Re: Ski Social!
On Thursday 16 January 2003 12:08, Ben wrote: OK. No-one's posted about this for almost a week, so I thought I'd reopen the discussion. I think we need to decide: Who? Where? When? How Long? uh huh. Then we can go and book it. :) I'm not electing myself cat herder or anything, I'd just like this to happen, so I propose that anyone who's up for it follows up to this mail, then we take it to private mail to avoid cluttering the main list, unless everyone else doesn't mind wuffle about skiing. welcome, chief cat-herder. Summary of my recollections: Who:Ben, robin, Joel, ... I know there were others? When: Last week in Feb? Or some other time. Trying to avoid FOSDEM and Valentines Where: Unknown. Val d'Isere, Chamonix and Saas Fee have been mentioned as possible. More ideas? Somewhere high up with mountains? Time: A long weekend. Fly out Thursday night, take friday off, fly back sunday night? Other ideas? I'm in if it can be later rather than sooner in feb. My good lady wife is due to become much thinner around the 14th, and I think I'd be in trouble if I wasnt there for the pushing and grunting bit. -- Robin Szemeti
Re: Ski Social!
On Fri, 2003-01-17 at 09:56, robin szemeti wrote: I'm in if it can be later rather than sooner in feb. My good lady wife is due to become much thinner around the 14th, and I think I'd be in trouble if I wasnt there for the pushing and grunting bit. Just speaking from a little experience here (gained several years ago now, so YMMV) you may erm... still be in trouble if you bugger off enjoying yourself whilst leaving the said lady wife holding the baby. But, as I say: YMMV Luv Dirk -- Please Note: Some Quantum Physics Theories Suggest That When the Consumer Is Not Directly Observing This Product, It May Cease to Exist or Will Exist Only in a Vague and Undetermined State.
Re: Ski Social!
On Fri, Jan 10, 2003 at 06:25:17PM +, robin szemeti wrote: Absolutely. I'm a huge fan of Val d'Isere, where I worked for a season. Chamonix isn't too convenient (valley town) but has marvellous skiing and is an hour from Geneva. I *love* chamonix ... so that would suit me. 5 seperate ski areas accessible from the village, an hour or so from GVA on the train ... and theres the 'vallee blanche' 22km off piste run if anyone fancies it :) add in decent night life and being a real town rather than a ski resort, we might find it easier to get 'long weekend' accomodation as the resorts are really just geared up for whole-week packages. But, I'll ski anywhere for a long weekend, no worries. OK. No-one's posted about this for almost a week, so I thought I'd reopen the discussion. I think we need to decide: Who? Where? When? How Long? Then we can go and book it. :) I'm not electing myself cat herder or anything, I'd just like this to happen, so I propose that anyone who's up for it follows up to this mail, then we take it to private mail to avoid cluttering the main list, unless everyone else doesn't mind wuffle about skiing. Summary of my recollections: Who:Ben, robin, Joel, ... I know there were others? When: Last week in Feb? Or some other time. Trying to avoid FOSDEM and Valentines Where: Unknown. Val d'Isere, Chamonix and Saas Fee have been mentioned as possible. More ideas? Somewhere high up with mountains? Time: A long weekend. Fly out Thursday night, take friday off, fly back sunday night? Other ideas? Ben
Re: Ski Social!
On Thu, Jan 16, 2003 at 12:08:29PM +, Ben wrote: OK. No-one's posted about this for almost a week, so I thought I'd reopen the discussion. I think we need to decide: Who? Where? When? How Long? Then we can go and book it. :) I'm not electing myself cat herder or anything, I'd just like this to happen, so I propose that anyone who's up for it follows up to this mail, then we take it to private mail to avoid cluttering the main list, unless everyone else doesn't mind wuffle about skiing. Summary of my recollections: Who:Ben, robin, Joel, ... I know there were others? When: Last week in Feb? Or some other time. Trying to avoid FOSDEM and Valentines Where: Unknown. Val d'Isere, Chamonix and Saas Fee have been mentioned as possible. More ideas? Somewhere high up with mountains? Time: A long weekend. Fly out Thursday night, take friday off, fly back sunday night? Other ideas? Sounds good. I'd be up for that, definitely. Do I infer, then, that people would prefer not to take more than one day off? ie, friday OR monday, not both? I have to say, the expense and hassle of travelling to the alps for 3 days is appealing, but 4 days skiing would be better ;-) I'll make some enquiries about pricing once we have a group size, if people would like that. I'm assuming (unless people bring friends or loved ones) that we're not going to be a big enough group to qualify for any sort of group discount. IIRC, they usually offer a free place (or half place) to groups of nine or ten... If we do qualify, can we agree that any group free place discounts will be an overall reduction in what we pay, rather than one person nominating themself as the ggroup leader and snaffling the free place? I think there's probably fairly little organisation involved in something like this, beyond making sure that everybody has their tickets etc. This was my experience last time I organised a skitrip with friends (Dec 2000). I'm definitely interested. I think Robin was, and maybe Leon. Beyond that, I don't know. /joel
Re: Ski Social!
