Finish last, forsooth - who beat me last year, then???? And are we up against each other in Ladies Interp III at the MC again (and, if so, do I get a sneak preview of your programme at AN?).

You should take dance, dear...... six different compulsory dances AND a free dance to compete by the end of June????

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

LOL, Annabelle! I don't do dance simply because my brain is unable to remember the steps in proper order. Compulsory dances don't allow much room for making things up on the fly.

In free skating, I'm almost always last. I don't have the skill level to be competitive so I settle for having fun. Interp is a crapshoot - what goes over in one place with one set of judges may bomb big time in another place. I was lucky last year - Snoopy seemed to be a universal favorite. But this year? Who knows what will appeal?

I'm not doing AN; the two weeks for MC, the camp and Oberstdorf eats up half my vacation time for the year. In fact, I think the debut of the Interp program will probably be at my club's exhibition in May, so I'll only skate it once before MC. Assuming of course that we get it choreographed before then.

I'm going now, too! A friend of mine decided to do the competition. I'm so excited, even though I will be last in my group, I'm sure! But I don't care!

Ich freue mich daran! (Got to practice my German beforehand!)

And my regular coach, what a sport , is going to teach me at 7 am tomorrow morning before he goes on vacation! I have a LOT to do!

Pat
(edited to add, assuming all the flight details work out...)

OK, my husband and his 13yr old daughter are coming to MC and O'dorf with me. We are trying to decide when to leave for O'dorf. Obviously and regrettably, I cannot attend the camp. Does anyone know when there is FS ice available in O'dorf? I gotta skate-these old legs lose their memory very quickly!! When are folks arriving in O'dorf?
Thanks for any help!
Becca (you never have an Axel, it has YOU)!

Why can't you do the camp - presumably your husband & his daughter can go off up mountains/stuck on glaciers/in snowdrifts while you do it, no?

I should ask Barbara about practice ice, she'll probably know. Or if she doesn't, she'll know who to ask.

Talking of going off up mountains, anybody up for a long walk at Villard-de-Lans on the Sunday afternoon, once the competition has finished? Husband will want to go, of course, you know what he's like, and anybody else who reckons mountains are there to be walked up, not looked at, would be welcome to go along! Just so long as nobody expects me to!!!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

The competition announcement said that an official practice schedule would be mailed, and that additional ice time before June 10 could be purchased at the rink.

I mailed my application today! And my coach and I started making changes to my program for this competition.

Pat

Annabel,
My husband said since he's already been to France, he would rather spend his time in Germany. Geez, life sure gets in the way of skating!! Will you repost the link to the place where you are staying in O'dorf?
We will gladly go hiking with your husband after MC on Sunday!
Can't wait to see you at AN!
Happy skating!
Becca

We're staying here, but I've no idea what it will be like!

And don't forget, everybody - I think today is the last day for entries. And the Mountain Cup closes in a couple of weeks, too....

Good, Husband will like a walking-partner, and I'm sure there are one or two others who will be up for it....

See you very soon - less than a fortnight until we leave for the USA, I can't wait!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Just some information for everybody... If you go to www.oberstdorf.de you will find information on the area. I think it's pretty cool that they list the competition as an upcoming event right on the main page!

If you go to the bottom left, there is a link for a quick search for rooms. You can use the little calendar icons to select the dates for your stay and you will get a list of hotels. Any hotel that has Markplatz in its address is right on the main square. I stayed in one last time (I think it was the Hotel Mohren) and that's cool, but it can be noisy at night. I think this time I will stay a few blocks away. Anyway many of the hotels have pictures of the rooms so you can see what things look like. Also if you notice with the price listing it refers to "fruhstuck" (sorry, can't put the umlauts in) it means that breakfast is included in the price of the room. Also for the Americans note that some take only EU cards and some take American Express, and so on. I noticed that not many specify Mastercard (maybe none?) but some do specify Visa. (Just in case anyone doesn't have a Visa card, you might want to get one!)

Pat

Hey" Found some old pictures from when I was in Oberstdorf in 1990. Nice shot of the rink and the cable car. ( and starskate with head in Beer stien at Octoberfest the day after. )
Any body know how I can post the pics. ( Only 3)

Bumping this up since it's only about 6 weeks away now! I bought my plane tickets last night, boy prices went up in the last month! Oh well, at least I'm going.

Now it's time to panic over my elements... But I'm very excited about this competition!

Pat

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August 22, back on the ice!

Im still going to Oberstdorf. Mostly to relax. I look forward to the competition but even more so to my little room and sitting on the balcony looking at the fabulous views of Germany in the spring. Im getting there 2 day's early with just that thought in mind. If you have never been there before I promise you will not be disapointed. It a small quiet little village at the base of the German alps. The rink is historic and beautifull place to skate. If I remember, there is a cable car to the top of the mountains and a short walk from the rink.

Well just wanted to say hi again. Have not skated since Nationals but did a couple of ice shows in my area and I have another one tomorrow night . Liz manley and I got to be the features. Great shows, with great skaters, I did stilts and PT Barnum.. ( you didn't think Id actually skate did you) Talk to you all later.

