 Poster: A snowHead
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We've skied many times in France, and over the last couple of years have started to drive. We've been to Morzine & Flaine which are a very easy drive, and Tignes which is a bit longer (though it was Easter so not *so* bad).
We're looking for Feb half-term next year and wondering about Alpe D'Huez as we've never been there, and we're running out of new French locations (Since we started skiing with the kids we've done Courcheval, La Plagne, Valandry(Les Arc), Reberty(3V), Morzine, Flaine & Tignes).
So questions are:
1. What's the drive like?
2. What's the resort/ski area like (Kids have ESF gold, and will not be in school, so we cover some ground!)
3. Is there anywhere else (within perhaps 9 hours of Calais) that we should consider?
Flaine was good skiing, but a dull location. Tignes OTOH was nice for sitting out having an apres-ski pint whilst my daughter sledged by the Tuffs lift. We'll (probably) be arranging everything ourselves, drive/SC apartment but its nice if there's a bit of something going on in the evening.
TIA
Rob
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Rob, it is not distance, but driving conditions that makes a biger difference. I use
http://www.lodge-spa.fr/newsletter/news_21/vac1314.pdf and FR site Bison Fute to plan my trip. If my kids' holidays fall during the busy week, I try to get Friday off and drive 80-90% of the distance staying before Alps and making the last leg of a trip early in the morning which leaves me with a time to get skis, lift passes, a nice walk in the resort, relaxed dinner so that Sunday morning is stress free. So choose the resort you like most.
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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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LittleRob, I've driven to Alpe d'Huez and Les Deux Alpes many times. It's a pretty straightforward drive, I normally get into France on Friday evening and stop about 50 miles from Calais and do the rest on Saturday. However that is usually Easter time which is far less busy that half term.
The resort is not the prettiest but also far from the ugliest, it's just a fairly typical resort I guess. Plenty of places to eat, drink, etc and there is a good sports centre for swimming, skating, etc. I think Les Bergers is the most convenient part of town with best slope access.
Slopes are extensive and pretty varied. From the hairy Tunnel and ultra long Sarenne to the bowl of greens around the resort. You can get a really good sense of "travelling" between the different villages particularly by taking the "scare" chair to Auris.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks for the replies. Normally we get most of the way on Friday night before kipping for a few hours in an aire somewhere near the base of the mountain, so in some ways its only the last bit of the journey that I'm questioning.
e.g. Flaine is fairly close to the motorway, so was probably only about an hour or so. Would have been even quicker except for the last bit, down hill into the resort itself, we had to put chains on, whereas everyone knows that the drive from Moutiers to Tignes can take a while !
I think I'll have a bit more of a dig and see whether we can find any appartments.
Thanks
Rob
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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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LittleRob, I've been to A d'H a few times, it's a good resort, but never driven it myself. The last climb from valley to resort gives some fairly spectacular views. You should probably go there just to do the drive up.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If you are up early, the final bit up to ADH will be OK but the road basically from Grenoble to Bourg d'Oisans can be a big jam on changeover days
Worth also looking at the satellite resorts - Vaujany and Oz. More attractive but less going on than ADH. Both offer very quick access into the skiing area and mean you don't really need to get tangled up with the bowl around ADH. This can be good for beginners but is also the most overcrowded area
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Personally, it's one of my favourites. I've stayed in ADH itself once and Oz-en-Oisans 3 times. I am going back to Oz at Christmas. The drive up to the main town involves the numerous hairpin bends made famous by the Tour de France but other than that no big deal. The town itself is pretty big, not all accomodation is massively convenient iirc so you need to be a bit careful. If you don't mind the smaller village Oz is an easy drive, great access to the slopes. Vaujany is supposed to be good, the only downside you can't ski directly there. But not a massive inconvenience I don't think.
Accomodation for half term will already be in short supply everywhere and be pricey. Have you been and/or driven at half term before?
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Layne we did Morzine (well St Jean d'aupe) last year, and Flaine this year in the Feb half-term, so have no misconceptions of what exactly the queue for Eurotunnel will be like ! (actually this year Easter was *far* worse). I'll check out the other villages, though certainly on websites like homeaway.co.uk there seems to be plenty on offer for various identikit apartments in various locations in town.
It seems to me that Alpe-d'huez look triangular with the main lifts at the apex. Is that the general layout?
Rob
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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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LittleRob, I have skied a lot at ADH. I think of the area as having a few segments:
1. The area immediately above ADH (as it appears on the map) - this is basically all the terrain between the DMC (shown a 1ere and 2eme Troncon on the map) and Marmottes 1 and 2.
2. Auris
3. Signal/Villard Reculas
4. Vaujany/Oz
5. Glacier/Sarenne
ADH itself has the best access on average to all of these. However, if you are a decent skier, you can get over to Auris from Vaujany pretty quickly. Vaujany and Oz offer very good access the areas immediately above them (obviously) which is more interesting skiing than most of that immediately around ADH, and less crowded. They also offer very quick access to the glacier
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LittleRob, any tips or helpful hints we are driving for the first time to Morzine next easter, we have driven in France before camping but never driven to a ski resort.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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[b]JasonW[b] I'm happy to answer questions about Morzine, but it might be better moved to another thread (so that others might find it). How about you start a new thread with the question, dop a note in here (so that I get a notification) and I'll answer it ASAP.
