 Poster: A snowHead
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Following on from my other thread about my missus not letting her son go skiing with me, I guess I'm forced to consider alternatives....
I've asked about the Snowheads bash, which seems like a fun possibility, but I haven't heard back when I asked if single rooms were possible. Does sound good though.
Something else I have wondered about is Easter skiing. Now, when I was looking into late deals for January, all in for £1-1200 was highly realistic, but would I get anywhere near that at Easter? Is the snow still ok? What would the crowd situation be like?
Thanks, Nick.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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faithsdaddy, Easter skiing is quite possibly the best 
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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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| sarah wrote: |
| faithsdaddy, Easter skiing is quite possibly the best |
Care to elaborate Sarah?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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faithsdaddy, cheaper, less crowded, good weather and good snow, that do ya? 
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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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faithsdaddy, longer days, so lifts open longer, warmer so can have picnics out at lunch, sit out for beer at end of day, quieter than New Year and Feb half-term, cheaper and usually fine snow wise
Downside, can be crap snow wise! Easter 15 is early so fingers crossed
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I love spring skiing too, longer days, warmer days, depending on where you ski. I love the sunny days. Easter sunday is april 5th this year so early enough, a high resort wlll still have lots of snow.
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Well it depends to some extent when Easter is. It is the original moveable feast after all. This year it was very late. Next year it is relatively early. Some years it is almost peak season.
If you choose your resort this year could be one of the best of the season:
The clocks will have gone forward so evenings will be long and the snow firm most of the day
equinoxinal storms often dump a fair bit of fresh snow.
Snow depths are are about the largest of the season
The French and Belgians prefer to goto the beach so the resorts are fairly quiet (not good if you are after heaving apres ski)
Prices are respectable.
The downsides are:
Fierce sun so factor 50+ is needed
Snow an get shushy in the afternoon and firm in the morning
It will not be as cheep as mid January or mid to late April
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JohnjohnE, you are so right about the sun factor, I always use it as I am fair skinned, but one year we all went off in late march for a sneaky few days skiing, one of the lads pretended he had the flu, and came home with a glasses tan.........epic fail. lol, lucky for him his boss gave him a second chance.
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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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faithsdaddy,
A great time to ski, for all the reasons mentioned above!
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As sarah says: Easter is the best, if you have to go in holiday time
(Just before Easter is even better if you don't)
Been skiing Easter every year since 1992: Nendaz, Chamonix, Courmayeur, Verbier, Val Thorens, Whistler, La Plagne.
Never had a bad year.
Easter is wonderful for all the reasons well stated already.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Late Easter can be slushy.... Early Easter busy...
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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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+1 for Easter skiing. Eating out in the sun on the mountain, enjoying a cold beer as much as you enjoy a mulled wine in mid winter, daft panda tan potential, what's not to like.
Only negatives may be...
Much more noticeable freeze/thaw conditions... But that is just another skill to tackle, skiing from ice to slush in a few hours. This can be minimised by selecting the direction the slope faces depending on time of day, aiming for less used/cut up areas, choosing according to altitude.
Less uplift, sometimes certain lifts are closed before the resort closes for the season
More kids/school trips
Other than that it's all good.
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Slush is ok, but when it's turned up by bashers then freezes over and you make the mistake of skiing that early morning it can feel like skiing on a cheese grater, then half hour later its lovely and soft again, off piste can be lovely though. I would go for higher resorts in spring, so that you have less patches and still the advantage of the lovely weather.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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faithsdaddy, the EoSB will have options of paying a single supplement, or you can have a roomshare arranged for you. Very good value and lots of fun. You've got to be really unlucky to not have a variety of good places to ski in April in Val Thorens. Highly recommended.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Marmotte holes are a bug.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Is Easter that cheap and quiet? Maybe it is if it's late. But when it's relatively early? I may be wrong but my impression is that January is cheaper and quieter when Easter is relatively early as will be in 2015. Mid-March won't be much more expensive or busy (or may be even less so) but much safer for snow conditions.
If your only choice is Christmas, February midterm, or Easter then Easter might be best choice but if you are more flexible it wouldn't be my first choice.
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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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EOSB 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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That is the problem peanuthead, they aren't flexable, have to stick to school holidays.
