 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello! Have heard wonderful reports of Sainte Foy for family ski trip however looking at the piste maps the ski area looks small. Children will be in lessons/childcare 9-1 so in the mornings we’d like to cover some ground or rather have a nice variety of runs to choose from. We’re just back from a wonderful trip but area was small and we did find it repetitive in the mornings. Any gems out there….considering La Rosiere but if there’s any others…it would be amazing to hear? Children are 7&5 and we’d be going Feb half term or early April…thank you!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Morillon 1100 Les Esserts has a good match in size, compactness, ski school facilities and very good local slopes directly into that accommodation area. Also linked to extensive GM ski area to give that further piste mileage scope, even from the edge of Flaine back to Morillon can be just teo chairlift that makes it easy to explore and still have pretty quick access back to base if needed.
Some really good places to eat lunch in that section too. Decent cost to stay, predominantly self catering, small but adequate food shop to avoid having to travel down the valley. Very friendly atmosphere and all accommodation grouped around lift station, no buses, no need to get anywhere else for all your ski activities, great for a family. Particularly good child/progression slopes right there too with one of the best long green piste "Marvel" in the Alps.
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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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Where did you stay last trip @Whizz124, to give some comparison?
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@Whizz124, not entirely sure why St Foy would be described as "family" skiing other than by their marketing department. And "small" with 4 lifts and 26 runs is certainly true! It is apparently great for heli skiing however.
Avoriaz?
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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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@Whizz124,
If you got bored in St F you could always pop across the Isere river & access Paradiski from Villaroger (or take a bus to Bourg St M & do the same). 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
It is apparently great for heli skiing however
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Well, since heli-skiing is banned in france, that's not the case any more - though it was at one point the heli-ski capital of France. You can get to La Rosiere and ski over into Italy to go heli skiing.
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@nbt, you can do that (so I understand) from St F as well. Or at least, so I was told, years ago but well after Giscard d’Estaing's faux pas.
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@Whizz124, isn’t it connected (or at least close) to Val d’Isere?
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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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@nbt,
Nope. Heli-drops are banned within France. Can still do heli-pickups within France, or fly over the border for a drop.
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@BobinCH,
Close to Espace Killy & Paradiski, but connected to neither.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@ski3, we were in puy at vincent
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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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@ski3, thank you - will start looking at them
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| @Whizz124, isn’t it connected (or at least close) to Val d’Isere? |
On the road between BsM and Tignes, Val D but descreet area. Unusual in that it has hugely convenient family ski facilities in compact village but with some serious extended skills terrain for advanced skiers, plus more with guided excursions out of lift served. A huge mix in contrast terms but as noted it's not huge in straight bland comparison using piste mileage.
Oh such a lot to offer those interested though.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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I would say that Ste F is a good family resort if the kids are still beginners or early intermediate. The absolute nursery slopes are surrounded by accommodation, so its sheltered and very convenient (especially if you have non skiing grand parents). There's plenty of intermediate slopes if you are in ski school. But the advanced slopes are limited, but you can be back from anywhere to the village in 10 minutes. If the kids are only doing 3 hours in school then going to Tignes, VDI or Les Arcs is pretty much a non starter as they are about 25 mins away. You could negotiate for a half day with a local guide/off piste instructor in Ste F, as some good stuff can be accessed fairly quickly eg Lac de Clous with a return back via La Monal, that's easily doable in half a day.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Whizz124, you say half term or early April - those are two very different times, dictating different criteria for choosing a resort.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@pam w, we’d like to go for Feb half term but if options are too expensive we’ll go for beginning of April. While snow isn’t guaranteed at any time, we skied last week of March/ start of April this year and it felt risky given lack of snow- we were lucky with the aspect of PSV in keeping the piste areas in good condition
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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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@ski3, thank you - as you say it needs to be hassle free to keep the enthusiasm up with the children - and Having had such a great time in PSV in terms of ease of ski school arrangements/ location around a hub and a quiet resort want to consider what else could be there so that we have a bit more to ski
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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 skied a few years ago in Ste Foy and if you have a car, it's only 20 mins away from Val d'Isere. We did it for a day and it broke up a bit of the daily routine. Totally manageable. Our kids were quite little when we went there but I recall that child care was good and flexible: they didn't mind if we extended child care in the afternoon on the day because the weather looked great and we felt like driving to Espace Killy.
It's always one of the resort that I recommend to people with a family and only had good feedback about it.
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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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Thank you - @spearhead93,
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Whizz124, very good for children with very good and progressive ski schools , the skiing is better than La Rosiere only unless you visit LaThuile . If your clever and into off piste with good conditions then Ste Foy could be just about ok but if your a piste eater then it’s not . Try the 3 valleys but accessing from smaller villages perhaps La Tania , Coucheval 1550 or St Martin .
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I've been looking at similar requirements to you, although my family is younger. I'm likely to head to Ste Foy next year, but here are some other options that might be worth looking at for your requirements.
La Rosiere - convenient for family, link to La Thuile which has some great skiing.
Les Saisies - we went here the other week and loved it, but choose accommodation carefully. We stayed in MMV Les Chalets des Cimes and was great once my boy could ski down to nursery slopes
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Serfaus/Fiss - meant to be amazing for families but I'm waiting until my kids are slightly older to make the most of the skiing on offer here.
Samoens/Morillion/Les Carroz - access to wider Grand Massif, but family village set up
La Clusaz - lovely village for families, choose accommodation carefully to be close to lifts. Nice variety of pistes with 5 sectors each with a different feel, from gentle blues for kids to high bowl with some easily accessible off piste, and lots of fun family features in slope (tunnels, little jumps). You can do a circuit of four sectors within 3 hours, so easy to return to kids.
Mongenevre - lots of accommodation on the snow front, good range and variety of pistes.
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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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ThNk you @carettam, far better summaries than we could ever manage! we have the same list! Feel like going around on circles as there are so many options and just need to make a decision. Now just trying to look into ski school timings
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