 Poster: A snowHead
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Hurtle, No we do ski off piste! and even the off piste was boring! We skiied over to Davos too - or did you mean further afield than that. Mind you I think myelf and Mr PP were spoilt - we were on a long trip and the next week we went to Chamonix and fell in love with the place.... thats the resort that I'd go to and never leave!!! Why, are you a fan??? Not royal are you 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Parkyparcours, yeah, I like the whole area. And I love Chamonix too. But I'm not royal.
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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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Hurtle,Ah = perphaps we had a bad experience. Loved the rosti though and had the best egg I think I've every had so things weren't too bad:-)
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Snowbird/Alta - waaay too much powder & not a piste basher in site 
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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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Been to La Ros twice. Very good value for France, but is V. boring. Would go back again, but it would have to be very cheap.
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| rayscoops wrote: |
| I loved Kuhtai, steep (nah just a red) bits where you could blast the rollers and access the great between piste powder ;y |
For a weekend's skiing I just love Kuehtai! It's compact, it's family friendly, it's where I learnt to ski! I'll always have a soft spot for it. I know it's small, but I love going back.
Resorts that don't rock my boat that much:
Val d'Isere - too expensive, too many people called Henry who shout loudly at the locals. I spetn a week pretending I didn't speak English. I've got similar feelings about St Anton although I'm going to give it another try. Both have great skiing areas though.
St Johann - too low, too crowded, too many people there purely to get drunk. Pretty village, and that's about it.
Banff - too far! Hated the jet lag, loved the skiing!
All the above have their good points too... but the one resort that doesn't in in the Czech republic and is horrid, nasty, useless is Špindlerově Mlýně (Spindlersmuehle). It's small badly prepared pistes, rubbish food, over priced, and pretty rubbish! Never, ever , ever,ever again! http://www.spindleruv-mlyn.com/de/kontakt/partners/ do not go here!
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I'm either very lucky, very tolerant or exceptional at researching and selecting my ski trips
I've not been anywhere that I wouldn't go back to but I do have my favourites just like everyone else.... I certainly wouldn't strike a resort off because of poor snow, particularly if I'd been there early or late season or visited in a generally poor snow season.... you take your chances and get what nature throws at you IMHO!
I'm not a big fan of France.... admittedly only visited larger resorts there but find the number of Brits, the high prices and the queues just too much to bear at times.... some great skiing and massive areas though, but I did feel like I'd been mugged a few times in Courcheval and I didn't hear a French person until the wedensday of my week in Meribel....
Italy generally seems to have older less efficient lift systems with a few exceptions.... the grooming is generally excellent, the mountain retaurants and food are also top notch and good value....
Switzerland can be a little dull in terms of resort atmosphere but Verbier and Zermatt are undoubtedly 2 of my all time favourites which I visit on a regular basis.... Gstaad is a bit disjointed and expensive but it's a very pretty town and everything is high quality....
Austria is my ski heaven..... from rocking resorts with a decent amount of skiing like Ischgl, St Anton and Sallbach to smaller family type resorts like Zell and Seefeld I like them all, for different reasons. Withour exception I've thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my skiing in Austria.... high quality lifts, restaurants, quaint resorts, great atmoshpere, nice people.....
Scotland... learnt to ski there.... got 10 days skiing out of 14 days there cos of the winds closing the lift... one poweder day which was wasted on me at the time!) and lots of slush and ice.... but would possibly still go back.... even there!
Eastern Europe... not been.... can't comment but do't fancy it at all....
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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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SnowGod, what did you like about Seefeld?
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| Quote: |
admittedly only visited larger resorts there but find the number of Brits, the high prices and the queues just too much to bear at times....
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thankfully, as 99% of the Brits go to half a dozen French resorts, the other 150 or so can be really rather pleasant.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
SnowGod, what did you like about Seefeld?
