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Appartment wanted for 8 nights?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi, I've been looking without success for an appartment for 8 nights from Fri 24th Dec - Sat 1st Jan in somewhere like VT, we are flying into Geneva, can be a tiny resort but must be doorstep skiing. Any ideas please?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
You're across two weeks. Most people would rather wait and see if they can sell both full price but xmas is usually a cheaper week so see if moving your start dates to 19/20 makes a difference.
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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?
That's across 2 of the highest price weeks of the season. I wouldn't rent mine at an 8 night price when I am guaranteed to sell the 2 full weeks of xmas and new year.
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@Extremophile, I wouldn't either. I might take a 11 or 12 nighter as it is an awkward changeover, but definitely not 8 nights ending on NYD.
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@WishIWasFitter, As others have said it’s two of our peak weeks and we wouldn’t be selling 8 nights, we have been lucky in that we have sold both weeks in the past as a single booking. We are offering a checking on 23 December to accommodate Christmas Eve.
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@radar, at the moment there's only me going to be occupying our place, but should we be unable to, I have to take into account that French schools return on 3rd Jan, so most will be returning home by Sunday 2nd. It's a tricky changeover period that's certain. I think when I discussed it recently we decided on Sun-Sun for both weeks if it was vacant. So 19-26th and 26th-2nd.
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@Hells Bells, we have our fingers crossed that we have the same family who have booked for the last few years will come again for their two week stay. Sunday is a good idea a bit like you we will be in the apartment the week before Christmas , perhaps maybe fingers crossed!
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Places I’ve looked at in ski resorts doing 19/20-26/27 and the week after. Never seen anywhere offering such flexible dates over the busiest period.
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@Skimum1, it's because Christmas and NY fall on a Saturday. I've tended to go with the flow anyway, and I guess many people will be desperate for bookings.
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I would go for a Sat-Sat booking and then try and find a single night Fri-Sat booking for the remaining day (which may be pricey). If you have a car, you don't have to be in a resort for the single night - could be one of the nearby valley towns etc.
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@denfinella, Sat-Sat is Christmas and NY day. I think most will not be taking arrivals on those days. Fri-Fri or Sun-Sun is more likely.
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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.
As per the previous posts, not much will be available for that date range. I'd suggest looking at Switzerland, as that can be more flexible than France. However, there's not so much doorstep skiing in Switzerland. I'd try Siviez (aka Super-Nendaz).

Otherwise I think your options would either to pay for an earlier start to the rental (I'm not sure you'd need to go back to 19/20th Dec, but maybe 22nd/23rd), or make 2 bookings (1 from 25th or 26th, and something else for 24th/25th. Again, Switzerland can be more flexible, but you might be looking at staying down valley for the 24th / 25th, though that's hardly doorstep skiing
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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
@WishIWasFitter, you are asking for two extremely difficult things.

1. crap dates in high season

2. ski in/out, a myth in many places. And wildly over-rated.

However, I do have some unicorn poop that is most miraculous for sore knees after a hard days skiing that I can sell you right now, for a very fair price, and that's at least a step in the right direction?

You might well find something in the date range on e.g. AirBnB, or Booking, but BE AWARE that most small/independent places probably haven't even thought about pricing/advertising next winter yet.

And finding doorstep skiing that truly is doorstep (with all the associated hassle and grief) isn't necessarily easy.


Last edited by 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 on Sat 10-04-21 19:06; edited 1 time in total
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@under a new name, Laughing Laughing
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@under a new name, I have to disagree on parts of this.
What is called ski in/ski out usually means a short walk to the lifts. Not leaping out of your apartment window onto the snow and hence to the first lift. Getting the trajectory into the apartment window is almost unheard of for return.
Convenient access to the slopes is, in my opinion, essential to a good ski holiday. Getting busses and, even worse, driving to the slopes is horrible. Some people are prepared to put up with it. I wouldn't
@WishIWasFitter, Simply has to book for two weeks. The dates withing that period when they arrive and leave is up to them. It should not be a problem. However, as you say, most places will not be available yet.
Unicorn poop is vastly overrated.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@johnE, but I suspect @WishIWasFitter, will not be expecting to have to pay for 2 weeks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Hells Bells wrote:
@denfinella, Sat-Sat is Christmas and NY day. I think most will not be taking arrivals on those days. Fri-Fri or Sun-Sun is more likely.


