 Poster: A snowHead
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We were originally planning 10 days in Banff 1st week in April next year but now thinking a week in Europe to save money.
We'll be doing France in Feb; prob 3 valleys so looking for somewhere different.
What resorts should we put in our shortlist that may have decent snow for that time?
We like a fairly biggish ski area of intermediate terrain. Would like to be within few min walk of lifts so no busses . Need a flight from Edinburgh or Glasgow so would prob be a Crystal deal we'd be looking for.
Budget about £1000 pp (flight, hotel/chalet , lift pass ans ski carriage)
Anyone any experience of booking packages for this time; are we likely to get somewhere decent if we wait til a few weeks beforehand to see where good snow?
Also are we likely to get caught up in school easter holidays then? if so somewhere that doesn't suffer from queues would be good
Many questions!
MCL
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ischgl would be a good place to check out (fly to Innsbruck, Munich or Zurich), probably Serfaus/Fiss, Zillertal and some of the Ski Amade resorts too.
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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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We are going to Les Deux Alpes flying out on the 13th April, that is the second week of the Easter school holidays. We picked there due to larger glacier in case it is a poor year for snow over the options we had with Mark Warner at descent prices.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Tignes/Val, been a few times in April and never had bad conditions. Even when it was pants in Les Arcs the snow in the Espace Killy was amazing.
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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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clarky999, you are always recommending Ischgl, but I was recommended not to go there by Crystal because of 20-40minute queues every morning to get up mountain and that has been corroborated by others and has kept me away. What's the story?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
are we likely to get caught up in school easter holidays then? if so somewhere that doesn't suffer from queues would be good
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Easter tends to be quiet in France, especially if you avoid places teeming with Brits. In the first week of April (well before Easter next year, which is late) you would normally find most resorts fully open, and with plenty of choice of accommodation. Tignes would be reliable, but unless you absolutely must make a choice far in advance, you could leave it till later.
When in February will you be going? Will you be able to avoid the busy half term/French winter holiday period? If you are accustomed to the 3 Valleys in school holiday time, the first week in April will seem deserted in comparison.
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Have a look at La Plagne - snow is good at Easter with two glaciers and more than 70% of the domain above 2000m. Crystal do a variety of options, plus there are loads of other tour operators and independants available.
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We were in Ischgl this April. There were no queues. Use the search tool to find my report if you want more detail
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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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Zermatt would be good - always good in Spring
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Can you do everything for £1K in Zermatt?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Blastfromthepast, I wouldn't be skiing in april. What's it like in Feb and Mar? Sorry this is digression from op post
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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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| peanuthead wrote: |
| clarky999, you are always recommending Ischgl, but I was recommended not to go there by Crystal because of 20-40minute queues every morning to get up mountain and that has been corroborated by others and has kept me away. What's the story? |
I've only skied there for 11/12 days or so (including Christmas week once), but I don't remember queuing for more than 5 minutes anywhere, other than the big cable back up from Samnaun, which was 10/15 mins tops (at busy times).
It's a good resort, lots of cool skiing, on and offpiste, great apres, very reliable snow (including start/end of season). Home run can be a bit carnageous at the end of the day, nicer if you duck just off the sides of the piste.
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You know it makes sense.
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Done Tignes a few times last few years so prob looking for somewhere new in April. Never done 3 valleys but that is plan for Feb
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Sensible choices are fewer in early April, so how about doing the 3 Valleys in the first week of April - there will be masses of good terrain then, with Val Thorens to fall back on if it's unseasonally warm and snow a bit thin.
8th Feb is a great week to choose in terms of missing French holidays and there is a huge amount of choice. If you are flexible you could go for a last-minute bargain - anywhere really, throughout the Alps, depending on snow conditions as well as other factors.
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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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Leech, zurs, stuben,,st Anton would be worth checking out for prices.....
