 Poster: A snowHead
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Have fixed dates for skiing for a week on 28th March possibly in La Tania. We have beginners who may find skiing back to La Tania difficult and so we did think about them catching the bus from La Tania into Le Praz, which only takes 5m, & going up the gondala from there into Courchevel 1850.
Only trouble is, from 28th March, it's a reduced Late season bus service with infrequent buses. Does anyone have any idea how much a taxi might be returning from Le Praz to La Tania??
Cheers,
Jon
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The Gondola takes you most of the way down (need to ski down a bit to get to it, then it goes to La Tania).
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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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@jonnyboy9, where would the beginners be having lessons?
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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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We frequently got taxis from Meribel Village to Praz when the links were closed and it was about E40 for a minivan each way from memory. La Tania is closer so it might be less than that I suppose? Hope that helps. But isn't the run down into Praz about as difficult or more difficult than the run to La Tania? Or were you thinking of getting the bubble back down to Praz? If the beginner could manage the first bit of Arolles, they could perhaps get the La Tania back down directly which might save the hassle.
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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 know. I reckon Arolles is easy enough to get down. But then you have skis & boots with you in La Tania - And the problem for the beginners is on the way out of La Tania as you go up the Gondala and then ski down either steeper bit of blue or a v narrow Plan Fontaine down to the chairlift to go up to the top.
Hence the plan to bus it 5 mins down the road to Le Praz and put skis and boots on in Alpinium and go up the Gondala there in the morning.
Which means you need to return via the same route - only the bus is few and far between in the afternoon.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| PeakyB wrote: |
| @jonnyboy9, where would the beginners be having lessons? |
Not sure yet..
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@jonnyboy9, maybe I am being a bit thick here but...
#1 surely you will get accommodation/lessons booked in the same station?
#2 there is a lovely blue piste down to La Tania - why would you need to find a way round it?
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1. Accommodation seems to be cheaper in La Tania.
2. Because the beginner intermediates would find that blue run too difficult.
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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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| jonnyboy9 wrote: |
| 1. Accommodation seems to be cheaper in La Tania. |
But why not just book the ski lessons in La Tania?
| jonnyboy9 wrote: |
| 2. Because the beginner intermediates would find that blue run too difficult. |
Complete beginners maybe but that is why they would be having lessons. Anybody with a couple of days/lessons under their belt should manage no problem.
Getting the bubble down from 1850 and then a taxi from Le Praz is a major faff.
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@jonnyboy9, ah, gotcha. The issue is with getting up out of La Tania in the morning? In that case I would definitely have a look at the piste map because the run from the top of the La Tania bubble to Dou de Lanches is really, really easy. It is wide and flat so even beginners will find it easy. If they were struggling it would be a short walk in any event but that really would be unnecessary for anyone who has mastered even standing on skis. From Dou de Lanche you are on Col de Loze which again is really flat and unthreatening, then you are into some of the most chilled greens in the 3V over into Courchevel. Then on the way home you get Plantrey or Loze and all they have to do is the short top bit of Arolles, then they can get the La Tania back down. After a bit of practice they might even feel they could do the whole of Arolles and save the last lift down - it's a pretty gentle blue from memory. Anyway, that's just another option to maybe save you some taxi fares.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Layne wrote: |
| jonnyboy9 wrote: |
| 1. Accommodation seems to be cheaper in La Tania. |
But why not just book the ski lessons in La Tania?
| jonnyboy9 wrote: |
| 2. Because the beginner intermediates would find that blue run too difficult. |
Complete beginners maybe but that is why they would be having lessons. Anybody with a couple of days/lessons under their belt should manage no problem.
Getting the bubble down from 1850 and then a taxi from Le Praz is a major faff. |
Don't really agree. The Foly is a wicked run especially when its in good nick and well covered. We skied out of La Tania at the end of March in 2017 and by about the Tuesday of a Sunday to Sunday trip the Foly was trecherous and we ended up downloading in the La Tania Bubble. What made it hard was that it was patchy and you went from nice clean snow to grass/rock very quickly.
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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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That blue into La Tania can be dreadful! I detested it with a vengeance so that we drove to & fro Courchevel for the last few days we stayed in La Tania. I`m sure its a great run in good snow conditions but because its so busy it quickly gets large patches of ice at exactly the points you don`t want them! We saw so many people take quite big falls and in so doing often wipe others out!
