 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
I am back again. Last time I made an inquiry here (years ago) it was regarding a choice between two resorts, now it is between any resorts.
Things have changed as they usually do. So the parameters are as such:
Myself and the wife, 15 year old daughter and 15 year old friend and my youngest, 7 year old daughter. A hired motorhome of 7.5 meters in length.
Whilst we all ski, this year we will all be snowboarding for about 5 days. SO what I am looking for is:
- A resort with low lift pass prices as we will only be using the lower slopes (the girls have already hinted that they will be doing a lot more shopping than skiing which means it would only be me doing all day on the slopes). To me this rules out all the large resorts as lift passes are too expensive and we will never make use of the amount of runs on offer.
- Quite lively in the evenings to entertain the girls.
- Not too far from Calais as we are only going for 5 days.
- Motorhome or camping friendly close to the slopes.
So, not a lot to ask then.
I should say that we spent New Years in a motorhome at Le Bresse one year and while the location was fantastic (right in the car park), the atmosphere was dire at night with nothing open around the slope.
I seem to remember that they no longer allow motorhomes to overnight in the car park, so that rules La Bresse out.
Any suggestions are most welcome.
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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warren555, are you all beginner snowboarders, as you expect only to use "lower slopes?". There are a few things to think about. First, you'll need lessons - and with your group, you could hire a private instructor yourself (with the caveat that at half term your choice of times will be very limited). Second, many resorts will do a "points card" for beginners, which can be quite economical if it takes you a long time to get down the slope - though once you start using big chairlifts they rarely make economic sense. You can get passes for just a few hours, too - and buy day by day, as you need them.
Some small resorts which might otherwise be good will struggle to offer the sort of shopping to keep a couple of teenage girls happy; they are unlikely to be too excited by whistling marmottes, cuckoo clocks and oven gloves made from "alpine" fabrics.
Some of the "lower slopes" might not be ideal for boarding - might be a bit flat and/or crowded. The lifts near the "front de neige" will also tend to be the ones with the biggest bottleneck queues at half term and you might need to use several lifts to get away to quieter parts. Knowing a bit more about the kind of boarders you are would help with advice.
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| warren555 wrote: |
| - Not too far from Calais as we are only going for 5 days. |
Total madness!
Four of those days are going to be taken in travelling - costing somewhere north of £600 in fuel plus nearly as much again in Péage. (Assuming French Alps of course)
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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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altis, the travel days will presumably be either side of the 5 spent in resort. Will the péage be that much? I thought it would be the same as a normal car.
But I agree, it wouldn't be my choice either - having your own motorhome or caravan is one thing, but renting one big enough for that group will probably cost as much as an apartment twice the size (ie very small).
And all resorts are "too far from Calais" for 5 people travelling in a motorhome. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Anything above 3m or with a GVW over 3.5 tonnes (very likely if it's 7.5m long) will be class 3:
http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/vehicle-classification.htm
The rates are about 2.5 times that of a car. If memory serves, a round trip is about £170 in a car so it'll be something like £425 in a class 3.
I'd be suprised if it averaged more than 20mpg so you can probably at least double the fuel costs of a car too.
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The shopping requirement is a bit of a difficulty! I can only really think that you might be OK somewhere like Samoens (perhaps the nearest) or Bourg St Maurice, which as a 'real towns' do have shopping.
At BSM there is a free navette from the camp site to the Les Arcs Funiculaire/bus station for buses up to La Rosiere, and when we have been there we have found the mix of available lift passes/free lifts worked OK
May be Moutiers would also do? Others will know better.
Samoens certainly had a motor home aire just opposite the relatively new cable car up to the skiing, and just in front of the campsite that has a good drying room and wash room facilities etc.
Smaller Alpine resorts however, may meet all your other criteria and offer cheaper lift passes.
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There is a camping site and a free motorhome area with no facilities or hookups, in Les Saisies. But it only offers typical "resort" shopping and the proper camp site, with hookups and showers etc, is a bit of a hike from the glittering nightlife, albeit close to the pistes, especially to a long chair serving a gentle green slope which is ideal for beginner boarders, unlike the drag lift it replaced, which tended to dump you off with a long difficult flattish hike through deep snow back to the piste (as I know from personal experience....  )
Private lessons are cheap, but group lessons will be practically all in French.
