 Poster: A snowHead
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A mate of mine is off to Crans Montana for a few days with a group from work. It'll be his first ski trip (he's had a few lessons at MK) and I have a feeling that he'll struggle to cope with the terrain - the piste-maps suggest very few blue runs at all so can anyone who's been give me (on his behalf) some pointers on which (if any) bits of the hill are beginner-friendly, please? One of the piste-maps shows there are a couple of 'Promenades peidestres' and a long 'ski de fond' route, both of which I suspect would be ideal beginner-territory if you're allowed to ski on them. Any comments?
TVM
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Crans Montana is fine for beginners. It is one of the first resorts I ever went to. Amazing views down into the, I think, Rhone Valley. Go.
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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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| Whitegold wrote: |
| Crans Montana is fine for beginners. It is one of the first resorts I ever went to. Amazing views down into the, I think, Rhone Valley. Go. |
Thanks for the advice. I would love to go but the trip's not open to me, I'm afraid.
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Crans is a good resort for beginners. Several of my mates went there on their first ski trip and loved it.
From memory, there is a nice long blue track down to Aminona.
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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 learnt to ski in Montana and spend some time there every year. I know it's a bit obvious but if you're a beginner you need a teacher and doing a couple of mornings of lessons will do him a worlds of good and get him confident on which parts of the mountain he can use.
Asuming that he's staying in Crans or Montana he'll be using the bubbles that converge at Cry d'Err. From there on skiers left side is the pas du loup chair and piste which serves gentle terrain. The big advantage with this area is that it's in a natural bowl and therefore people can determine how tricky they want their descent to be, stay high around the edges of the bowl and it's nice and gentle, drop down steeper if you want to.
On the skiers right there is a very gentle area going towards chetseron that is served by two drag lifts. There's a stepper (but wide) bit that you have to get down to get to them, but it's only short and I've seen people walk it.
Below pas du loup the pistes funnel into quite a steep tight section that is often full of beginners on their backsides. Having negotiated that a gentle path winds around the back of Amadeus 2000 and brings you to the top of the Verdets. A lovely run served by a drag. I remeber fondly the satisfaction of getting down there on the Friday afternnon of my first week. Took me about 25 minutes. I now ski it with barely a turn.
One word of warning - avoid the chemins pedestres and the ski du fond, they often have sections that go uphill!!
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How much of a beginner is it suitable for? I want to take my 14 yr old daughter who has had around 4 half days of lessons. Are ski schools and beginner areas easily accesible and ok for her level?
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CM is mostly south facing and suffered very badly snow-wise whilst the valley opposite (North facing) had fab conditions, recently.
Don't know about the skiing suitabilty tho'
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halfhand, Very easily accessible, particulalrly from Montana. The red bubble from Montana has an intermediate staion that is right on the jardin des neiges and accesses the Verdets slope I mentioned above. 2 ski schools, two ESS and one independent who will do group beginner lessons.
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