 Poster: A snowHead
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So, it is the TO that is gouging the average customers ignorance of Top rate resorts against mid range? You can hardly expect the local proprietor of a on piste restaurant to protect the "average customer" if their fellow countryman and TO appear to rook them?
I think this is why so many of us that enjoy the sport know our way about sourcing a DIY vacation!
Keep the thread going as it is great fun, especially as many of us are aware that skiing is not a cheap sport and as such is just blowing hot air! But it is great craic!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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if people keep going on about the tiny, tiny, handful of French places where you pay to pee someone is going to mention the eye-watering price of hiring skis in the Arlberg. They might even be daft enough to assert, having done so, that "Austria" is stupidly expensive for ski hire. This is all rather silly. 
And if the "average Joe" goes to a big name French resort and finds it too expensive to get trollied every night then he won't go again, will he? Being "average" doesn't make him stupid.
We get quite a lot of people on SHs suggesting that if they have to ski the same run more than once or twice, in a week of skiing all the hours the lifts are open, they feel cheated. There are also people who like to have lots of "challenging runs" even though they can't ski for toffee. And who wouldn't dream of getting into a car, or a bus, and driving to a convenient car park near the lifts. Those, I suppose, are the people who will keep going to the mega resorts, despite their manifest drawbacks (not by any means confined to the expensive meals and drinks on the mountain). If I was running a bar in one of those resorts I would charge what the market will bear. Why wouldn't I? And if hordes of package tourists with full bladders and empty wallets kept trooping in to use my toilets, buying nothing and trooping out again, I'd charge them to pee, too.
If people stop going the prices probably would go down. It's clearly possible to make a decent profit from running a restaurant which doesn't charge silly prices; there are plenty of examples.
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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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pam w, I don't recall when I last had to pay to pee in a ski resort. However, and Lizzard will confirm I think that , in France they can't refuse you the use of their loo,but I don't think there's anything to stop them charging,
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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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OP - why is skiing in France so expensive? simple, because in certain resorts enough people will pay the asking prices, theres no need to make the discussion more complicated. Kind of like going to main drags in London, Paris, Venice and expecting to pay average prices - it's not going to happen
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Actually what gets me in France (the prestige resorts) is that you can get there cheaply but if you do the quality of the accommodation is dire- really miserable flats (generalising horribly)- however you pay for what you get. To stay somewhere decent you have to pay serious money. I defected to St Anton for a trip a couple of years ago and then Lech the year after and we definitely paid far less to stay in a decent 4* there than we would have done in the likes of Val d'Isere, Courchevel, Meribel. Yes I know I could go to a smaller resort in France and pay less- I'm not imaginative enough.
I do think you get more bang for your buck in Austria and certainly better on piste dining value in Italy. I don't object too much to paying for something decent- in Cervinia this Jan we had amazing lunches for 50-70 euros for the two of us. That ain't cheap but the food was superb, waiter served and with good wine and a grappa on the house. I'd much rather pay 10 euros more and have that than queue in a self service in Val d'Isere for a tepid spag bol. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. We did consciously make the effort to ski across from Zermatt though as the mountain restaurants there were mega pricey but, again, excellent.
What France has to be careful about is that it continues to appeal to its market. What is France's target market? I guess it is more mid-budget than Switzerland and on par with Austria? 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| freeheelskier wrote: |
| Samerberg Sue, Thats not the point, sorry but U have wrong, U can´t compare this two resorts, but to compare Val d´Isere with St Anton its more OK,, |
Even in Anton you can get a Tiroler Groestl or a big bowl of gulaschsuppe for around ten euros, and there's plenty of places where a pint is less than 5 euros. I found Ischgl a lot more expensive overall, but even there I had a great pizza for 11 euros (at possibly the best decorated restaurant I've ever seen, the one near the bottom of the 'smugglers run' to Samnaun. A big wiener schitzel at a nice place in Kitz was around 13 euros.
I've never skied in France to compare it, but people's comments on here do make it seem a lot more expensive overall. Tbh La Grave and Chamonix are the only places in France are the only places I'd pay to go to, although I'd happily spend a lot to visit either of them.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Tue 3-05-11 15:57; edited 1 time in total
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Arno, we visited Whistler a few years ago when exchange rates were better, and I felt 'stung' there too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Hells Bells, over $100 for a daypass if you walk up and buy one at the counter!
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You know it makes sense.
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Hells Bells, Arno, me too, re Whistler this year. The accommodation was particularly manky for the price.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hurtle, our accommodation was good, but I DIY'd it all thanks to a cheap flight deal with BA via my BIL. It was the eating out that did it. I didn't like the mountain refuelling stops much either.
maggi, I doubt very much if you paid to pee anywhere in Serre Che in January.
Glacier resto in Deux-alpes has a ticket system. If you buy a drink you get a ticket, and you don't pay.
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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: |
Glacier resto in Deux-alpes has a ticket system. If you buy a drink you get a ticket, and you don't pay.
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it's free for all now, no ticket system any more
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Colin B, still in evidence last autumn but obviously now a thing of the past. I'll get rid of those old tickets now  .