Joel Bernstein sent the following bits through the ether: I'm definitely interested. I think Robin was, and maybe Leon. Beyond that, I don't know. Absolutely. I think it's a grand idea and don't mind taking two days off. Leon -- Leon Brocard.http://www.astray.com/ scribot.http://www.scribot.com/ ... You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
Re: Ski Social!
On Thu, Jan 16, 2003 at 12:19:12PM +, Joel Bernstein wrote: I'm definitely interested. I think Robin was, and maybe Leon. Beyond that, I don't know. I'm interested depending on cost. I can probably manage the relevant days off, given sufficient notice. -- Lusercop.net - LARTing Lusers everywhere since 2002
Re: Ski Social!
On Friday 10 January 2003 10:07, Joel Bernstein wrote: When the lovely snow was coming down, Robin Szemeti and I discussed how we should do a London.PM-On-The-Piste social this winter. I was hoping to gauge opinion on this... Would anybody be interested in a weekend in the Alps skiing or snowboarding? abso bloomin lootly. a long weekend would be better as its a long way to fly just for 2 days, but its doable. wahtever .. count me in. (apart from a few days around feb 14th when my inconsiderate wife says I cannot go because she is 'giving birth' or some other such nonsense :) -- Robin Szemeti
Re: Ski Social!
Joel Bernstein sent the following bits through the ether: When the lovely snow was coming down, Robin Szemeti and I discussed how we should do a London.PM-On-The-Piste social this winter. I was hoping to gauge opinion on this... Would anybody be interested in a weekend in the Alps skiing or snowboarding? I'd be interested. No ideas, though. Leon -- Leon Brocard.http://www.astray.com/ scribot.http://www.scribot.com/ ... Daddy, why doesn't this magnet pick up this floppy disk?
Re: Ski Social!
On Fri, Jan 10, 2003 at 10:07:08AM +, Joel Bernstein wrote: When the lovely snow was coming down, Robin Szemeti and I discussed how we should do a London.PM-On-The-Piste social this winter. I was hoping to gauge opinion on this... Would anybody be interested in a weekend in the Alps skiing or snowboarding? I'm in. The weekend of the 14th is bad for me, as I'm in NY to see the missus. It might be as well to avoid the weekend of the 8th-9th as well. Might I tentatively suggest the last weekend in Feb? Could I also suggest a high resort, to avoid problems with lack of snow - especially for beginners? One resort I'm particularly fond of is Saas-Fee, in Switzerland, http://www.saas-fee.ch/index-e.htm It's a very friendly, and family resort, and was the resort used in Wham's Last Xmas video, for the pop-pickers among us. The only drawbacks are that it's a 3hr train, then a 1 hr bus from either Geneva and Zurich. Flights are definitely available from LTN, LHR and LGW, but obviously City would be easier for most people. This might be a bit of a long journey for just a weekend, but the resort really is very nice. I spent 2001 there and it was great. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Anyone else got a resort in mind? Ben
Re: Ski Social!