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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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I hear the same about lots of places: yes there are problem lifts in lots of places because of the tendency of people to behave like sheep. Oh there's a queue, let's get in it in case it gets too long mentality Usually there are altenatives just around the corner, but my, then they would have to walk maybe an extra 100m or so!
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Ha, tell that to the people in lift queues at La Plagne Bellecote! (Agreed there is a ski bus around 500 meteres away through a car park and an appartment block)
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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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boredsurfin, Plagne Bellecote has to be the worst place in the world for lift queues, with the possible exception of Whistler. The queues there every morning were dreadful, although they did seem to move more quickly. Even in January outside of school holidays PB was awful.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Samerberg Sue, you are prob right but every time you are on forum you seem to be defending all things austrian to the hilt. And I am pretty sure worst place in austria can't be better than worst place in france so when you say there are minimal queues and many people who have been there and would be quite objective say the opposite (about getting up mountain) then sorry gotta take your opinion with grain of salt. (No offence I hope)
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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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peanuthead, given that Sue doesn't work in the ski/tourism industry anymore (did work as an instructor in France in the past) and spends more time skiing the Salzburg area than resorts in the west of Tirol, I think it's safe to say she has no agenda in recommending Ischgl (or Austria in general) 
If you check out the piste map, you'll see that there are three uplift points from Ischgl village, so it's quite easy to avoid any queues.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 15-05-13 20:42; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Tbf, I have heard Ischgl is good. But I am too cynical to believe anwhere is perfect and tbf there are quite a few posters who will always argue Austria is better than France and vice versa so when getting info off SHs you need to have grain of salt. When we were coming back from St Anton in late March our bus was joined by holidayers in Ischgl and they all complained about morning time queues.
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| peanuthead wrote: |
| But I am too cynical to believe anwhere is perfect and tbf there are quite a few posters who will always argue Austria is better than France and vice versa so when getting info off SHs you need to have grain of salt. |
No argument with that!
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peanuthead, I'm also half French (French father and French was my first language). I recommend the resorts I know well and suit the original poster's requests. My most up to date knowledge is of Austrian resorts because after getting fed up of listening to the insults and snide remarks certain elements in French resorts were making about tourists in general (not just Brits). Plus being swept up in a blitz on all instructors not in an ESF uniform and being taken to the local jail until we could produce our licences AND record books, I decided I was happier with a quieter life elsewhere. I did not speak German when I came to Austria, but I was welcomed with open arms. I am now fluent, no longer work with any ski school or any tourist office. I would happily return to France to ski in the southern Alps, I have often referred people to Serre Chevalier and the best expert on that resort here Hells Bells. But as I have a world class selection of resorts more or less on my doorstep and season passes for both Salzburgerland and Tirol, it is hard to justify driving quite so far and paying for yet another pass. I do pop over the Brenner occasionally and sample la dolce vita in the Dolomites though!
There are many, many misconceptions reproduced here - Austria is too low, too disconnected, has a short season, no ski in/ski out, no self-catering, etc, etc. Most of the misinformation has been accepted as gospel by the gullible for far too long. There are not as many English owners in Austria pushing their chalet or apartment(s), so every request for ideas is not met with masses saying that they have availability on those dates. Those who do have property in Austria are often booked out any way! Tour operators all too often have a surplus of accommodation in France which they can discount simply to get punters in. Selling the surplus includes dissing the viable alternatives, like the outright lie you were told about queuing problems at Ischgl, drunkenness and bad behaviour in Mayrhofen, Kitzbühel has a poor snow record and is unreliable, etc, etc.
I have no agenda other than possibly helping people to expand their horizons and to correct misconceptions. Try Austria and see for yourself maybe rather than believing a travel agent with a vested interest in selling you want they need to promote rather than seeing you get the best place for you. You never know, you may even like it 
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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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Samerberg Sue, believe it or not I wasn't trying to start an Austria v France thread, but when next such thread arises, you should def copy and paste your top 2 paragraphs into it because I know you are on the money with a lot of that.
