Carried Away By A Moonlight Shadow...

[floydraser]

11 hours ago, YnysMon said:

 

Just figure that out.

I've heard about things called "Apres Ski"? Now I think I know what it means! 

Never been skiing myself, I was going to come down the same way I went up!

I found out about the free lift when someone related the story of a 73 year old woman who regulary runs 5k and goes skiing. Free lifts, but she says the insurance is expensive for her age.

[kpnut]

I'm going to do a recce and find out which resorts offer that. Might be useful.

[YnysMon]

12 minutes ago, kpnut said:

I'm going to do a recce and find out which resorts offer that. Might be useful.

Please share if do you find out. I’ve decided that I need to replace my passport that expired in 2014 so might actually be able to go abroad.

I’ve found out that won’t be allowed to sing with my choir in St George’s Windsor unless I have a photo ID: either passport or photo driving licence. For some reason there are extra security requirements for St George’s than your normal cathedral. Wonder why?

 

 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

I used to do a lot of work in Windsor castle and associated buildings in the area as a vetted background checked engineer to the point where most staff knew me by my first name and I still had to produce photo ID to sign in and be allocated an escort every single time which was a PITA but I looked at it as protection for me should anything ever happen whilst I was there.

You can expect a bag check and maybe even a swipe over with a wand.

[kpnut]

1 hour ago, YnysMon said:

Please share if do you find out. I’ve decided that I need to replace my passport that expired in 2014 so might actually be able to go abroad.

Well Helen, in danger of really sabotaging your boat thread and turning it into a ski bums thread instead!

A quick look on a few skiers forums have come up with this. Last seasons info.

France   

3 Valleys (Meribel etc) age 75 Free
Alp D'Heuz 72 -66%Austria   
Flaine and Grand Massif    age 75 Free
Espace Diamant 75 Off Peak Price
Tignes and Val D'Isere   age 75 Free
La Rosiere    age 75 Free
Les 2 Alpes    age 72 -66%
Les Arcs and La Plagne     age 75 Free. Discount for age 65-74
Les Gets / Morzine area   age 75 €57 Season
Montagnes d'Evian    age 75 Free (age 70-74 halfprice)
Paradis ski    age 75 50€ Season
Risoul / Vars   age 65, dsicount, age 75 think its free

 

Scotland   Glenshee age 75 Free
England    Hemel Hempstead age 60 £90 AnnualMembership=30% discount

Andorra   Grandvalira  age 75 Free

Austria?   Alberg     age 75 BIG discounts

The lesson to learn is - if/when planning a ski trip, start looking at lift pass prices in more detail! Thanks for highlighting it Floydraser
 

[Mouldy]

23 minutes ago, kpnut said:

Well Helen, in danger of really sabotaging your boat thread and turning it into a ski bums thread instead!

A quick look on a few skiers forums have come up with this. Last seasons info.

France   

3 Valleys (Meribel etc) age 75 Free
Alp D'Heuz 72 -66%Austria   
Flaine and Grand Massif    age 75 Free
Espace Diamant 75 Off Peak Price
Tignes and Val D'Isere   age 75 Free
La Rosiere    age 75 Free
Les 2 Alpes    age 72 -66%
Les Arcs and La Plagne     age 75 Free. Discount for age 65-74
Les Gets / Morzine area   age 75 €57 Season
Montagnes d'Evian    age 75 Free (age 70-74 halfprice)
Paradis ski    age 75 50€ Season
Risoul / Vars   age 65, dsicount, age 75 think its free

 

Scotland   Glenshee age 75 Free
England    Hemel Hempstead age 60 £90 AnnualMembership=30% discount

Andorra   Grandvalira  age 75 Free

Austria?   Alberg     age 75 BIG discounts

The lesson to learn is - if/when planning a ski trip, start looking at lift pass prices in more detail! Thanks for highlighting it Floydraser
 

Humph!  If I live to be 75, I’ll be grateful to still be able to walk, never mind ski! 🤦‍♂️

[kpnut]

11 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Humph!  If I live to be 75, I’ll be grateful to still be able to walk, never mind ski! 🤦‍♂️

Go for it Malcolm. My mum skied (after a fashion) till she was 85. She did used to take her skis off and walk down if it got too hairy, very frustrating for the rest of us, but probably sensible.

[YnysMon]

1 hour ago, Mouldy said:

Humph!  If I live to be 75, I’ll be grateful to still be able to walk, never mind ski! 🤦‍♂️

Kudos to Kate’s Mum, but I think most of us will be past skiing by 75.

Hemel Hempstead though…that’s a good idea. It’s where we learnt to ski. We started learning there one Spring in the late 80s and travelled down to Hemel weekly, so by the following winter when we went on our first ski holiday we were quite proficient.

On the other hand, we do have an indoor proper snow slope in MK, which I’ve yet to visit. The Scrooge in me is coming out again! 

