[deacon]

Got any more info on Jasna lagers? Starting to research for next year but it's always good to get first hand experience any good for beginners, wife and 4 year old have only had about 5 days on, and more importantly is it cheap lol.
We went to Kranjska-Gora a few weeks ago which was great, very cheap, great for beginners but limited for me, and all slopes were tree lined pistes with very very limited off-piste and a non existent board park.
The family are really keen to go back but I was hoping for something a little better. Defo couldn't afford a typical French resort though. Did I mention it needs to be cheap?

[Fultonius]

Psyched outta my face!!  Off to Kuhtai in Austria on Saturday (friend's bro lives there) and we'll hopefully get up to Solden for a few days. Snow-Spray.com says "metric fucktons of new snow" so we might get a wee top up. Gonna bee chilly though, with the beast from the east's wee brother making a visit.

First trip in a long time where I'm only taking a snowboard!!

[SA Chris]

Looks like a pretty significant dump, and cold. Enjoy. Jealous.

[lagerstarfish]

Got any more info on Jasna lagers? Starting to research for next year but it's always good to get first hand experience any good for beginners, wife and 4 year old have only had about 5 days on, and more importantly is it cheap lol.
We went to Kranjska-Gora a few weeks ago which was great, very cheap, great for beginners but limited for me, and all slopes were tree lined pistes with very very limited off-piste and a non existent board park.
The family are really keen to go back but I was hoping for something a little better. Defo couldn't afford a typical French resort though. Did I mention it needs to be cheap?

I was looking at it with a similar eye

(all referring to the piste map at the end of the pdf freeride guie I linked above)

there are no green runs (apart from the very short runs in the "Maxiland" beginners areas at Biela Put and Lucky )

best beginner run is blue 13 at Biela Put - served by a decent chair lift B3, but the exit ramp is pretty steep compared to the piste - the lift operators did a good job of slowing it right down for little kids/old people to get off - run is wide and even

blue 10 is much longer with slightly steeper sections and is served by a very nice bubble/cabin lift, so no issues for little kids getting off

blues 5 and 14 are also good long runs served by chair lifts B8 and B1 - easier to exit than B3, but again with slightly steeper sections (not red steep by any means)

my main concern would be that at Easter the snow cover low down might not be sufficient for the easier blue runs since they finish pretty low down - at Feb half term, I would be concerned about it being very cold for little kids. They have loads of snow making kit on the mountain, so I will be watching the web cams over the easter hols to see how they look after the easy runs

all the above are on the main North/Jasna side of the mountain and are great for carving on a board - the blues on the south side are narrower tracks - 34c/b is served by the main cable car and has amazing views. I didn't go on 34a, but that is also served by a new cable car

the drag lifts all seem to be out of use due to the great chair/cabin lifts

all the food places seemed to serve kid friendly food (breaded chicken and chips etc.)

loads of Slovakian kids on the hill

I recommend staying with Propaganda Snowboards 

[lagerstarfish]

the Biela Put webcam gives you a good view of the easiest runs

https://www.onthesnow.co.uk/low-tatras-north/jasna-nizke-tatry-chopok-sever/webcams.html?id=2871

[deacon]

Cheers for the advice, it's really appreciated. Tbh the little 'un (4 year old) smashed it with skiing including nailing fast button lifts. It's more the wife I'm concerned about lol, she could only relax on big quiet slopes.

What was the resort like? Friendly/snobby/party-knobs?

Did it cost a fortune?

Getting excited for another trip already and it's a year away 

[Fultonius]

Looks like a pretty significant dump, and cold. Enjoy. Jealous.

The inevitable downgrade has come, but still should get a wee top up. Hope the sun pokes through at least once....looking gloomy!

Anyone know of any good tree skiing in the Oetztal valley?

[lagerstarfish]

Cheers for the advice, it's really appreciated. Tbh the little 'un (4 year old) smashed it with skiing including nailing fast button lifts. It's more the wife I'm concerned about lol, she could only relax on big quiet slopes.

