 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello everybody, I would like to hear your collective wisdom on my choices for skiing in 2016.
Because of my leave restrictions, and the children being a bit older, it looks like my family is going to have to book the february half term next year.
Prior to this we have spent 5 years worth of skiing in late january at Puy st vincent with snowbizz. (which we love - like the proximity to the slopes, don't mind a small resort with some variety, the kids love the kids club, don't mind self-catering). We have driven there, and would consider doing so again.
Our skiing ability is enjoying reds and testing ourselves on blacks/easy off-piste (which is about the same as the kids to be honest!)
Another family wish to join us - they have 2 children who are blue run skiers at present, one parent is not a keen skier and one is an avid skier, who likes blacks and lots of miles.
We are debating whether to go back to puy - we like and know the resort (and if we were going in january would definately go there), but are concerned about
a)cost,
b)crowds of skiers
c) whether superkeen skier will be bored quickly there (or whether he can get himself a guide).
The other places we are considering are:
Austria - maybe mayrhofen or Kitzbuhl - (worry about slope access for children here - they tire of carrying skis quickly)
Big resort in France (worry about crowds and £ here)
Somewhere on the sella ronda (again slope access a worry)
Italian alps
What I am interested in whether you have experienc eof these resorts and whether you think they are unrealistic options, or whether you can think of anywhere else we could go?
Thank you guys!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A large gang of us just got a ski in ski out chalet just off Schladming for under £200 per person half term. Even has keg beer on tap in the kitchen  Mostly they are 24 or 20 person chalets but I believe they have an 8 bed one.
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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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| Scarpa wrote: |
| A large gang of us just got a ski in ski out chalet just off Schladming for under £200 per person half term. Even has keg beer on tap in the kitchen Mostly they are 24 or 20 person chalets but I believe they have an 8 bed one. |
Do you have a link?
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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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@grey, We went to Puy with Snowbizz when our children were 3 and 5 and had a fantastic holiday as the Snowbizz set up was so good. However since then we've been to many resorts in France with Peak Retreats and stayed in higher quality self catering accommodation (with onsite pools, spa etc) with access to more varied skiing.
If you are looking for a larger resort than Puy but still good value I'd suggest Val Cenis. I'd also recommend looking at Montgenevre. It is a bit more expensive for ski passes but a really great family resort.
If you are used to skiing in PSV in January I think half term in a larger resort might be a bit of a shock to your system.  Have you thought about going the first week of the Easter holidays next year? The skiing would still be good in many resorts at that time (in an average year). I have skied in Austria and Italy but not in recent years so I'll leave it to others to make recommendations 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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Hello everyone, thank you for your input.
I will look at val cenis and schlamding too.
I agree Easter might be better with respect to queues (the kids will have the bigger culture shock I think!) but I will not be granted leave at Easter next year - it's my turn for feb half term, and Easter will be 2017!
Montgenevre has looked good when we have driven through. I'll price it 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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Half term is generally busy all over Europe 
I've used one resort a couple of times at half term and found it to be less busy than some of the main areas, However no UK tour ops go there, so you would have to arrange yourself.
Take a look at www.damuels.at, its reachable with ease from Friedrichafen, Zurich and Memmingen for cheap flights. Friedrichafen is the best bet considering the traffic chaos over the half term holidays.
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I'm skiing for my first half term since I left school a lot of years ago. I'm in Saalbach, Austria and have to say it's not been that bad. All the accommodation and the slopes are busy but it really isn't as bad as everyone said it would be. I still managing about 90% of my average daily distance, some of the slopes are actually quieter than normal, especially at the top of the valley or on the shaded blacks.
Have a look at the resort, like most of Austria there is some walking ( the odd ski to the door places are mostly inconvenient for après) but it's got a good range of lifts and an excellent ski bus service, by next year it will have 250km of piste and the fastest lift system in Austria. Choose your accommodation well and it could fit your requirements for next year.
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It might be worth looking at the Italian Dolomites. Slope access needn't be a worry, especially if you stay somewhere like the Albergo Frohsinn (Mountainsun, good value) which is right on the piste. There are a good few ski in/out places but you'd need to be very clear about that, with children. Most places in France will be very busy . The best bet could be the big ski factories with excellent lift systems and lot of options. In smaller resorts it might be hard to avoid a few key "bottleneck" lifts (Les Saisies, where my apartment is, being one of these). Look at the thread about Lofer - some horrendous reports there about lift queues. So maybe going to Austria means taking well informed local advice about location, both in view of likely lift queues and slope access.
Whatever, and wherever, you need to get as many points of view as possible - not all commentators are unbiased. 
For half term it's worth looking at doing a DIY holiday rather than a package - either drive or book flights the moment they are put on sale (not an hour later by which time prices will have shot up). Sunday travel is less horrific than Saturday.
If you have an "INSET" day on the Friday before half term you can travel Thursday night/Friday and then ski the first, quiet, Saturday. My niece did that this year, driving down to stay in my apartment. They will leave Sunday, so have two quiet Saturdays to ski and avoid nearly all the traffic. You can achieve the same thing if you don't have an aunt with a ski apartment by staying very near the slopes (within an hour's drive) on the Friday night, and then leaving the resort around 5 - 6 on Saturday, driving a few hours north then stopping over, leaving yourself an easy drive home on Sunday. Yes, you then have a swift turnround for school the next day - but you get an extra quiet day's skiing and miss a lot of traffic.
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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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Next year the Fasching/Carneval week is incredibly early (first week of February), so most European school holidays will take place at the same time. As the UK schools are not so restricted we could be looking at the Half Term week being outside of High Season for a change at least from a European perspective. The UK tour Operators will still call it High Season though so they could be looking at a good profit for a change!
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| Samerberg Sue wrote: |
| Next year the Fasching/Carneval week is incredibly early (first week of February), so most European school holidays will take place at the same time. As the UK schools are not so restricted we could be looking at the Half Term week being outside of High Season for a change at least from a European perspective. The UK tour Operators will still call it High Season though so they could be looking at a good profit for a change! |
yep, greed takes over. I prefer to book directly with the local people providing the accommodation rather than via an agent who does little. I'd rather keep the profit where it does most good.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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 demand for ski holidays in the UK is highest in the school holidays. Inelastic demand. Why is it "greedy" to charge more for a scarce product in high demand.
If you book direct with the local accommodation providers they will generally be charging more at New Year than in mid January. Is that "greedy"? I wouldn't say so.
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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: |
so most European school holidays will take place at the same time
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French school holidays begin on Feb 6th next year, Paris starts on the 20th for 2 weeks.
(Sorry if you already read my post and got wrong information, I was looking at this winter).
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You know it makes sense.
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Half term in my son in law's school next year starts February 13th so won't coincide with Paris, which is good. But Easter is early, which is even better - should make for some excellent holidays, much lower costs, long days, etc etc.
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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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