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IMHO it's an extremely picturesque village, very close to and easily accessible from Innsbruck.... we stayed in a great hotel with really good staff and excellent food.... the hire equipment was superb quality.... the intstruction was amongst the best I've ever experienced.... we had loads of snow when we were there so the treeline skiing was extremely welcome.... the instructor took me on some really good off piste tree runs which were gentle enough for my limited ability at the time but hard enough to give me a real buzz..... the only down side to Seefeld for me was that the skiing was failry limited in terms of the km count and split into two sectors but it's easy to do day trips to other nearby resorts from there... all in all it's perfect for people who want a charming friendly high quality family resort in close proximity to an airport and don't want high mileage skiing..... or for people who like a pleasant base from which to do daytrips to other small resorts.
Everywhere has it's positives and negatives.... I don't beleive that any resort can claim to be all things to all people....
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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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Hmm, I just found the skiing boring (not because there wasn't enough or it was too easy or anything liek that). I did only ski the one side, but I can think of other places that are much better for the qualities on your list.
Horses for courses (or courses for horses really!) I guess.
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clarky999, all very subjective.... I think if you go somewhere and have an all round good time u tend to say its great.... but the reverse is also true.... I'm sure there are places that are better in some or many areas but all round combination of the thing i mentioned just made for a really good winter holiday..... don't usually do posh hotels so it was quite different for us.... I generally prefer a B&B and to sample the local restaurants or eat on the mountain at lunchtime but we booked late for Seefeld at New Year and it was literally the only roon available in the village for that week according to the tourist office.... obvously there are a few others who like it as well
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You know it makes sense.
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snowymum, we stayed in the main part. We enjoyed La Thuile but La Ros was in the cloud all week. The link to la Thuile was difficult, Sam at about 9 was too small for the t-bars, he had to travel quite a bit above the ground, so there were quite a few falls until he learned how to tap his skis before landing to turn himself back to be facing up the mountain before landing. There was one section where he was lifted all the way from one support to the next, over 50m, and he managed a full 360 one day. Coming back it was a real wind tunnel, so cold and such a ferocious wind on the double chair from La Thuile. We may as well stay on the Italian side next time, would like to ski that area again. There was another t-bar up from the lower part of La Ros that was so steep he really struggled to stay on, a few times he hit a bump, bounced a couple of feet in the air and came off, sliding down the hill and we had to come back on l'Escargot - a very aptly named run.
The town had nothing for the kids at night, no swimming pool, nowhere much to bum board (all a bit tame on the nursery slope for them), no arcade or games, nowhere just to stand and watch the world go by, everyone was tucked up in the apartments and chalets. There was a family in our chalet who were new to skiing, they didn't get to go up the mountain at all, just confined to the nursery area all week, there wasn't even a restaurant for them to go to and see the view.
On our final day there we left at 7pm for Eurostar. We had a great day skiing in La Thuile but found when we got back we were the only people among the 40 or so waiting for the bus who had skied, the others had just had enough of the cloud and spent the day in the bar / lounge. Not one of them had found La Thuile all week, they were intimidated by the t-bars and the risk that they might not get back at the end of the day due to the very fierce wind.
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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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Jane L, yes, it can be very windy and cold up there - my niece got lifted completely off her feet too, and was so cold we gave up trying to get to the Italian side. But I think it's true to say they're buttons, not T-bars?
We enjoyed two holidays in La Rosiere - probably because we were all early intermediate skiers and were in an enjoyable chalet with interesting fellow-guests. The kids absolutely loved being able to do bits on their own - especially a little run through trees, with lots of bumps and tree roots. We were in a chalet down from the main drag. They built a kind of luge run in the garden and spent hours out there in the freezing cold every evening, coming in saturated and starving. It never seemed to occur to anybody to want to go "out on the town" at night - we'd all skied all day and enjoyed the evening with the other guests in the chalet. We went out reluctantly on the chalet staff night out. In all the places we've skied, I don't think the kids ever looked for an "arcade" (though as they got older, they did look for a supermarket to buy quantities of "Old Lady" French gin and tonics. ).
I wouldn't choose to go to La Ros now - for the right people, at the right time, it hits the right notes. But as this thread shows, one man's meat is another man's poison - some people wouldn't go back to Val D'Isere, others think it's the best place in the world.
