 Poster: A snowHead
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It would depend on which alps, and while you are on Eurostar, ok france.......... it may be faster to fly to the alps in Italy, Austria, Switzerland, etc, and if you travel light would give you perhaps a day extra ski ing.........
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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But u have to pay extra for ski carriage and transfer if you fly.
The euro star you would also need a transfer and you have to carry your skis etc.
Driving you have ferry, tolls, and due. I don't really see how either way is cheaper to be honest.
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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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| mistral_ski wrote: |
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The euro star you would also need a transfer and you have to carry your skis etc.
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The Euro star takes you direct from St Pancras to Bourg St Maurice at the base of Les Arcs in one journey. The funicular then takes your from the railway station to Arc 1600 in 7 mins. Minimal carrying of skis required.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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quick early flight from Gatwick to Geneva, hop on a transfer, ski Chamonix, hop on a transfer, last flight back to Gatwick. job done. 
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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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But Gatwick is 2hrs from my house, would need parking, and then you need checkin time. Just not down with airport thing really.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@mistral_ski, I gave a full description earlier in this thread of the whole journey. Not sure where you got the idea you need a transfer from for a day in the alps (French at least). As @Ray Zorro, says. You get off the train and get on the Funi. You do not even need to walk to the Funi now, they run a free shuttle from the platform exit to 20m from the Funi in Bourg. Really easy.
For all those people talking about flying. Good luck. I do not think you will get two full days skiing if flying without three nights away. Two nights means you must fly back Sunday evening. Not so many flights and much longer these days to get through secuirty checks normally unless you are lucky. You would have to be very quick to make your flight if you left the slopes when the lifts closed. But I agree, it could be done.
As chrisrawles posted price for two people £330, so £190 pp for the day if you use your own gear and get the discounted ski pass. Not bad!
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I think Les Arcs is the only place that really makes sense to do a day on the slopes if you are in London. You travel overnight both ways by Eurostar and it's easier to sleep than on a plane. No hassle with luggage allowance, much more room and you can take food and drink with you. It's not as good as it used to be as they have changed the times of the trains. They originally arrived early Sat am and left late Sunday. All very civilised (Accept for the disco and late bar, that wasn't) Pity they don't do it any more
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@snowcrazy, particulrly if you book flights cannily enough, it's more than easy to get 2 full days with only 2 night. Airport security no issue,
In the day, when vacation time was more "expensive" than money, our best season was 60 ski days for something like 14 vacation days.
I would agree though, if you're taking the train, you want direct access from BSM.
@mistral_ski, a. Swiss don't charge for ski kit if you're on a "luggaged" fare, b. Be canny, ski in the same place, get friendly with shop or hotel owner and leave kit in said shop or hotel. Hand luggage only.
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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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@snowcrazy, we often do a two night / two full day on slopes trip to grand massif , fly on late flight Luton to geneva on Friday night . Hire car out to grand massif. Hotel Friday and Saturday. Ski Saturday and Sunday, and late flight out of geneva on Sunday evening. Back home by midnight.
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@ringingmaster, we could usually make the last couple of hours in the pub on the Friday into the bargain.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@snowcrazy, we also regularly do 2-night/2-day ski trips (or also 3-night/3-day long weekends). Chamonix from Geneva is easy (tons of flights, loads of bus transfer options, good skiing), and Zurich works brilliantly for all sorts of Swiss/Austrian resorts too. It's still way more expensive than a week, but if you're holiday-constrained it's a winner.
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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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@ChrisWo, I don't find it more expensive. we are out on the last w/e of Jan for 3 days, with 4 of us. Return Flights £65 per person + ski transit. Car £155 between 4. Grand massif ski pass for 3 days with w/e discount £70. Apartment £180 between 4 for all three nights (i.e. £15 per person per night). plus meals. Parking in UK £22 between 4. Petrol in UK 100 miles between 4. Petrol in France 100 miles between 4.
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@ringingmaster, it may not be very much more expensive, but it almost certainly will be at least a bit more expensive per day. For a longer stay your accommodation/lift pass prices are going to be the same or cheaper (you'd expect cheaper - it would be an odd business model that charged you more for accommodation the longer you stayed!), and the cost of your flights is spread over a larger number of days.
So cost-wise you'll almost always get more bang for you buck (or powder for your pound) by going for longer trips. It's having to take fewer holiday days that makes short breaks efficient.
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You know it makes sense.
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@ChrisWo, Weekend costs out of season in many ski resort are often cheaper than the pro-rata full week out of season rate :
Example for a massif pass:
http://winter.grand-massif.com/happy-ski
So March 7th & 8th will cost you 49.40€ - average of 24.70€ per day.
A 6 day pass will cost you 198.00 € - and average of 33.00€ per day.
Equally a hire car between 4 for two days works out at £25 each for your transfers, while for a 6/7 day holiday, that is going to cost at least double, or an expensive transfer.
Accommodation, we go for places like this, booking on a per night basis and taking advantage of having a hire car (because we are doing a short w/e), and driving 10 mins to the lift, rather than taking the bus.
http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/chalet-la-r-batte.en-gb.html
Where you do get stung is the £60 ski carriage cost that is effectively split between 2 rather than 6 days.
Certainly we find that choosing your resort carefully means you can take advantage of better prices at weekends rather than midweek, and things tend to work out the same or less per day than a full week.
Cheers
Steve
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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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@ringingmaster, ha ha, fair enough - like I said "almost certainly"...I'm still pretty confident that there are a lot more examples of a week being cheaper per day than the corresponding weekend!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@ringingmaster, Any recommendations (and contact details) for apartments in Grand Massif? The boys trip is Friday 6th to Tuesday 10th March. Flying to GVA so looking for short transfer. We haven't been to Grand Massif and are considering Flaine.
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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 do not think you will get two full days skiing if flying without three nights away. Two nights means you must fly back Sunday evening.
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@snowcrazy, not if you pick a resort close to Geneva. We are doing a trip to Chamonix for a weekend in January.
Friday 18:30 Luton -> 21:10 Geneva. Collect hire car, drive to Chamonix.
Sunday Geneva 21:50 -> 22:30 Luton. No problem to ski until lifts close on Sunday and make that flight.
Flights - £55 pp return = £110
Luggage/skis = £75
Car hire = £70
Petrol ~ £20
B&B = €150 ~ £120
Ski pass unlimited = €116 x2 ~ £180
Total = £143.25 per person per day. No time off work, 2 full days skiing.
I'm not knocking the Eurostar/Les Arcs idea at all. I think it largely depends where you live. We are only 15 mins drive from Luton and can generally get a lift for free. Whilst we have a direct train into KGX it's £55 in train fares for the two of us. However if you live/work in central London then opposite would apply.
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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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@halfhand, you are hitting the last weekend of the French Schôll holidays...if you find anything suitable, don't hesitate to book it. Most apartments will be Saturday-Saturday...
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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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@under a new name, Hmm yes. I was out voted over destination (my preference was Austria). Cheers
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