 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi All,
Am planning a 2 week skiing trip for next year ( easter weeks.... Sat 22 march on) for the family & have been focusing on the Maurienne Valley as it seems to have most of the 'things' we are looking for.
Was hoping one of you snowheads could point 'us' at the appropriate resort ( doesn't have to be French but will be driving so probably will be .....) ;
Main points to find;
Family friendly resort
Good snow cover ( for this time of year...late March)
Good skiing for beginners ( decent ski school/instruction........if poss).
Value for money ( i.e not excessively expensive for food, drinks etc..)
Ski in/out ( or near as if possible........as have 2 kids in tow....will be age almost 8 & 12 )
Picturesque ( if poss) & ideally not too commercialized ( i.e. not a mega resort).
Ideally not too busy ( hard one as it is a holiday period)
Not too much to ask !!!!
Thanks in advance
Mitch
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Mitchell, I've been to St Sorlin D'Arves a couple of times in February, cant vouch for what it would be like in March. Think it would tick most of your boxes. I posted a report here
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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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La Norma
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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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tomf;
Have looked at La Norma & am seriously considering it; I hate to use this phrase but....."does it tick all (or just some ) the boxes"!!!
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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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Mitchell, us too!! will watch this thread with interest. We are looking at Saint-sorlin d'arves - partly because of the kids facilities - we usually go with peak retreats & they have quite good descriptions of the resort.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Colin B, great trip report - wish I had read yours before I wrote my incredibly waffly one! did the ex' situation work well  !!!!????
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rpft, Well enough to do it the next year too! We get on OK for my daughter's sake anyway and she was very keen to go skiing with her mum and it wouldn't have happened any other way.
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Mitchell, For a fortnight why not do a week each at a couple of resorts?
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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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The old village of Lanslevillard (part of the Val Cenis area) is quite picturesque. It's part of one of the larger ski areas in the Valley and is reasonably central, having Valfrejus and La Norma to the west and Bessans and Bonneval to the East. You can ski from the door, there's lots of fairly easy skiing for kids and more interesting skiing for adults. It's also has a few more runs at altitude than some others which is handy for this time of year (and Bonneval has high skiing nearby). It also has a nice swimming pool and an ice rink (though in late March it may not be open).
Ski school was find for us, but there are aren't many other English pupils in this part of Val Cenis, so you might want to ensure English speaking tuition is available.
There's a couple of proper Val Cenis reports in the appropriate section. Accomodation is easy to book via their web site.
d.
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Mitchell
La Norma is the easiest resort you will ever stay at ,all the accomadation is near the slopes,the access from the motorway is easy,theres a lot of English speaking vistors ie Dutch.Most of the the better apartments are modean but built in traditional style, the ones we stayed in were excellent.The biggest plus for myself was the ease in which you can vist any of the other resorts in the valley with the option of also visting Val Thorens or italy by the Frejus Tunnel.Both Turin and Chambery airport are only just over an hour away with 95% of the journey on the motorway so for car users it is perfect.Val Cenis and St Sorlin will both be excellent places to stay but neither are as easy as La Norma which has the benefits of being purpose built so why not stay at la Norma and choose a different resort everyday which is why we are returning there hopefully again this Christmas.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Mitchell, one important thing to bear in mind, in france, kids lessons are 2 hours (private) and 2.5 - 3 hours for group lessons per day - and this really breaks up the day - so if you want to get any decent skiing in before picking them up, you need to be in resort where you drop the kids off & immediately get on a lift yourselves. La norma looks lovely.
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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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Mitchell,
I agree with rpft, itcan be difficult to make use of other reasorts in the valley if the children are off to ski school.
We went to Bessans a couple of years ago for a fortnight; first week we skied mainly at Val Cenis. The ski school was ESF but there were quite a few English speaking folk there in the Easter holidays and the lessons were reasonable.
Second week we had private lessons for the children in Bonneval for four days and went to Orrelle for a couple of days with the kids and this worked really well, the lessons once again ESF were excellent.
Bessans is a lovely little village between Val Cenis and Bonneval, inexpensive and attractive but definately not convenient without a car.
The snow at Bonneval was excellent, but limited in extent. It was a bit mixed at Val Cenis the easy slopes are at the bottom and may suffer in a poor snow year.
If you are looking at other places outside the Maurrienne I have been several years to Serre Che and found the ski school good for children(Buissoniere) and the snow pretty reliable at the time of year you are going, though for ski in ski out or ultra convenience you need to pick your accommodation carefully.
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Good point about ski schools i am sure the schools do start at 9.30 and last for 2.5 hours at La Norma,my sisters family were in ski school and were full of praise for the esf,however there was not many easy blues to progress too at La Norma but with the 3 resort pass you can ski La Norma in the mornings with Aussios and Valfrejus are only 15 minutes away by car ,Valfrejus has some excellent blues above 2000m but the runs back to the resort can be tricky in poor snow conditions.We are hoping to have a day at bessans for the x-country next time we vist,last time we where there the snow cannons were on full blast for the x-country ski trails amazing considering at Cairngorm we dont even have one snowmaker.
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