Driving to pistes versus ski-in ski-out

A snowHead

Hi, I wonder if anyone could offer some advice on driving to pistes versus ski-in ski-out in the Tarentaise area. We are planning to spend the ski season in the French Alps. To date we’ve always stayed in ski-in ski-out accommodation for a week or two so this is our first whole season. We are concerned we might get bored if we tie ourselves to one resort, so we’ve found a really nice chalet about 10 minutes outside Bourg St Maurice to rent (not committed yet). If we stay here we can access Paradiski, Espace Killy, La Rosiere and Ste Foy. However, the compromise is we would need to drive every day. Are we kidding ourselves that this is realistic? Will there be days when weather conditions mean driving is not an option? Have you ever skied back to where you’ve parked to find you can’t get back down the mountain due to bad weather? Do you have days where you want to ski but can’t face driving again? Also, is the main road to Bourg only a nightmare on weekends? The chalet is quite close to the main Bourg road going up to Val d’Isere - is this a good thing in terms of access or will the close proximity to traffic drive us nuts? Thanks for your help.

A snowHead

Most ski instructors and resort workers live in the valley and either drive up each day or get on a bus that's either provided by the lift company or is a scheduled service. And they are consistenly on time for work, no matter what the weather. So 'in the round' what you are thinking of does work. And if you are doing a whole season at your leisure, getting up 30 mins earlier each day is hardly a big deal. If you have snow tyres and chains you are most unlikely to ever get stuck. I've not yet needed to actually use the chains but the snow tyres are an absolute must.

Where you describe would be decently placed for skiing in Les Arcs and La Rosiere. Tignes / Val d'Isere would be a bit of a shlep. There is also the season pass to consider... probably best to get a season pass for the one you most expect to ski in and stick with it. Else you are paying per day / week and it will rack up to a fantastic amount. It's about £600 for an early-bird offer for a Les Arcs-La Plagne ski pass (and it gives you a couple of freebie days in each of the other major resorts). For both La Ros and Les Arcs, no point driving up the mountain as you can park in the valley car park by a convenient lift and use that instead. So you will skip a lot of the hassles of bad weather on the return leg.

Do also check the free shuttle bus that runs between Landry and Ecudets (I think) as this would save you needing to use the car at all. Where you describe could be on or close to its route. It runs about four times a day in each direction. Google 'horaires navette landry bourg st maurice' and you should find a tourist board pdf.

You will soon find the back roads that avoid the traffic. It's really only Saturday that's a nuisance. And even on Sat, you are heading up when everyone else is leaving; and heading down when everyone else is heading up. It's the lovliest day of the skiing week but you have no one to ski with as all the seasonaires are working that day!

Do keep in touch and hook up for a ski if you head up to Les Arcs.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

skibean, what's your motivation for doing a season?

Do you realistically expect to ski every single day?

Do you need a social life?

Do you need to work?

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bobski62, thank you, that's really useful.

under a new name, all good questions! Our motivation is to avoid the bleak winter of the UK and improve our skiing. No, we won't be skiing every day. Energy and fitness levels will need to be restored and we will need to do some work from time to time. My partner and I are both online freelances so we'll be taking our day jobs with us - work tends to quieten down over the winter months so our weekly schedule will be quite flexible. No, we don't particularly need a social life! Feeling old as I type this but just a couple of restaurants/bars nearby will suit us fine! The idea of finding a really nice chalet is that we'll have a cosy sanctuary to retire to in the evenings, and friends and family can always come and visit. My main concern is we'll regret going for lovely (more affordable) chalet over the convenience of ski-in ski-out, but bobski62 has left me feeling more reassured.

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skibean, I have stayed in BSM for a week and driven up to Val d'Isere each day, don't underestimate how much fuel you will use for this.

I mostly ski in the same area as pam w but just rent, I have stayed both down in the valley and next to the snow. I found that I didn't bother skiing nearly as much on bad weather days when I needed to drive.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

skibean,

Personally I don't see how you could get bored almost anywhere. Then again, many people including many SHs like going to different places after only a weeks holiday, barely scraping the surface of where they've previously been. Also, getting to know a place well helps if you need to escape hordes, find good stuff, escape iffy weather, find the best lunches, etc.

Being in resort is a major advantage if a motivation is to meet new friends to ski with. Being out if town isn't so ideal and being between towns even less so. Only you know how much that might matter to you. I'm quite sociable and like being able to walk to bars, restos, etc.

Personally, I would vote for ski in out but equally, even if at low pace, I am quite fussy about where I work (and i work from home), so I'd need to have that well established.

Also, having to drive after the apres ski kicks off can be a tad disappointing. Can also be quite eye-opening... Twisted Evil

After all it is free

As already pointed out, a season pass for one area is much cheaper than multiple day passes. I spent a season in the Paradiski and felt like I barely scratched the surface of the domain, and that it would take many seasons before I had really explored it. I only started to get over to Arc 1600 right towards the end of my time there and it felt like I was in a new resort. Being out for a season is different somehow, you just don't need proportionally more piste/ski area for the extra time you are out there.

