 Poster: A snowHead
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After last year's ice-fest in Saalbach, we are waiting to see where the snow is before thinking of booking. Or was last year just an unfortunate freak of warmness and snowlessness?
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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'm a big believer for early season waitng and seeing where the best snow is, for New Year though a lot of the good resorts sell out. It really is the peak time and when I go then I book in advance.
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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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Or was last year just an unfortunate freak of warmness and snowlessness?
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There've been many Christmas/New Year periods with pretty poor snow. It's far from the best time to go, but if you have to go then, book to go high. We have our own apartment, in a place with a good snow record, but we don't go out till early Jan, when the crowds have gone. We do "swaps" for New Year, with fellow owners who need school holiday times. Then we have their apartment in mid January, or mid March!
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T Bar, That is exactly the dilemma! If you don't book, you don't get in, but you need to be sure the white stuff is going to be in town.
I think more people will hold back this year.
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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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Chris Bish, No - I am booked.... in North America... 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Chris Bish, depends on how many of you are travelling - can normally wait to the beginning of December before booking resort if only 2 of you going. Granted, you won't get pick of the accommodation but worth the gamble to find reasonable snow conditions.
That said I am already booked for next Christmas & New Year but that was to use my airmiles for flights to Vancouver.
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Chris Bish, already booked in Mottaret, just waiting for Eurostar to come out with tickets
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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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Boris,
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I'm tempted to be extremley naughty and go 5 Jan and take the kids out of school
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Do it, Skking gives them experience of another country another language, exercise, travel etc etc
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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boredsurfin, Given they'll be in Reception and Year 2 - I think I can get away with out them missing out too much. It will broaden their mind - its just tough that it'll be half the price of the previous few weeks 
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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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I'm holding back to see where the early snow falls (in North America). Wouldn't really consider Europe unless my main priority was a holiday rather than skiing based on prior experiences.
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I'm tempted to be extremley naughty and go 5 Jan and take the kids out of school
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I'm afraid we always did this. I know it raises lots of hackles but they hardly ever missed any school other than for family holidays, and they all passed all their exams. (My middle son has a First Class degree in Artificial Intelligence but perhaps it is my fault for taking him on ski holidays that he has spent most of the last two winters being a chef in Val D'Isere...). We always asked for permission in advance, and always got it (state schools; how anyone can afford private schools AND ski holidays is quite beyond me).
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, I don't have a problem with it personally - certainly not in early years of Primary. However, it is one of those topics here which sharply divides opinion
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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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Boris, pam w, difficult - we always got permission - until last year when the mucking sods refused it. So we went in anycase. But this year going over xmas and new year. I think the extra money is worth it to avoid some of the family contact we might otherwise have to have.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| pam w wrote: |
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I'm tempted to be extremley naughty and go 5 Jan and take the kids out of school
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I'm afraid we always did this. I know it raises lots of hackles ... We always asked for permission in advance, and always got it |
Never understand why ("raises lots of hackles"). Shouldn't parents have the final say on how their children are educated (skiing vs. classes, etc.)? Why would any teacher NOT give the permission?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We've got our dates reserved at our place for Christmas and New Year. We took our kids out of school on a few occasions, but you can't do that if you're a teacher like Chris Bish. The best week for snow, (but often cold) was the last week in January.
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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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Chris Bish, we're going to book for Ischgl again and hope it'll be at least as good as last Christmas. We can't leave it to the last minute with 8 of us and we can't not go skiing at Christmas
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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abc,
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Shouldn't parents have the final say on how their children are educated (skiing vs. classes, etc.)?
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Totally agree with this, as do the majority of teachers I know . There are always some though who think nanny knows best. 
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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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abc, disruptive to rest of class for group projects, being behind when they come back etc
Generally schools will give permission if you ask - if you go in any case then its trauncy and counts against them.
Like stoatsbrother, I like going over Xmas to avoid Xmas. However there are many people who have to have holidays when work lets them - if that's in term time then the kids are coming
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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you can't do that if you're a teacher like Chris Bish
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Indeed not, I didn't realise he was a teacher. My daughter's boyfriend is a teacher, and she starts a PGCE teaching course in September, so they are probably in for a lifetime of peak time holidays. Still, you can't feel TOO sorry for teachers about holidays, can you? My Dad always took his holidays in term time, in theory because it wasn't possible for all the senior managers to be away at the same time, but actually because he hated crowds of other people's kids (he wasn't brilliant at putting up with his own, but had no choice about that). We always got taken out of school, I missed the entire end of year exams one year, in about Form 3 of secondary school. Never did me any harm. That was always summer holidays, generally camping in Scotland (there were times, when the midges and/or the weather were particularly bad, when school exams almost seemed like a more attractive way of spending the time). Never any prospect of ski holidays.