Personally, if the 15 year olds are not going to give the snowboarding a good go and are likely to moan about limited shopping and nightlife, I'd leave them behind (with the parents of the friend) and give them both a couple of hundred pounds on a shopping card. You'd save a fortune.
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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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altis, friends with similar sized van were charged Class 2 in the summer - they don't tend to get weighed and measured at the tolls - Class 3 and 4 is more aimed at commercial traffic
I do agree with pam w, though - unless there is a desperate urge to stay in motorhome renting an apartment would be cheaper, possibly warmer, more room etc
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hi Boris,
I agree with you and Pam regarding the cost of doing the motorhome route versus an apartment.
Part of the problem is that the rest of the family is very lukewarm on skiing this year, which sort of left me in the lurch.
What did take their fancy is another motorhome adventure with limited skiing when the fancy took them. I think more fun in the snow than banzai down the slopes. Building snowmen, throwing snowballs, tobogganing, snow tubes, shopping and drinking hot chocolate in warm places.
This is why I am more inclined towards small inexpensive resorts as this will be more of a break between summer holidays than a full on skiing trip.
I am ready to be flames for this, but once again Winterberg has come up.
- Ferry to Dunkirk
- Just over 5 hours to get there
- No motorway tolls
- Points lift passes. Use them when you want i.e you don't lose anything for non skiing days.
- Cheap!
Tobogganing and snow tubing.
- Kids area
- From what I have read, quite good nightlife.
- Mostly short runs that are vertically challenged.
The bobsled track with Taxibob!!!
Against is the fact that it will be crowded (but then this adds to the evening atmosphere).
Limited (but will most likely not see all the runs, except on my skiing day).
If there is no snow, then we would push onto the Alps and swallow the extra expense.
Let the flambé begin.
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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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warren555, I had never heard of Winterberg but there are a number of German-based snowheads who could no doubt advise.
If there's no snow there it's a long way down to the Alps - Austria is presumably the best destination? Though you'd know before you left the UK whether there was snow in Winterberg, I suppose.
Sorry, sounds like a recipe for a less than harmonious holiday which will cost a bomb but not really please anybody!
Being a beginner snowboarder is painful - it's a steep learning curve and you are bound to fall a fair bit. Unlike skiing, which can be learnt without much falling if you listen to your instructor. You need to be motivated, and have a reasonable pain threshold. Why are you trying to turn your reluctant skiers into snowboarders?
How thoroughly winterised will the van be? Everything, including external tanks need to be well insulated. I think some UK built vans would fall some way short of the standard required to be fairly comfortable in the Alps.
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| Quote: |
What did take their fancy is another motorhome adventure with limited skiing when the fancy took them
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That's a good enough reason to me to go for motorhome route rather than apartment
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You know it makes sense.
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Maybe. And I'm a big fan of camping, and campers, but not with a big group in the Alps when it's dark for longer than it's light and hopefully way below freezing all night. I have a small apartment far bigger than the biggest motorvan and with 5 people including a small child who have been playing snowballs and sledging etc it's festooned with damp and drying clothes.
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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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pam w, I do agree with you, we thought about taking the caravan at Easter but all decided it wasn't worth the hassle. But, as the case seems to be here, it is a motorhome holiday with a bit of skiing then may well work.
