 Poster: A snowHead
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Anyone know anything about this resort? A friend has got the chance to gowith a group for Xmas, but I've never been so don't know what it's like.
They're beginners/early intermediates so...what's the skiing like for that sort of group? Is it snow sure for such an early time of year? Anything else they should know?
Cheers.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Excellent place, we've had a flat down the road in St Gervais for some years. We ski over at Les Contamines quite a bit as it's got a very good snow record. The village centre and lifts are slighly disconnected though, I think there's a bus. There's a handful of bars and restaurants and even a couple of nightclubs, the nightclubs are probably seriously uncool as even I've been.
Some great bits of "near-piste" off-piste as well.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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homphomp, in 1997 Les Contamines was fine the week after Easter. It is perfect for beginners/early intermediates. Lots of lovely blues and easy reds. Great scenery and good restaurants. Not so sure what it is like at Xmas.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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When I was living in Geneva it was a place we often headed too. It seemed to always manage to have nice snow (first time I heard the word microclimate) and was a good place to get better at. I recall some easy blues, some more challenging blues and then some easy reds.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Great resort - went there last year in March with Total Ski with my two kids aged 5 and 7 for their 1st time. Lovely sunny weather the whole week, loads of snow, no queues and reasonable prices.
Liked it so much we ae going again on 6th March - same place, same chalet and same room !
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Been there for the last few years when I stayed in Chamonix. Very good for beginners and intermediates. Got a few black slopes too, nice reds and generally good for mix abilities. It is off the main road from St Gervais and hence not so crowdy. yes I was surprised by the good snow too.
I think a few British operators do it as a choice for the classic skiing resorts.
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I'm very fond of Les Contamines. The scenery (right underneath Mt. Blanc) is stunning, and there's quite a variety of terrain. There's a long green ("Signal", I think) that goes along the ridge that forms the spine of the domain. The ridge is wide enough not to be scary. With good snow, it's also possible for beginners to do the long trail from the centre of the domain down to the village.
There's also lots of steep but wide runs (mainly red on-piste with off-piste also), which suit me down to the ground.
One word of warning: the underlying terrain is rocky. The snow cover can be variable early in the season (Easter-time always seems much better) and hazards can lurk just below the surface. I hit just such a hazard the week before Christmas last season, and practically sliced a ski in two. Fortunately (for me) it was a rental ski and the very last run of the holiday! Even more fortunately, somehow I avoided injury.
I've never actually stayed in the village, but it looks extremely limited. There are some architecturally imaginative apartment developments by the main lift. That's from the outside: for all I know, it might be impossible to swing a cat inside.
Hope that helps.
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Sounds great guys, I'll pass all this on. I think I might just add it to my own list of places to go too!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The main village is actually quite pleasant and in Alpine style as opposed to concrete city. There are plenty of restaurants (reasonbaly priced), bars, couple of supermarkets, a number of ski shops, banks and cashpoints etc. The gondola station is served by a regular bus from the village - a couple of Euros one way. Depending where you stay you can walk - could be a slog in ski boots. Total provided a free mini bus shuttle morning and evening from our chalet
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Skied there last Jan and stayed with Total in the village rather than at the lift.
Excellent little resort, plenty of variety of runs........ and NOBODY ELSE THERE so please don't go - just let those of us who have found this little gem keep it for ourselves 
ski over into hauteluce for a vin chaud at la grange and, back in les contamines, check out le savoisien for an excellent meal
PS also the cheapest snowmobiling I've ever come across - check in the Ty Breiz pub
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| cardweg wrote: |
| ski over into hauteluce for a vin chaud at la grange and, back in les contamines, check out le savoisien for an excellent meal |
If you don't mind walking for a couple of kms through Hauteleuce, you can get on a lift up to Les Saisies. Never actually done it though.
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