What was the resort like? Friendly/snobby/party-knobs?

Did it cost a fortune?

Getting excited for another trip already and it's a year away 

I found it pretty friendly  - nobody doing unsafe stuff near beginners/kids - plenty of families on the slopes

plenty of folk using a hip flask on the chair lifts, but didn't see any major pissheads on the slopes that I remember

we ate mainly at the piste-side barbecue at Zahradky - 6 to 8 Euros for a good meal - kids meals were less

definite split between expensive bars and cheaper places piste side - 2 Euros for 500ml beer at cheap place (Espresso Bar), 2.40 for 250ml at expensive place (Crystal Bar) and they don't do large beers

good hot chocolate between 2 and 3.30 Euros

we cooked/barbecued at the chalet every night - shopped at Tesco or the local Coop - UK prices, maybe less

accom was £209 pp for B&B for the week http://chaletjasna.co.uk/chalet-1/

flights were £50 each way plus sports equipment and legroom charge with WizzAir

adult ski pass for 6 days was 170 Euros - booked here http://www.jasnaskipass.com/

we didn't go into the big town, but fellow chalet guests seemed to enjoy the water park and the hot springs and Route 66 bar

if you stayed at http://chaletjasna.co.uk/chalet-3/ you could pop home for lunch - the staff would sort out lifts to and from the supermarket

[Muenchener]

Anyone know of any good tree skiing in the Oetztal valley?

Can't think of any offhand, and I've been there the last few winters. In general the sides of the main valley below the treeline are really steep. There are a few tiny bits of off-piste with trees at the top of Kühtai, either side of the stream coming down from the big dam, but that's about it.

[Plattsy]

Cheers for the advice, it's really appreciated. Tbh the little 'un (4 year old) smashed it with skiing including nailing fast button lifts. It's more the wife I'm concerned about lol, she could only relax on big quiet slopes.

What was the resort like? Friendly/snobby/party-knobs?

Did it cost a fortune?

Getting excited for another trip already and it's a year away 

Can't add much to what Lagers said. Only that I ate out one night at a locals bar/restaurant.
Soup
Pork steak with white beans and spicy sauce (aka spicy baked beans  )
Potato pancakes
Large salad
Pint
Water

€18.20

This was a cheap place and I really enjoyed the food and the chuckle of being served spicy baked beans.

Lagers and I also had lunch on the last day in a nice looking locals restaurant. Big rack of ribs €9.

[Fultonius]

Anyone know of any good tree skiing in the Oetztal valley?

Can't think of any offhand, and I've been there the last few winters. In general the sides of the main valley below the treeline are really steep. There are a few tiny bits of off-piste with trees at the top of Kühtai, either side of the stream coming down from the big dam, but that's about it.

Sounds ideal 

[lagerstarfish]

Lagers and I also had lunch on the last day in a nice looking locals restaurant. Big rack of ribs €9.

I couldn't finish mine - it was 3 portions of what a pub normally serves as a rack of ribs in UK

if you like eating pig, Slovakia will make you happy

[lagerstarfish]

we didn't get much video/photos done due to weather, but I think the sub 10 second video genre could do with a boost

[deacon]

 :great:2 cheers for the advice, sounds well cool out there. And yes pig is my favourite '5 a day' so should enjoy it out there
I'll see what the wife (boss) thinks then start booking something.

Looking out the window I think I'll get a few turns in today too. Fresh pow in Graves Park!!!

[sxrxg]

Cheers for the advice, it's really appreciated. Tbh the little 'un (4 year old) smashed it with skiing including nailing fast button lifts. It's more the wife I'm concerned about lol, she could only relax on big quiet slopes.

What was the resort like? Friendly/snobby/party-knobs?

Did it cost a fortune?

Getting excited for another trip already and it's a year away 

I have just got back from a week with a 3 and bit year old on his first trip and an intermediate wife (as well as a skiing grandmother). We had a great time at Valfrejus, a small French resort close to the Italian border.

