 Poster: A snowHead
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We continue to be stuck with half term for sliding - but at 16 and 18 we’re on a countdown…
Now….this half term we skied the small resorts in the Valais and Crans Montana…we had to wait for….hang on….let me think…oh….a minute on one occasion and five on another. Other than that…straight into all the lifts.
That’s the merit of small village resorts…and SHHHHH don’t tell anyone about it….
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@valais2, well you wouldn't want to be doing small village resorts down in this part of the World and further South this season 
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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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| Quote: |
That’s the merit of small village resorts
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That's the merit of small Swiss village resorts during French school holidays....
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Orange200 wrote: |
| Go to Andorra, get up early. Crowded only Saturday-Tuesday and Spanish don’t like getting up early. |
Sound advice.
And if you time it right for an early lunch, you get out for less crowds on the slopes, when the masses are queuing in the restaurants.
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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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Absolutely! At 1300 half the mountain queues for lunch. Start queuing at 1250 to avoid lunch queues, or 1230 to avoid chairlift queues after lunch.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
That’s the merit of small village resorts
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That's the merit of small Swiss village resorts during French school holidays.... |
Seems to be more of a French problem than anywhere else.
It was never a problem for us in Austria. When my Son was younger we used to ski half terms most years, initially in Obergurgl, then in St Anton. Neither had excessive lift queues during that time, though there were definitely a lot more kids around (especially in Obergurgl). Hotel prices were higher of course, but skiings expensive at the best of times so we didn't worry about it too much, and it was good fun for all the kids in the hotels to be able to meet each other.
The few times we drove via France instead of Germany it was always amazing to see all the cars disappear from the A26 once south of Reims where we headed east on the A4 and the massive France crowd carried on down the A26.
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Fully appreciate that families, teachers, those tied to half-term are tied to...er...half-term. But as @LDP816, says, there are ways around this lift queue carnage. I like the off-the-beaten track resorts and avoid France and its mega ski stations.
But this picture confirms one of my prejudices/preferences: ski in January, March and April. 
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I've skied half term in the Chamonix valley for the past decade. I've never had a major problem with queues, unless there's a lift breakdown or similar. Either I'm incredibly fortunate, or the whole thing is overhyped.
This year I didn't see a lift queue of >5mins all week, and I never stood in a lift queue of >1min.
I think too many people have long-dated memories of what it was like many years ago, and don't appreciate how much better modern lifts are. I see longer lift queues on a powder day in January. Admittedly, Cham isn't the most family-friendly resort, so might be less of a honeypot that other places for Feb half term, but on the moutnain you'd never have realised it was any kind of holiday period at all last week. In resort was a different matter - parking places full, restaurants all full.
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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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La thuile yesterday and pila today and we haven’t had to queue for a lift yet. Really quiet. Pistes Could do with a refresh but plenty of enjoyment to be had.
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@snowdave, while it is certainly true that we remember the problems we've experienced in the past for a long time, the photo and report of a 45 minute queue in the OP is from very recently. These problems still exist - maybe not in the same places as we remember, but they are still there at times due to a combination of circumstances including poor lift infrastructure, high visitor numbers, breakdowns, weather, etc. It's no consolation that a queue is unusual when you're in it for 10% of your skiing day.
I remember Mayrhofen when the Penkenbahn had a 60 minute queue in the morning and a 45 minute queue to get back down in the evening. It got so bad that just about everyone who knew anything about skiing in Austria had the immediate word association that Mayrhofen=queues, and as a result the lift company had to do something about it. Now that those queues are a thing of the past since the upgrade in 2015, it will still take maybe another 5 years before people lose that association.
Yes, there are lazy stereotypes - e.g. France has "huge queues, rabbit hutch apartments with bunk beds in corridors, rip-off high prices and rude Parisians and waiters" - but as always these have an element of truth and they persist because people have direct person experience of all of those things. OK, they can be avoided with some knowledge and research, but the fact that it's still necessary to put effort in to avoid these issues simply demonstrates that they do still exist...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| ousekjarr wrote: |
| @snowdave, while it is certainly true that we remember the problems we've experienced in the past for a long time, the photo and report of a 45 minute queue in the OP is from very recently. These problems still exist |
Indeed, but I could show you similar pictures in January or March, when a crucial lift was reduced to 50% capacity due to wind, or a large number of racers hit a key lift at the same time.