Interesting thread. The reasons why people don't like places are maybe more interesting than the reasons why they do. If someone liked a place because there were lots of lively places to attract young people at night - especially if by "arcades" that means things like seaside slot machines (what exactly is an "arcade")? I'd run a mile in a different direction.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Jane L, pam w, having been to La Ros twice and quite enjoyed it's quiet charms - because it was a family holiday, I still can't understand the pre-occupation with the length of the drags to La Thuile. In the dim dark distant past I remember the drag lift to hell on the Stubai Glacier, it's probably not there any more but in terms of cold and length it beats the 1st drag by 10minutes or so. I can think of other longer more challenging drags, but I will agree not many more colder.
Many poma drags do have a kick or a lift off when you set off - maybe we're all getting a little to soft with all the nice detachable chairs around! I would agree that the drag from the lower part of La Ros is steep, but it does have a health warning on 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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| Quote: |
I remember the drag lift to hell on the Stubai Glacier
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That one may well not be there anymore but the one on the Saas Fee Glacier is..... not quite as long as Stubai but a bit of a leg burner nonetheless.
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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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SnowGod, I'd forgotten that one, yes it does go on forever, got to the top of it once on a cold day and just had to get down the mountain to the mid station at Morena (sp) for a hot drink - and that's not like me! Having said that somewhere up there in this thread I did list Saas Fee as the resort I wouldn't visit again!
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I'm definately a fan of drag lifts, nothing better, don't get me wrong, it was just these two particular lifts. What got me was the way that the resort just accepted that kids fell off about half way up the tow because the hangers were too short for their legs to touch the ground in the snow conditions at the time. The lower drag was fast and bumpy, but the problem again was that the hangers were just too short for very light or little kids legs to reach the ground under the supports and that's a scary lift to be on when you are in mid air and you swing round to look down the slope.  Neither lift had an escape route, you just had to ski down after the fall, a case of slalom in and out of the skiers coming up on the lift. We got quite good at it after a few tries.
Actually it's pretty scary when you are on the next hanger and you see the kid ahead of you swinging above the ground on the very steepest section, you know that if he gets the tap, tap, tap bit wrong to land facing uphill and he comes off that he will be on top of you and take you out as well 
The warning wasn't there when we did it, obviously still a problem 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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stevew, at least the Saas Fee one is only a blue nd not a black drag
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stevew, yes, no problem with drags in general (there are some fearsome brutes in the Arly Valley) but when kids are left dangling several feet above the ground - clinging on for grim death - it's not much fun. happened to me at Plagne 1800 too, one afternoon of nasty weather with nobody else around and a heap of snow. I was lifted off my feet at the outset, which I have no problem with - but I just never got back to the ground. I clung on for about 50 - 60 metres, I guess, then me skis twizzled round and I dropped off into a big heap of snow (the drag run was full of snow) and then had to extricate myself, much to the amusement of the (no doubt very bored) operator. It's no wonder the kids don't like it. It's never happened to me, before or since.
In fact, come to think of it, Plagne 1800 is one resort I definitely wouldn't go back to - seemed to have very little to commend it. A fiddle to get to and from the main areas of the resort, lacks any kind of character.
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| Quote: |
In fact, come to think of it, Plagne 1800 is one resort I definitely wouldn't go back to - seemed to have very little to commend it. A fiddle to get to and from the main areas of the resort, lacks any kind of character. |
pam w, from what I've read and heard about La Plagne it's a resort I definately wouldn't go to in the first place, if only to save myself having to post that I'd never go back there on snowheads once I returned home
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SnowGod, There are some better bits than Plagne 1800....
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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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pam w, I believe ya.... honest.... it just looks so.... erm.... picturesque.... in the photo's 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think the strength of some drags depends on the traffic. If there are plenty of people around, no problem. If you're the first for a while, watch out. Always send a big lardy bloke up first.
