April 2022 resort ideas?

A snowHead

Hi, we're optimistically considering skiing next spring. Looking at the week at the end of March/ start of April. We're looking for value for money, rather than high end. While my husband and I are confident skiers we'll be tag teaming some childcare, so happy with some easily accessible piste cruising. We'll be focusing the resort choice based around our toddlers (aged 2 and 4 by then) and beginner/early intermediate adults who will be joining us. We'd rather a smaller, quieter area rather than paying top price for the big name resorts.

Requirements:
Apartment or chalet, no hotels (less fun with toddlers).
Moderate chance of ok snow in Spring, so north facing slopes, or high/glacier.
Quiet area so kids and beginner can enjoying learning, with inexpensive local area lift pass.

I know Tignes, Val Thoren, etc are good but I don't think they'd suit us at this time, too big, busy, pricey.

So far I've been thinking La Thuile, Serre Chevalier, Obergurgl, or maybe Ischgl, Mayhofen, Maurianne Valley. Any others I should be looking at? Any on my list that I should cross off?

A snowHead

In France, Val Cenis (Maurienne valley, as you have already mentioned) fits all of your criteria.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

We popped up to Valmorel last weekend not skied there but it looked like a lovely resort and still good snow covering. Lots of greens and blues but also some more challenging pistes for the more confident and a good range of self catering accomodation.

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Is the SnowHeads Family Bash too late for you? Val Thorens. I can personally recommend it

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

+1 for the SnowHead Family Bash in Val Thorens. *I think* Admin is looking at the week before the EoSB, which would be the week running up to Easter.

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For valley Maurienne, "Val Cenis le haut" area is at the periphery of the village at highest point, has it's own nursery slopes with dedicated poma lift right in amongst the "residence les balcons" so absolutely ideal for youngest to be located on the snow for both ski and toboggan without having to travel anywhere.

At the edge of that is the principal short gondola into main ski area that has green piste back down plus longer toboggan run too.

As mentinoed above, far more extensive north facing slopes too with complete direct ski access back to apartment for the tag element. It couldn't be more convenient.

Somewhere not on OP list, I'd add Ste Foy too, as completely village based and absolutely no travel to snow as entirety of accommodation is surrounding the piste facilities in village centre. Exemplary for both beginners and the more adventurous with that ready access back to apartments for family mix convenience. "Etoile de Cimes" probably best value with "Le Ferme" literally overlooking nursery slope provision. Saying that, E d C is right next to them too but all of about 50 metres distant Very Happy

Exceptionally easy to use for you requirements with such easy walk out access.

We've usually been to both toward second half/ end of March, always with good snow.

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Thanks all! While I'd be keen on a bash, my long suffering husband will not be convinced.

I think I've narrowed it down to Val Cenis or La Thuile. Snow records are OK, prices are very tempting.

Ste Foy looks great if was just us as a family, but having a larger group with some early intermediates means I'd prefer slightly more piste variety.
Austria just doesn't look doable as I'm discounting hotel stays.

Anyone skied Val Cenis or La Thuile late season? For both resorts, I'm guessing the lower wooded slopes are hard first thing, great at midday but then icy by the afternoon? The upper slopes might not get too heavy until fairly late afternoon, I'm hoping? As they're both north facing and above 2000m. I've only skied La Thuile early season so have an idea about the resort in general.

While I'm not looking for lively apres, I'm assuming Val Cenis has a couple of snow front cafe type places to grab a snack and drink in the afternoon sun? For my friends who don't have kids, are there a couple of bars for an evening drink? I know La Thuile has a couple, but not sure about Val Cenis?

After all it is free

I skied La Thuile at Easter. The beginner's zig-zag run down to the base was closed due to sparse snow, though an instructor took us on it anyway and it was OK most of the way, as long as your skis are rentals (if you know what I mean). You could get the lift back down or the blacks. If you've been there, you'll know that Black 3 is a short, steep black down to town . They piste-bashed it most days so it was more ski-able in the morning, but became scraped back to ice later in the day, so a real challenge unless you are expert.

