 Poster: A snowHead
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So this season I'm spending 12 weeks in Chamonix, no work, just skiing etc. I'm thinking about doing it again if my contracts at work enable me to do it.
Chamonix has been great and the wide variety of off-piste skiing has ensured I haven't got bored, plus it has an alright nightlife. Where would you recommend I go next year if I was to do the same thing?
Key factors -
- Lots of variety with pistes
- Easy transport to/from pistes
- Good off-piste skiing
- Somewhere high so the snow hangs around!
- Good nightlife
- Cost of rent, food, ski pass similar to Chamonix (or not much more)
Any suggestions?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Tignes or Val D'Isere which is more pricy than its neighbour and has a different style of nightlife - depends what you are after - other than that all points covered.
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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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LDA - easy access to La Grave. Good nightlife. Cheaper than Chamonix, I suspect.
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srogers13, Morzine? Still good skiing to be had in Avoriaz although probably not quite so nice as top of GMs right now. Massively more piste skiing lots of variety and much more "joined up".
Almost anywhere will have good off piste, so I don't think that is a hard criterion unless you want lots of really, really steep stuff. Had some of my best powder days around the PDS.
Economics probably broadly similar.
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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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Arlberg (St Anton) I would say.
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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 the CAN$ stays where it currently is have a look over there - Whistler would suit
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under a new name, Arlberg/St Anton +1
If you had transport you could consider the Montgenevre / Serre Chevalier / La Grave / Deux Alpes / Alp d'Huez area, or the whole enormous Val d'Isere/Tignes / Ste Foy/ Les Arcs/La Plagne area. It would be cheap to stay in Bourg St Maurice if cost is important and the Trois Vallee area is only a moderate drive away.
I don't agree about "anywhere" having good off-piste, I find that is harder to find than good pistes, though admittedly I prefer steep slopes and going far from the pistes.
under a new name, nice to see someone still saying "criterion".
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Tue 8-04-14 14:50; edited 2 times in total
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snowball, hee hee.
Hmmm, off piste, I suppose it depends on what you are looking for? Might be a topic for debate 
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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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snowball's point about Bourg St Maurice was, I think, that you could base yourself there and then easily ski in any of the Tarentaise resorts (Paradiski by funicular, Espace Killy and St Foy by short bus ride, Trois Vallees by bus but may need to change in Moutiers, likewise smaller resorts such as Valmorel and Pralognan) which would give you a massive area to cover. The downside is that there isn't a single lift pass to cover them all, so that cost would probably be high, although they do all seem to have reciprocal agreements whereby you get the odd day in one of the other resorts. You'd probably spend most of your time in Paradiski as Bourg St Maurice is linked by funicular to Les Arcs, but still have the option of days out in the other resorts nearby.
There are of course lots of other parts of the Alps where you get a series of resorts close together and you could easily ski them all from a single base, so Bourg St Maurice is not unique. I think some of the Austrian regions have lift passes that cover multiple resorts, which might make them preferable, but can't remember which off the top of my head.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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srogers13, there is such a thing as an "a la carte" pass for the Tarentaise resorts that gets you 15% off days passes and only charges you as you use it. I don't know how equivalent this is to the Cham Rapidcard which allegedly guarantees you the cheapest deal for whatever you've skied that day.
Similarly, there is a "Valais Ski Card" http://www.bestofsnow.ch/fr/produits/snow-pass-valais/ which gives you unlimited access to most of the Valais stations for CHF 1,850. I can attest that Brig has at least one very interesting bar if you can put up with living in a very large train station that is pretending to be a town.