On Fri, Jan 10, 2003 at 03:30:06PM +, Ben wrote: On Fri, Jan 10, 2003 at 10:07:08AM +, Joel Bernstein wrote: When the lovely snow was coming down, Robin Szemeti and I discussed how we should do a London.PM-On-The-Piste social this winter. I was hoping to gauge opinion on this... Would anybody be interested in a weekend in the Alps skiing or snowboarding? I'm in. The weekend of the 14th is bad for me, as I'm in NY to see the missus. It might be as well to avoid the weekend of the 8th-9th as well. Agreed. Avoiding British and French half-term weeks would be a good thing, but these resorts always fill up at weekends. Might I tentatively suggest the last weekend in Feb? Possible... Could I also suggest a high resort, to avoid problems with lack of snow - especially for beginners? Absolutely. I'm a huge fan of Val d'Isere, where I worked for a season. Chamonix isn't too convenient (valley town) but has marvellous skiing and is an hour from Geneva. One resort I'm particularly fond of is Saas-Fee, in Switzerland, http://www.saas-fee.ch/index-e.htm Saas Fee is lovely, and you've missed something! In previous years it's been possible to fly (with Crossair afaik) to Sion airport in Switzerland, which is about half an hour from Saas. My French is far better than my German so I'm rather tempted to go to France. However I'll fit in with whatevwer the majority prefer. It's a very friendly, and family resort, and was the resort used in Wham's Last Xmas video, for the pop-pickers among us. The only drawbacks are that it's a 3hr train, then a 1 hr bus from either Geneva and Zurich. Flights are definitely available from LTN, LHR and LGW, but obviously City would be easier for most people. This might be a bit of a long journey for just a weekend, but the resort really is very nice. I spent 2001 there and it was great. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Anyone else got a resort in mind? Val d'Isere is wonderful. WONDERFUL. Possibly the best skiing in the world, good nursery slopes, excellent ski schools (loads of choice too), fab nightlife. It's not cheap, but it's not like going to Aspen or Courchevel. I'd say it's probably on a par with Saas Fee, perhaps slightly better due to the weak Euro. /joel
Re: Ski Social!
On Fri, Jan 10, 2003 at 03:40:40PM +, Joel Bernstein wrote: Val d'Isere is wonderful. WONDERFUL. Possibly the best skiing in the world, good nursery slopes, excellent ski schools (loads of choice too), I'd disagree with this. I found that the slopes in Val d'Isere getting back to the resort were anything but easy when I was there this time last year. It didn't help that people were crowding onto the only blue run that was open back down into the valley, and it was far from easy. fab nightlife. It's not cheap, but it's not like going to Aspen or Courchevel. I'd say it's probably on a par with Saas Fee, perhaps slightly better due to the weak Euro. Courchevel is nice. There is *fantastic* skiing round there. I went to Mottaret just before Christmas, and the snow at the top of Courchevel was very good. -- Lusercop.net - LARTing Lusers everywhere since 2002
Re: Ski Social!
Ben wrote: Could I also suggest a high resort, to avoid problems with lack of snow I can highly recommend Les Trois Vallees (Meribel, Courcheval, etc). The only drawbacks are that it's a 3hr train, then a 1 hr bus I can also highly recommend going via Eurostar. I forget how long it is, something like 8 hours, but then it's only a 20-30 minute minibus ride the other end. You walk straight on/off the train. No pissing around in custom, baggage claim, etc., something that is always gnarly when lugging boards/skis around. No long check-in times, no long coach journeys. You can drive down to Ashford and catch the train there if you prefer it to Waterloo. I reckon that all-in-all it takes about the same time going by train as it does flying. But with the train you get to spend most of that time sitting in a comfy seat. If you go on the overnight train then you get to party it up all night, too. You can also get an extra day's skiing in at the end by coming home overnight instead of spending your last day travelling. A
Re: Ski Social!
Andy Wardley wrote: I can also highly recommend going via Eurostar. I forget how long it is, something like 8 hours, but then it's only a 20-30 minute minibus ride the other end. Eurostar normally rocks. If you target Grenoble as the base from which to bus to the resort (and there's quite a good number of resorts very much close by) you could probably get there in circa 6 hours of comfy train because it's TGV all the way. It's likely that at that time of year you'd find a London - Grenoble direct. Grenoble's bus station is right next to the train station. If you go on the overnight train then you get to party it up all night, too. Even if you don't travel overnight you can still party it up. In fact I'd say that not at least getting very drunk in a train is bad form. -- Robin Berjon [EMAIL PROTECTED] Research Engineer, Expwayhttp://expway.fr/ 7FC0 6F5F D864 EFB8 08CE 8E74 58E6 D5DB 4889 2488
Re: Ski Social!
