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Les Contamines - quick tips anyone?
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

I thought I would sum up our week's trip, even though it is really @ster's thread.

Short version: the second week of April is a risky week to go skiing unless very high. Of course we knew that, and that StG and LesC are not rated as high resorts. Nevertheless we did want to give our daughter a chance to ski since she enjoys it so much, hasn't been now for over two years, and she has had a very long term. And we were able to take advantage of flights from Liverpool that meant we picked her up from her digs.

Longer version: despite that we had a good time.

First day (Monday) daughter and I hit the slopes first due to wife awaiting a phone appointment with her GP. She didn't miss much, the previous night it had actually been cold and the frozen crust was initally a struggle - and gone by the time she joined us. But we rapidly discovered where to find pistes coming into excellent condition as the sun warmed them up sequentially. We skiied most of the open StG slopes, though it was a pity the Princesse gondola was closed since the runs to it are mostly north-facing as well as shaded by trees and would have probably had as good snow as anywhere. The last run down to download from Bettex was a struggle through slush.

Second day we headed straight over to Megeve and across to Rochebrune. Runs there not optimal but perfectly OK except near the very bottom. And the runs from Cote 2000 (the very slow top chairlift) were almost as good as ever. Things slower on the return, and by the time we ran back over to Bettex it was more than a struggle - unpleasant.

As a result day 3 was a trip to Les Contamines. As related above, fund in the morning but we realised that lunch lost us some ski time that might have been better than we experienced in the afternoon.

Day 4 we didn't ski (given the weather we just bought day passes) and went for a hike. After experiencing the April sun on coffee stops we realised that it was a mistake not to have brought sun hats with her - but it being Thursday we visited the (very good) chapeau stall on the market. I now have a Crocodile Dundee-style bush hat, a bit posey but they had a good choice and I found a really comfortable fit with good ventilation and a wide brim that should serve me for summer visits to come.

As predicted above, day 5 was the last day we skiied. We again went to LesC and again started with the runs we thought would suffer first from sun and then move on. There was a much shorter window of good skiing this time, realistically it was probably 9-11 though we didn't get going till after 9.30 (the bus from StG arrives at the bottom at 9). However by now we had become a bit more adept at dealing with slushy snow so we made the most of our time after 11, and were pragmatic and had a late sandwich lunch at the top of Signal and used both gondolas to download.

Day 6 walking again. The walking worked well. We knew we weren't equipped for any of the higher destinations we usually do, but which may have pockets of snow in shady locations, so we tried one we had spotted on the map but never explored: the footpath down the valley from LesC to StG. We had worried it would too much follow the road to be fun, but actually away from it except for one brief bit and retained the feel of a rewarding alpine walk through woods and pastures. We did it that way round partly not to feel the pressure of having a bus time to aim for, but also because we didn't actually know where to start in StG - it turned out to be in the car park of the ice rink.

So a pretty good trip despite its lateness in the season. Especially appreciated by our daughter who needed the break and the pleasure boost she gets from skiing. And of course the uplifting feeling of being in the Alps in the snow was there even if the snow wasn't ideal.
snow conditions
snow conditions
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

@j b, it was exceptinly warm this week, we skied the 10th & 11th but threw the towel in & actually done the les C to StG walk ourselves on the tuesday.
We got the main aim of the week acheved on wedensday (getting new sink plumbed in)
We also forgot friends were in the area for easter weekend so took one last day at LC with them on 16th & boy it was a struggle after 10.30, real sticky slush.
But as you say, just good to be there.
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