 Poster: A snowHead
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This will be our 23rd family trip after:
March 2009 - Les Menuire (3V)
December 2009 - Aime La Plagne (Paradiski) - snowmaggedon on the outward journey
April 2010 - Oz-en-Oisan (ADH)
December 2010 - Oz-en-Oisan (ADH)
April 2011 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
December 2011 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
April 2012 - La Norma
December 2012 - Les Contamines
April 2013 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
December 2013 - Oz-en-Oisan (ADH)
April 2014 - MISSED - OMG!!
December 2014 - Tignes Le Lac - snowmaggedon on the return journey
April 2015 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
December 2015 - Montchavin (Paradiski)
April 2016 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
December 2016 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
April 2017 - Oz-en-Oisan (ADH)
December 2017 - La Tania (3V)
March 2018 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
December 2018 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
April 2019 - Les Menuires (3V)
December 2019 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
December 2021 - Les Coches (Paradiski) - COVID ABORT
February 2022 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
Second trip of the season.
Going to be a bit odd. 14yo daughter is staying behind in the UK to attend a 4-day volleyball camp so will just be the 3 of us.
So far only booked a tunnel crossing - £295 was pricey IME (£154 for late Friday evening outward and £141 for early Sunday return) - £120 paid using Tesco vouchers. Did consider DFDS ferry which would have been £90 cheaper but just can't be bothered with the delay.
Thinking of Les Menuires La Croisette because we did a late season week back in 2019 and I liked the locale and the skiing but will be booking an apartment in the next 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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Well we've gone and booked the same apartment we did in 2019.
And snow is forecast from Thursday - let's just hope it drops big.
Wife is going to give it a whirl on my daughters skis while she ponders her next buy.
I need to service everyone's ski's pronto.
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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 wouldn't be a ski trip without a few last minute 'panics'.
The "Stop Oil" protests are causing supply issues and diesel is hard to come by. We have a little less than half a tank which should be enough to get the other side of the Channel but it makes us nervous. Especially if we get stuck in traffic getting to the Tunnel which is the other issue!
Anyhow, I've reloaded the ski passes for 8 days - Sat to Sat.
Need to service the skis!!!
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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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Here in Les Arcs it is now snowing heavily. Should be the same in Les Menuires. I'm un aware of any deisel shortages in France and just filled up at the Super U in Bourg £1.50 a litre. That should get us to the Chanel.
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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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@johnE, all sounds good 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Left a bit later than planned to drive to the tunnel but no real issues. Journey was about 2.5 hours. Getting through passport control was fine but then held for quite a while. Think we left 22:50 rather than 22:20. Drive through the night was fine and got to Albertville Casino supermarket at 9ish. Now on the mountain road up to Les Menuires. Snowing.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sun 14-05-23 23:29; edited 1 time in total
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duplicate post
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Fri 19-08-22 15:41; edited 1 time in total
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Got to the unloading bay behind the apartment block at around 11:15 but when we phoned the owner they said they'd assumed we'd arrive later and agreed the current occupiers could stay until noon. She was very apologetic. But we said no sweat, we'll just go skiing. But had to deal with quite snowy windy weather so lots of bum wiggling in the car to get into our sallies.
Finally got on the slopes at 1. Did a quick up and down Menuires chair, then up and up to Mont de la Chambre, pretty inhospitable coming down, a good pebble dashing and a few I'm moving but I'm not moments.
Then further down and up Masse 1. Had a call from an old buddy and his twin grown up son's, who are on the last day of a two weeker. So we met up and had a sociable ski up Point Masse and Mont Chambre.
Pretty difficult skiing conditions though at least not wet like yesterday apparently was!
Tea, shower, beer, pre cooked meal. Will sleep well tonight.
Last edited by After all it is free  on Fri 19-08-22 15:43; edited 2 times in total
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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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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Layne, was it Mr W you caught up with per chance?
Glad you're out on the white stuff and enjoying it. Have fun and stay safe.
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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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@ansta1, it was. It was fun meeting him as always. Unfortunate that we couldn't have a beer
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Did lots of traveling today, all the way over to Courchevel 1650 and back. Almost all on piste. Nearly 10,000 vert. Some of it was excellent. As expected very warm and sunny all day.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Layne wrote: |
| @ansta1, it was. It was fun meeting him as always. Unfortunate that we couldn't have a beer |
Did you see he's had tyre blow on the drive home?
