 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi!
We are planning a family ski trip for the 22nd March and are really keen to try Les Saisies. The children are a 14, 12 and 8. The 14 and 12 year olds are both advanced skiers and can go anywhere with us, the 8 year old is a pretty competent little skier, but will have lessons in the mornings: I am slightly worried about our timings as I think it is off season for most schools, so there may not be many children in the classes, but he is pretty game and will be up for trying out his couple of words in French I'm sure......
Can anyone offer advice on the following?:
Are we best to stay in Bisanne 1500 or Les Saisies or somewhere else at that time of the season (snow cover; driving time etc)or is there nothing in it (we are driving from Geneva airport, so will have our own transport)? We'd love to be able to ski in/ski out if possible. I would also consider booking the best location for ski school for our number 3 - if he is happy, it will make it much easier for us to leave him in the mornings (guilt.....)
By having one (or two) in ski school, will we restrict where we can ski to by having to be back in Bisanne for the pick up? Or does it make little difference?
There are lots of apartments with pools available in Bisanne and a few apartments in Les Saisies without. The pool is a lovely thought, but not essential. Nightlife is not important.
Can anyone advise what is the best route from Geneva? We are hiring a car from the Swiss side and will be arriving quite late in the evening (we land at 8.30pm).
With our Easyjet luggage allowance, I am wondering whether we are cheaper booking another big bag and stuffing it with sheets and towels or whether there is somewhere we can rent these as most apartments seem not to offer linen etc (the hire car will be quite cosy with the extra bag....).
Any other advice on the area would be hugely appreciated for our trip and age range. So sorry to bombard the site with questions. We are very excited about trying new territory!
Thank you!
Susie
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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'm sure Pamw will be along soon, she is the resident Les Saisies expert and very knowledgeable.
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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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Ditto Louis,
I would add we skied there when our boys were about the ages of yours and I was extremely happy with the whole area. I was actually able to relax when they were out of sight for some time! Have a good time.
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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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We had a good holiday in Les saisies when our children were 5 and 7. We stayed in Le Hameau de Beaufortain which is ski in ski out. It had a good size pool and all bedlinen provided. It is a short drive from the centre of the village but that wouldn't be a problem for you if you have a hire car. There was a good ski rental shop next door. There was an ESF meeting point nearby too. Our children were the only English children in their groups but the groups only had 2 or 3 children in so it wasn't a problem. The instructors spoke good English (although always a chance with that). We loved the skiing and it was a good resort for the children to gain confidence. It is also a very pretty resort with tree lined pistes and views of Mont Blanc. Whilst the pool and spa were lovely at Le Hameau de Beaufortain the particular apartment we had was not the best..however with three children you'd be looking at a bigger one so would probably be ok. It is maybe a bit expensive for what it is but the ski to and from the door was perfect.
We booked through Peak Retreats who also offer le village des lapons - very central and would be nearer to the main ESF ski school or ESI meeting point. Probably an ideal location but the accommodation looks more basic. We only saw Les Chalets D'Emeraude in the summer and whilst those apartments are near the village centre I'm not sure how far you'd have to walk with skis to the slopes...those apartments are new and cheaper than Le Hameau de Beaufortain so might be worth looking into.
Pam will be able to tell you all about Bisanne 1500. We only skied down to it once and it is a lovely blue to get there. The chairlift whacked me on the back coming back up ...maybe I lost concentration!  It would probably take a little longer to get back to Bisanne 1500 for ski school pick up but not that long..up one lift and down one run from Les Saisies. I think the drawback would be more in the evenings that you would be quite a drive from les saisies village had you wanted to spend time there.
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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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Thank you snowymum and CaravanSkier for teh feedback - I am feeling much more confident that Les Saisies is going to suit us. Views and trees sounds wonderful (and letting the children be independent too!).
Will check the Peak Retreats website. I have to confess to being a good Scot and taking (too much?) pride in minimising our DIY ski holiday costs (I would hate to cost the amount of time I waste on the internet searching tho'....) and I was slightly put off at the Hameau de Beaufortain prices for an apartment that would sleep our gang comfortably (boy 14 - likes sleep; girl 12 likes a bit of privacy from the boys and boy 8 who does not have the same need/respect  for sleep as the older brother....hmmm). So probably a 2 bedroom and mezzanine or 3 bed apartment (where has the financial prudency in me gone now?). Tho' it does look very lovely and the ski in ski out is tempting....
It would be nice to be able to wander into the village in the evening - though may be quite happy with a glass of wine, spaghetti bolognaise and Scrabble having spent the day trying to keep up with the children.....
Fingers crossed pamw might have advice on Bisanne as I think that is where I will find the best value accommodation.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| metoometoo wrote: |
Hi!
