 Poster: A snowHead
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eddiethebus I think PdS looks expensive against Grand Massif:
PdS - € 865.00 (€ 778.50 until 08/12/2013)
Morzine, Les Gets - € 567.00 (€ 340.00 until 15/12/2013)
Avoriaz- € 479.00 (€ 431.00 until 08/12/2013)
against €465 for Grand Massif discount rate. And GM transfers are relatively cheap (though not as cheap as Morzine)
always29 once I have all the info collated about each area properly collated, I’ll post it all to this thread, as I know I would have found it useful to have it all in one place.
Boredsurfin I don’t think I’ll be rushing for those two options! 
Dia_findtransfers will go and research those, thanks. And your service is great, too, we used it last year and picked up a great price on a transfer to Tignes with Whiterides.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Avoid school holidays
Drive out, share a car with four of you (the maths works out with 4 in the car), or book air tickets a long way ahead, consider bus transfers to resort
Driving gives you option to bring out food, or buy provisions at the bottom of the mountain
If skiing in France consider Geneva (Swiss side) rather than Chambery
Self cater
Stay down the mountain, the further down you go the cheaper both accomodation and food and drink is, but there is a balance ref. convenience and mountain vibe where you are staying
Book skis online and in advance. Ski Republic offer BOG OFF deals
3V's offer discounts if buying as a group (small) but everything needs to go on one card
Modern skis and resorts have transformed skiing since your bad experience, I would suggest (and it is only a passing thought) that you might be better off by sharing a private lesson or two, rather than doing a week of ski-school, though I don't know what stage you are at.
Don't ignore catered chalets if you are of a sociable disposition, often there may be room for an additional couple to make up the numbers at a good price, particularly in the quiet weeks
I do a couple of weeks skiing each year, one as a boys week, sharing accomodation, cooking and transfer costs, the other as a family week, driving out, neither of which break the bank, mainly because the novelty of ski-in ski-out , expensive meals on the mountain, expensive drinking in the resort have worn off!
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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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sj1608, Thanks! It is always nice to get some positive feedback! 
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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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| Quote: |
the novelty of ski-in ski-out
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11 seasons in the novelty of ski in/ski out has never worn off for me, especially on really snowy days when you don't want to get a car out of a garage (and still less out of a snowdrift) and the ski bus is struggling with chains. Nice run home, skis off, walk 50 metres, hot chocolate on. Or into a hot shower if it's that sort of day.
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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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I think my point was that there are savings to be made by being prepared to drive 10 minutes up the valley. I like the idea of kicking off my ski boots and having tea and cakes in front of a warm fire, but the difference in cost c/w self catered down the valley can be 5 to 10 times, especially in school hols (my daughter is a teacher - can't take her out!). I should emphasise that this is a Meribel vs. Les Allues comparison. I could go to a cheaper resort I know.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Les Carroz is ideal for us, retired 5 years ago and spent every winter season there since, after buying Studio in 2005 and doing 10 visits per season whilst working in UK. As stated, season pass, if bought before 10th Dec, is 465 Euros with free days at LDA, Courmayeur, Verbier and 3 days at any other local resorts. Plenty of SC availability via local "Immobiliers" (multiple weeks bookable), also as mentioned before, there are about 9 "English owned/run" Chalet operators (not heard bad reports about any of them). LC is lovely village with many weekly activities, the GM area has plenty of good runs and off-piste, looking forward to 2013/14 season already.
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boredsurfin, It`s a good ski shop though 
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cstreat, Its a VERY good ski shop!
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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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sj1608, i suspect GMs is the way forward as well. Lots of interesting looking things even in Xmas week.
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I solved this problem by channelling all income from my second job and freelance work into a separate account specifically for holidays (main job pays the mortgage, bills, etc.). This means I can now afford two skiing holidays. I can't have any more than two due to time off work.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I promised to come back and update this thread with what we actually did, and am now doing so rather belatedly. There is a reason for the delay, which you’ll see if you read on.
