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Well I thought I was sorted! How about April?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
well i have went from going to Italy to going to the Three Valleys, settle on Mottaret, got a good deal with flights and transfer and a lovely appartment in Mottaret.
HOWEVER!!!!!!!!
After many weeks of asking my son (who is at uni) what dates were not good for him when he does his assessments, he told me a week in Februrary and a week inApril were not good so I knew I had the whole of March. We settled on 23 March and i have been holding off till last minute to book making sure the weather would be ok, there was snow etc etc.

At lunch time today I booked the flights and confirmed the AirBNB (another story!!!) and the transfer company put something on hold for a couple days for me. Fast forward 3 hours, I come home, my son tells me that he cant do the 23rd because it is a professional practice week where they get assessed! I could literally scream!

I have very luckily got the flights refunded (as it was an extra £350 to go the following week - the flights only cost £350!) and the guy at the AirBNB had not accepted the booking yet so was able to cancel that without charge.
(and yes, yes, i should have just left son at home lol, but I am not that cruel)
SO
My question now is do we go the following week? The reason I picked this week was because it had no schools off (on the timetable thing pinned). Will the first week in April be ok to go? Hubby is worried there wont be snow! and there will be hundreds of kids! According to the timetable it looks like only one country is off school this week, possibly Scotland? Is this usually a busy week for kids?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@polo99, we are booked for a week in the Valais for 10 April on. Last year it snowed and snowed and snowed. And snowed. But who knows this year ... could be great. Could be dreadful. We’ll have fun whatever.
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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?
I've skied the first week in April for the last three years and had a great time. Go high, favour north facing (though if you're high that's slightly less vital) Val Thorens or Tignes should be good if you want France (I did VT last Easter and it was fantastic). Zermatt/Cervinia would be good. Plenty of threads on here and articles elsewhere with recommendations, hope you have an excellent time.
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We were thinking La Tania now. What I am worried about is will this week be particularly busy compared to the week before? I can only see one country that has holiday during this week but don't know what kind of impact it will have on the slopes. If it is going to be mega busy, I would rather stay at home.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@polo99, the vast majority of schools won’t break up till the 6th April. And besides, I’ve been to VT in the Easter school holidays many times and it’s not particularly busy, so the week before will be fine.

Snow will be superb in VT.
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@Handy Turnip, Will it be ok skiing over from La Tania to VT? what will Courchevel be like?
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
We've stayed in Meribel Village (close to La Tania and similar height) every year during Easter school hols since 2012 and have always enjoyed the skiing.

Generally not to busy especially if you choose your areas carefully. Can it be slushy/water skiing low down? Of course! My advice is get out early and you'll be fine.

Also as above your week is before most UK schools break up and the French generally forget about skiing after half term
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Choosing a high French resort in early April is usually a good choice. I'm not really sure when various countries have school holidays but I think the French school holidays are at Easter and that is late in April this year so I suspect there will not be that many children about.

However many universities have ski trips over the Easter vacation of which some may be towards the start of April. Your son should know. I surprised he didn't want to go on one.
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@Roger C, @johnE, thanks. The reason I'm picking la Tania now is because I can get a good package deal there and I've been before so familiar with the area. Last time we went we never got as far to val thorns but would like to this time. What is the best way from la Tania to val thorns on blues or verry very easy reds and roughly how long does it take. Last time we stuck to the courchevel side and really enjoyed it but we went end of january
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Honestly @johnE, when I came in from work Nd I'd told him I booked the flight Nd accommodation and he said he thinks they need to be in uni that day I could hVe cried. I think the uni made the mistake though, let's go with that for his sake lol I don't think their uni goes skiing. He hSnt mentioned it. His old school did though, they took them during term time (needless to say I never had a pro lem taking the kids out of school to go skiing)
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La tania might be slushy but will almost certainly have ski in ski out ability. They work hard to keep that run open. Worst case scenario you would get the lift up and down (very unlikely at that time of year i'd have thought). Courchevel will likely be close to 100% open and if you want to get to VT it'll be easy enough. From the La Tania lift, choose Dou de Lanches then down into Meribel for Tougnette 1, then Plattieres, then Cote Brune. I think it's almost all blue/green that way.
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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.
@monkey, brilliant thanks. I'm hoping the snow that is forecast over the next 2 weeks actually arrives
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
A lot of families I know have been put off by the late start to the Easter holidays, for many 5th April. So I don't think it will be mobbed with kids. Other European countries aren't on school holidays at that time. We always ski at Easter whether late or early and it is never that busy. Yes, if you have good snow and it is sunny the locals are out in force but that is about it. Good luck. How did you not brain your son?
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Cheesie168, I went through many emotions yesterday lol. I must have asked him 5 times about the date. I do think it was the fault of the tutor omitting the March date because out of his friends group on the same course only one had been told verbally about the week of the 23rd. We'll that's what I'm going with for my sanity hahah
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
polo99 wrote:
@Handy Turnip, Will it be ok skiing over from La Tania to VT? what will Courchevel be like?


As mentioned, you should be able to get over to VT okay but you might encounter some slushy snow on the way. When staying in VT we often pop over to the other valleys, sometimes the conditions are amazing and sometimes we get slush, and rain (in which case we retreat to VT quickly!)