Still looking for a hotel. Many are full already! Got any ideas? Burton

Burton

Best thing you can do is do a google on Oberstdorf. There you will find the local tourist buro web site. They have information on hotels and gaust hauses and a direct email address. They will get back to you in 12 hours Im sure. Also most small towns in germany have an advert board at the railway station of each town or at the tourist buro in town it self. This is so tourist can find a quick place to stay if they arrive on the spot without reservation. Some have a direct phone like the ones you find at airports here. These are mostly found at the big ski towns like St Anton so Im not sure what you would find there. I Id this a lot and got a cheap bed every night when i bumbed my way around Europe years ago. Keep in mind this is going to be early summer so you may be hard pressed to just roll up and try your luck. I hope this helps you out. Good luck. see you there.

I made the plane reservations so I guess I'm committed now. The only thing left is to find a hotel room for the night of June 12 in Munich since my flight home leaves too early on the 13th to drive there in the morning. Any ideas?

We're going to Mountain Cup first, then doing the camp there and then driving to Oberstdorf. I don't usually skate that much in a month, let alone in a week! I'll be lucky if I can move by the time I get to Germany.

I just made my room reservation, at the Oberstdorfer Einkehr. I think there are plenty of rooms, just not if you go through expedia or travelocity. For anyone who still needs a room, check the oberstdorf.de web site, and you can search "Quartiere suchen" and get a list of hotels. For each hotel, you can check availability, but you have to call or fax or email to make the reservation. I'm feeling very proud of myself because I made the reservation in German; the person who answered the phone told me she only spoke English badly ("schlecht!" when I asked her if she spoke English) and we had a laugh about that. Fortunately I know enough German to get by. I picked this hotel based on location and the fact that they accept Visa.

If anyone has questions about particular hotels, feel free to PM me.

And blue111moon, I was advised for look for an Intercity hotel in Munich because that tends to be located close to the train station. I haven't done that yet, but I will soon since my flight home is also too early on the 13th to get there on that day from Oberstdorf. I can let you know when I do, if you want.

Pat

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August 22, back on the ice!

Anybody looking for a reasonably-priced hotel in Europe could do a lot worse than book into an Ibis Hotel - basic, but clean and comfortable, and you get a great breakfast buffet. There are several in Munich, click here for details. There is a Lufthansa shuttle bus linking the hotel Muenchen Nord (the first one that comes up) to the Airport, I gather, so that's the one you want.

If you really want to pay more for a mini-bar and a sample bottle of shampoo, then go to the Munich Airport Hotels Guide for other options.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

There are a million (okay, not a million, but a lot!) hotels listed on www. munich.de . And you can see how many are close to the main train station. I plan to spend a little time in the city, so I'll pick one walking distance to the train station, from which you can get to the airport, too.

Pat

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August 22, back on the ice!

g-day all

I spent many years traveling on trains in Europe and thought i would pass this on. If your planning on traveling by train you will find it is very easy to do from any of the Airports in Europe. Most if not all have rail connections, machines to buy tickets, ( if you don't speak the lingo ). and the schedules are easy to work out. In Germany , you can land in Munich and get a train to the city station. There you change trains to Oberstdorf. Tolal time is about 3:30min. Cost is about. 28 euros one way. ( $30 US I think).
The views are to die for and the trains are wonderful. schedules are easy to read, ( even in German), If you would like a schedule in english go to www.bahn.de this is the official web site for German train schedules . type in destination and times, and you will get a schedule and time for your train. You can even by your tickets on line before you get there.

Good Luck.

Hm. Just a hint to be cautious. The areas around train stations are not always the best in town, you know? In this case, Munich... a colleague of mine (male) was once booked into a hotel opposite the main Munich train station by the company. He then found out that he was about the only one in the house who was booked for the whole night........

LOL, tdnuva! Yes, I can imagine some hotels in that area would be a problem. But I did this last time I was in Munich and it was fine. Your warning is good to remember, though.

And my boss's boss, who is German, tells me you can get significant discounts on train fares by buying in advance on line. Even if you pick an option that gives less of a discount he says he still buys his tickets in advance on line.

Pat

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August 22, back on the ice!

Does anyone know how specific we're supposed to be on the list of elements for the free skate programs? I assume they want the jumps, spins and footwork sequences listed with the program times but do they care about stuff like pivots and power-pulls (which seem to make up 90% of my program!)?

My coach only listed jumps, spins, spiral sequence. The other things you mentioned would be covered under the program component scores, or maybe increase the difficulty entering a particular element.

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August 22, back on the ice!

Here's another hotel that now has 2 double rooms available, since I just had to cancel them:

http://www.weinklause.de/

I had made reservations at two places accidentally. D'oh! But they've been so nice to deal with that I hope someone here will take the rooms so they don't go empty. The Winklause is just 6 mins. walking distance to the rink.

I also just listed jumps, spins, and footwork sequence. Those are the elements, as I understtod it, then they look for flow, power, transitions, etc.
la

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Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r