On Fri, 15 Nov 2013 18:53:49 +0000, PipL wrote:

On Fri, 15 Nov 2013 05:29:15 +0000 (UTC), "Noumenon"
wrote:

The main problem with slopes is that Swiss are a bit lazy in that respect and
they don't groom slopes well (not like Italians or Austrians), not even half
of what they normally should be grooming in order to make piste skiing good...

I'm surprised. I went there last winter and the grooming was fine.

Indeed, but to generalise that _all_ Swiss resorts are good, bad or
indifferent in their grooming is a nonsense. They will vary
tremendously, with weather, location, snow depths, as well as local
preferences. Some places (think of Flaine, which I know you know well)
deliberately leave some pistes ungroomed on alternate daysbecause
that's what people want.

I've noticed before with one or two Americans that they want only
'perfect piste' to ski on, and while I can enjoy that as well I'd be
very bored if all pistes in all resorts were the same.

My only complaint with Swiss ski resorts (though it is a biggie) is that black
runs seem to be just steep reds, and groomed as well, and real blacks, the
sort that make my knees quiver, are often itineraires; not patrolled. Worrying
if you're skiing alone.

Whaaat? You've never come to Engelberg, have you? As generalisations
gom this one is about as meaningless as the other. Our reds here are
generally steeper than many blacks in other resorts. Champ commented a
couple of years ago, after he'd joined us on a Ski Club Holiday that I
was leading in Zermatt, that the black runs we were skiing there
weren't erally that steep. He failed to convince some of the other
members on the trip, but then when we'd driven back here on the
Saturday and we were skiing around some of the reds he stopped me and
said "Now you can't tell me that this isn't steeper than anything we
skied last week". And he was right, it was.

Today I was trying to improve my telemark technique on the couple of
those same reds which are now open, but I realised that with the soft
wet snow mogulling up as well as the steepness, it was far from ideal
for that. Tomorrow I'll be on fixed-heels :-0
--
Ace
Prime Ski School, Engelberg, CH
http://www.prime-engelberg.ch