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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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Love April skiing  Sadly school exams will mean we cannot do it in '15. Up and out early, ski until late lunchtime and then long sunny terrace lunches or picnics up high. If you don't mind slush then you can ski until late afternoon making full use of daylight. We've only had one very poor year in last 10 and that was pants in lots of places. We were still able to find snow then and still had a great time walking etc on a couple of days.
Great time to learn too, particularly for young children who might appreciate warmer weather. I would opt for DIY as it's low season and from what I've seen (from my limited experience of them) UK tour ops put their prices up again for UK school hols.
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We had been 3 times around Easter. We have had really hot days and hubby has skied in tshirts. We have had white outs as well.
There is something rather lovely about sitting outside for lunch sun bathing watching people skiing by.
This last Easter my girls spent their evenings playing outside with their friends at the hotel after dinner before going up for bath
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Love Easter skiing for all the reasons stated above. Personally I find skiing slush physically very tiring, so am making a big effort this year to be at my fittest for the Easter skiing holiday. 
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faithsdaddy, I would suggest if you go Easter then go high, other than that I have enjoyed good skiing at Easter, I have also enjoyed slushy skiing at Easter. You are probably in the lap of the weather gods at that time of year, which is why going high and snow sure is a good idea.
Re: SH's bashes, I have rarely seen one organised that doesn't offer a single room for an extra cost supplement. That said, a shared room is a great way to make a new buddy and there is no obligation to ski with them if their level is different to yours. You really ought to try a bash, I think all your worries would cease once you got there. I've bashed as a single and shared a room and had no problems at all. Admin is pretty good at sorting out suitable shares, and IME will often put a newbie in with someone with bash experience (either same room or same apartment) just to help things along. Take a look at the stickies in the Snow Events section to read all about SH bashes and start your new ski holiday life.
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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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faithsdaddy, We have been going Easter skiing or at least Easter holiday skiing every year for the last 15 years and went intermittently before that.
My own experiences are that most years you will get good to excellent conditions occasionally, maybe one year in five you will have pretty indifferent conditions although still very skiable.
In most resort you go the actual week makes quite a difference to both prices and crowds( We usually DIY). The week leading up to the Easter weekend is usually significantly more expensive and more crowded than the week after though Sun /Mon may be busy.
I personally have not found very high resorts particularly appealing they are usually more crowded and more expensive than slightly lower ones, if they do not have access to tree lined skiing they can be unpleasant to ski if the weather gets a bit turbulent as it sometimes does in April. However in warm weather access to at least moderately high North facing slopes is of real benefit, I would not book a resort far in advance where the majority of the skiing is low.
igLou,
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Sadly school exams will mean we cannot do it in '15.
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Our own experience is that Easter holiday skiing is not incompatible with school exams. As stated above we have been doing it with our family for many years and for most of them with another family.
Between us we have four children all of whom have now left school and have done exams fairly shortly after the Easter break(Scotlands National exams are earlier than Englands).
The children all have slightly different attitudes to work and revision.
During exam time at Easter we usually ski from around 9am till between 1:30 and 4pm depending slightly on conditions and when we stopped the day before. We then go down and have a light snack and the kids study, this is explained in advance and is non negotiable. We break for a meal and the kids may have another hour of study or so depending on timing and some chill time to play watch DVD's or whatever.
Our own findings have been that with this kind of structure on the day the kids get far better quality work done have better sleep patterns and are more up for it when they return than they would be at home. All our childrens important exams have been done like this and the results have been good. One of the parents is a very experienced teacher and reckons it is highly beneficial. A friend who I recommended to to last year whose daughter had important exams found the same thing.
It is not quite the same thing as a normal ski holiday you have to be a little disciplined to give the kids space to work and not hang around on the slopes each afternoon having another beer on the terrace, but it is certainly relaxing, great fun a destresser in the run up to the exams and I believe of real benefit in the run up to exams.