Above the first lift the snow was great. Definitely better condition (and quieter) than in La Rosierre, with which it links.

You originally mentioned Obergurgl, which is very reliable at Easter. I've skied there at least 6 times at Easter. Although it is hotel heavy, there is some self catering. There are some superb apartments close to the lifts. Google for Gletscherblick. If your budget does not stretch to those, there are others at affordable prices. Google for Arbitare, though I think there are others.

@carettam, Probably not quite what you are thinking of, but may I reccomend Les Arcs, especially the Vallandry end. The high open area at the top of the Peissey lift is ideal for beginners. and the snow reliabilty is good. You can also buy a lift pass for only the Arc 1600, 1800 and Vallandry part of the resort instead of the full Les Arcs pass saving money. Unlike other linked resorts if you do accidently ski down into Arc2000 you can simply jump on a Navette and return to Arc 1600.

The end of March/early April is a good time to visit - good snow and of course if the clocks have gone forward pleasant evening sunshine. It is usually quiet that time of year as well, gradually getting quieter until the Easter holidays. Personally I'll be in 1600 then if Covid allows, but don't, as a rule, reccomend Arc 1600 for beginners.

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+1 for Les Arcs.
Les Arcs 2000 has a wonderful bowl with pleasant blues, the 1950 beneath looks like a Disney park and has good places to eat plus a better supermarket .

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Thanks again. Some good ideas and options. The Obergurgl apartments are lovely, but beyond our budget.
I looked at Less Arcs. I found a couple of options in Vallandry in budget, but pistes looks a bit steep for my timid 4yo to learn there. No greens?

I've found another contender, Les Orres, but can't find much about it on here using the search. It's very budget friendly, a well laid out resort and seems very family focused. Lots of greens of varied lengths to learn on, enough cruisy reds to keep me entertained. I know it's southern Alps so late season temps may impact snow, but it faces NW and has got height. Any thoughts?

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@carettam, Les Arcs does not use the green classification at all. That doesn't mean that some of the pistes would not be green in other resorts. There are plenty of gentle areas. The ski school will know exactly where to go. At the top of the Peisey and Grizzley lifts is a large begineers area, possibly (along with Alpe d'huez) the best beginners area I know of. Though there is a very gentle piste down many absolute beginners download on the Peisey lift which is specially set up for downloading. Arc 2000 has a large area for children with covered stand on escalators for your first time on skis.

@carettam, I would generally recommend Les Orres for a beginner, but not in April - as you say, it's quite sunny (I would say WNW facing rather than NW) and quite far south. And not a particularly big ski area (though I don't think that was a priority for you).

I did a trip report on it here (scroll down to the first skiing day, Friday): https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=152112

You know it makes sense.

That's good to know about Lea Arcs. Ideally I'd like a beginner slope at resort level, so it's easier to tag team childcare and for the non skiing parent to watch our son's first go on skis while playing with the younger sibling in the snow. Might keep Vallandry in mind when the youngest starts ski lessons.

We're looking to go end of March, rather than April now. I know that'll probably mean slush and warm temps later in the day, but this will be a holiday focusing on the kids having their first snow experience. There will be skiing, sledging, swimming, ice skating. We won't need a big area or expensive lift pass. I've skied Vars/Risoul and La Clusaz in late March, and Montgeneve and Les Carroz in early April, and all have been skiable.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@carettam, Les Orres might be fine at the end of March, but might not be ideal in a poor snow year. For what it's worth, we skied both Risoul / Vars and Les Orres on consecutive days on our mid March 2020 trip, and conditions were significantly better in Vars / Risoul - though they weren't bad in Les Orres. From what I remember, that was a reasonably good season for the southern French Alps.

What about returning to Risoul?

I would go for Val Cenis over La Thuile.

Other French options: Les Saisies, Alpe d'Huez, Puy St Vincent?

