what's best resort to go to in december for beginners where snow will be good

A snowHead

i know you can't guarantee snow at anytime but where are the places to go (anywhere inthe world) for a bunch of beginners (well i actually skied about 20 years ago!) where it's more likely to have decent snow over the xmas and new year period.
not keen on ice either!!!!

A snowHead

ryetee, welcome to SnowHeads. Another NE member. How about Belle Plagne, relatively high, and lots of gentle slopes. They say Austria is good at Christmas but we've never been. I skied in Serre Chevalier last Christmas, and there was snow down to the village, there is also snowmaking to ensure the nursery slopes will be open. Our friends had lessons there. There is also a British ski school in Monetier-les-Bains. You probably only need a smallish place if you're beginning anyway.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Obergurgl, Austria.

Great for beginners & generally snowsure.

Nice village & good afternoon/early evening apres ski.

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ryetee, welcome to snowheads, at the risk of repeating myself I'm going to recommend La Rosiere, very good for beginners, you'll find a review in the resorts section and there's a current thread. It's also very snowsure, if you go to our website www.tracksvacations.com and click through to gallery you'll see some photos taken last season on the 18th Dec with a certain snowhead up to his thighs in powder. You can also check the Ski Clubs historical records for the resort, it's high and consistently has one of the highest snowfalls in France. Plus it's a great little village, that's very friendly and hasn't been overrun by either the hooray henrys or lager louts.

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ryetee, Saas Fee in Switzerland guarantees you snow because of its glacier. I've beginner (then) friends who enjoyed themselves there over Christmas. It's a very picturesque place.

I agree with ssnowman about Obergurgl. You could also look at nearby Solden, also in Austria but with an extensive glacier.

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I've been to Saas Fee and Obergurgl, Saas Fee is definitely prettier - the village is much older than Obergurgl which I think was built in the 1970's and extends as a strip along the valley floor. Several people have written reports on Saas Fee and there's one on Obergurgl here. Obergurgl does feature some nice hotels and posh ski gear shops.

The two resorts are probably equally snow sure...

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

thanks to everyone for your replies much appreciated. one other thing if one of the party doesn't take to skiing is there anything else to do in said resorts or nearby?
I'll now be sifting through various brochures and websites checking out your suggestions.

After all it is free

ryetee, Saas Fee has a Leisure Centre (swimming and stuff), a moderate amount of walking - one gondola fed hill is used for walking and toboganning, at least one of the hotels does that beauty spa type stuff that I don't need wink

Saas Fee is quite a way from any sizeable town, although you can get to Zermatt in an hour and a half or so (if you go with a TO they may organise this as a trip) It's worth checking out the local tourist office - you might find they offer something like snowshoeing.

ryetee, we skied at Val D'isere last christmas (19th - 26th), snowfalls had been thin everywhere but combination of high altitude and good snow making made it a great week. Apres ski is also good if that's what you're after. Smile

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David Goldsmith, sorry David, I'm not PC enough to bother!

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In that case you're a very naughty boy.

No he's not, he's the messiah (Sorry Monty Python Embarassed

)

You know it makes sense.

Hmm... well I went to Saas Fee over Christmas last time and was a bit disappointed. I chose it for the pretty village reputation plus its high position increasing the chances of good snow relatively early in the season. Unfortunately the snow was poor and despite the glacier a third of the lifts were closed, so that over the week there was not enough area to keep me interested and I found myself getting a little bored doing the same runs over and over.

Added to this the lift system seems pretty old and is very s-l-o-w. The glacier means they can't put chairs in where other resorts would so they're limited to drags. Even once on the telecabine it took a long time to get up the mountain and the queues to get on were not insignifcant (no doubt worsened by the fact some of the mountain was closed).

