 Poster: A snowHead
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Myself and a couple of friends are looking into ski trips for the coming winter. Rather than going on just one week long trip we're looking into the possibility of a few long weekends this winter.
I've got a couple of questions which I'm hoping to get some help with:
- What's the best resort for maximising our time on the slopes? Although not set in stone the likelihood is that we'll be flying into Geneva. Is Morzine therefore our best option? We stayed in Avoriaz last year so know the area quite well and would be happy to go back. Although I wouldn't mind trying somewhere new.
- Does anyone have any good ski instructors for the resorts they recommend?
- Have you got any recommendations for where to book accommodation for a short break? We plan to look into AirBnb and the likes however imagine most of these rentals are possibly only available for a weeks booking at a time.
Thanks in advance for any help.
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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 say Chamonix - it's only an hour from GVA and €25 a transfer, and lots of accommodation options
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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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@SF1903, Sort of any of the ones near Geneva work. www.j2ski.com has lists by airport. Some have more accommodation than others, and certainly a lot of accommodation esp. self catering is Sat-Sat.
But AirBnB is changing that, at least to some extent. One of the limitations is finding people happy to do non-Saturday changeovers, f'r instance. We're lucky, our team prefer non-Sat as they're otherwise so busy on Saturdays. Another option would be staying the Friday night somewhere like the IBIS in Geneva centre and getting a super early start on up the hill (maybe easier with rental car).
You are much less likely (if at all) to get weekend dates during French School holidays for obvious reasons.
Transfer availability also varies - with Chamonix valley, PdS and Grand Massif best served. Not sure about the other areas.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Krvavec.
15 mins in a taxi from Ljubljana airport.
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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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@SF1903, Geneva + French resorts are the easiest, & for the same reason they’re also the most popular. I’d look at Austria, more independent hotels happy to book weekends if you talk to them directly. I’ve done plenty in Schladming and St Anton via Innsbruck or Zurich then train.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@SF1903, Mountainsun is another option if you fancy getting down into the Tarantaise (sp) resorts
Also some great options from ZCH if you're not tied to GVA
I love my LW ski trips 
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Is flying in and out of Munich an option?
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How many flights of ideal times into Ljubljana?
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
| How many flights of ideal times into Ljubljana? |
Hard to answer without knowing where the OP wants to fly from.
However, if you're living in London, there are daily flights at 7am from Stansted to Ljubljana, and daily return flights to Gatwick at 19:30.
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Managed to book Chamonix everything under 300 for 3 nights trip.
Flights, transfer, hotel and lift 3 days.
Hotel is shared bed but i need to keep costs low to ski as much as I can...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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we tend to do the long weekend route, however your main stumbling block as mentioned will be accommodation , last year we managed to get sat-wed skiing in St anton, flying london - zurich late and staying there friday (ibis budget - it has a bed, toilet and shower, so all you need) then getting the super early train straight to st anton, dumping the bags in a locker in the train station and hitting the slopes. similar thing on departure day, checking out of flat, dump bags in locker, ski most of the day then train to zurich, grabbing the last flight back to london.
tbh it was pretty exhausting as to get accommodation we needed to stay a couple of towns over, and due to our enthusiasm for apres, we tended to get back to the flat at around 1am still in our ski gear - and then get up at 7 to do it all again. but definitely a lot of fun and great skiing in the arlberg!
our flight was overbooked, if I hadn't very much been needed at work the next day, i was ready to bite their hand off at the offer of a few hundred quid, free dinner and a free hotel in zurich,then fly home the next day! really wish i'd been able to take up that one!
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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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To illustrate potential skiing time we flew Liverpool Geneva Thursday morning and following a 50 min transfer to Les Carroz we were skiing by 1pm. Finished skiing at 4.45pm on The following Tuesday for a late evening flight back. So 5.5 days skiing😀accommodation was booked through booking.com and was not a bargain because it coincided with one of the French zones half terms. But neither was it totally ludicrous- at least for us.