We are planning a family ski trip for the 22nd March and are really keen to try Les Saisies. The children are a 14, 12 and 8. The 14 and 12 year olds are both advanced skiers and can go anywhere with us, the 8 year old is a pretty competent little skier, but will have lessons in the mornings: I am slightly worried about our timings as I think it is off season for most schools, so there may not be many children in the classes, but he is pretty game and will be up for trying out his couple of words in French I'm sure...... |
Glisse Passion ESI ski school have starting points from both Bisanne 1500 & LS. I guess if you are exploring the rest of the domain then LS is quicker to get back to for pick up. If you are not fussed about going too far in the mornings then it is simple to get back to Bisanne. I imagine it might be possible to arrange a start of school at Bisanne and pick up at LS and that I think would suit you ideally if it could be agreed?
| metoometoo wrote: |
| There are lots of apartments with pools available in Bisanne and a few apartments in Les Saisies without. The pool is a lovely thought, but not essential. Nightlife is not important. |
Having the pool at Bisanne was an absolute god send!! Kids and I really enjoyed having that to relax in and the views of the mountains are surreal and stunning.
When we go again as we surely will I would have no hesitation in booking Bisanne over LS. If you want to drive from Bisanne its only 10 mins to LS and there are plenty of other nearby spots to park with access to lifts.
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jirac18, thank you - that is full of really useful info. I am going to print it off and take it with me...
I just wondered, did you put your 7 year old in ski school at Bisanne 1500? I would love your feedback on that and how the collection went in terms of getting back from elsewhere in the Espace Diamant or whether you are best saving travelling further afield for after lunch/lessons.
I have looked at a few privately owned apartments in Les Alpages de Bisanne - the complex looks very nice.
Thank you for your input - it is appreciated and any specifics you have a chance to get back to me on would be great!
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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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metoometoo, try looking at www.homelidays.com for apartments. We booked ours direct with the owner and it cost 800 Euros for Christmas week and as you will see from the trip report we were very pleased with it indeed. I know your requirements are for a bigger apartment but I believe there are bigger ones available. I doubt Peakretreats etc come anywhere close to that price, certainly didn't when I researched our trip.
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jirac18, Ahh - should have refreshed the page before pressing submit!! Thank you.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| metoometoo wrote: |
jirac18, thank you - that is full of really useful info. I am going to print it off and take it with me...
I just wondered, did you put your 7 year old in ski school at Bisanne 1500? I would love your feedback on that and how the collection went in terms of getting back from elsewhere in the Espace Diamant or whether you are best saving travelling further afield for after lunch/lessons.
I have looked at a few privately owned apartments in Les Alpages de Bisanne - the complex looks very nice.
Thank you for your input - it is appreciated and any specifics you have a chance to get back to me on would be great! |
No we decided to have a week altogether no lessons this time and didn't regret it one bit.
Alpages de Bisannes was where our apartment was. Loved it, very nice but I'm sure not all owners keep theirs as well furnished and equipped as ours.
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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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metoometoo, if you want your lad in group ski lessons they will start in the main LS village - only private lessons starting in Bisanne 1500. I would recommend the ESI (Glisse Passion) over ESF - they are a bit more flexible, less hide-bound. Their website is slightly quaint but will give you the basics, but it might be better to phone them to book - you will need to be prepared to give a credit card number at time of booking. Their English is limited - be patient and read the numbers v slowly!
Bisanne 1500 is small, with limited facilities (a couple of restaurants, ski hire shop, supermarket with limited stocks and opening hours outside main holiday period). If you are really independent and not bothered about "apray" you'll be fine. There are cheaper apartments, without the pool, available. As ever, depends what you want to pay. You can get a 2 bedroom apartment for €430 that week www.locapart-lessaisies.com
ski in/out (for anyone who can cope with a blue run, not a difficult one). No pool, no linen provided.
Bringing your own linen will save cost and hassle - picking it up in the village, and delivering it back at the end of the stay is a bit of extra effort, compared to bringing your own, if you have capacity in the car.
You will not get to the far end of the Espace Diamant and get back to pick up a child from morning ski school. And with a slowish child in tow you might not get that far in the afternoon either - it's quite a big area. But you could certainly get down to Crest Voland and back, or over to the top end of Notre Dame de Bellecombe and back, as long as you didn't want to lounge around drinking coffee for too long. 
If you want to be within an afternoon or evening stroll of a wider range of shops, bars, restaurants, and an easy walk from ski school you'd be better off in the main Les Saisies village.
Happy to try to answer any specific queries.
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pam w, thank you for all that information. I have checked with ESI and as the lessons in Les Saisies don't start until 10.30 I'm hoping that should give us plenty of time to get up there and maybe even a bit of skiing together beforehand! Thank you for that tip.
I think we will go for Bisanne 1500 - I am not sure that we really need to be in the thick of things and as we will have a car, we can always make an outing of it one evening for the family.
I am going to book another suitcase for the linen and towels - that makes complete sense about the hassle of getting it back at the end of the stay.
I am going to follow jirac18's lead and have a good browse of the homelidays website and see what is available. The apartment you mention looks amazing value, I will bear that in mind too, but hoping for one extra bed for our mix.
