 Poster: A snowHead
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Another vote for Tamworth - not jsut teh slope either!
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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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Cacciatore, Brilliant!
I said this on the previous thread, a bad day in the worst resort in the world is better than my best day in the office.
Worst resort a little one called Val De Nuria in Spain, got a private teaching gig which was pretty good but the resort and the village, very grim.
Honourable Mention to Soll!
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L2A without doubt, too many paths to get across mountains, as someone else said runs to the bottom horrendous with way too many out of control skiers and boarders, those runs always (in January as well!) seem to be just sheets of ice and stones. Too steep for the snow cannon snow to stick to it seems. I have been there twice now but never again!
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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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| Johnor wrote: |
Sauze - done a couple of weeks there and wouldn't return - the skiing is a bit limited
livigno - a pain to get around and I never got the hang of those bus routes  |
The Vote for Livigno surprises me, I've heard good things and it was on my to do list?
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joem - don't take my work on this please as it does depends what you want from a resort - if you are into parks then there are some good ones with air bags
I had a couple of issues - you can ski in different areas but you need to get buses around and they were a pain - the other thing was that a number of people told me that the resort is vary active about confiscating lift passes if you are caught off-piste - not too sure if this was correct but it did limit our skiing - I'd post a thread and ask for the views of others
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Les Deux Alpes for me. Not a great fan of the town, and lift queues were absolutely horrific when there (even in late March, albeit a few years back).
Having skied to La Rosiere from La Thuile, I don't think I'd go there either. La Thuile was a nice ski area but absolutely dead in resort of an evening.
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I have been to some of the resorts getting bad votes here:
Livigno: I would not go back to, skiing limited and unchallenging. And LONG transfer. But has many pro's: decent snow record, good prices, duty free, excellent food and drinking, so for less advanced skier could be good option.
Andorra: I would never go back, but as I learnt to ski there in my 20s- understandably great memories.
L2A: I wouldn't rush to, but would tolerate a week there with a view to hiring a guide for a day or two and having crack at La Grave
La Plagne: ditto above. I would add: if only queues were reasonable, might be nice place to bring familiy with view to doing week of off-piste in mornings, then ski the very easy blues with kids in afternoons
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L2A gets my vote, never seen so many blood wagons and airlifts in a week, early Jan so not particularly busy, then closely followed by La Plagne, loads of bottle necks and slow lines on main lifts, but if I had a choice of no ski hols or one of those resorts I would wind my neck in rapidly 
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Can you guys please stop giving Tamworth a whack. Queanbeyan is far worse.
Least favourite resort? Does Smiggins qualify? If not, then I must say I would not rush back to Davos.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Lillihammer, woa so expensive, no soul , ugly town, very few bars, and less resturaunts. Not much to ski either. We had all the runs done on the first day . It was still better than being at home , but I wouldn't return. Ditto for Andorra, and Borovets. Too many places to go to re visit those three places.
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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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La Plagne has my vote as the second least favourite resort after Meribel.
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Juddernaut, I wouldn't call Davos a resort, its a working town - had a great lads week there 10 years ago - still smart every time I think of the bar bills though. Great skiing, especially Klosters.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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| saikee wrote: |
| La Plagne has my vote as the second least favourite resort after Meribel. |
Out of interest, why the dislike for Meribel? I find that one surprising to hear.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Sad to say Selva/ Val Gardena. It should be good - superb scenery and good skiing potential. But we went in January and it had the busiest slopes I have been on anytime, anyplace (including the mega French resorts at school holiday time). I have never felt more concerned about my personal safety when skiing at some of the points on the Sella Ronda (especially but not only round Arabba) where it felt like thousands of (mainly) large Germans/ Austrians were single mindedly 'doing the Ronda' with no regard for anyone else on the piste. And the walk through Arabba past the burger vans was not my idea of an uplifting ski experience. Such a shame. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Solden was my least favorite place and I would not go back even if it was free. La Plagne is pretty poor as well which i a massive shame as i love Les Arc so much and therefore have to ski guests over to La Plagne as they always want to go to the glazier, i warn em it rubbish, they never agree until they get there !!