[Mouldy]

1 hour ago, YnysMon said:

On the other hand, we do have an indoor proper snow slope in MK, which I’ve yet to visit. The Scrooge in me is coming out again! 

Helen!  Go on, liberate a few pounds and treat yourself to a go in Xscape!  I’ll make the journey from Norfolk to watch!  😉 I can’t really say too much though.  Never been on skis in my life!

[YnysMon]

31 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Helen!  Go on, liberate a few pounds and treat yourself to a go in Xscape!  I’ll make the journey from Norfolk to watch!  😉 I can’t really say too much though.  Never been on skis in my life!

I got rather good at skiing by 1990. Then we had kids and prioritised other holidays. It didn’t help that younger son Alec was adamant that he didn’t want to ski.

After I mastered being able to turn with parallel skis I realised though how it takes it out on your knees, particularly going down a slope with lots of moguls (mini snow hills caused by the passage of many skiers). And that was when I was 30. I’d really struggle now. 

[YnysMon]

Maybe I should rename this thread ‘carried away on a pair of skis’. Totally my own fault. Who doesn’t like a bit of thread drift now and again. 

[Mouldy]

4 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

Who doesn’t like a bit of thread drift now and again. 

So, what’s new?

[ZimbiIV]

Let us all go back to water.

Water skiing, anyone?

paul

[kpnut]

3 hours ago, YnysMon said:

didn’t help that younger son Alec was adamant that he didn’t want to ski.

What????? Can’t imagine that. 
 

Richard walked at 10 months old, so the first time he was on skis was at 13 months.

The boots were too big for him and once when I picked him up to go on a chairlift, the boots, with skis attached, fell off. 
I had to collect them from the chairlift behind me when I got to the top.
Easier said than done when normally you jump off, ski down the slope to get out of the way of being clobbered on the back of the head by the chairlift. I had my cross country skis on, so not much control, perched on top of the slope holding onto Richard, poles and hoping I didn’t miss my chance to grab his skis. 
 

And this is how he got around most of the time when I wanted to have a proper ski. Again, on my cross country skis in this pic. (Think he should have been wearing a hat, he was pretty bald even by that age!)

30 years on, I still wear those lilac trousers on the boat in the winter. Keep me nice and warm.
 

No more talk of skiing. It’s giving me withdrawal symptoms. I might do something rash like booking a ski trip! The skis and boots are still up in the loft. I might take them to Richard’s in Scotland next month when I visit him, just in case Glenshee is open. 

[YnysMon]

I think we made a mistake when we visited my brother in law who was living in Orange County in California when the boys were little. We visited in February, and there are some ski resorts just north of LA. We were so keen to ski that we visited one of those resorts for a day and booked the boys into a skiing crèche. Harry (who was about 7 at the time) was quite happy to learn to ski, but Alec (4, going on 5) just didn’t want to. He preferred just playing in the snow. The nursery staff had the temerity to suggest he was on the autistic spectrum. Just because he wanted to do his own thing.

I think that experience probably put Alec off skiing for life.

Actually, one of the things that I appreciate about my boys is that they are quite independent minded. They were never bothered about pressure to ‘fit in’ at school or since.

P.S. I’m starting to think we might get our skis and boots out of the loft too! 

[kpnut]

5 hours ago, YnysMon said:

The nursery staff had the temerity to suggest he was on the autistic spectrum. Just because he wanted to do his own thing

A bit extreme! A shame he was put off though knowing the fun that can be had. 
 

5 hours ago, YnysMon said:

I’m starting to think we might get our skis and boots out of the loft too! 

The ‘bug’ isn’t only there for boating. You can catch it for lots of activities 😂

[Smoggy]

12 hours ago, ZimbiIV said:

Let us all go back to water.

Water skiing, anyone?

paul

Tried but couldn't find a decent stretch of downhill water to get enough speed up.

[Bikertov]

18 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Maybe I should rename this thread ‘carried away on a pair of skis’. Totally my own fault. Who doesn’t like a bit of thread drift now and again. 

It's your thread, so drift away !

[MargeandParge]

Bet Pozzie is thinking they've already has me kayaking and now there's talk of skiing 

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[Smoggy]

33 minutes ago, Bikertov said:

It's your thread, so drift away !

Probably be a snow drift!

[grendel]

5 hours ago, Smoggy said:

Tried but couldn't find a decent stretch of downhill water to get enough speed up.

how about niagra falls, thats got a fair downhill slope.

[MauriceMynah]

Now find someone to helm the tow-boat

[floydraser]

I apologise for the thread drift; it was me what mentioned skiing.

Did I ever mention my brother in law used to keep ferrets?

[Gracie]

Can ferrets ski then? x

[floydraser]

1 minute ago, Gracie said:

Can ferrets ski then? x

Caught one!