Status at start of season
- Ok on most blues, might do the odd easy red if pushed.
- Skis owned. None.
- Might drive down once, fly the rest of the time via Geneva.
- Definitely not interested in buying a ski apartment.
Status at end of season
- About 40 skiing days in Grand Massif. Missed only two days while we were there (1 tummy upset and 1 horrible wet day). We STILL haven't been to Annecy.... and we didn't use any of the vouchers for other resorts that came with our season pass.
- Skied every red in Flaine on final trip, including a very very icy Grand Chaudron on our last day. In December 2013 I would have threatened to have given up skiing at the sight of it.
- Skis owned. Him, 3 pairs. Her, 2 pairs (justification that overall spend was only a little more than hiring each time, and they were ebay or ex-demo to keep cost down).
- Had bought winter tyres and driven down 3 times, once with the cat (although she declined to actually ski when we got there!).
- Had found a ski apartment to buy in Les Carroz but were ‘just waiting a couple of weeks for the compromis to be signed’.
The reason for the delay in reporting back is that the couple of weeks we expected to wait for the compromis turned into over 4 months, and I didn’t want to tempt fate by posting that we were buying. But it’s just gone through, so we’ll have our own apartment for next season.
We did spend a fair amount of money, but never felt we’d spent more than we needed to, to achieve what we wanted. We tended to eat in and take packed lunches, spending out on lessons with the savings.
We stayed in 4 different places over almost 6 weeks of skiing, and that helped us to understand what we were looking for when it came to buying the apartment that we'd sworn we didn't need/want!
Cheapest stay was €116 for a week in a 4 person apartment in Terrasse de Veret in Flaine, the week before Christmas.
We rented apartments in Les Carroz via the ever-helpful Sue Lewis ( http://www.skifusion.co.uk/drupal/ ), and also stayed at Claude’s lovely B & B in Les Carroz over Christmas ( http://www.labergerie-lescarroz.com/index_en.php ). If we hadn’t bought our apartment ( ) we would definitely go back there and, amazingly, he still has availability for this Christmas.
We spent heavily on private lessons with Lynne Stainbrook in Flaine ( http://www.frontpagetestserver.co.uk/flaine/philosophy.asp ). But they were good value as we progressed so quickly and his ‘no effort’ techniques suit our old legs.
Thanks again for all the helpful advice that got us this far, and we look forward to the joys of French property ownership for next season……
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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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Sounds like a brilliant time was had
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Love this story - what a fantastic outcome. Thanks for sharing.
Good luck, sj1608 
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You know it makes sense.
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Personally I think you'll struggle to beat bashes for value for money. In any given season there is usually a PSB, Birthday Bash, Pre-Birthday Bash, EoSB, and a couple of others that come up during the season. Gives you variety, prices that you are going to struggle to beat even for self catering, and you will find good reccomendations for local instructors at a very reasonable price - particularly on the EoSB.
If you were so inclined you could easily go from one bash to last minute availability from a TO (the potential deals if you get in touch with them 2 or 3 days before due to return, with no flights to sort, will be quite surprising) and get more weeks that way.
Plus you get between 30 and 100+ other people to ski with, learn from, have dinner with, and maybe a drink or two.
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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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I think the OP is sorted now... 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Though there is nowt wrong with the recommendation, of course. Owning one's own apartment is no bar to bash involvement, either....as several can bear testament to
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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sj1608, Phew! Bet that was a long wait for the compromis. Sounds great, and excellent that you have thoroughly recce'd the area and know what you want.
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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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Yes, the wait has seemed forever, with the vendors reluctant to sell, and their notaire being totally unresponsive.
The upside was that we had a chance to have buyers' remorse without the commitment! But a further 4 months of looking at everything that came on the market hasn't thrown up anything we thought was as good, so we are comfortable that we've made the right decision.
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FAQ
