 Poster: A snowHead
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This is a holiday I'll never have the chance of repeating, so I thought I would share some of the fun bits here!
The holiday plan:
Alpe d'Huez - 5th - 19th March 2022.
I've gone for 2 weeks with my parents and 2 other couples who have skied together for many years, always in catered chalets. Two years ago they found the perfect location / chalet / service etc to suit their needs. This was with VIP Ski. Lets not dwell on that, but explain what and why they, and I, are here now.
Having found a catered package previously in the resort they found suits them (all 70+, some ski, some wander) they managed to find an appartment in the same block with an extra bedroom, so asked if i would consider joining them for the trip and doing the cooking etc. In return they would cover my costs. Yes was my answer so I'm here!
St Jean D'Avrves - 19th - 26th March 2022.
My normal ski buddy was looking for something. I managed to blag another week off work and asked on here for suggestions of somewhere from Chambery. Les Sybelles was mentioned and looked like a good ski area. We looked and found a stupid cheap deal via Sunweb.
Why from Chambery? My original flights for ADH were Southampton to Chambery, so I altered the return for a week later. I live 10 mins from Southampton Airport (at 05.45!) My buddy can make Southampton as quickly as any, so it worked he got that flight 2 weeks after me and we return together. Also I'll drop all the oldies off for their flight home on the plane he comes out on!
So, day one. The travel day:
Leaving home at 05.45 in a taxi for Southampton Airport wasn't a drag, I'm up for work then every other week. The flight was delayed taking off once we borded due to congestion in the sky, just 10 mins the captain annonced. 30 mins later we took off. We went staight into Chambery and landed quickly. Then we had another delay waiting for a plane to depart so ours could park. Another 30 mins.... Lets not be bitter, it's Chambery, not BA!
This is the first self catering (non catered chalet) holiday my parents have been on since about 1985! Not sure about the others, doubt they've ever self catered.
I arranged the hire of a 9 seat minibus van via Skyscanner. It is with Hertz. Collection was simple, just a short wander from the terminal. Snow chains added 90e to the £950 for the fortnight. Hopefully not needed but.... When I drop them back on the 19th I collect a car from Enterprise for the 3rd week. An easy swap!
Back to now. Having collected the van we stopped at the Carrefour in Chambery and split into 3 for shopping. I had written a week one menu and created lists. Yes, all a bit organised, but shopping isn't fun. Go in, buy it, get out is my thing. This worked well and after an hour we were squeezing it all in the van! We left one person with the van as security.
Traffic was as expected. It took 2.5 hours. Saturdays are not great!
Arriving in resrot we went straight to the block and were quickly greeted by the agent. She showed us our garage and took us up to the appartment. It's in the Eden Blanc development at Ronde Point. WOW! 4 large ensuite bedrooms, a huge living area with open fire, 4 balconys and its basically ski in / ski out! I'm not getting this on week 3 
Arriving in resort at 16.30 was much later than expected. A quick unload of the van and pop the shopping completed, I nipped down the hill to Henri Sports in the shopping centre where I had arranged a boot fitting for 18.00. My old boots no longer work for me. I was rather quickly scanned, given some boots and sent on my way. I decided to buy in resort as I expected problems with fitting, but expected a bit more on the first visit than I got. More on this in a bit if your still reading!
No cooking was planned for Saturday, we wandered round the corner to a bar and had a lovely pizza. It was an early night.
Sunday, after a breakfast of musli, pain au chocolat, croissant and porrage we sorted skis and lift passes for all the oldies! You need to show your passport to prove your DOB for the super senior discounts
A gentle few runs getting the legs working was soon over for lunch. This was had at the top of DM2. Fab food and service. I feel this might be the way with my party!
After lunch I went back down with my dad. He had a heart attack in December and is finding out what he can do. I needed to sort my new boots! Both feet were numb  Back at the shop, they spent some thime stretching the boots. I felt like they cared this time. Tomorrow I'll find out if it worked, if not I'll be back again 
Tonight was my first night in the kitchen! The meal was: Mini Charcouterie Crustinis with a Rocket & Olive salad. Beouf Bourgignon, celeric mash, green beans. Poached pears. A very large cheese board.
