As I am about to become the owner of a second mortgage and my OH's spending plans nearly keep pace with the increase in my jobs list, I've decided to reprise an old thread. The worst ski holiday ever . . .
This requires lots of contributions from all to convince me I won't be missing out in my near term poverty.
Start:
Get up at 2:00 am in order to catch the OMyGodItsEarly flight. Realise forgot to pack last night and have horrendous hangover after starting my holiday early. Drink pint of water in one. Switch off hot tap and use cold one. Drink two more pints. Throw ski stuff into bag. Bag won't shut. Remove half of it, just about shuts. Weight it. It weighs the same as me (that's heavy).
. . .
And over to you . . . and remember, no diversions in to anything happy. For example use of the word powder must be followed by Boris the Bulgarian, man-loving, ex-Olympic super-heavyweight wrestler police nazi.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Is your second mortgage over an alpine ski mansion?
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?
666, I am sorry it is not possible to have a bad ski holiday!
Unless there is absolutley no snow But that has never happened me
Your first ever snowHead Bash. Everything is fine until you arrive at your accomodation and discover that you are sharing some creaky bunks in a broom cupboard with a chap called Charlatanefc
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Frosty the Snowman wrote:
Your first ever snowHead Bash. Everything is fine until you arrive at your accomodation and discover that you are sharing some creaky bunks in a broom cupboard with a chap called Charlatanefc
....and that Kramer is standing next to your anorak hood
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
fatbob, and when the shower doesn't work Kramer offers to help...
Your hangover is still bad - and you accept a tablet from whitenoise
After all it is free
After all it is free
You start to realise that it might have been better after all to waste that last bit of curry from the fridge...
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.
Having checked the SCGB snow report which states best snow above 2500m and realising the top lift is at 2400m you head to the airport.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
You arrive at resort five hours later than you expected due to delayed Gatwick flight to find that you've missed dinner. Chalet staff have gone out on the lash, and some other beggars pinched the ensuite room with balcony that you reserved.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
You end up sleeping in the living room and are woken up on the hour every hour by the church bells next door, and then finally at 4.30 am when the chalet staff return and continue their party in your "room".
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.
Perhaps your brand new car hire breaking down on a mountain pass as its getting dark, with fog and -8 outside. 3 miles from the nearest village. After having to do a 4 hour detour due to another pass being closed. Get Gendermerie out, who don't speak English. Get the car going eventually and they escort us to top of the pass and it breaks down again just after they leave us. Managing to get to the appartment 6 hours late.
Have to spend skiing time sorting out a garage to pick up the car. No replacement car, having to fork out €280 for a one way taxi back to Turin.
Not the best start to a holiday.
A little tip, don't accept brand new Alfa Romeo's from hire car companies if your wanting to drive up mountain roads.
Thank god the skiing was so good.
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
Christopher, Alfa Romeo = style over substance
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
You are late to breakfast, only to find that Frosty the Snowman wasn't......
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Thinking about it, I had the worst ski holiday ever at New Year.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Helen Beaumont wrote:
You arrive at resort five hours later than you expected due to delayed Gatwick flight to find that you've missed dinner. Chalet staff have gone out on the lash, and some other beggars pinched the ensuite room with balcony that you reserved.
That's a pretty reasonable description of all ski trips that I've ever been on. Except substitute all the fancy-pants stuff about chalets and 'staff' with "arrive in your basic self catered flat which you now discover is 3 miles beyond the outskirts of the town and not the '5 minute walk to the lifts' as claimed, at 1am, with no food or drink. Or towels. Or blankets".
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Ordhan wrote:
666, I am sorry it is not possible to have a bad ski holiday!
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?