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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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Jane L - I can now understand why your holiday in La Rosiere was disappointing. Our children were at ski school in the morning so we went to la thuile then and did not have to negotiate the drag lifts with the chidren. I can see the drags would be less than ideal with children as they are soooo long! Agree that the winds can be very cold too and many lifts are slow -we bought balaclavas on the second day.
We stayed in les eucharts and there were a few things to do there -ice skating and bowling, nice pizza restaurant and creperie. Our accommodation (cimes blanches appts) was very luxurious and had access to a lovely pool, jacuzzi, steam room complex - we spent time there every afternoon.
Re: skiing at la thuile - the thing that frustrated us was the poor piste map...it took us a couple of days to work out how to get to and from la thuile. One day we got to the top of the drag and couldn't see anything so had to head back. Another day we only got to the san bernando area skiing under noisy pylons in heavy snow. On the third day we got over to la thuile but coming back took a wrong turn and ended up on a short black section...scary for me. We asked about skiing in la thuile at the tourist info and the lady shrugged her shoulders. I wonder how many of the locals ever ski on the other side. Anyway once we had worked out for ourselves how to get to and from la thuile we did enjoy it. We also enjoyed the long red from La rosiere 1850 down to a nice log cabin serving waffles and chocolat chaud.
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pam w, Plagne 1800 is now better linked - there's a new chair that connects directly to the Bergerie chair in Plagne Centre. I'm not sure it's any more character-deficient than any other bits of La Plagne, other than Montalbert and Montchavin, not that that's much of a recommendation.
I'm another one who doesn't rate Deux Alpes much - it seems to take an age to get up the hill, however large or small the queues are.
However, impressions can change a lot based on transient conditions. St Anton is now probably one of the 2 resorts I'm most likely to visit, but on my first trip only 5 pistes were open there (it was early December). Similarly I could give superficiallly good reasons for considering Alpe d'Huez to be a personal jinx, as I had to abandon 4 of my first 15 skiing days there (3 sets of broken bindings, and one pair of broken knee ligaments), but that's not stopped me going back.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
Plagne 1800 is now better linked
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viv, yes, it was ages ago I was there. My OH got whisked home by the insurance company, to deal with a mini-cyclone which took off part of our roof in the UK, but I stayed on - did have some good ESF ski lessons there, and the people in the chalet were good company, but I was underwhelmed by the resort as a whole. the snow wasn't good enough to go down to the lower villages, which sound rather nice.
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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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re La Thuile/ la Ros, I have been to both resorts twice and if you don't mind flying would definitely choose La Thuile. We only went to La Ros as it's accessible by train and apart from the Genepi restaurant it's fairly average. When the link is open we justed headed over to La Thuile straight away, a much better variety of skiing and run 7 takes you down to the village where you can get fantastic paninis for 4 euros and mulled wine for 2.5 euros. Agree with comments above, unless your kids are big and weighty and/or experienced it's a long hard slog between the two resorts. First went to La Thuile in a January, coldest I've ever been, right to the core.
So, probably wouldn't go back to La Rosiere, and wouldn't go back to la Thuile in January, but would later in season.
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Poster: A snowHead
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So what we are saying is that it can get a bit nippy at 2500+metres in an Alpine climate? Who'd have thought 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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The voice of reason - have you been to la rosiere? The wind makes it feel colder than other resorts of the same altitude particularly at New Year (speaking from recent experience) The only other place I've felt very cold was Val Thorens (also at new year) but they had better lifts (some with lids) so it didn't seem so bad.
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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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Voice Of Reason- nope, what we are saying is it was colder than other resorts I've been to, and having spoken to others that have been there it is often windier than other resorts so would influence my decision on going back. Just trying to help others make decisions on resorts which I thought this thread was about, not wether it's cold at altitude.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The Voice of Reason, I think you can rest assured that most of us contributing to this thread have been in the Alps at 2500m on a number of occasions. I spend 3 months every winter in the Alps. But that stretch between La Ros and La thuile seems to be a particularly cold stretch.
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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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pam w, agreed ....
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FAQ
was taken up it by her ski instructor but she is quite tallfor an eight year old