On Fri, Jan 10, 2003 at 05:27:01PM +, Joel Bernstein wrote: home-airport:35 mins checkin,etc: 90 mins easyget-gva: 50 mins or so afaik checkout,etc: 60 mins airport-chamonix:60 mins or so Sure, it all depends where you are and where you're going. There's not a lot in it for me: Flight: home-airport 1 hr checkin, etc. 2 hr flight3 hr checkout 1 hr transfer 2 hr total 9 hr Train: home-station 1 hr checkin .5 hr train 7 hr transfer .5 hr total 9 hr But wait a minute, with a slight detour I can make the train look really attractive: Flight: home-airport24 hr checkin, etc. 2 hr flight 24 hr checkout 1 hr transfer 37 hr total88 hr Phew! A whopping 88 hours by plane! That makes a mere 9 hours by train look even better! (Of course, I'm assuming that I'm flying from Dundee via Bancock to Barcelona and then hitch-hiking my way to Tignes but don't let mere details bother your enjoyment of the meaningless statistics) So, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from our deep and broad research into this matter is that travelling by train is clearly superior to flying by plane for every person in every situation, ever. Airline industry collapses! Film at 11! :-) A (skulking silently back to his Guinness...)
Re: Ski Social!
On Fri, 2003-01-10 at 17:27, Joel Bernstein wrote: I reckon that all-in-all it takes about the same time going by train as it does flying. But with the train you get to spend most of that time sitting in a comfy seat. home-airport:35 mins checkin,etc: 90 mins easyget-gva: 50 mins or so afaik checkout,etc: 60 mins airport-chamonix:60 mins or so this comes to about 5 hours - and only half of it involves sitting in a chair... i'll take that over 8 hours sitting up on a train... Speaking as a (now ex-)PPL, this is a well known aviation saying:- Time to spare? Go by Air! Dirk -- Please Note: Some Quantum Physics Theories Suggest That When the Consumer Is Not Directly Observing This Product, It May Cease to Exist or Will Exist Only in a Vague and Undetermined State.
Re: Ski Social!
And I wasn't going to encourage this skiing thread by taking part... On Fri, Jan 10, 2003 at 05:10:53PM +, Andy Wardley wrote: I reckon that all-in-all it takes about the same time going by train as it does flying. But with the train you get to spend most of that time sitting in a comfy seat. I find it calmer going places by train. It may have taken most of the day to take the train (3 changes total) from here to Bonn, but I got to look out of the window at interesting and changing scenery. Fun things like how the scenery stays the same but suddenly the language of all the things you can see flips - land borders are still an interesting concept to me. Also the scenery on the Belgium/German border is quite unlike anything in the UK. (Rocks similar to the upland areas of the UK, but without the glaciation). Oh, railway stations look different, particularly because you can walk out of them into the city, whereas changing flights means sitting in airports, which all look remarkably samey to me. Finally, remember that you can use laptops and other electronic devices while a train is taking off and landing. :-) If you go on the overnight train then you get to party it up all night, too. You can also get an extra day's skiing in at the end by coming home overnight instead of spending your last day travelling. This is what my sister has done. She and her husband are planning to get in 2 extra days skiing - one on the day they arrive, and one on the day they leave. Whereas if they flew they'd be travelling in the middle of each Saturday, which rules this out. Additionally the extra days are Saturdays, which she says will be more quiet, because most people are changing over. Nicholas Clark
Re: Ski Social!
On Fri, Jan 10, 2003 at 05:10:53PM +, Andy Wardley wrote: I can also highly recommend going via Eurostar. I forget how long it is, something like 8 hours, but then it's only a 20-30 minute minibus ride the other end. Ooh, good point! You walk straight on/off the train. No pissing around in custom, baggage claim, etc., something that is always gnarly when lugging boards/skis around. No long check-in times, no long coach journeys. You can drive down to Ashford and catch the train there if you prefer it to Waterloo. I reckon that all-in-all it takes about the same time going by train as it does flying. But with the train you get to spend most of that time sitting in a comfy seat. home-airport: 35 mins checkin,etc:90 mins easyget-gva: 50 mins or so afaik checkout,etc: 60 mins airport-chamonix: 60 mins or so this comes to about 5 hours - and only half of it involves sitting in a chair... i'll take that over 8 hours sitting up on a train... If you go on the overnight train then you get to party it up all night, This, on ther other hand, is a different matter ;-) too. You can also get an extra day's skiing in at the end by coming home overnight instead of spending your last day travelling. Yeah, bonus. /joel