A snowHead

A snowHead

Would La Rosiere suit? 1800m so should be good for snow in late March. South facing slopes, so great for young children, as in relatively warm. Plenty of beginner options and relatively easy access to the slopes. A few enjoyable bars. Very family friendly.

Perhaps not a massive area and not loads of variety, if one excludes skiing over into La Thuile. Which may not be an option, given your group mix.

Just a thought, but some Austrian ski areas offer joint adult ski passes where childcare duties are shared, meaning you can keep the adult pass costs down. I know our local area, Dachstein West, offers this. I’m not sure about France and whether this is an option...perhaps someone else can chip in with the info.

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@carettam,
We've been twice to Val Cenis in April once for a week with youngish kids and the second time with same kids as part of a Maurienne tour where we were a couple of days in Val Cenis.
First time was a generally poor snow year and we had changed venue to Val Cenis as our first choice was reporting very poor snow.
The snow in Val Cenis was reasonable with most runs open but scratchy off piste.
Second time we had fabulous snow including the mountain virtually to ourselves on an Easter Saturday powder day.
Very good area for families, very reasonable priced lift passes and accommodation, highly recommended.
PS of your other areas we also used to visit Serre Che at that time of year and it's also very good though maybe not so convenient with very young children.

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That's good to hear about Val Cenis. I liked the look if it so will definitely keep this in the running.

I liked Vars - Risoul but as it's a larger area, I may visit again when both kids are on skis so we can make the most of it.

I had La Thuile on my list, rather than La Rosiere, due to slope aspect. I now La Ros is geared to families, but sunny south facing slopes in spring didn't seem a good bet? Although I think I'll value family focus and convenience over snow quality. Eek. I never thought I'd say that! My 4yo is mostly going to be in a snow garden and on a couple of easy green pistes. I would like those pistes to be quiet.

Valmeinier is another option, but again, as its linked to Valloire, we'd get more out of it as a family once both kids are on skis.

Need to take another look at La Saises. Thanks.

I think my top two are Val Cenis and Les Orres. I'll check out historic snow. Others I'll keep in mind will be Valmeinier/ Valloire, Vars/ Risoul and La Thuile / La Rosiere.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Quite like the look of Orres - I'd never heard of it.

@carettam, are you driving down? How late can you leave the booking of an apartment?

No ski school requirements for anyone?

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Austria not doable? We have some great self-catering apartments in Wagrain. 60 Min transfer from Salzburg Airport. Super quiet at Easter and great N facing runs that preserve the snow well in to April. Plus, the Ski Amade area does kids ski free from mid-march. Drop me a PM if you'd like to know more.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free · Last edited by After all it is free on Fri 9-04-21 14:58; edited 1 time in total

I've been to quite a few of the places mentioned above in late March/early April. Firstly if you have no school age children I would go mid March. If you need to go in school holidays then first week of April would be fine in many places snow wise.
These are my thoughts:

Val Cenis - good value and suitable skiing for your group. Highest slopes go up to 2800 so fairly snow sure. If the weather is mild it can get heavy going on the lowest slopes in the afternoon particularly the appropriately named Escargot green.

Montgenevre - doesn't seem to have been mentioned but I think this is the best option in the southern alps. Excellent snow record, good self catering options and ESF childcare if needed. Better intermediate cruising than Val Cenis in my opinion but also really good for beginners. Good self catering options.

Sainte Foy - good snow record at Easter. Skiing good but limited for "on piste" skiers. Family orientated, loads of Brits.. I like speaking french on holiday so found it frustrating that there hardly seemed to be any french people there.

Puy St Vincent - Worth considering if you need childcare as Snow Bizz who operate there are excellent and run ski lessons for 3/4 year olds in the mornings. Accommodation fairly basic and ski area not that extensive. Therefore I'd only go there for snow bizz.

Les Saisies- Beautiful ski area. Good choice of gentle slopes above the village. Has a good snow record for its altitude but does not have any slopes above 2100m.