Ah yes. Good point Embarassed
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
under a new name wrote:
@WishIWasFitter, you are asking for two extremely difficult things.

1. crap dates.

2. ski in/out, a myth in many places. And wildly over-rated.


I'm interested to hear what's over-rated about skiing from/to the door... Puzzled
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Bergmeister wrote:
I'm interested to hear what's over-rated about skiing from/to the door./

If you get it in a rental, you do feel cosseted. But I think what is meant, the real benefit is not much different from a short walk to lift or return piste*, and unless you have unlimited resources it gets in the way of choosing a place for more important things.

[*If it is a rental place, they will most likely still call it ski-in ski-out anyway. You won't know till you see it].
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Bergmeister, you've run out of milk/coffee/beer and it's just dropped 100cms of snow all the length of the paths from your door to the supermarket? f'r instance.

Also, in many resorts doorstep skiing tends to be rather more remote in many places from all the things you actually need like supermarkets, bars, restaurants ...

And how do you define it anyway?

There's a property for sale in Chamonix right now described as "ski in/ski out". Well, technically it is, but the only uplift in a 3km radius is on the backs of dead seals.

Nothing wrong with a 5-10 minute walk to the lift. Warms your muscles up.
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@WishIWasFitter Rental websites almost never offer anything other than Sat-Sat bookings, even if there are owners who'd be happy to rent our a weekday-to-weekday. We've currently got a client who arrived last Monday and is leaving today, but they had to ask the rental agency if that was feasible. The agency asked us, and we said 'fine'. Even with peak weeks, there may be someone who is happy with an 'irregular' rental, for eample, when the owners use it themselves for a long weekend, leaving the place a part-week unoccupied.

The message is - contact some rental agencies with your requirements and see what comes back. If you get no joy then try the Tourist Office: some owners use them rather than the agencies, to avoid the hefty agency admin charge.

If you ask for 'doorstep' skiing I suspect that it'll be interpreted as being within feasible walking distance of the main lifts, say under 10 minutes. If I were you, to be clear, I'd specify a transit time (e.g. 'less than 10 minutes') rather than a term open to interpretation.

If your model of ski-in/ski-out/'doorstep' is like, say, Val Thorens or Avoriaz, then it's worth appreciating that a lot of resorts have a different layout, where the pistes don't run through them. And where these sorts of properties will sit some way out from the centre: in such resorts, if you ask for this, you'll be excluding a lot of places where the walk to/from the lifts is under 5-10 minutes. And what you'll get is somewhere where you'll have to drive to the bars, restaurants, supermarkets and hire shop. Personally, I prefer to leave the car in the garage until it's departure day, and be within 10 minutes walk of services, even if it means a 5-10 minute walk to the lifts.


Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 12-04-21 10:45; edited 1 time in total
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
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Thank you everyone.
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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:
@under a new name, I have to disagree on parts of this.

Your privilege.

What is called ski in/ski out usually means a short walk to the lifts. Not in my book. Not leaping out of your apartment window onto the snow and hence to the first lift. No, it is, it really is. Getting the trajectory into the apartment window is almost unheard of for return. Uhhh, not in my experience.

Convenient access to the slopes is, in my opinion, essential to a good ski holiday. Well, yes, totally. Getting busses Well, depends on the buses. and, even worse, driving to the slopes You've never skied Utah have you? is horrible Depends. Some people are prepared to put up with it. I wouldn't See above.

Unicorn poop is vastly overrated. Aye, well, clearly you've never tried the good stuff, have you?
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LaForet wrote:


If you ask for 'doorstep' skiing I suspect that it'll be interpreted as being within feasible walking distance of the main lifts, say under 10 minutes. If I were you, to be clear, I'd specify a transit time (e.g. 'less than 10 minutes') rather than a term open to interpretation.



How very, very annoying. If only I had known that 15 years ago.

Our apartments (when they were apartments, and operational) were exactly 3 minutes walk to/from the lift for my wife in her ski boots on a snowy day. No-one EVER believed us when we said that. So if I'd tried to suggest "ski in/ ski out"? I'd have been laughed at all the way out of town.

