 Poster: A snowHead
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@johnE, April's looking busier than usual this year if chunnel crossings are to go by
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Mother hucker, As discussed elsewhere in this forum the British make up only a small percentage of the skiers in the Alps. Mind you I am not suprised tunnel crossing are up. I suspect lots of people are keen to get away, anywhere, as soon as possible. Looking at apartment bookings in Les Arcs it isn't looking more busy than usual. I think the late Easter holidays may have something to do with it.
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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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@Mother hucker,
May not necessarily be ski traffic though?
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| billb wrote: |
@Bergmeister, as said, each to their own. I wouldn't dream of flying across the pond for a single week for any activity. Two weeks minimum to make the flight cost worthwhile (unless someone else was paying......)  |
We usually paid about £400 return (max) for the flight, so didn't think that was too bad to escape the crowds and enjoy empty ski runs.
We still (that is, until Covid struck) ski in Colorado each February and make use of 6 days free skiing in Vail resorts (that are included in our 3 Valleys season passes ). Of course we now go for longer than a week and make a road trip of it.
But if Mrs B was still teaching we would still go to Colorado for a week for Feb HT, as flights can still be had for less than £500.
Out of interest, one of our favourite transatlantic trips was for a week in October half term, for our Silver Wedding anniversary. We flew to Denver, hired a car and drove to Fruita, Moab and Blue Diamond for mountain biking, before heading to Las Vegas for a show. That was a great adventure - a 900 mile drive with 6 great days of mountain biking  .We flew home from Las Vegas.
Where there's a will there's a way!
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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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I realize that in school half term trips I didn’t queue because I was in ski school, so priority access.
For several trips afterwards I paid for group and then private lessons; priority access.
Now on the worst days of the holiday, usually Saturday or Sunday, I either get up pretty early to beat the queue then disappear into the vast ski area, or for Easter weekend in Canada which is the middle of our fortnight, we take the weekend off to rest legs, do something different, and definitely avoid crowds.
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Tied to school age children (just the one left now) and a wife who is a teacher, so don't have much choice. So despite comments above about 'large resort's I actually think these are a good choice in some respects so long as
A. You know the resort well enough to know when and where the main bottlenecks and queues will be.
B. You're not tied to ski school times.
C. You don't bug about, early first lift, early or late lunch, ski till last lift.
I was in the 3v's half term 2020, (last ski holiday before bloody covid). Me and the girls took the last lift up, sat at the top watching the sun start to go over the mountain tops and the last few recreational skiers get down, then had one of the best runs down together, almost nobody to be seen.
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Expecting to see huge crowds I just visited the Les Arcs Live cams (https://en.lesarcs.com/livecams.html) to have a look. Oddly the resort looks fairly quiet. I'm not sure why since it is a Sunday in the middle of the school winter holidays. The sun is shinning so the weather cannot be a reason. Any thoughts?
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@johnE, lunchtime
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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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@ansta1, indeed - we were in Les Arcs 3 years ago and everyone heads to Arc 2000 bowl, runs above Arc 1600 and Vallandry were empty.
Some clever route planning and taking 2 or 3 lifts instead of 1 means worst of queues were avoided.
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| Quote: |
indeed - we were in Les Arcs 3 years ago and everyone heads to Arc 2000 bowl, runs above Arc 1600 and Vallandry were empty.
Some clever route planning and taking 2 or 3 lifts instead of 1 means worst of queues were avoided.
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That and paying to use the priority queues
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| johnE wrote: |
It is certainly an arresting photograph and a huge queue, but this is for the Colusses, which, as its name implies, is huge. It is a 8 seat detachable chair lift capable of shifting over 4400 people per hour, one of the largest if not the largest in the world. Large queues can form and be shifted quickly.
Mind you a 30 minute queue as @davidof, reports is bad but I have had them in almost every country I’ve skied in. The exception was Japan. The worst was St. Anton where there were 2 separate 30 minute queues one after the other just to get up the mountain every morning. The best behaved was Bulgaria, and the best regimented Whistler where they marshalled the queue to the queue down the street. Verbier showed me that even Switzerland has a queuing problem at times.
As @pam w, points out the best way to avoid queues is to not go during school holidays, which means that in February the best choice is probably Italy, where there is no mid-winter holiday. Like her I rent out my apartment in France over the 4 weeks of the school holidays and go in April instead. |
Actually, on closer investigation, I think that the queue (in the foreground) is for Blanchets. You can't actually fully see the queue for Colosses, although it looks pretty meaty as well. The crowds waiting for lifts at Bellecote can be pretty spectacular, but given that those 3 chairs can shift over 10,000 people an hour, a thousand people there looks intimidating but actually is only about 5 mins worth.
Even at half term, picking the least busy lift I've not had more then 15 mins, and I've had a lot worse elsewhere in my time.