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All well and good but an efficient weekend (probably only easily done from London sadly) means leaving the office without having to take any time off, getting to a bar in resort for a cheeky ale or whatever, skiing all day for the next days, then leaving resort after full day's skiing on last day and catching evening flight home.
Half days don't count.
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You know it makes sense.
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@SF1903,
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Have you got any recommendations for where to book accommodation for a short break?
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Depends what sort of accommodation you prefer, eg apartment self catering, chalethotel with chalet board, hotel with B&B or half board, etc. Also roughly what budget you have and what level of skiing you do (places you've liked or disliked in the past?).
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
All well and good but an efficient weekend (probably only easily done from London sadly) means leaving the office without having to take any time off, getting to a bar in resort for a cheeky ale or whatever, skiing all day for the next days, then leaving resort after full day's skiing on last day and catching evening flight home.
Half days don't count. |
Anything counts when you live in deepest Lake District!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@suec, fair point!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@SF1903, for short breaks I'd personally look at AirBnB for apartments and booking.com for hotels (although they also include some apartments, etc now).
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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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If you pick non-vacation Weekends then many rental agents will countenance a Long Weekend booking if the alternative is no booking at all. As apartment owners, we usually expect a couple of queries from our agent up to a month beforehand saying "a client wants to book from x to y - would you take this at a weekly rate?" If it's the 'dead zone' between New Year and Half Term, or HT and Easter, then we make the decision. Which is usually on the basis of 'Well, if no one has booked by now then the odds are we won't get both weeks anyway, so let's take it.'
So the upshot is perhaps to focus on a specific resort and then contact the Tourist Office and a couple of immobilier/agents directly and see what comes back. However, don't push for a pro rata charge - if you say you'll pay a week full rate even if it's 5 days, then it's much more attractive for the owner.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Gustavobs wrote: |
| Hotel is shared bed ... |
I have my fingers crossed for you
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Fly into Turin and you have the Aosta and Cervinia within 1.5hrs of the airport.....
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| under a new name wrote: |
| All well and good but an efficient weekend (probably only easily done from London sadly) means leaving the office without having to take any time off. |
I would argue that there are plenty of flights from Liverpool or Manchester to Geneva that make this possible for "them up norf" too. 🙂
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@Matrski, I have no idea. Summer Manchester schedule though not promising.
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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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@SF1903, We are running a Cheeky Weekend coaching holiday in the Portes du Soleil in March. Sounds like it would tick a lot of your boxes...
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Another option is grandvalira, though this is slightly trickier due to the length of transfer. My friend is planning to go in Jan, without using any annual leave by doing the following (dates are just random ones I put in, flights are the same times)
So he's leaving work and heading straight to Heathrow, getting to Toulouse, hire car, drive straight to soldeu, arrive stupid o clock. Get up, breakfast, ski sat, ski sun. Sunday after lifts close head back to Toulouse, stay in an ibis right next to the airport, super early flight Monday morning back to Gatwick, and then straight into the office from Gatwick on Monday morning, most likely ready to die.
I think he's crazy to try and fit all that in, but that's the way he rolls!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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another vote for turin.
6 am flight from Stansted means you can be on the slopes after a lunch......we stayed in Briancon (serre chavalier) at the ibis hotel 40 euros a night, some good restaurants a bit of apres ....all good but its best if you hire a 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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@SAM@WORK, I maintain, using holiday/weekend day time for travel is inefficient and best avoided if possible ...
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@under a new name, More flights in winter than summer, for example I can get on easyJet from Liverpool at approx 1730 on a Friday to Geneva and return on Sunday at approx 2100. So if required you can leave work in the north west Friday afternoon, ski your balls off for 2 days then be back in work on Monday morning without anyone in work realising that you've been on a ski trip. Probably easier than doing Scotland.
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You know it makes sense.
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Yeah, I understand the winter schedule thing, @Matrski...
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| Probably easier than doing Scotland. |
Probably.
The advantage of course is you don't have to book Scotland in advance. The disadvantage of course is that you can't plan Scotland in advance. 
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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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@under a new name, @Matrski, yep, fine from both Manchester and Birmingham.
