 Poster: A snowHead
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This will be our 25th 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)
April 2022 - Les Menuires (3V)
December 2022 - Les Coches (Paradiski)
Thread about before kids ski trips
Because of the Alps drought, work busyness, children in exam years we've been hanging fire/discussing whether to do a second trip this season but with recent snowfall and lack of any other holiday options/events before Summer we've pulled the trigger. Frankly, I couldn't be arsed to go anywhere new so we are returning to Les Men. The added excitement of the trip is that an old ski buddy and one of his sons is hooking up with us - as in sharing an apartment. Ironically the lady that owns the apartment we stayed in the last twice sent an email asking us if we were interested in renting again this year. We would have to be honest but it's a bit on the small side for 4 - for 6 it's not at all possible.
My buddy often books via snowtrex. But it was cheaper to book the same apartment through the tourist information website on this occasion. Although the two different methods are priced up different so you have to do the math. The base cost of the apartment was 686 Euros including a small booking fee. Lift passes for 7 days (3V) were discounted down to 316 Euros. We are staying in apartment block Jetay, which for anybody that knows Les Men is on the right hand side after the bus station/bridge. If you ski down to La Masse/Doron lifts it's on the left just before you hook right for the lifts. The apartment has a double bed, 2 bunks and 2 lounge convertibles. My compatriot and son are going at a week earlier and skiing Saint Francois Longchamp.
When I booked the crossings back end of last week going out Friday evening March 31st was crazy money for the tunnel - £233 for a standard ticket so we decided to take the ferry for a change for that leg. It cost £125 and we can eat on board. Means we start driving (overnight) out of Calais at midnight but given the time of year should still be able to get supermarket in Albertville for opening time ish. Coming back we have some time pressures to get back so booked early tunnel Sunday 9th. That was £148.
Today I read that there will be a diesel shorter in France in April. Don't need that worry tbh but will try to monitor. Driving overnight will help with queues I guess but not so sure about availability. When we had this in the UK it was very stressful.
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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 are heading down to St Martin the same week. News about the diesel is worrying 
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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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VT for us that week, normally Les Men, but got a bargain on the apartment for 6 of us (2 dads, 4 youths).
mate and his sons are flying to GVA, due to eyewatering flight and transfer costs, the cheapest option for them was to fly on the Friday eve to GVA and overnight there, then taxi at stupid o'clock on the sat morning to resort, and leave on the following Friday afternoon for a Friday eve flight.
He has used the same taxi driver several times to Les Menuires, and he managed to fit them in at decent rates, but having to leave resort on the Friday afternoon.
myself and eldest daughter are driving via the Portsmouth/Caen Thursday overnight ferry, pootle down to Albertville (via a walk around/food in Annecy) for a shop and an overnight, then up to resort sat morning for a gentle ski to get the legs working again.
return via Caen/Portsmouth afternoon ferry on the Sunday, with an overnight at Auxerre
I then need to drive to Geneva and back on the Sunday evening, as my youngest daughter is now flying out separately than us, her mum will drop her off at Bristol airport.
she had an unmissable chance to perform and record some music at abbey road studios on the Saturday with her music workshop group (she plays Bass guitar), its going to be filmed as well.
so as much it is a PITA logistics wise, i will be a very proud dad.
will keep an eye out with possible fuel issues in France, E10 for me instead of diesel though.
just over a week for me now 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@terrygasson, a few logistics in that trip but as you say needs must
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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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| terrygasson wrote: |
mate and his sons are flying to GVA, due to eyewatering flight and transfer costs, the cheapest option for them was to fly on the Friday eve to GVA and overnight there, then taxi at stupid o'clock on the sat morning to resort, and leave on the following Friday afternoon for a Friday eve flight.
He has used the same taxi driver several times to Les Menuires, and he managed to fit them in at decent rates, but having to leave resort on the Friday afternoon.
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I'm also in VT that week, and flights were hideous. Easyjet were asking well north of £500 from Bristol, and that was for a flight that left at 6 so was a pain to get to from Cardiff. Availability (not to mention prices) from Heathrow hardly better. In the end I went with KLM from Cardiff via Amsterdam, which saved about £300 just on flight costs, and a Ben's Bus transfer to the UCPA where I'm staying (let's see how long I have to wait around for that).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@terrygasson, stuff like that sucks
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| Layne wrote: |
| The added excitement of the trip is that an old ski buddy and one of his sons is hooking up with us - as in sharing an apartment. |
Glad you added that explanation 
Looking forward to reading about it - enjoy! (The skiing, not the hooking up!)
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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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Been servicing the skis this evening. Managed to crush my index finger. Ouch.
All 4 edged and waxed - just need scrapping and polishing another day.
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What complicated arrangements we all have. My son, faced with the high flight costs from Bristol, is flying late on Friday, staying in Annecy Friday night (rental car) and spending Saturday doing the Annecy old town and lake tourist thing, then driving to resort (Les Saisies) for early evening. They fly home late Friday, meaning missing the last night in the gite.