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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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| JDL65 wrote: |
| But other Tarantaise resorts have far better lift systems that still allow intermediates to get around easily. Compared to the 3 Valleys, you get at best 70% distance and 60% elevation in a day at La Plagne in comparison. I reckon a similar comparison would be had with Val d'Isere/Tignes. |
I'm not a big fan of the Val d'Isere lift system and feel it is resting the laurels of the 1992 olympics, IMHO. There are some very good descents in VdI but when you get out of the main area the lifts are a bit tired. There is a lift that dates from 1962 in VdI, the eggs at la Fornet from 1973!
I don't know if we'd have covered any more distance, a bit more with fewer crowds, here is where we skied for anyone interested.
http://pistehors.com/WM5mF38BbNihPQ79UbAL/la-plagne-tarentaise-french-alpes
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@Bergmeister, I think it's great that it works for you. £400 is a bargain return fare to anywhere stateside near a ski resort but still much more than a bargain European alpine flight.
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You know it makes sense.
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| eblunt wrote: |
Even at half term, picking the least busy lift I've not had more then 15 mins, and I've had a lot worse elsewhere in my time. |
Arpettes also had a big queue. It took us 30 minutes. One annoying thing was sometimes only 2 or 3 people were on an 8 man chair.
We also had an issue with an ESF guy who was trying to push me off the lift because he had 3 clients he wanted to load on. I'm normally very accommodating with ski school instructors but I he was an arrogant short back bottom savoyard with a big gob who didn't represent his school well.
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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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do the french resorts do an app?
dolomitisuperski app shows a % queueness factor, laax app has cctv of each lift queue
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Poster: A snowHead
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Struggling with weekend crowds in Soldeu
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
There is a lift that dates from 1962 in VdI, the eggs at la Fornet from 1973!
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I may be wrong and it has probably been replaced now but I thought the telephrique that went from the town to the Solaise area dated from the early 1940s. It has been a while since I was down that part of town.
What exactly is wrong with old lifts provided they have have been safety checked? They usually have more character than new ones. Consider, for example the side loading and unloading chairs at Zakopane, the sling shots at Portillo, the tiny 2 seaters in Japan. Or indeed the odd single seater. I love them. I'd rather be on the old, slow charmattoger lift than the Transarc to the mid station in Les Arcs
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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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| Bergmeister wrote: |
| We usually paid about £400 return (max) for the flight, so didn't think that was too bad to escape the crowds and enjoy empty ski runs. |
How long ago was that? And was it a normal ticket booked in advance or a Virgin Flying Club Reward Ticket (or similar) because I don't think the taxes for an economy transatlantic flight are much less than £300 now?
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@davidof, that Arpettes 8 man chair causes more problems than it solves IMHO
Very rare 8 people actually get on it due to the faffing around and queue holding up trying to get on with family etc
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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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As has often been said here, it's high time the French lift operators got tough with people faffing around because they can't possibly go up a chair lift without their very best friend. The "singles line" seems a very civilised idea. But I agree that 8 man chairs are a bit silly - a six seater which six people actually sit on would be better.
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| Boris wrote: |
| Very rare 8 people actually get on it due to the faffing around and queue holding up trying to get on with family etc |
That is ridiculous when the queues are that big. There should be lifties policing this. Get on the lift or get to the back of the queue. Only exception, small children who are allowed to wait for their responsible adult.
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| johnE wrote: |
| Quote: |
There is a lift that dates from 1962 in VdI, the eggs at la Fornet from 1973!
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I may be wrong and it has probably been replaced now but I thought the telephrique that went from the town to the Solaise area dated from the early 1940s. It has been a while since I was down that part of town.
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The (1942 vintage)Cable Car & (newer)chair lifts that went from the town to the Solaise were replaced by a jumbo gondola (10 seater) in 2016. The Cable car was decommissioned the following year IIRC, and the top station turned into a fancy hotel.
Not sure when the La Fornet eggs went, but they've been replaced by 6 seater metal gondolas for this season at least. However, they aren't new, so I suspect they've been 'upcycled' from somewhere else - perhaps the two decommissioned gondolas out of Le Brev?
Only came across one T bar in the EK last week - Montet up on the Pissalier glacier. Had to laugh there coz a ski instructor was coming down with a broken off 'anchor' in his hand. Wonder if he managed to survive when the T bar rope snapped.
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| Quote: |
Only exception, small children who are allowed to wait for their responsible adult.
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sure, but it's really irritating when the whole family faff around to get them all on together. Much better, if there are two parents and two kids, to split up and go on consecutive chairs. But a lot of the people who faff are grownups who should know better.
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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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And since we're on about half term crowds, I can honestly report we only came across 3 queues last week in Val d'Isere. Twice on Pim-Pam at about 4pm trying to head home, and once when we were stupid enough to get to the Olympic Express at 09:30. Avoid the big lifts at Ski-school start time and it seems fine. The new rope tow (Replat) over in Tignes is a handy addition allowing you to avoid Grand Huit if it gets busy too.
I do question the sanity of Pim Pam though. It's the only way up to allow you to ski down the face of Solaise to Val Diz centre, and absolutly mobbed with beginner ski schools looping that lift. Being beginners the do seem prone to falling over causing the lift to stop. When it stops suddenly you can get a kind of domino effect where half a dozen or more people (not neccecerily all beginners) also fall over as the lift stops. Quite funny to watch, but definatley puts you on your guard in case you become that person.