The weather today was fabulous. Sunny and below freezing. The pistes are are firm with a little powder on the top. Great for the skiing I like.
If you've got this far rerading my ramblings, well done and thanks! I'll do some more in a few days.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Gr8 ramble!
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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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Thanks I enjoyed, sounds like a great three weeks ahead. St Jean D'Arves is a completely different experience to ADH, in a good way of course.
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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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Days 2 & 3 - ADH
The sun has shone constantly. The pistes are in an excellent hard packed condition with low overnight temperatures. Off piste (not that I would go!) is not being skied at all.
Monday the 5 skiers headed over towards Alpete and met the 2 walkers for lunch at Montfrais. We skied most the runs over there before heading back. My boots were much better now stretched. The evening was another excessive meal. If I carry on like this I'll need to buy new salopettes soon!
Tuesday the skiers played around from the top of Signal, dropping down towards Villard and also down the Village run. The snow was superb on Village, the hardpack just softening slightly and offer loads of grip for fast, fun turns. Lunch was taken at the bottom of Signal where the walkers joined us once again. I finished the day on the Signal red. Again, running superbly for my type of skiing. So good I nipped up and did it a second time! A quick blast down the Border Cross from Jeux dropped me right back to the door!
The resort feels very quiet. There are only small waits at worst for lifts and the pistes all seem to have plenty of space. The joy of mid March skiing.
I've not skied anywhere near as much as I would normally. I suffer with aches and pains, unfortunately my back, left hip and left knee are all playing up a bit. I'll increase the tablets to settle it all down and hopefully do some decent mileage in the next few days.
It's been a great start to a very long trip. The snow and the weather are just perfect for me!
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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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Days 4 & 5 ADH
Both days again sunny, much warmer today.
Yesterday we played around and dropped down to Oz before a long lunch. The walkers had a long one to meet the skiers. We all did enough without doing too much.
Today 2 of us decided to tackle the Sarenne. John who was with me has done it before, I hadn't. My dad joined the walkers and we all went up to Pic Blanc together for the standard photo op! The wait wasn't too bad for the cable car.
The run itself was testing. at the top it was icy and carved up, towards the bottom slushy and carved up. Glad we went late morning, I hate to imangine how bad it would have been by late afternoon. I'm glad I've done it, I'm in no rush to do it again. My aches and pains were aching and painful by the bottom, so we stopped for a beer before heading for another long lunch!
Another evening of cooking etc for me with plenty of wine and I'm ready for bed. Tomorrow the forecast is for cloud. Thats not a bad thing as need to do some shopping so won't mind an earlyish finish.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Nice reportage.
We need pics!!!
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| Layne wrote: |
Nice reportage.
We need pics!!! |
Umm, being old and stupid, how do I do link them (from facebook?)
Cheers!
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Really fun report, thank you! First dinner description made my stomach rumble. Are you a chef by trade?
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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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| ciderinsport wrote: |
| Layne wrote: |
Nice reportage.
We need pics!!! |
Umm, being old and stupid, how do I do link them (from facebook?)
Cheers! |
You can't from FB
I load up to imgur.com and then use img tags and direct link url.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Days 6 & 7
I can't report much skiing. My back has been in a terrible state and the weather hasn't been the blue skies and sunshine of the the first few days. I've taken it very easy.
So, instead I thought I would share the evening meals we have had. I'm enjoying cooking 25+ plus years since I left the trade, I never thought I would as I really didn't when I got paid to do it!
Starters have been a small salad with charcuterie, smoaked salmon, roasted duck, smoked trout and goats cheese - one at a time! This was a request from my party.
Mains:
Moroccan spiced lamb tagine, cauliflower and olive couscous, minted houmous and pita.
Chicken breast stuffed with rebechlon and mushrooms, wrapped in parma ham, dauphinoise potatoes, green beans.