Everyone else is driving all the way. Three cars. I'm driving via Genoa to pick up grandson - will be very long trip so news of diesel shortages is very unwelcome. News of snow not so unwelcome. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@layne,
Re possible diesel shortages, is it worth sticking a full 20l Jerry can of diesel in case of emergency. 20L should give you between 120-200 extra miles if you find yourself struggling to find somewhere with availability.
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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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I won't carry a can of diesel but I will start to look for fuel when the tank is half full! Which is, of course, what everyone will do, thus exacerbating the problem.
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@pam w, agreed, that is the sensible thing to do, but 20l reserve in a Jerry can might give the option of getting to resort without diverting for however long it may take to find somewhere, assuming worst case scenario with availability of fuel.
I'm sure It won't be that bad (famous last words).
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You know it makes sense.
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I couldn't begin to handle 20 litres of diesel but I suppose I might get the chance to sell it to somebody desperate for a great deal of money! I was once on a yacht crossing back to the Solent from France, on a flat calm day and we had very little diesel left. Can't contemplate the Solent with no means of propulsion so switched the engine off and drifted on the tide. Ate and drank some of the delicious things we'd bought in St Vaast. Then spotted a tiny sail in the distance. Called them up on radio "Yacht sailing approximately 10 miles south of St Catherine's point". Cheery Dutchman answered - motored in our direction and slung across 5 litres of diesel. Not easy but we had strong men on board. We slung back a bottle of excellent Calvados and we all went merrily on our way.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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| ansta1 wrote: |
@layne,
Re possible diesel shortages, is it worth sticking a full 20l Jerry can of diesel in case of emergency. 20L should give you between 120-200 extra miles if you find yourself struggling to find somewhere with availability. |
Are they allowed in the tunnel?
Car space is at a premium.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes, tanks of spare fuel are allowed on eurotunnel, but 20l would have to be in a properly designed metal container. After posting above I drove over to my friend's for coffee. On the way the "low tank" warning came up and I remembered my present car is a petrol model.  Is there expected to be a petrol shortage too?
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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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Am really hoping there will be diesel on the motorways - based purely on them wanting tourists to get where they are going 
Not sure I will fill up when I hit half empty, that would be a lot of stops in Discovery, but will certainly look earlier than normal. We will have 2 cars this time, the other being a more fuel efficient petrol, so worst case they will have to go off and find fuel!
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| Is there expected to be a petrol shortage too? |
The article I read was very specific that it was diesel.
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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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It's leaving for skiing eve!
Not too much to report at this point.
Roofbox is on and skis loaded. Everything else is kinda ready to be packed.
snow-forecast.com currently predicting snow overnight and on the drive in which may make things a little interesting. Agency has informed us that our apartment will be available from 9am so hoping to get there late morning, unload and then get out for a couple of hours. My buddy and his son should arrive early evening after skiing where they have been this week - St Francois.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Enjoy the upcoming trips, folks. I hope the diesel / snow quantities are as one would hope!
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Drive down to Dover was wet, a bit traficky but largely uneventful. Getting through border control was painful. No queue at check in was nice but the news that our ferry was 2.5 hours late was not. But they bumped us to the 22:00 to Dunkirk (as opposed to Calais). Will still cost us at least an hour.
The good thing, apart from the price, is the ability to get a sit down meal. As we left MK at 16:15 we'd only snacks since lunch.
With the delay will hope it's not too rainy on the way down. Might struggle to get to the agency before they close for lunch.
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25 ski trips. Exclusively France. Wow! Out of interest, what's the reasoning behind that, given that there are one or two alternative ski countries? 
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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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@Layne, the "several hour" Dover delays have made the BBC News so you might have got off quite lightly! Hope the rest of your journey goes well.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Layne, I was the butt of jokes at work for many years as we always went to France for summer hols once the kids popped up. (Prior to this we’d travelled widely.) Despite a couple of trips to the US once the kids were older, I am unable to shake off the label as the man who only goes to France on hols!
For what we want to do on summer hols, France is pretty much perfect. (Cue the joke about God being embarrassed about how good he made France, so that he equalised things by filling it with the french!)
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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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I'm in Les Menuires April 1st and 2 nd. Had a nice snowfall overnight. All links closed yesterday due to high winds. I flew from. UK via other airports to keep cost down
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@Layne, just read your pre-kids ski trip thread, which I missed at the time. It's fantastic!
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You know it makes sense.
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| denfinella wrote: |
| @Layne, the "several hour" Dover delays have made the BBC News so you might have got off quite lightly! Hope the rest of your journey goes well. |
Yeah, we saw the coaches stacked up and then read they were waiting 5-7 hours. Bloody hell.