Oh and the other thing is that the aspect of the valley means the sun is obscured by the mountains most of the day at that time of year. Not only does it make the place a bit gloomy at times, it means that combined with the altitude it gets very cold! -26 at the top on one day that I was there. It's not fun going up a slow drag in a biting wind & in the shade at -20 (remember you have to hold on to the cold metal bar for at least some of the time!).

However the people were friendly, the village was pleasant (I wasn't overcome by its prettiness). This year I'm thinking of La Rosiere which seems to be (at least until recently, now it's all I'm hearing!) the untold secret of the Alps. My only reservation about La Ros is maybe it'll be a bit *too* quiet of an evening, though I'm going for the skiing, not laddish drinking bouts. But have you seen the snow record!?! Shocked

Alex

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Tried Andorra last december and took 2 newbies along. very pleasently surprised at the great lift system,hotel. (lift in the hotel! - how cool! )
Boarding school for the two girls was probably the best i have encountered.
Nightlife was friendly although you had to go looking for it.
Would not hesitate to go again as it had been snowing since early November.
Only downside is that above intermediates would struggle for a buzz.

A snowHead

AlexF, whilst La Rosiere hasn't got a mad apres scene, there's enough to do, there are often gigs at the Petit Danois, there's a very good Rolling Stones tribute band who play around the Tarentaise resorts, Le Pub has a disco, resident DJ etc. Arpin's Bar is good for Karioke, especially if you like Jonny Halliday! Le Mac Kinley is good for drinks after skiing with a happy hour from 5-6 pm, the Petit Danois seems to be the in place for seasanaires, BarClays for a more sophisticated ambience, it's a piano bar and finally Willy's bar, the best little bar in the village. So you can kick off straight after skiing and not get home until 4-5 AM if you're so inclined. The other great point is that because the village is fairly compact just about everywhere is within staggering distance and most of the accomodation is downhill from the centre.

A snowHead

David@traxvax, i've seen a few brochures with la rosiere in but seems to be all chalets. problem i have is i have two sons in tow who are the age of not wanting to share even with each other (18 &20). any recommendations here or anywhere else for that matter.

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ryetee, Yes get them to pay the extra themselves

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Frosty the Snowman, FenlandSkier, oh they'll pay but it's hard find a one bedroom apartment in a chalet!

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There were a few single rooms that cropped up a while back, I think it was a thread on avoiding single supplements.

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ryetee, as mother of sons 16 and 18 (next week), leave 'em at home!!! You may struggle to find single rooms though. Why not book an apartment instead? La Rosiere has some nice MGM ones now. You could book them an apartment, and you could stay in a chalet.

After all it is free

ryetee - if you're a beginner then the quality of the instruction will be more important to you than the quality of snow or extent of terrain. (Everywhere has ice, sorry.)

My recommendation would be to book a resort where there's a good British ski school; check there's availability before you book your trip and then book the instruction at the same time you book the holiday.

Try www.skinewgen.com or www.britishskischool.com (there are plenty of others).

BTW - don't be too hard on yourself - Mrs PhillipStanton was surprised to find that she could still "sort of ski" - even after a single trip 16 years previously!

David@traxvax, - I'm thinking it's going to be La Rosiere! With regard to PhillipStanton's comment re the ski school what are they like there. My French is of the pidgeon variety so would need fairly decent english!

PhillipStanton, - it's probably not remembering how to ski it's remembering how to exercise. Mowing the lawn, climbing the stairs and raising my right arm is about it these days.

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ryetee, We have booked about 20 weeks worth of lessons (ie 20 folks for 1 week or the equivalent) fror kids and adults with http://www.evolution2.com/rosiere/ All have been superb. We book a couple of months in advance.

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ryetee, Have some lessons at your nearest artificial slope before you go... it'll make a big difference when you get to the snow !

