Tag Archives: Skiing

Apr 10 2012

The National Health Service – pretty good

I have had BUPA private medical insurance for many years. On the whole it has been pretty good.

But at the weekend I decided that my little finger was getting no better. My dare-devil ski accident* 8 weeks ago was still hurting. Actually the pain was getting worse and so in that bloke-ish way I decided I should go and get another opinion (mine is generally ok – “rest, take paracetamol and if it’s no better in a week come back“…). So I thought it would be quiet at the Queens Medical Centre on Easter Sunday. It wasn’t.

At least I wasn’t brought in accompanied on each arm by some burly policeman! Nor did I bother with the hand-cuff things. And I do use deodorant – something lacking in that waiting room. I don’t have a shell-suit either so felt a bit over-dressed. One couple were practically copulating – presumably procreating in case one of them didn’t make it. I wasn’t sure which of them was the ill one – nor did I have the guts to enquire. Their tongues were too busy for chatting to me.

I was there for a couple of hours – which wasn’t too bad. Long enough to get x-rayed and diagnosed. Short enough to avoid getting some inexplicable disease.

It turns out I have broken my little finger in the middle bit. There is a bit of chipped bone too – which is why it is sore. Avulsion Radial Collateral is what the nice lady told me I had.

I’ll live apparently – which is a huge relief. But clearly I am ill.

But putting my pain to one side (pain is just weakness leaving the body) I have to say that the NHS were brilliant. Everyone I came into contact with had a sense of humour. It’s a tough job at times. Nurses are underpaid and over-worked. They are so often at the forefront of saving lives, but I’m not sure that we appreciate this…

* fell out of the shower.

Feb 17 2012

Skiing – a fantastic sport

You might have guessed that this week I have been away in Cervinia, Italy for my annual ski trip. It’s a great place – I like the 2 hour transfer time and the fact that you don’t have to fly into the worst airport in the world (Chambery).

There have been some things I have observed this week…

1. The Italians generally are not polite people. Except perhaps in bars and restaurants where their living depends on it. They may have style, but manners don’t come naturally. “Thank You” is free in my world.

2. English is an amazing language – on a lift one morning I heard an Austrian talking to an Italian – in English.

3. It was cold – at one point we reached -21 in the week, but did the place come to standstill? No certainly not. In the UK we would have put the ‘closed’ sign in the window. Of course they also had 2m of snow on the ground too.

4. Italian food is rather good – Pizza and Tiramasu are to die for, but the staple diet of pasta keeps those ski legs working!

5. If you are going to learn to ski – do it when you are six. Don’t wait until you are grown-up. It hurts more and you develop this thing to keep you alive called ‘fear’. Kids miss this bit out. Irritating.

6. Never get on a lift with a snowboarder – they can’t sit properly and insist on sitting ‘across’ you. If you do have the misfortune to get next to one it is a legal requirement that you ease them off the lift first – with a gentle but firm push – away from your direction of travel. This helps them and you.

7. Ski boots were not invented by God. They are the most uncomfortable footwear ever invented. The only time they are any good is when you take them off.

8. This is not a sport for the poor – it is eye-wateringly expensive. The lift pass was over £200 for 6 days skiing. The money does get invested in boys toys, but even so, you do pay a lot for the pleasure. And they are sneaky – if the lifts don’t run you get a refund. So on Wednesday they opened one small lift out of 50+ -so no cash back. Clever but irritating!

Yes it is sore.

So that’s it for another year. I only suffered one injury – I would love to tell you it was whilst I was doing a jump – but alas I slipped when getting out of the shower and my little finger is no longer my little finger!

Oh and my favourite top tip for skiers – “never drink the yellow snow…”

Feb 6 2010

Skiing – the expensive holiday!

I am just at the end of my weeks holiday skiing with my two sons. We have had a great time in Cervinia – Italy.

Snow Cannon in Cervinia - an expensive toy!


It is not a cheap holiday by any means – mountain restaurants are notorious – £10 for three cans of coke is a bit excessive. They, of course argue that they have significant transport costs. No element of monopoly comes into play?

One of the most expensive elements of the holiday is the ‘lift pass’. Without one you go nowhere – and you are a fairly captive audience. This years adult pass for 6 days cost me £227 – nearly £38 per day. Each. Ouch.

We ate a few times in Lino’s (a great restaurant at the side of the piste which does superb pizza). I remember Lino’s from when I was last in Cervinia – depsite being in a Hotel with half board, I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in there one day – so bad was the Hotel food!

As we paid the bill for the pizza – we got talking to the owner about the resort. He was moaning about the costs in resort – I think he meant ‘business rates’, but some of the conversation got a little lost in translation. I moaned about the lift pass cost!

My son had asked me a few days earlier about the ‘piste bashers‘ – and what they cost. I thought they would be £200,000. In fact Lino said that the base model was 380,000 euros! They have 5 in the resort – which are manned on two eight hour shifts by 10 people. They run overnight…

Then there is the investment in snow cannons – which guarantee the snow conditions by ‘making’ snowflakes – forcing water and air at pressure through nozzles. I lost count of how many we saw!

The cost of fuel and electricity for piste bashers / snow cannons is colossal!

Then today as we used four lifts to climb to 10,000ft I realised the other staff involved – at both top and bottom of each lift were at least three staff, checking and clearing the areas.The lifts run from 8.30 – 4.30 every day.

Lino said that there had been investment of 80m euros in 5 years.

It is then that you realise that this investment needs to be clawed back – thats 350,000 lift passes… I won’t moan any more. Much.

Jan 9 2010

The Internet – making life easier?

All this snow focused my mind this week – Skiing! Not from Wollaton Hall hill (no lift up you see), but preferably alpine like…

My son 'resting' during his first ski week

But then I started to try booking.

Sometimes I think the internet has made our lives more complex – not easier. As you might expect, I am reasonably savvy when it comes to technology. But last night I was being driven to distraction…

… trying to book a ski holiday. Easy enough in the age of google! I know the date of travel (+/- 3 days), I want to fly from East Midlands Airport ideally (but Birmingham at a push). Resorts – probably Alps. Three in the party – myself and the two ‘boys’. By mutual agreement the boys want to share a room – alone.

So then the fun starts – Igluski, Crystal, First Choice, ThompsonSki, Neillson et al. All slightly different and each frustrating in their own way (actually quite a lot of them share the same search engine). Then trip advisor to check the hotels. Then Snow reports. Resort reports. What about transfer times? Do I want to endure Chambery airport and the single luggage carousel? As the Average White Band said – Let’s go round again…

I eventually put my laptop down – maybe I will start again soon! I did contemplate the Travel Agent next stop – but on my last visit there they used … the internet!

Do people still print brochures I wonder (probably do), but they must have been printed last year!

So the internet is great – but sometimes there is just too much to try and grapple with. It can be a real contradiction – the time you can save by having all this information is sapped by the time it takes you to filter all the information! I’m exhausted before I even start to think about reaching down to put those boots on – which I don’t mind telling you – I hate doing!

UPDATE 10th JAN

Booked today – via a real person at Igluski! . They were really helpful! Cervinia here we come…