From what you are describing it sounds like it could be right up your street. The ski area isn't massive however it has good vertical drop, fast lifts and is high 1550m-2750m. Also with it being quite off the top lift you can get fresh tracks for a full day after a storm down some amazing terrain with chutes and cliffs (I would highly recommend a transceiver in this zone though as there were some large sluffalanches that I witnessed even though the zone was nominally open - note that I was happy riding this zone on my own as it is in full view of the chairlift/pistuers hut and someone would be with you quickly should the worst happen). Also should it be snowing heavily there is also some great tree skiing lower down.
Finally the top runs all lead back into the main bowl so good for having someone on childcare and doing a run each. For the intermediate there should be enough to go at with lots of quite well pisted blues including a lovely long, >10km, one all the way back to town that goes through some stunning alpine terrain well away from the lifts.

Now onto things for the family... We found it an amazingly friendly family orientated place especially for France. On the plateau at 2200m is a kids play area with a castle that has slides, a maze, a zip line, rubber doughnut roundabout, also entertainment on some days with music and free face painting, this was ace for playing about whilst others skied. Also on the plateau is the location of the kids kindergarten fenced off ski school area with chalet should the weather get bad, both ESI and ESF operate in resort (we put our boy in ESI however he hated it being the only English speaking child so we pulled him out and will try again in the future - this was the only thing all week that didn't work out for us. It wasn't the fault of the ski school though, they seemed fine he just got bored with it due to his age and enthusiasm). If you just want to ski with them there are greens on the plateau with a short covered moving carpet, a longer rope tow and an even longer poma.

As for the rest of the resort it is not a party place, there are however a couple of nice bars and restaurants. Also it is nice that things are sensible prices, €2.50 for a small happy hour beer in the main square at the bottom of the lifts, meal deal in the same square (bottom of main lift) €11 for burger, fries and soft drink. On the hill things are slightly more expensive (€10-14 for a large pizza, €5 for a massive enfant spaghetti bolognese, €3.50 for a chocolate chaud with masses of cream!) however knowhere near the silly prices in some larger alpine resorts. Also there is a room available for packed lunches if you want to take your own stuff up.

Finally accomodation prices are very reasonable especially if you book with Sunweb as we did who give you a lift pass voucher included. We had an ski in ski out apartment (typical French ski resort fare) with 2 bedrooms (6 person) so didn't have to use the sofa bed, and use of the outdoor swimming pool, and onsite bar for £750 for all 4 of us - considering a 6 day lift pass for an adult is about £150 this makes the apartment cost approx £300 for the week. I also found it easier to take time off from skiing to do family stuff knowing it had been thrown in and I hadn't paid £200 like in some of the larger resorts!
Transfers are approx 2 hours from Lyon, Grenoble, Chambery, Turin ( note €55 for the tunnel if you fly to Italy though) so plenty of cheap flight options. There is also the option to take a TGV to Modane and get a 15 minute taxi to resort if you don't want to fly.

Maybe I was spoiled with the stunning snow conditions this week and getting fresh tracks on 2 out of 6 days in waist deep snow has skewed my judgement however I would definitely head back. I would also go with a group of mates and get some guiding as the area seems to have some amazing terrain, further to this the Eskimo ski pass covers all the resorts in the valley (aussios, la Norma, Val cenis, Bonneville Sur arc) for not much more money and all are within a 45 minute drive of each other, it is also possible to access valthorens and the 3 valleys from orelle a 15 minute drive away if piste bashing is your thing.

[SA Chris]

I've heard good things about the place too, seems popular with Dutch contingent (recommended by 2 independently)

[lagerstarfish]

some action from today

I took my mate Al out and lent him a snowboard

he has never done any snow or board sports before

he is not a young man

this pretty much sums up the local scene

[lagerstarfish]

I think this guy was on the hill when me and Plattsy were there!

[Fultonius]

Anyone know of any good tree skiing in the Oetztal valley?

