 Poster: A snowHead
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So, we have the opportunity on 4th April to get away for a few days or maybe if the conditions are good enough a week.
Therefore, I'm thinking load the car up with Mrs G & no 3 daughter and head down for a spot of skiing. Driving from Hertfordshire for maybe 10 hours is frankly a doddle, however the final 30 minutes or so I know I can't do, I suffer from severe vertigo ( I know Skiing & Vertigo doesn't really go ), but I do it for the OH & the kids, besides I love the snow & skiing so let's forget that. My issue is, the final windy drive up to resort. When we went to La Plagne we stayed in Aime 2000 and had a private transfer, that final few miles had me sweating & with my head in my hands. Infact, the thought of having to do it again at the end of the week nearly put the kibosh on the fantastic weeks skiing. On the drive down, I put my head between my legs & fingers in my ears until we got to the valley bottom.
So here's my question. Is there a resort which is easy to reach by car, which will be snow sure, one that won't have me having a coronary on the way up or down. Someone mentioned on another thread about Les Arcs & parking at BSM , are there any others that you fantastic bunch can recommend.
Ps, we are not that adventurous with our skiing,, cruisy Blues & Easy reds are probably our bag.
PPS , I'm the idiot who took us all away to Chamonix on our first ever family ski trip a few years ago. Hence asking advice on here now.
All the best James
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Most Austrian resorts...
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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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why not stay at les coches.linked to la plagne near the vanvois express and only a short drive up the hill as it is only 1400m .plus nice little friendly place and a bit cheaper than la plagne.
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You need somewhere in a valley bottom with gondola/cablecar access to the mountain...probably won't be snow around you though. But how will you cope with swaying ski lifts if you can't bear being in a car on solid ground at altitude??
Champagny-en-Vanoise is in the valley with access to La Plagne.
Brides-les-Bains for 3 Vallees, but takes half an hour on gondola.
Samoens is a very flat drive if you approach through St Jeoire instead of Cluses and has a high-capacity gondola up to 1600.
As Clarky said Austria has lots of resorts with this set-up, but the drive from the UK might be a bit further than France. The Montafon Valley is probably the closest with St Gallenkirch & Gaschurn offering gondola access...
http://www.snow-forecast.com/pistemaps/Montafon_pistemap_full.jpg
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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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@grandunion, Bourg st Murice is in the valley floor with a funicular up the mountain every morning to Les Arcs. The drive upto Les Arcs itself is not steep as far as I can recall has no steep drop offs, but then not suffering from vertigo I wouldn't really notice. However there are very few surface lifts in Les Arcs, almost all the lifts are chairlifts. Austria, which in my limited experience, has more drag lifts may be a better bet and it is really not that much longer of a drive
Mind you 10 hours from Hertfordshire to Bourg st Maurice will not be possible. It is about 9 - 10 from Calais alone
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Clarky999, come on m8, give me some examples. It has to be easy to get to and no mad windy hairpin roads. We have never been to Austria so will look at all suggestions.
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Luigi, chairlifts & gondolas don't really bother me. When we went to Chamonix, the OH & daughters wanted to go up the top of Mont Blanc, which we did on the Auguille Du Midi cable car, I put my sunglasses on & clamped my hands together. I was the only person sweating in minus 20, but I had to do it.
JohnE, I've got a quick car m8 😉, I'm being a tad pedantic but between 8/10 hours from Calais is my ball park..
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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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Luigi, chairlifts & gondolas don't really bother me. When we went to Chamonix, the OH & daughters wanted to go up the top of Mont Blanc, which we did on the Auguille Du Midi cable car, I put my sunglasses on & clamped my hands together. I was the only person sweating in minus 20, but I had to do it.
JohnE, I've got a quick car m8 😉, I'm being a tad pedantic but between 8/10 hours from Calais is my ball park..
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Samoens is perfect. Beautiful small town in a valley with access to a great ski area. Easy to get to, no long windy roads. usually parking no problem within the resort. Closer than La Plagne, Les Arcs etc.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If you managed the viaduct to chamonix, there are a lot of lovely valley based resorts in the Aosta valley, Courmayeur being the first, also you can be Aosta town based and ski Pila via the cable car.
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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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Just tried out routes on ViaMichelin.com ...
Hertford-Aime La Plagne - 12h51min - 1138km - €71 French tolls
Hertford-St Gallenkirch - 12h42min - 1146km - €37 French tolls + €48 Swiss & Austrian motorway vignettes
So it's actually 9 min quicker to Austria!! 
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@grandunion, flachau...completely flat road from the motorway to hotels and apartments and lifts....my place is booked that week...I'll be there myself
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You know it makes sense.