The upper slopes in Courchevel will be in good condition.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
This just gets worse! It's like the God's don't want me to go skiing this season! Apparantley son has to go into Uni the week of 1 April so now it looks like we will have to go the week after. BUT how much busier are the slopes going to be given that in a lot of places the kids are off for Easter? And will I still be ok for La Tania? Would les menuires be better? or possiby LesArcs/La Plagne? Im hoping the snow is gonna hold for the next 3 weeks. I think I would take slush over ice any day, I am a bit (lot) of a cruiser so I just like to pootle around. Will the whole of the three valleys be ok, or would people tend to stay up high in VT or Les Menuires and not waste their time going over to Courchevel?


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 16-03-19 23:44; edited 1 time in total
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Roger C wrote:
Can it be slushy/water skiing low down? Of course! My advice is get out early and you'll be fine.


My advice is stay out late and embrace the slush!!

Why not wait until later in the month and join the reprobates on the EoSB?
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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?
When you say slush, are you talking about those hideous moguls that have been made by many people going down the slopes?
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@polo99, more just the soft, wet snow that you get later in the day. It's possible to find plenty of it that hasn't been mogulled if you know where to head.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I don't think I mind that so much lol. I've seen a nice apartment in méribel 2hich they say is beside the ardet lift. Is this too far out from shops and restaurants? Is this a good central place to get around?
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I would be surprised if anywhere is busy in April and I suspect Easter itself would be almost deserted in most resorts this year.

I don't want to put you off but one Easter (aanother very late one iirc) to courcheval 1650 and did encounter "slush" at the end of the day. By "slush" I mean puddles of water up to 10cm deep ponded in by snow and sometimes up to 10m across. If the nights are clear then this could freeze and you'd get genuine sheets of ice In the morning. However most of the time the skiing was excellent. We would just finish when it became too much.
Book it, enjoy it, and remember tons of factor 50. It is a wonderful time of the year to go skiing. I'll be in les arcs.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I've just had a look and the apartment we are looking at is in the le plateau area. Does anyone know if there's bars restaurant or places for evening snack?
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
johnE wrote:
I would be surprised if anywhere is busy in April and I suspect Easter itself would be almost deserted in most resorts this year.

I don't want to put you off but one Easter (aanother very late one iirc) to courcheval 1650 and did encounter "slush" at the end of the day. By "slush" I mean puddles of water up to 10cm deep ponded in by snow and sometimes up to 10m across. If the nights are clear then this could freeze and you'd get genuine sheets of ice In the morning. However most of the time the skiing was excellent. We would just finish when it became too much.
Book it, enjoy it, and remember tons of factor 50. It is a wonderful time of the year to go skiing. I'll be in les arcs.


The EOSB is a good call for that reason. Snow in VT is always better than elsewhere in 3V and while a sunny day will undoutably see some sweet sweet corn it's rare that there are any actual puddles. Family bash a week earlier if Easter is genuinely too late.
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polo99 wrote:
I've just had a look and the apartment we are looking at is in the le plateau area. Does anyone know if there's bars restaurant or places for evening snack?

The best restaurant in Meribel, Le Cepe is in le plateau. A few other options too. Otherwise 10 minutes on the free bus and you are in the centre.
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I think I'm gonna go for this one. Will meribel be OK to ski back down to? Is it lower than la tania?
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La Tania is about 1400m. Meribel chaudanne is about 1450m. Le Plateau is about 1600m. It may get a bit soft at the end of the day, but you should be able to ski back to within a couple of minutes walk.
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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.
Quote:

Snow in VT is always better than elsewhere in 3V


This is most certainly not true.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
swiftoid wrote:
Quote:

Snow in VT is always better than elsewhere in 3V


This is most certainly not true.


It is in mid to late April. Mottaret can be soup and C 1650 a golf course while VT is just turning creamy.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Right, flights are booked, transfers are booked and I am awaiting confirmation on an apartment in Le Plateau area of Meribel, so if it is soup, it will be soup. I guess it is better than looking at my office 4 walls lol. And please god, if my son's tutor turns round and says he has made a mistake with the dates Im gonna cry, very hard!
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@polo99, have a great time. Only a couple lifts and you are on Mont vallon, and the snow will be good there.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Dave of the Marmottes wrote:
swiftoid wrote:
Quote:

Snow in VT is always better than elsewhere in 3V


This is most certainly not true.


It is in mid to late April. Mottaret can be soup and C 1650 a golf course while VT is just turning creamy.


I don't dispute that it 'can be' like that but it isn't 'always'. 2013 a case in point. We stayed in La Tania for a week from 21st April and conditions were way better in Courchevel than VT. VT was mostly icy and mobbed whereas the Courchevel areas were almost fully open with great spring snow and deserted.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@johnE, feel like i have so much riding on this lol
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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?
@swiftoid, I agree, Courchevel often has better snow due to the North facing slopes. @polo99, Meribel is nice and central but the snow can be poor there in April, icy first thing and slushy earlier due to the aspects.

However it's very few lifts to get into Courchevel and out the other side towards VT.
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I will probably leave meribel in the morning for courchevel or val thorens. I guess we will just have to see how the slopes fair and what the weather is like. I'm committed now lol
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