty more daylight than that. We are normally on pretty much the first lift, and will generally finish skiing at 4 - 5pm, but we do often have a Gluhwein stop at 11ish, lunch, and an afternoon beer stop. |
Well the pistepatrol will be up a 1st light and if theres been big dumps it could easily take them a few hours to prepare the mountain. As to closing times I seem to recollect most french places seem to be around 16:30 for the main lifts up from base - certainly I remember running to get the lift in ADH at 16:29.. In Les Arcs then a lot of the lifts don't close to 5 after 1/2 term. Bear in mind they need to still have light so that they can do an 'end of day straggler sweep'
Simple solution for you to get more skiing, drop the 3 stop strategy and have one for lunch - job done...
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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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Used to spend every New Year in a hotel on the top of a mountain with friends. As soon as the lifts started in the morning I set off down. One windy morning the lifts started I raced down on an empty piste only to find they were running the lifts to take the chairs off as it was too windy. 
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I always try and get up as early as I can, but rarely first lift. Often skiing until the last lift though. One of the best runs I've ever had was when I set off down the Schilthorn just in front of the piste patrol at the very end of the day.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| RobinS wrote: |
| It baffles me why the lifts run for such a short time - some places it only seems to be about 9 til 4 - and there is often plenty more daylight than that. |
It does start getting cold though. I remember doing 'just one more run' at the end of a day in Verbier and becoming quite aware that it seemed to be dropping about a degree every 15 minutes. By the time I got to the bottom I was unbelievably cold (my face remained slightly numb for several days afterwards, not kidding), and actually pretty scared.
So maybe that's why. To stop dumbasses like me freezing themselves to death.
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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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| paulio wrote: |
| RobinS wrote: |
| It baffles me why the lifts run for such a short time - some places it only seems to be about 9 til 4 - and there is often plenty more daylight than that. |
It does start getting cold though. I remember doing 'just one more run' at the end of a day in Verbier and becoming quite aware that it seemed to be dropping about a degree every 15 minutes. By the time I got to the bottom I was unbelievably cold (my face remained slightly numb for several days afterwards, not kidding), and actually pretty scared.
So maybe that's why. To stop dumbasses like me freezing themselves to death. |
Apart from the mate of mine who was being downloaded on a chair with a broken arm when they turned the lifts off..by this stage her mobile had run out of juice...
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bertie bassett, bloody hell. That's crazy.
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You know it makes sense.
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Ayrshire Andy, you are mad. Another true  .
I always wake up ravenous, getting up is easy when you smell the bacon & see fresh snow outside.
I do like to take my time getting organised but only put on top layers on at last moment & don't like to rush & arrive at the lift sweaty. If I miss the first lift, no problem I can take the second lift and overtake on the piste, have a hot chocolate with rum & overtake again. I hope to get several weeks skiing in the season so no desperate need to maximise every day if its por visibility & no rush in a thaw/freeze overnight/thaw situation.
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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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First and last lifts is the rule for our trips. Generally find no one has a problem getting up, esp when Basement Jaxx is blasting throughout the apartment, duvets are ripped off, and if someone feeling a little delicate and indeed of a lie in, well then we give them five mins (very generous is us) and then drag them into brekkie!
Ah, hard to beat a good first and last run, happy, happy days!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Best reason to ski in North America: jet-lag makes it EASY to be up and waiting for the lifts to open 
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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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Mouth, yes he has......out of his bedroom window 
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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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Certainly not mad, and first lifts are a great thing.
However, following our holiday last season I've decided that last lifts are where its at; particularly if you can assist your descent by the addition of one or two mountainside ales. Seeing the sun start to come down over a pretty much empty piste with a warm glow of beer and one final run to complete is an awesome feeling.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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alex_heney, quite similar to my story that  Glad to know there are other plonkers out there.
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We normally get up and out early - not always first lift though unless in Canada. We don't ski until last lift - too tired by then and I always think we're going to be stranded out somewhere
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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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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Have to, have to be up for the first lifts! We are morning people anyway but the excitement gets the better of us. It's not always such a hot idea though; the snow can be very frosty/crusty sometimes but what's wrong with getting up top early and having a coffee to get the show on the road? You are ahead of the posse.