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| jbob wrote: |
| If you managed the viaduct to chamonix, there are a lot of lovely valley based resorts in the Aosta valley, Courmayeur being the first, also you can be Aosta town based and ski Pila via the cable car. |
Great suggestion...just the cost of the Mt Blanc Tunnel to bear in mind.
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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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Get you Luigi, hertfordshire m8 not Hertford. Actually Sarratt.. I do have a quick car & topping out on the autobahn @ 155mph might bring the travel time down somewhat. I'm making a list everyone. Cheers. holidayloverxx I looked into Flachau last week, having never been to Austria, would it be snow sure over Easter?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Not really relevant, but nice to know I'm not the only oddity with vertigo who loves skiing although it sounds like you have it even worse than me. Steepest of runs in a bowl I have no problem with, but ledges kill me. I am always embarrassed by the fact that in my regular party of skiing buddies I am by far the most proficient skier but I have always chickened out of the couloirs above Courcheval but all my buddies have done them because I can't cope with the ledge to get to them:(. Your experience of the top of the Auguille Du midi cable car sounds like mine...
I don't remember a particularly nasty windy drive up to L2A last year.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@grandunion, I wouldn't say snow sure but folk based out there happily ski into April. It dumped it down that week a couple of years ago. I'll definitely be skiing then
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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 would go with Les Arcs then and park the car in BSM and get the train up for the week. has all of the runs you are looking for.
I'm trying remember the drive for Val D'lsere, don't remember it being that bad? (waiting to be corrected) just the short run for lake bit might be an issue?
Is just lots of hairpins that are the issue or any little drop off to the side of the road? and how about viaducts?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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| Quote: |
I don't remember a particularly nasty windy drive up to L2A last year.
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a series of (numbered) hairpin bends - but a wide, well-engineered road.
Les Gets has no steep roads to it - but by the same token it's really not the ideal resort for early April. A lot of the suggestions here, such as Samoens, could be good but be aware that there could well be no snow down at that level. If you don't mind staying low then travelling up to the snow, the choice is wider - BUT make sure you can travel down in a lift from the snow too (as you can in Les Deux Alpes) as sloshing down valley runs which are deep slush in the afternoons might not be your idea of fun.
It's irrelevant how fast your car is - even my boring one could drive well above the speed limit everywhere, if that's your idea of sensible. 
If you're driving, I'd leave it very late to book accommodation. Conditions at the moment are pretty good on piste, just about everywhere but there is some very warm weather in some of the forecasts and possibly we are in for a warm and early spring. Might be worth waiting to see where the snow is best.
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Hairpins, drop offs, viaducts you name it. Incidentally, my Good lady isn't bothered by taking over the final drive, but she would have to lock me in the boot.
Luigi, I have Via Michelin always opened on another browser 😉
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In addition to the areas mentioned above, the following Austrian resorts would all fit the bill for non-hairy road access, nice villages and some nice, varied spring skiing:
Bregenzerwald Resorts - Unheard of in UK but Austria's most snow-sure corner. We had a lovely week in the sleepy village of Bezau in January. There is good skiing at Mellau/Damuls within 5 mins' drive (lots of fast chairs/extensive area); and at Diedamskopf within 15 mins' drive (high area, small but varied, good lift system). Warth is also on the lift pass - fantastic but up a precipitous mountain road.
Gastein Valley - Three or four separate areas on the lift pass. Extensive skiing, some high runs and good lift systems. We loved Dorfgastein - another sleepy little vilage.
Ziller Valley - Very extensive skiing, at separate areas. Everyone heads for Mayrhofen and its slopes - but also good skiing at places like Zillertal Arena, Kaltenbach and Fugen/Hochfugen. Glacier back up at Hintertux - though there are one or two steep sections of hairpin road on the way up there.
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I think some of the easiest places to drive to are La Clusaz, Samoens, Morillon, Les Gets, Morzine, Megeve and Val Cenis. However you want snow sure second week of April too! 
If you want to book now I think Les Arcs is a safe bet snow wise and the drive will not be too bad if you choose Arc 1600 or Arc 1800. Vallandry might be ok but I haven't done that drive so am not sure. I think you would be best off avoiding Arc 1950 and Arc 2000 as the road deteriorates a bit going up there and no barriers in evidence!
Another place to consider would be Les Contamines as it has a good snow record but I haven't been there personally in winter. We drove there in summer and the access is very easy. Slight climb up to St Gervais from the motorway and then a really straight road to Les Contamines. You could also stay in St Gervais itself.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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By the way surely the worst part of your journey must be the A40 viaduct before you reach the ski resorts!
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Any of the Ski Amade resorts in Austria. Many are towns on the valley floor at 8-900 metres with trunk road access
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The entire Zillertal valley. Flat as Holland driving "up" to the resort.