Sliced duck breast, orange jus, crushed roasted potato, asparagus.
Salmon and asparagus gratin, skin on mini roast potatoes, green beans.
Pork medalions, Dijon mustard sauce, creamy mash, broccoli.
Duck and sausage cassolet, new potato's, green beans.
After an excepionally large meal at lunch yesterday no one wanted a hot meal so I prepared a plate of chercuterie and smoked salmon with salads, olives and bread followed by cheese.
Each day the puddings have been easy, mainly because I seriously lack in that department... A local patisserie has so far sold me 3 large tarts! I've made poached pears, caramlised oranges and an apple and pear crumble.
The cheese board has been somewhat spectacular each night, at least 8 cheeses. This will get smaller as this week continues so nothing goes to waste.
Tonight it's snowing heavily so I have said porrige is at 08.30 and once served I'm out the door to play in the powder - I'll clear up once I can ski no more  Tomorrow is steak night, so no early prep!
Shopping wise, I've visited all 3 supermarkets up here. Sherpa - excellent wine selection at reasonable prices, lacking fresh meat and veg choice. Casino - didn't look to far into here but had the beans I needed. Spar - great fresh meat and veg, wine looked disapointing.
Next year (yep, already enquired!) a big meat shop in Chambery for the 2 weeks, get the rest in ADH.
Time for a final Grimbergen Blonde before heading to bed excited for the powder tomorrow
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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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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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Thanks for posting about your trip - very enjoyable reading.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Days 10,11 & 12:
These last 3 days have been a bit disappointing. The sun has hidden behind the cloud mostly and the temperatures have been a bit too high. This hasn't provided the best ski conditions for the final week here in ADH. The higher slopes have faired well as did the lower slopes in the mornings. Today though seemed even warmer and the cloud stifeld the light so much I managed to get caught out not just once, but twice on a green run! Yes, after days of bombing about the mountains without incident I fell over twice in about 200m on a green run 
Tonight the temperature isn't due to drop below 2c here at village level, so I'm not holding out much hope for a great final day on the slopes. It's also due to be cloudy again. If the light is like todays, I won't bother going far.
The food marathon has continued. Each day I have prepared a breakfast of musli, croissant's, pain au chocolat and porrage. Yesterday I made a steak, sausage and leek casserole (leftovers!) and today another tagine as this was a highlight for the group. The pattiserie has sold me some fantastic tarts - it's the one opposite the spar with a cafe attached.
Tomorrow we may have a large lunch on the piste and then a small something in the evening as we need to be on the road early Saturday - a 6am departure to get to Chambery for the flight home for everyone else.
There were going to be 3 of us heading St Jean D'Arves on Saturday, unfortunately one has had to dip out last minute due to work commitments, although he may come out later in the week for a couple of days, so I will collect Mike a couple of hours after dropping the oldies off at the same point! I have a few things to do in those hours... I need to drop the van back to Hertz and collect a car from Enterprise! This will be very easy. They have desks in the same little outbuilding at Chambery airport. My plan is to get the Enterprise car before handing the Hertz van van back, park them close to each other and swap the contents!
I'll also nip to the supermarket and get the essentials for a lads week where i will not cook a thing! These are: someting to take from a packet for breakast, beer, wine, cheese and brandy
I've been in touch with two people in St Jean D'Alves - firstly a chap I know who moved there two years ago, we have arranged to ski on Sunday - a local to show us around! Also a chap called Ludo who offers guided fatbike downhill sessions as the lifts close - lift up, fatbike down! This won't be the first time I've done that, I did it a few years back in the Jura. I normally have a fatbike holiday in the Alps each winter and ride fatbikes all the time, I own three
Thats enough ramblings for now, prompted by a message from my eldest daughter who admits she is hooked on these updates - Abbey, you must have better things to do
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 8-04-22 19:02; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Today marks the last day in ADH, as it's my first time here I thought I would share my thoughts!
The town: A typical mountain ski-station with all the typical stuff you would expect. Didn't explore any restaurants in town and only the food shops as previously mentioned.
