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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
bertie bassett, go to any top resort in the states, ask any good skier what resort they would most like to ski in yurp... nearly all will tell you chamonix, the rest will say verbier....there is a reason for that...........



okbye
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
xyzpaul, like most things, it's a scale. The blatant pluggers at the 10 end of the scale and get 'TGRed' off but in politer way. There are the barely plug and the borderline. Generally the longer someone has been around and the more posts they've made that are not specific to what they have to plug, the more I'd trust them. But like snowpatrol, says, in hilarious fashion, you'll get to know over time.
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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?
snowpatrol, I would guess that the average US skier has only heard of 2 or 3 European ski resorts so they're probably not the most reliable informants. Chamonix is world famous not so much for skiing but rather as a world centre of "alpinisme". I love going up lifts with gnarly blokes dripping with ironmongery but it's not exactly "gemutlich". (What's the French for "gemutlich"? And how do you do an umlaut?)

I think it's perfectly OK to not be too fond of Chamonix - it has big strong points, and big weak points - anyone thinking of going there for the first time needs to know about both.

It's the people who refuse to hear - or provide - any "cons" for their favourite resorts who should be distrusted. They all have them, that's for sure.
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snowpatrol, talking to people in the states about European resorts hardly prove that they are the best, they are big names and as pam w says, have their strong points and weak points. Which is why a forum such as this is good, you get the view points of both sides and if someone tries to sell it without mentioning the negatives, someone else will quickly be along to tell the person otherwise.

Ask a European which North American resorts they'd like to visit, Banff and Whistler tend to come up the most, would that be the same if you asked somebody from there? Probably not.

edit, spelling Embarassed
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
"gemutlich" est pour les wusses!!!
*jangles hand-forged pitons

Smile

edit - Is it really universally portrayed that way here, though? Reading through posts here about Chamonix, I've always thought you get a pretty balanced viewpoint of it. It's not for everyone, for sure, I don't think many would deny it.
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snowpatrol wrote:
bertie bassett, go to any top resort in the states, ask any good skier what resort they would most like to ski in yurp... nearly all will tell you chamonix, the rest will say verbier....there is a reason for that...........


Could it be because they have never been to Serre Chevalier???
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
snowpatrol wrote:
bertie bassett, go to any top resort in the states, ask any good skier what resort they would most like to ski in yurp... nearly all will tell you chamonix, the rest will say verbier....there is a reason for that...........


Yep.

Reputation, much of it undeserved.

It all depends on what you are looking for, of course, but for most recreational skiers, there are better places to choose.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
pam w, anotherproblem, pistemeister, alex_heney,............. i'm not listening...............chamonix rules ok.......




okbye
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Quote:

i'm not listening.

well there's a surprise!
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
rolling eyes
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
TBH I think most Americans know about Chamonix because it featured so heavily in the seminal Blizzard of AAAAhhhhs

i just hope they don't get there expecting to find untracked lines in the Lavancher bowl 2 weeks after a storm
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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.
Arno wrote:
TBH I think most Americans know about Chamonix because it featured so heavily in the seminal Blizzard of AAAAhhhhs

i just hope they don't get there expecting to find untracked lines in the Lavancher bowl 2 weeks after a storm


I was riding a chairlift in Tahoe with a couple of guys who were local firefighters, 50ish good ole boys, low key but obviosuly solid skiers. Talk turned to skiing in Europe and one of the guys asked me if I'd ever been to Chamonix as his neighbour had been and really enjoyed it. I gave it a bit of general chat about how it was a nice place and how some of the skiing could be quite tough. The guy agreed that stacked up with what his friend had said and added that he'd watched a video of his friends trip and really wanted to go someday. It was only at the end of this conversation he said "Yep Glenn had a real good time".

Bet he does the same schtick with every tourist! Embarassed
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
hehe excellent.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Please don't dis-corage the septics from visiting Cham or Verbier. Very Happy
Best keep them in one or two resorts Toofy Grin and nowhere else.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

Please don't dis-corage the septics from visiting Cham or Verbier.

