 Poster: A snowHead
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Having been inspired by the Eurostar day trips to Les Arcs I'm going to try an first flight out last flight back day trip to Geneva.
The return flight is less than £60 if you choose the right day in early January and it looks like you can easily get a return transfer to Morzine/Les Gets/Avoriaz for around 60 euros. Car hire is not much more expensive, but just seems like extra hassle.
Can anybody suggest a plan for maximising my ski time on the day i.e. get off at Morzine or continue on the bus up to Avoriaz? Best positioned ski hire/lift office to use?
Any suggestions gratefully received.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I would assume it would be easier to get the transfer to Prodains, you can get the lift up to avoriaz from there, there's a pass office at the bottom so you'll be able to collect or buy you pass from there.
only 1h30 (don't know exact as I'm in Chatel).
Not sure if that's the best way to go, but it's screaming out at me, I'm assuming you'll have your own skis or will you be hiring in resort?
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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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Thanks for the suggestion. I was looking at a transfer with http://www.morzexpress.com/. I would hire skis - the cost of air carriage is uneconomic for just one day. Is there a reliable ski hire shop near the lift at Prodains?
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@dw832, there is ... Plus others at top of Prodains lift (Avoriaz) but ... We often do the early start flight on first day to grab a half day - usually arrive at Prodains at 12pm (assuming no flight delay) and, dependent on time of year, get 4 hrs ... Adding the cost of lift pass, flights, transfers, etc that a costly 4 hrs ... Going to B St M on overnight train gets you more hours ...
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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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I'd worked it out at costing £160 for hopefully around 5 hours skiing - so £32/hour. Not cheap, but hopefully something of an adventure.
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For 5-6 hours skiing, i'd stop in les gets rather than bothering with the extra time to faff all the way up to prodains, unles you specifically want to ski avoriaz or chavanettes or something. Plenty of stuff to do les gets - morzine.
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what @coddlesangers, said. Prodains adds a good 45 minutes in each direction of un needed travel.
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+1 what @coddlesangers, said plus as time is the key to this trip I would hire a car rather than rely on a transfer. Park in the underground carpark at Chavannes. Hire shops, liftpass office and Chavannes lift all there.
If you "street view" that part of Les Gets you can see how convenient everything is.
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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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Many thanks for the information. Having never skied any of the resorts Les Gets/Morzine sound like they would be a better starting point if it's going to save 45 mins at the start of the day. I'm assuming that the snow in Avoriaz tends to be better, but hopefully in January that won't be too much of an issue.
I'll check out the car hire sites again, but it always seems expensive from Geneva- £60 for the day when I last checked. It might be worth checking the price from the French side, but I know that you then need to be careful with the route you take in/out of the airport.
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Yes I would go for the Les Gets plan as well.....I imagine to get to Morzine/Avoriaz the transfer would go through Les Gets anyway so it would save lots of time. Snow shouldn't be an issue in January.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@dw832, If you are on a time limit do not use MorzExpress, they were over 2 hours late picking us up so some of the party missed their flight.
Then they fobbed us off afterwards and wouldn't refund the transfer. After sales is terrible!
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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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@dw832 the other advantage of Les Gets is that you only need to get a local Les Gets/Morzine pass, and there's loads of skiing (120km, if you believe the resort statistics) for your few hours for your €38. It's cheaper than a 1 day pass to Avoriaz area only €41 (probably what you would get if you went to Prodains) and definitely cheaper than a one day PdS pass €49.50. Only the price of a beer, I know but every little helps!
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I would have thought a hire car would be preferable to a shared transfer. If you are hand luggage only you can be ahead of the rush at the desk. Once you have your keys it is a short walk to the car park if you don't want to wait for the little bus. Also gives you somewhere to stow your kit whilst skiing and full control of getting back to the airport. Transfer companies tend to want to get you to the airport 3 hours before your flight which is painful. What you really need are three mates to share the hire car!
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You know it makes sense.
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I echo everything @DJL, says. Hire car, Les Gets is your best bet for skiing. How crap would it be to come all this way and only get 2hra rather than 5
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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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You can't argue with Snowheads' wisdom. I've booked a car for the day! It has made the total for the day £180 + petrol/tolls. Sharing the car with others would have brought it down a bit. I'll see how it goes this year before trying to share the fun next year. If it goes pair shaped this time it's only my day and money that was wasted. But on a day off at home I can wander into B&Q and suddenly found I've bought something we 'really need' and be £100 worse off, so I'm slowly convincing myself it's good value  .
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hope you're flying Swiss to minimise likelihood of delays. Another option if you get the bug for day trips would be to hire French side and head to Le grand massif which has transfer time of under an hour. Best of luck and interested how it goes 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Snowsartre, I am curious to understand why French side hiring brings any particular advantages for GM?
But yes, GM also an hour away. Even better once the new funicular goes in...
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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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@under a new name [/b] irrespective of destination car hire much cheaper French side but need to avoid Swiss roads (no winter tyres, vignette etc)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@under a new name, weird format!
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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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car hire much cheaper French side
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not always - it varies. Am just pricing up some options for a week's hire Easter 2016. 348 sterling for a Ford C Max on the Swiss side, 388 for a comparable Megane Estate on the French side.
