Poster: A snowHead
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I've just come back from a glorious week in Aspen, CO, and my wife who's never skiied before has had enough of me banging on about great the whole thing was that she's agreed to a last minute weekend in the Alps.
Is there a realistic way we can pull off 3-4 days of skiing on a last minute one in late Feb? Ideally on a budget (£1k all in - hire, lift, lessons for 1, accom, etc), and somewhere that looks nice so if the ski lessons go to pot for her she can at least enjoy the views... Is this realistic?
Other than rinsing the first page of google results for "last minute ski weekend", anywhere else I should be looking?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Contact Flexi ski they offered me a catered chalet in St Anton for £60pppn they took it on from Ski Val so don’t think it’s had much marketing.
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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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Airbnb.
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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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@nids, flights to VCE
Cortina express
3 days ski
Back for final romantic night in Venice.
Priceless
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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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@nids, where are you based?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@crosbie, London, so should be easy to get many places!
thanks for the pointers so far - going to get stuck into them tomorrow morning
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@nids we went on a cheap weekend to Foppolo staying at a hotel that picked you up from the Airport and price included half board. Milan Bergamo which is an Easyjet airport. Nice skiing for 2/3 days and not a long transfer. Happy memories of it although can't remember the hotel name.
https://www.brembanaski.com/ingleseski/foppolo.html
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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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You might need to play with your budget a little
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Probably best to DIY it. Lots of lovely family run hotels in Italy and if you are prepared to be 10 mins drive or bus ride from the slopes short stay and availability shouldn't be a problem. Plenty of flights to Milan as well and car hire relatively cheap.
In all honesty best organising around a resort that has ski school groups running weekends
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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You can get return flights from London to Nice for as little as £30. I'm doing it in March. Transfer costs €1.50 each way to either Isola, Auron or Valberg. Yes you read that correctly.
3 day lift pass £90.
That leaves you quite a lot to play with for accommodation.
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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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For me, the 2 main considerations are:
1. Do you need/want to maximise skiing time wrt to time off work ? If you do want to maximise time then you'll want a resort with short transfers, and flights at the right time, which will cut down your options. However, as your wife's a beginner, and you'll need to sort out kit and lessons, I'd suggest you not be too ambitious on the amount of skiing time
2. Late Feb is high season and it is difficult to get cheap accommodation that's not for a full week. You can get around this by staying down valley, but that makes logistics more complicated, and is probably not ideal for a beginner
Switzerland tends to allow more flexibility for hotels, and good non-skiing options, but will probably stretch your budget
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nids wrote: |
I've just come back from a glorious week in Aspen, CO, and my wife who's never skiied before has had enough of me banging on about great the whole thing was that she's agreed to a last minute weekend in the Alps.
Is there a realistic way we can pull off 3-4 days of skiing on a last minute one in late Feb? Ideally on a budget (£1k all in - hire, lift, lessons for 1, accom, etc), and somewhere that looks nice so if the ski lessons go to pot for her she can at least enjoy the views... Is this realistic?
Other than rinsing the first page of google results for "last minute ski weekend", anywhere else I should be looking? |
I almost always book ski trips within a week of departure to gauge my schedule and the weather. I consider "last minute" booking right now for this weekend. But I gather you have a flight to manage as well, which makes things more difficult. Late February has very limited availability in most of the well-known places in the Alps.
I would recommend you book everything yourself and separately instead of using (and overpaying) a travel agent. I also suggest a small resort in the Italian Dolomites (not the famous Sella Ronda or Cortina areas). Something like San Pellegrino/Falcade. Cheap flight to Venice, book private transfer to resort (~2.5 hour drive), and book ski in/out accommodations at San Pellegrino. Beautiful area in the Dolomites that usually still has availability in peak season. Although activities might be somewhat limited.
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You know it makes sense.
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@nids, if you can't get any joy in the Alps then I suggest the following as a backup plan:
Stansted->Lourdes 8am Sat 29Feb. Return 3:35 Tue 3rd Mar.
Taxi to Bareges.
Hotel in Bareges.
5 min ski bus to slopes each day.
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