I was in St Anton last March. Tbh I won't be going back unless OH ever allowed me to go alone in which case I would spend full week with P2P. But for what I like in ski holiday St anton offers little. And I was as close as you can be to ski-in-out. No probs with queues there except in Stuben. I thought I might try Ischgl next year but crystal rep of all people told me not to bother if a queue up the hill in the morning would bother me!
PS I was advised in Ffance not to bother with Ischgl unless you are ok with completely intoxicated louts sitting next to you in chairlift and vomitting all over you, but at least I took that with grain of salt too!
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Skiied in Ischgl last year. There are no queues for lifts as they are super fast and lots of access from the village. When we were there the slopes were somewhat busy and I think the off piste tracks out quickly as there is not that much of it. If you mainly want to ski on the piste - then Ischgl is good.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| peanuthead wrote: |
| clarky999, you are always recommending Ischgl, but I was recommended not to go there by Crystal because of 20-40minute queues every morning to get up mountain and that has been corroborated by others and has kept me away. What's the story? |
I'm utterly baffled by this??
I've travelled to a fair amount of resorts over the last decade. Europe and beyond. One place I've been every year at least once is Ischgl. One thing I have never thought is that the lift queues were long. Sure if the weather closes things down those lifts that are open will be busy. That's the same anywhere. But is Iscghl particularly more busy in terms of lift queues? Absolutely not. Even then the longest I've had to wait is 5-10 minutes, more fen than nt far less.
That's an honest view. No pro Austria, anti Austria, pro France, anti France, pro anywhere, anti anywhere bias. Just the way it is from someone who has been there a fair bit.
Like I said. Quite baffled.
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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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| peanuthead wrote: |
| PS I was advised in Ffance not to bother with Ischgl unless you are ok with completely intoxicated louts sitting next to you in chairlift and vomitting all over you, but at least I took that with grain of salt too! |
This too is nonsense.
As for off piste, I've actually found the obvious stuff gets tracked out less quickly than in places with more of a reputation for off piste. If you want to take a guide and are willing to hike there is plenty.
It is quite a party town and has quite a lot of busy bars. It can be a bit bling. Some may not like that. But there's a huge amount to like about the place.
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Interesting insights above. Only one way to find out what the place is really like..
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You know it makes sense.
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Can't comment on queues in Ischgl as have only been once and that was opening day in November one year and there were no queues then.
MCL, you should put Obertauern on your list. Because the ski area is within a circular area, unlike many other resorts, every run has a different feel.
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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 can see where people are coming from with regards the queues in Ischgl. I've stayed for 2 weeks in Kappl so have only skied Ischgl 4/5 days and on each occassion we had to queue for around 20 mins getting one of the gondolas up in the morning. No issues once up hill. The skiing is fantastic there and am more than likely to return to Kappl next year with the family. It was not full of drunken louts barfing on you on the chairlifts and totally agree with nozawaonsen,
You can get flight only with TUI if you call them. Flight only is not advertised. Regularly use the EDI to INN flight and costs around £285 if booking far in advance - much cheaper if you leave it till nearer departure.
Personally I'd choose St Anton over Ischgl but that's mainly due to the fact that I prefer the apres in St Anton to Ischgl's, although the on piste skiing is better in Ishcgl. Point worth noting, Warth will be linked up with the Arlberg pass for next year, which makes for an excellent addition to an already excellent area. (Warth was reported to have the best snow record in the Alps a few years ago, although personally I think Stuben must be right up there)
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
| Point worth noting, Warth will be linked up with the Arlberg pass for next year |
Hadn't seen that boabski. Do you mean inluded on the lift pass - or linked by ski lift? Very interesting if it's the latter.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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mountainaddict, Linked by a lift into the Lech sector 
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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FAQ
Usually there are altenatives just around the corner, but my, then they would have to walk maybe an extra 100m or so! 