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T Bar, I'm interested to read this. Mine will be facing exams next year, and even the Feb. half term is not so far away from them. However, I too was not intending to cancel any ski holidays as I also believe it is possible to ski and study providing things are organised that way, I just wish Gove agreed (but, let's not go there  !). For example, my daughter produced an amazing daily trip report in French a couple of years ago (when I took her out of school for just one day when she missed a French lesson) and it was borrowed and shown as an example to language teachers the length and breadth of the school, so it is possible for kids to do both if the trip is planned around that aim as you say. Well done, to your whole family!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Great time to learn too
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it is, with the one proviso that for beginner snowboarders the icy morning conditions can be unpleasant. I was specifically warned, by a French instructor we know well, and with whom I'd had a snowboard lesson, not to start until late morning! Beginner snowboarders would be well advised to book a midday or afternoon lesson and cope with the slush - boards are good at slush.
T bar is dead right about the need for north facing slopes AND the wisdom of booking late. At many times you don't need to go to a "high altitude" resort at Easter, though if you are the type that can't cope without booking half a century in advance, that's the safest option.
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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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T Bar, nice post there, agree with all of that
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pam w, It is probably for this reason that ESF in Arc 1600 only do snowboarding lessons in the afternoon. If the conditions are really heavy and slushy then hiring a snowboard for the afternoon can be great soaking fun.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Megamum,
Go for it, it worked well for us though as you obviously realise from your post structuring the day is an important part of it. We skied in Feb as well though using normal skiing days and the kids usually did a bit in the evenings. The Scottish exams for reference are through the month of May depending on which subject taken they can be at any time of the month. We were skiing in the first half of April usually first full week.
sarah, Thank you
igLou, Yep obviously it is child dependant and they have to agree with it, funnily enough the ones who benefited the most were the ones with a tendency to prevaricate as this enforced a structure, I actually think it has been beneficial through University as well in teaching them structure for study.
By the way for the benefit of anyone else wondering one fairly big caveat I would add is that they had all been skiing for several years by the time the exams came up. I would not do this with beginners (though they started to learn on Easter holidays) I think the extra effort of trying to learn a completely new sport might not be conducive to study.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Go high, very high.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
Is Easter that cheap and quiet?
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peanuthead, Maybe cheaper and quieter are more accurate - yes mid Jan early March are cheapest and quietest as they are outside school hols. For thsoe of us tied to school hols they are IME noticably cheaper and quieter than trips I've taken in Christmas, New Year or Feb half-term
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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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I've found Easter very quiet, but in a resort with few Brits and no TOs - so British school holidays are irrelevant. I would be surprised to find a lift queue worth mentioning and accommodation is as cheap as it is in mid January. Flights from UK tend to be silly money but driving costs no more than at any other time of year. So yes, cheap and quiet as far as I'm concerned.
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faithsdaddy, Love Easter skiing! I've been to Val Thorens 3 times so it's important to go somewhere high enough. Always had great snow coverage plus sun shine and blue bird days - love sitting outside in a t-shirt with a beer after a hard days skiing!
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| I've found Easter very quiet, but in a resort with few Brits and no TOs - so British school holidays are irrelevant. I would be surprised to find a lift queue worth mentioning and accommodation is as cheap as it is in mid January. Flights from UK tend to be silly money but driving costs no more than at any other time of year. So yes, cheap and quiet as far as I'm concerned. |
I think it is partly a function of height, Val Thorens was heaving on one trip we did over from the next valley, I have heard Val D'I /Tignes get very busy too. Other places I have been even with access to high skiing are noticeably quieter.
The other thing I have found is the specific week from two week holidays we have been on make a major difference the week after Easter Sunday being a lot quieter than the week leading to it.
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+1 for Easter skiing. Best time of year if. Easter isn't too late.
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| Quote: |
I think it is partly a function of height, Val Thorens was heaving on one trip we did over from the next valley, I have heard Val D'I /Tignes get very busy too.
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yes, I imagine that's right - and everyone keeps saying "go high"..... so everyone does!
I've skied every Easter since 2003 in an area with a maximum altitude of 2009m. One awful year (probably the one mentioned by igLou above) and one or two not very good, but mostly OK and sometimes epic! One year when it wasn't good, and we had a visitor, we went to Val Thorens for the day, but it was expensive and quite busy. Wouldn't bother, if I didn't have a visitor - would probably just drop down a bit into the valley and go for a walk enjoying the wood violets and other wild flowers.
Actually, some of the bad weeks were post-Easter, come to think of it - mid April and later. The resort generally closes around 24th April and has only closed early one year.
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