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Snow sure Christmas ski trip suitable for beginners

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi there - first time posting so please be gentle!

We are looking to book a trip away over Christmas. First time we’ve been away at this time of year so keen for resort height to help to guarantee towards ski conditions.

I’m quite a new/nervous skier but rest of family much more competent than me. Essentially want somewhere that is beginner and nervous skier friendly but also have some decent intermediate slops for the rest of the family with decent ski school for us all to improve technique.

Some Apre-Ski will never go a miss either. wink

We’ve been looking at Les Menuires with Neilson so any comments on this venue welcome as well as further recommendations of alternative resorts that would suit us all?!?

Thanks so much Very Happy
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Nessica wrote:
Hi there - first time posting so please be gentle!

We are looking to book a trip away over Christmas. First time we’ve been away at this time of year so keen for resort height to help to guarantee towards ski conditions.

I’m quite a new/nervous skier but rest of family much more competent than me. Essentially want somewhere that is beginner and nervous skier friendly but also have some decent intermediate slopes for the rest of the family with decent ski school for us all to improve technique.

Some Apre-Ski will never go a miss either. wink

We’ve been looking at Les Menuires with Neilson so any comments on this venue welcome as well as further recommendations of alternative resorts that would suit us all?!?

Thanks so much Very Happy
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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?
@Nessica, welcome to the forum.

Val Thorens is one of the places that is often recommended for the early and late ends of the season, so I would guess Les Menuires (down the valley from there) wouldn't be a dreadful choice. I haven't been there at Christmas, but it was OK for Easter skiing some years back. And for a blue run skier a better base for crossing over into the Meribel valley.

I am sure someone will be along soon with on-the-spot knowledge. The main issue is that Christmas week is just a little marginal for predicting snow conditions, they are more consistently OK the week after. And some of us are a bit nervous about the snow after such a hot summer.
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Welcome to SH.

1. Courchevel 1850
2. Les Arcs 1800
3. Tignes
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
The success of your holiday will depend a lot on your ski school experience - especially for you, as a nervous skier. There will be plenty of local knowledge here of the best ski schools, once you have finalised your resort choice. Be sure to take lessons for the whole week. I can't provide any local knowledge of Les Menuires. Courchevel 1850, as prioritised by @Whitegold, is indeed a great resort, but also hugely expensive. Courchevel 1650, just down the road, is also excellent, rather less expensive and with some excellent ski schools.

If you have a good bunch of family/friends you will have a good time at Christmas wherever you go. Skiing at Christmas is much preferable to sitting around eating and drinking too much watching the telly for hours on end, which seems to have become the "traditional" British version. Christmas Day on the slopes is just like every other day, with lifts and ski schools open.
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@Nessica, welcome to SHs. None of @Whitegold's suggest would come first to mind. You'll notice if you hang around that they're a bit, err, contrarian?.

You might want to look at Avoriaz? High enough to be +/- as snow sure as most places, well set up for you, heaps of intermediate skiing although that's obviously snow dependent, more or less ski in/out and a short transfer.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
under a new name wrote:

You might want to look at Avoriaz? High enough to be +/- as snow sure as most places, well set up for you, heaps of intermediate skiing although that's obviously snow dependent, more or less ski in/out and a short transfer.


I think Avoriaz could be a good shout too - as well as the reasons above, it's also very family oriented so they'll be set up to be as christmassy as possible . It's car-free so the resort just has horse and carts trotting around, plus ice rinks and carousels add to the magic. Perfect for beginners and intermediates.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Handy Turnip wrote:
under a new name wrote:

You might want to look at Avoriaz? High enough to be +/- as snow sure as most places, well set up for you, heaps of intermediate skiing although that's obviously snow dependent, more or less ski in/out and a short transfer.


I think Avoriaz could be a good shout too - as well as the reasons above, it's also very family oriented so they'll be set up to be as christmassy as possible . It's car-free so the resort just has horse and carts trotting around, plus ice rinks and carousels add to the magic. Perfect for beginners and intermediates.


And a lovely looking pool too
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@Nessica, I know Les Menuires well as I've owned an apartment there since 2012 and now spend a couple of months there in the winter as well as time in the summer. The only Neilson accommodation would appear to be in the Hotel Le Menuire so I guess this is where you were considering?

I don't know where Neilson got the figures from for accessibility - Googlemaps gives a walking distance of 750-1000m from the hotel to the Croisette and the Menuires chairlift where a lot of the ski schools start. I would be getting on one of the little free resort buses which run past the hotel, I think every 20 to 30 minutes. In the other direction from the hotel, passing a well stocked Carrefour supermarket, it's a distance of about 350m to the Résidence Club MMV Le Cœur des Loges, where you can get a public lift down to piste level and then ski down the blue Bettex piste to either the Bettex chairlift which ends on a green run into the centre of Menuires, or you can go to the slow Tortollet chair which ends just below the iconic Brelin building with just a short slide into the Croisette.

All that said, a friend of mine stayed in the Neilson hotel last year with his partner and 10 year old, and they all enjoyed their stay. They have booked again for March 2024.
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