Les Orres - I went there for my first ever ski holiday 30 yrs ago. I don't know if it is snow sure enough for Easter - would suggest looking at the webcams there now (and in other resorts you are interested in) I think Montgenevre or Val Cenis would be safer bets snow wise.

La Rosiere - excellent for families and excellent accommodation options at the foot of the slopes in Les Eucharts. however it takes a bit of time to ski over to la thuile so I'd say it isn't the best place to go if you want to swap childcare responsiblities at lunchtime or meet up with beginners as by the time you got over to La thuile it would be time to go back.

Les Arcs - The Peisey Vallandry area mentioned in a post above is lovely but I would probably wait until the kids are older to ski the les arcs/la plagne area.

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@snowymum Thank you for such a detailed summary of these resorts, very helpful! I love Montgenevre but some of my group learned to ski there the other year, so would like to go somewhere new.

I'm tied to school holidays as two of my group are teachers, as am I. I'm looking at getting value for money, ideally in a smaller resort where costs are lower and the pistes are less busy. We'll be able to go late March, and when I've looked at historic snow depth/snow fall, it looked like a reasonable punt at La Thuile, Val Cenis, Les Orres, etc. If we were waiting a couple more weeks, closer to Easter weekend then I'd be more concerned. I've also carried out some webcam snooping, but piste condition/ snow quality isn't that easy to judge.

My 4yo will be in ski school in the mornings, but he'll have the afternoons with us/ our group. We're not looking for all day childcare. If he wants to ski more, then I'll help him (I'm a qualified level 1 instructor). If he's tired/ doesn't enjoy it much, then we'll do swimming, sledging, walking, snowman, etc. Hence, I'm not too worried if the snow Is a bit heavy in the afternoons. It was the wide range of activities at Les Orres that appealed to me. We'll also have a 2yo to entertain, hence the tag team sking, although will likely put her in nursery a couple of mornings, so the adults can all ski together.

I've looked into lift pass sharing but very few resorts do it. I'm not too upset at paying for a full pass and only using it for 3 or 4 hours each day, if its not too pricey to start with

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@carettam, I would recommend Les Saisies maybe staying at Les Chalets des Cimes which is on a green slope (I think) but centrally located. We had a booking this year for Residence Amaya but that is a little further from the village centre. The place where we have actually stayed is Les hameau de beaufortain but that is a drive from the resort centre. Les Saisies is excellent for families with young children. You would have a pool in the apartment building and there is a mini roller coaster near by. There is also a newish leisure centre called le signal. It would offer suitable skiing for your friends and enough for you. The drawback would be that your son might end up being the only English child in a ski group but we were in this situation when my daughter was five and she managed ok as the instructor spoke good English. I would have thought it would be as good as anywhere for sledging and snowman building.

Val Cenis would also be good and would probably have a few more English families (but not as many as tarentaise resorts). I prefer the Les Saisies ski area but val Cenis is child friendly and good value. Les Balcons is well located. We stayed at Les chalets de flambeau which was very good but further from the village centre.

I wouldn’t go to la thuile with your group as the lift system is antiquated in places, the nursery slopes are a lift up from the village and I think the self catering accommodation would be more basic than the French options. I do love the la thuile skiing but have always skied it from the French side.

The main resort of Les Orres is a lot less attractive than val Cenis or Les saisies. However I think there is a newer area at 1850 with better more attractive accommodation. I went there on a French university ski trip and we stayed in very basic accommodation in the resort centre. Obviously that was 30 years ago but not sure if some of those apartment blocks would have changed much. I think it is a scenic ski area and as you say good value but the village does not have the upmarket feel of somewhere like Sainte Foy.

Sainte foy would suit your party with the only drawback being the size of the ski area. We stayed at Les fermes de Sainte foy but I would probably try l’etoile des cimes.

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Yet again, you've been really helpful @snowymum!

If Les Orres, I'd been looking at the new satellite village at 1800, with several chalet style apartment buildings overlooking the pistes and snow garden beginner area. They all have pools and there's ice rink and toboggan ride at 1650.