I mean, you can hardly argue with
Blatten-Belalp, Bellwald, Bettmeralp, Bahnen AG (Aletsch), Moosalp Bergbahnen AG (Bürchen), Luftseilbahnen Fiesch, Eggishorn AG (Aletsch). Giw AG, Visperterminen, Grächen, Jeizinen-Feselalp, Gampel, Torrent (Leukerbad), Aletsch Riederalp Bahnen AG (Aletsch), Rosswald, Saas-Almagell, Saas-Fee, Saas-Grund, Lauchernalp, Zermatt Bergbahnen AG, Télé-Anzère, CMA SA (Crans-Montana), Téléphériques de Nendaz SA, Télé-Thyon SA, Téléverbier (Verbier-Savolyeres-Tsoumaz-Bruson), Téléveysonnaz SA, Télé-Evolène, TéléChampex SA, TéléLaFouly, Télés. Vichères-Liddes, TéléMarécottes SA, Société des Remontées mécaniques de Grimentz SA, Funiculaire St-Luc-Chandolin, Télécabines de Vercorin, Remontées mécaniques de Zinal SA, Télé Ovronnaz SA, Télé Mont-Noble (Nax)
On a single season pass - can you?
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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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| Quote: |
There are of course lots of other parts of the Alps where you get a series of resorts close together and you could easily ski them all from a single base, so Bourg St Maurice is not unique. I think some of the Austrian regions have lift passes that cover multiple resorts, which might make them preferable, but can't remember which off the top of my head.
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Tirol Snow Card - €696 - covers around 86 resorts across Tirol, including a few in Ost Tirol, so you're covered for powder whether a storm comes in from the North or South.
Salzburger Superski Card - €575 covers 22 resorts across Salzburg (the 'county', not the city).
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clarky999, those sound good, how do they compare with the Valais? (i know nothing about Austria...)
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You know it makes sense.
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under a new name, I know nothing about the Valais 
I don't know much about the skiing around Salzburg either tbh, other than Saalbach.
The Tirol pass has you covered from October to May, and gives access to plenty of seriously rad terrain in both big resorts (not Arlberg sadly), little off-the-track gems, glaciers and uplift into touring zones. With how the resorts are spread north/south/east/west, you can score the goods from pretty much any storm no matter the direction (a little less so from the West though) within a 1.5 hour drive from somewhere central (like Innsbruck). I.e, when the resorts around here were getting destroyed by Foehn, we were skiing deep powder in Ost Tirol (south-east).
I haven't had the Tirol Snow Card for a couple of seasons though, I get the much cheaper (subsidised, residents-only) Innsbruck Freizeitticket which covers 20 or so resorts around here, and get day tickets if I go further afield.
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
srogers13, there is such a thing as an "a la carte" pass for the Tarentaise resorts that gets you 15% off days passes and only charges you as you use it. I don't know how equivalent this is to the Cham Rapidcard which allegedly guarantees you the cheapest deal for whatever you've skied that day.
Similarly, there is a "Valais Ski Card" http://www.bestofsnow.ch/fr/produits/snow-pass-valais/ which gives you unlimited access to most of the Valais stations for CHF 1,850. I can attest that Brig has at least one very interesting bar if you can put up with living in a very large train station that is pretending to be a town.
I mean, you can hardly argue with
Blatten-Belalp, Bellwald, Bettmeralp, Bahnen AG (Aletsch), Moosalp Bergbahnen AG (Bürchen), Luftseilbahnen Fiesch, Eggishorn AG (Aletsch). Giw AG, Visperterminen, Grächen, Jeizinen-Feselalp, Gampel, Torrent (Leukerbad), Aletsch Riederalp Bahnen AG (Aletsch), Rosswald, Saas-Almagell, Saas-Fee, Saas-Grund, Lauchernalp, Zermatt Bergbahnen AG, Télé-Anzère, CMA SA (Crans-Montana), Téléphériques de Nendaz SA, Télé-Thyon SA, Téléverbier (Verbier-Savolyeres-Tsoumaz-Bruson), Téléveysonnaz SA, Télé-Evolène, TéléChampex SA, TéléLaFouly, Télés. Vichères-Liddes, TéléMarécottes SA, Société des Remontées mécaniques de Grimentz SA, Funiculaire St-Luc-Chandolin, Télécabines de Vercorin, Remontées mécaniques de Zinal SA, Télé Ovronnaz SA, Télé Mont-Noble (Nax)
On a single season pass - can you? |
15% of day passes wouldn't work out very cheap if I was skiing every day (with the odd exception), although would be helpful if I ended up doing a work ski season. I don't know what the Cham Rapidcard was like either, I bought the MBU Unlimited Season Pass for 720 euros (approx) which included lots of vouchers for elsewhere and plenty of other ski areas.