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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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Slopes are extensive and pretty varied. From the hairy Tunnel and ultra long Sarenne to the bowl of greens around the resort. You can get a really good sense of "travelling" between the different villages particularly by taking the "scare" chair to Auris.
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Agreed. I found it was a really good resprt for feeling like you were exploring lots of different but well linked areas. The scare chair is super fun!
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Agreed. I found it was a really good resprt for feeling like you were exploring lots of different but well linked areas. The scare chair is super fun!
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+1 - definitely agree.
I loved the scare chair 
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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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Looking at the piste maps there seem to be some enormous black runs over of the right-hand side of the resort. Is this an artifact of the way the maps are drawn, or are they really that long? (Did the run from Tignes down to Breviers (sp?) in powder in April and it was epic fun!)
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Poster: A snowHead
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LittleRob, yes they are that long. The Saurene is 16km long I think. Not black steep all the way, just in some sections but good fun to say that you have skied the longest black in Europe
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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^^^ Sarenne (and variations) is very long and scenic. It is only really "black" for a couple of pitches but once you are on it you are fairly committed. A lot of the length is a fairly flat run-out
I've done it numerous times and it's one of my favourite pistes anywhere. Just don't go in with unreasonable expectations (eg that it will be 25-30 degrees for its whole length)
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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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| Quote: |
Sarenne (and variations) is very long and scenic. It is only really "black" for a couple of pitches but once you are on it you are fairly committed. A lot of the length is a fairly flat run-out
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I really enjoyed it. We got up there in December 2012 JUST as they opened it up for the season. Was super sweet - pretty difficult at the top in deep snow, then beautifully senic and kind of red-run pitch which was courdoy groomed and lush for carving on. Then a REALLY long flat track out along the river which wasn't awesome fun on the board but still lovely scenery.
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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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Been there 5or6 times by car, coach and plane. Really easy to get to as the motorway is close and the airport (Grenoble) is fairly close with good cheap transfers . Great resort with lots of skiing to suit all levels. I'd go as far as to say some of the nicest runs (in good conditions) in the French alps. Tends to catch the sun a bit so can suffer because of that but it does help when topping up the tan! The resort is sprawling and therefore not all accommodation is convenient.
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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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My brother came to stay with me here in Bourg d'Oisans last year. As he bought the full Alpe d'Huez ski pass for the week, he was also able to ski two days in Les Deux Alpes(10-15mins by car to Venosc to take the lift to resort) and one day in Serre Chevalier(45 mins to Monetier Les Bains).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Had a week in ADH last year, first week of New Year. Some very good skiing there and it is a fair size but the too crowded for mine. The Marmottes chair a debacle with a 30 minute wait from the "20 minute wait from here" sign. Couldn't get to top of resort because we couldn't be arsed waiting the 40 minutes.
Often at Signal, only the t-bar was running which is a joke. The 4 seater chair, when it was running, moved like treacle. Good hill to blast down though but a lot of faffing for a short run.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Tue 8-10-13 19:45; edited 1 time in total
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If you go to ASH, which has all the things in its favour as mentioned by everyone else, be ready for a real pain where you make contact with the car seat. On paper the drive is no longer than going to Tignes but the drive around the Grenoble and the 1st 10-15 km after have often been a horror when I have driven to ASH/Les 2 Alpes/La Grave (about 20 times now.) I have found a good by pass is to leave the roccard at the 2nd exit and follow the signs to Uriage Les Bains then Vizille.
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Our plans for ADH have taken a bit of a hit because we've been messed around by the apartment owner.
We inquired about availability and were told it was free, we said we were interested and were told, what I thought was that we would be sent bank details for the 25% deposit (What he said was "je vous transmet tout les coordonnés."). After a week I'd heard nothing, so e-mailed again only to be told that someone had asked before us and the apartment was no longer free.
To not mention this before, or indeed at all until we chased him up seems very poor service, and now we're back to searching again.
We were looking in the Quartier de Jeux, but the only places available at the moment seem to be around the Bergiers/Maeva (which gets pretty poor Trip Adviser ratings) and is close to the Marmottes lift that's just got criticized 2 posts above ;-(
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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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LittleRob, bad luck.
Can I pick your brains for finding apartments in ADH. I've looked on the official website but it's not great for searching the apartment list.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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LittleRob, Same happened with me last February half term with a Belgian Owner. As ours was a week before most we didn't have too many problems getting another one. Bergers area is fine, in fact I prefer it, I've stayed there twice and Eclose once. I'd sort something fairly quickly as it's only likely to get worse as places get booked up.
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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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LittleRob, Just a note for your drive down. If you plan to grab a few hours sleep in an Aire before the final bit of the drive beware there may be a bottleneck at Grenoble. A lot of people leave the city for skiing in AdH and L2A on Saturday and Sunday mornings The jams are notorious. This is not like, say, Tignes, where the traffic is likely to be very bad from lunch time onwards.
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You know it makes sense.
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johnE, Thanks for the advice. Usually we drive until about 02:00 and sleep for 3-4 hours in the car before continuing and aim to arrive in the resort by say 9:30 (that way we get an extra day skiing). If Grenoble is, in theory, only an hour from ADH then I think we'll struggle to be beyond it when we stop.
I think we'll just have to do the best we can.
LR
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