Nostalgia as the £ surges past 1.10 against the €
As the £ tramples all over the € in scorching past the 1.10 mark, a plate of chips in Courchevel 1850 now only costs the equivalent of an average daily wage in the UK. The double whammy of a shocking currency and weak economy has meant a rise in shorter breaks and better value. This for me is where Austria beats the rest of the Alps – value for money. My local après ski bar might not be slope side Ischgl but it is slope side Innsbruck ski region and my 0.5 litre bottle of beer costs just €2.80. A bowl of soup in either the modern Hoadl restaurant or one of the local traditional mountain huts come in at between €3-4. Having skied the length and breadth of the Alps I always return to Austria and am pleasently surprised by the value on offer there. A couple of winters ago I sat in a restaurant in the French Alps and found a plate of chicken (granted it must have been good) for €109. My jaw dropped even further when a friend passed over the wine list to show me a €9000 bottle of wine. Maybe these are extremes but when people are looking for ski holiday deals then resort and mountain prices are clearly an integral part of any ski holiday. For many it would be sacrilege to ski past an après ski bar after a great day on the mountain.
after bigging up your local Apre bar, I’m looking forward to getting smashed rather cheaply in early December. Book the taxis now brown! walking will not be an option!
I have always liked the Kiwi perspective! Our local apres ski bar is a purveyor of great nights and tough mornings. With the staggering rise in the £ you would be able to invest in either further medicine at Walters’ bar or that taxi you mentioned. The tragedy of the relationship there is that the more you spend of your taxi budget you more you need the taxi - the bridge across the river has a superb surface for traction but after that it is the slope of despair - icy as hell and inclined.
yes i remember the slope after the bridge. a fall last december nearly cost me the ski season.
hey local, of course! Die Semmel Abfahrt - I had completely forgotten that you were the first casualty of the winter. I think that is the path that the magic mountains crew take their tiki torch procession. Maybe this year they will have to take another route as I am not sure if White Smoke could either navigate the hill or survive a fall - it is time he got farmed out to a chair like Heini!
Back over 1.11 !!!!!