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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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Hurtle & Hells Bells, last year we were accompanied on our annual Chaps trip by an American acquaintance. All week, quite naturally, there were comments and conversations about the differences in European and American skiing, and two things stood out for our friend. One was the extremely reasonable lift price given the size of the area (the top 5 american resorts will, together, fit comfortably into the 3V), and the quality of the food available on the hill. In America, by and large, you get burgers, pizza or hot dog, at comparable prices, and the lift pass is at least 50% more for much less millage. The one thing he wasn't so amused about was, not surprisingly, the size of the accommodation. We were in a low/mid-range chalet which was quite reasonable in my experience, but rabbit hutch to him. Swings and roundabouts, but after a week in the 3V my friends preference was very firmly in the European camp.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Skiing in the USA is expensive, not in France but this thread could still labour on for another 6 pages full of anecdotal comparisons over the costs of restaurant / bar bought food & beer. A few times this season, I've driven 150 plus miles to a ski centre, skied the day & slept in the car with my skis & some supermarket bought grub / beer at my side. That nailed the overnight accommodation & most of the requisite calories / drinks arrangements & helped make the weekenders when the children weren't interested in skiing relatively cheap. Sad & lonely b@stard I might be  but there're plenty of us who do it & no doubt some folk do the same at Chamonix, Val D'Isere & the 3V's etc & therefore wouldn't consider their skiing being more expensive than in Scotland or elsewhere in Europe.
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Its not France thats expensive its the exchange rate thats cr@p- when it was €1.70 to the £ there was no problems with a beer.....a coffee at €3 would only be 1.76 not so bad
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Is the exchange rate ever likely to change in our favour?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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snowymum, anyone who could tell you that with any degree of reliability would already be indescribably wealthy. And highly unlikely to give the information away.
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| snowymum wrote: |
| Is the exchange rate ever likely to change in our favour? |
Its getting worse at the moment > 1.11 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
when it was €1.70 to the £
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that was for a very, very, brief moment when the euro was about 4 days old.
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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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Why dont let the £ and use Euro, and no more talks about rates
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You know it makes sense.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
when it was €1.70 to the £
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that was for a very, very, brief moment when the euro was about 4 days old. |
Was it really, don't remember that, but it did hover around 1.47 for years.
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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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| Quote: |
Lack of investment in lift system in recent years (last proper investment was for the Olympics in 1992)
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This (again asserted as true of "France" and a reason why it is now "second division") is an extraordinary statement and complete rubbish. I ski in a very little known French ski area (only 185 km of lift-linked pistes) and in the last eight years there have been at least half a dozen new chair lifts and a couple of new drags, as well as a major investment in snow-making, with two huge new reservoirs and loads of cannons. This summer two more old and fixed chairs will be replaced with fast detachable lifts. As a newcomer to the Alps in summer I have been astonished (and sometimes disconcerted) by the work going on, helicopters lifting cement and pylons, diggers making a horrible mess of some of the pistes I like to walk on, to bury the pipes and cabling for snow cannons, etc etc.
A quick glance at skipass.com (or indeed at Snowheads.com) will reveal that this is by no means unusual.
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Poster: A snowHead
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pam w, the same is true in the 3 Valleys, I can think of plenty of lifts upgraded in the past decade and the massive new gondola in Val T. In my experience the last thing you can criticise the French resorts for is a poor lift infrastructure.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Hurtle wrote: |
| Where, for goodness' sake? |
I can't remember! But big French resorts, certainly Alpe d'Huez, Espace Killy and 3 Valleys. A few years ago too. We tend not to go there now as Austria is more fun, Italy is cheaper and Switzerland was good but is now unaffordable .
I may have exaggerated about the majority but it certainly sticks in my mind when I've clomped down loads of steps, (without my purse 'cos it's in my jacket, on the back of my dining chair), only to be challenged by a fierce Madame who won't let me into the loos without paying  . Maybe it's better now but it shows a meanness of spirit which I can't forgive. I wouldn't notice 50c on the meal/drink but getting mugged for a call of nature is not on. Yes, I know it's mad!
Hells Bells, no, I can't remember being charged in Serre Che. I remember thinking that it wasn't very typical of French resorts (in my experience, obviously!).
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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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| Chris Angus wrote: |
| What is France's target market? |
The target market for the large resorts are foreigners who the French believe are too stupid and uncultured to recognize good food and drink (largely confirmed, in their eyes, by seeing lardy skiers dragging packs of crap beer back to their appts) and who, they think, are prepared to pay almost any price for indifferent service.
French businesses treat their clients with utter contempt. In this case they do not discriminate between French and non-French clients.
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This seems now to be a antifrance thread,,, Ok go to Slovenia and Bulgaria,,
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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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| Quote: |
lardy skiers dragging packs of crap beer back to their appts
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and paying silly money for spag bol...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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freeheelskier, I have skied in Slovenia and Czech rep both times were utterly amazing, cheap and the people couldnt do enough for you. OK they are not great big WC resorts but plenty of skiing for a week and you do need a car, but the pistes were beautifully prepared each morning, food and drink unbelievably good and cheap AND......taking a pi$$ was for free.
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kooky, my Slovenian colleague invariably skis outside of Slovenia.
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| Quote: |
taking a pi$$ was for free.
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kooky,
U talking poo-poo,, I have never pay for that in france or somewhere else if we talking about skiresorts,,
and I have also ski slovenia, Czech and Poland,, I happy to pay the double and more if I need to ski in real resorts,,, this countrys can be Ok if U not have alot of experiance of skiing
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I can show you just how cheap Austria is - we liked the 'down and out' menu for 1 Euro we found in one restaurant!
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Piccadilly, I can´t see the price
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FAQ
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