Without knowing the circumstances of any one photo it's very hard to judge, but my personal experience, and that of plenty of other posters, is that the whole Feb half-term queues stuff is overhyped. I spent less time per-day in queues last week than I did on a long weekend in January.
If each of us took a photo at every lift we got onto, the 45 min queues would be lost in the noise.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Roscoe wrote: |
| Boris wrote: |
| @Roscoe, I think it varies between authorities - I know that was the case in Northants but from previous discussions on this many people said there LA made no allowance at all. |
Yeah I think it does vary. But I think if you child has a good attendance record (and behaviour), there is a good chance to open up a dialogue with the school. You can also attempt the approach of justifying it being educational, on the grounds of physical, geographical, cultural, etc....Worked for us once! |
Don't all children have terrible attendance records ATM though, thanks to our friend Covid and all the home schooling?
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| Mjit wrote: |
| Roscoe wrote: |
| Boris wrote: |
| @Roscoe, I think it varies between authorities - I know that was the case in Northants but from previous discussions on this many people said there LA made no allowance at all. |
Yeah I think it does vary. But I think if you child has a good attendance record (and behaviour), there is a good chance to open up a dialogue with the school. You can also attempt the approach of justifying it being educational, on the grounds of physical, geographical, cultural, etc....Worked for us once! |
Don't all children have terrible attendance records ATM though, thanks to our friend Covid and all the home schooling? |
Assume these will be chalked up as "authorised" (kind of) leave.
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You know it makes sense.
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| snowdave wrote: |
| If each of us took a photo at every lift we got onto, the 45 min queues would be lost in the noise. |
Ah, but it wouldn't - nobody makes any noise about an absence of queues, and if you have a 6 day trip where you had 300 lift trips with no queuing at all and one trip with a 20 minute queue, you'd be 20x more likely to post something to complain about the unacceptable 20 minute queue than you would to observe that the queues were no-existent in the main. That's the first rule of customer satisfaction - they generally only comment on the bad experiences.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Unfortunately, it isn’t down to the schools to decide if you will be fined or not, it is down to the LEA. The 10 day unauthorised absences is a miss. We took our 2 out of school for a week two years ago and received a £240 fine.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| MHskier wrote: |
| La thuile yesterday and pila today and we haven’t had to queue for a lift yet. Really quiet. Pistes Could do with a refresh but plenty of enjoyment to be had. |
If in Pila Saturday, prepare to queue……………..
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Susang73 wrote: |
| Unfortunately, it isn’t down to the schools to decide if you will be fined or not, it is down to the LEA. The 10 day unauthorised absences is a miss. We took our 2 out of school for a week two years ago and received a £240 fine. |
No, but its down to the school to decide to inform the LEA of the unauthorised absences.
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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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@Weathercam, …yes I have heard about the dearth of snow in your neck of the woods (hills)….we had 30cms one day….then rain…gone in 24hrs…never had that before in Feb.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@pam w, …entirely valid point…we’re not far from France though….
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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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My grand-daughter who was recently distraught at her second bout of isolation due to Covid was all ready to go back after testing negative on days 5 and 6. Then my daughter was told the school's policy was 10 days isolation, no matter what. She queried this against Department for Education guidelines (my daughter used to be a teacher and now works for DFE) and VERY begrudgingly the school agreed to have her back. A few days later a standard computer-generated admonitory letter about poor attendance arrived, complete with angry emoticon and warnings of sure failures to come. My grand-daughter is a desperately anxious child, who simply refuses ever to break any rules, and a very high achiever - my daughter was very careful not to let her see the letter, she would have freaked out. Her only absences have been with Covid, and 2 mornings for her to attend therapy sessions, which had been pre-arranged with the school.
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FAQ