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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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pam w, my Dad was a teacher, so we had a childhood of crowded beaches etc. Now he is retired, and was looking forward to quieter times, however they seem to be permanently childminding my young nieces.
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My parents took me out for 4 weeks when I was 12 and we went to NZ and Australia. We had an interview with the head and he rather insensitively said that it would be nice to ba able to afford such a holiday. My Dad replied to the effect that if the head got a full time job then he too should be able to afford it. We still went on holiday 
To the thread. The kids like Christmas at home and New Year is too much money for potentially no snow.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The school took my sister out of lessons on several occasions to run on the cross country team. When she refused to compete at a weekend race out of school time they retaliated by banning her from the school ski trip!! It wasn't until 10 years later that she finally got to ski.
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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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The kids like Christmas at home
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Yes, ours do too, and seeing their cousins, and we generally like to have a family get together at Christmas (for which our apartment is MUCH too small, and renting others too expensive). I think it's too much money for risk of poor snow too. We did spend our first Christmas out there, with two of the kids. The weather and the snow was horrible, (2002) but we had so many flat packs to erect, and curtain rails etc to put up that we didn't really care. My son flew home early, switching his easyJet flight at some additional expense, to put in some long days working over New Year and earn some money, then came back later in January when the snow was great. New Year is the worst time of the season to ski, I reckon. Horribly crowded, at least in French resorts, generally poor snow cover and short, dark, cold days. Not that Christmas/New Year 2002 was cold; as far as I can remember it rained to over 2000m. I was making curtains so I didn't pay much attention.... It's a pity that schools aren't taking Easter holidays at Easter next year; that would be a great time for school teachers to ski.
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| Chris Bish wrote: |
| After last year's ice-fest in Saalbach, we are waiting to see where the snow is before thinking of booking. Or was last year just an unfortunate freak of warmness and snowlessness? |
We are definately going to book last minute, & probably for all our trips, not just Xmas.
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You know it makes sense.
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spyderjon, how I wish we could. Even without kids it is impossible, as we need locum cover, and I need to keep dates free in my diary. 
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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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I think parents who take their kids out of school are incredibly selfish - I purposely avoid booking my holidays to clash with school holidays to ensure that there are plenty of vacancies available to those who need to take their holidays during the 14 or so weeks each year.....yet here you all are blatantly throwing my kind, selfless gesture back in my face and booking slots which could be used by those of us without kids....and then spend time moaning over dinner that my conversation is a little saucy in front of the little 'uns....
You'll be moaning when I light up a cigarette whilst enjoying a nice relaxing pint soon too....
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Poster: A snowHead
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Guvnor,
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brian
brian
Guest
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I took 2 weeks off in both my 4th and 5th years at high school (exam years, disgrace, etc) to go climbing/summer skiing in Austria and climbing/kayaking in Sutherland. I think it should be up to parents to decide if their kids can handle it or not. Luckily mine (who are both ex-teachers) reckoned it'd be ok.
We did Xmas last year because we'd just taken possession of our new apartment, snow was great quality but a bit short in quantity. Mind you if I hadn't been on my own new skis it wouldn't have bothered me at all.
Next year we're doing Feb half term and 1st week in April but hoping there's enough early snow for a cheeky pre-xmas weekend.
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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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a cheeky pre-xmas weekend
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Yes, that's the idea. I had a fantastic, cheap, snowy, last minute 4 days in Meribel one mid-December. Also a good Snoworks course in Tignes, booked pretty last minute too. It seems like a real bonus to get that time in, when nothing sensible is happening here and you miss some of that mindless commercial Christmas rubbish with everyone asking "have you finished your Christmas shopping" when you haven't even started.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I think that maybe the government should step in, and stop any TO's offering cut price rates for children outside of school holidays....
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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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why not just book the flights and wait and see where the best snow is,also go for christmas because if the snow is poor it wont have been trashed by the new year hordes,also if you live in the north of scotland then the weather in France is so much brighter and the days much longer than the pish we have here at christmas!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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To be honest when I have been at xmas/ new year I have been pretty lucky with the snow. I reckon that a lot of places are more likely to have good conditions than poor at this time of the year but you can be unlucky.
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Nope, we booked for xmas in Zermatt (again) at the end of Feb!
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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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Guvnor,
Some sound points - after all its the non-breeders who are doing their bit for saving the planet by not creating extra consumers so they might at least be allowed as many non peak weeks they want -travelling by air, Hummer etc in peace and quiet 
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Hintertux for christmas. Its gunna be amazing. Well can only get better after last season.
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FAQ