The funniest thing was clients early in the week who'd say something like, "you know, I didn't believe you (!) when you said the lifts were so convenient, but they really, realy are! It's marvellous"... rolling eyes rolling eyes rolling eyes

I would note that we provided maps, with scales, photos from the garden with lift in background, independent references, ... rolling eyes rolling eyes rolling eyes
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@under a new name, our apartment is just 200m from the chairlift and nursery slopes, but I still don't say ski-in ski out, as I would be lying. You can hear the chairlift running from the terrace, but you do have to walk across the bridge and the car park to get there. I have only once been somewhere that genuinely is ski-in ski out, and that would be the Oxalys apartments in Val Thorens on a EoSB.
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My apartment is what I am happy to call ski in ski out, turn right out the front door and walk not even 2 mins to the corner, skis on and away you go. You can ski back to that very corner easily and walk back to the front door - I'd say it's 3 - 5 mins as I'm knackered after a full day and it takes me longer to get back up the slight incline.

I can also turn left out the front door and be at Sherpa in 30 secs to get my pain au chocolat in the morning Smile

We bought it for this very reason. I don't want to walk 10 mins to the lifts, I don't want to get the bus home. I've also got a stunning view towards grande motte, win win... still wouldn't rent it for the OPs dates.
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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.
I quite enjoy driving to the hill each day. It usually means I am staying in a nearby town with real locals and not just tourists.
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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
All I was trying to say to the OP really was that different people will have different interpretations of exactly what 'doorstep' means. It may mean - like a place I stayed at in at Val Thorens - literally that the exit door in the boot room opens directly onto the piste. Conversely, it may mean that - as with our apartment - it's a easy 5 minute walk. So if they do contact any agencies or Tourist Offices, it may be worth saying something like 'under x minutes walk', or if they really do want 'ski-in/ski-out'.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
By doorstep I mean only having to carry your skis for maximum 25m. We don't need to be quite that close to the slope but I don't like a trek, especially when everyone is tired. Our flights are booked with Avios, I'm thinking 1 night in Geneva and then Sat to Sat. I was just hoping someone had an alternative
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@WishIWasFitter,

One night in a valley hotel and ski a small local resort, then Sat-Sat in your selected resort? I imagine Christmas Eve in Geneva could well blow the budget.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

One night in a valley hotel and ski a small local resort, then Sat-Sat in your selected resort? I imagine Christmas Eve in Geneva could well blow the budget.

My nepthew discovered that Geneva hotels were actually a reasnoble price. I think he found them cheeper than uk hotels in general. worth looking into. You could then get a train in the morning
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@johnE, Why am I disagreeing with you so much right now?

Generally, Geneva (Swiss side) hotels are shockingly poor value. I say that with 20 years experience first 5 of travelling there mostly on business and 15 years of living there (or nearby) and colleagues visiting. We ended up usually inviting them to stay with us as prices were so ridiculous.

That said, if you just want a night's kip near the airport, there are some reasonable places in Ferney that are cheap, pleasant and clean, but in a bit of a suburban desert.
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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'm wondering if Sat-Sat will be feasible with arrival being Christmas Day? Friday is Christmas Eve. Our apartments will all be on Sunday changeovers that weekend so that everyone involved can spend time with their families. There's always key boxes I suppose.
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Hells Bells, Yes, i'm thinking my apartment will probably be Sun to Sun for those weeks. Then I'll get to sell Christmas week and New year week as opposed to Christmas day and New years eve being in the same week and I'd have to pay changeover staff for Xmas day (!) and expect them to do changeovers after seeing in NY (!) I've dealt with enough changeovers to know that is not going to happen.