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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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@The Flying Snowplough, glad it's not just me lol. As it happens we have done a few French summer holidays too! Been Spain a couple of times also though so not quite as bad as skiing.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Hurtle wrote: |
| @Layne, just read your pre-kids ski trip thread, which I missed at the time. It's fantastic! |
Glad you found it. Had a lot of fun writing that in lockdown. Funnily enough staying with my old mate Col this week, who was involved in a lot of those shenanigans.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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So we arrived on French soil about 01:15. Had to try and step on the gas a bit too try to get to the agency before 12 noon but had rain most of the way so not easy. One thing I hate is overtaking lorries in the rain on those two lane sections. There is a couple of seconds when you basically can't see anything and being buffeted by wind. Right gives me the Willie's.
Got to Casino Albertville at 10. Dropped the missus and kids to go food shopping while I filled up the tank. We were more efficient than normal and were back out at 11. Google Maps said 55 mins but we made it in less than 45 without taking any risks. Roads completely clear despite snow falling above St Martin.
Got checked in, down to apartment. Got space opposite front door. And apartment only one floor up so easy peasy. After pastries and tea we got changed for skiing and were on slopes 14:10. Had a great afternoon, some nice pow and piste.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sat 19-08-23 0:40; edited 1 time 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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Diesel price wise we had a full tank when we left blighty, drove to Eperney junction near Reims, pulled off to Leclerc and paid 171. Then made it all the way to Albertville and filled up at Casino just off the main drag for 179. Saw 194 up to over 200 on the motorway.
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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 wrote: |
| Hurtle wrote: |
| @Layne, just read your pre-kids ski trip thread, which I missed at the time. It's fantastic! |
Glad you found it. Had a lot of fun writing that in lockdown. Funnily enough staying with my old mate Col this week, who was involved in a lot of those shenanigans. |
Say hi to Mr W for me, tell him I'll pop and see the dekertones sometime soon. Enjoy the skiing @layne
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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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| ansta1 wrote: |
[
Say hi to Mr W for me, tell him I'll pop and see the dekertones sometime soon. Enjoy the skiing @layne |
Consider it done.
They are planning to play Crawford Arms later in the year if you are interested.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Fantastic days skiing today. I didn't bother setting an alarm. Everyone was pretty totalled last night and it was snowing a fair bit last night and still looked closed in when I had an early morning wee. As it happens we weren't too sluggish and we were skiing around 10. By then it was crisp and sunny.
The morning was spent skiing pow in the Cote Brine/Mont Valon bowl. Daughter had a couple of face plants but no harm done and it was a fine morning. We had lunch below the gondola station.
Things started to cloud over so we mostly skied piste in the afternoon. We actually went all the way down to St Martin. It only got really grim lower. The vast majority of pistes were in excellent condition. About time we struck lucky after our last two trips.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sat 19-08-23 0:42; edited 1 time in total
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Despite being a bit refreshed and up a bit earlier we weren't much earlier on the lift. It was a bright and sunny start to the day. Getting the lifts up to the top you could see there was an inversion. Counter to logic we decided we'd head over to La Tania and Le Praz. But I thing as the morning progressed the cloud rolled in anyhow. At times vis was a bit poor, even had some light snow at times. Tried to ski the new Eclipse piste but not sure if it was fully open and took a wrong turn. It was a good days skiing all told.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Sat 19-08-23 0:43; edited 1 time in total
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Top days skiing. Up Masse first thing for a warm up. Then over to Val T. One piste run, then a couple of hours great off piste. Before lunch and then up Cime Caron over into the 4th valley. Tried a bit off piste over there but wasn't great so did a bit of piste and then back over and more off piste. Cloud then rolled in and it was a pea souper at the top of 4 Vents but made it down without issue. Ski Tracks showed 9000m vert, a lot of it great quality.
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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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Bloody cold today, despite being sunny for the most part.
Did a fair amount of off piste. Had a nice adventure going off the top of Boismint down into the Lac de Lou valley. Snow wasn't great but was good to get away from the main ski area. Would be great in good conditions. The off piste from too of Cime Caron was much better.
Did some great piste skiing as well. Turning into a bit of an epic week.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sat 19-08-23 0:44; edited 1 time in total
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The Folie Douce is on the way home to Les Menuires if coming from Val T - it's on the right as we exit a chair - so we often stop for 5 or 10 minutes to take in the general spectacle and "bounce".
Today we were all standing and watching, and we notice a geezer looking a little worse for wear. He stumbles across the skis strewn across the slope, falls, gets up, stumbles a bit further and then falls again. Ends up and his hands and knees facing downhill slightly, with his forehead on the snow. I was quite impressed when he got up again a good minute or so later.
At this point my 15yo daughter asks if I'm going to go help him. I hesitate and she gets out of her skis ready to go. Mum says she can't but I decide to go for it. At this point he's on his knees again. When I get there I see he has a bad cut on his chin and blood dripping down to the snow. I ask if he speaks English. Yes, he says, he's Danish. I ask where his friends are. He misinterprets and says "Denmark"!
Long story short I ask if he needs help but he insists he will be fine and doesn't need help. This is doubtful but there is not a lot I can do and leave him to it.
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Sat 19-08-23 0:45; edited 1 time in total
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