Intentional spelling mistake? Laughing
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
pam w wrote:
What's the French for "gemutlich"? And how do you do an umlaut?


Sympa? OK, no, but it's close.

You don't do umlauts on an english keyboard, but you can do umlauted characters by...(Windows only, it's probably easier on a Mac)
Hold down 'Alt' key and on the number keypad type
0228 for ä
0235 for ë
0239 for ï
0246 for ö
0252 for ü

Accented characters generally between 0192 and 0255.
PM me your email for a copy of my handy excel guide to what different characters look like in different fonts. Free to snowheads (and everyone).

DJ
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Gemütlich and Gemütlichkeit can't be translated - believe me we have tried (for professional translators it is a running gag so to speak!). The word in southern German/Austrian covers so many aspects in one word, it is impossible for translators to find a single word equivalent

The French nearest equivalents are: chaleureux/chaleureuse, confortable, douillet/douillette, familial/familiale but none of them encompass the whole concept as using the word gemütlich does!

It's a bit of a game that my colleagues and I play to see who can come up with the best translation in one word for difficult concepts like this particular word. I suppose that is why it is creeping into the English language like a lot of other words -e.g. Schadenfreude, Zeitgeist, Kindergarten, etc

DJ- there is also a list in MS-Word Help with all the ASCII codes for the special characters.

I cheat, I have the different keyboards which make life much easier! wink

Sue
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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?
Samerberg Sue wrote:
Zeitgeist

Is that really a difficult concept? Isn't "spirit of the times" a literal, accurate and natural-sounding translation (if clunkier)?
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on my windows machine it's:
AltGr-q for ä
AltGr-p for ö
AltGr-y for ü
AltGr-vowel give acute áéíóú
not found e or i with umlauts/diaresis yet, nor grave accents
on my linux machine, it's AltGr-: then the vowel of choice for umlauts, or AltGr-symbol then letter for all the other accents (never remember which symbol gives which accent)
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Samerberg Sue,

My spreadsheet gives you the wingdings & webdings stuff as well, though.

Actually I normally cheat too, but differently. I set the spellchecker in my WP to French/German, and just type without the accents and accept the corrections. Doesn't always work, but you do get a 'stock' of accented characters you can cut and paste.

DJ

Edit Andy, doesn't work for me. Maybe it's a german language keyboard file.
DJ
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When I used to type quite a lot of documents in (poor) French I used to used Microsofts Accessibility features to have an onscreen keyboard which I configured as a french keyboard. I found that easiest for accents, etc.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
DJ wrote:

Edit Andy, doesn't work for me. Maybe it's a german language keyboard file.
DJ


It works for the acute accents on mine in the office áéíóú but not for the umlauts. CTRL-ALT works the same way as Alt Gr too.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
snowpatrol, has a point here. But IMO the truth is most American skiers who travel to "Yurp" are more likely to be interested in what Cham and Verbier offer that sets them aside from other places. Of course they should add La Grave to that list (and many do), the majority of those making the trip will be more than recreational skiers.

Back on topic, rob@rar nailed it with the fact that local knowledge is appreciated but there are enough people on here who know their stuff to call out anyone making over the top claims.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
DJ, dunno. All I know is it's an International English KB and Windows. Regional Settings set to UK, but US International KB selected as default (although UK, US & French are installed options too).
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
laundryman, no it is not a difficult concept to translate in a multitude of words, but the single German word has crept into the English language which is what I was saying!

andy, those sound like someone programmed the short cuts for your machine/system! Which is probably why it didn't work for DJ and Alex. Using Word you can often get the accents by hitting the symbol key before typing the letter - doesn't work like that for the some though hence the need to know the ASCII codes - ALT and whatever number!


Sue
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Samerberg Sue, sorry, I did misinterpret your post. Embarassed
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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.
bertie bassett, that's a fair point. For many people it is up there as one of the best resorts ever. For many, it's not. And you are right that anyone searching on it should see a variety of opinions.

