 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi Snowheads
Ok, need some help... I'm looking to skiing for just a few days, I'd like to fly out on a Sunday and fly back on the following Saturday, preferably from Newcastle but Edinburgh is fine, leaving on 15th January 2016. Also my girlfriend is a novice, she's a had one day lesson at Hillend, I'm a returning intermediate.
Is this type of short holiday possible? Also any ideas where?
Cheers
Tony
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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 meant 2017
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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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Of course it's possible.
You may struggle a little getting a 6 day trip with a TO, but there are plenty of hotels / B&Bs that go by the night - i'm sure some other snowheads can fill you in on that.
If you drive when there it may open up your options a little as to where you can go.
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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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You'll need to DIY it most likely, booking accommodation via booking.com, Air B'n'B or Homeaway.com.
The difficult part is finding cheap and quick transfers to resorts. I'm taking my nervous beginner girlfriend to Les Houches in January for 4 days, its very accessible from Geneva on the Chamexpress bus and was able to get a 3 star hotel on booking.com for £300 for 4 nights, so £150 each. That's only one example, there are plenty of options from Geneva, but also from Salzburg, Turin, Innsbruck etc.
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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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We've done quite a few odd number day" trips. Innsbruck and Geneva Airports give you a decent amount of resort options that would suit you both whilst being easily accessible without your own car. We have also flown to Munich on an early flight, trained it to Innsbruck and then trained/bussed to Solden and skied for a couple of hours all in one day so don't discount that out of hand.Regarding Innsbruck, it is very simple to take public transport to a resort (Oetztal, Stubaiertal, Arlberg; Zillertal etc) it is so well integrated - indeed, we are doing this on Boxing Day . 
Regarding Geneva there are plenty of private and shared shuttle companies that can get you to resort in less than two hours, some just over an hour (Grand Massif; Avoriaz/Morzine; Lake Annecy resorts).
You might find that getting a hotel/accommodation is difficult in some big resorts, but you simply stay in a satellite village and get the gondolas or whatever up to the "biggie" e.g. Les Carroz or Samoens for Flaine.
Regarding booking accommodation, we just use the usual suspects (airbnb, booking.com, hotels.com) out of laziness. Bergfex is quite good too. But other snowheds may have better insights.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Its going to be expensive - so brace yourself for that. Pick a resort which isn't a million miles from Geneva - potentially Portes de Soleil or even Megeve?
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I try to plan my holidays at the end of my contracts, and this current one ends on Friday 13th January. We've started liking to have our holidays with a day in between finishing and starting work. But maybe Saturday to Saturday would be more sensible if it's easier to find a holiday with TO.
Keep the ideas coming 
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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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Themountainlodgeco in Morzine might be able to sort you out. Nice owner/operators who run the Chalet.
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Edinburgh to Oslo with Norwegian Air, Sunday 15th - Sunday 22nd Jan, £90 each. Coach to Trysil and accomodation, ski pass, ski hire etc through skistar.se. Can do all that including flight from £600 each. Can add group lessons Mon to Fri (just 1.5 hours each morning) for £130. Self catering (there are supermarkets there) to keep cost of food and booze down.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If you don't mind self-catering and/or going out to eat: I'd suggest hiring an apartment - then look at places accessible by rail/bus/telepherique from Geneva Airport, try out the public transport timetable, and see when the best time to fly in/out is in relation to that, and then go to an immobilier's website and/or the Tourist Office in your target location and try to book an apartment with your criteria.
Every season we get our immobiliser asking us if we'll accept a non Sat-to-Sat booking, and if it's a quiet period, we will often say 'yes'. Especially if it coincides with private use by us/family where we'll reserve 2 weeks but go weekday-to-weekday. But you may find that the response to a Sun-Sat enquiry is that you won't get a day's reduction in price and that the weekly rate stands. But it might be worth asking about a Sun-Sun as an option if you can fly home on Sunday. This would give you a potentially quiet Saturday when all the change-over visitors are off the slopes.
e.g. if you went to La Tzoumaz in the 4 Valleys, connected to Verbier, this is how it would work. (1) use the Swiss Transport http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html timetable site to work out the connection from Geneva Airport to La Tzoumaz Telecabine and choose the one where there's the least waiting for train/bus/telepherique connections. (2) This would generally mean getting into GVA before 12:00 and leaving GVA after 14:30, if you want to avoid a big wait for connections. (3) go to an immobiliser like ours, Carron (http://www.carron-immobilier.ch/en/) and have a look at what they've got and see if the prices are OK for your budget. These will be Sat-Sat but you'll get an idea of price/availability etc. (4) contact either the rental agency or the Tourist Office (http://www.latzoumaz.ch/en/index.htm) and ask if they can help with the non-Sat booking. (5) once you have a provisional booking do the airline thing and if you can get the flights you want, confirm the booking. FYI Swiss are now also flying to GVA from Gatwick as well as Heathrow and City.
I'm only using La Tzoumaz as an example because it illustrates the process and I know the URLs but lots of people will probably suggest lots of potential locations.
Finally, car hire can sometimes still be competitive against other transfers, if you're lucky. Take a look at the GVA hire car link (http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-72/) which drop you onto the .ch landing pages of the main rental companies, where there are sometimes offers that you won't find on the .com route. You can also be lucky and just hit someones special offer period.
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