 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
Considering a trip to Les Houches over new year and was wondering if any one could hive a review of Les Houches? We’d be traveling with 3 kids (6, 8 and 9) who can manage most intermediate runs (1 star to 2 star badges achieved) and as they will be in ski school in the mornings we’d be tied to the area. Is there enough to keep us entertained for a week (both competent boarders after seasons in our youth)? Are there plenty of off piste tree runs if snow allows? Is the board park any good and will it be open early jan? Found a good price for accommodation and ski passes very reasonable with family pack plus an hour from Geneva. We’d basicall rip around for 2.5hrs during ski school, stop for lunch then afternoon with the kids.
Is there anything else off the mountain good for kids as appreciate it’s a small village.
Thanks
Ed
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Les Houches is a lovely family resort although you might find it limiting for yourself or your partner after a few days. Brevent isn't that far away so don't restrict yourself as it's easy to get away in the afternoon after the kids lessons albeit you have to be slick. If you're driving you have quite a range to choose from inc St Gervais and Brevent. You could just about do GM for one afternoon if the weather is good. Les Houches is quite low with all that that entails. It has ice skating and a few other family things, but again nothing stopping you from having a trip or 2 into town for a luge etc.
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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 will be there for New Year too, funnily enough with similar aged kids. I have not decided whether to put them in ski school yet though so might not bother and try a few different areas in Chamonix.
I think you would be fine for a week although you will have covered every inch by them, we went in early march and found the runs down to the valley very slushy not sure how it will be in Jan.
It is a small village so not much to do but we were only having a few drinks afterwards then getting the kids home so it was fine.
Will you have a car? If so it opens up lots more options, if I do put the kids in ski school it might be at Le Tour.
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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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It’s very low so be aware if the temps go up you might get wet....
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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 quite often go there if the weather’s poor (although being spoiled, we don’t normally ski in crap weather). It doesn’t get as skied out on a powder day so we do that too.
But neither the OH or I understand this need to have endless terrain on piste. She’s been skiing Monterosa since she was 4 and we still like it.
The little ice rink is next door to a sledging slope and bunny slopes with two short drag lifts, although your kids sound beyond that.
Not sure how many “summer” attractions are open. Big luge in Chamonix is open year round.
If all else looks good, other than the village being low, it probably suits well. And lessons are, I think, up on the Prarion plateau.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I like it there. I've been a couple of times - early Jan and mid Feb. Good snow both times ; had a half a metre over night in Jan trip. Being reasonably low all the pistes are tree lined and there's plenty fun to be had between them. Lots of little routes to discover. You can cover all of the pistes in a day but as@under a new name, says that's a personal tastes thing. I never used the park but it looked good.
There's no proper challenging Blacks, Kandahar's probably a black when they race on it but it's a pretty standard red in truth. There's a big wide red over the back facing St Gervais that you can get some pace on and it's got loads of tree routes either side.
Plenty of shortish fun pistes for the kids to pratt about on which I like cos it means if you have to drop off a button to grab a child that's fallen, the others don't need to wait long for you to catch up.
ESF is at the bottom of the bubble lift right by the car park so pretty convenient if you're driving.
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@Fast_ted, One of the really nice things I find about Les Houches is the variety of runs - there’s not a huge number, but they are very different. The blue, red and black (Kandahar) runs down the main face all have a totally different feel from each other, as do the runs up on the plateau, or down the back towards st gervais. In fresh snow there’s plenty of nice powder down the back.
I’ve definitely skied it for more than 7 days and am not bored with it yet, on which basis you’d be fine for a week.
@Neillp, le tour is 30-40 mins drive, so whilst the ski school there is very good (both my kids learnt with instructors from there), I’m not sure you gain anything over Les Houches. The nursery slopes at le tour are lower than at Les Houches.
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@snowdave, @HotDogger, you both have mentioned the runs back towards St Gervais, ashamed to say I’ve never skied LH as I always have enough in EMB to keep me happy but how close do they get to StG?
I’ve often wondered why they don’t link them
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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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@Jonny996,
I expect the others will know better than me on this.
it's been a couple of years since I was last there but from what I understand they're run by two rival companies but I have a vague notion StG may have struck a deal since then. I don't think it's physically possible to access LH from the StG side so it'd still mean a bus ride.
For the Op if you can now ski Saint Gervais on the les Houches pass I'd recommended a day over there. It's lovely.
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@Jonny996, it's one of those apparently obvious links that just never happened. I think @HotDogger is right in that one reason was local politics, in various flavours.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@HotDogger, St Gervais and Megeve's ski area was bought by the Chamonix lift company a couple of years ago. So (I think) Les Houches and St Gervais are now owned by the same company.
Technically St Gervais *is* already linked with the Les Houches slopes via a direct cog railway, but I don't know know if it's included in the lift pass.
A potential problem with creating runs down to St Gervais is that they'd be very low (under 1000m), west facing and very steep, going by topo maps. A direct lift could work though.
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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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@denfinella, LH is not on the EMB pass that covers StG, the mont blanc tramway does link StG with LH but it costs a approx. 40 euro just for the tramway before you even buy a ski pass. it is a shame as I would like to try it but if I ended up having to get into the car then I would most likely try Morzine instead.
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@Jonny996, yes - sorry, I was just answering @HotDogger, question about whether they're run by rival companies.
Might the tramway (and Les Houches, and St Gervais) be included in the (admittedly expensive) MBU pass?
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You know it makes sense.
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@denfinella, yes, they are on MBU.
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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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@denfinella, No need to apologies & good question regarding the MBU pass
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Poster: A snowHead
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The St Gervais Domaine Evasion lifts are not owned by Compagnie MB , but by STBMA and in 2018 they were awarded the concession to run the lifts for the next 20 , or maybe it was 30 years hence the info about all the continued investment in the coming years , including the new 6 seater this year and the tunnel under the road on the return piste .
With regards to the Les Houches St Gervais area , 80% of the runs are in St Gervais so it is the 2nd ski area that you can access direct from st Gervais , ie without a car. however at 55km of piste in LHSG it is significantly smaller than the 445km of the Domaine Evasion Area , St Gervais main area. The Tramway du Mont Blanc is owned by compagnie du Mont Blanc and has recently been upgraded thanks to investment from the French Government not least for the summer usage.
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