I was working in resort, but if I was to go back on the basis you describe, I'd rent in BSM town centre, walking distance from the funi, and get a paradiski season pass. That offers a nice compromise between ease of getting up and down the mountain but having the convenience and amenities of the town on your doorstep. The funi runs whatever the weather, so no need to worry about traffic.

Make sure you ski on Saturdays. The slopes are gorgeously quiet then.

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pam w, true. That's a big negative towards having to drive to the slopes imo - would be a real shame to miss the best ski day of the week all season just to avoid traffic.

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Based in Briancon or Serre Chevalier you can have the best of both. Access to pistes on the doorstep and a lot of other places within easy drive (3 days in each on your season pass).

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skibean, are you going to be my new neighbour? Your location description sounds very close to my house!

Traffic noise from the main road is no big deal. I live about 50m back from the road and never get disturbed (good double-glazing though!).

Given than for much of the last 20 years we towed our caravan to use as accommodation (and office) whilst on ski trips we have generally had to drive to lifts. Unless you are literally next to a piste or a lift I would say its actually easier, providing the parking is convenient. Before we had children and the last couple of years as they are all grown up we have rented ski in/out places and there are advantages and disadvantages with each choice.

The few weeks we used the caravaneige in Bourg St Maurice we most frequently took the funiculaire up to Les Arcs (free navette around Bourg itself) but the bus runs every half hour to La Rosiere too. The drive to Val D'Isere did not take long either and interestingly some times had quite different snow conditions.

Having stayed for two weeks in Arc 2000 last Xmas I would not want to be based there for a season, nor in any purpose built resort that I can think of. And it seems that most (not all of course) of the ski in/out accommodation is in such places. But then again I am not a madly keen skier, unlike the rest of my family Very Happy

But asking them they said they would prefer to be based in the valley with a choice of resorts to drive/bus to. After all if you are there for a season you could maybe chose to work or ski based on road/snow/crowd conditions?

I would also choose nicer accommodation over proximity to pistes for a long stay, so long as I could park close to lifts.

You know it makes sense.

Thank you all for taking the time to comment and for your advice, I really appreciate it. I'm definitely warming to the idea of valley chalet living. I'll see what my partner thinks and hopefully we'll come to a decision soon.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Really depends on how much you want to drink in apres ski! I lived outside Morzine last season and drove to the slopes every day. Bad weather was rarely an issue last season (and in most cases snow tyres will sort thatout, and take the bus hen you really don't want to drive). It meant that I got much nicer accommodation for my budget. Having a car was a real bons too. My housemate did not have one - when I didn't drive him, he had to use the bus. I don't think he minded too much - but he is taking his car next season.

Days I had friends in I would either take the bus so I could go out, or drove home, changed, and took the bus into town to go out.

Traffic was never awful but parking during half terms etc was a bit rubbish. I had a Land Rover, so was able to park on rough ground/snowbanks that other vehicles could not, which was useful on occasion.

Caveats - live near a bus stop, and relatively close to town. We were a mile out, so the occasional drunken stumble home in the early hours of the morning really wasn't a problem. Taxis in Morzine were pretty much nonexistent and needed to be pre-booked.

A snowHead

A snowHead

skibean, my personal choice would be to live in resort but have your car with you. If you can find somewhere with sheltered or underground parking then all the better. That's just me though; I prefer being in resort and all the convenience that brings. It also means I enjoyed days away from resort all the much more, as its like experiencing "real life" again (I find living in resort to be a bit of a detachment from reality).

But you'll also find plenty of people who live in the valley, so entirely up to you. With your own transport there really aren't that many restrictions wherever you end up.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Very good advice from Jonpim IMV.

Oh, and be wary of being everyone's cheap holiday. You'll tire of it very quickly. We had too many people to visit during our season.

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During the season (summer and winter) I tend to think of Bourg st Maurice and Les Arcs as a single resort. We stay in Arc 1600 but would often just jump on the funicular to go down to Bourg for shopping or the excellent municipal swimming pool (or Weldom!!). The funicular means it is quicker to get to Bourg than Arc 1800.

A season staying in the centre of Bourg could be very enjoyable, but it really does depend on just what "10 minutes up the road" mean: is it by foot, bicycle, bus or car?

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

If part of your motivation is really to avoid the bleak winter, don't live in the valleys as the sun disappears a lot earlier.

After doing seasons on most well known French mountains, I was a bit shocked in Morzine to be cold during après at 3pm and that in the village of Montriond our outdoor car park was never touched by the sun until March (real bug that one, lots of deicer required and hard on the engine as doing short drives to the lifts or shops it never heats up enough).

After all it is free

A question I often ask myself when dreaming, valley or resort. For a weeks holiday it is always ski in/out but (should I ever get chance) for longer it would be valley. Why? Easier to get to supermarket and other shops when required and fewer hordes of holidaymakers shouting outside at 3 am!

Help!!

Driving to pistes versus ski-in ski-out

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