The Lifts: A very nice combination of lifts linking the areas well. Impressed with the odd gondala amoungst the chains of chairs! It's been a quiet 2 weeks with no real cues at all.
The Pistes: A good mix with something for eveyone. The greens closest to town seemed perfect for beginers, lots of cruisey blues and reds and a splattering of blacks including the Sarenne. I found the combo worked very well for me and was easy to navigate.
The snow: Nothing can be done about snowfall and weather but the pisteurs worked hard to give the best possible slopes. Week one was cold and sunny so the pistes were hardpacked, week 2 was was warm and cloudy with the snow melting into a slush below the midstations each afternoon.
The accomadation: Top notch appartment in the Eden Blanc development at Rond Pointe. Excessively large, perfectly placed for skiing. Just a shame there aren't many restaurants close by.
Conclusion: Will I be back again? Yep, same time next year!
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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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It' s been a few days since my last ramblings, mainly because I've been enjoying the holiday!
Saturday: The run from ADH to Chambery was very smooth, no hold ups at all. Arriving at the airport I dropped the 6 oldies off and realised I had time to do a quick shop at Carrefour before needing to exchange hire cars. Shopping done, old hire car re-fuelled I went and parked it where I found it and wandered in to the hut and got the car from Enterprise. A really nice Ford Kuga sporting winter tyres for just over £200 for the week thanks to skyscanner! The trip to St Jean D'Arves was very easy and only took a little over an hour on a Saturday late morning!
Arriving in St Jean D'Arves we quickly found our accomadation and checked in. The appartment was ready even though it was before midday still! We dumped our stuff and headed to the bar right by the lifts and nursery slopes. Some lunch and a few beers were consumed. We wandered to the lift pass machine and were dispensed full area passes with no issues. Then on to the hire shop to collect skis. The quality of ski wasn't quite as good as those I had in ADH from the same franchise, but they are a fair bit cheaper for the week. After a gentle unpack over a couple of beers we decided to visit the local bars. There are 3 in total including the one slopeside! All serving nice beers and some stupidly expensive (14e for .5l) Belgian ones! We then went to the restaurant for a fondu. By this time we were a little merry but the staff were very accomadating
Sunday: Let the skiing begin! Mike hadn't skiied for 2 years, and then it was 6 mornings before swapping back to his board in the afternoons. We started on the nursery slope. He really struggled to stand up and turn. I began to loose hope but gave a few tips and said 'lets go up the chair, the snow will be better up there' Luckily it was! A few gentle blues and he was turning nicely and controling his speed well. We started to move around the area on the nicely linked blues and kept going till we stopped for a late lunch.
The ski area is quite vast and linked well with chairlifts. There are loads of drag lifts too, but these are not really needed for the better, higher runs. There are plenty of blues higher up with enough snow to ski on. This week it's most definately spring here. Warm and sunny. It's 16.30 now and I'm sat on the balcony, in the shade, in shorts and t-shirt This has led to spring conditions. The mornings start icy before quickly softening slightly even on the highest runs. By midday anything below about 2000m is turning to slush. This pushes the few of us here to the best runs up high. That said, the busiest lift had me waiting just over a minute today! This whole area is so quiet, it's lovely!
Mike's skiing has come on really quickly, he's bombing all over the place. Yesterday we arranged to meet up with friends who moved close by 18 months ago and have started a little B&B business (www.pedalpowder.com) and a friend of theirs and fellow snowhead Ed. (Ed - Mikes been doing great today following your tips ) After the days skiing we were taken back to their house for a fantastic meal. It really is a stunning place in a fantastic location.
My thoughts so far: The village is small and quiet, if you want a bit more, St Sorlin D'Alves is a better bet. If the snow was better this place would be a skiers paradise! There is still plenty but you can see what it would be like in a good snow year! And everywhere you look the mountain views are spectacular. The mountain restaurants are few and far between, but never full. Oh, and we seem to be about the brits here! Mainly French and Dutch.
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FAQ