And the lack of winter tyres is a pain. And for somebody anxious not to miss any time on a day trip, the lack of a motorway vignette is a pain, too - Geneva can get very snarled up.
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@pam w, I always hire Swiss side for the reasons outlined but it has always been the much more expensive option (always hire estates)
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well, over the years I've found the price differences not so clearcut as you suggest.
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I've done a day trip to Chamonix from Gatwick.
Out on the first flight at around 6.30am, and back home to Gatwick by about 10.30pm.
Squeezed in about 4 and half hours total skiing. Could have been 5 if I had taken my own ski's.
Total cost was about £140. This was about 15 years ago mind.
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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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@Snowsartre, oh, I see, you weren't linking a french hire car with a GM destination. Just looked like it.
We always found French side not cheap enough to justify the additional hassle.
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I've done a day trip to London from Geneva.
Totally feasible.
No skiing though.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'd get to Geneva late the night before, stay somewhere cheap (like the Stars hotel if that still exists), then drive out in time have a coffee and croissants in resort before the lifts open. I once did a kind of day trip from London to New York but that wasn't skiing either. And I wasn't paying. 
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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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A mate once went from Glasgow to Los Angeles for lunch.
A colleague once flew Zurich-Miami to drop off an ultrasound probe.
My father maintains a story of a colleague who used to fly Concorde LHR-JFK return 3 times a week...
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I've done day trips from Luton to Morzine about a dozen times this year. It's easier in the winter as the easyjet flight out of Luton leaves at 6:30am whereas in the summer it's 7:20.
In the winter you can be in Morzine by 11am and you don't need to leave resort for the airport until 6:30pm, so plenty of time after last lift to get down the mountain and changed before driving to the airport. I've not actually skied during my day trips, but I don't see why it would be a problem. Like others have said definitely hire a car and park in Les Gets, there's lots of parking near to the lifts.
If you do go for the Luton and easyjet option, I'd offer two bits of advice, firstly pay the £3 for priority access through security in Luton and secondly the last flight out of Geneva is nearly always late so be prepared for a long wait at the airport.
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You know it makes sense.
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Two sets of friends have recently both hired from the French side and both had Vignettes on the windscreen from previous renters, so you might be lucky. I suppose the earlier in the year the less likely, but you never know.
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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, Great idea, flying out the night before makes so much sense, budget hotel maybe 40-50 Euros, early start and on first lift then you are "guaranteed" the full day skiing and possibly bring down the cost per hour as this would potentially give you 7 1/2 maybe 8 hours on the slopes.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Timc, flying out the night before why not fly first flight the day before and get a 4 hour pass, which would be the only marginal additional cost (other than flight prices).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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But then why not do a week? Cheaper still. Thing is, you can fly the night before without missing a day's work.
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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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@Timc, look at Air BNB for a cheap room the night before. Shout when you finally sort it and i`ll come and ski with you
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Nadenoodlee, It wasn't me who put up the original thread it was @dw832, I've already got my self sorted for 2 weeks in LG in Jan and another two in March, but the idea of popping out before Christmas for one of the pre opening weekends is starting to look very tempting although I expect that by the time that I can be certain of the pistes being open the flight costs will have rocketed. Ah well can but dream and wish our time away.
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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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The Stars Hotel at Geneva airport has rooms from £30. It's walkable, if you travel light, but you need to exit the French side of the airport - it's a much longer walk from the Swiss side.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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If you hire a car, you don't need to walk to the Stars Hotel. It's the same amount to hire a car from one evening to the next, as it is from the morning to the evening.
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Great idea dw832 - but why not ski the Jura ski area (Lelex/Crozet) that is visible from the runway at GVA - and is only 10 mins drive away?
- Maximum ski time.
- 30km of piste.
- 2 gondolas/20-odd lifts.
- Lovely views of Lake Geneva.
We spent a really enjoyable day there once before flying home. Not the 3 Valleys but a decent area for a day.
If you are set on a bigger area, I think(??) that
both of the following are a bit nearer to GVA than Morzine, Let Gets and Avoriaz are:
- Combloux - Massive area; linked to Megeve; easy piste side parking.
- Les Carroz - Ditto but linked to Flaine.
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Combloux is a very pleasant spot, plenty of skiing over to La Giettaz without crossing the road (it's not lift linked to Megeve). Beautiful views of Mont Blanc. Doesn't keep its snow brilliantly. Wrong side of the valley.
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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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Apologies pam w...Having skied at Combloux for only one day a few years back (great conditions, lovely area, fantastic views) I had mistakenly recalled that it was connected  . I remember seeing the Megeve slopes very nearby....
But is it on the same lift ticket?? If not connected, the 2 areas are very close - is there a bus connection?
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You can ski down from Combloux area to Megeve (Megeve-le Jaillet slopes I think?) but the Megeve slopes proper are on another pass, and across the town.
If you got the Evasion Mont-Blanc pass it would cover both areas (plus Les Contamines) but it would be wasted for one day.
Anyway, what @pam w said re. views and snow conditions, though it's a very nice day out if the snow is good.
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