resorts like Alps d'heuz - where do you recommend?

A snowHead

So, just got back from a week at ADH and i loved the easy greens - these runs are so for me but i did find the resport busy and also, hard to manovour between runs, lots of treking about between runs/lifts

this is now my third time skiing in France and being tied to the Feb half term, France is just too busy for me, I have been to austria and switzerland and liked them both, but in both places, the runs were not as good for me as they were in ADH, austria was great because it was cheap and switerland was great because it was quiet (but very expensive)

so, what i am looking for is somewhere that is within driving distance of calais (upto 750 miles), has lots of green runs like ADH but is quieter than the french resorts, cheap like austria and charming like switzerland - is there such a place?

thanks for any advice you have

A snowHead

Saalbach is good.

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@poe,
Apologies if this comes over as being rude it is not meant to be but you have now done at least five weeks skiing and only seem to enjoy doing green runs. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with green runs and enjoying them but you really can get a lot more out of the whole skiing experience by pushing it a little further. Would specialised lessons for a nervous skier be appropriate?
Lots of places have quite a selection of easy runs but they are not always perfectly linked.
Alpe di Suisi in the dolomites has a reputation for being very gentle but it is clearly a long way from Calais.
Last year I skied in Val Cenis where the lower slopes are ideal green run territory and were uncrowded though not completely quiet in a non Parisian half term week.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Megeve seems to be pretty quiet whenever I've been there, although I haven't been in half term, and it is obviously still France.
Whilst there may not be more than the average number of green runs, there are a lot of wide, open runs, and the standard of piste grooming is very good, it is very flattering to your skiing, so the blue runs aren't hard!
If you can go at Easter instead of half term, it will be quiet, I have pictures I've taken in the first week of the Easter hols where there are hardly any people on the slopes. Last year there were so few people on the hill that we kept bumping into the same people all week.
It is a very easy drive from Calais.

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@poe, out of the box a bit, but if you would ditch driving, Yllas in finland, Åre in Sweden, or many other scandi places would suit you well.

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

ok - so i have been to yllas, saariselka, levi, passy, superbesse (horrid), radstadt, les dibablerets, gstaad mountain rides resorts and alps d'huez (total of 11 weeks of skiing)

we are tied to the feb half term - we have to drive to keep the costs down as there are 5 of us and we own all our own stuff - we tend to get the week, excluding ski passes and food etc to about £1700 for the week for gettting there and staying there etc - going back to the nordics would be fab, but it cost double our budget for the feb half term, been there, done it and still paying for it now

as for going harder runs, basically, i dont want to, i dont want to challenge myself, i am very happy on easy green and blue runs - i dont want to go fast, dont want to have cliff edges, just want to amble along doing my thing - i am really happy doing that which may seem odd to some skiiers but for me, its what i enjoy

pam w - we did find switzerland quiet in the feb half term - the piste were litterally empty and we love switzerland, but the cost is just too much

we did go to Megeve when we stayed at Passy, it was horridly busy during the school hols and basically our 3 times to france now has sort of confirmed that they tend to be busy resorts

i have looked into val cenis last night, along with there are several resorts in one - such as flumet and praz sur arly and crest volan d cohennoz, there is also alta pusteria / hochpustertal in italy and a place called chamrousse - i dont know anything about these places though so if you have any thoughts i would appreciate it

easter is a bit harder because of my work commitments but also, depending on when it is, it can be late in the year for skiing cant it?

thanks for any more advise you can give

After all it is free

I wouldn't recommend any of those French resorts - which I know well - at half term. And unless you can cope with difficult drag lifts I wouldn't recommend Praz sur Arly and Flumet at any time.

Nowhere is going to meet all your criteria, including being cheap, at peak times.

Somewhere you are going to have to compromise - and the easiest might be to switch to Easter, which is early next year. That opens up a raft of different possibilities - and different criteria.

Les Saisies (linked to Praz sur Arly etc) might be a good bet at Easter. Plenty of good value accommodation and costs on-slope are reasonable. Certainly less than Alpe d'Huez. The top altitude is low for Easter, but the resort generally has the best snow for miles around.

Les Contamines is good at Easter too, but generally the runs are harder than Les Saisies, especially the higher, east facing, runs which keep their snow best.

Your best bet might be to go back to Alpe d'Huez at Easter, when it will be cheaper and much quieter.

Poe - I think Les Saisies at Easter would be a good idea. There is so much gentle skiing there.

Val Cenis does have the long green - Escargot. However the rest of the area would not offer the kind of skiing you are looking for.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

One resort which might suit you in terms of nice easy runs and being relatively quiet, and easy to drive to is La Feclaz. We went there at Feb half term about three seasons ago, and it was absolutely brilliant. It was an exceptionally good year for snow that year though, and it is quite a low altitude resort, not to mention, absolutely tiny, but, in the right conditions, which we had, really gorgeous.

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@Fenfilly, that looks absolutely charming - just looked it up. But only one green run. Did you do cross country skiing too - looks terrific.

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How about elmau or scheffau in the ski welt. The pistes are easy and it's cheap with nice villages. The snow can be quite marginal but you are never gonna get tbe perfect resort when your requirements are so specific. Soll is the livelier resort but you can only access the rest of the ski welt through reds.

@pam w, No, we didn't, although that is kind of what it specialises in. The reason I suggested it, is that although technically there is only one green run, there are other greens and blues just up the mountain (it's like a split site) that are also really easy, and as they are tree lined, very scenic and peaceful. The bonus about La Feclaz is that few people know about it so it never gets really busy. We go to Alpe D'Huez/Oz three times a year now, and I find one of the most challenging things about some of the runs is just the sheer number of people on the slopes, particularly as many of them are quite narrow.

You know it makes sense.

thanks everyone - going to look at the suggestions, especailly La Feclaz

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

Les Gets has few easy blues and greens. Not too far to drive but I do not know how this compares to ADH.

Help!!

resorts like Alps d'heuz - where do you recommend?

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