Having had your burnt toast and overweak coffee you then wait for your lift pass to be delivered by the rep.................
and wait............................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................................................................
and wait.............................................................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
AND WAIT
pam w, We didn't ask for it. We would have been perfectly happy with the standard Fiat Bravo or Peugeot 307 that we normally receieve when we go with holiday autos. We were quite happy with it after 3 hours of motorway driving, my father commented that it was a beauty to drive and that it held the road excellently. But I dont think the engine (it'd done 20 miles before we got in it) liked the strain of cold air and steep roads of the Lautaret.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I'll think of more jolly memories before I contribute to this thread
it is not possible to have a bad ski holiday!.......It's possible to have a not very good one
Yeah, once had a March week in Tignes where:
- Snow train journey was awful. Knackered after a 300 mile drive to Dover but couldn't sleep a wink - a couple (who'd just met in the disco carriage) sh@gging in the bunk above etc etc....
- Temperature of between 10 and 15C in resort with heavy rain (at all levels of the mountain) & gales on 3 days - 1 baby lift open to avoid refunding liftpasses.
- Mrs MA violently ill with food poisoning for 2 or 3 days.
- Me ill with food poisoning on the way back in the snowtrain.... the journey from Hell.
Oh and during the week I also had to phone to get the result of a job interview....didn't get it!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
You get up at 3.30 am to catch a 6am flight. Get to Munich airport, then cart your luggage all the way across it to the S-Bahn. Get to Munich Train station and get 4 hellishly slow trains to the resort, all in the name of cheapness. Finally get to about 10 minutes away from the resort at about 3.30 pm. And the valley looks this:
So you think youve gone crazy and been on the train for so long that its actually not February any more, but May. So you check your watch. Nope, February the 17th 2007!!!
After all it is free
After all it is free
Markus, not to worry, the best conditions are on the upper slopes...
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.
Chose Christmas time to ski. Day light goes off very quickly.
Misread the piste map thinking we could ski down a red run but found it went upward.
Forced to retreat, waste a lot of time to walk back and so missed the last gondola down the valley. Saw all the workers on the chiarlifts rushing down in their snowmobiles.
Tried to find our way down when the darkness seemed to close in double quick until everying was pitch black.
Felt our way down using our poles.
Therefore the wife insist on two plans
Plan A - arrive at the bottom of the resort no later than 4pm
Plan B - Always carry a torch in the rucksack.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
You check the webcam for your ski resort everyday in the upcoming weeks, in excitement of your first ever ski holiday......you check the day before you leave to see the snow has been replaced with rain!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Second day of ski holiday 2005 (I think), my other half breaks ACL skiing the home run at the end of the day, spends 4 nights in hospital, one of which was my birthday. Glad to say we skied together this year for the first time since her reconstruction.
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.
Markus wrote:
You get up at 3.30 am to catch a 6am flight. Get to Munich airport, then cart your luggage all the way across it to the S-Bahn. Get to Munich Train station and get 4 hellishly slow trains to the resort, all in the name of cheapness. Finally get to about 10 minutes away from the resort at about 3.30 pm. And the valley looks this:
So you think youve gone crazy and been on the train for so long that its actually not February any more, but May. So you check your watch. Nope, February the 17th 2007!!!
Sounds very Zillertal to me
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
Les Deux Alpes at New Year would be a good start...
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Travelling to the Alps in a coach in which the seats convert to bunk beds is a horrible way to start and finish a holiday.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
My 1 week attempting to learn to snowboard went:
Day1 - arrive in resort, get rental snowboard & boots, start drinking
Day2 - awaken to discover ski jacket & gloves have gone missing in drunken haze. Realise waist has expanded & cannot fit into trousers either. Have to buy replacements. Miss start of lesson
Day3 - awaken with another hangover to find snowboard stolen from locker (& only mine from a locker with 6 snowboards in it). Go to hire shop to explain, told need to report crime to police. Get directions to police station, sit & wait, speak to Gendarme - tells me I'm at the wrong sort of police station, need to go to the other one, 20mins walk away. Get there - just shut for 4 hr lunch. Waste whole day waiting for reopening.