Can't think of any offhand, and I've been there the last few winters. In general the sides of the main valley below the treeline are really steep. There are a few tiny bits of off-piste with trees at the top of Kühtai, either side of the stream coming down from the big dam, but that's about it.

What a week  Really lucked-out with the conditions and weather. We had a couple of stormy days at the start of the week that brought 15-20cm of new snow. 

We were staying in Ötz and actually spent a lot of time just in the small, family-oriented Hochötz above, as there were lots of nicely spaced trees and fun, relatively safe (if a bit rocky at times) off piste terrain. Also, nobody else was really off piste, so lap after lap of fresh tracks.
I have had somewhat of a snowboarding renaissance .  I skied one day on rental skis (amazing Stöckli Laser SC, coupled with sloppy flexy rental boots - an amusing if alarming combination  ) but snowboarded every other day. I know some on here (yes Chris, I'm talking about you) can be somewhat dismissive of "rocker" but my new board has blown my mind!

Put it this way, on my old Ride Timeless I would crash almost every drop or jump in powder, I could never turn through the trees confidently and exactly where I wanted, and I nose-dive-cartwheeled countless times (with the whiplash to prove it). I'd get stuck on the flats, lose my edge when the pistes has 1" of soft snow and I got so fed up I didn't snowboard for 3 full seasons.


On my new board I can turn through the trees almost telepathically (slow or fast), land 90% of drops and jumps, float effortlessly through the powder with 30% to 50% front foot pressure (depending on snow depth), yet still happily charge the pistes, cut through chop, pop and slide through the moguls. Koolaid   

This will stick long in the memory as the week I fell back in love with snowboarding!

Slash snowboards, I salute you.

[SA Chris]

So it's a skill compensator then. I might give one a go if my current board ever dies, but it's showing no signs of doing so at present, and I've never had any issues with my riding like you describe*. Glad you had a good trip.

*(i.e. I'm not a punter)

[Fultonius]

So it's a skill compensator then. I might give one a go if my current board ever dies, but it's showing no signs of doing so at present, and I've never had any issues with my riding like you describe*. Glad you had a good trip.

*(i.e. I'm not a punter)

Yep,   

Or just evolution of design  = right tool for the job?

I happy enough to admit it. The main thing for me is that I actually progressed every day, riding better and better. Whereas previously I was fighting the board so much I was going backwards.

I'd give you a go, but it's probably still a bit small for your requirements? It's 160 standard width. Its not full rocker, found them too wandery on piste last year, just tip and tail rocker, camber underfoot.

[sxrxg]

Not sure if skis and boards are very different however my new sticks have rocker (both tip and tail with camber underfoot) and I will never be going back to a traditionally cambered ski.

They are so much better for 90% of what I do allowing a more centered neutral stance in soft snow, lifting the nose in crud, allow the bindings to be mounted more centered so also get more tail to help with landing cliffs, easier switch skiing and a more balanced ski for spinning. Also less chance of edge catches when spinning and easier to get up on the noses and tails for buttering. Only downsides are less effective edge on piste so don't carve quite as well on hard snow/ice also I do get a bit of tip chatter when at Mach 10 however most of my skiing is more playful and not charging so again not a big problem for me.

For the first time in a very long time I also found that the equipment let me ski differently allowing me to pivot the skis and release the tails in soft snow, this helped in the trees and also allowed me to slash in powder to scrub speed - this is something I have never had the pleasure of on large traditional camber pow skis and it is a very enjoyable way of skiing. I am sure this 'newschool' style won't suit everyone, especially chargers, however I can see rocker making skiing more enjoyable for a vast number of skiers who don't go quite as fast and like to ski in soft snow.

[SA Chris]

I'd give you a go, but it's probably still a bit small for your requirements? It's 160 standard width.

My board is 167 midwide, so not miles off, but they seem to go smaller with newer design boards.

[lagerstarfish]

time to start dreaming again

[SA Chris]

Needs to snow a lot before 9 Jan. I'm due some powder.