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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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I have 2 resorts I wouldnt be making a return trip to and they are both in Austria
the first is Niederau - not suited for our level of skiing (easy blues), also found the queues horrendous for the gondola and tbars (we would wait for 25 minutes each morning) this was not during peak season
secondly was skiwelt - again not suited for our level of skiing, found the piste markers confusing, in one case couldnt find a piste at all, found the blues very steep in places. didnt like getting the bus to the ski area then waiting for a train to take us up the mountain.
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Let me upset everyone - Meribel (nb not the Trois Vallees but just the one resort within them) - expensive, foul pistes into the centre of the resort - icy and over busy.
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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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Ayrshire Andy, 1st week of january?
If so, be like that pretty much anywhere that Germans and Russians can easily get to.
A week later it'll be empty.
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Ayrshire Andy,
Funny how people can have different experiences depending on luck of the draw. I have done three Dollies ski weeks and never had a crowd problem. My fave area.
I had a week in ADH where I felt like a sardine and had a day at Argentieres where we waited for 90 minutes to get lift to the pistes.
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countryman, bit like you I don't like Meribel as a resort, that said I'd go there for the skiing, I'd just stay up in VT. too many Brits last time I stayed in Meribel. Each to their own I guess. I liked La Tania.
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Juddernaut, Davos is fine and the pizzas at the place beside the station are amazing. particularly gorgonzola and spicy sausage.
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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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| Markymark29 wrote: |
| halfhand, there isn't any nightlife in La Plagne is there? |
Stayed in Plagne 1800. La Mine was ok but not exactly jumping. There was a bar in Plagne Centre known as The Dutch Bar but again it seemed like peeps were trying too hard to have a good time and not really managing it.
under a new name I think it was simply that after 4 years on the spin we were just a bit bored. However it's been at least 7 years since we were there so maybe it's time to give it another go 
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| Fattes13 wrote: |
Cacciatore, Brilliant!
I said this on the previous thread, a bad day in the worst resort in the world is better than my best day in the office.
Worst resort a little one called Val De Nuria in Spain, got a private teaching gig which was pretty good but the resort and the village, very grim.
Honourable Mention to Soll! |
Are you sure you mean Val de Nuria?
I was there last year - a pretty little car-free place at the end of a very scenic train line. It felt a bit like being in the Lake District.
The skiing was quite limited but I had an enjoyable day there...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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La Plagne- old slow lifts, dis-jointed lift system with diabolical bottle necks, full of arrogant French rude people and so flat there are rope tows for those on snow boards in the middle of some pistes. Absolutely no night life and death defying slope to return to La Plagne 1800. Well worth never ever visiting again plus the most expensive lift pass in Europe?
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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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Neil Neige, Yeah very sure, Skiing was very limited as in I could ski it in a morning, and had 6 days there!!! Train ride up was pretty but annoying after 2 days and the village was quite dark and dull. Had one good night out when there was a parade for a religious festival but from a skiing / all round spot to visit it was grim.
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Laax in Switzerland was pretty awful.
I went in April because it's fairly high altitude and is meant to have ok late season snow. The snow itself wasn't terrible but the visibility was terrible. Nearly all the runs were above the treeline and it was incredibly difficult to see where you were meant to go. Even worse was on the final day I was there, the lift company only opened about 30% of the lifts because it was a Monday and they didn't want to pay for the whole area wasn't full. Of course the only people who would be skiing would be people there for the week who had already paid and not locals who they rely on for repeat custom. What was even worse about this was the day before was an absolute peasouper and every lift was open because it was a Sunday.
The ski area wildly exaggerates the km by including what are effectively fairly flat roads. If there was a blue on the map I usually assumed it wasn't a proper run.
The resort itself is a purpose built non-entity with ridiculous ripoff prices. The lift company own pretty much everything so charge what they like. Ski hire cost a fortune; food up the mountain was awful and a ripoff. The only places that were nice had stunning prices.
Wouldn't do Switzerland again. Austria much cheaper and better!
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You know it makes sense.
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andy, and Juddernaut, third week in January. We almost always have a week at this time and wherever else we have gone it has been blissfully quiet. But you are right - we might just have been unlucky. Most disappointing thing is that we were really looking forward to it - and the scenery is out of this world.
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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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madlondoner,
Fair enough if you don't like Laax and I would not criticise your choice my own is Meribel as explained last time we did this type of thread
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=93009&highlight=resort+back&start=200
For people who may want to go to what is not such a widely discussed resort I would point out why some of your criticisms may not be relevant to anothers visit though.