However,

"it's a smelly dump with tiny un-linked ski areas at the bottom of a dark valley

If there's any pow you need to be in the lift q at 07:30 to get any fresh

really it is VERY over-rated IMHO"

While I understand it's your opinion, and certainly balances many positive reports all on its own, I'm not entirely sure that it's quite as helpful as I'm sure you mean it to be. snowHead
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I think there's a balance to be had too.... I'm not a post count career but for instance if someone has had say 10 posts and in virtually everyone one of them they somehow manage to promote their business (not meaning signatures) but in the text and actually add nothing to the overall forum (in terms of content not ££££) then to my mind htye shoudl be called to order!!

That said if there were some structure of advertisers/sponsors/supporters who financially contributed to the forum then there shoudl be rules to accomodate them too..
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
xyzpaul, Well done for raising this issue. As somone with no commercial interests, I find it very irritating when, having commented about the good points in some resort, I get trumped by someone with chalets to rent in xxxx suggesting that I'm ill-informed & that it's so much better in xxxx.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Julian T, Offer your opinion without fear of being trumped. It is your opinion and is as valid as most others! Those who plug certain resorts are in general laughed at by this community! A snowHead with a vested interest in a particular resort plugged it so much that his chosen resort has the reputation of being the opposite to a "Carlsberg" resort, definiately not his intention but he is seen now as as source of fun and his opinion disregarded.

under a new name, Chamonix is disjointed! I cant say that I think it smells! but it is certainly disjointed!
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I have a vested interest in a certain apartment in Grimentz, but AFAIA I've never touted the resort in a general enquiry. Where I have knowledge of resorts that are suitable for certain levels of skier or for specific requirements, I have always pointed them towards those resorts.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
ssnowman, As I do! Our place rents out by local estate agent and as such do not need to advertise it on any forum!

On only a couple of occaisions have I recommended our place over others but that was because I thought it would be the best decision. I love the Dolomites and have a graw fot the place but alas no real estate there!! Crying or Very sad
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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?
As a near novice but keen reader of this forum I chose a lateish (4 weeks before departure) deal to La Ros when I could have gone to La Plagne (!). However I don't blame U-NO-WHO whose commercial interest was never hidden, but I was influenced by several other snowheads who used to praise the place to the skies for reasons I still can't fathom.
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under a new name wrote:
bertie bassett, that's a fair point. For many people it is up there as one of the best resorts ever. For many, it's not. And you are right that anyone searching on it should see a variety of opinions.

However,

"it's a smelly dump with tiny un-linked ski areas at the bottom of a dark valley

If there's any pow you need to be in the lift q at 07:30 to get any fresh

really it is VERY over-rated IMHO"

While I understand it's your opinion, and certainly balances many positive reports all on its own, I'm not entirely sure that it's quite as helpful as I'm sure you mean it to be. snowHead


Tiny un-linked ski ares - you can hardly dispute the unlinkedness, and given most bits only have 30km of pistes then that fits my definition of tiny. Ski every run in a day = tiny and I'd imagine most snowheads could do 30km of runs before tea time if not lunchtime.

Bottom of a dark valley - Pretty factually accurate in that you don't see the sun in the town in Dec/Jan. I understand some residents have the date circled in their calendar when they will get to see sunshine outside their house again.

If there's any pow you need to be in the lift q at 07:30 to get any fresh - perhaps over the top, but there's lots of stories on similar themes and I'm pretty certain most lift-served will be tracked in a couple of hours.

Smelly - Well I was certainly conscious of the fumes of the lorries going to /from the Mont Blanc when staying in Les Houches - when walking outside the chalet/hotel, I want to breathe fresh mountain air, not the diesel fumes coming out the back of a trans-european hauler.