£1250 is considerably more expensive than the MBU bu that is a lot of areas! Will look into the Valais ski card 
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Poster: A snowHead
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clarky999, that Tirol pass sounds amazing, and great value for a whole season! Was that the price when you bought it last or is that the current price?!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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That was the preseason price this past season. It did not go up much either from the previous season either. I have both the Salzburgerland Super Ski season pass and the Tirol Snow Card which covers me for skiing between 1st October through to the middle of the following May. Covers all the main glaciers in Austria as well.
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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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Samerberg Sue, so the Tirol snow card doesn't cover the whole season? Or do the two just cover different areas?
If I was to do Jan-Mar what would I need to get me the best bang for my buck?
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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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The Tirol Card runs from 1st October 2013 to May 15th 2014 this season. The Salzburger Super Ski Card runs from 19th November 2013 until about May 5th 2014 or whatever the nearest Sunday is - Obertauern is the last resort on the card to close.
There is no other option other than a season card if you are here for longer than 15 days. There are smaller and cheaper season tickets, for example the Sportwelt Amadé season ticket was around 480 Euro or so in the pre-season offer. In Tirol there are cards like the Zillertal one or the Freizeit one clarky999 mentions but they are restricted to specific areas. Only the Super Ski Pass and Snow Card cover multiple ski areas.
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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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Oh yes, I'd definitely get a season pass, it's what I did this year for Chamonix. I just got confused whether the Tirol and Salzburger cards ran parallel for different resorts or ran one after the other.
So the Tirol season card is 700 euros? That's cheaper than the MBU and covers more areas so I'd probably go for that!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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srogers13, Tirol and Salzburg are essentially Austrian counties, so they just covering the resorts within the relevant county. As sue said that was the pre-season price for the current season - I think if you buy before the end of November or something?
I think you can also buy the Tirol Regio Card (as a non-resident) for around €400, but it only covers 20 or so resorts, most of them fairly small. However it does cover Pitztal, Kaunertal and Sölden glaciers, as well as Obergurgl/Hochgurgl, Serfaus/Fiss/Ladis and Kappl/Galtür (not Ischgl)
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srogers13, that cost is just what was advertised today. I suspect there were early or pre season discounts. Given it includes unlimited Verbier, Zermatt, Saas-Fee and Crans-Montana, it seems pretty reasonable to me.
P.S. I paid €650 for my MBU ... Annual ... he he he
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You've done the best option already (lucky barsteward)
St Anton, Solden (?), Engelberg (OK piste skiing a bit limited), Briancon/Serre Chevalier
Verbier/VdI/TV all too expensive I guess?
Monte Rosa probably too quiet?
Milky Way probably lacks a bit of offpiste (unless you really enjoy tree skiing in which cash you're golden)
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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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For this sort of trip, 3 months in one town. Does anyone have any recommendations for how to go about finding/sorting accomodation?
Apologies for going a bit off-topic
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| under a new name wrote: |
P.S. I paid €650 for my MBU ... Annual ... he he he |
HOW!? I paid for mine in preseason too...
Although I had no interest in getting an annual anyway, but the price!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| FunknSoul wrote: |
For this sort of trip, 3 months in one town. Does anyone have any recommendations for how to go about finding/sorting accomodation?
Apologies for going a bit off-topic |
I did a lot of google searching, but mainly went to homeaway.com and browsed through apartments on that.
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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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srogers13, couples and residents (owners') rates...
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FAQ