Other people staying in our chalet took the bus back to La Tania, which as you say is great if the timings work. I would message either tourist office and ask the approximate price of a taxi.
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It sounds like the bus in the morning to Le Praz is OK, and that makes sense. In the afternoon you can get back from Courchevel 1850 to La Tania with almost zero skiing without using the bus: take the new gondola from 1850 down to Le Praz. You have to walk across the road from Croisette in 1850 to get to it, or ski 100m on gentle gradient under the bridge and to the right. Then walk out of the Alpinium, put on skis, and straight onto the Foret chairlift. This will drop you about 100m from the top of the La Tania bubble, and again it's a gentle gradient with none of the steeper/icy bits of Arolles or Folyeres. Take the La Tania bubble down. It's not clear if you want to leave your skis/boots in the Alpinium. If you do, I'm not 100% sure if the Foret chairlift is permissible without skis, but I would expect it to be OK.
For reference, an evening taxi from Courchevel Moriond to La Tania was fifty euros in December. Le Praz to La Tania is much shorter, but I wouldn't expect the taxi to be proportionally cheaper as much of that cost is them getting to you in the first place.
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You know it makes sense.
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| monkey wrote: |
| @jonnyboy9, ah, gotcha. The issue is with getting up out of La Tania in the morning? In that case I would definitely have a look at the piste map because the run from the top of the La Tania bubble to Dou de Lanches is really, really easy. It is wide and flat so even beginners will find it easy. If they were struggling it would be a short walk in any event but that really would be unnecessary for anyone who has mastered even standing on skis. From Dou de Lanche you are on Col de Loze which again is really flat and unthreatening, then you are into some of the most chilled greens in the 3V over into Courchevel. Then on the way home you get Plantrey or Loze and all they have to do is the short top bit of Arolles, then they can get the La Tania back down. After a bit of practice they might even feel they could do the whole of Arolles and save the last lift down - it's a pretty gentle blue from memory. Anyway, that's just another option to maybe save you some taxi fares. |
Aah. I follow what you're saying. When we went on 14/12/19, Dou de Lanche was closed all week. Is it usually open?
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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I love folyeres, it's a great piste, but I wouldn't dream of taking anyone with only a couple of days/lessons experience down it unless they were an exceptionally quick learner and confident too. Early in the season there is sometimes no choice if Dou des Lanches is not yet running, and the green run not yet open, and you will find people struggling all the way down. I would download a beginner on the lift.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| jonnyboy9 wrote: |
Aah. I follow what you're saying. When we went on 14/12/19, Dou de Lanche was closed all week. Is it usually open? |
It opens Xmas week until the very end of the season. It normally opens first LT week but was actually late this year - they deliberately kept it shut until the FIS World Cup was over on the Tuesday and then they couldn't open it because of avalanche risk due to the storm conditions. Not sure where you'd take a rank beginner off that lift, though. Both the Boulevard to Meribel and the blue Col de la Loze into Courchevel require you to be a good glider or you'll be poling a significant distance. If you consider Folyeres too tough then you cannot take Pic Bleu into Meribel because that's tougher. Much better to go to the Bouc Blanc chair.
The bottom half of Folyeres is the tough section for beginners. I would take the top third to the bottom of the Bouc Blanc chair and then the green Plan Fontaine for the rest of the way into resort at the end of the day. If they're super nervous, take Plan Fontaine all the way from just below the LT gondola to Bouc Blanc or download. The first section may be narrow but it's also very flat - they're not going to be doing snowplough turns on there or they'll come to a dead stop.
Also, for confidence, you have two free beginners' lifts to practice on before you head off. The button Troika lift in resort or if they don't like buttons, a magic carpet opposite the top of the LT gondola. Do a few laps of that first and then head off down the top bit of Folyeres.
I'm not sure what you gain from going to Alpinium. The lift comes out at the top of Tovets and if they can't ski Folyeres, they can't ski Tovets because whilst it may be wider, it invariably has much harder snow on it. So you're either walking up the road to join the ski school queues at the Croisette (no fun) or taking the path to Plantrey. If you can ski to Plantrey, you can ski to Bouc Blanc so you're better off in LT.
If they are rank beginners and in LT based ski school, then they're going to start by doing laps of the Troika button. If they can ski that, they can ski the first third of Folyeres to the Bouc Blanc.
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