Skiing Predicament!!!

demon8991

demon8991

demon8991

Soldato
Joined
7 Jan 2003
Posts
4,458
Location
Gold Coast, Australia
Right i need your guys advice...

I have just started a job in london contract starts on monday, i get 20 days of paid holiday a year so i will have 6 days this calender year, and 14 from january to september next year.

Becuase i work in an islamic invenstment bank our clients dont have holiday over the christmas period, so our employees are permitted to work from the second week in december onwards.

Now this leaves me with 6 days of holiday leave that i dont want to waste sitting at home, i had planned to go skiing in the new year about february time with my girlfriend for 10 days and take a summer holiday in the summer. But obviously i wont be able to do that as it stands now.

So i was wondering should i take my 6 days holiday leave in the first two weeks of december to go skiing?

My major concern is that the snow will be terrible in europe.

As i have never been skiing this early in the season before i would apreciate any experiances you guys have with skiing around this time, in europe, america canada and what the prices are like etc.

Thanks guys.
 
Dano said:
The snow is always terrible in Europe, it's just varying degrees of terrible.
Click to expand...

Bit sweeping, don't you think? I've had days in Scotland that I'd put against anywhere in the world, obviously not on the longest run stakes but for pure quality of conditions it has been well up there. I will admit that those days come around probably once or twice in a lifetime though. ;)

demon8991, it certainly is a bit of a predicament. I've been to Finland about that sort of time and the snow was great but not all the runs were open because it was too early in the season for them so that is something to check out. I've been to Austria and France later on in the season and both were really good but since that isn't an option I'd suggest aiming for somewhere with a glacier so that you can be assured of at least some chance. Maybe worth looking at Kaprun for the Hintertux glacier but I'm sure there are quite a few more to consider.
 
Ok i will look into that.

I have around £700 to a maximum of £1000 to spend.

So canada or america could be an option, what are the conditions like out there at that time of the year?
 
I went to Tignes at the beginning of December last year. The glacier was good, but a bit icy. Lower down rocks were showing through. Bad weather at the start of the week stopped skiing on the glacier - it was so windy they had to stop the draglifts. by the end of the week, snow was beginning to build on the lower slopes, but we had to leave. :(
 
God i am so desperate to go, but i do want good conditions becuase my girfriend is austrailian and has never been before and i dont want to take her when the conditions are bad.
 
Europe will be bad conditions if you go early december. I have been twice, once was good at the start but then worse as the week went on. The next year (same time) there was rocks and ice. gf did not appreciate the bad snow.
 
Whistler (in Canada, because I've had people question where it is before) does have the Blackcomb glacier and is open all year round - albeit with reduced opening hours in the height of summer etc. However I'm not sure of the costs at that time of year and whether they often get enough snow that early to make it worthwhile travelling that far. :)
 
Ahhh god!!! Oct - Dec is such a rubbish time; cant have a summer holiday cant have a winter one.

I really dont want to end up spending 6 days sitting on my computer or staying in london.
 
No i cant, which is really annoying, i might have a chat with the director and beg him lol.

Thanks for the link, i will read up about that.
 
demon8991 said:
No i cant, which is really annoying, i might have a chat with the director and beg him lol.

Thanks for the link, i will read up about that.
Click to expand...

Do that! He might have to get back to you given of course they need to ensure cover in your absence and continuity of the business and the area's in which you contribute. Good luck.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Whistler (in Canada, because I've had people question where it is before) does have the Blackcomb glacier and is open all year round - albeit with reduced opening hours in the height of summer etc. However I'm not sure of the costs at that time of year and whether they often get enough snow that early to make it worthwhile travelling that far. :)
Click to expand...

I lived there two years.

In summer the glacier is only open June to end of July, depending on weather and there isnt much to do unless you are on one of the freestyle camps.

In early season winter you cant even get to the glacier because they don't tend to open the alpine straight away. Its certainly better than europe for early season snowfall and its very very quiet before xmas.... just dont expect amazing snow or for everything to be open.
 
Its done by buying and selling a commodatity in our case different metals they make profit on there pruchases and then sell it back, not interest on their money or gold.

Just a loop hole in there religion.



As for the skiing, i think i will give it a miss before xmas as there is noway if im going to america that im gonna settle for bad snow or not all the slopes being open.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Whistler (in Canada, because I've had people question where it is before) does have the Blackcomb glacier and is open all year round - albeit with reduced opening hours in the height of summer etc. However I'm not sure of the costs at that time of year and whether they often get enough snow that early to make it worthwhile travelling that far. :)
Click to expand...

I'd recommend Whistler 2 the snow falls like everyday from the end of november. :cool:
 
Ive decided to go in the new year, probably january/february time. I think the best bet is to go somewhere in Europe but im not sure where to go really, i ahve only ever skiied in italy about 6 times now i think.

But want to go somewhere different where is the best/cheapest place in europe to go, is there any good sites that you can recomend that include ski and boot hire aswell as accomadation and flights etc.

Ive heard bulgaria is quite a good place to go.
 
The wife and I spent the last 6 decembers (before and during xmas period) in Colorado skiing , specifically at Keystone and Breckenridge, with 1 holiday spent in Aspen (although I found breckenridge better).

Have to say that the powder at keystone and breckenridge on those hols was far superior to anything I have encountered in Europe, even in early december. Prices were good, cost of living was typically daftly cheap...partly due to how strong the pound is against the dollar, and partly due to the insane amounts of stuff you get in the US for your buck

Cant recommend it highly enough
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom