The Ski Locker thread

[hatler]

Good grief. That is unusual for this time of year.

The four day lads' trip to Flaine in a few days' time is to be enhanced by the presence of mini !!  Fantastic news since he won't be joining us in February. The only down side is that I now have to pick up another whole set of costs.

[Jakob]

Got up to the local mountain a couple of times. New boots and bindings + not haven't been riding for 2 years made the first run a bit of an adventure, but quickly got the hang of it.
Forecast is saying that Mt Baker will get dumped on Friday-Sunday, so will head down for one of the weekend days.

[CommuteTooFar]

Seems there will be thin snow for my trip to Kitzbuhel next week. I might see a cloud or two some days but I doubt I will see precipitation.

[CommuteTooFar]

Skis serviced (edges good, waxing poor)
Boots and helmet in their bag
Clothing in packing cubes
Tickets to airport collected
euros obtained at ruinous rate
phone, razor, kindle and camera charged

Now all I need is to remember my name and I can go skiing.

[Ham]

euros obtained at ruinous rate

Obv your choice but there are a number of no-commission no-fee cards, like Halifax Clarity some of which allow you to withdraw cash abroad from any ATM at bank rate, and also operate contactless so you don't need so much cash in the first place. (WARNING: DO NOT USE YOUR NORMAL BANK CARD WITHOUT CHECKING as many will add a per transaction fee, adding something like £3 cost for EACH transaction)

If you do go down this route, also make sure you DO NOT accept the option to be charged in GBP at the terminal you pay on, as that will be likely worse than buying Euro/Currency in the UK but still better than changing it at the airport. Surely nobody uses the currency bureaux at airports....?

Enjoy the skiing!

[chrisbainbridge]

Surely nobody uses the currency bureaux at airports....?

Recently to buy some Brazilian Reals to have when we landed.

[Ham]

Surely nobody uses the currency bureaux at airports....?

Recently to buy some Brazilian Reals to have when we landed.

I suppose you could consider Brazil to be a special case

[Jakob]

First real powder day on Friday and it showed...road up the mountain was crazy after work, with several people on non-winter tires trying to make their way up in a snow storm. Road wasn't terrible, but bad enough that snow tires were needed.  Several cars in the ditch, traffic often moving at walking pace.
Getting back down was the same circus. Several cars stuck in parking lot, some getting stuck halfway out, blocking it for everyone. Helped push a few out, but ignored the ones on low profile tires.  Car in front of us, when we finally got going, could barely stay on the road and was driving at 30km/h...which is understandable, except continued to do so well below the snow line.

It was worth the wait, though.  Conditions were awesome and my new bindings/boot combo gave me way more confidence and control over my board. Finished off with a rarely used tree-run to the car park and it was virtually untouched.

[hatler]

Spent yesterday with a guide in Flaine. No snow for at least a week but he managed to find lots of fresh stuff. A wonderful day. Lunch at Refuge du Lac de Gers in a cloudless sky, complete with a skidoo tow back up almost to the Gers drag. Four sets of very knackered legs by the end of it all.

[Ham]

Clicked on a whim - there's a great 360 from there

[hatler]

Yup. It's a stunning location, and I usually say that about somewhere that has a great view down. Without the Cascades run being open however, the passing traffic is significantly reduced - there were four of us and another party of three, and that was it.

[CommuteTooFar]

I had no choice but to but euros.  I used the same hotel as last year it does not take cards a very nasty surprise when I compared my expected end of stay bill against the euros I had for mountain restaurants which I am certain do not.

I have been using zero % commission cards for donkeys years.   Originally a Bank One credit card, then LV credit card. I had a halifax Visa credit card in case I found the rare case where a shop only took Visa and not Mastercard (There used to be such places).  Every time I filled one of the how can we improve our card surveys I said zero commission on  Euros. Eventually Halifax listened to people like me and when they launched Clarity it was commission free on Euros.
 

[CommuteTooFar]

I did not use the airport this time.  It is often the cheapest place to get Euros. The important thing is to order online and collect. Walking up and buying is silly. In the past the airport exchange rate has been best.