 Poster: A snowHead
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I'll start be saying that I think this place would be amazing given the right conditions. It has so much potential.
The resort as a whole is basically 4 small linked valleys which span from Briancon to Monetier. We stayed in Odalys Aquisana in Villeneuve which is very new and in great condition, it even has a pool table in the foyer. There is a dedicated bus for that residence which goes to Pointyass and Frejus and back again. The small corner shop nearby wasn't finished so not open.
Travel by coach from Chambery is about 3 hours. Actually as there are two different routes, either through the Frejus tunnel or via Grenoble as happened to us, if one is blocked the other can be used.
There seems to have been quite a bit of investment in infrastructure here recently which is good. New Gondola, new chair lifts. There are quite a few drags but you don't need to take them if you don't want to. Info boards at the bottom and top of Pointyass must be taken with a pinch of salt, best to look out of the window of the gondola, on one day we got it totally wrong, they stated all open so we cruised down to the last chair lift to find it closed which meant a long slide right the way down to the bottom in early morning icy conditions which was a bit frustrating.
The resort for me has a kind of old school feel about it, probably because I generally go to VT and EK mostly. On the hill there's a lot of winding road type pistes through the trees. Up top there seems almost limitless off piste potential given the right conditions, which we didn't have...sob!
There are clean toilets (if you clean up after you) dotted about on the hill which is a pleasant surprise. There are a few tables about where you can picnic. There are also a couple of areas with hot plates where you can cook stuff you've brought with you if you fancy. All very civilised for France I must say.
I was quite surprised in that there wasn't much in town for what is I thought a year round town, a small Sherpa being the only supermarket for example. The Pizza place upstairs was unsurprisingly very busy given that it's pizzas were delicious. I can't comment on any other restaurants because I actually enjoy cooking in the evening and we take pain for lunch.
We drank in Bar Tapas after ending the day. The IPA is a lovely cloudy ale type beer, not too hoppy but very drinkable. The staff are very friendly and gave us free Genepi surprisingly because we only had a couple of drinks every afternoon.
Given the conditions though, I found the skiing/boarding (I swing both ways!) quite limited.
Nobody expects thaw/freeze in January. Wasn't too bad at the start of the week when I was on the board, in the afternoons it softened up and we managed a bit of lift served off piste but as the week progressed the pistes got worse and was unable to find anything off that was in anyway worth it. The conditions were pretty weird actually, not the fault of the resort of course, just the weather. When I could get on the edges and hold it I seemed to accelerate really quickly, much quicker than I would expect. I wonder if this is why the ski racers prefer hard, icy pistes?
I've never seen a piste actually sheet ice before, closed all day too, (as seen from the Pointyass gondola) and as that was a green run down to the bottom the red was carnage.
Having said all that, I can really see that this place would be amazing fun with a bit of snow. There looks to be so much far from the madding crowd if conditions allow.
Would I go back? Definitely. I'd book a late deal if conditions/forecast were favourable, I'd spend most of the day dicking about off piste and more than likely hire a local guide to get away from everyone else that has the same idea!
Still, a bad day in the mountains and all that!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Timely post, was just considering this an an option for the first week of March, might save it for a quieter group and a snowier forecast and switch back to Austria after all!
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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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@Dubmuffin, We actually packed up at 2pm on our last day because we just weren't having fun anymore, I've never done that before!
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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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@gixxerniknik, Pointyass 
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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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@gixxerniknik, Sounds grim, we can't expect every ski day to go perfectly, but this current period seems worse than usual. Booking anything feels like a risk at he moment - but I can't resist!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@gixxerniknik, why do you think I bailed and went back earlier than usual to the UK for my mid-season break 
A couple of points where you stayed is 100m from me, we live on the South side just above Odalys.
Once the season is over the whole place closes down and it's nigh on a ghost town (nice peaceful), the few shops and bars all close in the commercial centre where the Tapas bar is located. A much nicer bar is the Cocoon next to the Sherpa, and the 1420 bar upstairs; and did you not explore the old village on the other side of the river?
I've heard how bad the pistes are and it's not looking good for the holidays as there's no snow on the horizon.
I'm heading back Wednesday and will probably resort to more E-Mtb spring ski touring in the Gardiole / Granon sector or up in the Tete Noire area above Serre Barbin on the South side or mini road trip to Les Fonts / Cervieres, though there are some other slack-country S facing routes that might be possible, but I imagine now that many might be skied, so it's only the ones that are less accessible that might be worthwhile.
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Could someone please put me out of my misery and tell me what it's actually called?
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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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@Hurtle, Pontillas
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@Hells Bells, thank you!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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One of my favorite lift name changes is the Prorel chair, my mate always calls it Hampstead, I asked him why and he said "because the liftie's got big teeth"
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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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My kids used to call Bachas chairlift 'Bash Ass' when they were smaller. Although I think they really meant either Yret or Cibouit.
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So my French is a bit sketchy, but Pontillas would either be pronounced Ponty-ya or Ponty-yas depending on if it's either court french or frontier gibberish.
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You know it makes sense.
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It's actually Pointless MK 2 as it's still feckin pointless as a lift!
It really could have been so much better, just believe us "locals" who decry it.
But just as an example, they promote it as a super fast lift that gets you up there in 8 minutes, so you get first lifts only to find that all the surrounding lifts don't open until 09:30 
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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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@gixxerniknik, Ponty-yas, it's all frontier gibberish round here
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Weathercam,
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But just as an example, they promote it as a super fast lift that gets you up there in 8 minutes, so you get first lifts only to find that all the surrounding lifts don't open until 09:30
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Yes, we thought it was a pretty pointless idea too after getting up early enough to get to Pointyass for 8:30 the first day!
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FAQ
