 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
Was looking for any recommendation for good snow record for late Dec / early Jan in Europe
Family of 4 ; requiring good ski school for 8 year old, and no boredom for a 13 year old
Catered chalet preffered with 90min max transfer from a local airport
All comments welcome
Cheers
Ken.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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KMACKENZ, Welcome to Snowheads.
Alpe D'Huez should be OK, hope so as I will be there!
Try www.skialacarte.co.uk 
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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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KMACKENZ, with regard to snow conditions, I'm thinking that Austria is likely to be your best bet. Over the last few years the early season snow has fallen that side of the Alps. I have just come back from Les 2 Alpes where it was very poor snow (worst in memory apparently), whereas the same weekend it was dumping down in Austria.
If you are DIYing, try flying to Salzburg as that will give you loads of options for resorts within 90 mins.
If you are going early Jan, then that is traditionally the quietest time, so you could leave it till the last minute and pick up a bargain.
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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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Courchevel 1850. Val d'Isere. Zermatt. St Anton.
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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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I've been to Courchevel over Christmas/New Year when the snow cover was very poor. In recent experience, I would second what Ray Zorro says.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've just booked the week before Xmas in St Anton. Fingers crossed 
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KMACKENZ, to whet your appetitie a bit. The webcam here in Obertauern (about 1750m) shows that the mountains are white at the moment. That resort is a short shuttle bus ride from Salzburg...
(I don't think that there are any catered chalets there though, so it wouldn't suit all your criteria)
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KMACKENZ, yep we have snow. I live in Austria in the Ski Amade region - 70km from Salzburg. More snow is forecast this weekend, and a few lifts are also opening for the weekend, so we are a fairly safe bet. Ange 
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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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KMACKENZ, don't believe a word Ray Zorro, says - it's the end of October! We had snow - we could ski - OK it wasn't the best, but end Dec/start Jan is a whole nother thing! We are high, we would be offended with the snow gods id there wasn't good snow - OTOH it sounds as though you're thinking about NY, we may be full already.
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| Quote: |
If you are going early Jan, then that is traditionally the quietest time, so you could leave it till the last minute and pick up a bargain.
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Normally that would be the case but the way the holidays fall this year the quiet season doesn't start till 8 January, so if you need to go end Dec/early Jan it would probably be better to book. Nobody knows, with snow. Last year New Year was very poor indeed in some of the traditionally snow-sure high resorts (eg espace Killy) and the 3 Valleys wasn't much good either, but as well as the Austrian resorts other French resorts (eg our place, the Espace Diamant, Les Saisies/Notre Dame de Bellecombe) had good snow all over. If anyone REALLY knew where the snow was going to be reliable at New Year you would definitely not have a chance of getting a booking there! Most of the big French resorts fail your 90 min transfer criterion anyway - as do quite a lot of Austrian ones, I think. You might have to drop that criterion if you are not going to be very restricted. However, one suggestion not made above, and possibly a bit more family friendly than Zermatt or St Anton (!) is Flaine, which is pretty snow sure, most of the time, and near Geneva. Loads of threads on Flaine, and plenty of tour operators go there. At that time of year I would suggest staying in Flaine itself, not in the lower satellite of Les Carroz or other outlying parts (some of them charming) of the Grand Massif. Better snow, and more convenient for a family doing different things then meeting up after ski school. Hideous architecture, but you can't have everything...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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easiski, Ray Zorro happens to be correct The OP asked for places with a good snow record for that time and Austria has a better recent record for early season than France and I think the current snow conditions in Austria prove this. Fair enough, it would be unlikely for the high french resorts not to have snow but i would feel much better in choosing Austria...
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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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| Markus wrote: |
| easiski, Ray Zorro happens to be correct The OP asked for places with a good snow record for that time and Austria has a better recent record for early season than France and I think the current snow conditions in Austria prove this. Fair enough, it would be unlikely for the high french resorts not to have snow but i would feel much better in choosing Austria... |
Is that recent record enough of a database on which to make choices if you're looking for something slightly better than pot luck with your snow conditions? What are the longer term historical records for pre and early season snow depths? Anu Ski Club members able to look at the historical reports to compare some of the high altitude resorts in France, Switzerland and Austria?
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We have possibly now moved from the theoretical to the actual situation.
At least one non-glacier resort in Austria is already open. Reiteralm (part of the Schladming circuit), which has a peak of only 1860m, opened a couple of slopes this weekend (and will do so again next weekend). This is a resort close to Salzburg (there are many others).
I have been watching the Obertauern webcam for a while (even though I'm not going to April ) and the village there has been white for some time (1750m)
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You know it makes sense.
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| Ray Zorro wrote: |
We have possibly now moved from the theoretical to the actual situation.
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If the advice is "wait until last minute, then book wherever the best snow is" I'd fully agree (providing you're not going during school holidays). All I'm questioning is whether the last two or three years snow record is a good enough sample to draw valid conclusions about.
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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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rob@rar, and I was meaning that we are now possibly at a point where we don't need to look at the historical records when planning for this season.
They are actually already skiing in Austria, at significantly lower elevations than where it is even snowing in France.
Of course there could be a reversal in weather conditions... but as things stand, I would have thought that Austria is already looking a fairly safe bet.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Ray Zorro wrote: |
| but as things stand, I would have thought that Austria is already looking a fairly safe bet. |
I agree, but advice to head to Austria for it's good early season snow has been offered around here for some time, certainly since before the first snow fell.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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FAQ
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