Sun to Sun for xmas and NY, then the first week of Jan will probably sell as a short stay to get it back on to Sat to Sat - we'll be out in Jan (hopefully) so if it's not back on Sat - Sat by the time we go out, it will be by the time we leave Smile

I wouldn't sell the OPs dates as a week - seems like flights have been booked before doing the proper research now the OP is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

The OP needs to accept that Xmas week and NY week are 2 seperate weeks. I'd be extremely surprised if the OP can get what they're looking for at a reasonable price.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Extremophile, I'm always prepared to be flexible, but sometimes you just can't be.
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@WishIWasFitter, This doesn't quite meet your criteria, but as others have observed, your criteria may be challenging. The walk _to_ the lifts is a bit longer than you want, the ski back is shorter if the snow is ok (it usually is) and can be to the door if the snow is very good (more hit and miss in December).

https://www.happyholidayhomes.net/view/2261-r%C3%A9sidence-grand-roc-ancolies-206

This agency (no connection, apart from they look after a lot of apartments in the same blocks as mine) rents for any set of dates, with an element of premium-loading for odd dates, but not the full 2 week cost. The apartment is about 300m from the ski lifts and in good snow conditions you can ski back to the door, or if not, 200m away. It's also only 200m from one of the best boulangeries in the region, and similar to the nearest bars.

I've stayed in places that meet your criteria, and as UANN has observed, they tend to be quite isolated. I have recollections of long arrival/departure day baggage hauls across the snow to get to the door, needing to take a ski bus to get to bars/restaurants, and only one tiny overpriced supermarket within walking distance. Then again, on one trip, my then girlfriend (now wife) was a beginner and the apartment was on a nursery slope, and so she could just step out the bootroom door onto the snow, which was more important than the distance to any bar.

Finally, proximity to _a_ skilift, isn't necessarily the same as proximity to a _good_ ski lift. e.g. plenty of accommodation in Chamonix is close to the Savoy beginners drag lift. Which has a huge queue in the mornings, and takes you up the hill to a point where you have to then remove your skis, walk across/down a road, and get into the gondola that you'd probably have got to quicker by ski bus.

I wouldn't go near AirBnB. A few friends have managed to book odd dates, only to find the owner cancelling the booking sometime later when they get a better offer.
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I am clearly in a disagreeable mood, @snowdave, we probably got 60-70% of our bookings in the last couple of years through AirBnB and the general experience on both sides was very good. Landlords get penalised quite heavily for cancelling on you - although bad experiences clearly happen. If we'de cancelled on someone, that would have hit our business (and it was a proper business) pretty badly in lost future bookings.

A thorough look at reviews and determining if it's a business or just someone after a few bucks ought (!) to steer one clear.

But [i]en revanche[i], your point about "good" ski lifts is bang on. That said, I quite like the Savoy lift, if I lived next door to it wink
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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:
@under a new name,
Convenient access to the slopes is, in my opinion, essential to a good ski holiday. Getting buses and driving to the slopes is horrible. Some people are prepared to put up with it. I wouldn't.
Unicorn poop is vastly overrated.


Our Colorado road trips (2019 & 2020) were some of our best ever ski trips. Daily drives to the slopes, via great scenery, for world class skiing at places like Silverton was all part of the incredible experience; as were the buses to Vail and Beaver Creek. The same applied to our Canada multi-resort/cat skiing trips. And mini bus rides to the slopes were more than acceptable on our trip to ski active volcanoes in Chile - to name but 5 fantastic experiences involving driving, bussing and skiing. Very Happy Very Happy

And we love doorstep skiing in Val Thorens. Contrary to popular belief, we do indeed ski from the door - to a choice of a dozen ski lifts Very Happy . And it's only a 2 minute walk to bars and restaurants Very Happy You can't beat a bit of good old unicorn poop in my opinion! Toofy Grin
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@Bergmeister, On both points, well, quite! But VT is not your average ski resort...
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@under a new name, you're probably more on-the-ball with AirBnB than some owners, who (in 3 totally separate cases with friends) have decided not to rent - one 2 weeks pre-arrival on a booking made months before, and another had 2-in-a-row cancellations where he managed to book odd dates in Chamonix, only for the owner to come back within a week and cancel them, claiming that they only did week-long rentals and AirBnB wouldn't let them lock that in.

Clearly lots of people like AirBnB as it is a hugely successful company, so my secondhand experiences are out-of-the-ordinary, but the "what if" impact is sufficient that I won't use the platform. It's like Ryanair for me - the vast majority of journeys might be fine, but if mine isn't, the effect is very bad Happy
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