 Poster: A snowHead
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Just back from the summer jolly to Portugal and turning thoughts to winter,
Unfortunately having just had an extension put on the house the financial cupboard is bare,on top the this the wife,who only tends to go skiing for the benefit of me and our sons has decided that she really doesn't want a ski holiday nxt yr!
With this in mind i have decided the best course would be to have the a couple of weekend breaks with my boys instead of the big week away with 2/3 other families like we normally do.
So,looking for recommendations where best to take my 13 & 15 yr old sons with easy access from airports etc,know prob Chamonix would top most list having having been there several times was looking for somewhere different.
We're all reasonable standard comfortable on most reds etc.
Tks in advance
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd recommend giving italy ago for a cheapish weekend.
Fly into one of Milan/Bergamo/Turin/Verona and you'll have plenty of choice within about 2 hrs drive or less
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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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Grand Massif is dead easy for weekends - I am obviously biased towards Samoens having an apt there - but Morillon is also nice. The biggest advantage is 1 hour transfer from Geneva. Get the 6:30am flight out of Luton and the 10:00pm one back and it gives you loads of slope time. I have been on the slopes by lunchtime having hired car and ski equip too!!! Great ski area too!
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LIAMJ, ryanair to salzburg gives you loads of options within very easy reach.
Ryanair to Turin also is good as you can get to chamonix and neighbouring resorts through the Mont Blanc tunnel.
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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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Zurich gives you easy train access to Engleberg, Davos, Wengen. Engelberg is the closest of those and is perfect for a few days on snow 
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LIAMJ, As Ray Zorro, says, Flights to Salzburg can be very cheap and it's handy for various locations. Have heard good reports of http://www.seerose-obertraun.com/ - Obertraun seems more of a family orentated place which if you are travelling with children, may be an option 
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Liam, this winter the gulf stream shuts down! 
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I'm not sure I'd recommend Obertraun unless you're into off-piste, or if you don't mind driving to other resorts: if you stick to the piste the ski area is pretty small, and one day there would be more than enough. The Dachstein West area is close by (20 mins drive?), and that has loads of intermediate piste skiing.
Another option is to fly into GVA and head into switzerland. If you don't mind driving each day you can stay in the Rhone valley and drive up to Villars, Champery, 4 Valleys (for Verbier)..... loads of areas easily accessible off the motorway.
Bear in mind the flights to GVA in particular go quickly once released.
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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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I'd go with the Turin option, loads of choice for a cheap weekend from there. Either stay in Italy, and theres Val d'Aosta, Bardonecchia, La Thuile, Sestriere or Claviere. Then over to France for Puy St Vincent, Serre Chevalier, Montgenevre. Through the Frejus tunnel for Valloire and nearby resorts. All 1.5-2hrs away.
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Tks for the ideas guys,plenty for me to mull over...
Tks Sharkymark, and Helen Beaumont, went to both Puy and Grindlewald this year so know both areas you mention
Guess the best idea is to pick an airport ie Genva/Turin etc book the flights now and then choose resort/accomodation nearer the time!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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LIAMJ, Try flight to Grenoble then get over to Alpe D'Huez. Worked out very cheap in March this year and I'm planning to do the same agin next year.
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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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LIAMJ, even better - book the flights 2 months ago...
Slightly left field, if you can put up with them (although I will admit Mr O'Leary's current campaign against T. B.Liar gets my votes) is a tRyanscAir into Treviso and a short hop up to Cortina. Plenty enough skiing for even a long weekend and quite spectacular scenery.
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LIAMJ, As Colin B, said, but come to LDA instead!! If you really want to save the pennies, rent a car and stay in Bourg d'Oisans, then you can access both ADH and LDA in the same weekend (depending on snow conditions). I should immagine that hotels in Bourg would be very cheap by comparison. Also the campsite in Venosc has chalets to rent at a very reasonable price. Fly to Grenoble or Chambery is best, but you can also fly to Lyon, Geneva or marseille just as easily. Nice is OK for Serre Che and resorts further south.
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You know it makes sense.
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i love obertaurn and the flights time and transfers are great if your gonig from stanstead.. but yes the the ice perv, is right the overall piste size aint all that and you can do all of it in a day and half.. but if red runs are your bag and your with other people then ive found it pretty much perfect for a 3 day weekend type trip... good apres ski as well and hardly any queuing..
off piste can be good fun and its easy to pick your route down.. but again the actual drop is small ..
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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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easiski, not sure i'd recommend the Nice option-we've done it, and it would be a bit of a long journeyto Serre Che for a weekend, Marseille would be Ok though.
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Poster: A snowHead
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/\/\/\ there appears to be some sort of snowtrain out of Marseille up to Briancon (I think). Leaves at about 6am on Saturday. Not sure when it comes back but I am sure www.sncf.fr will tell you. There is an Ibis hotel right next to Marseille station so you could take a Friday evening flight out; crash in the Ibis then hop on the train first thing next morning.
It's a bizarre sight, actually - I've never seen more snowlerblades in one place than Marseille station 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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LIAMJ, If you fly to Nice there are buses to Isola 2000 and Auron (possibly Valberg as well) any of which would have enough skiing for a weekend. They're all about an hour and a half's journey.
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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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Saturday snowtrains are not much good for a weekend though.
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LIAMJ, depending on your idea of "easy access", from Marseille you can get to the Val d'Allos in 3 hours (a fair bit quicker than the trip to Serre Chevalier). There are 230km of pistes so more than enough for a weekend.
Personally, I'd think a transfer of over 2 hours was too long for a weekend trip.
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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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ben wright, so do I, unless it's a long weekend.
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Tks again for all the info guys,
ben wright, i think you're right 2hrs transfer is about tops for a weekend.
Will have a little of study of these ideas and get on booking flights!
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As others have said both the Grand Massif and N. Italy offer good options.
Les Carroz in the Grand Massif is about an hour from Geneva - I've done several weekends there and normally if I fly out early in teh day I'm on the slopes by 12:30 / 1pm on the first day, and on the final day you can typically ski 'till the lifts close and still make the last flight back. I've usually done Swiss Air (often cheaper than Easyjet) and got the 8pm flight back to Heathrow. St Gervais and Le Grand Bornand are also a similar distance.
For Aosta you really need to get a flight to Turin to keep the transfer short enough, and it's no where near as well served as Genva or Milan. That said, if you can get a flight there you can get to Gressoney or Champoluc in under 1hr 30. Maybe worth considering if you've already skied a lot in the Grand Massif perhaps. Other resorts are closer to Milan, but I've not skied these so I can't comment.
My tip for weekend skiing is to think about arriving on a Saturday. This is because a lot of accomodation owners hate to rent out their rooms or apartments on a Friday and Saturday, because it blocks out 2 weeks of "full week" bookings. If you book from Saturday to Tuesday for example they only "loose" half a week. The downside of arriving on a Saturday is that you might get caught in more traffic, but if you fly on a scheduled flight as early as possible you should avoid this and get on the slopes whilst everyone else is still wrestling their way through the charter terminal That said I've always been able to find rooms for a Friday and Saturday in low season, so it's probably not such a big deal if you are flexible.
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