Ok so calling it a dump is perhaps unfair and over-rated is subjective really but given that most average skiers like to plonk about on blue & red runs before stopping for lunch in a nice restaurant - perhaps meeting with friends from ski-school and then doing something different in the afternoon, there are tonnes of resorts that are better suited than Cham. If you're into hiking 30-60 minutes away from lifts and then jumping down tight colouirs or otherwise tricky off-piste then I'm sure there are very few places that match it BUT that is a very small proportion of the total number of UK skiers (10% possibly? I'm guessing here)
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
bertie bassett, Much less than 10%!
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I went to La Ros, because I could find accommodation, and as a 2nd week skier, it looked about the right sort of level, probably... Major point was it was a bad week to be looking for last minute, and there was an offer in budget and we could get flights to match. Really enjoyed it, La Rosiere was about the right level for me as a 2nd week skier, and it's gone on the list of somewhere to go back to when we're both good enough to do off piste (and have the money for the guide and heliskiing). Looked like a family friendly resort, not too busy in French half term and has a couple of lovely confidence giving blue runs. The sunsets were gorgeous too... I did do a fair amount of other research, looking at piste maps etc, but wouldn't have thought out how to go independently otherwise as transfers are such an expensive faff!

In hindsight, in a lot of ways, La Rosiere was better than somewhere like Val d'Isere or La Plagne would have been at that stage as I would not have managed to exploit the area available, and having been to Espace Killy last season, I would have have lost so much confidence every evening coming down into the resport at that stage. Although I hated one of the La Ros home runs (flat and narrow enough to be too scary to go fast enough to not have to skate/pole miles!) I could always get one more lift and come down my favourite Tetras at the end of the day. I did love Tignes last year, but was glad to have been somewhere else first so that I could get over most of the area (apart from most of the black pistes admittedly). However, being happy on most reds meant that I could get around the area to meet up with the rest of the group and avoid the pain of standing in a lift on the way down as standing in a lift after a full day's skiing really hurts my feet and calves. I was also more used to chairlifts (and even managed to use one on my own) which I would never have managed the previous year (drag lifts aren't so bad when you are afraid of heights...)

Can't seem to do grave accents on the internet, but in word they are ALT` and the vowel you want in word. "`" is top left on my keyboard, under esc and above tab.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Quote:

As somone with no commercial interests, I find it very irritating when, having commented about the good points in some resort, I get trumped by someone with chalets to rent in xxxx suggesting that I'm ill-informed & that it's so much better in xxxx.

Julian T, yes, I can imagine that's very annoying, but to be fair I think that the people on SHs who have property to rent in XXXX are generally upfront about it, aren't they? And given the argumentative nature of the forum it would only take a very modest amount of research to throw up conflicting opinions (e.g. anyone who went to La Rosiere because they could find nothing but positive comments about it can't have dug very deep).
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
bertie bassett, but with the advice a of a helpful local snowhead snowHead you could avoid many of those problems, so it's not surprising if people chip in to point out the reverse side.
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firebug wrote:
bertie bassett, but with the advice a of a helpful local snowhead snowHead you could avoid many of those problems, so it's not surprising if people chip in to point out the reverse side.


What you can fix the geography and give me 150 km of inter-linked pistes and sunshine in the valley in January?

Great - in that case can you get it to start snowing across all European ski resorts on Tuesday please and not stop til the day before we all drive upto the resort
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That's why I said many, not all! Smile

I was thinking specifically of the bits that don't get any sun at midwinter (these are almost all around Les Houches - so don't stay on the north side of that part of the valley in January if you want sun - there is plenty of sun elsewhere, even in January), the potential for road noise & smell (so, be careful of anywhere near the autoroute blanche, again, this stops before the town itself) and maybe some good tips for where to find freshies later on - good spots in the massive expanse of skiable terrain that surrounds the comparatively short areas of actual piste! Wink anyway enough of this!

I wouldn't say it's for everyone, it's clearly not! You don't like it, fair enough Smile Not everyone does and it's good to have a balance. But of your points, only one is unavoidable - It's not for people who only want big linked areas, true! Actually you haven't mentioned my biggest gripe with the place which is the (mostly) awful mountain restaurants.

I think that's where local knowledge from snowheads can be really useful in helping to improve trips. It's helped me out loads of times when researching places, equipment etc.

I guess my point is that most people aren't giving their advice as part of a machiavellian master plan Wink it's good to help someone get the best out of their time.
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