Skiing / snowboarding in CR ?

Discussion in 'Travel Tips & Advice' started by vladky, Oct 1, 2009.

  1. vladky

    vladky Member

    I have a business meeting in Prague in early March and would also like to spend a few days snowboarding in CR. Just wondered if there are any recommendations for good ski resorts in CR? and would there be snow the second week of March? or does one have to go to Slovakia?

    I know Austrian alps are probably best but I wanted to stick to CR or Slovakia.

    Thanks!
     
  2. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Skiing in early March might be possible, most likely in resorts in Krkonoše mountains, or around Praděd. Slovakia (Lomnický štít and around) should be 90%. Yesterday I heard winter will be cold and long this year.
     
  3. Lloyd

    Lloyd New Member

    Many people like Slovakia's resorts better, but I prefer Czech Republic mainly because of the better service. I'm going there twice a year and always have stayed satisfied.
     
  4. Lorelai

    Lorelai Member

    I am from Colorado, so I ski regularly on very good mountains, and I really enjoyed skiing at Spindlrov Mln a week ago. It was fun trying out my Czech on the lift, and they have no one telling you to ski slowly.

    I only saw one downside. People regularly got much closer to me than in Colorado, and I've heard that if there is a collision you could be thrown in prison! Wow! That can't be good for tourism! Is that true?

    We took a bus to the top of the mountain at the border of Poland, then skied to a restaurant (Moravska Bouda), which is only accessible by skis or snowmobile, had a wonderful dinner, then skied down the mountain. You should probably be an expert skier if you are going to try this, because the path is narrow, but it was a lot of fun.

    There was a great aquapark nearby to refresh your legs in the evening. There is a sign on the door of the sauna there saying "you must wear your towel." I went in and everyone was naked, sitting ON his towel! Hehe.
     
  5. bibax

    bibax Well-Known Member

    If you cause a fatal collision (no matter where) you will be tried for negligent homicide or bodily harm. I believe that it applies to Colorado as well.
     
  6. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    I do not see much diference between reckless driving, bike riding or skiing. Any way one can harm people, and one should be punished for it. I do not see this as "downside".

    As bibax wrote, this is probably the same in CO, however I guess if someone is punished for this in The US, he would sue the lift operator for not giving him instruction to drive safe and slow - this is why they say so.
     
  7. Lorelai

    Lorelai Member

    Being sued and being thrown in prison are two entirely different things. The second involves being a prisoner of the state, and this is much more dangerous than a lawsuit. I have the same objections in the US to overuse of police; this is a problem anywhere with excessive government. One group in the northeast US was thrown in prison for failing to pay a tip after dinner!

    I've never heard of someone suing after a skiing accident in Colorado. It's possible it happens, but I've never heard of it. If people got sued for injuring others in any of our contact sports, those sports would quickly cease to be fun. Contact injuries are very common in football, for example.

    With cars, there are distinct rules, car signals, traffic signals etc. With skiers who use the entire run for large turns, if you are coming down behind them, it is hard to calculate exactly when they will turn, so it's difficult to know which side of them to ski on. If a collision is imminent, and both people turn away even slightly, you are fine, but I noticed a lot of skiers who didn't have the ability to turn quickly, which is probably why they were getting so close and skiing sideways on the runs in the first place.

    Even with cars, legally we have acknowledged that many accidents could be prevented by either person. We had such a problem in the US with people purposely causing accidents so they could sue that we implemented "no fault" laws.
     
  8. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    I honestly do not believe it as well as I do not believe tip is mandatory (meaning there is law for it) in any state in NE US.

    I can imagine the scenario when the waiter was unpleasant to customer who left no tip, they start argument about it which developed to fight, injury, prison... but then the inprisonment was not because of the tip.
     
  9. Petronela

    Petronela Well-Known Member

    lol yeah it’s true Alexx. It happened last year, November or December I think. It will never hold up in any court and all it accomplished was to generate very negative publicity for the pub whose bartender had the couple arrested. American “tipping” system is about the worst on planet and totally defies the whole purpose of a tip. May as well stop calling it a tip and call it an entitlement.
     
  10. Lorelai

    Lorelai Member

    There was no physical fight at the restaurant. There wasn't even much of a verbal fight. Basically, a large group ate dinner at a restaurant that had a tip policy which states that they automatically add a 15-18% tip onto the bill for groups of 6 or more people. This group was dissatisfied with the service, so they paid the bill except the "mandatory" tip.

    The restaurant called the police and the group was imprisoned for the night.

    I was surprised to find that imprisoning people is so common here that most American males will be placed behind bars at some point during their lives. Aah, the Land of the Free...
     
  11. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    OK, I see the tip was specified on bill, as it is as well in some European restaurants. Then I guess they in fact did not pay what was stated on the bill, but less... anything is possible.

    I hope at least prices in restaurants include taxes :).

    Anyway I am looking forward to my stay in September, but being on tight budget I will most likely eat in Target and similar "restaurants".

