Daily Mail Ski Show - ouch

in everything but barnet.

 

In 1979 I spent £150 on a school skiing trip.
In 1999 I spent £150 at the dentist.

On balance, I'd visit the dentist again, if I was looking for value
for money.

 

My choice between the two would depend on context rather than vfm.

 

What the hell do they do that makes them worth that?

 

That's considerably cheaper. 70 odd hours they want here I think so
in the region of 40 grand.

Still can't afford it.

 

That's ok, you're getting a raise at work ;-)

Paul.

 

Fair enough; I'd pick the dentist if I was looking for fun and
entertainment, too.

 

I forgot to say that this is last year's pass, not needing renewal
until December 10th.

Yes, but you only get to use it at a little bitty hill. Engelberg must
be at least twice as good.

It's a 12-month ticket, as the lifts run all summer too. And includes
a 33% resident's discount. I think it's a bargain, given what we get
out of it. Works out at about ten francs a day.

Which doesn't allow you to ski on holidays. "Restricted dates usually
apply to Thanksgiving weekend, New Year's weekend and President's Day
weekend." Not much fucking good then is it? The "Epic Pass", at $600,
seems a better deal.

We do have an alternative, the 'CentralSchweizShneePass' which gives
skiinhg at 15 resorts, for about the same price, but without the
resident's discount, so would actually cost us chf999, and is only
valid for the ski season.

 

Should have been Oct 3rd, but the early snow isn't yet arriving in any
quantity. Odd weather - the week we got back from Argentina it was
above 25C for at least three days. It's October, FFS!

How many times have you been so far?

 

It's lovely and warm here in town today. Went out earlier with the
roof down.

<fx:shuffles feet>

last weekend I wasn't feeling well, and this weekend we had theatre
tickets for last night and philharmonic tickets for tonight.

Might go mid-week.

 

You're hilariously smug! How would you measure "twice as good"?

I had intended to go mountain biking up at Winter Park this summer,
but never got round to it.

Actually, yeah, that's good.

au contraire - those dates are dates to avoid, as every fucker wants
to be out there!

We'll do that one next year, I think.

 

You know, I don't really remember.

 

They're supermodels.

 

It was probably the apres-ski champagne talking

Oh well, mainly, I guess, that the range, steepness and length of some
of the off-piste runs here surpasses pretty much anywhere I've skiied.
The Laub is perhaps the most well-known, with 1200m vertical, pretty
much straight down, and an _average_ gradient of 35degrees, with parts
of the main run well over 40 (and steeper if you look for the
couloirs); North-facing, so in mid-season pretty much unaffected by
the sun, and although easily accessible, you need to know how to get
to it, as the entrance is somewhat hidden and even once you get to it
it looks fucking intimidating with a very steep rutted section at the
top, so you don't get too many wannabes on it.

Also the snow record is excellent, with a season running from October
to late May, and the night life is pretty good too. Oh, and the
restaurants, both on the mountain and in the village.

 

You don't need to excuse it.

Ah, well off-piste is not something I've dabbled in.

check. in particular, had a fantastic curry in Winter Park in April.


The reason I ask is that my skiing buddy, who's been skiing 35 years
and lived in Europe for 10, says that Colorado skiing is the best in
the world.

 

The best skiing in the world is _always_ the skiing you're doing right
here, right now.

We're off out again as soon as Jude's finished servicing[1] her skis.

[1] Always been my job before, but they learned how to do it on her
instructors course, so she's keen to practice.