 Poster: A snowHead
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First ever ski holiday:
Finished work on time to get to the airport but finds out there's a delay on the trains. Decide to jump in a taxi and tells the driver to step on it. Gets to the airport with minutes to go but pays the driver 6x the original booked train fare. Get to the Ryanair desk and told the check in desk has already closed even though had no baggage to check in (friend decide not to bother with online check-in)... Gets a phone call from mates on the same flight to say that there's a delay and they're still waiting at the gate because the plane hasn't arrived yet (plane took off 40mins late in the end)... Gets another phone call to say that they waited as long as they could (until the desk closed) and that everyone who stayed on the train made check-in....
Sleep over in the airport. Buy the full fare for the next flight out. Find out how to get from Milan Bergamo into the alps with public transport using the £2 for 10mins internet kiosk having never been to a ski resort before.
Arrive 5pm next day at resort.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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2nd morning in 3V, thinking "I've finally got the hang of this skiing lark". The great ski god was clearly listening, I slipped and started to slide downhill. "What a jolly jape" thought I. As my speed picked up I dug my skis in in what I understood to be the approved fashion, only to see them arrowing skywards. It was at this point I started to bounce (helmetless in those days). Luckily there was a small path running across the piste and I came to a halt. Dusted myself down and did a couple of runs till lunchtime. Felt a bit woozy after lunch so made my way back to the chalet and fell asleep in the bath.
Turned out I had chipped the bone at top of my arm near the shoulder, mangled my rotator cuff, my sunglasses had caused a fracture to my cheekbone which in turn had "released" a calcified abscess in a tooth. My how I enjoyed the rest of that week.
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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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4 days in Tignes with me, Mr firebug, Tim & Jim
Day 1, mr firebug gets a call, he has to drive back to London for a job. We go out for dinner and Tim loses his wallet and passport
Day 2, After a tedious morning with reluctant gendarmes, we get on the snow. Tim breaks his hand and gets trucked off to hospital. As he's lost all his ID and money, we all pool in to cover the costs. Jim and I have slightly awkward dinner as we don't know each other that well and the waiter thinks we're on a date and keeps lowering lights & winking.
Day 3, Jim drives down to see how Tim is. On the way back, he stops off at McDonalds and gets severe food poisoning.
Day 4 we successfully sneak Tim over the border to Geneva and try and have a good night out there, resulting in more fail.
Still you gotta laugh!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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firebug,  what a nightmare!
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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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firebug, who are Tim and Jim?
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firebug,
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Frosty the Snowman, you loved it you whore 
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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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Had lots of 'adventures' but can't recall a bad skiing holiday...and I doubt I have had one.
Lots of late finishes in the dark, a broken gearbox, a blown engine, etc etc etc but these never impacted on the week.
Had a few things like cold rooms and crummy breakfasts, but still enjoyed it.
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firebug,
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And the accomodation was hideous. It was supposed to sleep 8 so we though it would be a good size for 4, but there were 2 fold down bunks in the hall, and 2 in the kitchen over the table
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Sounds like the Palafour, had a bit of an argument there once as to whether or not my wife and I had an appartment booked, on producing the receipt they eventually acknowleged that we had. We finaly got aver grotty and very small appartment for six with similar lay out to yours. Just big enough for the two of us but still pretty grotty. Good holiday though.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Sounds a bit like my trip to JH in 2001 - 2nd week was like ski-ing in porridge -not been back since. Got sick and tired of the audible warnings on "the tram" about the dangers of venturing in to the back country - you don't get that in Alagna or Andermatt 
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Only been skiing 3 weeks and no disasters yet (first year was Jan 2007 and I didn't really know any better re the lack of snow) but I haven't ever laughed so much before when reading a thread about skiing, so thanks! I see I've got a lot to look forward to!!
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You know it makes sense.
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*Begins to get worried about January in the Milkyway, italy*
All this talk of nasty accom and food poisoning is not nice, and then there are the injuries too...
And then the lack of snow... THAT has to be the MOST nightmare-ous of it all.
The worst I've had was the Zillertal arena in Feb 2007 - bad season for snow. Great holiday but snow was pants and at 1650 it was 17 Degrees Celcius.
Last year, a now ex-colleague of mine went to Whistler, I think it was, and the first week it was the warmest it had ever been, and ther was no snowfall, then the week later, it was about -18 with no snowfall...! For somewhere like that, it has to be disasterous!
bobblehat, nice to see someone from Shoreham, I work there.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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The worst was about 19 years ago when my spousal unit sent me on an urgent wild goose chase for a breast pump in Aspen. I had successfully convinced her to leave our 4 month old son at home with grandma for a ski escape, but unbeknownst to me she hadn't completely weaned him yet. After a couple days in Aspen she was in agony and I was in hot water. Did I mention that our troubles were later mitigated by 30" of snow in 30 hours 
All's well that ends well.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
my spousal unit sent me on an urgent wild goose chase for a breast pump in Aspen.
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lucky33,  I bet you're glad you didn't have to do that in a foreign language with the aim of a bit of miming. I can just imagine trying to do that at a French Pharmacy. And poor old grandma, too - I bet she felt worse than useless!
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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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| Mr.Si wrote: |
The worst I've had was the Zillertal arena in Feb 2007 - bad season for snow. Great holiday but snow was pants and at 1650 it was 17 Degrees Celcius.
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But the Zillertal was one of the better areas for snow in late January/early February that year.
I was in Neiderau in the 3rd week of January, and there was no snow at all on arrival. We were bused to Kaltenbach all week, where there was comparatively good snow, although the home run under the gondola wasn't open even there until the Thursday.
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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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March this year. St Sorlin D'Arves with Crystal on a reasonable late-ish deal.
The Saturday morning check-in queue at Gatwick was awful with about 4? Thompson flights being dealt with at the same time so we snaked out of the building and along the drop-off area. Very badly managed.
Chambery was actually OK - I've heard that they sometimes have trouble coping with the volume there.
The small coach up to the resort was a bit cramped with narrow seats but not a long journey so just about OK. That's quite a road out of the Maurienne valley.
Accommodation was a very short walk to a piste, all but ski-in, ski-out (this was to prove even more of a plus point later)
First two days lovely weather, good snow at altitude.
Third day started well in the morning with a lot of laughs when we followed a group of friendly Dutch people down under the bottom chairlift (not a piste) all to avoid a long drag lift. Pratfalls all round.
In the afternoon the weather closed in and we should have gone shopping or to the cheese factory.
However - you don't want to waste skiing time on a 1-week holiday do you?
Result - the OH fell forward on a steeper bit at the top of a blue run and tore a calf muscle.
Visit to the doctor resulted in crutches and lots of meds - end of skiing that season for OH.
This is where the closeness of the apartment to the slopes really paid off as I was able to ski a bit each day and return for lunch.
On one of the better days she sat outside the bar next to the slope as we had drinks together.
The Crystal rep was excellent and we had a people carrier to ourselves for the transfer with a wheelchair waiting for us at Chambery. We also got taken to the front of the check-in and security queues.
At Gatwick, however they kept us waiting for at least half an hour on the plane until a lady turned up with a wheel chair - there was another person on the flight who needed it too but they only sent the one. Took ages to for OH to get to baggage reclaim.
So full marks to the Crystal rep, nul points for Gatwick.
Back in the UK - Hospital on the Monday - ultrasound scan revealed a DVT!!
She was on Warfarin for several weeks until the medics were happy.
I've taken two things from this -
1. Make sure your ski boots fit properly - I'm pretty sure the hire boots were too loose in the heel (OH has slightly larger than normal calves and she sometimes has trouble getting a good fit) and that, combined with them having too much forward flex for her is why the bindings failed to release - yes I did check the settings, they were fine. We're off to La Rosiere for Christmas and she now has a brand new pair of custom-fitted boots.
2. Sit out really bad weather - however much you're champing at the bit.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| agw wrote: |
Result - the OH fell forward on a steeper bit at the top of a blue run and tore a calf muscle.
Visit to the doctor resulted in crutches and lots of meds - end of skiing that season for OH.
This is where the closeness of the apartment to the slopes really paid off as I was able to ski a bit each day and return for lunch.
On one of the better days she sat outside the bar next to the slope as we had drinks together.
The Crystal rep was excellent and we had a people carrier to ourselves for the transfer with a wheelchair waiting for us at Chambery. We also got taken to the front of the check-in and security queues.
At Gatwick, however they kept us waiting for at least half an hour on the plane until a lady turned up with a wheel chair - there was another person on the flight who needed it too but they only sent the one. Took ages to for OH to get to baggage reclaim.
So full marks to the Crystal rep, nul points for Gatwick.
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She sounds a bit wimpy to me - I tore my calf muscle in Feb and went skiing 2 days later...
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Worst trip ever, well not for me, but the group as a whole.
School trip, over Christmas 20+ years ago, to one of the smaller Austrian resorts. These are just the highlights.
Afternoon of day 1. Bad fall on ice, hospitalisation for the rest of the week with concussion.
Morning of day 2. T-bar in face, broken nose, and very near hospitalisation.
Afternoon of day 2. Lost lift pass (same guy as the broken nose). Luckily could use the pass of the guy in hospital.
3 relatively trouble free days.
Morning of day 6. Small fall, but serious concussion - hospitalisation for another week.
Afternoon of day 6. Last run of the holiday, over a small jump and bosh - broken leg. Another hospitalisation for a week.
Still, the teacher leading the trip got an extra week in resort, paid for by the insurance, to look after (or should that be visit after a day skiing) the lads stuck in hospital.
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bertie bassett, there is torn...and there is torn.
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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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| bertie bassett wrote: |
She sounds a bit wimpy to me - I tore my calf muscle in Feb and went skiing 2 days later... |
I did the same the season before last, in the Zillertal.
I tore it on the first day, skipped the 2nd day, but managed to get the boot on and ski all the remaining days of the trip.
Result - it took about 6 weeks to heal when I got home, rather than the 1-2 weeks it would have taken if I had rested it instead of skiing, but worth it. 
My wife was NOT pleased when she saw the state of my leg when I arrived home!
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Lost lift pass (same guy as the broken nose). Luckily could use the pass of the guy in hospital.
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Every cloud has a silver lining.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| bertie bassett wrote: |
She sounds a bit wimpy to me - I tore my calf muscle in Feb and went skiing 2 days later... |
Them's fighting words Bertie!
She had bruising from her ankle to above the knee and a massive haematoma in her calf muscle. Her lower leg took on the aspect of a large ham. She couldn't have skied two months later, never mind two days.
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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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| agw wrote: |
| bertie bassett wrote: |
She sounds a bit wimpy to me - I tore my calf muscle in Feb and went skiing 2 days later... |
Them's fighting words Bertie!
She had bruising from her ankle to above the knee and a massive haematoma in her calf muscle. Her lower leg took on the aspect of a large ham. She couldn't have skied two months later, never mind two days. |
As agw points out, it will depend on the severity of the tear. We had a customer return still having problems after tearing his calf muscle the year before. His job meant he was on his feet most of the day which may have also contributed.
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FAQ
surgical corset for ribs and an arm brace type thing !!