Modern vans and caravans are far better insulated now and in a lower resort at Easter sure they'll be fine. We've been in ours in uk in Jan and Feb in sub zero temps and was toasty
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Poster: A snowHead
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Boris, We have never had a British made caravan precisely because in the past they were not well insulated or properly winterised but with the right van you are not cold in the Alps. Over many years of caravanning in ski resorts we have never been cold even when diesel has frozen in ill prepared visitors vehicles! I would hope that a modern motor home hired in the UK for the express purpose of going into cold weather would be fit for purpose.
warren555, We truly enjoyed the flexibility of deciding when and where to go at the last minute with caravan in tow and I can quite see how a motorhome holiday with a bit of skiing or boarding thrown in could have appeal when a full on ski holiday would not. Indeed when our boys were very young we went to the Alps on winter holidays and managed some skiing too. Happy times!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi Pam,
The motorhome is advertised as fully winterized. We have used them before and they have served us well. You are entirely right about damp clothing and water on the floor. One plus with this model of motorhome is that it has a large "garage" at the rear which will hold a number of mountain bikes if that is your bag. With this in mind, we are able to keep most of the wetness out of the living area, but still not all.
CaravanSkier:
Like I mentioned earlier in the post, this is without doubt more of an adventure holiday than skiing. I mention skiing and my family's faces fall. I say how about a motorhome holiday and everyone starts cheering. The decision was out of my hands, but that is not to say I am not looking forwards to it.
The one great thing about the newer models is LPG for the heating as apposed to bottled gas. So much easier to deal with that different bottles and continental adapters.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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warren555, call me stupid, but isn't LPG bottled gas??? I have two bottles in the nose locker labelled as such - it's propane
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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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Boris,
The LPG bottles are left in the vehicle and filled from the outside (not swapped for full ones). The other option is that there is a tank installed like you have in cars. They are filled in the same way that LPG cars are filled.
The beauty of this is that if the bottle is close to empty, you do not have to change them over before they are completely empty.
LPG can be filled up at any point and when you see a LPG garage.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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warren555, ah with you now
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I am planning a trip for February half term just me and my 10 year old lad for his birthday...we are going to Chamonix for the weekend then to Sainte Foy after that which is great for Motorhomes but not very lively... Depending on weather and snow conditions we might change our plans... You can't do that with an apartment!
As you say, the van trip is part of the fun, with a bit of snowboarding thrown in!
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altis,tolls to the Alps are nowhere near £170 for a car. My last round trip (Val Thorens) was 162€ and the last Serre Che round trip 149€
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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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Bizarrely- can I recommend Chamonix/Argentiere to you? You could park the motorhome at the very top end of the Grand Montets car park in Argentiere next to the river(there are usually a couple there for the season). You can then either take a ten minute walk down to the Chosalets beginner slope (just one drag lift)..often not even manned, or else take the free bus up to La Tour where you can get a lift ticket to the beginner slope (over to the right of the cable car) for about 12 euros a day I think -again a drag lift but much longer than chosalets & I think classified as a green/blue depending which side you go up.
There is usually a band or two on in Argentiere in the evenings (and a supermarket) and the girls can always take the bus/train down to Chamonix for shopping/busier apres if needed (Chambre Neuf next to the railway station on a Thursday from 5pm always good)
www.viamichelin.co.uk can tell you exactly what the toll charges will be (cars only though I think).
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Why not go for a holiday base which happens to have ski resorts around. Salzburg or Innsbruck areas might do, only just over the border from Munich and each has a range of resorts in the local area plus a big town. Salzburg is further from the ski areas but Innsbruck is right in the middle.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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For a slightly different experience, how about the Allgau region in Bavaria? I skied there last year for the first time and was really impressed with the variety and how quiet the slopes were. The skiing was good and very well maintained. It is essentially lots of small resorts very close together, with easy transport links. The atmosphere in the towns and villages is completely different from the big French resorts, with lots more locals and fewer tourists. The nightlife was good but not epic, lots of traditional friendly bars and the occasional late night party. There was loads of other stuff to do as well as the skiing which we didn't have time for, but I would definitely go back.
There are plenty of places to stay in a motorhome and you avoid all the tolls on the way down. It took us about 9 hours from Calais, no traffic and a fairly steady pace.
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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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It maybe that things have changed in Bavaria as its many years since I skied there but whilst beautiful and great fun if you are not looking for loads of challenging skiing, most of the slopes were served by t drag lifts which are not ideal for boarders? It is a wonderful place to explore though.
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warren555, IIR lpg interfaces differ around Europe and you will need adapters to fill 'on board' gas tanks.
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