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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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@ansta1, I did, crazy eh. Hope to avoid such mishaps ourselves.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I have to say, we thoroughly enjoyed our trips from Meribel to Les Menuires this trip (20th Mar-4th Apr): the high rises on the way in looked awful, but the Croisette was really pleasant. Went back a couple of times.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We headed up Masse first thing and went down the Lac noir black piste. It's a bit weird how you get to it but that seemed to put people off and there was no one on it. It was very pleasant. We carried on to the bottom and went up again and skied the black Masse. More moguled but the snow in general was decent.
We then went up Doron & Chambre and skied down Venturon and then uplifted to head down into Val T. By now it was seriously roasting. We had lunch on a bench looking over Val T and to the mountains above. It was a bit hard to gear up again and get going rather than lie in the sun!
Eventually we made our way up Cime Caron and it was colder and the snow/pistes pretty nice. We'd skied down Amoise which was like lumpy porridge. But Audzin and Christaux were great.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Fri 19-08-22 15:47; edited 2 times in total
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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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Wanted to head over to Orelle today. Wasn't sure of the state of Combe rosael so was looking too go up Grand Fond and over from there. But we got sidetracked initially going up Boismint and then skiing down to Plan de l'eau. All considered an excellent ski. Back up we skied down to the Cime Caron cable car where we actually had a few minutes wait.
Anyhow when we got to the top we thought we'd take a punt on Combe rosael. And it was actually tip top. Snow had some grip and a little hardness. A few on it but not busy. We dobbed around the valley, had lunch on some rocky outcrop, did Combe rosael again, then headed back down Col de l'audzin which is in great nick still.
We then worked our way round to Col de Thorens and down Asters before slowly making our way home finishing a tad early.
Skied a bit of poor mans powder here and there but off piste remains largely off limits.
The temps and heavy snow make things hard work and tiring so the troops are not staying up too late. We managed a couple of card games this evening but no cheese board!
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Fri 19-08-22 15:49; edited 1 time in total
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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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@Layne what happened next...?
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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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@hd, thanks for asking!
The last 3 days skiing wise were a bit of "rinse and repeat". The warm weather system remained very much stable and in situ. The earlier you got up and out the better. Equally as the day wore on you found the options for a piste with a bit of bite becoming more and more limited. If we had been smart people we would have been on the first lift in the morning and in a front de neige deckchair by 3pm. But we ain't that smart.
Piste's that were a real winner for us were (in no particular order)
Fred Covili (personally I also like Lac noir) - named after Olympic alpine skier from Moutiers
David Douillet (named after Judoist and Sports Minister?)
Quatre vents
Chardons down into Val T
Croissant
Asters
Col de l'audzin/Cristaux
Combe rosael
Boismint
Combe du Vallon
Although we aren't park rats was quite impressed with the park in Meribel.
We had a bit of a wander round on Thursday evening - it was like a Summers evening - down into Preyerand, through the camper park.
Les Menuires is a big ol place really and quite strung out. Ultimately I prefer somewhere smaller but with great access to Mont Vallon and Val T (which I like even less) it's great for this time of the year.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Fri 19-08-22 15:50; edited 2 times in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We skied a full day Saturday calling it a day around 4.30.
Given the weather it was easy enough to get changed next to the car and dry stuff off a little bit before packing away and driving. Car was sitting in the sun and showing 20+ degrees on leaving.
As expected the cruise down to Chambery, shop and feed, drive home was chilled and quiet and we were sipping tea on the patio by 10 Sunday morning.
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@Layne, I always enjoy your trip reports, the LM one is of particular interest to me as I spend so much time there. It’s always good to see where other people decide to go in the 3V and how they find it.
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Trip costs:
Tunnel Crossing: £295 (ticket type Standard - £120 paid in Tesco's vouchers)
Apartment: £322.75 (388.86 Euros)
Lift Pass 8 days: £1039.95 (1240.50 Euros)
Fuel: £277.01 (332.54) but bear in mind it was fuller at the finish than at the start!
Tolls: £148.70 (179.20 Euros)
Food: £318.70 (382.60 Euros) but bear in mind that includes stocking up on wine on the return!
Insurance: £75 (50% of annual policy)
* Seems conversion rate was about 1.19/1.20
TOTAL: £2477.11
Per Person (3 people): £825.70
Per Person Per skiing day (8 days): £103.21
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FAQ
