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Christmas/New Years Trip

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I’m planning the Christmas/New Years trip now, and bear with me, there are a few variables.

My GF and I had settled on Bad Gastein. She’s a nordic skier, and they have 90 km of tracks. Sportgastein has a high enough elevation that even if there is a repeat of last winter, there should still be something skiable. Looks like a nice town. Fairly cheap accommodations available. Easy to get to with a transfer from Salzburg airport.m

So we were set, but now I have a couple friends who live in Lausanne who may want to join us. This caused me to look in that direction (no real sense in them flying to Salzburg). After doing a little research, even if they don’t join us, maybe heading in that direction is still better for the GF and I, as flights are cheaper to Geneva and Zurich as they are to Salzburg for us. So here are the considerations:

1. Price. I can’t break the bank here. A holiday flat for two in Bad Gastein is looking like about €40-45 per night. That’s hard to beat.

2. Nordic skiing possibilities. In a lot of resorts there is one track put down as an afterthought. This is not good enough. She needs enough to keep busy for a week.

3. Public transportation. We won’t have a car, so we need an easy airport transfer and a resort that’s easy to get around on ski busses.

4. Intermediate-Advanced pistes. I ski reds and blacks, and coming from the US I dislike excessive grooming. Of course, coming from the US I’m also not accustomed to needing a guide to venture three feet off the groomed run. My price considerations also rule out guides (unless I’m missing something here).

5. Nightlife not really a factor. If I can get a couple beers at the end of the day, that’s fine. If I wanted to party all night, I’d stay at home in Berlin.

6. Quaint would be a plus, but not essential.

My knowledge is pretty much limited to Austria, so I’m having trouble coming up with places in Switzerland and France that might fit the bill. My initial research has convinced me that Verbier and Zurich are way out of my price range, and the latter has no cross country, either. Chamonix, on the other hand, looks like a good possibility. Any more insight is appreciated.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
ami in berlin,
You could try looking at Davos it has a good early season snow record good advanced intermediate pistes and a lot of x country skiing with a good transport system, a pretty valley though the town definately isn't quaint.
Reasonable priced accommodation may not be easy to locate but a lot of the villages and hamlets along the valley are cheaper and connected by the transport system.
Chamonix x country looked pretty low lying to me I would ask regulars what it is like over xmas.
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 brian
brian
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ami in berlin, Crans/Montana has a fair amount of x/c trails I think, including some up on their glacier at 3000m. New Year is a good time to go there as it's south facing. Airport transfer is easy by train from Geneva airport and it's not too far from Lausanne.
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Thanks. I'll look at those two.

Any thought on La Clusaz? It looks lovely, and has tons of cross country (also at altitude). I'm not sure the downhill will be challenging enough, and what about snow cover? Anyone have any experience there?
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
ami in berlin, Chamonix would be good for you except you might be unlucky with the XC. There's tons of it but some is quite low. Still, this winter was a late starter and it was open in the first few days of january. Still, maybe a bit of a gamble. Though I think there is some good stuff at altitude in Les Houches....


Here's a list of the chamonix trails anyway in case it's useful
http://www.chamonix.net/english/skiing/xcountry/xctrails.htm

and they have some other suggestions here - Les Saisies sounds possible??
http://www.chamonix.net/english/skiing/xcountry/xcexcham.htm

I've heard loads of good stuff about La Clusaz, I think it has some excellent off-piste?
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Innsbruck?

Seefield is known to have lots of x-c.

Should be a lot of variety of lodging options. No first hand information though. Last time I was there was 10 years ago and was simply following others lead. You can get there by train too. Resorts are accessible by bus. Not the most convinient but there's a glacier.

For x-c and intermediate alpine, St. Moritz is consider the top of the heap. But it has a reputation for being expensive. Though with careful searching, you might get lucky in finding something acceptable?
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
We did Innsbruck last year, and it was a bit dissapointing. The ski bus was poor (one driver managed to get lost), and it took ages. Lodging was very expensive. The xc is at low altitude (Seefeld had 2 km open and still charged their trail fees). It's a nice town, but more suited to wealthy retirees who want to do a lot of things other than ski, I would say. None of the individual resorts are big enough for a week, but then staying in town is inconvenient. It's also not terribly close to Geneva or Zurich, so not really applicable in our current situation.

La Clusaz is looking more and more like the winner given our needs. If I could just work out a way to sneak off to Cham for a day it would be perfect. It looks close on the map, but seems to be turning into one of those 'you can't get there from here' situations.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
ami in berlin, I'd love to suggest Chamonix too as then I could pimp my apartments but the XC is at valley level (1,000m) and I wouldn't take the risk myself.

La Clusaz I think would be very fine alpine wise. Had an excellent week there some (far too many) years ago - and with some strong skiers. There are a few fun "itineraires" too - which if you haven't come across them are the Euro equivalent of, say, Alta. Nominally patrolled but unpisted otherwise.

Completely at random, you could look at the Ayas Valley in Italy. Alpine skiing from Champoluc/Gressoney/Alagna which is big enough just about for a week and has some accessible off piste if the snow's good and lots of cannons if it's not plus (I understand but can't guarantee) lots of (cannoned) XC 10km down the valley in Brusson. Mix in Italian hospitality and you might have a fine old time. Buses down the valley seem to run frequently so getting to Brusson shouldn't be too hard for your O.H. And it should be reasonably cost effective.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
I love La Clusaz! If it's cheap accomodation your after you can't beat Interhome but the accomodation is basic and not that close to the X country. http://www.interhome.co.uk/

The best snow will be on La Balme but could be pretty bare on the other sectors. Not sure what accomodation there is at the base of La Balme.

If you go there try L'Outa restaurant. The food there is yummy Very Happy
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We've booked, now we just have to pray for snow.

The prices were nice with interhome, marmalade, but without a car it looked like a hassel getting around.

We booked a holiday flat on the edge of the village: two bedrooms, four people for €532 for Christmas week. That seems pretty good to me.

So it'll be a week in La Clusaz followed by three days in Chamonix (three hour bus and train transfer) over New Year's.

When should I start doing the snow dance?
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