If Val Cenis, I'd been leaning towards Les Balcons for the better location, rather than Flambeau. Good to know that this is valid.

I'll take a more detailed look at Les Saisies. It sounds great for my group, if we can get convenient accommodation at a good price. Easy ski area and lots of family activities too. I'd not considered it due to the low altitude but if it holds the snow well then that's OK.

Good point about La Thuile and the beginner area. I think that's ruled that area out.

I'm less keen on Ste Foy due to its small size. If it was just my family, maybe, but with some friends too, I think it's not quite right for us.

I don't think my 4yo would mind being in a mostly French ski class. He learns a tiny bit of French at nursery anyway. As long as the instructor spoke reasonable English, he'd be OK. I prefer resorts where the main language you overhear is the local one. Where you need to use your language skills to shop, etc.

We go to Val Cenis every April- conditions are often good- but quite slushy below 1600m late afternoon- our kids loved it but some in our party just took gondola back down! Several bars on the Front de Neige where you can sit in the sunshine and wait for everyone to finish! Also very quiet, good value, don’t really want too many to know about this at Easter time!!

You know it makes sense.

@carettam, The Foret piste runs from top of Vallandry lifts and is a very gentle run down to Vallandry - it's only Blue as it is a little narrow in places, it's a road in summer. My kids all learnt to ski in Vallandry and are plenty of easy runs

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

April is the best time of year to ski in my book. Places like Val D’isere, Zermatt and Chamonix are arguably at their best in the spring sunshine. April often brings new snow or else sunny and very warm days with long sunny lunches and loads of off piste skiing above 2000m. It’s also cheaper and much quieter. You do need to be quite high though and north facing as you point out. I imagine Serre Chevalier would be good most years ?

A snowHead

@Peter S, tbh I think different times of the year have different plusses and minuses but yeah if I could only go one week in a season I think I'd plump for the first week the half term school holiday ends (Mid-March) or if dictated by school holidays whenever they break up end of March/early April.

A snowHead

I think there is a lot to be said for late April. For the last 10 years Ive been out to Chamonix more or less the last week of the season in early May, late April. I don't think Ive ever not skied and more often than not its either been new snow or baking hot spring skiing. Its a shame they don't ski later into May Cool

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@Peter S, I think w/c 13th April is the latest I've skied. Mid-April > May usually regarded as ski touring season isn't it? Although obviously the likes of Val T stay open and for sure you can get some excellent late dumps of snow.

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@Layne, +1 its a gamble that time of the year, and one i'm not prepared to take again having been "caught" on a couple of occasions over the years......we've got skis on the cars, and the locals kayaks and mountainbikes!

Latest we go now (I wish) is 2nd week in March, have been at Easter lots but I wouldn't say its a classic time to ski, more of a hit and miss half day skiing, half day slush fest post lunch, with an occasional powder day, even in the high French/ Austrian/ Swiss resorts. That said it's nice to laze about after 2pm and drink beers and aperol on the terraces in the sun. Cool

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Markymark29, the 2nd week in March is peak season. Of course the conditions at Easter can vary a lot depending on when the Easter holidays are. It varies between late March and late April. Things can change a lot over a month. If you look at the livecams for Les Arcs (sadly I do) you'll see almost complte snow cover. I gather they had fresh snow at Les Sept Laux last night. The latest I've ever gone on a skiing trip is to Tignes for the May day weekend. It was actually pretty good.

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It has been a odd season this year, not just about Covid, but also about the weather.

Febuary was very warm and the vines started to grow along with fruit. Then April has been cold with almost complete snow cover and even fresh snow down to resort levels. It appears that this has devestated the vines and fruit growth causing significant ecconomic problems in French agriculture. It may cause a shortage of wine next season Sad

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@carettam, I'd cross Ischgl off your list. It's a great resort and snow sure in April but its a big resort and as expensive as the French mega resorts. Very little in the way of chalets and apartments as well.

Help!!

April 2022 resort ideas?

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