    There is nice inprisonment story in 7th episode of Studio 60 serie, nice example of how you can end up in prison for few hours when doing nothing wrong.
     
  12. stepan

    stepan Well-Known Member

    Alexx - where are you going to visit in the US? Will you be in the Washington, DC area? I would like to meet you and show you some US hiospitality if we can agree on a day, time , and place.

    Maybe I can treat you to something better thatn Target.
     
  13. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    :) Rather no. Wy fly a little bit complicated way PRG-Gatwick/Heathrow-Toronto-LAX and the same way back. We are going to visit national parks of the west (approx. route: LA, SF, Boise, SLC, Albuquerque, El Paso, Phoenix, LV, LA).
     
  14. vladky

    vladky Member

    Hey guys- whatever happened to the advice on where to go skiing in CR ? All the banter is interesting but really far off the original thread.

    Besides Spindleruv Mlyn, is there any other places to go? thx
     
  15. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Mountains (hence ski resorts) are on almost all borders between CZ and neighbouring countries. Most famous by foreign tourists are Krkonoše mountains, but look for Šumava, Jeseníky, Beskydy, Krušné Hory, Orlické Hory, Jizerské Hory,...

    Krkonoše and Jeseníky (especially Praděd) are places where there is usually more snow then anywhere else, so these places are more probable to have snow later in spring.
     
  16. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    just a little side advice Alexx, Target food is aweful and a little more expensive than McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell or Wendy's. People really only eat at Target when thier wife is shopping too long and they are really hungry. :)

    You'll find the fast-food places mentioned above have quite a nice $1 menu. Another good way to save money while traveling out west is to stop at a grocery store (a large chain like Super Walmart) and buy a cooler for around $10-$20 and buy a bunch of groceries to make sandwiches, etc.

    The best place to buy the cooler is Dollar General or Family Dollar. Also, if you are camping, be sure to bring hat and gloves. The Grand Canyon gets quite cold in the evening in a tent :)

    We also will be camping out west this year (we do so almost every year) - but not Sept., we are going in August.
     
  17. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Heh, I always thought Target has grocery section (like Asda, Tesco in UK, or aparently Walmart), which I now see it does not :). This what you described in Walmart is what I ment.

    About that cooler thing - those comes with 12V power plug, so it can "cool" during the drive? Or 110V so it can work during the night? Or none what so ever (most popular in Europe - frozen stuff (cubes with some blue liquid inside) has to be put inside, and frozen again during night).

    I was thinkig about it before, that is would be an asset for us.

    We are planning to spend most nights in motels rather than camps - does typical Motel 6 or Super 8 room have a fridge?
     
  18. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    We do have coolers with plugs but they are not $10 - $20, they are probably closer to $50. We had one before and didn't like it much. We just prefer to replace the ice. If its a long trip, using the blue things will be a waste because you can't refreeze them once they defrost. You're better off buying the ice. You can get it at almost any gas-station for $1 - $2 per bag.

    We always take 2 coolers, one for drinks and one for food. Then we have a suitcase for dry foods like bread, chips, and things that don't need to be cooled. But our trips are usually 2 weeks and we replace food only once, but we replace beer a couple of times of course. :)

    As for the Motel 6, I really can't tell you, we always camp. You will spend about $50 a night at Motel and if you camp like us - no running water, bathe in river, etc, you will spend only $10 a night. It would even be cheeper for you to stop at Walmart when you get here and buy a tent for $100. but its all about preference.

    Anything, you don't want to take back home, you can dump it at any goodwill or salvation army, but you won't get your money out of it, those are for donations. You might be able to sell it though to a camp site store and they will sell it used.

    Anyway, just a few ideas. I hope you have a great time and let me know if you have any more questions. Oh, and if you do decide to camp, you don't have to bathe in river, you can pay $5 at any truck stop, or you can do like my husband's family. I pay the $5 at any KOA camp ground for the key, and they all slip in after me for free! HA - that's Czech people for you. I've never heard of this the type of traveling I've explained until I met my husband. But I gotta hand it to him, I have a great time and absolutely love the trips.
     
  19. Petronela

    Petronela Well-Known Member

    Also (not sure if you know or not) most chain grocery stores have deli counters with both hot and cold prepared food (quality does vary depending on the competence of deli employees) , pricewise it puts them about in the middle in between cheaper restaurants and unprepared food.

    Most motels have ice machines, some charge small fee for ice but some provide ice free of charge for their customers. (at least around here they do)

    You can also buy disposable coolers made from styrofoam, depends on how much they will be handled (in and out of the trunk) it may be an option.
     
  20. stepan

    stepan Well-Known Member

    There is always Subway - $5.00 subs. ALso Quizno is good

    I agree, Target food is not good, however there are Super Targets that have groceries like a regular grocery store. If you want cheap groceries, the Dollar stores have some decent prepared foods for a dollar.

    McDonalds has a good Dollar Menu and ithhas a good variety for breakfast and lunch, but one can get tired of that food.

    There are many ways to eat cheaply all over the US. I think that one can eat fairly well on less than $20 per day.
     

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