I went to the adjoining visit in Flims quite a few years ago now and tool away a very different impression.
Poor visibility is a matter of prevailing weather rather than generally the resort and although we had some poor weather I found the tree lined skiing reasonably extensive. It is a south facing ski area though and I wonder if the lack of tree lined skiing for you was as a result of poor snow lower down? Not uncommon in any resort in April. Likewise the shutting of part of the area is I regret not restricted to Laax at the end of the season many ski areas particularly the less fashionable ones will close down lifts as the season ends even when good snow remains. The appearance of a resort is clearly a mater of taste but few places in my experience look at their best as the season ends the snow level rises and mud appears but the flowers have not yet in the main part made an appearance.
My memories of Flims prices from a long time ago are not clear but I do not remember them being out of the ordinary. Swiss prices in general though have rocketed in recent years not so much due to their desire to rip people off but because the Franc has rocketed when expressed in Francs the prices have remained relatively static in my experience but when expressed in pounds they have shot up. Unfortunately for the Swiss their costs are generally in Francs. Swiss shops are suffering as a result as even the residents are looking to shop over the border.
Sorry you had a bad time and I would not encourage you to go back as there are so many other places to ski but equally for other s looking I wold not let this one report put them off what is a varied attractive and reasonably spacious ski area.
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Poster: A snowHead
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It's horses for courses and I've always had a good time at La Plagne. So much depends on weather and how bad the queues are. I only ski in low season now and seem to be lucky with both.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Meribel
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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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It is to a degree horses for courses but that doesn't stop us understanding suitability... if you are in your teens or early twenties, like cheap booze, duty free and rowdy night life then Andorra might be the very place to be.
Last December I went to Kuhtai in Austria, sold as a great family resort. It couldn't be less family orientated because there is a total of one beginners slope and one carpet lift which frequently doesn't work.
Not a bad resort for intermediate to advanced skiers who aren't looking for vibrant night life but otherwise stay well clear.
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| madlondoner wrote: |
Laax in Switzerland was pretty awful.
The ski area wildly exaggerates the km by including what are effectively fairly flat roads.
The resort itself is a purpose built non-entity with ridiculous ripoff prices. The lift company own pretty much everything so charge what they like. Ski hire cost a fortune; food up the mountain was awful and a ripoff. The only places that were nice had stunning prices.
Wouldn't do Switzerland again. Austria much cheaper and better! |
I felt pretty much the same about Saas Fee. Stunning scenery, good snow because of the altitude and all the surrounding peaks. BUT very imaginitive lift company when it comes to calculating the ski miles. After a late start and early finish on the first day I'd pretty much done all the main part.
Also, took an age to get from bed to skiing.
Also,I've never felt so harassed by people skiing on my tails
Also, I've never seen so many people skiing with earphones/helmet speakers and hence zero situational awareness.
The week effectively ended (round about half way through) with one of the above chopping me up from behind resulting in a fall which caused 3 broken ribs. Even without that I wouldnt have gone back.
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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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| countryman wrote: |
| Let me upset everyone - Meribel (nb not the Trois Vallees but just the one resort within them) - expensive, foul pistes into the centre of the resort - icy and over busy. |
You don't upset me! I agree wholeheartedly, (and Mottaret is in the same category) but love the rest of the 3V to bits. Contrary to all the gushy publicity, I think the Meribel valley is the WORST part of the 3V for a beginner, and I speak from memories as a beginner/ early intermediate in the mid 90s.
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under a new name, Davos may be fine for you but it takes more than a slice of pizza to get me back to a resort. If I want pizza I ski MonteRosa or Dollies.
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Probably Tignes
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| Quote: |
I went to Kuhtai in Austria
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Just be greatful you were not there during the GB ski test carnage!!! 
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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've always enjoyed everywhere I've been. 
Even Tamworth
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Mosha Marc,
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I've always enjoyed everywhere I've been.
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So have I but they have not all been equal so there must have been a or some least favourites even if only from certain aspects.
I put down Meribel in a previous rendition but offer me a freebie there and I would jump at it and enjoy it. But for what I want it provides less good value than other places I have been to.
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