Day4 & 5 - nothing really bad happened on these days, actually manage some snowboarding
Day6 - fall over & break arm while on snowboard
Vow never to try snowboarding again, had enough .
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
what...snow, that will be hard to beat!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Never had a terrible skiing holiday. Slush in a packed Bansko probably rates as the least enjoyable followed by appalling accomm care of Crystal in Chamonix.
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?
It has to be Soll Skiwelt 5 years ago. Booked accommodation on arrival through a well known tour operator. Didn't realise that accommodation may not have featured in their brochure but it guaranteed at least 3 star standard
Ended up in a type of hostel at least a mile from resort centre, full of young people whose only thought was to get out on the lash (and bring it all back up later) in the so called bathroom (the only one on a floor of 10 rooms).
Kept awake all night by incessant singing and the smell of wacky backy and god knows what else.
No breakfast to speak off, just stale rolls, no butter, no cereals, luke warm weak tea and coffee..
Went to tour operators office to request alternative accommodation (even advised would not mind paying extra) but
staff could not care less and kept ignoring our presence and repeated requests.
After 3 hours got a bit tetchy and advised staff that we would not leave their office until they sorted something (even threatened to kip overnight in the office, it was warm with nice comfy chairs)
Staff finally decided to contact their area manager who came to the office and within half an hour had made a few calls and sorted us into a nice b&b nearby at no extra charge. (He even admitted that he did not know why his company used that particular accommodation as he had nothihg but complaints all season)
On third day missed the last lift up to the top of Hohe Salve and had to ski down into the next resort and get a taxi back which was a little bit expensive)
On fourth day ski binding tore away and was pitched head first into a hedge. No serious injuries but a bit shaken
Staying in a place called Meiringen one christmas and new year. Looked lovely when we arrived, and we'd got a last minute bargain in a nice hotel. As we were checking in the receptionist was proudly telling us of their tradition for a band to play every night on the lead up to New Year and it had been going hundreds of years, etc. Someone in the party said "oh, how lovely".
Turns out the "band" was this http://youtube.com/v/RzSm0FeIfNY went on every night starting at midnight right through the night getting bigger and bigger every night as neighbouring village bands joined in. There was no escape! A death march, creepy, eerie and LOUD!
It was also my first week on a snowboard...the agony! The pain! The horror! THE BAND!!!!! Arrrrrrgh! (Still having nightmares 12 years on!).
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
At Jackson Hole this season we arrived back from an overambitious excursion into the backcountry one day at 6.30 in complete darkness and were glad two of our number had head-torches. Luckily there was still a little daylight as we started down off-piste (far into the side-country) after a long slog up the back.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Mayhrhofen for Christmas many years ago. Arrived to find the green green grass of home adorning all the mountain tops. Advised not to buy a lift pass as warm winds and huge queues at the Hintertux glacier.
Woke the next morning to about 6 inches of snow and chucking it down.
Two days later, sever food poisoning along with half of the hotel. Managed a couple of days skiing although after the immodium, every time I went over a bump I feared disaster!
Also,
Arrived in Salt Lake city late at night via Chicago, looking forward to Park City in the morning. Unfortunately my bags went to Denver! Spent the first day sat in crap flight clothes in the lodge waiting for my skis and luggage.
But they were both better than being at the office.
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.
Hard to really complain about any opportunity to put on skis.
I've had food poisoning, run out of piste in warm weather and ended up carrying skis through woods to find an adjoining pistes, had a windscreen wiper broken (on a Merc - only one wiper ) just outside resort on the way home the day before Easter, been divorced about 15 times (and still she comes back for more )...
Maybe that's why I have such selective memory.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Spent £3000 going to Jackson Hole in March 2007 on what was supposed to be 10 nights of skiing steep bottemless powder. It was so hot when we got there the local kids were skiing in shorts and tee shirts and half the mountain was closed due to lack of snow. It was their worst season since 1992.... I could elaborate and go on but it still hurts too much!
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
But that has never happened me
Alfa Romeo = style over substance 