We'll do last-ish lift too but usually we're getting a bit wrecked at that stage, the snow is gone all mogully and there's a bit of fear that a great day could end up in a fall or em .. a row 
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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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I really wish we could always do this on powder days- but dumping kids into ski school makes things more leisurely.
Did manage (doing an early start ticket) to ski 0800 - 1730 and 10000m vertical off piste stuff in Fernie one day last year. Which was nice.
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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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| papasmurf wrote: |
| On holiday I refuse to get up ealier then I would for work |
You mean you're more motivated getting going for work than you do going skiing?
For me, I have a lot more motivation getting up early to do what I like to do (skiing), far less of it doing what I "have to" do (work). Hence, I have no trouble hitting the first lift but occasionally miss the early morning meeting in the office.
| paulio wrote: |
| RobinS wrote: |
| It baffles me why the lifts run for such a short time - some places it only seems to be about 9 til 4 - and there is often plenty more daylight than that. |
It does start getting cold though. |
But not in April. The sun doesn't go down till well after 6! Why stop the lift at 4:30? Though I suspect this is a European thing? In N.A., it's pretty common to run the lift all the way till 5:30 after daylight saving time starts (March/April).
Anyway, I'm not neccessarily a "first lift" person, especially where the lift starts turning at 8! Still, definitely not sleeping in till 11 kind either, typically 9-9:30'ish. The main reason for starting early is so I have plenty of time to stop, relax, AND still have plenty of skiing in, WITHOUT skiing till the last lift if it's cold. So, the earlier the lift closes, the earlier I start!
For all the talk about frozen piste in the morning, the late day snow condition is just as trecherous (if not more). The moment the sun slips behind the mountain, the piste in the shadow turns to solid ICE!!! Not to mention having to dodge all the half-drunk beginers snowplowing down the only one piste back to the village. At least in the morning, I can only get hurt due to my OWN stupidity. Oh wait, that's bad, I have no excuse...OK, sleep in and avoid the frozen empty piste in the morning and just do the frozen piste with the crowd at last lift.
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Wed 3-12-08 10:38; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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| johnboy wrote: |
| I am a first tracks guy, but I do like plenty of stops, long lunches. Also aim to be at the top around 4.30, wait till it gets quiet and have a burn down to the Apres bars |
I'm in the johnboy school of thought - can get up for skiing but not so easily for work 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I usually miss the first lift on account of the huge breakfast I eat. I have to have a lie down afterwards. 
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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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Oh yes, that wonderful pink light catching the mountain tops in the evening and the valley in shadow. Nobody on the mountain. Fantastic.
Once two years ago at St Anton it was really dark when we got down from a fairly long climb up and long ski down - arriving to the lights of a hamlet down the valley about 6.30 with our guide - to find the taxi he had ordered when we were nearing the bottom waiting for us.
And in the morning of course you have to go up well before the ski school - obviously.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I usually aim for the first half hour or so, but have been known to have the occasional late start and get on the slopes in time for lunch
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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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Related question: why is it that at least in every hotel I've stayed at in the Alps, breakfast is served at an hour that makes it literally impossible to both eat it and make the first lift? We mostly stay in holiday flats, so not an issue, but of the times we've stayed in hotels I've only once actually had their breakfast (last winter in Engelberg, the mountain closed down completely due to a storm).
To their credit, the hotel staff in Garmisch-Partenkirchen asked us one morning why we weren't eating breakfast, and from then on they had a to go sack waiting for us in the morning.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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ami in berlin, strange, I've never found that  Perhaps worth a thread of its own if others have this problem.
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ami in berlin, If breakfast was part of your package, you not eating it is what us Hoteliers call profit
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ami in berlin, I've never found taht an issue.
First lift is usually about 8:30, sometimes later.
Breakfast is usually available from about 7:30 - 7:45 IME, or at worst from 8:00.
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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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As I wrote, my expeience is somewhat limted because we normally stay in a rental flat. The earliest breakfast start time I've seen is 8:00, and the latest at an absurb 9:30 on Sundays. Now, if you're not staying right next to the lift, even an 8:00 start to breakfast is going to make it difficult to get to the lift when it starts running.
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FAQ
but it's worth it when you finally pull that bar down and feel the cold air cool you down after all the rushing aaaahhhh lovely
