Alex's space

Google widget for Ski resort webcams

click on a orangey / red blob to find a webcam

testing google widgets

one week on Last.FM

Have been playing my i-tunes in the background for a week now (when ever i am at my PC) and it seems like Last.FM already knows me!

if you go to my user page you will see there is a lot of Pink Floyd and Faithless at the top of the tree. This is because there are a lot of their tracks on my PC and so they get played more often, although I do sometimes think that the random play function on i-tunes is not too great as I only have 1 they might be giants album but it seems to play a lot!

I still do not think I have enough data up there yet for it to start recomending tracks, but the other day I had the Last.FM player on and as I had not enough data for it to play my sort of music yet, I said play stuff like Goldfrapp (CD that was on my desk at the time), it was spot on with a really good selection of music.

I continue to be impressed.

05-06 Skis skied this year

in follow up to a longer ski test post here

Very luckily this season’s skiing has mostly been done in deep snow. So what skis have I and my chums had fun on?

mostly Rossignol Bandit B3s, as per my older post the B2s are excellent all round skis, and I think that this season’s B3 is more of the same, it has more side cut than last season’s and as such performs better on piste, but still has the floatation to look after you off piste.

Rossignol have bought in the massive B4s to extend the range, so where as last year the B3 and Scratch BC were their big boys, the B4 is now the daddy.

I still really like last seasons B3 and last week in the portes du soleil with tonnes of snow they were great (if a little less turnable than the new B3)!

so if you want an all round ski the B2s and B3s are excellent choices. Popular also in this category this year are the brilliant Dynastar 6800s and K2s Seth Pistols, however if you are going to be hiring you are more likely to get the Rossignols. In Switzerland local manufacturers such as Movement and Stockli have some great back country skis but they are not often available to hire outside of Swiss resorts.

Sankt Johann in Pongau

Just had a weekend in St Johann in Pongau This is a resort where I used to work, way back when, and have every so often re-visited to see old friends etc, the last time I was there was 2002 for Christmas which was very good fun, however the change in the place since then is amazing, so on to some facts:

Location

Its Just south of Salzburg, so very easy to get to via plane and car / train either from Munchen or Salzburg. The Next town along is Bischofshoven home to one of the ski jumps for the 4 hills competition.

Skiing

they claim to have the largest ski area in Austria and it certainly has grown by at least double to include places like Schladming and Dachstein, the main ski area has improved out of recognition, there are high speed 6-man and 8-man chairs everywhere making it incredibly fast to get around.

Views at the top of Flachau

we were there at high high season, and it was very busy but we only queued a few times, and less so than I remember when I was working there.

So the skiing is as good or if not better than many French resorts, and most of the time you are skiing around the tree line and below, it is a little strung out potentially (not 1 big bowl of skiing but 3 valleys), but nevertheless still good fun with a nice balance of easy motorway and challenging reds / blacks.

The real winner in Austria is great skiing and everything else … the huts on the mountains, the apres ski bars, the restaurants, the clubs, the atmosphere and the Austrian’s them selves.

Mountain Huts

On the mountain, more often than not, you will get cheerful, friendly and occasionally stunningly beautiful, table service… One would think that Austrian cusine is not the best but you would be wrong, in a mountain setting, Schnitzl, salad and chips, or grustle (sort of potatoes, bacon, eggs, hash thing), germf knodle (un-cooked donut), krapfen (sweet or sour donuts) etc are perfect and not as heavy as they sound. On top of that you will have friendly service and a much smaller bill than in France. Example meal: 1 pint fizzy apple juice, Weiner Schitzle, Salad, Apfelstrudel, hot chocolate with cream (8000 calories) 17 Euros – which I think is very good value.

So if you are in Sant Johan try the following mountain huts:

The Kriesten Alm – Alpendorf
The Buchau Hutte – Alpendorf
The Krapfen Alm – Wagrain

Apres Ski

As with every Austrian resort I have been to, it seems that apres ski is essential, St Johann is no different with the Tennerhof being my venue of choice. It gets rammed with Dutch, Austrians and Germans (and the occasional Brit) and the singing begins … a bit of Anton aus den Tirol, or similar. The music has not changed in 15 years with the occasional ‘Life is Life’ or ‘winds of change’ and the traditional Bavarian or Austrian tunes have been spiced up with a touch of Euro-House beat. This part of the world lays claim to inventing the Flugel (Redbull + Vodka) and they still do plenty of that stuff although the way they tend to do it is: Cherry Vodka + Redbull cordial + a splash of soda, it seems much more powerful. So several hundred northern Europeans hyped on RBV and cheep beer, singing along to oompah oompah music should give you the idea. They are having a good time because that is when you should have a good time and as a side effect you tend to as well.

The Rest

Apart from the nightmare of Austrian twin beds (a double in any other country) the hotels and B&Bs are good and reasonable, you can swing a cat in most Austrian rooms. The towns have atmosphere and generally filled with likeable people, and on the whole the towns are not purpose built for the skiing, there were there before and have a life of there own, I have always preferred these types of resorts.

Finally the Austrian service mentality, is second only to the US, they want you to enjoy your self, and spend your money of course, but it is like the whole resort and town gets together at the begining of the season and the boss says – look, lets leave our guests with a good impression and lets look after them while they are here. The strongest example of this is the Ski School, the theory in Austria is that you look after your guests, make sure they are safe and enjoy themselves, oh and as a side effect they will learn to ski – this is truly the case.

Go there, go on now.

Skiing in the Pyrenees - PEYRAGUDES

Peyragudes , is probably the closest Pyrenean resort to home for us and it is very easy to get to.

View of Peyragudes from Col de la Flamme

It is a combination of 2 resorts Peyresourde and Les Agudes joined by high speed chair lifts and wide open blue pistes.

It has a good beginners run close to the main restaurants and base and most of the skiing is easy blue cruising.

There is plenty of easily accessible off piste and depending on snow conditions some serious fun can be had on mainly wide open sections off piste.

The guys at Pistehors.com have made a very useful off-piste map here which shows the major accessible off piste routes.

Over all it is a good resort for a day or two however the ski lift pass prices are starting to increase in price, a day this year (high season) costs 27 Euros + 2.70 Euros for insurance.

It also forms part of the NPY ski pass scheme which covers several resorts in the Pyrenees, to be posted soon.

Useful info: if you drive up there it is quicker and better to start on the Peyresourde side, continue past the first section of the resort and follow your nose to a large carpark at the bottom of the slopes.

Lunch costs about 11 euros for a menu in the ‘expensive’ restaurant and about 5 euros for a chicken and chips in the cheaper restaurant.

Ski hire is from Sarat sport (the same guys that are at the base in St Lary) and you can get brand new equipment if you want, they had Seth Pistols and Rossignol Bandit B3 / B2 s available the price for a days hire is typical of the Pyrenees from 12 Euros to 25 depending on what you take.

Factoid 1: the Peyresourde side has a mountain top runway and it was used for the opening sequence of the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies

Factoid 2: the Col de Peyresourde is often used during the mountain stages of the Tour de France, it is considered to be one of the easier climbs (ha)! And links the towns of Arreu and Louchon