Did quite a few short/long weekends with flights from Manchester winter before last, and last winter from Birm. Birmingham is definitely more restricted than Manchester, but still doable (after work flights Thurs and Fri, evening flights back on Sunday), up until end of March.
Manchester no problem in winter - multiple direct flights a day, with a variety of carriers too. Summer timetable is pretty poor in comparison.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've done three trips with the following itinerary and although knackering, the two full days of skiing is well worth it;
Leave work/Oxford area at around 6pm and drive to Channel Tunnel collecting people en route.
Drive through the night (swapping between three drivers) and arrive at resort (Morzine or Chamonix) for around 7 am
Breakfast
First lift / ski all day
Beers
Bed
First lift /ski all day
Shower/wash (helpful accommodation)
Drive through the night
Early morning Channel Tunnel
Quick shower and off to work
All in all when six of us go (using my van) it costs around £110 a head for all travel (tolls/fuel/crossing) and accommodation costs. Then just beers and lift pass on top as all ski gear has come with us in the van. So although not overly luxurious it is a good laugh and means zero time off work for a full on weekend of skiing - I'd do it more often if the wife and kids let me.
Highly recommended if you are close enough to the Channel Tunnel to make it work timewise
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks to all for such helpful advice. Definitely a few things to look into over the next week or so when we're planning things. Accommodation does seem to be the biggest issue!
| under a new name wrote: |
@SF1903, Sort of any of the ones near Geneva work. www.j2ski.com has lists by airport. Some have more accommodation than others, and certainly a lot of accommodation esp. self catering is Sat-Sat.
But AirBnB is changing that, at least to some extent. One of the limitations is finding people happy to do non-Saturday changeovers, f'r instance. We're lucky, our team prefer non-Sat as they're otherwise so busy on Saturdays. Another option would be staying the Friday night somewhere like the IBIS in Geneva centre and getting a super early start on up the hill (maybe easier with rental car).
You are much less likely (if at all) to get weekend dates during French School holidays for obvious reasons.
Transfer availability also varies - with Chamonix valley, PdS and Grand Massif best served. Not sure about the other areas. |
I'm guessing February would be best to avoid then? We can be relatively flexible with dates and can pick around accommodation availability. I've had a couple of good trips in April before so don't mind skiing in what is considered "out of season".
| red 27 wrote: |
@SF1903, Mountainsun is another option if you fancy getting down into the Tarantaise (sp) resorts
Also some great options from ZCH if you're not tied to GVA
I love my LW ski trips |
I actually booked a weekend away through Mountainsun before in Tignes. Really enjoyed it although think my preference is a apartment/hotel option rather than a shared Chalet.
Really excited for a couple of long weekends away this season 
| moseyp wrote: |
| Is flying in and out of Munich an option? |
Flying to Munich would be an option yeah. Where would you recommend that's close to there?
| intermediate wrote: |
@SF1903,
| Quote: |
Have you got any recommendations for where to book accommodation for a short break?
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Depends what sort of accommodation you prefer, eg apartment self catering, chalethotel with chalet board, hotel with B&B or half board, etc. Also roughly what budget you have and what level of skiing you do (places you've liked or disliked in the past?). |
As mentioned above I think our preference would be a self catered apartment/hotel rather than a chalet. However if that makes things slightly more difficult then we would consider other options. Its a mixed group ability wise a couple of are intermediates and one would consider himself as an expert! Think we all enjoyed Les Arcs/La Plagne the most from our previous trips away. I did enjoy PdS last year however the lack of snow spoiled things slightly.
| skimottaret wrote: |
| @SF1903, We are running a Cheeky Weekend coaching holiday in the Portes du Soleil in March. Sounds like it would tick a lot of your boxes... |
Thanks - let me look into this in a bit more detail.
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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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@SF1903, Garmish
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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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I live 10 mins drive from Manchester Airport and Scotland is way easier to organise. Mind you, I used to finish work at 7. Planning on finishing at 3 this winter. Hope the snow is better 
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