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David@traxvax, just knew things wouldn't be straightforward!! Maybe taking someone along with us who won't want to ski much - what other things are there to do in La Rosiere during the day (besides the obvious!!). Are there any places nearby to visit for example.

ryetee, if you have a car you can drive back down the mountain again to Bourg St Maurice, but I don't think there's really much in La Rosiere to do for non-skiers except perhaps walk.
If you need a UK run ski school, can I suggest you chack out www.eurekaski.com or www.easiski.com . Neither are based in La rosiere though. I can recommend ESF there as they were great when we visited. My final word is that it wouldn't be the place I'd take an 18 and 20 year old to, it was very quiet in the evening, except for chalet night off.

You know it makes sense.

ryetee, I dont know of many ski resorts I would like to be in when not skiing.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Helen Beaumont, I'm being fickle and now considering Serre Chevalier!! So same question for non skiers in Serre Chevalier. Looks a bit more to do according to the brochures but they don't necessarily portray things in the right light!!!

A snowHead

ryetee - you'd probably need to hit a glam North American resort, like Whistler, to find a resort with enough to do if you don't ski. I can't think of any ski resort in Europe that's got much.

If the person drives (and is happy to drive in the snow) then ironically, you'd be better off with a low resort in a valley than somewhere more snowsure - because then there's at least the prospect of going out for the day under one's own steam.

A snowHead

PhillipStanton, ESF in LA Ros are excellent (IMHO)

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

ryetee, there's a thermal springs, view the slopes from the hot water. The ski bus goes along to Briancon, where there is a walled town, and 17th century fortress.An ice-driving track, plenty of snowshoe walks, dog sledding across the border in Italy at Cesana, cross-country skiing etc.It's also quite asy to get a lift up to meet skiers for lunch. I'm re-doing my Apres ski page at the mo, but there's still some stuff on my website, and the tourist office site too. www.serre-chevalier.com . As your beginners the problem of the resort links not been open that early in the season may not apply. The Eurekaski website has details of all sorts of stuff, accommodation, ski school, passes, and excursions. Just email them if you want to know anything at all. The best nightlife would probably be in Chantemerle or Villeneuve, but the prettiest village is Monetier.

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PhillipStanton, some of the ESF instructors in La Rosiere are native English speakers, and several more have English partners. The deputy director was English.

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Helen Beaumont, whats the difference between Serre Chevalier 1300 and 1400 and don't say 100! Do they refer to the different villages. There's a 1500 too.

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ryetee, 1350 is Chantemerle, 1400 is Villeneuve-la-Salle, and 1500 Le Monetier-les-Bains. Take a look at the piste map on the tourist office site and you can see how the 13 villages are arranged along the valley from East (the town of Briancon) at 1200m to Monetier (1500m) There are other smaller villages too. At Christmas last year, the nursery slopes in Monetier were certainly open at the bottom of the pistes, but the other villages have beginner slopes higher up the mountain too. Your best bet would be to find accommodation close to the lifts, but there are buses running round the smaller villages to the slopes, and along the valley from one village to the other. The Rif Blanc hotel in Monetier (mewly refurbished) is opposite the village bus stop and Ski Miquel have a new chalet 2 minutes from the piste, I think there's details of both on Eurekaski. We're going down on the 27th as we have relatives visiting from abroad at Christmas.

After all it is free

Helen Beaumont, thanks you've convinced me. Probably going to do this via a brochure which means it's going to be Villeneuve unless you know of any brochures that 'do' Monetier.

ryetee, no, nearly all independent operators from there, although Skiworld may have a chalet there (they used to). Ski Miquel are a small company that have a couple of chalets there, and can offer rooms in the hotels, and they may be able to sort out a charter flight for you, but that's all.They were very helpful when we stayed there a couple of years ago. If you need to know the location of any accommodation just ask. If you can get one with a flight to Turin, (or Grenoble) the nearest airport.

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Frosty the Snowman and Helen Beaumont - as I said, probably best not to get me started on ESF.

I'm very glad that you've both had better experiences than me. Cool

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what's best resort to go to in december for beginners where snow will be good

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