Happy Skiing Thread Part 2!!

[lovetoskimum]

Just what is say's :)

Booked euro tunnel this weekend for March 2016, apartment booked and hotels either side booked, so excited already, any one else want to join in :)

I'll join heading to the Dolomites at beginning of January. Just DH and me, no kids yet. Just waiting for the first flakes to fall, I'm fed up of seeing green on the webcams

Welcome, welcome! The Dolomites are a favourite of mine cos that's where I very first learnt to ski

Hi MyBlackcat, welcome

We loved skiing before daughter but love it even more now as she bombs past me leaving me for dust :) Me and Hubby love and we live for it every year :)

Woohoo ski hire booked, outbound Chunnel booked, flexi ferry booked for the return leg, just looking at hotel now for the Friday night.. Aldi are apparently doing ski gear from next Thursday lovetoski

Oh and ds1 has drawn his 'countdown to 1st skiing holiday ever' calendar, I'm not sure who is more excited - him or me!

I've taken the plunge and hired him a board for the week, his Xmas pressie may be a taster session at the chill factore.

We're going to Flaine with friends who have kids the same age as ours, it'll be the 2nd week on skis for the littlies, think they're more excited than us although DS did say 'Mummy I don't need to go to ski school now because I know how to ski'

Puffy, love it !! Might start a countdown chart myself :)

Babies, we skied in Flaine when daughter was 6 months old, had my mum on hand for childcare !!
Then Austria for four years, now Les Arcs 2015 and 2016 :)

Do it! Ooh... We need skiing Christmas calendars

He's drawn little skiing penguins all over it adorable!
He's currently walking around upstairs in my ski boots
He's nearly 9, you would've thought he'd grown out of dressing up by now, but no he's all about the kit...

Speaking of kit, I've grown out of my ski trousers. Will a basic pair of £12 decathlon ones do the job? Hub thinks it's ok to be mismatched and wear a pair old pale blue baggy things with my green and white ski coat, I vehemently disagree!

Also - can I ask for yet more advice - kit list for the kids? Am thinking base layer, fleece and then their coats, or will they need more layers than that? Ds1 runs very hot so I'm not too concerned, ds2 less so. Socks they will need, gloves and helmets we have, ski trousers we have, goggles hub says we need yellow or orange lenses and decathlon are doing cheap kids sunglasses.. Snow boots... Am I missing anything?

Thanks!

DH has skied the past few years in Decathlon kit and was fine even when stuck on a chair lift for 15 minutes in Val d'Isere in mid January and significantly sub-zero temperatures a few years ago. I'm sure a pair of cheapies will be fine! I used to have a pair and loved that they were high waisted so that when if I fell over I didn't end up with snow up my back/down my bum. It's also very important to be coordinated on the slopes. Pale blue with green/white simply won't do

Another reasonable decent option is Mountain Warehouse - I ski in their kit now and it's lovely.

Can't help with the children, sorry, as it's just the two of us.

It has been snowing in Verbier. Too excited!

Hi Puffy!
We always wear neckwarmers and don't forget lip balms & sunscreen.

Ah, here you all are!

We booked really early for this season, so have bargain flights for Feb half term (all teachers). Going to Vars in the Southern Alps - high snow-sure resort, but the Southern Alps are considerably cheaper all round than further North. That's a real consideration when you're restricted to a peak week. We've never had too much of an issue with queues either - we avoid hitting the first lifts of the day just as ski-school is starting off, and straight after lunch, but it's usually quiet up at the top. There's actually a nice lively buzz that week.

Would love to go at Christmas one year, but looking forward to our Feb trip is all that gets me up in the mornings through January, so unless I could afford both (unlikely until the kids agree to stop coming with us) it's not going to happen.

Tirfarthoin, where are you going?
I live in a ski resort, lol, so I love these threads and often wonder if anyone is coming here

What do you do in the summer madwoman ? I think I would be pining for the winter & the snow to arrive. Are you in a well-known resort?

You're in BC I think Madwoman?

we're 1.5 hrs away from Banff. Don't go as much as we should

oh hello skiers! We're off to La Tania for New Year, first time with kids, I can't wait (and am loving the related shopping too!)

Hike, backpack, camp, canoe, raft, climb (except I'm too old and knackered) picnic, admire the lakes and mountains and try to avoid the tourists lol (Summer is actually our busiest tourist season - the ski season is secondary ) oh and work for a living. I live in the Canadian Rockies.

We have the pick of three ski hills (Lake Louise, Sunshine, Norquay) but use Sunshine as they have a fab adaptive program for dd2. We have two others within an hour but don't bother with them (Nakiska and the v small Calgary Olympic Park).

Dd1 and dh definitely pine for winter. I love the snow, but loathe driving to work on icy roads. Pros and cons!

Nah, you have to go past my house to get to the hill, fish.

ah, gotcha

I could live there very happily. Lovely spot.

It's a lovely spot under two feet of snow currently, but the highway is clear, so all good.

Very Madwoman

It sounds idyllic - you must be very fit

Hi Clam, nice to see you! Do you remember all that fuss last year about whether our DS's girlfriend should pay for the extra costs she incurred by deciding to accompany us at a late stage in the arrangements?
Well the good news is no such problem this year as they are no longer together. Cheers all round in the Tricky household I can tell you.
We are also continuing to 'infantilise' the DSs by paying for them, much to the disgust of many a poster last year. Hope your stawart support won't be needed this time.

The Aldi website says they are having a big ski stuff event from next Thursday 3Dec, including helmets.

I remember it well, Tricky! I saw your earlier post and ran a mental finger down your guest list!
Ds not coming with us this year (first time ever) as he's currently studying abroad in the US for the year. He has plans to go to Colorado to ski, or somewhere equally exciting, instead. Unclear at this stage who'll be paying for that, although it'd probably be less than we'd pay for him to come with us. He got flights to Chicago for a long weekend recently for about $70. I'm sure I'd be equally slated as you were on here for helping him out, though.

Puffy: re clothes. We usually go catered chalet but what we found was that DD ran around all day in her base layers (ie long johns treated like leggings) so we needed very little "other" clothes for the evenings and she could wear the same outfit more than once. Therefore we got 6 base layers so she had clean versions of the things she wore the longest. Roll neck tops are also super cosy. We usually take 2 fleeces, 6 base layers, 6 socks and 6 roll neck tops.

DD therefore wears base layer, roll neck top, fleece, silk type balaclava for under helmet, Buff, ski socks. Her gloves have elastic sewn to them and threaded through her coat.

As she is in ski school, in her coat I put her EHIC as id, plus a card with both mine and DH'S contact details. She is told that that is the emergency pocket and not to be opened otherwise.

We also take snacks (fun size twix, etc) as energy boosts.

Clam, this is a 'Happy' skiing thread, no flamers or grumpy people on here surely?
We have not been to Vars, but it is linked to Risoul, though when we were there the links were closed for insufficient snow. That was when insurance companies gave a snow guarantee with money back if only a proportion of lifts were open. Because we had bought the full area passes, only part of which were usable because we could not get to half the area, we got all our money back.
Risoul is also where DH broke his collarbone. He speaks highly of the hospital in Briancon who operated on it. (Perish the thought that you or yours should need its services )