I love the idea of lounging with coffee, but don't think the children (or husband) will let me.... for Christmas my eldest was given a gadget you stick in your backpack for tracking how far (location /altitude / speed / distance etc) he has travelled, so I suspect there will be a fair amount of pressure to test it to the maximum. Luckily the youngest is game on and should be up for the challenge too (just decrepit mother who is likely to hold them back - especially if we meet the icy moguls jirac18 mentions in his trip report - apologies to my children in advance for any bad language on the slopes  ).
Thank you all (especially jirac18,snowymum, and pam w,) for your responses and tips (Snowheads really is an excellent site / source) - hopefully I will get it all booked this weekend. March can't come quick enough......
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You know it makes sense.
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metoometoo, if you find any accommodation you think looks good, I'd be happy to advise on location. The descriptions on some of the private lettings websites can be too vague about distance from the lifts. You also need to be careful about snow clearing. In the big developments you can be reasonably sure you'll be able to get your car in and out fairly soon after a big snowfall because they will have a snow clearance contract but that is definitely not the case with all individual chalets - some of which will have a sizeable wall of ploughed snow right across their entrances, needing some hours of work with a shovel.
I love Bisanne 1500. This is looking back down over the hamlet from the Rosieres chair - Mont Blanc is in the other direction. But it's not a good location if there's anybody in the party who can't handle the bottom of the blue Planay piste, which being south facing and relatively low altitude (1500m) can get cut up and mogully at the end of a spring day and very scratchy and hard in early morning.
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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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The bottom of Planay did get quite cut up and mogulled over Christmas but is was comfortable enough for both my girls. Wife struggled a bit but managed to get down albeit slowly. It sounds like you are all experienced skiers so mightn't represent too much of an issue. pam w, During xmas week the first Rosiere chair was at 0900. Does that stay the same all season or vary in peak times at all? If it is 0900 then thats plenty of time to get to LS at 1030 with minimal stress as it is only one run down into the bowl then a very short lift of 200metres or so up the green slope to edge of town.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Your photo reminds me of how much we enjoyed the views along the valley from that chair lift. Stunning way to start a days skiing!! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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jirac18, the chair starts the same time all season, but is open later in the afternoon (as they all are) later in the season. Yes, there's no problem getting skiers over for a 1030 lesson, but there can be problems for beginners. The bus has been unreliable, especially early (it's been very good other years) and some lessons start much earlier. When I drove in for my XC lessons which started at 0915, new year week, I passed some sad looking groups at the bus stops, with the 0830 bus nowhere in sight. It was really bad - a lot of people stay there without vehicles and the bus is a life line. So far the Planay has been fine - but I can tell you that it sometimes is quite a challenge in Spring! Skiing down from the top can also be a challenge in a white out - I've skied the run hundreds of times but have still managed to shoot off the edge on those bends, sometimes. Vis down into our valley is often quite a bit worse than over in the Saisies bowl - but it all helps to keep the rabble at bay.
Yes, the views in Bisanne 1500 are terrific - far better than in the village itself, though those are not bad at all. I am very happy here, for weeks at a time, but I always try to make sure that people are aware that facilities are pretty limited; some people feel cheated unless they can get to a different lively bar every night.
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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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pam w, thank you - I will have a good look at what is available this weekend and may well take you up on the kind offer of advice re apartment / chalet locations!
I do appreciate your caution over the Blue run back to Bisanne 1500 and understand that it could be a problem. I think we should be ok on the run back in: skiing with school age children has meant that we are sadly pretty well versed in slushy spring skiing....the 7 year old is the weakest skier in our group and he will be in the ESI cristal de vermeil class (having done cristal d'argent last year), so I am hopeful he will cope ok with the challenge of slush. Good to hear it was ok for your team jirac18.
The chairlift views look stunning - a very lovely picture.
We are pretty dull and love skiing as a family for R & R (fresh air, smiles, pasta and early nights), so nightlife not on our radar! 
Thank you both again for the helpful advice!
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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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metoometoo, we stayed in les saisies in march 2012 with a group of friends and kids from 3 to 17 years old, in the hameau de beaufortain, and can honestly say it was the best holiday we have ever had. The area is excellent for families, it helped that we had very good snow and perfect clear skies and sunshine all week, but everything was so easy. From leaving geneva we went to the large carrefour ( i think ) hypermarket at magland to stock up on food and drink, had a quick mcdonalds to keep the kids quiet and then headed up to les saisies. The biggest part of the journey is motorway, I think it took us about 1 1/2 hours in total. We loved the snow parks and ski / boardercross tracks in les saisies and spent hours racing the kids up and down. Food was good,cheap, and everyone we met was helpfull and friendly. The same group of us got together over new year and and we decided to do a re run later on this season. Much of our decision to go there was based on advice from pamw.
Can't say much else, you'll love it !!
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