If you do pick Mayrhofen over the others, my suggestion is go up the Horbergbahn lift rather than Penkenbahn (since Horberg is a conventional gondola cut thru the trees, and Penken is a gondola that you dangle way over the valley with 1 single pylon that goes round and ever so slight corner, and scares those with vertigo).
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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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Some of the places in the posts above will have good skiing in April, some won't. I am stuck with my destination as I have my own apartment. Normally the skiing is still good but sometimes it's not - in which case I happily head down the valley a bit and walk in woods full of violets past grassy banks of primroses. But if skiing is what you are going for, it really is wise to wait.
Les Contamines isn't a bad bet - certainly an easy drive and the upper slopes are mostly east facing and hold their snow well. But if it's a very warm April the skiing lower down will either be closed or not very enjoyable for much of the time and you could find yourself confined to a relatively small area.
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In view of the April bit I would second staying in Aosta and skiing Pila - Decent elevation and North Facing.
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You know it makes sense.
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Orelle - Motorway all the way there and gondola access to 3V.
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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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How about Meribel? Drive to Bride Les Bains then take cable car to Meribel while Mrs G takes the car up the hill. Or is that more frightening concept than actually taking the aversion therapy route? Come to think of it I don't remember any nasty drops on the road up to Meribel anyway.
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Poster: A snowHead
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+1 for stay in Bourg st Maurice and ski Les Arcs.
The town itself is nice, there are loads of places to stay within a 10 minute walk to the funicular and the funicular is a ground-level train rather than a high-up cable car. If you're self catering there are a couple of proper supermarkets and nice restaurants etc.
The drive into Bourg is completely flat with no high-up bits (think the drive to La Plagne without the last mountain-road bit).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@grandunion, drove to Zell am See/Kaprun at New Year from Derby. Long car journey but not one tricky, high altitude alpine pass on the whole route. Zell am See would defo be conditions dependant at that time of year, but there are countless other resorts that could be worthwhile at that time of year + Kaprun is a decent glacier. Perhaps the Tux/Zillertal Valley would be good (as above). Mayrhofen has a great record for skiing at that time of year there is a decent thread on here somewhere, showing conditions at easter since the early 2000's and it looks great. You take the gondola from the village which IIRC is only around 500-600m asl so a very low alpine valley. If the conditions across Europe get sketchy then you have the most extensive glacier skiing in the world at Hintertux a few miles away.
One caveat, there is a Music festival there from 6-11 April in Mayrhofen itself so accom may(?) be scarce, but Finkenberg, Tux or Zell am Ziller plus other villages in the same valley are worth a look at.
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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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Funnily enough I recall talking at the ski dhow some years ago to the eps on some of the Eastern USA resorts. One of their USPs seemed to be that the lack of altitude  that there was no danger of altitude sickness..
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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As you're going at April I'd suggest somewhere fairly high and north facing as well as an easy drive to resort. Pila fits that bill very well and will be considerable cheaper than France particularly compared to La Plagne and Les Arcs where you'll pay for a vast lift pass for a bit of family skiing. The views from Pila are also some of the best in the Alps. You'll also get a very deal for accomodation Aosta on somewhere like Booking.com which will be much cheaper than upon a mountain.
You could also look at Briancon for Se che but it's quite a long way and I'm not sure if there's a route without a pass.
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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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Yes, Pila could be a good bet. I've never been but driven through Aosta several times and wondered about it, and it always gets good reports here. One time I drove through Aosta on 1 April it was 30 degrees in the valley......
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| grandunion wrote: |
| Get you Luigi, hertfordshire m8 not Hertford. Actually Sarratt.. I do have a quick car & topping out on the autobahn @ 155mph might bring the travel time down somewhat. I'm making a list everyone. Cheers. holidayloverxx I looked into Flachau last week, having never been to Austria, would it be snow sure over Easter? |
I can't take this post seriously. Crossing the channel, riding the GM cable car, or driving at 155mph are far more stressful than taking the road up to Aime!!!
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If you are not just willy waving, @grandunion, I rather hope the gendarmerie confiscate your car. I drive back and forth to the Alps a lot and can really do without tossers driving at 155 mph.
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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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| grandunion wrote: |
| Clarky999, come on m8, give me some examples. It has to be easy to get to and no mad windy hairpin roads. We have never been to Austria so will look at all suggestions. |
The vast vast VAST majority - Austrian resorts tend to be real villages, which means they're much more easily accessible than French purpose built ski factories at altitude. Generally you just pull off the motorway and drive up your valley of choice. Ischgl, Saalbach, St Anton, Mayrhofen, Westendorf, Kitzbühel, Fieberbrunn, Montafon, etc etc.
In fact I can't think of any that I've been too that do have high up windy mountain roads as their only access? Stuben and St Christoph if coming over the Arlberg pass I guess. Probably Obergurgl isn't ideal either, though also not that bad...
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FAQ
Can be really sunny around that time though. 