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Thats not a big queue at all. There used to be signs in Meribel that read "from this point: 2 hours"
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Dutch causing mayhem In Alpe D'Huez
les touristes hollandais font du grabuge dans la station
Several hundred Dutch tourists have taken over Alpe-d'Huez for this second week of school holidays and loudly demonstrated their presence on the night of Saturday February 19 to Sunday February 20.
Mostly drunk, they tried to enter the resort's bars and nightclubs and disrupted traffic by wandering its streets, forcing the gendarmes to intervene to put an end to these disturbances to public order.
No arrests were necessary and no injuries or damage were to be deplored, but the police will be extra vigilant and will certainly be more present, especially at night, to ensure the tranquility of the station.
https://www.ledauphine.com/faits-divers-justice/2022/02/20/isere-les-touristes-hollandais-font-du-grabuge-dans-la-station
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| As has often been said here, it's high time the French lift operators got tough with people faffing around because they can't possibly go up a chair lift without their very best friend. The "singles line" seems a very civilised idea. But I agree that 8 man chairs are a bit silly - a six seater which six people actually sit on would be better. |
Plus 7 million, zillion. Fill the chairs/lifts up ffs.
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| jebroni3_16 wrote: |
| Bergmeister wrote: |
| We usually paid about £400 return (max) for the flight, so didn't think that was too bad to escape the crowds and enjoy empty ski runs. |
How long ago was that? And was it a normal ticket booked in advance or a Virgin Flying Club Reward Ticket (or similar) because I don't think the taxes for an economy transatlantic flight are much less than £300 now? |
That was prior to 2014, when we retired. We now expect to pay about £500 (max) for a flight to Denver (which is actually 2 or 3 flights - including connections) from Newcastle. That's a bog standard econony return. I've just had a quick look on Skyscanner and we could get a flight from NCL to Denver in a month's time for £508 pp. That's not too bad at relatively short notice. If we could fly from London it would be even cheaper.
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You know it makes sense.
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| johnE wrote: |
What exactly is wrong with old lifts provided they have have been safety checked? |
very slow.
but better a slow lift with no queues than an 8 seater chair with a half hour wait.
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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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| tangowaggon wrote: |
Struggling with weekend crowds in Soldeu |
I feel your pain
Have a good one 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hard to take our schools /govt seriously if they make a fuss about a week off school when they've just closed schools for two terms and continually told us how good remote/online learning is.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@trmacc, 
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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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Back from a week in Avoriaz and... well it was no more busy than 3 weeks ago and possibly even a little quieter! Chatting to some of the ski school staff numbers were well down with far fewer Brits than normal but also fewer other nations too.
If you take out the odd hangry tantrum all in all it was a very pleasent week
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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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| trmacc wrote: |
| Hard to take our schools /govt seriously if they make a fuss about a week off school when they've just closed schools for two terms and continually told us how good remote/online learning is. |
Alternatively, 'When the school system has been screwed for two (more) terms, how can anyone take kids out of school for another week for skiing?'
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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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Firstly hahahahaha to all the ppl with kids. But everyone saying why do ppl do it. It’s called having work and a family. Some ppl have to actually contribute to society some of the time. Also isn’t it illegal to take your kids out of school during term time for a holiday?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Mjit wrote: |
Back from a week in Avoriaz and... well it was no more busy than 3 weeks ago and possibly even a little quieter! Chatting to some of the ski school staff numbers were well down with far fewer Brits than normal but also fewer other nations too.
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Not sure how true this is, but it feels like this half term has been split more into two than in previous years - generally Feb half term for the vast majority is one week, with a few exceptions. This year it feels more 50/50 - for example our kids our on half term this week. So it could be that last week was quieter because more are coming this week.
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| Quote: |
Some ppl have to actually contribute to society some of the time
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 Is that the best you can do? I don't know why people can't discuss the perfectly reasonable question of why they choose to ski in France in the February school holidays without casting aspersions on the moral rectitude of those who don't.
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| Ionizingskin wrote: |
| Firstly hahahahaha to all the ppl with kids. But everyone saying why do ppl do it. It’s called having work and a family. Some ppl have to actually contribute to society some of the time. Also isn’t it illegal to take your kids out of school during term time for a holiday? |
You can take your kids out of school with authorised leave from the school. Also a child can accumulate 10 unauthorised absences (1 = a AM or PM), so in affect you can take your child out of school for a full week and its within the tolerance. Just means you wouldn't be able to take them out of school again that academic year.
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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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@Roscoe, I think it varies between authorities - I know that was the case in Northants but from previous discussions on this many people said there LA made no allowance at all.
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| Boris wrote: |
| @Roscoe, I think it varies between authorities - I know that was the case in Northants but from previous discussions on this many people said there LA made no allowance at all. |
Yeah I think it does vary. But I think if you child has a good attendance record (and behaviour), there is a good chance to open up a dialogue with the school. You can also attempt the approach of justifying it being educational, on the grounds of physical, geographical, cultural, etc....Worked for us once!
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FAQ
